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AGR: ANTI-GRAV RACING

AGR - Anti-Grav Racing

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Roles:

  • Level Design Lead on a local multiplayer racing game

  • Design and creation of a 4-player race track, using Maya and a Houdini plugin

  • Prop and environment art placement on and alongside the race track​

  • Leading the World Creation feature team and overseeing the process of art creation and set dressing for the race track

Game Description:

AGR is a custom engine project made in my second year at Breda University of Applied Science. Inspired by popular titles such as Wipeout and Redout, this game has the player participate in high speed anti-gravity races across various locations.

Platform:
PC (Windows), PS4

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Engine:
Custom, Student-Created

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Language:
C++

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Tools used:

Maya, Houdini

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Duration:

8 weeks (2017)

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Team size:

19

Current status:

  • Project delivered to teaching staff

Download Game

Magnitin Road:

My main responsibility during the AGR project was to design and create the Magnitin Road race track, keeping in mind a possibility of 1-4 player splitscreen. This was one of the 2 tracks our game was shipped with. 

PromoArt_HeadDrifter.png

Image: Anti-Grav Racing promotional image - Magnitin Road

Autodesk Maya & Houdini plugin:

Our engine was custom-created by our student team, and did not have a proprietary level editor. Because of this, I was required to create the race track in Autodesk Maya, using a Houdini plugin created by one of our team members. I had never worked with a 3D modeling program before, so I had to learn the basics during my time on the project.

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I created a poly where I wanted the parts of the race tracks to be, split it into evenly distributed segments, moved the segments around how I wanted them, and then was able to tweak variables to change things like how straight or curved each road segment is, or how "tunnely" it is (completely flat sides, high walls, or a complete tunnel). 

whiteboxing31 maya.png

Image: Screenshot of the track modelling process with student-created Houdini tools

Level Design methodology:

I designed the track to consist of 5 parts:

  1. A starting area with seats for a crowd

  2. Fully enclosed tunnel

  3. Open desert canyon area, where the player drives into a big open mouth of a head statue (landmark)

  4. Cave structure, with many twists and turns, and a full looping, leading into an "epic jump" through several hoops

  5. Denouement part leading back to the start

I based my design on research of competitor anti-grav games like WipeOut and Redout, and focused largely on having good track metrics, as well as having interesting twists and turns approximately every 2-3 seconds, requiring continous player input. 

Please see the documentation below for detailed information on the design and creation of Magnitin Road: 

Environment art / prop placement / set dressing:

I imported and placed most of the level art on the level, which was created in separate Maya scenes by the art team. The set dressing I did included placing things like:

  • The canyon environment

  • The head statue with open mouth

  • The indoor cave structure

  • Signposts indicating turns on the sides of roads

  • Triangular warning sides indicating tunnel start/end

  • Checkpoints (also a gameplay feature)

  • Boost pads (also a gameplay feature)

whitebox29.png

Image: Boost pads placement 

Full Process overview:

​All in all, my full design process included the following:

  • Researched similar racing games and good anti-grav race game practices (WipeOut, RedOut)

  • Concepted & Pitched the race track to the team, resulting in being selected as our game's main track, and team's level design lead

  • Designed, created, and iterated on the race track in Autodesk Maya

  • Placed boost pads, checkpoints, and shortcuts / secret routes

  • Oversaw the process of art creation, placed a lot of the level art myself ​

  • Hosted play tests and iterated on the track based on feedback

    • Created builds of the game with the latest version of my race track

  • Level Design Lead role - directed everyone's work​, feedbacked and guided the other level designer on track #2

whitebox28.png

Image: Entire track top down screenshot

PromoArt_TunnelDrifter.png

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AGR
AGR
00:48
AGR: Anti-Grav Racing - Week 8 Playthrough - Magnitin Road
04:48
NHTV week 7 Anti-Grav racer - Magnitin Road
05:18

Game Development Portfolio © 2025 - Goran Xaverius de Ruiter, the Netherlands.

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