The developers behind Star Wars: Galactic Racer, a game described as an "absolute delight to play," have detailed their approach to crafting its signature "game feel," drawing parallels to the beloved Burnout series. Fuse Games, the studio responsible for Galactic Racer, includes many former members of Criterion Games, the original creators of Burnout.
Bottling the Burnout Boost
Matt Webster, CEO of Fuse Games, emphasized the centrality of "feel" to their design philosophy. "We subscribe to the notion of 'game feel,'" Webster stated. "We pour an enormous amount of time and effort and money into that, and the assertion is that, well, gaming is an interactive medium, therefore the quality of the interactions is paramount."
He elaborated on how this concept extends beyond simple mechanics, such as the boost function in Burnout. "It's everything that happens when you depress that button," Webster explained. "We reduce it down into: button goes down, speed goes up. But there is clearly more going on there." For Galactic Racer, this means ensuring that the player's sensory experience immerses them in the game world, allowing for greater suspension of disbelief.
Leaning into Star Wars' Junkyard Tech
The developers aimed to capture the "junky, battered-tech side of Star Wars." Webster noted that the Star Wars universe itself provides ample inspiration for this aesthetic. "The game is a combination of our love of racing and our love of Star Wars," he said. "We come at it as fans, and we see those details too, and it's just that we have the wonderful privilege to be able to put some of them into action."
This tactile approach is reflected in elements like "bashing something to get it to work" and the "flicking levers and doing button combinations at race start," which the team views as connecting players to the "tactility of the galaxy."
Decoupling from Tarmac
When discussing the sensation of driving in Burnout, where players feel a "grippiness" and a connection to the road, Webster addressed the challenge of translating that to vehicles without wheels. "What you're just describing again is an attention to game feel that I think we have a very particular point of view on," he said. For Burnout, the ideal cornering involved driving sideways, a difficult maneuver that appealed to the fantasy of being an exceptional driver.
With Galactic Racer, the team found it "pretty liberating to be decoupled from tyres on tarmac." This allowed for greater amplification of verticality and angles. The game's physics simulation is grounded in the idea of how a levitating jet engine might behave, drawing inspiration from various Star Wars vehicles like podracers and land speeders. "There is a physical simulation going on there," Webster confirmed.
The Role of Prototypes and Emotion
Kieran Crimmins, creative director at Fuse Games, described the vehicle customization elements as a "player story generator." He explained that the goal is to provide players with "physical toys" to experiment with, allowing them to stack parts and create unexpected combinations that still react realistically. The studio targets specific emotions drawn from Star Wars, racing, and the narrative, translating them into interactive experiences.
When asked about the process of assembling vehicle parts and upgrades, Crimmins highlighted the importance of rapid prototyping. "You can't know if you've got game feel. You can't know if you can feel the system until you can play the system," he said. The team prioritizes getting playable experiences into players' hands quickly to validate those feelings.
This iterative process even led to the use of board game prototypes. "We can do a board game in a day," Crimmins explained, referring to a method involving Post-it notes, scribbles, and dice to validate system feelings like upgrades and meta-progression. This approach allows them to pick the most efficient tool for validating core emotions as quickly as possible.
Emotions as the Driving Force
Craig Derrick, executive producer at Lucasfilm Games, echoed the sentiment, calling emotions "the new verbs" in game design. He argued that describing the player's experience and agency is inherently tied to emotional states. "What's the point in all this if you're not feeling something?" Crimmins added, suggesting that creating strong emotions is the ultimate goal of any engaging experience, whether in games or other activities.
Webster related this back to the concept of "verisimilitude," or the truth of a thing, referencing director Richard Donner's explanation of his original Superman film. "If you don't believe a man can fly, it doesn't matter what else we do," Webster recalled Donner saying. Similarly, for Galactic Racer, if players do not believe they are truly piloting a land speeder in the Star Wars galaxy at high speeds, then the other elements of the game, such as its story or presentation, will not resonate. This fundamental belief, rooted in the game's sensory feel and emotional core, is paramount to its success.