BLUR = RACING...POWERED-UP!!!

Why we added Power-ups to Blur

Greetings one and all - its Ami here! :)

So we've been up to quite a lot since our last lot of updates - locked away in the studio like mad scientists working hard on our latest racer! As Blur is our first powered-up racing game, it makes most sense to jump into and provide some background into the Power-up system for starters...

Let's start with the obvious - what are Power-ups and where did they come from?

Power-ups are special abilities that you pick up on-track throughout each race to enhance your driving abilities. You can use these abilities to help you drive better, so for example the Nitro gives you a speed boost. You can also use Power-ups against your opponents to gain advantage and sometimes even win a race. Dropping Mines on-track behind you or firing Shock at rivals in front of you are two sure-fire ways of making the race a whole lot more interesting!

The Power-ups that you see in Blur today are fairly close to final with some additional work and tuning yet to be done, but we went through a whole bunch of earlier implementations before settling on this design. Initially, the Power-ups used to let the player enhance their car by altering the characteristics according to how they want to drive. For example, you'd have an empty slot that you could fill up with a Power-up selection, so if you prefer a drifty car, we'd let you adjust the setup of your vehicles with a Power-up that was super loose and would allow your car to slide around the course. Alternatively, if you prefer a big indestructible muscle car, then you could tweak your setup to do that too.

Unfortunately, while cool in concept, this first design had you selecting your Power-up prior to the race - but this didn't feel right because if you chose the wrong Power-up, you were screwed for the whole race regardless of how well you drove on-track! Then for our next implementation, we tried allowing players to have multiple Power-up slots and the ability to activate them whenever they needed, but this still didn't go far enough toward giving the player true on-track strategy.

Finally, after trying and testing numerous methods, it made most sense to place these abilities on the circuits themselves, so people could run over a particular Power-up and fire at will! This new direction with the Power-ups instantly encouraged player choice and strategy; and Blur's gameplay suddenly felt much deeper than just plain old racing. As soon as we put the Power-ups on-track, everything else just fell into place; and so the era of powered-up racing was up on us!

We also put a lot of thought into the control methods for how you actually use a Power-up during a race. For instance, how do you target rival racers? We tried loads of different and complex ways to activate and choose Power-ups, but in the end we agreed on a nice simple system - simplicity is key considering the action is so intense and crazy on-track! Currently, you use the 'A' button to use a Power-up, the 'Left Bumper' to cycle between your current Power-ups, and 'X' to activate a defensive shield to fend off Power-up attacks from other racers.

The most important element our Power-ups bring to Blur is on-track strategy. They already level the playing field a bit in that every driver in a race has the opportunity to collect and use Power-ups on the fly throughout each course. However, Power-ups also encourage you to think about how and when you should be using specific abilities. They also require quick decision making and fast reactions whilst battling to the finish line. Sure you can just fire and forget if that's the way you want to play. However, all of Blur's Power-ups work so much more to your benefit if you apply a certain level of skill, so it pays off to learn advanced strategies for each one.

For example, a very simple rule of thumb is that when racing in Blur you need to balance collecting and firing off offensive attack Power-ups at your opponents with the health of your own car. So while taking detours to drive over repair zones instead of heading for that next Shunt Power-up might affect your lap time or not allow you to blast and pass the car in front of you for a few moments, it will definitely stop your car from getting wrecked!

We'll be sure to list out all Blur's Power-ups in all their glory (including cool ways in which you can combine them and the best ways in which to use them) in the coming weeks, so stay tuned for more top tips!

Ami