#ansdor

Seeing Slipstream developed over the years has been truly inspiring. @ansdor​ did all the design, art, and code, on a shoestring budget of not even $7,000 raised on Kickstarter back in January 2016. 

He made it through tough living conditions, anxiety, multiple setbacks (crashed PC, no internet, family matters …). The game slipped from its estimated 2016 release date, but us backers believed in him. As much bad reputation as Kickstarter sometimes gets, it is a truly supportive community.

Now the game is out and it was all worth it—definitely for us players, and hopefully for @ansdor as well. There’s nothing quite like seeing someone make their dreams come true. From a mockup in 2014, to a masterpiece released on Steam in 2018. Thank you for sticking through it and giving us a real gem to play.

I was driving through a construction zone the other day and reminisced about Lotus The Ultimate Challenge, which had a stage like that … Ah, good old days of racing games. 

I thought it would be cool to have a remake or something like that. And then I remembered that Slipstream is an upcoming game in that exact style, well, the drifting Outrun variety anyway. Best news, it’s almost done. Like, it was supposed to be released earlier this month, but, well, you know how things are with game development, especially solo developers—things always take a bit longer.

We got a new backers demo in September though and it played as smooth as ever. I loved the new VHS filter which made me forget it’s not the 80s anymore and I was happy like a kid again! These new screenshots also make me believe there are quite some new tracks/environments hiding in the full release. Can’t wait!

Today is a special day. If the month of May seems like it’s the month of Kickstarters, here is another one—but not at the start of its journey, rather at the finish line.

Slipstream is finally out after 2 years in the making. The solo developer @ansdor​ (code, art, design) had some ups and downs along the way (which is understandable for any development, let alone for a Kickstarter ran by a single person), but all of this doesn’t matter now that the game is out and it’s an absolute gem to play.

Slipstream is basically the original Outrun, down to the arcade scope of 15 tracks that you comb through by going left and right at the end of stages. Yet it is a fresh new game—fresh new 15 tracks—so it’s exactly why I backed this game 2 years ago: I love playing Outrun, but I also love experiencing a game for the first time. Slipstream is exactly that.

The graphics engine is old-school 2D sprite-based, a rarity these days. There’s still some room for 21st century to show through. The game runs at juicy 60 FPS (which you can force to 30 FPS if you love lag like me) and by default it renders in HD (but still with pixel art sprites). However, if you’re a Retronator like me, you’ll get a big kick out of the Pixel, CRT and NTSC filters. (It’s ironic that we needed to get retina displays before we could finally simulate CRT decently enough with its scanlines, phosphors, and spherical distortion.)

Another big plus of the game is the catchy music (and retro sounds) done by Stefan Moser. The audio fits like a glove—you even hear the driver changing cassette tapes. BTW, 4-way local multiplayer coming soon in a free update.

The compact scope of the game is complemented with the must-get low price of $10 (currently $9 during release), so get it while it’s hot on Steam (all systems). 

Slipstream by Sandro Luiz de Paula a.k.a. ansdor with music and sound by Stefan Moser a.k.a. effoharkay

Slipstream is a treat because its rendering engine isn’t really 3D (projection of 3D geometry to the screen), but the old-school bending of 2D sprites that gives the illusion of perspective. This is pretty cool in my book.