Programming Vehicles in Games

Summary

Programming Vehicles in Games The fundamental principles needed to get a functional vehicle in your game. From my talk at the Better Software Conference on July the 13th, 2025. est. reading time: 45 minutes Watch the video of the talk here: Table of Contents Cars are everywhere in games. They're a staple element of many genres, even in games that aren't strictly about cars. If a game world involves any sort of traversal, chances are there's a vehicle in it (unless you're deep in the realm of fantasy where you are riding a horse. The following will not cover programming horses, I apologize). The special case of cars The range of experiences that games offer through vehicles is massive. And that's what makes them fascinating to work with. Ever since I was a kid, I've played a variety of racing and vehicle games. I'd always chase the next racing title as soon as it hit the platform I had. But what struck me over time wasn't just the excitement of new cars or tracks; it was how different each experience felt, even though they all had cars at their core. And here's the key insight: games are not physics engines. They are experiences. And racing games, more than many others, deliberately manipulate reality to deliver those experiences. With shooting games, for example, we expect certain behavior; bullets flying in straight lines, recoil, reloads. If those expectations aren't met, the game feels “off.” But with vehicles? There's an incredible amount of wiggle room. Take Mario Kart. It's about as far from realistic driving as you can get; you're drifting on sand, tossing shells at your friends, and racing in a mushroom-powered go-kart that's all squashed proportions and cartoon physics. And yet it's beloved. It sells the fantasy of driving. On the opposite end, you have full-blown simulators like iRacing or Assetto Corsa. Here, the experience is carefully crafted to reflect the nuance and challenge of real-life motorsport. People sink thousands of dollars into rigs just to ...