Classic pseudo-3D racing road effects

Cue the budget wibbly-wobbly ‘going back in time’ special effects, as for this coding tutorial we’re going to look at some the old-school techniques used in some of the classic racing video games such as Road Rash (1991), Outrun (1986) and Pole Position (1982). Designed to work smoothly on low-powered hardware, these are smart visual tricks that create a fake 3D effect.

What is known as pseudo-3D techniques were used to create a simulated 3D racing effect. The games would often be played by a single player or two players against computer opponents. The Pseudo 3D Road project (created by Ray Tomely) that we will be looking at, even though not a full video game, is a selection of examples of pseudo-3D techniques demonstrating ways to generate the 3D effect. You will see that once the project has been downloaded, these programming techniques are located in different folders that each demonstrate a pseudo-3D effect.

Getting started

To get started we will need a few things: Python, PyGame and the Pseudo 3D road project. To install Python, open a terminal window (Ctrl+Alt+T) and type sudo