Jetpack Joyride Racing

Jetpack Joyride Racing is a racing game in which up to 6 players face each other on a variety of maps to see who can reach the finish the fastest. One of the features that sets it apart from other racing games is the way you accelerate. Players have to angle themselves correctly along the booster strips at the edges of the track and weigh cutting corners and avoiding obstacles over gaining more speed.

What was my role?

My team was brought in during the later stages of development on JJR. Initially, just to implement features into Halfbrick's internal SDK and then the actual game. Later on, this changed as it was determined that the game's codebase was neither ready for the launch nor ready to support post-launch updates. As a result, my team was tasked with refactoring the codebase to ensure that it is maintainable and, more importantly, allows for future game modes and the addition of new features down the road.

• Halfbrick SDK updates & integration: The Halfbrick SDK was undergoing a major overhaul, which meant that accessing its features changed completely. Integrating this new SDK version into JJR, handling feedback on the SDK, and implementing new features, like party and voice chat systems, into the SDK, were things I worked on during my time on JJR. These updates and additions, of course, had to adhere to the architecture and guidelines set for the overhauled SDK.
• Codebase refactor & polish: The codebase of JJR was the result of many iterations of prototyping and therefore lacked any real architectural structure. Extending and maintaining the game after launch, hence, would have taken considerable effort and time. To avoid that, my team and I cleaned up large parts of the codebase, touching both gameplay and backend systems alike, which resulted in it not only being significantly more maintainable and easier to work with but also in it being set up to support future extensions and modifications without having to touch more sections than absolutely needed.
• QA & bug fixing: Getting the game ready for launch also meant that any pre-existing issues and newly introduced bugs after the overhaul had to be addressed. While the refactor made many of these issues trivial to resolve, some bugs that touched the old codebase did require stepping through bit by bit with debugging tools to understand and address the problem.