WindRush: Lake Garda, Fuerteventura and a Cup

Since the last article on 17 October, WindRush, my windsurf, kitesurf, wing and foil game for PC, has had a new version almost every day. In two weeks it gained two new spots, a longer career, a real cup with 25 riders and a whole new gear catalogue. Here's the roundup, with screenshots from the game.

Two new spots: Lake Garda and Fuerteventura

• Lake Garda (Italy): Torbole, Riva and Monte Baldo, with the Ora blowing at 19 knots every afternoon. Forest on the slopes, the Rocchetta rock face, quays with plane trees and terraces, and since 2 November real trees: cypresses, stone pines, olive trees and holm oaks.
• Fuerteventura (Canary Islands): the Sotavento lagoon and the trade wind at 24 knots, up to 30 on calima days. Canary palms, villas, a terraced hotel and an ochre cliff.

The game goes from 7 to 9 spots, and each new one has its time trial.

A 9-chapter career and a Cup

The career now has 9 chapters and 36 stages, with the "Lake Garda" and "Canary Islands" chapters. Races feel more like the real thing: a rolling start (with a 5-second penalty if you jump the gun), elimination heats and fin versus foil. At Sotavento there's a Cup on a 1.5 km course, with a village of tents, a podium and a giant screen: 25 riders, qualifying, semi-finals and A and B finals. There are also speed challenges: average over 500 m, peak over 2 seconds and runs above 63 km/h.

Waves, life on the water and reworked spots

• Waves: wave sets, more realistic barrels at Ho'okipa and Le Morne, and a board that bounces on the chop.
• Life on the water: TV and rescue helicopters, a RIB that comes to check on the rider after a big wipeout, sailboats and catamarans on six spots, swimmers.
• Étretat rebuilt (chalk and flint, chapel, golf course, about 300 kayaks, sailing school), Tarifa with its golden dune and Morocco's Rif mountains in the background, and Le Morne with more relief and its casuarinas.
• More realistic riders: real-life starts (carrying the gear, beach start, waterstart), lying flat on the board at full speed and getting going again on their own after a fall.

All the gear, in WindRush colours

On 1 November I redid the whole catalogue: 14 sail models (with a new freerace family), 25 boards, 11 kites, 3 wings and 5 foils. The next day, the sails were redrawn in monofilm and X-ply, with light shining through against the sun. And the sail sounds, synthesised in code: the crackle of the monofilm, the clack of the battens and the "whoump" when the sail fills.

Cameras, photo mode and performance

New views: drone, helicopter and water level (C key), a photo mode (O key) and a panel listing every key (H). On my laptop with Intel graphics, at high quality, the 2 November build runs at about 34 frames per second at Ho'okipa, 40 at Le Morne and 43 on Lake Garda. At Ultra quality, if memory runs short, the game drops to High by itself instead of crashing.

How to play it

WindRush is free and ad-free, for Windows PCs. You can download it on itch.io (a 180 MB installer that doesn't need administrator rights), and the whole game is presented on windrush.fr. The game is in French, English and Spanish.

Meanwhile I'm also working on Paititi, my adventure game, and I explain my method in making a game with Godot. For your own projects, see my custom software service.