--- url: "https://www.reddit.com/r/vibecoding/comments/1x4a4cw/formula_minus_one_open_beta_6_months_of_work_huge/" title: Formula Minus One - Open beta | 6 months of work | Huge upgrade! source_kind: reddit subreddit: vibecoding author: ActionLittle4176 captured: "2026-10-21T21:44:08+00:00" comment_tree: true topics: [built-with-ai, formula-minus-one, three-js, racing-game] summary: Developer showcases Formula Minus One, a racing game built with AI tools and Three.js, now in open beta ahead of a February Steam launch. status: ok --- Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5310180/Formula_Minus_One/ Open beta: https://fm1.app ---- Some of you might remember my post about the 32/64bit-style racing prototype I had built in four months. Yes, it's a genre you see a lot around here, because it's easy to get started with (until the next dopamine-driven prototype). But I stuck with it. And the improvement over the past two months has been tremendous, and you'll see that if you compare the two videos. Since the last post, I listened to your feedback and: * Threw every level in the bin and rebuilt them from scratch, then added new ones that are far bigger and more detailed. It felt like jumping a console generation, and it still runs on mobile. * Wrote a design and style guide for the game (semi-low poly characters and duotone as design signature), and redesigned the characters and menus to match it. * Kept pushing to make it my own thing rather than yet another clone-slop: adventure vibes, interaction with the environments, kinetic combat with combos… * Improved the handling and the readability. And above all, and I think it shows in the trailer: I had a blast making it. If it had just been work, I wouldn't have gotten this far. It's called Formula Minus One, and it launches on Steam first, in February. I'll keep improving it and adding content after that. Half a year ago this was a prototype to experiment with, like so many others. Then I committed to making the best game I possibly could. Now I can finally see light at the end of the tunnel: yes, you can start a prototype, and yes, you can finish it. There's still a lot of work ahead, so any feedback you can give me is very welcome. Here’s how I made it: * Code and tooling: frontier LLMs from OpenAI and Anthropic, with open-source models filling in the gaps and limiting the budget. * Characters, ships and environments: pencil sketch > GPT Gen 2 > Tripo to turn it into a 3D model > Blender to clean up the imperfections. * Sound: stock sound effects from Magnific. Music sketched out on a MIDI keyboard, final music generated with Suno. * Stack: Three.js, WebGPU, TypeScript, Rapier for physics. Nothing else, no Godot, no Unity… I'm having a great time, but it's also hard work if you want to pay attention to every detail, and it's a very lonely experience. If the game sells well enough, I'd love to start paying artists and composers to replace the current assets and create new ones, and free up more time for what I really enjoy: directing and overall design. In fact, if you're an artist or composer and think you're a good fit for the game's tone, leave a comment or send me a DM so I can consider you! ---- Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5310180/Formula_Minus_One/ Open beta: https://fm1.app --- ## Comments **[unknown]:** [deleted] **ActionLittle4176:** Thanks! **agusrosich:** We have galactic racer at home Edit: cool cool **ActionLittle4176:** thanks! **Imnotanad:** omg it si so fun. Looks like a mix of San Francisco Rush and Cruis'n **ActionLittle4176:** Thanks! It started as a way to recover that kind of vibes (and f-zero, xtreme-g, wipeout, hydrothunder...) **Imnotanad:** yeah forgot that ones **aford515:** dude huge respect but this is not the right time to release a racing game. even if it was made by an amazing studio. **ActionLittle4176:** I know! Too late 😂 With the latest LLM models, there’s been a huge number of similar prototypes and demos. But I really enjoy the challenge of trying to stand out, and I’m not investing any money that I expect to recover. **aford515:** dude a star wars racing game just released and its great. **ActionLittle4176:** Oh! Well, I don't intend to compete with SWR 😅 but I think there's room for a much cheaper alternative (one that works on lighter desktops and smartphones). **ishkek-981:** cool, i think you can do a bit better in this case by saving videos of highlights via .mp4 format is it ok? **ActionLittle4176:** Yeah! I'm actually experimenting with that, even render the whole replay in max detail in a mp4 so you can watch your replay in high quality even if play with low-end hardware. **JoelArt:** Very impressive. Damn good job man! feedback 1 I don't think vibration working for me playing on my PC in Chrome with a wired DS5 though. 2 For a online demo, i think a clear guide to controls at the main/splash screen would have been good. I know i can find them in settings but some way to get people started might be good. Of perhaps allow the controls semi transparent on in the games hud as one is learning that can be toggled of later like how manby 3D software floats the current tool options and shortcuts in the viewport. **WardedDruid:** I want to play this in VR. this looks awesome. great job! **Fake-BossToastMaker:** I'm gonna say that - when people see AI made games they think why would someone care to use time on something you clearly didn't care enough to create. Especially when it's something you could have created on your own in half the time **werddoe:** I’ve read this multiple times and I have absolutely no idea what you’re trying to say. **Fake-BossToastMaker:** Then your comprehension skills are more lacking than mine in writing **JoelArt:** I see AI as a leverage, it multiplies your effort. Sure you can't really admire the dev for their skill at drawing or coding but you can still admire the game idea, the tuned game play and feel and so on. AI slop is a real thing. To get truly worthy result out of AI you still need to polish it a lot until it's rock solid. This is a clear example above most AI coded games. This would almost not be doable by a single person in that amount of time. AI here is just an enabler, the quality and actual fun is still on the hands of the creator. **Fake-BossToastMaker:** I hear you say that and I agree to a degree, but let's hyperbole one of the reasons why I disagree - especially when it comes to entertainment media. One of the quality-checking factors we always had is the human consideration. Someone looking over a product, idea, whatever it might be, and accepting if it's value was good enough for another human being. It's an unwritten deal of trust that we accept dozen of times every day. That trust is gone with AI, as there is no pure reasoning skills but rather imitation of the intelligence. If you decide to use AI, the trust is broken as there is no telling how far you've let AI take charge of the cognitive reasoning during the process. With that, everything loses it's actual value as I no longer have the trust that what I see has had an actual thought behind it. If you care more about outputting rather than creating, then what's the reason to care? We have limited time here on earth, AI can oversaturate any kind of media with unlimited content. I don't want to consume just to consume, I want to experience, learn and connect with others and be in awe of skill a different human has to offer. **JoelArt:** I agree the floodgates have opened and there is a over abundance to waddle through. But good games are good games, regardless of how they were created, it's just that the bar is so low now anyone can do a seemingly decent game. But in reality most will never achieve the polish needed to actually sell the product or game.