All videos are recorded in W11 using X Box Game Bar (60 FPS) on a RTX 5090 (5120×2160 monitor) The music in the videos are a internet radio that I listen meanwhile I work and play in PIE (Not added or edited outside X Box Game Bar)
Proposal for Epic MegaGrants – Demolition Derby GT – (Complete Document)
Project Vision
The idea is to make a game based on the original (Destruction Derby from 1995 Ref.H), but with all the improvements that the Unreal Engine allows today. All the destruction/fracture, points for collisions, rotations by impact, opponent destruction, audience, commentator, etc. But in my case, more based on fast action, few laps around the track and more realistic physics (a car cannot withstand a thousand impacts without almost no damage) and adding slow motion.
Key Differentiators
I want to avoid the boring feeling that racing games often have, of doing a thousand laps overtaking other racers, etc. (which the player accepts in exchange for points/experience, new cars, the classic «sacrifice for the prize»). It would be more like a sports show in the style of Monster Energy X Games or a Red Bull Hill climb, Monster Truck, Skate Jump, etc. (getting sponsorship from an energy drink company would be interesting).
With an advanced scoring system that prevents the race from being won by points (if you avoid crashing into other cars), or if you ignore the race and only try to destroy the other cars. Forcing a middle ground between arriving in a good position and putting on a good show.
Physics and Camera
I’m not looking for arcade action with exaggerated effects, unrealistic speeds, and incoherent vehicle resistance to impacts. The sensation I’m looking for is that of doing a race/show, as it would feel if you got into a Camaro ZL1 and competed against a Mustang GT, a Mercedes, etc. Regardless of crashing (killing yourself) and destroying an extremely expensive car (here’s where the virtual has no limits of the real).
Without the physical limits of the pilot (the driver can only see the car from the driver’s seat), adding between the typical cameras, an orbital camera that the player controls themselves and with the possibility of slowing down time (0.1x for example) to see in detail the impacts and the physics inherent to GT driving in this context.
Artificial inteligence for all NPC (Meta-humans)
Additionally, with the use of AI («Persona Device», LLM, or whatever), each pilot will have their own personality that will manifest clearly in their driving style, in pre-race interviews, etc.
Examples of personalities:
- «Crazy Joe»: Dangerous and temperamental, impulsive in their driving, unpredictable and dangerous (will crash into you for revenge even if he lose the race in the process)
- «Erik the Cold Blood»: Calculating, with a cold and intelligent strategy (won’t provoke crashes unless he get a benefit)
In such a way that the other pilots you compete against are not simply «blobs» to pass or crash into. Forcing you to recognize each one of them and act accordingly: You won’t respond the same way to seeing «Crazy Joe» in your rear-view mirror as to «Erik the Cold Blood.»
AI Announcer: Also the announcer (TV broadcast presenter), using «Persona Device» or some LLM, will comment on what’s happening in the race, respecting personalities and events, avoiding repeating the same pre-programmed phrases, based on race events and the emotional moment. There can even be a presenter on-field doing quick interviews with the pilot from the car window, right as they cross the finish line like For example in GT Slalom competition:
Ryan: Hey Erik! Spectacular descent, how did you feel? As a spectator your descent was incredible. Tell us, did everything go as you planned? How do you think the score will be?
Erik (cold blood): Well, you can always do better, but I’m satisfied. It was hard prior preparation, but I think it’s reflected in my descent, I hope the audience enjoyed the show.
Ryan: Without a doubt Erik, it was spectacular. I have no doubt the judges will reflect your effort in their scoring. Congratulations on this great descent!
Ryan: Well Leon, you’ve seen, Erik as always, he attends us with his famous calmness and analysis ability. An exciting descent that demonstrates the great skill and preparation Erik has us accustomed to. Here Ryan on-field, «I return the connection waiting for the next pilot.
Leon: Thank you very much Ryan for retransmitting Erik’s first impressions, we will return the connection at the next descent. Friends, you see, once again GT Slalom confirms itself as the best spectacle and we show it to you firsthand!
Interactive Mechanics: In the same way, the mechanics team will call you on the radio to inform you of important events, which the player can respond to by speaking with them and even arguing with them if they disagree with the instructions given (Ref.J). All of them MetaHumans.
Live broadcast and intervie
Finally, it would be very realistic that, if you win the race, you get a live interview. All synchronized between the TV channel broadcasting the event, the audience reacting to all of this, mechanics, etc. Basically replicating the functioning of a real spectacle broadcast live. Giant screens where the audience can see the show (live TV broadcast), even things like the «kiss to camera» and other interaction elements present in sporting events. I know player like to play, but take time to enjoy the real mature of a real event, gives sense and realism to everything.
Realism over quantity
I prefer a single track with 4 cars and everything looking real, to a story mode with a thousand cars and a thousand tracks, but in the end reality gets lost in the lack of details, which is what I see in most games (audience that are basically blobs moving repeatedly without meaning, presenters that repeat texts and, in general, underdeveloped behaviors that seem more like filler than base).
Interactive development process
On the other hand, I don’t have experience in video game creation, but I notice a certain «Formulaic» in the way games are made (in the end, they all look the same). For that reason, I believe a game can keep growing and reinterpret itself during the development process.
GT Slalom – Exclusive World Event
In this sense, while playing and testing the car and based on the sensations it gave me in the hills of the template with «landscape», new ideas have occurred to me that I believe are interesting and original.
Going down the «landscape» doing jumps, while orbiting the camera observing the car in slow-motion (checking that the physics were correct). I imagined the sides of the «track» full of audience, with camera flashes and reacting to the car’s passage, as it would be in a skiing slalom.
The GT Slalom idea:
I had the idea for the world event: GT Slalom. The competition would be a downhill slalom like skiing or snowboard, but each pilot with their car. The «track» would include different ramps and elements (like Monster Truck or Street Skateboarding) that allow the player to choose the line they consider will fit best with their style and give the best show.
In this turn-based competition of short duration (one or two minutes). By being able to see the car from the outside from any angle or with any of the multiple cameras and using slow-motion will allow seeing and anticipating the car’s behavior, creating the concept: «Technical Driving«. Being able to modify the driving strategy in advance and in real-time, thanks to the possibility that slow-motion offers to predict the car’s behavior (which is impossible at high speeds).
Collaborative Multiplayer (Innovative)
In this competition, each player will choose a musical composition for their descent. These three possibilities come to my mind:
- Individual Modo: The pilot drives and controls the camera at the same time, based on a chosen song.
- Dual Mode: One player controls the camera while another one drives the car, creating an original and novel multiplayer mode.
- Triple Cooperative Mode: One player generates music procedurally with customizable panels using Audio Widgets (this player would see in small the camera streaming, focusing on their procedural music generation panels in real-time). Another controls the camera and the third one drives the car, all three coordinated based on the camera output streaming (what the camera controller sends to the main stream (what the TV channel and audience receive)).
This last mode I believe would be a totally new and original way of doing collaborative multiplayer, but going beyond the typical «death match». Even the player who controls the camera could signal the pilot to wave to camera in the middle of a close shot in the middle of an acrobatic maneuver, which would give points for good team synchronization, just like the one who generates music procedurally, synchronizes it to the jumps, impacts and acrobatics that the pilot performs.
Dynamic Scoring System
The scoring system would be complex and would combine three bases: driving technique, synchronization with music, and dynamism (if the one controlling the camera does the entire descent in slow-motion, the audience would get bored and the score would be very low, for example). Making that the sum of the three reflects perfection and within each subcategory a scoring system of its own.
Fun Statuses With «Hook» Names
To give the game its own personality, this scoring system would include funny states:
- «Turtled»: When the car ends up upside down, like with Monster Trucks, directly affecting the final score.
- «European nice to meet you»: When the car in the air touches the ground with one of its right-side wheels and immediately after with one of its left-side ones and continues in the air afterwards.
- «Bear Hug»: When landing after a too high jump, all four wheels break, leaving the car «crushed» on the ground.
All shown on screen overlaid to the «main stream» with dynamic graphics and attractive design. As happens in sports events (Ref.V).
GT Slalom World Tournament Registration Process
To be able to register for the GT Slalom world tournament, the player must have won some previous demolition competition and pass «Technical Driving» tests, to ensure they have enough skill to be part of the competition.
Registration Tests examples:
- «On-Air»: The player will have to adjust the car parameters to be able to perform an intentional vehicle flip maneuver, measuring at the moment of flipping after a sharp turn, how long the car stays in the air and how many meters it covers without having ground contact (Ref.E).
- «Side Run»: Time and distance driving on two wheels (two-wheel stunt). And other tests with fun names that will occur to me.
Personal Motivation: Personally I prefer to spend hours practicing with the car, to be able to become part of GT Slalom, than to win money/credits and be able to buy a new car or tuning stickers for it.
Online Social Spectacle Mode
If the game were to have success, another very «social» function that could be included, would be the online retransmission of the GT Slalom competition showing the «main stream» of the TV show that broadcasts the event, with the possibility that the audience from internet can also vote for each descent in real-time, adding to the already explained scoring system.
Todo ello crearía una gran expectación, haciendo que cada equipo preparase muy cuidadosamente su descenso y generando una gran tensión y excitación para los jugadores en su turno, así como una sensación de evento intenso y emocionante tanto para jugadores como para espectadores.
Technologies And Unreal Engine Plugins
I will use the following technologies and plugins from Unreal Engine to achieve the project’s objectives:
| Tecnología | Propósito en el proyecto |
|---|---|
| Chaos Physics | Destructible real-time physics system |
| Chaos Modular Vehicle | Modular vehicle design with independently destructible components |
| Mass Population | Population simulation system for crowds, spectators, and dynamic crowd behavior |
| Nanite | Vehicle and environment models with complex geometry without manual LODs |
| Lumen | Global dynamic lighting and real-time reflections for realistic context |
| MegaLights | Massive lighting arrays for circuits, LED screens, and TV studios without performance constraints. |
| Path Trace | Photorealistic rendering for cutscenes and key moments of the show |
| Persona Device | AI for dialogue-heavy characters (presenters, mechanics, interviewees) with distinct personalities, emotions, and natural speech |
| Gameplay Cameras | Multi-camera system (driver, orbital, hood, wheel) controllable by player |
| Substrate | Modular assets pipeline for efficient reusability in vehicles and environments |
| MetaSounds | Procedural audio for engine effects, crashes, and dynamic ambiance |
| MetaHuman | NPCs and drivers with realistic facial expressions in interviews and broadcast |
| TechAudioTools | Advanced sound design tools for generative music in real-time |
| Niagara | Particle systems for crash effects, fire, smoke, and explosions |
Together, these technologies enable a realistic, maintainable, and scalable experience that surpasses the limits of comparable games.
Multimedia References
Engine Audio and Simulation Sound
A. Sonido real de Camaro ZL1 (2014)
Real sound for acoustic reference and sound design:
🔊 Sonniss – Camaro ZL1 2014
B. Joel Blanco Berg – Granular Simulation with Phase Plant
My favorite approach to replicate GT engine sound using Procedural/Granular synthesizer:
🎥 YouTube – Phase Plant Demo
C. Leon Beilmann – Revvolution Phase Plan Bank
Demonstration of advanced procedural audio simulation car engine presets bank:
🎥 YouTube – Revvolution
D. Explanation of Simulation Logic
Technical detail of how to replicate real engine sound using Phase Plant:
🎥 YouTube – Lógica detrás de Phase Plant
Note: Discussed with Leon Beilmann on LinkedIn, he confirmed that it’s possible to replicate the Camaro ZL1 sound (Ref.A) with this method, even directly with MetaSounds inside Unreal.
Physics and Chaos Modular Vehicle
E. «On Air» Test – Intentional Flip
Demonstration of vehicle parameter adjustment for aerodynamic maneuvers:
🎥 Test On-Air
F. Fracture Benchmark – RTX 5090
Destructive physics performance at 5120×2160 (ultrawide monitor):
🎥 Fracture Benchmark
G. GT Slalom & Technical Driving
Demonstration of the exclusive world event with orbital camera and slow-motion:
🎥 GT Slalom Demo
H. Gameplay Camera System
Camera system for technical driving and vehicle control:
🎥 Chaos Modular Gameplay Cameras
Procedural Generation and Personalities
I. Patrick Hart – Procedural Music Generation
Demonstration of procedural music generation for GT Slalom event:
🎥 YouTube – Procedural Music Generation
J. Persona Device – Mr. Buttons Demo
Demonstration of AI for presenter and host personalities with contextual dialogue and audience interaction:
🎥 YouTube – Persona Device Demo
Original Game
K. Demolition Derby 1995
Original PC game:
🎥 YouTube – Destruction Derby – Season 1: Race 1 – Speedway (1995) [MS-DOS]
Live events and broadcasts from a TV studio
V. Broadcast & Live Events
Live events:
🎥 Create show-stopping magic live in real time
*W. Virtual Studio
Sample scene for virtual studio:
🎥 Virtual Studio showcases in Unreal Engine
These references allow illustrating the technical and creative approach of the project, as well as the specific technologies that I will use to achieve the objectives set.
Conclusion
I hope that what has been narrated has awakened your imagination and that you find it as original and interesting as I do.