Dhaka Racing

Dhaka Racing is a racing video game developed and published by eSophers Ltd. Its demo version was released on 2 March 2002, for Microsoft Windows with the commercial version being released on 12 January 2003, and it is the first 3D game developed in Bangladesh. The game is set on the streets of Dhaka.[1]

Dhaka Racing
Developer(s)eSophers
Publisher(s)eSophers
Designer(s)Ashik Noon
Adnan Karim
Programmer(s)Mozammel Haque
Ruman Zakaria
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
ReleaseDemo version
2 March 2002
Commercial version
12 January 2003
Genre(s)Racing
Mode(s)Single-player

The final version of the game was released at the Bangladesh Computer Society (BCS) Computer Fair, Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC), Agargaon on 12 January 2003. It received the Best Product Award of that fair from the country's president, Iajuddin Ahmed.

Gameplay

The game features some of the famous and busy streets of Dhaka. Players choose from 8 different vehicles including traditional Bangladeshi vehicles, such as the rickshaw and auto rickshaw. Players select from four different locations for racing: Manik Mia Avenue, Chandrima/Zia Uddyan, the Ramna Park area or the runway of Zia International Airport, along with a special track – the Sylhet Osmani International Airport area.[2] Players can also choose weather conditions. There is a game mode called Rickshaw Mania where the player can have a race as a rickshaw driver against other rickshaws.[3]

Development

The founders, chief designers and programmers of the game, Ashik Noon and Adnan Karim were only final-year students of computer science and engineering at the North South University during the development of the game. Noon and Karim took 500 pictures of various streets in Dhaka to make the game realistic.[1] The graphics modeling was done through Autodesk 3ds Max while the game's logic, artificial intelligence, vehicle movement and behavior was programmed using Visual C++.[4][5]


Reception

Initially, a demo version of the game was released in March 2002. A few months later on 12 January 2003, the full version came into the market. The game received the Best Product award at BCS Computer Fair 2003. To protect it from piracy, the developers later only allowed the game to be downloaded online through payments.[2]

Dhaka Race received widespread acclaim and pioneered the 3D video game industry of Bangladesh. Then-President of Bangladesh Dr. A. Q. M. Badruddoza Chowdhury gave a special award to Noon and Karim for developing the first 3D game in the country.[1][2] ICT Minister of Bangladesh Dr. Abdul Moyeen Khan also appreciated the game.

Later, eSophers developed multiple 3D games such as Bangladesh 71 (a first-person shooter game set during the Bangladesh Liberation War), JPGL Boat Racing Game (a multiplayer boat racing game for British American Tobacco), Kolkata Racing (a racing game for Sonolite Multimedia India) for local and international markets.

References
  1. "Hang on, it's race time". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 31 December 2002. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  2. "The first 3D game developers of Bangladesh". The Daily Star. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  3. "IMAGE" ঢাকার রাস্তায় রিক্সা আর গাড়ির রেস. Daily Ittefaq (in Bengali). 29 January 2003. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  4. "IMAGE" দুই তরুণের বিস্ময়কর উদ্ভাবন. Daily Ittefaq (in Bengali). 31 July 2002. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
  5. "IMAGE" গাড়ি ছোটান মানিক মিয়া অ্যাভেনিউতে. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 7 June 2002. Retrieved 18 May 2014.
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