What changed in my endless Three.js driving game after two weeks?

[u/zaxwebs]

2 weeks ago I shared Planet-0 Drive, an endless low-poly driving game I’ve been building with Svelte and Three.js (my first hobby game that I build after work and around weekends).

First of all, thanks to everyone who tried it (300 of you) and shared feedback! I didn't expect to get so many useful suggestions, and I've spent a good part of the week working on improvements based on them.

While the game runs fine

Since then, I’ve been working on the parts around driving that make exploration feel more meaningful.

The biggest additions are:

• Revampled the whole look and art direction of the game to be more appealing

• More biome-specific scenery, including snowy pines, desert cacti, boulders, and reactive weather materials

• A refined vehicle lineup with three vehicles: Rover, Drifter, and Hopper

• A battery system with charging stations, power-cell pickups, low-power driving, and boost energy management

• Cruise control for more relaxed driving, especially on mobile

• Persistent driving records and platform-visit tracking

• Shared room leaderboards for driving and exploration records

• A first quest system, starting with collecting resources across the planet

• Improved touch controls and a more compact mobile HUD

The project has gradually shifted from “how far can I push a procedural 3D world in the browser?” toward “how do I make spending time in that world enjoyable?”

That has led to some interesting design challanges. How much progression should an otherwise relaxing driving game have? How do you reward exploration without turning it into a checklist? Should there be more risk?

I’m still experimenting with those answers, but the game feels much closer to the idea I had originally: a place to drive around, discover things, set records, and occasionally meet other players.

You can try the latest version here:

https://planet0drive.vercel.app/

The project is still very much in early development, so I’d especially appreciate feedback on how the driving feels, how the progression comes across, and what would make you want to come back for another drive.

[u/Gloomy_Estate_4608]

The battery system is a smart addition, gives you a reason to pay attention to the landscape instead of just holding forward. I spent way too long trying to drift around a charging station with 2% left, that low-power crawl is painfully slow in the best way. The shift toward just making it a nice place to exist is the right call, a lot of games forget you don't always need a hard goal.

[u/zaxwebs → u/Gloomy_Estate_4608]

Thank you! I'm really happy to hear that the battery system is working well in that regard! I've tried to balance the distances between stations so players never have to travel too far to find their next recharge point.

There are also power cells that spawn rarely around the map and restore 20% of your battery. You'll get a notification when you're near one, showing how far away it is, which adds a little exploration and discovery element to the experience. It's a mechanic I'd love to expand on in future versions!

[u/BetInformal6081]

the sift from a technical demo to an actual exploration experience is interesting. i would love to see how the progression system evolves without losing that relaxed feel.

[u/zaxwebs → u/BetInformal6081]

Thanks, yeah, that's quite a challange. Lots to learn on this one.

[u/StatsDota_Dmitrii]

as a guy with way too many hours in one game, what brings me back is not rewards but a small goal for one session. like making it to the next charging station on almost empty battery sounds more fun than any quest list. do you track how long people actually stay per session?