Platform Racing 3

Platform Racing 3 (commonly abbreviated PR3) is a 2010 online multiplayer racing Flash game developed by Jacob Grahn and Sparkworkz.
Due to internal issues at Sparkworkz, it was never completed or published on other websites as planned. Despite its limited release and minimal advertising, the game amassed over 13 million plays by May 2011, slightly over half of what its predecessor had on Kongregate at the time."Platform Racing 3 for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store" (May 28, 2011 archive)"Kongregate: Most Played Games" (July 6, 2011 archive)
Initially planned as the final installment in the series, Jiggmin's since said he hopes to make a fourth entry one day."inXile's Sparkworkz™ announces the next installment in the hit Flash series Platform Racing™!". inXile Entertainment. March 22, 2010."Platform Racing 3 - Sparkworkz.com". September 2010 (archive)."Platform Racing 4 and the Future!". Freegoose. September 9, 2015.
==History==
===Pre-Release===
Speculation on a third Platform Racing began shortly after the second's release. Jiggmin confirmed he was working on a sequel in an October 2008 blog about an idea that didn't make it in the final game called "ground brushes"."Oct 27 – pr3
Platform Racing 3 feature: Ground brushes. You’re not limited to just blocks any more.
Different types of ground have different effects; you run a bit slower in tall grass, you sink in quicksand, you can’t run up a slope of ice, you hop around on hot rocks, you stick to tar, etc, etc.". Jiggmin. 2008. 
He soon afterwards began development on Blossom Server, which was released in May 2009 and served as the basis for PR3's server."pr2 and pr3". Jiggmin. March 1, 2009. Around the same time Jiggmin said the game would "be out by the end of [2009]", though he admitted the estimate wasn't realistic."An Interview with Jiggmin". Casual Game Informer. April 15, 2009. A handful of blogs were posted over the rest of the year mostly related to design aspects, though specific details were avoided."pr3 chat". Jiggmin. August 31, 2009."browsing". Jiggmin. October 13, 2009."to the moderators and admins". Jiggmin. September 9, 2009."Building a better color picker". Jiggmin. November 29, 2009."June". Jiggmin. July 1, 2009. Noting its unusually secretive nature, he later said to quell rumors: "I have been working on [PR3] all this time despite my silence. There is a reason I don't talk about it very much or ever divulge any details.""vBulletin 4". Jiggmin. March 5, 2010.
In March 2010 inXile Entertainment announced via a press release that they had partnered with Jiggmin to develop PR3, with the company's CEO, Brian Fargo, saying: 
"Jacob definitely did something right with Platform Racing 1 and 2, and we wanted him to see his entire vision through with Platform Racing 3."
Jiggmin also said in the same release: 
"Platform Racing 1 and 2 are fun games, they have some neat bits, but they never felt finished. Platform Racing 3 is the completion of what I’ve been trying to make all along."
The partnership came about after Fargo saw his employees playing PR2 one day and asked them to send him Jiggmin's email, similarly to how they acquired Line Rider."The New Sparkworkz is Here!". Sparkworkz. September 11, 2010. The company's webgaming division Sparkworkz was tasked with the graphics and bringing PR3 to mobile platforms, while Grahn programmed the desktop version. Jiggmin confirmed the news a day later in his blog."hmmmm". Jiggmin. March 23, 2010. Several teaser images revealing the game's art style, level editor and new Rocket Launcher item were posted on sparkworkz.com the next day, which were received positively by fans."PR3 screenshots". Jiggmin. March 24, 2010."Platform Racing 3 is coming soon, REAL soon". Kongregate. March 23, 2010.
PR3 Screenshot02.jpg
Screenshot03.jpg
Screenshot01.jpg
PR3 Screenshot.png
While a release date wasn't given yet, Jiggmin started announcing heavily requested features around then, including the block editor and text tool."Workin' on a:". Jiggmin. February 6, 2010."A much requested feature". Jiggmin. April 14, 2010."Typing words with letters". Jiggmin. May 29, 2010.
Following an impromptu countdown thread on Jiggmin's forum, the game's level editor was released on June 2."The (probably inaccurate) countdown!" Jiggmin's Village. June 2, 2010. Like PR2, a contest began the same day where players could get their level on the campaign, which ended 3 weeks later."The PR3 campaign creation beta has begun!". Jiggmin. June 2, 2010."One week notice". Jiggmin. June 17, 2010. Meanwhile several fans were invited to test the full game to work out possible server issues before the public release.
===Cancellation===
Following the open beta release, PR3 received regular updates up to mid-2011, but was never finished. inXile experienced massive layoffs over the spring and summer of 2011 that effectively shrunk the company down to a skeleton crew."Un*varnished: Episode 3 with Gavin Rich". Cura Studios. July 5, 2018. This included most of the team responsible for Sparkworkz, along with the person who published new builds of PR3 sent by Jiggmin. Further development on the site terminated as a result and it was left with only enough staff to maintain their servers.
Sometime between then and May 2013, Jiggmin and inXile contacted each other to discuss the game and series as a whole's status. The two came to an agreement that the series rights would return to Jiggmin and he could release PR3 elsewhere, but the exact terms are unclear. According to inXile they handed the rights to PR3 over to Jiggmin and gave him free rein to post it elsewhere."Reply from inXile staff member "Brother None" to "purr cot": Sparkworkz is indeed not being very actively updated. We gave the rights of Platform Racing 3 back to the developer so they could run and update it if they were so inclined. I don't know if he has done so though." inXile Forums. May 27, 2013. Jiggmin on the other hand said he was under the belief releasing it came with the stipulation that all of Sparkworkz's contributions be stripped from it.jiggmin.com/threads/102950-Jiggmin-lied-to-us-this-whole-time?p=2601071&viewfull=1#post2601071 (lost post from Jiggmin) A project briefly sprung up for this, though it never materialized. In addition, despite inXile's agreement to return the series rights to Jiggmin, documents reveal they held onto the Platform Racing trademark until 2017 when it expired from lack of use."PLATFORM RACING" - United States Patent and Trademark Office
Jiggmin's largely not talked about PR3 since its cancellation aside from a handful of messages.
====Shut Down====
On February 3, 2015 inXile Entertainment closed their Sparkworkz division and its online games, including Platform Racing 3."Sparkworkz is gone". Jiggmin's Village. February 3, 2015. 
Visiting the site lead to a page explaining their decision and that some games were still available elsewhere."sparkworkz.com" (March 2023 archive) Jiggmin himself never made an official statement on the shut down and hasn't expressed interest in setting up servers of his own.
=====Revival=====
A fan project emerged a few months later in August 2015 titled Platform Racing 3: Reborn that lead to the game being revived through a private server and receiving many unofficial updates, such as new hats, blocks, game modes and music."Platform Racing 3 Reborn". Acid Forums. August 18, 2015.
==Gameplay==
Platform Racing 3 is an online racing game where players compete against each other on foot in community-made levels. 
Various items are available for them to use that can give them an advantage or hinder their opponents. Players earn experience points at the end of matches that eventually let them rank up and gain more stat points to enhance their speed, acceleration and jump height. Prizes (which include body parts and hats) have a chance of popping-up as well and are awarded to the winner. 
Users can communicate through chatrooms and private messages much like PR2. New features also allow them to share their levels/custom blocks with each other and race a ghost of someone on their friends list in the campaign.
While past entries were limited to racing, 3 other game modes have been added: 
*deathmatches, where players fight until only one's left standing.
*hat attacks, in which they try to grab every hat on the map.
*coin fiends, a timed match where they compete to grab the most coins.
Gameplay's slower-paced overall than PR2 to accommodate these modes, though still considerably faster than the first. To compensate players have slightly more control over their character and can pass obstacles requiring more precise movements easier.
The level editor returns featuring numerous improvements. Several new blocks have been added, and multiple designs are available for all of them to match pre-drawn backgrounds.
Art layers received a complete overhaul, and members are now able to create their own layers with custom depth and transparency amounts. A new text tool also lets them type out words as an alternate to writing them. Other settings allow players to set their map's game mode, gravity, items and chance of certain events triggering, such as Super Flying Cowboy Hat Mode and snow among others. They can also test their level using any stat combination and save it if they have an account. "Publish" must be checked however for other players to find it in the lobby. 
Maps are rated through a 1-5 star system. The ones with the highest score by number of ratings are featured on either "Best" or "Best Today" depending on when they were published.
Platform Racing 3 introduces a block editor that allows players to create their own custom blocks. It comes equipped with the same drawing tools available in the level editor. Some block types let them set different characteristics for each side. For example: a block giving an item from the left side may also explode from the top. 
Deleted custom blocks aren't automatically removed from levels they're used in, instead being replaced by a generic safe block with a red x inside it to minimize issues. 
The editor's also home to the exclusive block types "impervious" and "hurt". Impervious blocks are indestructible, while hurt blocks stun players without exploding. Creators have more control over a few existing block types in the editor as well, including the ability to set patterns for change and move blocks as well as which items come out of a specific item block.
==Customization==
See also: Platform Racing 3/Body Parts
See also: Platform Racing 3/Hats
Like the last game, players can style their avatar using a variety of body parts and hats. 
While most hats in PR2 at the time return with new appearances, no old parts were brought back, instead featuring new ones for them to collect.
==Campaign==
Main article: Platform Racing 3/Campaign
The game has a single player campaign that new members are intended to play through first. It includes 50 levels, a substantial increase from prior installments. The first roughly dozen maps compose of tutorials, while the rest are races with varying difficulties.
The method prizes are given out has changed to a medal system due to multiplayer being removed. Each level has set times for gold, silver and bronze medals. After players earn a certain amount of gold medals, they'll receive a body part or hat. Later maps are also locked until enough medals are collected.
==Blocks==
Each block has 6 variants to match pre-drawn backgrounds. They're listed below in the following order: Desert, Industrial, Jungle, Underwater, Space and Classic. 
Block	Name 	Description
 	Start 	Marks the point where players begin the level.
 	Basic 1 	A simple safe block.
 	Brick 	Breaks if bumped from below.
 	Crumble 	Shatters if hit too hard.
 	Finish 	Marks the end of the match.
 	Ice 	Slippery.
 	Infinite Items 	Provides an unlimited supply of items.
 	Item 	Gives out 1 random item.
 	Mine 	Explodes once touched.
 	Move 	Moves about randomly.
 	Push 	Can be pushed around.
 	Rotate Left 	Rotates the level 90° clockwise.
 	Rotate Right 	Turns maps counterclockwise 90°.
 	Happy 	Boosts stats by 5.
 	Sad 	Lowers stats by 5.
 	Safety Net 	Teleports players to their last safe area.
 	Vanish 	Briefly vanishes when touched.
 	Water 	Swim!
 	Red Teleport 	Teleports a player to another red teleport block of the same variant.
 	Blue Teleport 	Teleports people to a blue teleport block of the same variant.
 	Yellow Teleport	Teleports someone to a yellow teleport block of the same variant.
 	Bounce 	Physics-defying trampoline.
 	Change 	Changes into another block every so often.
 	Up 	Pushes upwards on whoever stands on it. Players can also stick to the bottom of it.
 	Down 	Makes it difficult to jump. Also pushes people down from the side.
 	Left 	Moves those standing on it to the left.
 	Right 	Pushes whoever stands on it to the right.
==Items==
Most returning items have seen complete design overhauls to match the new art style. In addition, 5 new ones were added.
Item	Name 	Ability
 	Angel's Wings 	Covers both vertical and horizontal distance.
 	Black Hole 	Draws nearby opponents into it.
 	Jet Pack 	Allows the user to fly momentarially.
 	Laser Gun 	Fire long-ranged lasers.
 	Lightning 	Stun every opponent on the course.
 	Portable Block 	Placeable block that shatters if hit too hard.
 	Portable Mine 	Explodes when touched.
 	Rocket Launcher	Launches a block-destroying rocket.
 	Shield 	Protects players for several seconds.
 	Speed Burst 	Doubles speed for a short time.
 	Super Jump 	Portable super jump.
 	Sword 	Short-range sword that can slash others.
 	Teleport 	Teleports the player 3 block-spaces ahead.
==Music==
Main article: Songs
PR3's soundtrack is primarily composed of songs by Kevin Greenlee, also known as LoudCore."Kevin Greenlee" - Soundlistener.com He cited the game as one of the more important projects of his life since it was why he went into writing music for games as a career."Kevin Greenlee: Various Projects" - kevintg.com 
There are 3 exceptions: Ambrient by ganon95 along with 2 tracks used for holiday-themed menus: Matt McLellan's Holiday for Mr. Anderson and Pawel Blaszczak's Above Mountains. 
Notably, the series theme song Noodle Town wasn't remixed due to Jiggmin's music program being broken at the time."PR2 Luna Campaign Week 9" (34:23) Instead a shortened version of Mainframe Domain is used. 
Audio	Song 	Length
 	Ambrient 	2:01
 	Audio Meltdown 	1:36
 	Chrome Tech 	4:53
 	Conquering the Summit 	3:41
 	Corrupt Contagion 	2:34
 	Dark Faction 	3:10
 	Dark Samhain 	2:18
 	Entering the Demon 	3:20
 	Exploration Dive 	2:45
 	Faulty Apparatus 	2:24
 	Flying Underground 	2:46
 	Further Than Distance 	2:31
 	Gothic Empress 	3:37
 	Mainframe Domain 	4:35
 	Mercury Drop 	2:35
 	Overlooked Memories 	3:25
 	Recycled Thoughts 	2:45
 	Red Transparency 	3:18
 	Resistance Faction 	2:32
 	Rough Edges 	4:04
 	Sky Shift 	2:23
 	Stylization 	1:56
 	Tell it how it is 	2:17
 	Turning Base 	2:30
 	Wave of Thoughts 	3:02
 	Welcome to Metropolis 	3:24
 	Holiday for Mr. Anderson	2:40
 	Above Mountains 	2:22
==Updates==
See also: Platform Racing 3/Update History
==Mobile App==
Main article: Platform Racing 3 (App)
A mobile port for iOS devices was released in May 2011, the only one of Jiggmin's games to receive an app. 
It was negatively received for its buggy online however and removed from the app store later that December."PR3's Not In The Itunes Store...". Jiggmin's Village. December 30, 2011.
==Unused Content==
Main article: Unused Content#Platform Racing 3
Given its sudden halt in development, PR3 has a large amount of unused content in the final build and iOS app compared to Jiggmin's other games.
==Awards==
Platform Racing 3 was a nominee for "Best Multiplayer Game" at the 2011 Flash Gaming Summit, although it didn't receive enough votes to become a finalist."Platform Racing 3" - Sparkworkz (November 25, 2010 archive)"Mochi Award Finalists:". Flashgamingsummit.com (January 27, 2011 archive).
==Trivia==
*While commonly believed PR3 was planned to always be exclusive to Sparkworkz, they originally intended to at least release it on Kongregate once it was out of beta."Reply from Sparkworkz to Huse's shout: Right now we are definitely keeping the beta for PR3 on sparkworkz. Clearly there is a huge fan base on Kongregate and they definitely deserve to play it :) Until then, any comments and feedback we can get over at sparkworkz to make the game better would be awesome. Why wait until it comes to Kongregate? Voice your opinions now at www.sparkworkz.com! ;)". July 22, 2010.
*As of 2016 Jiggmin still has access to all accounts, levels and custom blocks from the game."Jiggmin's wife on Acid Forums: ^incorrect :). He has both rights and data :)". June 20, 2016.
*Jiggmin accidentally leaked the block editor in late 2009, though it went unnoticed. He posted a Flash file showing off the game's color picker, leaving some of its code in it by mistake.
*Not counting the unmade fourth installment, this is the only Platform Racing game to:
**Be a collaboration.
**Exclusively be on one website.
**Have a single player campaign.
**Use Blambot Custom for the title's font instead of Gwibble.
**Have the EXP Bonus stat.
**Use multiple backgrounds for the main menu.
Platform Racing 3 - Thanksgiving Background.png|The thanksgiving main menu.
Platform Racing 3 - Christmas Background.png|The Christmas one, featuring falling snowflakes.
**Not feature the player's held item in a corner of the screen.
**Have a block editor.
**Not include the original PR1 body parts.
**Have matches be hosted by players.
**Not have minimum rank requirements to play certain levels.
==Links==
*Play Platform Racing 3
*Changes From Platform Racing 2 to Platform Racing 3
==References==
Category:Games
Category:Platform Racing Games
Category:Online Games
Category:Multiplayer Games
Category:Collaborations
Category:Games Nominated for Awards
Category:Games with Mobile Versions
Category:2010 Games
Category:Unfinished Games
Category:Platform Racing 3 Articles