• Register

Tropical Heat Jet Ski Racing


Tropical Heat is a Jet Ski trick and racing competition in the tropics. Race in both Single and Multiplayer. Build up power to boost your speed to get big air jumps to perform a variety of tricks and combo tricks. Earn high scores and achievements and win all 15 races to unlock Extreme.

Download and play the Updated Single and Multiplayer, PC and Mac Demo
Tropicalheatgame.com

If you enjoy playing the demo, you can buy Tropical Heat for PC and Mac on our website!

You can buy the newly released iPhone or iPad version of Tropical Heat on iTunes!
Itunes.apple.com

Somatic Vision


We are a small independent studio. We have spent the last 2 years developing Tropical Heat. We love old school arcade racing games, but we also like a little bit of the physics defying fun in games like SSX. Tropical Heat is all about building up power to jump into big air to perfom as many tricks as you can while still keeping an eye on winning the race. We hope that you enjoy playing the Tropical Heat demo with your friends! If you enjoy playing, please rate the game!

We made Tropical Heat, because we wanted to play a game that made us feel like we had left the real life rat race and escaped to remote tropical islands where we could bask in the sunshine and feel the rhythm of the ocean waves as we raced jet skis with our friends just for the pure joy of it. That's how we feel when we play Tropical Heat. We hope you feel the same way when you play!

Features


  • Customizing

    In Tropical Heat you can customize your character and Jet Ski. Play as a young man or woman. Choose your character's swimsuit, sunglasses, hair color and hair style.

  • Racing

    There are 5 days of races in Tropical Heat Each day there is a morning, an afternoon and either a sunset or a night racing heat. Win each race to unlock the next. Win all of the races to unlock Extreme mode. Race either against computer opponents or against other players in Multiplayer.

  • Scores

    Tropical Heat is not just a race to the finish line. You're also competing to get the most points, the most tricks, and the biggest jumps. At the end of each race, you can see how well you scored.

  • Tricks

    Big jumps into the air allow you to do tricks. In Tropical Heat, there are two types of tricks. Tricks performed with a Jet Ski, like a flip, and tricks performed on a Jet Ski, like a hand stand. Get big enough air and you can do more than one trick or even trick combos, like flipping the Jet Ski while doing a handstand.

  • Diving

    Ramps are not the only way to get big jumps in Tropical Heat. Using power to boost your speed, you can dive under the water which causes you to jump back out of the water. The deeper you dive the higher your jump out of the water. Dive deep enough under big waves and you can even jump over the corner of an island.

  • Achievements

    In addition to winning races and getting the best scores, there are dozens of achievements to earn while playing Tropical Heat.

  • Multiplayer

    You can race against the computer in Tropical Heat or against other people in Multiplayer. You can join a game or start your own, competing with up to 8 other players. Show everyone you are the best in the world, or just hang out together enjoying tropical paradise.

  • View media
  • View media
  • View media
  • View media
  • View media
  • View media
RSS Articles

The Debut 3 Bundle

News 9 comments

The Debut 3 Bundle is the latest collection of games seeking a place on Steam from Indie Royale. Five games -- Stained, Tropical Heat - Jetski Racing, LogiGun, Tales of Maj'Eyal and Crayon Chronicles -- from developers we hope will be the indie stars of tomorrow. There's also a great bonus album from Stephen Pearlman - The Raven - for those who beat the $8 price.



Stained
RealAxis Software’s Stained is a side scrolling action-platformer with a healthy dose of puzzles. Set in a mysterious castle featuring detailed 3D environments with a continually changing game world, the the player is kept guessing what the next puzzle will be.
Stained is available for Windows via Desura and DRM-Free.

Tropical Heat - Jetski Racing

Developed by Somatic Vision, Tropical Heat is a Jet Ski racing competition set in the tropics. Race in both Single and Multiplayer or just relax and enjoy riding on the beautiful ocean around lush tropical islands in Free Ride. Customize your character and jet ski.
Tropical Heat - Jetski Racing is available for Windows via Desura and via a CD-Key. It's also available for Mac.

LogiGun
A physics-based puzzle platformer from developer Sodium Eyes about a girl named June as she climbs a tower filled with perplexing puzzles. Push your abilities of reasoning and logic to the limit in LogiGun as you mix-and-match a variety of unique tools to overcome a series of increasingly intricate challenges.
LogiGun is available for Windows, both DRM-Free and via Desura.

Tales of Maj'Eyal

Darkgod's Tales of Maj’Eyal is a roguelike RPG, featuring tactical turn-based combat and advanced character building. Play as one of many unique races and classes in the lore-filled world of Eyal, exploring random dungeons, facing challenging battles, and developing characters with your own tailored mix of abilities and powers.
Tales of Maj'Eyal is available for Windows via Desura and for Mac & Linux via a CD-Key.

Crayon Chronicles
Crayon Chronicles offers a relatively short but action-packed RPG experience that randomly generates the level layouts each time you play. You are encouraged to play through the game more than once thanks to the random nature of the environment layouts, but also because the developer - Outer Grid Games - keeps track of the interesting facts about each play-through so you can compare your adventures to others'.
Crayon Chronicles is is available for Windows via Desura and via a CD-Key.

The Bundle Album $8 Bonus
The bundle bonus album is from Stephen Pearlman (Haberdashery) who has been crafting synth-pop since 2004. Strongly influenced by Erasure and Björk, his productions are lush and incorporate multi-layered cinematic sounds with pop sensibilities. Bundle bonus album The Raven represents is an electropop adaptation of "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe. Beat the $8 price to get this bonus album.


View interviews with some of the developers whose games we've have been featured in different Indie Royale bundles on our YouTube channel check in for the latest videos.

You can find more information on The Spiral Groove Bundle, including real-time statistics and its current price, on its official website or via its Facebook, Twitter and Google+ pages. As ever, the bundle is cheaper the sooner that you purchase its (unless, of course, some kind purchaser opts to lower the price for others) although there is tremendous value here whatever price you pay.

Tropical Heat Jet Ski Racing Released pn Desura

Tropical Heat Jet Ski Racing Released pn Desura

News

A Jet Ski racing competition in the tropics, racing in both Single and Multiplayer.

Tropical Heat - Free Game Music

Tropical Heat - Free Game Music

News

We've spent a long time choosing music for Tropical Heat, and we're happy to share the excellent results for free! Visit our Tropical Heat Radio, and...

Tropical Heat Makes Steam Greenlight Top 100!

Tropical Heat Makes Steam Greenlight Top 100!

News

Tropical Heat just got voted into the top 100 games on Steam Greenlight. Thanks to everyone for their wonderful support of our efforts to get Tropical...

Tropical Heat Mac Demo Available!

Tropical Heat Mac Demo Available!

News

Tropical Heat Jet Ski Racing demo for Mac OS X now available on Indie DB. Play the Shimmering Wake track, an intense Jet Ski trick race course through...

RSS Files
Tropical Heat Mac OS X Demo

Tropical Heat Mac OS X Demo

Demo

Download the Tropical Heat demo (for Mac OS X) to play Shimmering Wake, a race in the sun through beautiful tropical islands on top of sparkling ocean...

Tropical Heat Windows Demo

Tropical Heat Windows Demo

Demo 1 comment

Download the Tropical Heat demo (for Windows) to play Shimmering Wake, a race in the sun through beautiful tropical islands on top of sparkling ocean...

Post comment Comments  (0 - 10 of 69)
Namelessness
Namelessness

Are there any plans to remove the activation limit ?

What does the invite only release mean ? I remember when the game was on sale on Desura.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+2 votes
swordtut
swordtut

i'ed pass on this game untill the 3 activation limit drm is removed.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+5 votes
Barefoot_Monkey
Barefoot_Monkey

Hi SomaticVision. Tropical Heat looks great, and after looking through your website I have a lot of respect for what you've done with serious games.

I realise that you have a game you're proud of and put in a bundle probably hoping give your game some exposure in the consumer games market to get the sales ball rolling, and maybe even push you through Steam Greenlight, but then you got a huge backlash that has nothing to do with the quality of the game itself.

Unfortunately, the activation issue is something that naturally eclipses the actual game. I can quite easily burn through 3 activations an a couple of months without trying (on a single PC without engaging in piracy) and I'm not keen on going out of my way to avoid doing that, or on the prospect of begging for a new activation. So instead of immediately firing up the game to see what it's like I put it off, reluctant to start using up the activations that I have. And at the end of the day you get people complaining without even having tried it, some of whom also downvote on Greenlight. Which is all quite tragic because judging by the video your game looks brilliant.

It's a fact of life that limited activation policies are quite hated just about everywhere in the consumer games market. It's not a Desura thing - go to Steam, for example, and you're likely to find them even less-forgiving than here. And you *want* to be on Steam - that does wonders for sales.

Honestly, a limited activation system is something that seriously alienates home users, and I strongly advise removing it. This market behaves very differently to the one you're used to, and removing limited activations here will very quickly help you immensely. I really hope to see you succeed and, in my opinion, this is the best way for you to do that.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+13 votes
SirPrimalform
SirPrimalform

Take a look at this: Somaticvision.com

$149!? How many activations do I get for that then?

Note: This appears to be for a slightly different version of the game, one that makes use of heart rate sensors. Having said that, the $149 price tag is for the version that doesn't come with a sensor!

Reply Good karma Bad karma+2 votes
SomaticVision Creator
SomaticVision

Right, basically we are used to making high end serious games for psychologists offices, which is why we are used to DRM.

Reply Good karma0 votes
SirPrimalform
SirPrimalform

Surely you must recognise that this is a completely different market though?

From our perspective, your DRM system is us having to ask for permission every time we want to install the game, knowing that at some point you might go "No, no more for you!". Stuff like that is the reason Spore was extremely highly pirated when it released, people don't like to have to ask permission for doing perfectly reasonable things like install a game they bought.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+4 votes
SomaticVision Creator
SomaticVision

Just to make it very clear to everyone, I'm sorry for all of your issues with the DRM on this game. We've been making software for years, and all of it is DRM protected with serial numbers. No one has complained, and we manually unlock serial numbers for people with crashes. This is our first non-serious game, and I had no idea people were so anti DRM (specifically on Desura?). The DRM wasn't mentioned simply because I thought it was a standard thing, not a surprise. To those of you who purchased thinking it was DRM free (or were forced to get it as part of a bundle that was otherwise DRM free), I'm sorry that it was unclear at the time that it was protected, and I only now, from this magnitude of comments, realize how important it is to this audience to have DRM free games.

Reply Good karma+3 votes
shipwrecksos
shipwrecksos

I understand what you're saying. I really do. DRM for commercial use has been the norm for a while(e.g. Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, etc.) ALL enforce online activation. BUT, please read carefully, because I'm going to try to give you an friendly explanation that isn't merely "zOMG, ____ THIS GAME BECAUSE DRM IS EVIL!"

Based on what you've already commented multiple times, you don't seem to understand that by putting your game on this site, you are ALREADY protecting you game from pirated usage, because people can only access and launch the game through Desura itself. This is why practically no other game on this site has bothered protecting their games with online activation limits, because the platform itself is a type of online authentication (the Desura Client / login). In other words, DESURA IS THE DRM. We have to log into Desura to download and play, and nobody can access our games without our account credentials (and password sharing is against Desura's terms of use). It's the same way with Steam and most other digital distribution platforms. We're not asking you to completely unlock the game like GoG with a "DRM-FREE" installer. We're just asking you to let Desura do it's own job of protecting developers and keep these 100% redundant, unnecessary, and outright restrictive layers of DRM out of your products.

If you can't understand the bevy of 1-star reviews and rage-filled comments, I sincerely hope that you'll understand this. Your games WILL NOT BE SUCCESSFUL ON THIS SITE OTHERWISE! Best of luck SomaticVision. I hope this game will be a learning experience for any future "non-commercial" work your company pursues.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+2 votes
SirPrimalform
SirPrimalform

"because people can only access and launch the game through Desura itself"
"because the platform itself is a type of online authentication"
"DESURA IS THE DRM"

Wrong. Not only do the games launch without the client, most of the games can be installed without the client even installed. Ever noticed the Purchased Downloads bit on the right of the page for a game you own? There are usually standalone downloads there. Although Desura doesn't demand games be DRM-free like on GOG, they are DRM-'agnostic', that is they don't provide or add any DRM nor do they forbid it. It's completely up to developers. The majority of games on Desura don't have ANY DRM, not because the client provides security but because the developers are cool like that.

"It's the same way with Steam and most other digital distribution platforms."

That is the way it is with most games on Steam (but it's still up to the developer to decide whether to require the game run through the client). It's not like that with GamersGate, DotEmu, GOG (obviously), Indievania, Humble Store. There are other client based distributors that provide DRM services but it's certainly not most of them.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+4 votes
shipwrecksos
shipwrecksos

CLARIFICATION: By "you" in my comment below I mean SomaticVision, not you SirPrimalform (speaking rhetorically). I should have broken that into two paragraphs (one for you and one for Somatic). Frankly, I just want the guy to succeed, and online activations are not the way to do it.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+2 votes
shipwrecksos
shipwrecksos

Aaah..., I see what you're saying about the client not being needed to launch the games. Fair enough in that regard. But how do they GET to the link for download if they don't have your login credentials??? That's still a type of online authentication and protection (basically a "web-client" if you will). Who are you trying to fool, man? If I don't give out my username and password, then NOBODY gets my games. Period. Sure, I could pass around the EXE, but I own over 50 games on GoG.com. I have NEVER given a single EXE to a friend, let alone sold it. You don't see all of the other developers on Desura going bankrupt, do you? Heck, you don't even see the indie developers through GoG.com going bankrupt and "DRM-FREE" is their biggest selling point. If most other developers on this site can have a thriving business without additional online activations, then what makes you think you couldn't do the EXACT SAME THING. I mean, your game's not that bad, bro. You even got some 10/10 reviews in there. It would make you just as much money, if not MORE without the online activations, since more people would give you 10/10 reviews and tell their friends about you. You SERIOUSLY underestimate the power of community feedback here.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+2 votes
SirPrimalform
SirPrimalform

You appear to have mistaken me for the developer of the game. ;)

I'm actually staunchly anti-DRM and a big advocate of GOG.com! Anyway, you're right that people have to log in to download (just like GOG).

I think the piracy fears are attributable to the idea that someone might upload the game somewhere else where you don't need a username and password.

I'm not saying that fear justifies the DRM, but I don't think the guy is under the impression that people can download his game from Desura without paying. :P

EDIT: Just saw your addendum. Yeah, I was a little confused! It'd be nice if SomaticVision would come and have a little look at GOG and see how well it's all going. Maybe even talk to the staff, they might be able to allay his fears.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+2 votes
shipwrecksos
shipwrecksos

Yeah, sorry about that SirPrimalform. I added a clarification comment, but it apparently it wasn't fast enough. Oh well, maybe all this bad PR will be a learning experience for him.

Thanks for the clarifications about the Desura downloads though. I definitely don't want to give out false information.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
Sutrabla
Sutrabla

Dear SomaticVision,
Having a serial key to activate your game is in my opinion not the problem. Even DRM is not a problem unless it causes problems. Even big budget games, if they even have limited activations, those used activations expire after some time automatically. Then people would not have to contact you to unlock the game again. Shame you removed your game from Greenlight as you could have used Steamworks as DRM.
I understand you want to protect your IP and that's reasonable. But there must be better ways to do it than limit to 3. Maybe start by limit to 3 and have activations re-added automatically after say a month. And then after a year or two remove this restriction completely. If people not willing to pay the cheap price for a game, they also will not pay even $1. A pirated copy will never equal one sale, sad but true.
DarkSpore had always on DRM. It has been shut down... XBox One, I bet you heard about the major negative public reaction on their DRM. They reverted their decision. These are not comparable with an 'indie' game with limited installs, but the more limited a DRM is, the more negative it is precieved. It's not about protecting your game from the 'pro' crackers, its just to protect your game from being given to a friend by your average joe. As you're a programmer you might find a better and more consumer friendly way to implement DRM. Trying to make a DRM that is uncrackable -ever might be impossible. Has been tried... and never succeeded.
Ignore pirates and cracked versions, focus on people who pay for the game.
Hope you understand what I mean.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+1 vote
SirPrimalform
SirPrimalform

It's not just Desura, it's a decent proportion of the indie gaming community that doesn't like DRM. www.gog.com 's entire 'thing' is being DRM-free.

Most of the games on Desura are DRM-free, which is why the DRM here has been so badly received. Not only that, but 3 activations is generally considered really restrictive (activation limits in general).

Personally, I draw the limit at online activation outright. I don't mind games with CD keys as long as I can activate the game offline (so I'm not dependent on anyone else's continued existence).

If you only make one change to your current DRM-system and can't stomach getting rid of the activation limit outright, I'd say make it so that activations get automatically refunded over time rather than specifically when the game is uninstalled.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+6 votes
dhrverbruggen
dhrverbruggen

Your website Tropicalheatgame.com doesn't mentioning any DRM on it. If you learned anything you should changed the description before posting this. This has nothing to do with DRM but about giving false advertisement.

- Inform your possible customers about DRM before they buy it.
- Give a change for your customers a change to redeem back the activations they used (Not only when there is a crash)

Support should come from both sides.

Reply Good karma Bad karma+2 votes
Post a comment

Your comment will be anonymous unless you join the community. Or sign in with your social account:

X