I’ve been thinking about nitrous for a while as well, so here’s my take on it:
Each car can have a nitrous tank to be used. It can be purchased with credits (similar to the air thrusters), but it can be upgraded using scraps. The higher value the cars, the more credits are to be spent to unlock and upgrade the nitro. Upon unlock, the player gets to unlock one of two types of nitro tanks for free (see below).
There are 2 types of nitrous tanks that can be used:
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Burst nitrous:
The nitrous button has to be pressed once to use a burst tank. A powerful shot of nitrous rapidly increases acceleration. The entire tank is emptied during the process. Faster and more spontaneous than burn nitrous, but last shorter and are “turn based” (you can only use them once they fill up completely). Has a higher emphasis on acceleration than top speed.
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Burn nitrous:
The nitrous button has to be held to use the gas. A steady flow of nitrous gradually increases acceleration. Burn tanks are more controllable and last longer, but have a slower usage period compared to burst nitrous tanks. Has a higher emphasis on top speed than acceleration.
The nitrous system can be purchased in the form of a tech tree. Once a player unlocks either of the two nitrous modes, they can either choose to upgrade their tanks to a higher level, or purchase the other mode using scraps. Sub-categories can also be unlocked to get better nitro options that fit the playstyle of the player.
(Info: the normal and super modes on the burn nitrous are simply to show the power, super is more powerful and lasts slightly longer than normal nitrous.
Also, the boxes with italic fonts mark the highest nitrous obtainable.)
Nitrous tanks can be filled simply by doing activities. Driving at high speeds, drifting, gaining air could be some examples of said activities. Nitrous will NOT affect a car’s airtime, meaning, it cannot be used mid-air to fly farther.
Maybe a nerf to nitro could be vehicle damage, if your car is more than say 25% damaged, nitro will be disabled or its usage would be far less effective. I liked the idea of nitro damaging your own car after a couple of uses as suggested by @sparky_tbs , so maybe if the vehicle is more than 50% damaged, you can only use the nitro a maximum of 5 times. Of course, it’s just a suggestion.
(now I realise this might require a lot more UI changes to show nitrous bar and damage indicator lololol)
Thanks for reading, lemme know what you think of these ideas and feel free to add any of your own or modify my existing ideas :)