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Hokay, tidied some poo poo up, added a lil' image to show my thoughts on first person mode to the post, and now... Track 2: Sagamartha (Vector, Qirex RD)     MUSIC: The Future Sound of London - We Have Explosive (YT Link) CO-COMMENTATOR: Major_JF Sagamartha is the other Vector track we'll be seeing, and we can see the difficulty curve slowly creep up. It's got one corner in particular that will slow you down unless you either take it perfectly (which will still lead to a bit of slowdown), or you do what I do in the Time Trial, which is to turbo as you come out of the turn. Also, because this track has particle effects (some very nice snow, for the time!), there is a fair amount of slowdown in this track. I've tried to compensate as best I can in editing, but there's only so much you can really do. By this point, Qirex are on top of the world. The introduction of actual firepower to the field has allowed them to take their rivalry with Auricom to a whole new level, and Qirex shooting the hell out of Auricom craft is going to be deeply implied for the rest of the series. Of course, as I said in the last game, Auricom may believe that the race is more important than the combat, but when it comes to Qirex, all bets are off. Lucky for Qirex, they know what they're in for, and have the strongest shields in the league that we know of.. By this point in the series, Holst McQueen is still apparently in charge of the company, despite it having been bought out by the databasing corporation Overtel. Stats wise, the Qirex still comparatively steers like a cow, but it's by no means the bricks filled with bricks that it was last game. It may have the worst handling, the worst acceleration, and ties for the worst air control with the Auricom craft, but golly gee, they're still, in the long run, the fastest and meanest things on the track. I'd agree it's for pro-players, but XL in general is more accessible, and this is where the Qirex starts being fun to ride. Jay's XL Qirex FactSheet
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Nov 23, 2013 14:03
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The plasma weapon is so good, but like you said, so unreliable to aim. But it feels SO good when it hits. I've been continuing my practice of getting good at the game again. I've kind of been taking an approach mirroring the requirements of 3, and trying to Gold every craft in every race. I just have track 6 to go before I start unlocking things. It's SO satisfying to have you get first place by jumping ahead at the last minute. Especially if it takes a few tries to win the race.
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Nov 23, 2013 17:39
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That craft design is so nice, it really looks like something designed to go very fast and try to kill people.
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Nov 24, 2013 14:10
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A bit late, but here's some useful  for ya!Adventures In OS Fuckery (How to Get Wipeout XL PC to Work) Before I actually reveal the method behind getting Wipeout XL/2097 to actually work properly on modern systems, lemme tell you a little story. It's about a game that did what Wipeout 2097 and many of its ilk didn't. And it did it the year after I was born. That game was Alley Cat, and, although you'd not have realised it, it was a revolutionary game. Not for the gameplay: Alley Cat was a collection of mini-games with no real connection other than its main character: A somewhat lusty stray tom. No, it was something that was programmed into the PC Port by some sadly unknown hero... Possibly the first example on the PC of frame-rate/CPU throttling. The approach was pretty brute force: the game would only advance one of its own cycles when your computer had advanced (Your CPU Cycles/Original Programmed CPU Rate), but it worked, and, as such, I can tell you from experience that Alley Cat ran on my dual-core XP machine with minimal fuckery, no need for DOSBox, and only a slight speed increase. Remember, this game came out in 1983, and was ported to the PC in 1984. So, something like 12 years later, it ran like a dream, with minimal fuss, and it was only when Windows Vista and the like introduced a completely different architecture that you couldn't really run it anymore outside of DOSBox. Not everyone was so foresighted. In fact, gaming history is littered with examples of games that failed to foresee what would become major changes: Some games relied upon the now defunct 3dfx Glide (a good example is Pandemonium, a PS1 game ported to PC), while others, even in the modern day, failed to take note of relatively simple additions that would nonetheless grow to take over the industry (DiRT 3 being a prime example, as the controls will freeze after only a minute or two of play with most USB Keyboards). Wipeout 2097 was no different, running with no real frame limiting, and using the Win 95 architecture. So, if you were to install Wipeout 2097 today (an adventure in and of itself), you would find that, on Windows 7 or Vista, it runs insanely fast for a minute or two, then most likely crashes. DOSBox won't help, and, as far as I'm aware, VM won't either. But the boys and girls of Wipeout Zone (bless!) managed, after some time, to find the solution. And I'm reproducing it for you here. What You Will Need 1 copy of Wipeout 2097/XL for the PC. Preferably the original CD, obviously. The Speed Patch The Network Patch The Process Now, the install should mostly work fine on Win-95 compatibility mode, run as admin. Without being able to install the registry entries (which are somewhat glitchy), it's best to install it to “C:/WOBBLE”, which for some reason, nearly always works. Rename your main EXE to something else, and extract the speed patched EXE to your WipeoutXL directory. You can also install the Network patch if you want to try multiplayer (Apparently Tunngle has a Wipeout XL room). Most systems should then be able to run it alright with win-95 compatibility mode. However, sometimes Windows 7 will throw a shitfit. This is, for some reason, due to Win 7's Data Execution Prevention for the game. I don't personally recommend this fix, because I haven't needed to test it, but I will link it here. One other important note: Wipeout XL will not run CD music unless your CD/DVD drive has an audio connection to the motherboard (another little thing most modern DVD drives don't do), and the game won't run in CD mode unless you have the CD drive you're running it from set to D: This is because, back then, multiple hard drives weren't generally a thing, and the D drive was your CD drive, end of story. But you may notice that the Frame Limiter Patch doesn't always slow things down that much. In those cases, you can do one of two things, depending on your graphics card. If you have an AMD, your only real option is to use FRAPS or DXTORY, and use the frame limiting option those have with the game. NVIDIA cards, however, have an in-built frame limiter. Lucky you. Why didn't I just link the original solution? Because 1) The original thread where the solution was posted isn't kosher in the  sense, either for the WipeoutZone forums or SA, and 2) I wouldn't have gotten to add a bit of game history in there. Hope all you fellow Wipeout fans in the thread who had the PC game get to enjoy it once again. The fact that the example video is Odessa Keys, a track we won't get into for a few weeks, also comes into it...Oh, and for those who want to play it on PS1 or PC, the PS1 version is generally cheaper, but version differences are minimal.
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Nov 28, 2013 03:25
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Also yeah, if you're planning on buying it (or whatever, I don't judge, but don't ask don't tell) then save yourself a world of headaches, and get the PS1 version. And play it on the ePSXe emulator for the pc for accelerated graphics. It plays on my disc drive like a dream, and technically better than on the original hardware.
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Nov 28, 2013 05:48
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Hokay, I have work on Friday, and I don't really want to delay the LP because I'm tired, so things'll move to Thursdays for now. Track 3: Valparaiso (Venom, Auricom)     MUSIC: CoLD StoRAGE – Body In Motion (YT Link) CO-COMMENTATORS: Insetik47 and Blanktester Valparaiso is quite a twitchy track, with lots of quick corners to take, a short, but sharp corner, and, of course, bumpy bits. You'll hear the Thunk of your craft losing a speed at least once in this track (nigh indistinguishable from the Thunk that happens when you land normally from a high jump, sadly) unless your pitch control is spot on (hint: with keyboard, it never will be). It's also better, on every speed class except Vector, to treat the final high jump as a jump, not a slope. Oh Auricom... You're nice folks, you really are, but your craft is so blah! Average in everything except top speed, the Auricom is the real baseline of the game, so don't listen to that lying manual, and practice with an Auricom. You'll notice the differences between teams much better if you do. Sadly, there's not a lot to say about the Auricom apart from that, they've replaced AG Systems in this game as the Jack of All Trades, and they're actually going to remain that way for some time. I will, however, say that the design of this version, and the HD Fury model of this craft gives me the urge to sing “Living In America” at the top of my lungs. It's basically an anti-grav Cadillac. Jay's XL Auricom FactSheet JamieTheD fucked around with this message at 16:36 on Dec 12, 2013 |
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Nov 28, 2013 16:30
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One high-tech racing game that nobody has mentioned so far was Rollcage. It was developed by a third-party development house, but it was published by Psygnosis. High speed, weapons, futuristic design aesthetic and a licensed soundtrack. The main gimmick was the physics engine, which allowed cars to use downforce to drive on ceilings with sufficient speed. And because the cars had huge tires and a slim frame, they could drop down and keep driving upside down. Finally, it had destructible environment; Instead of firing a missile at someone behind you, you could target a building's support columns and have it collapse into the racetrack behind you.
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Nov 29, 2013 15:06
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hirvox posted:One high-tech racing game that nobody has mentioned so far was Rollcage. It was developed by a third-party development house, but it was published by Psygnosis. High speed, weapons, futuristic design aesthetic and a licensed soundtrack. The main gimmick was the physics engine, which allowed cars to use downforce to drive on ceilings with sufficient speed. And because the cars had huge tires and a slim frame, they could drop down and keep driving upside down. Finally, it had destructible environment; Instead of firing a missile at someone behind you, you could target a building's support columns and have it collapse into the racetrack behind you. I may or may not add Rollcage to the list, but, as we're going to see at some point, I have a decided dislike of the wheeled future racers, and mostly for good reasons. Those good reasons are known as MegaRace 1-3, and POD (Planet of Death) 1 and 2. I'm also going to state, right now, that if any of the thread goers liked any of the future racers I'm going to cover for Future Racing Is Weird, then there's going to be at least some people having a go at my opinions, because most of them, sadly, are heavily flawed in some fashion. I might as well get the (provisional) list out the way right now. FUTURE RACING IS WEIRD CONTENDERS (* = Got it, definitely plan on it, - is "don't prefer", HOVERING * A.I.M. Racing CyberRace Cyber Speedway (little tough, because Saturn emulation is generally poo poo and I don't have a Saturn) Hypersonic Xtreme - Jet Moto Powerdrome (remake) - Quantum Redshift (see Fatal Inertia comment below) FLYING Aerogauge - Fatal Inertia (have neither a PS3 or HD capture card at this time... Maybe if I win the lotto/find one and a HD capture card super-cheap. Could play on neighbour's 360) * Jet Ion GP * Pyroblazers - Powerdrome (original) - Slipstream 5000 WHEELED - Extreme G Racing Series (dat track design, ugh!) Planet of Death 1 (possibly 2, but unlikely) MegaRace 1 (possibly 3, but again, unlikely) * Nitronic Rush - Rollcage (EDIT: Undeniably fun, but... it's sorta hard to argue this as a real "Future Racer") SELECTED NON-CONTENDERS (AKA - Sod off, no bloody way!) Ballistics (too fast. Interesting looking, but not actually very innovative or overly interesting) Cyber Spin (Not very interesting) Galaxy 5000 (dull as hell) Kinetica (weird concept, which is fun, but gameplay is dull, imo) Plazma Line (err... what am I playing?) PowerSlide (Generic Apocalyptic Racer. Whoop) S.T.U.N. Runner (Doing Ballistics before Ballistics) JamieTheD fucked around with this message at 02:24 on Dec 1, 2013 |
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Dec 1, 2013 00:54
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Huh, I had no idea Saturn emulation was so iffy. Between this thread and the NiGHTS one, I'm having a trip down mwmory lane in that regard. My system's still collecting dust in my mom's basement as we speak. I think last time I checked, Virtual On was still sitting in it. Cyber Speedway isn't bad per se, it's just very much not as accomplished or finished as Wip3out. And man, S.T.U.N. Runner...I think every arcade for about a decade had that big clunky cabinet in it, with the overly-thick motorcycle style seat that didn't actually tilt. Good game, but with unforgiving time limits to eat your quarters. For those less familiar, think the bonus levels in Sonic 2, only as a jet-bike.
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Dec 1, 2013 03:57
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Hey, I recognize some of those games! Mainly POD, which you're not playing and I don't blame you, and Slipstream 5000, which is awesome(ish) and I played the poo poo out of as a kid and have been pestering you about off of the forums.
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Dec 1, 2013 04:16
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Alkydere posted:Hey, I recognize some of those games! In POD I mostly ever played as the pitchfork car. If you played the game you would know what one that is. I don't remember the stats or the other cars really but I remember that one.
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Dec 1, 2013 05:04
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A few days ago, I got an invitation on youtube to join the beta for a game called Quantum Rush. From what I can tell, it looks like a regular future-tech-hovercraft-with-weapons racer (hey, in this thread, it's a genre). I'm wondering if you got an invitation to it, since you're doing these, and then maybe you could add that to the Future Racing Is Weird list. I haven't accepted the invitation because my laptop is complete crap, but it's a real game with a real website so I don't think it's fake. But maybe you could check it out.
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Dec 1, 2013 05:45
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Ovues posted:A few days ago, I got an invitation on youtube to join the beta for a game called Quantum Rush. From what I can tell, it looks like a regular future-tech-hovercraft-with-weapons racer (hey, in this thread, it's a genre). I'm wondering if you got an invitation to it, since you're doing these, and then maybe you could add that to the Future Racing Is Weird list. I checked, and I can't see or find any invitation to said beta, so I shall maybe email them once I've caught up with news and such. It looks alright, but I am a cynical git at heart, and am already looking for hints as to what the gameplay is like in the footage. Alkydere posted:Hey, I recognize some of those games! Whoever said I wasn't doing a video on POD? After all, MegaRace and POD fit quite naturally together, because nobody sane can take either series seriously. As to Slipstream 5000, it's quite cheap, so I'll get it when I can, and I may heckle you for co-commentary on that and... something else. I won't say what it is, but it plays a little like Slipstream 5000... Choco1980 posted:And man, S.T.U.N. Runner...I think every arcade for about a decade had that big clunky cabinet in it, with the overly-thick motorcycle style seat that didn't actually tilt. Good game, but with unforgiving time limits to eat your quarters. For those less familiar, think the bonus levels in Sonic 2, only as a jet-bike. S.T.U.N. Runner is an evil little game, and, as a quarter-muncher, it did a lot with the four or so enemies it had. Despite the fact that it does have quite a bit of historical significance, I'm most likely not going to do that, because, as hard as it is to believe, I value what little is left of my sanity. However, I have received intelligence that the current Saturn emulator might be able to play Cyber Speedway, and I shall definitely try and get some footage of its spiritual prequel, CyberRace. Why? Because I love Syd Mead, and he was the lead designer for that game. JamieTheD fucked around with this message at 22:45 on Dec 1, 2013 |
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Dec 1, 2013 22:25
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Hokay, I have tried to record Wipeout 64, and... it's ugly. It's really god-drat ugly. Not in the sense that the game is, but in the sense that playing this without an N64 and a capture card means that it's going to be faster than it should be (and much slower in recording), the sound is going to be choppy as hell, and it's basically unplayable if I try to record. Joy. So, until that day comes (hopefully by around the time we get to Fusion), I'll knock up a little post in the next week or so showing exactly why Wipeout 64 gets more flak than Fusion, and how reviewers of the time didn't do their research. For a wee taster, I'd like you to look at a couple of things. Here's the "Elimination Counter" that Wikipedia claims Wipeout 64 did first, and was supposedly extremely influential. Can't see it? It's that ugly as hell pilot with the cross over him in the right. Here's the Results screen for our second XL vid, where we, y'know, killed a dude. This is what you'll actually see for most of the series. As I said, Wikipedia lies. Here's Klies Bridge, one of the first six tracks for Wipeout 64. It may look a little familiar. No? Let me refresh your memory. That's right, it's Talon's Reach, mirrored, with the starting grid straightened out. The other 5 main tracks are not really any more original. JamieTheD fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Dec 2, 2013 |
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Dec 2, 2013 17:41
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Major_JF posted:In POD I mostly ever played as the pitchfork car. If you played the game you would know what one that is. I don't remember the stats or the other cars really but I remember that one. All I remember about POD was a) it had an intro cutscene b) it had a pitchfork car and c) I played it once and never played it again. Oh and d) the palette was "Green, Green-brown, Brown, Black" for the levels if I remember correctly.
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Dec 2, 2013 19:23
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Does "Elektra Glide" count as a future racer? It's from 1985 and was simply a race against a timer, where giant geometric shapes represent THE FUTURE (and the worst rage) in an implied hover vehicle. It was a treat on the Atari and a giant turd on the other systems, but took half an hour to load off a cassette. Good times. Also it's first person only because 1985, but they hadn't invented hills yet so it was okay. For the US market it was claimed that it was actually a Harley Davidson you were riding which might disqualify it, but even then it had "The first fantasy racing epic" printed all over it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXX_otJc354 UK version details with interview and cover: http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-elektra-glide_1821.html edit - Ooh. I looked up the name Adam Billyard and it turns out he started Criterion Games. Yes, the Burnout series one. So he did alright then! Storageheater fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Dec 4, 2013 |
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Dec 4, 2013 15:38
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Heh, I remember Ballistics. It was bundled with some Nvidia cards at release. Neat little game of the rear end in a top hat variety in the sense, that you had to play on the highest difficulty to see all (few) tracks. The kind of racer where you hit Mach 1 in the first gear, and the speed limiter for the noob championship is at 1800 km/h, if I recall correctly. I vaguely remember clearing the Normal difficulty and getting through the most of Hard. Here's another sample for your list http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-HA/hover-ace Don't touch it at full price.
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Dec 4, 2013 15:59
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I found this LP yesterday and I'm really enjoying it. I spent hours and hours trying to beat Rapier in the original as a child. I fired it up last night and only managed to beat Silverstream because I finally got a boost off the line. Man, these games. Great LP, Jamie. I'm really looking forward to the Goon Races, and I hope to participate. Giggs fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Dec 6, 2013 |
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Dec 6, 2013 19:38
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Update in an hour or two, folks, but before I triplepost, let's get some discussion done!Giggs posted:I found this LP yesterday and I'm really enjoying it. I spent hours and hours trying to beat Rapier in the original as a child. I fired it up last night and only managed to beat Silverstream because I finally got a boost off the line. Man, these games. Yeah, as many have noted, Silverstream is an utter cock of a track, and, even though Nick Burcombe didn't answer any of my other questions (I may remind him soonish), he did say that he felt Silverstream was rushed, and a mistake. I personally think it's designed okay, for a final track... It's just incredibly dickish. As to the GoonRace, keep in mind, threadgoers, that there are four classes, four racers in two brackets and three in the latter two, so don't feel constrained by feeling you're not much of a racer, as odds are, most of the other people in your bracket most likely haven't played much either (And I highly suspect next to nobody will race in Goon Suggestions for FRIW! posted:Loads! Ah, so good to see some more suggestions, although at this rate, I'm going to have to be a lot pickier with my choices. For example, Hover-Ace, sadly, looks very similar to A.I.M. Racing, a game I already plan to do, and... Well, let's face it, if there weren't some interesting things despite the flaws, it wouldn't be weird, would it? As to Elektra Glide, it's definitely interesting, in its way (I'm really tempted to make an updated version of its tune), it also sadly won't make it, although there's obviously still time for me to change my mind.
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Dec 6, 2013 20:33
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Wipeout 64 Part 0: Why It's Not Very Good, And Why It's Still Interesting. So, as noted earlier in the thread, any video content for Wipeout 64 will have to wait until I've got an N64 and a capture card. You've no idea how happy this makes me. Why? Because I don't (currently) have to edit 6 tracks down to the bare bones. You see, the first six tracks of Wipeout 64 are all modified versions of Wipeout 1 or XL/2097 tracks. Let's take a look at that, shall we? Also, please give thanks to the Wipeout Zone wiki, which is where you're being linked for each track comparison. These are, by the way, in order of appearance in the game. Klies Bridge is the first track of the game, and if it looks vaguely familiar, why not try Talon's Reach, from its cousin 2097/XL? I guarantee, you'll have a better time of it! Qoron IV, meanwhile, takes its cues from Altima VII, in that it's a mirrored version with some of the corners cut down. So that's two starter tracks, just... modified. Great. Dyroness is the second Wipeout 1 reversed (mirror) track, specifically, of Karbonis V, with a slightly lengthened starting grid to accomodate the extra 7 racers this game has over the original. Sokana is also a Wipeout 1 mirror, but, of the six tracks, is the most heavily edited. You can just about spot the resemblance to Korodera, albeit with one loop shortened, and the other lengthened. It's apparently a dramatically faster track. Machaon II is also a mirrored XL track. Specifically, it's Gare D'Europa. Terafumos is... a mirrored Silverstream, but with all the choice removed. In fact, Wipeout 64 keeps the longer, safer stretches on all three forks, which... strangely means this is technically an improvement! So, of the six tracks, four are from Wipeout 1, two from XL, two are heavily modified, and all of them are basically mirror versions of earlier tracks. There is a seventh track, which is actually original, but firstly, it's only unlocked by beating the tournament, and secondly, it's apparently a right bastard. But that's okay, because beating the challenge for the Piranha craft (SPOILER: y'know, like XL), gets you... the Piranha II. The Piranha II is very similar to its prototype cohort that we shall see at some future point, in that it has maximum stats, and thus is an absolute beast. But to make things even more fun, for WO64, it can, unlike its cousin that's supposed to have been around the same year, use all weapons, and has a cloaking device as a team-specific item! Yayyyy! ...What's that you say? I didn't mention this "Team Specific Weapon" malarkey? Oh, that's actually one of the vaguely interesting features of 64, and one that, sadly, never got off the ground, as it was only tried in two games... WO64, and Fusion. I think, considering the hate that many fans have for Fusion, that you can see why it didn't really get off the ground, despite being an interesting idea. But that's okay, because at least two of them (Piranha's Cloak, and Qirex's Power Snare) make it through in a modified format to Wipeout 3! ...Wherupon they are ignored for most, if not all of the series. But in any case, you beat the team's Weapon Challenge, and you'd get the chance to use their special guns. FEISAR had a machine gun that shot up the track in front of it for 10 whole seconds, AG Systems has a shield drain (much like the Energy Drain/Leech Beam of the rest of the series), Auricom has a supercharged version of the Plasma Bolt (which didn't catch on, for some reason... Could it be anything to do with the fact it went through multiple opponents?), Piranha's weapon is self explanatory, while Qirex's Power Snare is often considered piss-poor, which would explain why it never survived as the Force Wall past Wipeout 3. And again, we find ourself explaining something Wipeout 64 genuinely did first: The proper Challenge Mode we're going to see in Wipeouts 3 and Fusion (and in a differing form in other games.) They came in three flavours: Weapons (kill enough folks!), Time (time trial), and Race (get 1st, like you would normally). It also had an elimination counter, but it was, in fact, the Challenge mode that eventually led to Elimination mode, not the kill counter (which existed in Wipeout XL, in the form you'd see it for most of the series.) So, so far, there's some original stuff, some lovely remixes, but we haven't gotten to the most mind-boggling part! And no, I'm not talking about the manual, let's ignore the manual, alright? No, it's much more special. You see, despite the terrible pop-up, the simplified models, the awful explosion pixels they had to use in place of particle effects... Oh no... This is a masterpiece of conservation programming, which led to the most mind-boggling thing to exist in console history. The game has 7 musical tracks, each between a minute to 3 minutes long. Some are by CoLD SToRAGE, while most of them are by two folks called Rob Lord and Mark Bandola. The others are Propellerheads and Fluke, respectively. Now, I'd like you to think about how much a cartridge can hold. Also how they could fit all this fun stuff onto a cartridge. Ready for it? They compressed the music. A lot. On the one hand, this means they had music, albeit short, somewhat repetitive, and not exactly great music. On the other, this meant that they had to decompress the music. This led to something that will blow your mind. Loading times. Anything between three to ten seconds worth, per race-track or load back to menu. On a cartridge. So that's basically Wipeout 64, folks. It has its interesting parts, but is, by far, the worst in the series overall. Bet you can't wait till I get a capture card and N64 and have to record it now, don't you? JamieTheD fucked around with this message at 21:17 on Dec 6, 2013 |
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Dec 6, 2013 21:14
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Track 4: Phenitia Park (Venom, AGS)    MUSIC: Leftfield – Afro Ride (YT Link) CO-COMMENTATORS: Insetik47 and Blanktester You may be wondering, after all my bitching about how the AGS explodes to a stiff breeze, why I'm racing it on Venom. This is because we still have another two tracks, then two tournaments. And I'll be damned if I'm going to do either the Phantom tourney or the other one with this craft. So instead, I'm punishing myself a bit now, to save myself more trouble later. Phenitia Park is, oddly for this late in the game, largely a speed track, as opposed to a technical track (IE - You mostly go fast). There are only really two chicanes, the corners aren't too tough otherwise, and even the pit stop is fairly easy to get to if you need it. There's really not a lot to say otherwise. CORRECTION EDIT: As Choco1980 has pointed out, you can't turbo while shielded either, so the shield is definitely not a fun-haver in this game! JamieTheD fucked around with this message at 12:34 on Dec 7, 2013 |
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Dec 6, 2013 21:30
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AG is definitely my favourite team in terms of design/team colours. I was never good enough playing XL first time round to be too bothered by actual stats (aside from Feisar  ). Regarding the pit - I've never hit one accidentally, but I've failed to get in when I meant to more than a few times.I'm not sure if this is a spoiler thing, so I'll tag it to be safe, but I was sure that either Wipeout or XL had A cheat (or maybe just unlockable) where you got an infinite minigun that slowed down the ship when you used it? Future racing: It's definitely 'future racing', it's definitely weird, but I'm not sure if Rock'n'roll racing is right for the thread. Isometric racer, with a soundtrack ranging from Sabbath to Deep Purple, and spoken commentary. On the SNES. I adore this game. e: Sadly, to do all that, they had to cut back on the actual mechanics. I figure it'd take about five minutes to cover in a video once you figure out the 'trick'. e2: There's a remake in development. I can't tell you how happy this makes me. e3out: VVV I forgot that we got to petrol blue fucked around with this message at 03:48 on Dec 7, 2013 |
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Dec 7, 2013 00:47
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JamieTheD posted:As to the GoonRace, keep in mind, threadgoers, that there are four classes, four racers in two brackets and three in the latter two, so don't feel constrained by feeling you're not much of a racer, as odds are, most of the other people in your bracket most likely haven't played much either (And I highly suspect next to nobody will race in poo poo! I've been away from computer for like, a week and a half, I totally need to get practicing. I might as well throw my hat in the ring and confirm that I'll race. And regardless of track, you better believe I'm riding first person mode, baby. Are any of you man enough to ride headfirst with me?  Some responses to the new video: Jamie lies, you can't turbo while shielded either. Also, like I said before, autopilot will ALWAYS take the pit path, so caveat emptor. (I've lost track of how many times I've ended up hanging on to the autopilot for too long just because of certain upcoming tricky chicanes, when I could have grabbed useful weapons). Also, yeah it's pretty funny when you accidentally hit yourself with your own weapons. You can boost into quakes, but what I've done a few times is drop mines and blow a corner at just the same time. Whoops! And yeah, as Petrol spoiled, something else from 64's team weapon selection looks mighty familiar...
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Dec 7, 2013 03:38
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Choco1980 posted:poo poo! I've been away from computer for like, a week and a half, I totally need to get practicing. I might as well throw my hat in the ring and confirm that I'll race. And regardless of track, you better believe I'm riding first person mode, baby. Are any of you man enough to ride headfirst with me? I've edited the post to reflect that I was, indeed, mistaken (WOXL shields aren't fun-havers, apparently), and I shall be extolling the virtues of Autopilot when we get to Odessa Keys, which is a track that loves to jerk you around. Not nearly as badly as Silverstream does, but it's still a big ol' dickhole of a track, which is a shame, because it also teases the excesses that some of the in-universe Wipeout track designers (and, obviously, the devs) are going to go to. We may not go to outer space a whole lot, but god drat, we're going to get some interesting locales, with their own little bits of fun! (SOME) THINGS TO LOOK FORWARD TO: - Racing along rooftops at the speed of sound: Manor Top, Wipeout 3 - Valparaiso, but done better (albeit more painfully): Alca Vexus, Fusion - Ice level hell: Mandrashee 2 and 3, Fusion - gently caress YOU, BARRIERS! : Temtesh Bay, Fusion (Also... DEM ROCKS) - Fly me to the moon, and let me play with grav reverse... : Katmoda 12, Fusion - Only the best pilots risk their lives... In the sky! : Sol 2, Pure - Because EVERY racing series needs shopping malls! : Mega Mall, Wipeout 3 petrol blue posted:AG is definitely my favourite team in terms of design/team colours. I was never good enough playing XL first time round to be too bothered by actual stats (aside from Feisar My personal favourite, for XL at least, is the Qirex. But, to be honest, all the teams are pretty well designed, in this game and the next, and I'll try my best to talk about why when we get to them. Fusion less so, mainly because of the upgrade mechanic. Rock'N'Roll racing is definitely a borderline case, but it is something I'd have to think about. If the remake happens to come before the end of the thread, though, that'll be on the list. Odds are it will, because we've still got four games to go, and lots more opportunities for FRIW breaks! As to spoilers, I've said it before, I'll say it again: The only thing that is definitely a spoiler is the "plot" of Fusion. Everything else, I leave to your own judgement as to whether you want to ruin the surprise. Considering I could probably record the cheat video after the Phantom Tournament, I think it's safe to reveal now that you made a good catch there, Wipeout XL does another thing before 64, albeit in cheat mode! Also, the visual change cheat for this game is, to my mind, the best in the entire series. Although, as we'll see, the one in Wipeout 3 isn't just a visual change, and has hilarious consequences for the replay mode. Turns out a good, winning race is all in a Rescue Droid's mind... Poor dabs!
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Dec 7, 2013 15:04
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Something we haven't touched on, what's your opinion on the multi-player format of XL? For those who don't know, psygnosis decided to instead of do things the typical way, run with an experimental bit that Sony tried to do with the Playstation. See, you could, if you were crazy, get a special cord that would hook two Playstations together. The idea is that then you have two tvs, one hooked to each PSX, and that would in turn be two player without split-screen. Sort of like a console LAN party. Except incredibly stupid and impractical. While making Wipeout XL, they decided (perhaps rightly so) that split-screen multiplayer was ugly, and to only utilize this option for two player games. When making Wipeout 3, they decided that no, splits were okay. But someone got into the peyote that day, and they kept in the dual psx option as well. Then they realized the true potential: dual split screens: Four Player Mode.
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Dec 7, 2013 17:33
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Choco1980 posted:Something we haven't touched on, what's your opinion on the multi-player format of XL? Ah yes, I'd welcome other opinions on this one, not just because it was an interesting idea, but because PCSX-Reloaded has the capability to do this, and I'd love to see someone successfully try it (YourAverageJoe and I tried for about two hours to try and get it working, and failed). But here's what I think. The Link Cable was an interesting idea, as I've said, but in practical terms, it's not a good idea. You see, as anyone who has a CRT telly (like me) can tell you, those fuckers are heavy, and carting one to your mate's, just for a game of Wipeout 1 or XL was not a smart idea. I can, however, tell you that it went down a treat at the special events, where the teams carted around 20 or so tellies and Playstations to each club on the tour. Wipeout 64 actually did four player via linking before 3 did, but since it was the N64, and WO64, as established, was a bit poo poo, we'll ignore this. Especially since the N64's four player mode chugged like a right bastard. Wipeout 3, however, didn't chug in 4 player mode very much, and was an interesting thing that I've experienced once. Let's just say I had a mate with more money than sense. He kicked my arse seven ways to sunday. As to split screen, it's interesting how, in the entire series, you don't actually need that much vertical space to see. My neighbour and I occasionally play Fusion together, which has the option of horizontal or vertical splitting of the screen. We tried the horizontal split once, and vowed never to do so again, because it was almost impossible to judge turns, compared to vertical, which just cut out the pretty skylines and the like we didn't need to race. So, to takeaway? Link was perfect, visually, but impractical, vertical split is perfectly fine, but never, ever put a horizontal split-screen mode in a racer. It makes gamers cry. As a side-note, we shall have bonus videos incoming soon! Specifically:- + + Fun With Turbo, Part 1 (Rapier Mode track-skipping shenanigans!) Very Late Edit For No Obvious Reason: gently caress YOU, YOUTUBE. JamieTheD fucked around with this message at 15:58 on Dec 8, 2013 |
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Dec 7, 2013 17:59
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I have one very small, but important update for the thread. I now have an SD Capture Card, and it works. Wipeout Fusion, and some of the FRIW segments are now assured, and I shall do my best to make sure they at least don't have scanlines all over them. Thank you for your time.
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Dec 10, 2013 15:14
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Sweet monkey jeebus, is Odessa Keys making me pull my hair out. I'm starting to consider breaking my "wipeout 3" style play challenge of 100%ing the game and just saying gently caress it and switching straight to Qirex for the gold medal. I can NOT break 3:18.0 with Feisar, which depending on how eliminations work out is either 3rd or 4th. Also, anyone with motion sickness would HATE watching me on that course. I'm a regular pinball wizard. The worst part about Odessa is that the turns actually never quite look as bad as they are. The geography is deliberately deceiving, and it's maddening. The worst of course being the blind S-curve tunnel.
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Dec 11, 2013 00:32
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Choco1980 posted:Sweet monkey jeebus, is Odessa Keys making me pull my hair out. I'm starting to consider breaking my "wipeout 3" style play challenge of 100%ing the game and just saying gently caress it and switching straight to Qirex for the gold medal. I can NOT break 3:18.0 with Feisar, which depending on how eliminations work out is either 3rd or 4th. Also, anyone with motion sickness would HATE watching me on that course. I'm a regular pinball wizard. The worst part about Odessa is that the turns actually never quite look as bad as they are. The geography is deliberately deceiving, and it's maddening. The worst of course being the blind S-curve tunnel. It's funny you mention Odessa Keys, Biscuit and I recorded the commentary for it last week (the value of a backlog is incalculable), and you're right. Odessa Keys is a track that, with one exception, isn't quite as bad as it looks (It's close, though). Even a FEISAR needs to airbrake on Odessa Keys, however, and airbrake a lot. Tell ya what, if people vote for the Phantom Challenge to be recorded (because I will be putting that to a vote when the Odessa Keys vid is published), I'll do it with a FEISAR, to make things interesting. I'll also add this. For people reading the thread (And especially those who play along), this is going to be useful if you haven't gotten to Odessa Keys. Also, keep in mind these are generalisations. Obviously, I haven't seen any of your playstyles. Odessa Keys: The Game Check Odessa Keys is the main game check (a design term denoting a challenge requiring mastery of certain concepts the game has taught you overall) for Wipeout XL. Why is this? Because, depending on your craft, the track feels almost entirely different. Lemme talk a little bit about the teams, and how your habits with each craft can trip you up on this final Rapier track. FEISAR The FEISAR is a maneuverable little beastie, and has good acceleration, which means it recovers from mistakes quickly... It doesn't need airbrakes for most of the game up to this point, or if it does, it only requires a feathering. But Odessa Keys doesn't tolerate mistakes, because, while the AI will play a safe line (and thus, a slow one), they're all faster than you, and, unlike you, they're not going to make mistakes. And you will make mistakes on Odessa Keys, because the corners are sharp, and often blind. Thing is, only three particular sections absolutely require airbrakes: The narrowing blind corner after a downhill, the corner right after the first jump, and the chicane just before the end. PRO: You're piloting the only craft who is guaranteed to take the final chicane if you do it right. CON: You're probably going to oversteer, so practice your opposite braking in time trial to correct your turns. It'll slow you down a little, but it'll slow you a lot less than a collision will. POSSIBLE BAD HABITS: Not using airbrakes, relying on the acceleration to save your rear end. AG Systems If you're using the AGS in Rapier or Phantom, lemme tell you now: You're a better man than I, Gunga Din. With the AGS, Odessa Keys is a crapshoot. Not good enough at turns? You explode. Keep getting shot (itself largely luck at Rapier)? You're toast. Can't hit the pitstop? You're 100% proof hosed. But Odessa Keys is, with one exception, not a track you can afford to be cautious in. The quicker you get the hell away from the pack, the safer you are. Also, yes, you can go as fast as an Auricom, and accelerate almost as well as a FEISAR, but you're not quite as nimble as a FEISAR, and you're the weakest ship in the race. So slow down a little on that final downhill, make sure you can take the chicane, and take the pit-stop every chance you get. PRO: You're a nippy-ish craft. CON: You blow up easily. POSSIBLE BAD HABITS: In contrast to the FEISAR, the biggest bad habit with the AGS is over-cautious play. If you're not a pro, you're not going to do this cleanly. Auricom, Qirex These two teams are actually fairly similar, in that their biggest problem is that, if they gently caress up enough, they're going to lose. They also find it nearly impossible to take the final chicane (actually impossible for the Qirex, in fact) at anything approaching full speed without pinballing a bit. But speed and shields are your biggest asset, so use them to the full. Be aggressive as hell, but remember your best friend. I'll talk about the best friend in a second, because it applies to all the teams. The biggest enemy on the track? That narrowed blind corner. In either an Auricom or a Qirex, it's a bitch to judge it just right, and failure to do so means you're going to lose more time than perhaps any other corner. PRO: You're well 'ard. CON: Even with airbrakes, you'll have trouble. POSSIBLE BAD HABITS: Because of the decent to excellent shields, Auricom and Qirex pilots tend to ignore the pit-stop. Don't, because Odessa Keys plays for keeps, and it's actually easier to hit the pit-stop on Odessa Keys for a reason. Leverage that. All Teams There are two fatal mistakes many Wipeout players make with Odessa Keys, and the first is something that you really have to learn before you can take on Phantom: The Autopilot is your best friend from this track onwards. Up till now, you've been able to take everything, in theory at least, without the autopilot, at nigh on full tilt. No more. There are potentially two sections where you'll definitely want the autopilot, and it's up to you which one you try. I've personally had more success saving it right till the final chicane, because it not only guarantees you getting cleanly through the chicane, it also guarantees you're getting shields back. It doesn't matter if you think you can eliminate someone, because elimination isn't going to guarantee you a saving of anything up to 6 seconds. Try the track on Time Trial, see where you gently caress up most often. That's where you need to save the autopilot for. The second is a mistake that all Wipeout players, even pros, are subject to: Gotta Go Fast. You see it in every tutorial vid out there, that "A clean lap is not necessarily a fast lap", and other such things. But racing games generally don't reward pinballing, and the Wipeout series is no different. If you need to slow down, even for a brief second, to take a corner with a good line, do it. Because most racing games, Wipeout included, have a fun little thing to them: Inertia. Let's say you're taking a 120 degree sharp corner. You can go hell for leather, airbrake like gently caress, and then jet out. Or you can do something a little more clever. You can ease up on the acceleration, airbrake less, and still jet the gently caress out. And the latter strategy works a lot better, trust me. See, as much as airbrakes are a vital skill, I'mma let you in on a little secret... Ready? They slow you down a fuckton more than a sharp turn will. So you have to ask yourself: Which is better? Airbraking hard, losing 80 MPH, and then jetting out of the turn, or airbraking a little, taking a sharp turn, losing 60 MPH, and jetting out of the same turn with better overall speed? You'll get to see the first case in the video for Odessa Keys. You'll get to see the results of taking the wiser choice yourself. Before I go, a little story. No real point beyond "Games have their own rules", and that games are cool: In two separate racing games, I have found that the only way to manage hard corners was to rev at specific points in the corner. This was for two different reasons. In the DiRT series, it's because seemingly 99% of cars have a mysterious wheel lock that only happens when you let the acceleration go, and so you have to rev to ensure you can still turn hard, while not accelerating. In Jet Ion GP, it's because thrust inertia is an even bigger issue than in Wipeout, with good reason (the clue's in the name), and so the only safe way to take those corners is by turning, then accelerating, like I was drawing tangential lines over a curve. I like this, because it's something unique to the game. EDIT: Oh, and Choco? As far as the S-Bend goes, hard right without airbrake, then airbrake left the moment you get close to the inner corner. You should end up facing the pad if I described it right, and if not, I sorta hope you get the gist. The only part in that S-Bend you actually need worry about is that inner corner. That's the most deceptive thing about it, because the line from the inner corner is actually a straight. JamieTheD fucked around with this message at 01:58 on Dec 11, 2013 |
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Dec 11, 2013 01:38
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JamieTheD posted:The second is a mistake that all Wipeout players, even pros, are subject to: Gotta Go Fast. You see it in every tutorial vid out there, that "A clean lap is not necessarily a fast lap", and other such things. On Sagarmatha I managed to cut 1.6 seconds off my previous best lap time, which was a perfect lap. The improved lap time was not perfect. I know it flies in the face of "good racing" but I'll be damned if I ever take my finger off the accelerator. Edit: I just managed to airbrake through the wall on Sagarmatha's sharp near-180 turn. I've never seen that happen before. Inertia! Giggs fucked around with this message at 02:23 on Dec 11, 2013 |
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Dec 11, 2013 02:20
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Another odd observation I had today chugging through and failing miserably at Odessa was that the AI had noticeably...changed. They were more aggressive than on previous tracks. It wasn't just a Rapier thing, because they weren't as mean on the G'are at all. No, they definitely started having it out for me. Mostly this was clear in just how much more often the weapons were being used--and it was a lot. Not that weapons were being kept to a prudent level before, but now I would rarely go three seconds without hearing another warning in the background, or random explosions (you learn to ignore these, and just race, but still) Of course, this could have something to do with my lesser abilities at this point, but I don't think so. Because also the drivers started getting infuriatingly aggressive. More than once I would have another ship wedge itself onto me in near-suicide, just to slow me down. at one time I found myself stuck in 7th place for a half a lap because the 5th and 6th cars (both Auricom team, if that matters) decided to do this to each other--and block the track, making it excessively difficult to pass due to their juking back and forth at double width. And the worst, and this possibly would have been preventable in full car view, at one point I was taking the split between the main path and the pit. I had for that lap chosen the main path. Just as I hit the split, a guy behind me decided that wasn't happening, and T-boned me squarely into the divider, which was nearly as bad as falling off a jump as far as delays go. I've not seen this level of meanness from the AI in earlier races. At least I would occasionally get cathartic release when I would do things like say, eliminate a guy in front of me with just missiles (the weakest weapon next to the electrovolt) or one time I hit a guy square with a rocket right when he was over a pit. That felt nice. Nonetheless, watch out man, the psygnosis decided they were done loving with players once they started working on Odessa.
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Dec 11, 2013 03:13
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Choco1980 posted:Another odd observation I had today chugging through and failing miserably at Odessa was that the AI had noticeably...changed. They were more aggressive than on previous tracks. It wasn't just a Rapier thing, because they weren't as mean on the G'are at all. No, they definitely started having it out for me. Mostly this was clear in just how much more often the weapons were being used--and it was a lot. Not that weapons were being kept to a prudent level before, but now I would rarely go three seconds without hearing another warning in the background, or random explosions (you learn to ignore these, and just race, but still) Of course, this could have something to do with my lesser abilities at this point, but I don't think so. Because also the drivers started getting infuriatingly aggressive. More than once I would have another ship wedge itself onto me in near-suicide, just to slow me down. at one time I found myself stuck in 7th place for a half a lap because the 5th and 6th cars (both Auricom team, if that matters) decided to do this to each other--and block the track, making it excessively difficult to pass due to their juking back and forth at double width. And the worst, and this possibly would have been preventable in full car view, at one point I was taking the split between the main path and the pit. I had for that lap chosen the main path. Just as I hit the split, a guy behind me decided that wasn't happening, and T-boned me squarely into the divider, which was nearly as bad as falling off a jump as far as delays go. I've not seen this level of meanness from the AI in earlier races. At least I would occasionally get cathartic release when I would do things like say, eliminate a guy in front of me with just missiles (the weakest weapon next to the electrovolt) or one time I hit a guy square with a rocket right when he was over a pit. That felt nice. Nonetheless, watch out man, the psygnosis decided they were done loving with players once they started working on Odessa. Choco, you wouldn't believe how much I really want you to have PMs after that post. Because you're right, the AI is more vicious in this track. I can't say exactly why, yet, but suffice to say, I specifically told Biscuit to read this post. Update coming in an hour or two, folks!
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Dec 12, 2013 16:02
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Track 5: Gare D'Europa (Rapier, Feisar)    CO-COMMENTATOR: The Mighty Biscuit MUSIC: Chemical Brothers - Leave Home (Underworld Mix) (YT Link) Oh, I've been looking forward to going back to the FEISAR. You know why? Because it's exactly the same. It's a high acceleration, low speed craft that handles almost like it had wheels, and can even manage some maneuvers in midair that the rest can't touch. It's a real shame that you're still going to struggle racing on Rapier with the thing because it requires hitting all the boost pads you can just to catch up... ...And I'm going to need that maneuverability, because Gare D'Europa is quite a nasty track. A sloped, quick chicane series needs not only good maneuvering, but good pitch control, there are some tough corners, and even our old “friends”, the hairpin turn and the blind sloped corner making a triumphant return. It's tough... But the boost pad placement is a lot better here than Silverstream, which, along with the handling, makes it easier. Not a whole lot easier... But you can definitely do this one on your first attempt, if you know what you're doing. The final jump series, right before the end, though, is a massive speedbump if your pitch control isn't spot on. As others have pointed out, Gare D'Europa is a very boring name for a track. Specifically because all it really means is "Track of Europe/European Track". What a dull name for one of the best tracks in the game, eh? Jay's FEISAR XL FactSheet JamieTheD fucked around with this message at 16:11 on Dec 18, 2013 |
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Dec 12, 2013 16:42
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Welp, I said the 15th, and I meant the 15th. Here we go! Let's Race Wip3out XL!  So, the time has come to see if you love the game, and to hold a GoonRace! The Wip3'out” one didn't go so well, but many more people have played this game than the first, so hopefully we'll see some more entries! Now, seeing as there are four speed classes in this game, there are going to be four brackets: Newbie Class (Vector), Goon Class (Venom), Mod Class (Rapier), and Sociopath Class (Phantom). I'll be racing in Mod and Sociopath classes, so that leaves 14 slots for you lovely goons, more if enough people want in! If people really want a helping hand, I will pass on my full unlock savefile for those of you emulating, but I'd really recommend unlocking it yourselves. As with the last race attempted, you will need a copy of the game (I've shown people how to run the PC version in Win Vista/7, so nobody gets left out), something to record it with (The Tech Support Fort Wiki has help there), and the willingness to just have fun! Also as before, you record three consecutive time trial runs, encode the video (Again, the TSF is fine here, and you're not editing, I am), send it to me, and I'll take your best run for the race video. If you have skype, mumble, whatever the hell we agree we're using for the race vid, you can also join in when the video's edited enough for post commentary. Although I cannot guarantee prizes, I am definitely going to try and give something to the winners of each class! IMPORTANT NOTE Whether it's Time Trial or not is really up to you, Goons! In-thread vote, the majority wins, vote lasts till this coming Wednesday, so plenty of time, right? Just post with your preference Bolded for easy counting! So, even if I've not played a Wipeout game before, it's fine? Yeah, really, it is. XL onwards, the difficulty curve is mostly fine, and nobody said you couldn't practice before recording your three runs on Time-Trial mode. Essentially, on PC, you can define it, and on PS1, the controls are easy to remember: L1 and R1 are the airbrakes, you'll get the hang of how they work just by mucking around in Time Trial, X is accelerate, Triangle is change view, Circle is drop weapon, and Square is firing/using it. You can use the left thumb stick or the D-pad, and again, if you're emulating, you can bind whatever to whatever. And since the whole point is to have fun, I don't think anybody really minds if you're not on top form. Don't sign up for a class you're blatantly not comfortable with, and everyone's happy. So There's A Deadline, Right? Yup, and that deadline is the first bonus video near the end, coming somewhere around January 25th. Have your race footage to me by then, and it's all cool. Finally, What Class/Ship Should I Sign Up For? Classwise, it's all to do with how comfortable you are with the game. But as far as ships go? Go AGS if you like exploding. Also nigh FEISAR handling with some sweet acceleration. Go FESIAR if you're kinda chill, but love being able to have a perfect racing line with little effort. Go Auricom for the Average Experience. Go Qirex if you liked Pinball Wizard. Go Ship We Haven't Seen Yet, and you win an instant DQ, because it really wouldn't be fair! (Yes, even on Sociopath Class) All sounds great, how do I sign up? Right here, buddy! Some Important and Helpful Notes - One class only, folks, unless we really run short of people! - For those who want to get a physical copy of Wipeout XL for PS1, it's dead cheap on Amazon, among other places. JamieTheD fucked around with this message at 22:43 on Dec 24, 2013 |
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Dec 15, 2013 22:13
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Time Trial is my vote, so that we can show off our rad 90's skills without pesky computers ruining our lines.
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Dec 16, 2013 05:31
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Ah, here's another feller we've definitely forgotten in giving props to... Andy Whitely. Andy is pretty much responsible for most of the designs in Wipeout 3, and also for a track that we're going to love to hate (among others). So go visit his site, look at his amazing animations, and give props, a'ight?
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Dec 17, 2013 16:48
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It really shows that Psygnosis had a better handle on the PS1 hardware than they did with the original game; the draw distances are much, much better than the original and there is so much more detail in the tracks and the ships themselves; the ships actually squeeze more detail into a smaller texture file, probably to save resources for the track and the expanded number of races; at a guess, this may also be why ships no longer have individual livery and pilots. Of course, there is a much larger jump in sophistication when we hit Wip3out. (Also, Gare d'Europa is kind of a boring name for a racetrack).
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Dec 18, 2013 15:56
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Track 6: Odessa Keys (Rapier, Auricom)    MUSIC: The Future Sound Of London - Landmass (YT Link) CO-COMMENTATOR: The Mighty Biscuit And now we come to the final track of the single races. Odessa Keys. Quite literally hung over the Black Sea, Odessa Keys is where the game gets serious. It's not just the sharp corners, or the occasional blind corner. No, it's the little things that add up as well. The slight narrowing of the track just after a sharp corner. The tight turn series after both jumps. The fact that the other racers' AI is actually pretty good for Rapier class, and will gently caress you up (In fact, as other players have noted, the AI seems to take a leap in aggressiveness from here on in.) Odessa Keys is all of these things. And guess what? We're not done yet! If I haven't done so before, let me explain how the unlock system in this game works. This video and the last 5? That was me unlocking the tournament. Not for this game the inevitable stride of tournament to tournament, oh no! Instead, you race two tracks on each of the first three speed classes, and have to get gold on each of them. Yes, I said first speed classes. Everything up till now has been practice for... The Phantom Tournament. You may recall what I said about speed classes in a much earlier part of the LP, where later games go as follows: 1) Vector (not always in games, but mostly dull as dishwater) 2) Venom (Always in the series, and what most players consider the baseline) 3) Flash (Again, not always in the series, but you'll see it referenced from the fourth game onwards. And yes, I'm not counting Wipeout 64.) 4) Rapier (AKA “Coo, that's a bit fast!”) 5) Phantom (AKA “WUBWUBWUBWU [  ]-OHGO [ ]-[SPLOSION]”)Sometimes there's a class above Phantom, but generally that's reserved for a type of gameplay we're not going to see yet. The important takeaway here is that unlike almost every other game in the series, where we start with tournaments, here, we have to actually unlock the tournament, and then we have to beat a tournament, without practice, on Rapier. That is why, instead of actually being called a Tournament, the game just calls it... CHALLENGE I. Why one? Because, obviously, there's another one! Here, I'm actually going to put it to a vote: Do I record the Phantom Tournament the same way I did the Wipeout Rapier cup, or do I skip it because there's a bigger Tournament on the way, and just show you the results? Pro for recording it, Wussout for not recording it, and remember to bold your vote! It is, however, important to note that the Phantom Challenge is not in Phantom class... it just unlocks it with a tournament entirely in Rapier class. The next challenge is entirely Phantom! As an aside, the track I'm confusing Odessa Keys with (a little)? Is the first Phantom track in this game, Vostok Island. Which actually is in the South Pacific, as advertised. So there we go. Two things to vote on, a race to play... And, coming while I count the votes (voting for Phantom ends on the 24th, around 6PM GMT, voting for Time Trial or Race has been extended to the same time), we have a verrrry special Future Racing is Weird. Oh yes... Oh, and those bonus vids I talked about.
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Dec 19, 2013 05:17
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In the what is the comp doing to me race I think I saw the quake power make a racer fail to make a jump and fall into a pit. PRO
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Dec 19, 2013 06:38
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I didn't come to see you be a baaby Jamie! You are a PRO!
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#
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Dec 19, 2013 06:54
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