Thoughts from a Wipeout HD player

[Milk]

Hi!

Just found this game. I haven't played Wipeout in ages, and I remembered enjoying the game a lot when I played it on PS3. I was super excited to get a new racing game in my multiplayer library, so I've been playing it a bit to try to figure out how the game works. After an hour of play, a few thoughts:

* Not every piece of every menu has proper controller support. Some menus I can't back out of using the X button, and the drop down menus on the graphics menu doesn't seem to accept controller support. Also, using the controller on the remap menu is not very much fun, even though that menu looks to have full controller support. (The mouse support is great though.)

* Also, can you guys use Xbox button names when you can? I don't know the buttons on my Xbox controller by number.

* Please change the default controls for Xbox controllers so that shoot is on X and drop is on B. Drop powerup is the button assigned to backing out of menus, and that function is traditionally on the B button. It seems like Drop was designed to be on B button, it just isn't mapped that way by default.

* On a design note, I really like Wipeout HD's system of choosing between absorbing and using powerups. There's not really a good reason to ever drop a weapon without using it in BallisticNG, so that would make "dropping" a more meaningful choice. Also, I'm even less good at BallisticNG compared to Wipeout, so I have a hard time driving into the pit lane on anything other than the lowest speed class. Absorbing powerups is a bit easier for me too.

* While I'd like to think I'm okay at Wipeout HD (I play against easy bots though), I am absolutely terrible at BallisticNG. I don't really have a good idea as to what specific parts of the handling are different, but I can't win at anything other than the lowest speed class in BallisticNG (still against easy bots). I don't feel like I have as much control.

* That said, I do suggest changing the bump-into-wall collision physics. Sometimes in BallisticNG when I hit a wall, my car bounces off of it and makes a pretty dramatic turn toward the opposite wall. Sometimes the turn is so huge that even with airbraking I can't turn away from the wall. In Wipeout HD, the cars made an unpleasant grinding against the opposite wall (and sometimes bumped a little too), but the cars never reoriented from a wall collision. Also, the slowdown on wall collision feels a bit much.

* Also, as for a content progression system: I don't want any of the content (tracks, speed classes, game modes, and cars specifically) locked away at all. I don't want to have to spend hours and hours grinding away in single player to get ready to play multiplayer with friends, and I want to be able to go to a friend's house, install the game on their machine, and have all the content available for play right away.

If you guys want a single player campaign for people to have the feeling of progressing through, I liked the way Wipeout HD had a mission-based campaign that gave progression in the form of unlocking other missions to do. The campaign didn't unlock any of the content for the racebox (freeplay) mode, but it still gave the game a sense of "Alright, now I need to do this thing next".

Anyway, thanks for making this game!
-BZ4

[Polarized]

Your critique is pretty thorough and well written, just for that I thank you, but, although you make some good points, you're making a major mistake in trying to compare BallisticNG's gameplay to WipeoutHD, when the game is pretty much 100% based on the PS1 Wipeouts, mainly Wipeout 2097 and Wipeout 3. Wipeout HD is a completely different game in comparison to the early Wipeout games, the only exception being the basic AG-craft-weapon-race gameplay.

[fumando alonso]

go psx or go home

[Milk]

Originally posted by Xpand:

you're making a major mistake in trying to compare BallisticNG's gameplay to WipeoutHD, when the game is pretty much 100% based on the PS1 Wipeouts

Right. I totally get that the PS1-era Wipeout games did pit lanes for healing and large floor panels for the weapon and speed panels. As much as I prefer absorbing weapons to pit lanes, that's a design choice that matches the conventions this game aspires to.

I'm just surprised that I'm so bad at BallisticNG when I'm at least okay at Wipeout HD. I suppose my reflexes are calibrated to the handling in the newer games; had I played Wipeout 3, I might not be so awful at BNG.

[Schmittfeuer]

Yeah the PSX ones handle very differently from the newer ones, I frankly suck at them too. But it's just practice.

[NinSegaBros]

There is a option to unlock everything

go to options->stats
there should be a unlock all , click it then say yes.
You should now have everything but the AG bike. To unlock this
On the main menu type this "Carving"