Formula Fusion update released.

[blackwiggle]

R8 Games is happy to announce that we have just released a long overdue update to Formula Fusion on Steam.

The new version features:
- new and improved handling and physics
- barrier collisions and slowdowns
- improved anti-gravity
- improved airbrakes
- controllable pitch
- new menu screen
- new loading screen
- misc bug fixes

This is clearly not a content rich update. However, we feel we’ve made some under-the-hood improvements which go towards giving you the best possible gameplay. Something we know you’ll appreciate. This game will look amazing and play beautifully.

We have so much exciting stuff to share with you in coming months but it’s still on the stove and not ready for eating just yet. We’re committed to and are focusing on gameplay but please know that we have sackfuls of content coming your way from now until release in late Aug 2016.

Meantime we will be updating you more regularly than in the recent past. Actions speak louder than words. Watch this space.

Enjoy and please give us your feedback on the improvements.

Peter, Community Manager

At least it's something.
Pity still no Cockpit view to play in. :?

[blackwiggle]

Anybody else tried out this update yet?

I've just been playing it.
The most notable difference to me was the pitch adjustment, it's about on par with HD, maybe a touch less sensitive.
For some reason the reverse track has been removed from the TPP, which is a pity as I preferred that to the forward version :frown:

The handling doesn't really seem much different from before, steering via the stick alone is still too unresponsive [Think HD's TRIAKIS like handling, only slower to respond ], it's only when steering and using the air brakes at the same time that you notice a slight improvement to the previous version....I think the range of the air brakes has been tweaked to allow the craft to lean at a slightly greater angle on either side ....but then again, this could be put down to the new pitch adjustment being made available.

Something seems to have changed a little bit with the night time track regarding black levels, it had a punchier look to it previously when racing around, it now looks slightly muted /greyer in comparison, I don't know if it's some change that's related to the spark effects that now appear when the craft scrape the side walls, or related to the loathsome blurring effect when going over speed pads, which is when this muting seems most observable [can't wait till this effect can be turned off ]..... anyway, whenever these effects come into play on the night track, which is quite often during a lap, the black level of the track and surroundings changes to a greyer version, result is this black level muting is beginning to make the night track look disposian, which alters the feel / vibe you get from the game, and I find it tends to change ones mood to a more negative one ..... something I don't need nor want from a video game.

I've yet to have any game crashes yet, so it's seems more stable at least....not that I suffered many crashes on the previous versions.

[eLhabib]

Well.
I am still baffled by the fact that people who worked on the original wipEout games would get the whole feeling of this game so entirely wrong. I am very sorry to say this, and I can hardly believe it has come to this point, but I feel like I have wasted the money I spent on the TPP and the kickstarter. It's the most I have ever spent on a game (only matched by Steel Battalion with it's huge-ass 36-button controller, back in the day) and I was really putting a great deal of trust in these guys, but as of now, I don't see this game ever becoming anything remotely satisfying. Again, it absolutely baffles me, how someone can play the original wipEout games, understand why they are great, aspire to create something that feels similar, and then come up with THIS. It just does no compute. Sorry for the negativity, but this game, so far, got NOTHING right. It feels slow, uninspired, stiff, the track design is boring, and the vehicle and graphic design is completely unremarkable. So far, this game is everything wipEout isn't. :(

[il_mago_di_Doz]

I like the New York track design... Other than that, unfortunately I feel the same as eLhabib: I couldn't have used better words.
And he didn't even mentioned the sound design

[MENGKESHI]

Hey everyone, Mengkeshi here - some of you may remember me from the old WOHD/2048 SL challenge threads here on the WZ forums! :D I've recently been lucky enough to join R8Games as a programmer and, needless to say, it's a dream for me to be working on this game as well as learning from and working alongside such a talented team. I just thought I'd drop in to say hi and that the feedback here is greatly appreciated and all of it is read! The craft handling physics is in the midst of a large overhaul and, although this may not be readily apparent in this build, is paving the way for the flexibility of movement that we all desire. Please rest assured that craft handling is a priority for us and will be at the forefront of our minds throughout development. Also il_mago_di_Doz just to let you know that the sounds are placeholders and are also being fully reworked. Thanks for all the feedback everyone, the goal is to make this the best AG racing game ever created and we are not going to rest until we get there - thanks! :)

[Cipher]

NOT WITH ME WIPEOUTZONE!!!! NOT WITH MEEEE!!!!! (got signed out whilst typing this and the text was lost when i pressed the post button, i wasn't planning to re-type all of this, thankfully we cache files saving it all in some gibberish way)

It seems a little smaller than it originally was, but here it is:

I'm not sure who manages the team and i'm sorry to say this, but they should get a bit more experience, having to re-do parts of the game (and this is not the first time) puts a lot of stress on the team mentally, wastes a lot of time, but more importantly here, since this is Kickstarter funded and said funds are limited, money. Even if you had a sack of money laying around, you wouldn't want to waste it >.>
I understand that it's a bit of a learning experience and not an easy task to come out with your first game, having people with extremely high expectations due to the marvellously made Wipeout series and it's incredibly passionate audience, but rushing to get something out (which means it's not very well made (no offence)) which then does not meet the expectations, which in turn damages the reputation of both the game and developer is not a good idea, it makes you a second EA, the difference is that EA has franchises with a following and they can get away with it (which doesn't justify it though!!), as a startup company, you do not. There were indeed deadlines that had to be met because of promises made in the kickstarter/ TPP, but rather than focussing on art, focus should've been on gameplay (it always should, look at star wars battlefront, it's a stunning looking game, but the gameplay itself is not there), meaning hiring a little more programmers at the cost of artists would've been a better approach, now of course, this is all in the past, something you can't change, so it's kind of pointless, but you need to take things like this better into account for the future ahead

In short:
Communication should be personal, on all the social media you use, not a relay of posts made on facebook (if you do something like that, you should at least make it link to your forum, that way you'll also grow your community, don't be shy about sending out forum newsletters either (game updates/ progress/ plans))
Varsh did a good job at this as far as i know (i am not promoting him here, these are my personal opinions), having a motivated community manager who understands what the development team is doing is important, as he/she can "translate" this game dev talk into normal people talk, which is where transparency also comes in, if something is going wrong, don't hide it, if people find out, you're boned, they'll start making assumptions, spreading rumours and what not, i appreciate that a public announcement was made once in a while but they took way too long (eg the forum silence)

Development should be prioritised, completely plan out which direction you want to go with your game, i remember originally being said it was intended to feel like 2097/XL, but if you've played that game, we both know that none of the builds came remotely close to that (again, no offence), so something obviously went wrong durign that stage, did you guys get a PS1 into the company and let the developers actually play the game? If so, did they discuss TOGETHER, how they would approach this kind of handling style and/or which adjustments and tweaks would be made to make it your own style? (Whiteboard is good for this)
I think the game progress was already well thought out (Weapons are unlocked/ going down specific trees/ different craft at higher speed) but the actual gameplay not so much, it's a racing game, okay, everybody gets the point of that, but what's beyond that? Speed pads is 1 thing, weapons a 2nd, anything else? (Eg: shortcuts, alternate routes, track... wait for iiiiit..... LEVOLUTION (:D), ... ) stuff like that, this of course entwines with design, which is why communication within the team is also very important as well as the community manager knowing what the audience wants and relaying it back to the lead designer. Lead designer should then analyse these requests and ideas to see if they are feasible, if they fit into the game AND even if they don't, wether or not you should maybe change course from your own ideals ;)
Now, if you have a lead game designer who has a fully laid out game plan (see what i did there? :D), the goal is not to start making it, the goal is to create a working prototype that properly shows the idea, this prototype should have a minimal amount of art focus and a maximal amount of gameplay (for a prototype), this way the development of it shouldn't take that long and you can get feedback early on and adjust where needed (or start over if necessary)
This is actually how a lot of Game Companies work, they make a prototype in Unity (or another very simple and easy engine to work with, read: not UE4 (a new and massive overhaul of UE3, which means documentation for it will be scarse (unity on the other hand is probably the best documented game engine out there, have a problem? google it and you'll probably find an answer/solution/workaround), they check if it works out and if it does, they start working on it, you can actually even see the same with some of the coders on here for BallisticNG & SlipstreamGX (Shoutout!!), their very first builds don't have much art in them, just a simplistic gameworld that allows them to test their gameplay.

What i suggest for the future, is that you get some public Polls going for design concepts (tracks/ships), art concepts (futuristic, grunge/industrial, steampunk, retro, cartoony,...), handling concepts (eg alla 2097/XL or alla HD/Fury or alla destiny (those hovering vehicle things) or whatever else you could see working in your game) and maybe a little less important, audio concepts (Music, Sound FX, Voice announcements,..) although people won't be as familiar with that, so it might be better to keep this within the team and a couple of qualified externals.
What's important with this is that you do not allow the audience to chose a completely custom concept, they will be able to chose the one they like/ approaches their idea the most themselves, but you need to obviously provide previews for this (concept artists come into play here), the gameplay you could link with other games (like i mentioned), but i don't know what the legal terms of this are, so that's something you have to look into yourself

Now please don't read this post as if i'm bossing you around and telling you what to do, what you did wrong and how you should've done it instead, it's easy talking when the yarn has already unfolded and you just need to tie the ends together (is that a saying? if it's not, it now is lol), is it critique? yes, there probably is some of that in there, because i too have a tendency to agree with eLhabib, but it's mostly served as feedback and i hope you see it the same way so that you can learn from this and still make Formula Fusion into something great.

Hope it helps you guys a little, don't take it all too serious, you're free to take your own approach, it just serves as a bit of a guide/feedback on how I personally would approach things (it's the same way of approach we used at our college and after multiple team projects, i think i've figured out what's important when developing (not bragging, just my personal opinion))

Good luck you guys!
Cipher

Welp... i did it again, ye ol' wall o' text.

[MENGKESHI]

Thanks Cipher, just to clarify, when I said "overhaul", I really meant extending what we currently have rather than re-doing the work. :)

[Cipher]

Yeah i figured, but there might be a lot of overhaul to do, to the point that it might become simpler (and more organised/optimised) to code a new class from scratch and only copying over/implementing old elements you know you need, because in my honest opinion, there's a lot that needs to be changed to the handling, but i'll wait and see i suppose, good luck! ;)

Cipher

[MENGKESHI]

Thanks buddy, yes please do - we have a lot of upgrades in the works. ;)

[il_mago_di_Doz]

Thanks for the reply MENGKESHI and good luck with your new working opportunity!

Also il_mago_di_Doz just to let you know that the sounds are placeholders and are also being fully reworked.
I want to ask something at this point: how are we supposed to know which are the placeholders and which are not?
I already gave a lot of feedback in the official forum about the game, but what is the purpose of asking for general feedback about things that may or may not be placeholders? Isn't that a waste of time for everybody?
That is aggravated from the fact that no-one from the development team (other than you) has ever responded to any of the users' inputs, not here, not on steam, not on the FF-Forum: we only had the community manager saying that he will report to the team.

I could explain also in here with a long post why these (big and small) things don't work in the game at the moment:
- the physics
- the handling
- the width of the track
- the UI
- the new "rainbow" spark effects
- the aberration effect while passing on a boost pad
- the race not starting right after the countdown has finished
- the music
- the sounds
- the weapons

But at what purpose? Maybe if you engage a real exchange of opinions with the users about a specific topic (e.g. the craft handling only) it would be much easier to get the things right much faster.
The final message is: you guys have one of the greatest community in the videogame industry, and imho you are wasting the chance to really take advantage from it.
Wasn't that supposed to be the purpose of the "Test Pilot Program"?
Things can change, and I really hope that they will change (and fast) because I want FF to be awesome, just like everyone else in here.

[MENGKESHI]

Hi il_mago, many thanks for the kind wishes!!

Firstly please be aware that ALL feedback in all channels is either read or passed on to the team and is very much valued.

I think it's an unfortunate part of the nature of Early Access that there is always going to be some overlap between the feedback given and what is already known about/being worked on but in my personal opinion no feedback is a waste of time - at the very least it can act as affirmation that we are working in the right direction. However, that is just my personal opinion and please rest assured that we are going to have greater community engagement from here on in so hopefully this overlap can be minimised.

As for being one of the greatest communities in the videogame industry - I completely agree!! I still consider myself to be first and foremost an AG racing fan and member of the community - I was a kickstarter backer for Formula Fusion before I was lucky enough to end up working on it and completely agree on the need for it to be awesome - rest assured the passion is there and the work is being put in to make it happen!! :)

[terra-wrists]

I didn't kickstarter nor TTP for this, so I'm wondering, are there any official release dates set yet? or target release dates set for the various platforms (PS4, XBONE, PC, etc) ???

[il_mago_di_Doz]

If I remember correctly the full release (including PS4 and XONE versions) will be out in Q3 2016.

[terra-wrists]

May have to get an Xbone

[stinkleroy]

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ^^ :p

[blackwiggle]

May have to get an Xbone

WTF! I thought you said you had given up the weed....or is premature dementia setting in?
Get a PS4 if going the console route again, at least some of your old favourite games are most likely to get remastered for it, rather than the Xbone

[mikee74]

I cant speak english.
But i will rate this Game Formula Fusion.

Wipeout from the PSX the Physik pefektly.
Because not to easy in the steering, with drift.

Wipeout HD/Fury& 2048 the Physik
unhappily easy for the User.
The centrifugal drift to little.
This make the steering easy but with the speed and
Ai came the Challenge.

Quantum Rush,AG Drive,Repulze,Flashout 2 all have the steering to many easy.
Because only left and right steering,
and this havent centryfugal drift.
Ai too easy or to heavy, only the speed from Kontender
decide about triumph or defeat.Not the capability from User.
All the Game are not a Challenge.

Formula Fusion come the Wiepout Hd with more speed very near.
Unfortunately ist this steering very easy,
the centryfugal trift is not existent.
but the first wipeout become the legend Status,
because the Steering with little centrifugal drift.
Not all Peaple can this Directly, the musst have a little practice.
And this make the fascinating.

[terra-wrists]

WTF! I thought you said you had given up the weed....or is premature dementia setting in?
Get a PS4 if going the console route again, at least some of your old favourite games are most likely to get remastered for it, rather than the Xbone

I turned my PS3 into a PS4...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrpDIV5shcU

:D (not really)

[blackwiggle]

Is that a very Small man next to a HUGE TV ..?

I would NOT do this personally , why stuff up your PS3 ?

[subtotal]

I have just downloaded FF 😒
600mb !?! I've got apps on my phone that are bigger than that, in fact I think cipher's earlier post no.6 is bigger than that

The game needs a lot of work

Fingers crossed the update tomorrow brings it up to speed so to speak

[AdHoc]

The file size of a game doesn't define its qualities, especially not when it's in an alpha state, with one track and one ship.

We're not looking at a AAA game either, so what you're saying doesn't make any sense.

[subtotal]

I expected more all round - does that make sense now?

See what the update brings

[Hellfire_WZ]

The actual file folder on the HDD is 2.5GB.

[subtotal]

My download from steam yesterday was 613mb, maybe Kickstarter backers have got more content?

[g2wolf]

You're commenting on the thread from an update in december 2015.... The patch for friday hasn't happened yet.

Kickstarter backers don't get any more content than Early Access does. Only TPP and QA have more content (and prior to friday's patch, TPP and Early Access have the same content right now anyways)

[subtotal]

My comments were more directed at the fact that the game download as it stood yesterday was not very encouraging.

File size was a jibe, fair enough one track one ship -that's not my issue, I think it should have been more polished regarding playable view points and craft physics before released.

- - - Updated - - -

G2wolf are you part of the r8 team ??

[blackwiggle]

We have lost more content than gained with the last update subtotal, the previous version had a reverse version of New York [which I actually preferred to the forward version], but for some reason it was removed.

[subtotal]

How are you getting on with the demo blackwiggle ? I see you are after a fpv -me too

I've been on the track this morning using the steam controller but I played WOHD using motion control in fpv and can't really get to grips with it.

Well we are halfway through the 19th and no update yet😉

[blackwiggle]

I bet STEAM gets the blame again if it doesn't show up :rolleyes:

Have been asking for FPV since before the first test version, same for Xtriko, NZLion and the other old timers who are part of the TPP

Yeah, I've got my other desktop that runs Steam fired up ready for the update... when it arrives... I suspect it will take a age to download and install like the last one, I think the last one took so long because it was removing pretty much everything except that single track

GOD I hope they have changed the music...I can't stand that track now.

[subtotal]

I must admit r8 has got its work cut out bettering or being on par WOHD, I've even been considering purchasing a PS3 again to play it, Sony peed me off when I heard ps4 wouldn't carry store bought PS3 games across, so I sold it and upgraded my PC.
I like the fact that with steam all your purchase's will move with you if you change your PC

[blackwiggle]

Well Sony couldn't for a lot of the games as the PS3 architecture is so different to the PS4, the only way they could do it was to port PC versions of the games for the PS4 and add trophy support, so anything that was PS3 only or never had a PC version won't ever see the light of day on the PS4 .... I recently finished FFVII on the PS4, it looked so much better than the PSone version on the PS3.

Where's this bloody update....it's stinking Hot here ATM, and I'm sitting in my spare room with two desk tops running, it's like a sauna.

[subtotal]

Maybe steam releases updates at a set times so it doesn't get too overloaded?

[blackwiggle]

OK, I'll send Steam the bill for all the beer I'm having to drink to stay hydrated in this heat waiting for this update

[subtotal]

I should think the Kickstarter backer who stuck £1500 in the pot is getting through some beer at the moment as well

[g2wolf]

G2wolf are you part of the r8 team ??
No.


GOD I hope they have changed the music...I can't stand that track now.
Just mute it and play your own? Good idea to do that while recording anyways since youtube flags the music tracks that are in game.

---

R8 just posted an update on their facebook page:

hi everybody
We're working hard on the releases for today, Friday 19th. Just a few more wrinkles to be ironed out and we'll be ready to press the button.
A few more hours to go. We thank you for your patience.
Please note: we are working on GMT

[subtotal]

Thanks for the update

[purdisc]

Getting very very close now.

[subtotal]

Yep, I see its scheduled for download at 12:58 gmt on my steam account,
Technically speaking that's the 20th 😉

[g2wolf]

If it's "scheduled for download", that is because of your steam settings regarding downloads. You can start the download now. Update is live.

[subtotal]

Thanks g2wolf sorted it now

Sorry purdisc, my mistake -you made it in good time, well done!!

846.2mb 😄

Edit:
Loving the cockpit view -that's gonna make a lot of people here happy

The new track is very nice, I much prefer the open air tracks compared to city scape ones for some reason.

+ controller options now, meaning I can calibrate the steam controller gyro and play using motion control in big picture mode !!

all my gripes sorted within 24hrs

Well done r8 this is looking much more promising now 😃

[mikee74]

The new Track with the Miagara is fantastics.
Gratulation to R8 Team, good works.
I miss the Near Back-Cam from Contender,
i hope this Cam is not canceled.

For more Tracks;
I will self with editor
shape a track, but i havent a Editor.
I hope this come with the Formula Fusion.

[purdisc]

hi Mikee

thanks for that

if you're talking about the Rear Camera - hit Shift

we're not planning on an editor in Formula Fusion


The new Track with the Miagara is fantastics.
Gratulation to R8 Team, good works.
I miss the Near Back-Cam from Contender,
i hope this Cam is not canceled.

I will self with editor
shape a track, but i havent a Editor.
I hope this come with the Formula Fusion.

[mikee74]

Formula Fusion is a high-octane next gen sci-fi racing game which requires you to outfit your craft with intuitive upgrades, weapons and countermeasures. The next generation of high speed AG racing...

- Witness extreme speed...
- Tech research and uprades offer unlimited customization of your craft!
- Intuitive track features.
- Integrated Leaderboards
- Multiplayer
- Track Editor
- Music from international best-selling artists; featuring DUB FX! with
The R8 Website announce the Track editor?
http://www.r8games.com/#!portfolio/c243u

To the Cam:
I have hit shift, but this havent a Funktion.
The Near Back Cam from Contender is not integriert.
I have two Cam; Inside and Outsite wide back cam(Contender is little with more
overall view from Track)

[blackwiggle]

He's right, it does say Track Editor :lol

mikee74
I think it's safe to say that since that was originally put up on the R8 site, that option has been removed..... well until further notice at least.

To be honest, I wouldn't hold my breath of it ever happening, they have more urgent things to sort out first.

[purdisc]

Sorry for that Mikee74

This was before my time and there's much to catch up on. As BW points out this clearly was an early intention but has since been dropped as a feature for the time being.


The R8 Website announce the Track editor?
http://www.r8games.com/#!portfolio/c243u

To the Cam:
I have hit shift, but this havent a Funktion.
The Near Back Cam from Contender is not integriert.
I have two Cam; Inside and Outsite wide back cam(Contender is little with more
overall view from Track)


He's right, it does say Track Editor :lol

mikee74
I think it's safe to say that since that was originally put up on the R8 site, that option has been removed..... well until further notice at least.

To be honest, I wouldn't hold my breath of it ever happening, they have more urgent things to sort out first.