NICK BURCOMBE - NEW WIPEOUT GAME

[JABBERJAW]

go to xboxaddict.com to find quantum redshift being designed by curlymonsters. I looks like fusion, but it looks like it might play just like classic wipeout. Is there an email that we could send in suggestions in to you.

[Wiseman]

Yeah, I was just looking at it over at GameSpot.

http://gamespot.com/gamespot/stories/news/0,10870,2854278,00.html

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Wiseman on 2002-03-13 05:33 ]</font>

[Nick Burcombe]

Hi All,

The cat is finally out of the bag! :smile:

Yes, we are doing a future racer exclusively for the XBox and so far it's going really really well. This is not Wipeout though.

QR is an evolution of all kind of ideas we've had and primarily it "feels" completely different to anything we've worked on before and defintely VERY VERY different from Fusion (which to me didn't really have any "feel").

The screen shots that are out there at the moment do not do QR justice at all, there's plenty more where they came from - and better.

Obviously seeing it in motion will give you a better idea of what has been achieved so far, but all that sort of exposure is in Microsoft's hands.

So, I know you're all dedicated Wipers but hopefully you all find QR an equally challenging and hopefully more engaging experience.

We're not gonna be out for a while yet, so hold fire on judging it for now.

Comments are always listened to and obviously comments from fans of all future racers are interesting to us lot at Curly Monsters.

STYAS

Nick B

[BurnHead]

Wow... the screens alone look very cool - I'm really looking forward seeing this game in action!

Unfortunately I don't have enough money to buy a XBox :sad: - but maybe Microsoft lowers the price till this game comes out!

Oh btw... there are freeform areas in this game (as seen on the gamespot screenshots) :grin:

[infoxicated]

Just wait until the PC version comes out - then you can play it in a higher resolution on the latest PC technology, rather than hardware that's already obsolete! :wink:

[Tim]

infoxicated, do you know of plans doing a pc version ? frankly, I don't think it will be released on the pc. how many x-box titles are coming to the pc anyway ?
besides, the x-box hardware is not that bad. at least there are games that make use of it, in contrast to the situation on the pc.

[infoxicated]

Well, I can imagine Nick will tell you otherwise... in fact, I can imagine he will SWEAR otherwise, but the truth of the matter is that the X-Box is a low spec PC.

It runs through a TV, which has a lower resolution than a computer monitor.

So, Curly Monsters could have a cross platform hit by selling the game for PC - and it's not that difficult, 'cos they've already written it for the X-Box which is a pc.

And that's one thing about the X-Box that very few people mention. I'm not a Sony fan-boy when I say this (maybe I am, I dunno) but the X-Box might end up a test bed for PC games.

You make a game, you get Microsoft to foot some of the advertising bill for your product, it sells, you get feedback from the fans, you fix what was wrong and you release a better looking and cleaner version on the PC and sell a load more.

I'm not saying that Curly Monsters or anyone else will do this, but if I'm the guy in charge of a software firm and I want to maximise the profits for my company - damn right it shows off the abilities of my team and damn well right it goes out on more than one platform.

Ok, we'll have to wait seven months or whatever to try this experiment, but I'm willing to put my skateboard (my old one) on the fact that when EA churns out it's '2003 line (you know, Madden, NHL, FIFA), the PC versions will be better than the X-Box versions. And that will be without fan feedback in between titles.

The simple fact is that the X-Box spec is set in stone - people cant plug a Radeon 8500 card in and get better graphics. They cant plug in a Geoforce 4 card and get even better graphics still. So the PC equivalent of the X-Box will look better and be a pretty easy port for the company making it.

I own a PS2 and I own a top end PC... so I don't really need a half-way house.

Check this too - if titles are cross platform, you can bet that the screenshots on the back cover will have a little asterix beside them. And in the smallest print detectable to the human eye, it will say somewhere on the back cover "*screen shots from PC version."

Some people where platform shoes - I wear SoapBox shoes! :wink:

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: infoxicated on 2002-03-13 17:23 ]</font>

[xbod]

FYI infoxicated, if you're interested

The Geforce4 is a similar spec to the nv25 in the XBox, however you get much lower level access to the xbox gpu than on the PC via OpenGL or DX, so even a 2ghz athlon xp with Geforce4 is not gonna run as efficiently as xbox with regard to graphics.
The other problem with PC's is that you need to make your game compatible with as many graphics cards as possible which often (usually) means coding for the lowest common denominator. Unfortunately relatively few PC owners have a Geforce3 let alone a Geforce4 so hard coding for the Geforce4 is out of the question. All you'll get is better fill-rate and model detail, and possibly some small bit of custom code (like bump or cube mapping) that the developer has had time to add.

The dreamcast was a pc in a box. The PS2 is a pc in a box. Every console ever produced is a pc in a box. They just don't all run direct X, but they do all have the same advantage over PC's which is you can code directly for the hardware.

Technology wise, the xbox cpu may be behind current hi-spec PC's, but there is nothing on the PC market that comes close to the xbox gpu (or PS2 gpu for that matter, but for different reasons) because it's not bottlenecked by the operating system or api, let alone the (necessarily) generic nature of the game code running. Show me one PC product that can spit out (at least) 300k polys/frame at a constant 60hz.

Unfortunately the "PC games machine" is dying a slow death because it's too expensive to sustain the market it's enjoyed over the last few years with anyone other than the hardcore PC gamer who thinks nothing of spending £400 on a new graphics card. The boom in PC retail is trailing off because your average consumer doesn't want to spend another £800-£1500 only 18months after the buying the last one. I recall this exact issue was iterated in a recent MCV article.

Cross platform development is the same as PC development - you have to make your code base run on the lowest common denominator, then add code for more capable machines. A cross-platform product can never achieve the same (technical) quality as a (well developed) platform exclusive title, a discouraging trend i've witnessed on several past projects. If companies (you mention EA, and I see where you're coming from) choose to do this then I wouldn't vouch for the quality of the product on any platform, be it XBox or a PC sku.

It is exactly the fact that you cannot plug a Raedon 8500 or a Geforce 4 (although the xbox already has one to all intents and purpose) into your XBox or PS2 that makes them more powerful and cheaper.

Console = Cheap + Efficient + Focused
PC = Expensive + Inefficient + Generic

BTW, if a game is specifically written for XBox, a PC port would not be "pretty easy" as you put it. DX on XBox is not the same API as DX on PC. :cool:

[Lance]

Nick, the still pics i've seen so far look fantastically good. there's more detail in them then i've seen in other future racers, and the colour scheme looks excellent to me. the visual style of the backgrounds reminds me a little of the original wipEout, but more refined with a greater feeling of it being real. come to think of it, the ship design and backgrounds remind me a bit of those golden age late 50s early 60s sci-fi paperback novel covers. this is a good thing.

[Nick Burcombe]

Infoxicated - read xbod's post.
Xbod - Spot on
Lance - Glad you like it, more/better to come. :smile:

Nick B

[infoxicated]

Nick - you didn't have to register another username to give props to the X-Box. After all, Microsoft pays your wages now, so I would have understood completely! :smile:

(Usernames of users that posted from this IP:
Nick Burcombe 5 posts
xbod 1 posts )

I know that the X-Box is not a run of the mill PC, it does have some extra odds and ends. However its basic architecture is pretty much the same as my Athlon/Radeon set up I have at home. I have heard it straight from the mouths of people I trust that it is not a mamoth task to make an X-Box game work on the PC and a PC game work on the X-Box.

X-Box launch title: Halo - PC game, no?

Given the choice, if you tell me that there will be a port of QR for the PC then I would more than likely buy it. However I am going to take a lot more convincing to buy an X-Box while I own a pretty decent PC.

And guys, we know that Nick is a damn good developer, but we are looking at static screen grabs here, so lets not get too carried away until we see some video and/or learn something about the playability of this title.

Nick, perhaps if you want to create a bit more interest in QR you could give us some more details when you're ready to release some video?

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: infoxicated on 2002-03-13 17:26 ]</font>

[AmigoJack]

i fully agree to xbods post. couldnt have said it better.

xbox is no generic pc. its completely designed for games only - and so (as said) one is able to program it at low level for communicating with the hardware.

and pcs are naturally not meant for playing games. computers should >compute< (calculate) and not entertain us. thats a fact that is forgotton for many people nowadays...

and converting the xbox-game to pc is also an issue for itself: if it is an xbox-exclusive title there are more chances for MS to sell more consoles because you need one to play the game. so i dont really think of a pc-version - nevertheless i would be disappointed of this. but because of the MS-structure coming with the xbox there might be good chances for (unofficial) emulators for it :grin:

[Nick Burcombe]

LOL,

xbod isn't me, it's one of our programmers.

Our IP address will be the same because it's behnid a firewall or something equally nothing to do with me - that's more an MIS job. :smile:

Microsoft will be releasing video and screen shots when it deems necessary, game details the same. I'm certainly not hear to turn this into a QR forum. LOL.

The only reason I posted on here is because there was a head with "NICK BURCOMBE" in it.

Thought I'd chip in so that the rumours about what Curly is up to are confirmed by yesterdays press release from Microsoft.

I'll comment again if my name shows up again, other than that keep an eye on http://www.teamxbox.com and http://www.xboxaddict.com etc. etc.

See y'around

Nick B

[infoxicated]

Hey, you never know - this could just as easily be AG-Zone, catering for Anti Gravity racing games of all platforms... except G-Surfers, but we've covered that! :wink:

Best of luck with the game, Nick - cant wait to give it a whirl... one tip - fit race records in there somewhere!

Oh - and make sure that they don't handle differently on the freeform areas... *cringe!*

[AmigoJack]

those pictures look great - i like the propulsion gadgets and the whole design of the vehicles.

and erm... that digi-babe on the 4th pic looks also good - kinda similar to claire redfield (resident evil code veronica)

[Tim]

I hope it will really be released in fall 02 :smile:

[infoxicated]

Heh - Jack - I thought that about Claire Redfield... hubba hubba! :wink:

[Lance]

hm.. i coulda sworn i didn't get carried away about anything but the looks. but anyway, speaking of which, you guys are so shallow. getting carried away by the mere appearance of a digibabe. tsk. :smile:
but can she cook? can she quote Nietzsche? oops, nevermind, i just saw this hot babe over here. i'm so shallow that i could swim in a waterspill on a coffee table.

[infoxicated]

Hey - you are talking to Mr Shallow here!

But Claire was a babe in Resident Evil 2, and more so in Code Veronica. The way she didn't do the girly thing and hide behind the sofa instead of gunning down the undead in even colder blood was sooooo sexy.

Truth be told I prefer Pascal Rouser, but she's just a render and it's all a bit one sided. Little does Pascal know that I have a picture of her posted on the wall infront of my desk at work. *sigh*

[Confusion]

Oh man! Digital love? Dammit! Why do developers/graphic design people insist on creating marvoulous looking pixels?

Can you imagin a digital streaker in a Wipeout Fusion race? Amazing...

And so as not to drit off topic, I must say that the ships in Quantum Redshift look rather big in comparison with the track, though it does look like one big freeform area.

Perhaps the screenshots aren't doing the game justice as some of them make the game look particularly poor graphics wise.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Confusion on 2002-03-13 23:29 ]</font>

[AmishRobot]

foxy, there's one flaw in your "xbox to pc" theory: Why would any company use a platform that has a 500,000-1 million unit sales potential as a testbed for a platform with a 100,000-500,000 unit sales potential?

[Wiseman]

Yeah, those ships do look huge...

Hey, maybe they transform! (Anti Gravity ships in disguise! (makes Transformers[TM] transforming sound))


Anyway, the screenshots posted so far look good (considering the fact that it's early in development).

[infoxicated]

I didn't say that the PC version would sell more than the X-Box, I said that they'd sell "more copies". That's in addition to the X-Box.

To use EA again, if they can be bothered churning out titles for the PC and if graphics card manufacturers think there's enough PC gamers to keep pushing the envelope with their cards, I don't think the PC is ready to roll over and be replaced by the consoles just yet.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: infoxicated on 2002-03-14 09:36 ]</font>

[AmigoJack]

i like the "ships" being so huge. and they look freshened-up and really cool - not like another clone on the way to the market...

(and claire redfield & jill valentine R sexy :grin:)

[jmoid]

if it's any good i hope it does get ported to PC cos i can't afford another console...

[jmoid]

man, everyone knows chun-li is the be-all and end-all of graphically rendered laydeez!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: jmoid on 2002-03-14 20:14 ]</font>

[Hydra XL]

perhaps it wasn't even nick burcombe and is some android that stole guy pearce's time machine. that's what i believe. you should too.

bsides. stop bickering about x-box pc x-box pc-box x--the bottom line is x-box controller=trash and pc=too expensive/too little market... bring that fine lookin, dope-ass game to the ps2. who cares if it's watered down, at least u can play it w/ a decent controller and not some hideous, neon green lit box whose sex appeal is geared towards 13 yr-olds.

o, and if it is u NB, ditch the stupid star spangled banner decor on that ship--that, and the digi babe is lame too. either photograph some fine laday, or get some1 w/ talent to sketch character art/profiles. that'd b sweet. good music too!! whee!!

[Nick Burcombe]

LOL. Guy Pearce!?!!?!?! I'll consider that a compliment...sorta... :smile:

Regarding your comments about ship textures and digibabes.... They simply do not warrant a response.

NB

[AmishRobot]

While I would've tried to word it a bit more graciously, I agree with Hydra on the digibabe. She looks way to much like the main character in the Final Fantasy movie. Trying to make her look realistic just makes her look stiff. I'd rather see something less realistic, but with more personality.

And I don't think I've mentioned it, but those screens look like they have serious potential.

[Lance]

a bit? indeed so.

Hydra, keep it civilized.
i'm tempted to delete your post altogether, but if the sys admin agrees, i may leave it as an example of what not to do. it also gives you a chance to apologize. as it stands your own words are an embarassment to you.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Lance on 2002-03-16 00:45 ]</font>

[infoxicated]

I was waiting to see what he followed it up with, Lance, as it's very poor form for someone with two previous posts under his belt. Other school kids, be warned.

[Lance]

well, i had held off a while after i first saw it, but i got to the point where i just couldn't hold back anymore. :grin:
too impatient, i guess.

[Hydra XL]

My humble apology, sealed w/ a kiss:

egh... i'm from new york, does that explain things?

or may b i'm just disgruntled about not being able to play WO fusion.

my post was mere humor. i believe "NB" was NB. I'm sorry he's not a celebrity in my eyes tho'. The bloat'd x-box/pc debate is something we viewers shouldn't hav to b subject to. But, a little text never hurt any one. This applies to my post as well. My comments were suggestions, first and foremost, and i don't know about the UK, but the USA is a free nation and thusly (thusly! hah!), free speech. I didn't want my post to appear in such a boring manner as u perhaps would have rather received:

"The digitally-rendered female could appear to some as contrived, stiff and convoluted. Might you consider, ur holiness, a drawing or perhaps a photograph (don't kill me). Your monthly 50% of my paycheck will arrive shortly in the mail"
&
"The star-spangled motif on the ship exploits this over-bearing patriotism that has exploded since 9-11, over here in the US and quite-frankly, it's all in vain...if we are to b proud of our country it shouldn't take something like 9-11. It's an exhausted and spent thing, all these stars and stripes. It's vicarious and not real."

While my post was harried, concise and, yes, primatively-versed, it was an attempt to not hav posted in boardom (puns! whee!). May b other people feel the same way as I do.
regardless, i can see the NY/Brit senses of humor are not the same. I acknowledge ur dissent in regards to my lowly post and in return i offer u this apology, and my soul, o' great board administrators. Just kidding. But seriously, i'm sorry for any pain/anguish/sleepless nights. I'm also sorry you can't lighten up.

~lata~

no disrespect NB, i kno we still homeboyz. hellz yea.

hydra xl

p.s. not calling me a schoolkid, but a hyperactive, ADD-plagued 19-yr-old would have been more on target.

[infoxicated]

I'll remember that demographic next time! :wink:

[Hydra XL]

it is imperative that i know how to do smilies. explain or die!

[infoxicated]

http://www.wipeoutzone.com/forums/faq.php#smilies

[Thruster2097]

sorry for the delay, guys...
been very busy talking to hundreds of people about hundreds of different dogs...
rest asured, I still pop-in once in a while..

sorry to rake up an old argument, but I totally agree with infoxicated on this one.
The x-box is basically a dreamcast 2. They both carry the Microsoft moniker, and an adapted Microsoft OS, whereas the PS2 doesnt.
They can both run 800x600 screens at 60 cycles, but the x-box runs its graphics through a graphics card, just like a PC, thus slowing the whole system down, and justifing the speed difference between the PS2's 366MHz ant the x-box's 733MHz. though it produces roughly the same result.
One point where microsoft have failed is the reliability of the x-box. Just recentley, Japan took all x-box off the shelves, saying something similar to "every unit sold has been returned to us in a faulty condition"
The PS2 had a similar problem, but not anywhere close to this scale.
Inspired from infoxicated's post, I have an excellent PC and an excellent console. Though I can easily afford an x-box, I dont see why I should settle for an average compromise of the two.
Besides, the damn thing uses directX to run, so I'll bet every penny I own that theres already an emulator available....

[Tim]

It's not a question of already having similar hardware. It totally depends on the games you want to play. Several titles are exclusive to a single system. E.g. you have to buy a GameCube to play the upcoming Resident Evil remake (I know I will not be able to resist :smile:).
Quantum Redshift seems likely to be released for the XBox only, so the coolest PC would not help you to play that game. Speaking of xbox-emulators, ... well, currently there is none.

[FoxZero]

from the promising screenshots shown here, the style of the ships in this game seems to be derived more from aircraft design than anything else.. perhaps this is an indicator of how they will control (can you say pitch :). nice little pilot photos in that one shot. i hope this game plays as will as it will look, cuz wipeout fusion still aint here and i need my speed fix, and AceSpeeder cant cut it anymore :)

also, Hydra XL, there is a playstation 2 controller adaptor for the Xbox called the x-connector, it lets you use the playstation 1/2 controllers with the xbox. i have yet to try this product but im working on getting one myself as i love the playstation controller.

[Lance]

Thrusty said:
''The x-box is basically a dreamcast 2. They both carry the Microsoft moniker, and an adapted Microsoft OS, whereas the PS2 doesnt.''

i don't agree. the Dreamcast has completely different hardware. and btw, all the data i've seen say it uses 640 x 480 screen resolution. a summation of the information i've gathered from several internet sources follows:
while ''Windows CE'' appears on the case, it is not actually in the Dreamcast itself. except for the basic hardware start-up code for when the machine is switched on, there is no operating system. all other OS code comes on the gamedisk or the internet access disk. software development kits allow the game developers to write a game using a Windows CE environment, which means many of the developers don't have to learn a new system. but the Dc has its own native system for development, and it produces more efficient, faster-running code. the X-box is a completely different machine.

that's what i hear.

cheers

[infoxicated]

More on QR: http://xbox.ign.com/articles/355/355925p1.html

[AmishRobot]

A couple comments about the article:

>>"You'll have to use the airbrakes all the time, but you won't have the same stiff steering control that characterized futuristic racers like Extreme G or Wipeout."

Wipeout stiff??? I've never heard that before. If I ever hear complaints about any of the Wipeouts, it's always that they're too floaty and loose. Hmmm...

>>"Redshift supports widescreen, progressive scan, and customized soundtracks."

Awesome. Now I can bust out my Atari Teenage Riot cd's and see how aggressive I can get! :reddevil: Progressive scan is cool too. It's a shame I'll never get to see it until the Hollywood corporations convince the US government to mandate new HDTV's in every home, so we can all sit back and watch our copy-protected movies like good little consumers.

_________________
If you copy that Buckaroo Banzai dvd, the terrorists win.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: AmishRobot on 2002-03-22 10:11 ]</font>