What happened to Van Uber???

[jklasdf]

i started playing wipEout at Pure, and my favorite team was van uber. i loved the look, it was so unique, and the performance was great!

Now I've bought pulse, and Van Uber is gone!! :o they're not in the download packs or anything. does anyone else think this is bull?

[TearsToShreds]

I've never played Pure but I can say I hated its looks in Fusion. The only thing I find bull in relation to Van Uber is its name. :p

[Asayyeah]

Van hoover :D

[Rapier Racer]

It's gone, probably forever. Do I think it's bull? As long as Assegai are in moi isn't caring.

[Lance]

The Van Uber ships flew through their own flamethrower blast and incinerated themselves. ;)

[mdhay]

// Lance: :clap.:clap:clap

They were probably axed by the Anti - Gravity Racing Association for being little more than eye - candy.

[Rapier Racer]

I can think of other teams that deserve the chop a lot more than Van-Uber. Harimau comes instantly to mind as one of the most useless ships in history. But Van-Uber didn't look good you say, and Mirage does does it?

[Fascia]

Not so Über after all are they? ;)

The reason Van-Uber were in Pure is the same as Tigron, they were only legacy ships that happened to remain from the F9000 Racing League, because the companies behind them had gone backrupt/moved on after the issues in the F9k league there was no money left in it to upgrade the ships to FX400 specifications.

[Rapier Racer]

I thought the Van-Uber race team owned Ubermall? They live on!

[Lance]

I always liked the way van Uber looked, but as to their other characteristics, well...... :?

[RJ O'Connell]

Probably what happened to the smaller F1 teams recently like Arrows, Jordan, Minardi, etc - ran out of money.

[stin]

Or maybe ran out of thin breakable metals?:g

It is a good ship but it`s too fragile to handle.

stevie:)

[DjManiac21]

I can think of other teams that deserve the chop a lot more than Van-Uber. Harimau comes instantly to mind as one of the most useless ships in history.

Hey Rapier, I was playing this week's TT in Arc Prime Black, and managed to get a really good time with a Harimau, 0.23.74, Rapier, so probably we might find it useful this time, at least for a couple of tracks :cowboy

Poor team... :(

[Rapier Racer]

How does it fare against other ships in single race combat situations? Thats what I base my assessments on.

[Chrono]

I can think of other teams that deserve the chop a lot more than Van-Uber. Harimau comes instantly to mind as one of the most useless ships in history. But Van-Uber didn't look good you say, and Mirage does does it?
Mirage might have been good in multiplayer (atleast on phantom) but Harimaru is infinatly worthless in Pulse. If I'm not mistaken, it was less, but still worthless, in Pure. Medieval, :eek

[Lion]

medieval was great for novelty races.
the 1 shield challenge was a great way to end a night of racing... I think I did that a couple of times where noone finished the race

[jklasdf]

well i liked the way van uber looked (but i agree the name was stupid).

wen i first started playing wipeout (pure.....and only a couple months ago :P) i liked the way the split-nosed ships looked the most(qirex immediately comes to mind). but i was disappointed that there were really only two ship types: single hull and split-nosed(i couldn't think of anything else to call it).

it would be nice, i think, if they added another kind of ship design, like van uber from pure where the hull splits, but then reconnects at the tip. they're pretty creative ppl, im sure they could figure something out ;)

[Lion]

triakis is a triple hull construction, and goteki45 in pure was quite different too
the mirage concept in pulse is more-or-less the reverse of the pure goteki :)

[Jenze]

yeah I miss von uber as well, loved it in fusion, loved it in pure.

but now, harimau is my favorite, I don't mind it's gone..

[P52Smith]

Liked it in Fusion (what little I played it), loved it in Pure, upset it's gone but understanding!

[QuasarKoeben]

didn't care too much of it in Fusion, but I liked it in Pure, and Imo deserves another chance.

It's performance could be a delicate FEISAR on steroids, and not I'm talking about AG-s

It could have a decent speed and thrust, w/average handling and the shielding of a WO Pure Zone craft

[blixabargeld]

the reason why SL has dismissed teams like vanuber and tigron is because SL itself think that Fusion was a sort of wrong step in the evolution of the wipeout series. i do think so.

They left a link with the past in pulse, with the downloadable packs with tigron and vanuber, but now what fusion left is almost comparable to nothing.
Far better is the "recover" of wo3's memory, with the fully complete reintroduction of goteki, wich simply sucked in stats in the previous game..

[Mad-Ice]

You mean the downloadable packs of Van-Uber and Tigron in Pure. Van-Uber was a pretty fast ship in Pure but not good enough for setting toprecords or surviving the carnage of multiplayer madness. However about Goteki45 in Pure not being good is not true. It is the best ship together with AG-systems in Pure after Triakis of course, which is the best and fastest ship in Pure. If you look into the recordtables of Pure(PAL) you will find almost everywhere a Goteki45 being the first ship after all the Triakis records.

[infoxicated]

I don't think there was a conscious decision to go "these can be dropped because they are Fusion teams". When I had the idea to merge Xios and EG-R it was so we could at least give some recognition to ships of that era, too, so any Fusion loathing you see there is purely coincidental.

We just decided that 12 was a good number of teams, where we could spread the characteristics about and have the teams keep some sort of identity. So there was no stance that had Van Uber considered evil because they were part of Fusion - maybe it was because their colours would have overlapped with Harimau and their personality wasn't distinctive enough. Kind of like Harimau, actually! ;)

[eLhabib]

But then who ever liked Harimau? (except you, of course;))

[blixabargeld]

yes, but how would you explain that most of the teams introduced in Fusion are quickly disappeared in the following two games? would you say that it's only because they were not so popular among players?
Fusion was a bit of an "experiment" for SL, and if it is not failed (SL itself said that was a bit of a failure) should be said that it was almost too different from the original wipeout concept.
Fusion's ship in pure and in pulse are a sort of "painkiller" for those who still like fusion...
:nod

[eLhabib]

I think what actually brought down Tigron and Van Über was the fact that their ship didn't really fit in the w'o'' universe. In Fusion it got a little crazy with ship designs as SL tried to break away from the straight-edge look of ships in previous incarnations. What sets Tigron and Van Über apart from the rest is that they had cylindrical shapes in their designs, most likely inspired by airplanes (Tigron ship resembles a russian WW2 fighter jet). Now as the fans didn't receive Fusion all too well (mostly because of gameplay, but partly due to a harsh break in design choices), SL reverted to wipEout's roots with Pure. The round shapes had to go, so the downloadable Van Über and Tigron had modified shapes to bring them closer to the w'o'' aesthetic, but ultimately, they were just to uninteresting to make it to another game iteration.

[blixabargeld]

that's it. i agree:nod:)

[infoxicated]

It's stuff like this that makes doing the backstory stressful. ;)

You can make the smallest of slips and months down the line there can be heated debate about something that was an oversight - e.g. Piranha/Pirhana or Xios Finnish/Swedish.

I got a clarification request from the localisation team yesterday asking whether Nadia Elenova was Felix Levovich's son's daughter or his daughter's daughter. I was in mid "how the fu..." when I realised that since I invented both of the characters, I should know. So I answered "She is his daughter's daughter."

Several hours later when I'm lying in bed I realised that wasn't right - I originally imagined her as his son's daughter, but I suspect it's too late to change it now... I suppose I should fire off a mail just in case!

In any event, it is just ****ed up that I can be lying in bed thinking about stuff like this - it's like a great big house of cards that, if I'm feeling a little tired or slow on a particular day, I'm worried that I'll make a screw up that will come back to haunt me some time later. I was so cross with myself for the Finnish/Swedish mix up with the Pulse backstory... I always double check stuff like that and somehow I managed not to on that particular day and it slipped through the net.

So the bottom line is that we do care about stuff like this... or at least I do, so there was never any intention to throw Fusion teams out with the trash. Well, aside from G-Tech - they were toast, and Tigron had to go so we could have Qirex back - so what can you do? :)

[eLhabib]

Well and isn't it great that we HAVE a backstory! One thing I adore so much about the series is that the community is showing so much spirit for their team of choice - I haven't experienced this anywhere else. It wouldn't be half as fun without a thorough identity to each team.

[Lance]

Rob, now that you will be leaving SL, who is going to do the backstory? Will Damon come back or is he outta there permanently?

----------

Martin, since there were no WWII Russian jets, you're probably thinking of the MiG-15, famous from the Korean War. One of my favourite planes. Used the Rolls-Royce Nene centrifugal compressor engine design.

[eLhabib]

uhm, yes, of course... thanks for the correction. My head is stuck in the Crimson Skies Universe when it comes to plane design anyways... ;)

[Lance]

I've never played Crimson Skies, but I've really wanted to. I love the aircraft designs in that game, and I have a 'thing' for the 1930s. It's weird that the Great Depression in the economy resulted in so much innovative design in vehicles, architecture, and other art.

[blixabargeld]

that's it. i agree:nod:)

sorry again, quoting just to show that i understood. ;-)
greetings (I know, it's bit of a catch 22)

[infoxicated]

Rob, now that you will be leaving SL, who is going to do the backstory? Will Damon come back or is he outta there permanently?
I have no idea what will happen with it - they'll probably hand it over to the copywriter guys down in London who routinely reword the stuff I've written, I imagine.

If so you can look forward to a future WipEout backstory that contains industrial espionage, conspiracies and cheating within the ranks of whatever the league is called, because that's the way the WipEout Pulse story was going in the manual before Colin spotted it and we replaced it with something I'd written. (Which the gang in London then re-worded, natch.)

I suppose I cant be too precious about it - it was never mine in the first place, I was merely acting as the caretaker for a time. :)

[blixabargeld]

and triakis in the storilyne have been banned because an illegal stabilization system, right?
it's awesome that storyline is a trasposition of how the "played season" is gone, so i may think that triakis overpower in fx300 may have annoyed you, infoxicated.. ;-)

[Lance]

Sigh. Can't even get a copyright on your own stuff when you work for a company.

[stin]

Yeah and I would love to see the rest of his story!, but that is not the case. :(

stevie:?

[jklasdf]

hmmm...i haven't read any of the back story for anything in the wipeout universe. where would i find stuff like that? sounds really interesting.

[TheFrostE]

check that out http://uk.geocities.com/ce_hellfire/WipEoutguide.txt
and go to the ship bios, its pretty cool stuff, at least from the first wipeout

[jklasdf]

hey right on man. thanks!!

[Rahvin13]

Van Uber was good, but it was ugly, Like mirage, which is amazing, and hideous :)

[TearsToShreds]

The concept version has its charms, I think. Plus the original one made a nice attempt at actually looking like a mantis. Too bad custom skins for it don't work.

[Rahvin13]

Yeah the concept is pretty cool, i like the eliminator for it, it looks cool yet simple like that

[blixabargeld]

icaras' concept is also really beautiful, imho, it looks like the one of wo3

[Rapier Racer]

Yeah and it flies like it too feels like it weighs 3000 tonnes, you would be happy with this Icaras Lance I think.

[Lance]

Quite possible. :D
Though it shouldn't be as heavy as Qirex, but just have small control 'surfaces'. Plus lotsa speed of course.

[Rapier Racer]

Qirex hasn't been heavy since Pure, I think it might be ever so slightly heavier in Pulse than in Pure. I notice its another ship that doesn't see a lot of use online I'm guessing it's because of its poor thrust doesn't stand a chance against Goteki at the start thats for sure.

[jklasdf]

ya, but goteki's poor speed gives it a disadvantage after the start. the start isn't everything, it's only an instant of the race.

[Rapier Racer]

Goteki's poor speed stat hasn't put it at any noticeable disadvantage that I've witnessed, I doubt Arnaud would use it if it could be passed easily. It's not just the start either with thrust like that it can recover from attacks quicker.

[blixabargeld]

on the other hand the prototype ship of goteki is the ugliest in the game..

[Rapier Racer]

I disagree I like it, very cool better than the normal in-game floating rectangle.

[blixabargeld]

the "rectangol" is really cool, i like that the ship design is just came back to wo3 design(sort of) . way better than the one in pure, imho..
anyway, opinions

[omega329]

preferred the pure goteki's shape, very different to the other ships (topographically a torus compared to the other "spheres") original IMHO.

[Lance]

A doughnut amongst the tennis balls?

[omega329]

A streamlined doughnut, that can travel at 1000km/h+

Talk about fast food!
(sorry, couldn't resist)

coming back on topic, van uber was a doughnut in pure as well!

[jklasdf]

well i like doughnuts. and i liked van uber.

actually, im in the middle of playing goteki through the game right now. i love it. it reminds me of qirex, in that it looks like a beast. its one of those ships that just looks like it could crush your skull. i can't wait for wipeout hd, qirex looks awesome!

[P52Smith]

I just liked Pure's Goteki 45 and Van-Uber because they had holes in them, particularly as Van-Uber's plasma fired from inside this hole, not at the very front, an amazing, yet slightly flawed idea. As the plasma passes through the front arch, it should blow up and damage the ship, not just pass through. It does however mean that you can still see the ship in front of you better to aim, slightly increasing your chances of a hit.

[Rapier Racer]

Well the Van Ubers plasma can't hurt the VU because the VU fired it just like your own bombs wont explode in your face despite it being a supposedly solid object. It's one of these things.

(I'm talking about Pure before some smart arse points out that you can indeed be damaged by your own bomb)

[jklasdf]

lol. yeah....i haven't played pure in a while.....maybe it's time again:)

wait, you can get hit by ur own bombs??? how would you do that?

[KIGO1987]

on the other hand the prototype ship of goteki is the ugliest in the game..

I agree it was a very ugly ship, not a Goteki ship at all. Was the best ship on Wipeout Pure though. The Goteki ship looks like a Goteki ship in Pulse as well in HD.

Van-Uber should be avaliable in a newer Wipeout title. It is a good ship. Though i could never finish a race in Fusion in it cause the sheilds where so ****. But it was a good ship in Pure. Van-Uber needs to come back soon. When you think about it there is now no team representing Germany in the AG championship. Germany makes the best cars in the world, so im sure they should have a very competitive ship out there. I loved there ship designs. Van-Uber would have an Merc AMG Brabus/ BMW M-Series/ Audi RS tunned ship that would leave the other teams behind.

[Rapier Racer]

It's a shame they were removed it's just one of these injustices like the existence of the Flash speed class at the expense of Vector. Van Uber goes and we get Mirage in it's place? Harimau gets to stay too? Ehhh, sarry.

[RJ O'Connell]

Van-Uber should be avaliable in a newer Wipeout title. It is a good ship. Though I could never finish a race in Fusion in it cause the shields were so ****. But it was a good ship in Pure. Van-Uber needs to come back soon. When you think about it there is now no team representing Germany in the AG championship. Germany makes the best cars in the world, so im sure they should have a very competitive ship out there. I loved there ship designs. Van-Uber would have an Merc AMG Brabus/ BMW M-Series/ Audi RS tuned ship that would leave the other teams behind.
Except the Brabus, M3 and RS4 are all hefty cars with huge motors, which doesn't sit well with the lightweight, nimble, tail-slidey nature of Van-Uber ships. I was thinking Van-Uber would be more of a Lancia Stratos. Yes, that car is Italian, but it's more fitting of the team's philosophy.

Also, double post. ;)

[KIGO1987]

The Lancia Stratos was a funny driving vehicle did have that odd center of gravity bias towards the rear of the vehicle just like the Van-Uber ships. Im for a Italian based team. I’m Italian myself, well to be precise Sicilian heritage i have. If you guys don’t know where Sicily is, it’s that small Island next to the bottom off the main Land of Italy. Its actually where the Moa Therma circuit is hosted. My friend was over in Italy last year, he says they all drive like me over there, fast and crazy. I find that really funny probaly the reason why i like phantom races so much.

The Italian team would have fast accelerating ships with high top speeds with mid sheilds and hard to steer, as well as questionable built quality:lol somthing like a Lancia Delta HF integrale.

But back to the Van-Uber German team. It should be in the next wipeout title after HD. I guess Studio Liverpool could think about that.

[Albino Ace]

Technically, theyre part of the European Union - and thus represented by FEISAR - no?

Although, I suppose that wouldn't be a bad idea...Icaras has some connection specifically with Britain because of the two guys Burnston and Connor Burns or somethin'... :lol ... anyway. It's a possibility I suppose. :)

[darkfaerytales]

i've read this entire thread, i like pretty much what some people have said

to respond to some remarks, yes tigron and van uber was quite a break in the straight-squared design typical of the wipeout universe with its odd cylindrical / round shapes , but think up on this , piranha have a very rounded smooth silhouette too and i think it is the best aerodinamic realistic design, mirage in HD have a very rounded shapes too...

variety is the spice of life!

BRING VAN UBER IN WOHD! it deserves to be on again, fans love it!

[Darkdrium777]

http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/2006/wohd20081124134115jpgpv3.jpg

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/4746/wohd20081122195705jpgla7.jpg

Just sayin' ;) Posted by yourself truly as well :)

[KIGO1987]

Ive always noticed the Tigron logo in Metropia, but never actually saw the Van Uber logo on the dam face on Sebenco climb until just then. Then again you can't see **** in the game whistle being in SD, let alone the font.

[Darkdrium777]

Next purchase, a TV!

Recommend: Sharp LCD equivalent of LC32D64U or superior size (LCXXD64U) [Model number changes with region AFAIK, so you'll have to look for the Sharp 32" 1080p LCD, the only 32" 1080p LCD on the market!]

You know how reliable my intel is already ;)

[Xavier]

I was playing Pure when I first signed up for this forum, and at the time Van Uber was my main machine! (Now I sometimes wish I had a different avatar. ^^;)

When I first played Fusion, I instinctively went to my "Of Over" ship, only to see how slow and delicate it was. Dumped it for EG-R, but all those early golds in Pure came with Van Uber, so I'm not complaining!

[Echthroi]

The Lancia Stratos was a funny driving vehicle did have that odd center of gravity bias towards the rear of the vehicle just like the Van-Uber ships. Im for a Italian based team. I’m Italian myself, well to be precise Sicilian heritage i have.

Hahahah. Heck yeah, dude. I'm Italian as well. I was thinking about that when I bought Pulse, because I knew there wasn't an italian team. I currently use Qirex. I like the way it handles for the most part. If there was an Italian team, then I'd use it without hesitation.8)

ITALIAAA!

[darkfaerytales]

WOW i've revided this forum!!!

and my shots have become famous heheheehe

let's face the truth , there's too much love for van uber!

GO VAN UBER, GO!!!!!!!

we want you back soon!