Auto Catch Up?

[Wip3ou7]

I hope WipEout HD does not use this... I'm talking about when the players in the last few positions of the race get a speed increase. That always drove me mad in Motorstorm and some other racers. WipEout is all about skill, so there should be no such mechanic right? Did Pulse have that? I didint play Pulse online enough to tell.

[Axel]

Well pulse and pure I think had it in the form of the speed boost. You were more likely to get the speed boost when you were at the back than at the front. Which is fair in a sense.

I think WO64 was blatantly obvious in this department. Quakes and speed boosts to who ever was last was the norm.

[Colin Berry]

I am going to knock this one on the head straight off

Pure and Pulse increased the chance of the HUMAN getting a turbo Auto pilot and quake very very slightly (1% increase or so) it reduced the chance of mines and bombs to compensate
HD does the same as far as I recall
The AI has no catch up, not on weapons nor speed
There is none in multiplayer either

[Fascia]

I always thought weapon obtained was based on the colour of the weapons pad it flew over, not a simple dice roll...

[rdmx]

That was only in Wipeout 3.
It changes colours because it looks pretty. :g

[cybrpnk]

Just a little comparison??? Did Mario Kart ever have speed boost??? I always thought it was all about the weapon balancing...if you were at the back of the line you were more likely to get say, a lightning, star or blue spike shell...similarly I always thought this formula was quite efficient and would have been applied to WipEout...like if you were at the back of the line you'd get (like Colin mentioned) a quake disruptor, autopilot, turbo or maybe bomb...but now bombs are deployed behind you unlike 2097's bomb which just decimated everything around you...

[Wip3ou7]

Thank you for the fast and straight forward response, Colin.

I hate it when the slowbies get an unnatural top speed just because they stink. The worst is when (like in motorstorm) someone stays in the back purposely till the last lap, and then rides the "loser's speed-boost" to victory with a sling shot action of completel bullsh.... uh yeah.

[Mano]

Thing is, that 1%, can change the race 100%....

[Flashback Jack]

I hate it when the slowbies get an unnatural top speed just because they stink.

As something of a non-slowbie myself, I ask you to consider the following.


The AI has no catch up, not on weapons nor speed. There is none in multiplayer either

If Pulse is any example, something needs to be done to balance the game, badly. As it is now, winning decreases in massive proportion by a) the further back in the starting grid one is, and b) the increased chances that your victory would be snuffed out by those in the grid ahead of you who secure mines or bombs.

In this game, being ahead means you're probably going to stay ahead. A bomb or cluster of mines to the face is an instant game-changer. All things considered, a modest catch up system of say, a five percent increase in thrust and top speed (for starters) for every position back one finds themselves (don't ask me to code an algorythm to that), is probably the most direct way to address that twofold imbalance. Wipeout ought to be more about getting ahead and sealing the deal with ship droppings, which is pretty much the state of the game now.

- F

[RJ O'Connell]

Pole position doesn't always = INSTANT WIN but yes, you have something going Michael. Hopefully HD as is won't be that imbalanced.

[Wip3ou7]

im not sure i follow... you sound like youre contradicting yourself at the end there.

[Lance]

I think he meant 'about more than' instead of 'more about', so not really a contradiction, just a mistyping in the sentence you refer to.>

"Wipeout ought to be more about getting ahead and sealing the deal with ship droppings, which is pretty much the state of the game now."