New Killer Track Design Ideas

[thefellow3j]

(Couldn't find an open thread for this one...)

If you got a crazy, off-the-wall idea for an "Experts Only!" track, this is the place to put it. No holds are barred: throw in track elements from other games if you want!

Example: A split-level version of F-Zero GX's Serial Jumps (the last Sapphire Cup race) that introduces a steep magnetized drop to the lower track in the last big turn. Major barrel roll opportunities here!

[Darkdrium777]

Outpost 7.

'Nuff said.

[Xavier]

^ and ^^ : Combine the two! Outpost 7-like 180-degree turns combined with big gaps between each of the sharp turns!

Now that wouldn't be any fun at all.

If Wipeout didn't have a "wuss wagon", courses without walls would become seriously difficult (as they are in F-Zero). I found FZGX's "Lightning: Halfpipe" to be a fun challenge since you weren't allowed to fall off the course, ever -- same with the murderous final Story Mode course, where you basically have to navigate a twisty, loopy track for several minutes without ever falling off the track. Like Zone mode, but with only one shield point!

[swift killer]

Spilskinanke II please. Moar twists, moar difficulty, less magstrips.... and mind blowing surroundings.

[Chill]

I thought of that loop idea a while back... but with the boost pads becoming very important... the only thing keeping you up to enough speed to stay on the loop!!

But then I came up with the idea of possibly turning mag-strip on and off by yourself... like mabye even a foot pedal or something... of course you don't wanna learn with the pedal held down all the time, cause then you can't go off pumps, or ramps and do barrel rolls!! And besides, it would kinda force you to have to cover more ground, therefore you'd be slower than without it. But if ready to go upside down, you better hit that switch or else you're a goner!!

And another idea is to have moveable parts to the track... like make the track actually move!! for example, you could jump into a straight-away that has 8 or so straight aways all going down the same direction hugged around some revolving long cone... but once you get on, it's down with the pedal, or else you'll fall off when it revolves!! Then they would all end up getting back together in one track some way...

And making tracks with different type of scenery than all kind of much the same... like one be in a dirty dark rainy city, with trash flying around as you race buy, then one in like some vacational spot... perhaps even on other planets and other parts of the world like the first Wipeout and Wipeout Fusion... but we gotta use the island up first before the ability to put more effects and graphics into a future HD Wipeout without lag...

[Xavier]

Moveable parts woud be pretty interesting. Could they be implemented on a race track where the ships are flying at the speed of sound? I can't imagine levers and gears manipulating huge sections of glass/metal/etc. quickly enough, unless they did something with switches and simple doors like in Fusion.


And making tracks with different type of scenery than all kind of much the same... like one be in a dirty dark rainy city, with trash flying around as you race buy, then one in like some vacational spot... perhaps even on other planets and other parts of the world like the first Wipeout and Wipeout Fusion... but we gotta use the island up first before the ability to put more effects and graphics into a future HD Wipeout without lag...

They basically implemented your first idea in Pulse; in the decade since Pure, Wipeout racing has taken off again and there are courses all over the place. One, Basilico, seems to be in just the dirty dark rainy city (abandoned doe to some disaster) that you desire, though I suppose the PSP's screen is too small to see little bits of trash flying around.

I really like how they expanded all over the world. I was disappointed to find that everything was on Makana Island in Pure -- I'd been thinking that "Staten Park" was Staten Island, just outside New York! -- and thought that the construction of new courses in many different countries was a natural development. I loved the bright utopian atmosphere in Pure and would like to see more such settings.

Has humanity reached other planets yet in the Wipeout future? We seem to have a lunar base of some kind by 2160 (the Katmoda course in Fusion); have we expanded to Mars in the years since then?

[swift killer]

Something like the city scapes in the graphic novel: Ramayan 3329AD

[Chill]

They basically implemented your first idea in Pulse; in the decade since Pure, Wipeout racing has taken off again and there are courses all over the place. One, Basilico, seems to be in just the dirty dark rainy city (abandoned doe to some disaster) that you desire, though I suppose the PSP's screen is too small to see little bits of trash flying around.


Oh yeah your right Xavier! hahaha... but I thought Basilico was way too bright if it was abandoned in my opinion... it shoulda been a dark lightless city you know?? totally feeling deserted.. that woulda been better...

the reason I like to think of other planets, and perhaps other places on earth is to see weather to the extemes... I know hard to generate on HD... but mabye not so much down the road... like fusion, it had rainforest storms... deep snow.... and it had even the moon. Well I just think it would be cool to see weather and such on another planet that doesn't usually happen on earth, and mabye even birds that don't exist on earth!! :)

[Criz]

I would like to have a track that goes vertical for about 75% to later change to a freefall.

[LOUDandPROUD]

Going with the weather theme here, I think it would be neat (and challenging) to have a really windy track that's mostly walled, so as to buffer the wind, but with an open section or two (similar to Sol 2) that offers no protection from the high winds. So, not only would you naturally have to be careful not to fall off the track in those open areas, but you'd also have to compensate/counter-steer for the wind. How about incorporating a jump onto the track where you're battling the wind while in mid-air too? I'm imagining hearing the wind during the whole race, with it really howling when you hit those open sections and the jump. Hmm, maybe they could call the track Chicagopia? LOL. (Sorry to any non-U.S. folks that don't get the reference) Anyway, I think that would be really cool.

[Chill]

WOW really never thought of that idea! see, heavy weather effect can indeed have a purpose!!!! :p

[Xavier]

LoudAndProud, that would be fun! Maybe you could have areas where the track forks into two, with one side having walls (but being slightly lnoger) and another with no walls and a vicious wind (but slightly shorter).

That assumes that the wind blows from one side to the other. What if you get a head- or tail-wind? The forward race would be a completely different experience from the reverse! Phantom class + massive tailwind = Zen class!

[LOUDandPROUD]

Haha! Yes! You get the idea! How about piloting in a blizzard too?! What fun!

[Ally]

Awesome idea about the wind.

[Velocitar64]

This is an image i drew 6 years ago O.O I just found it and added text today.

It's kinda terrible :P But it's appropriate to the thread.

[stinkleroy]

Thats a very good idea L&P!! Bringing in weather effects opens up the floor for lots of new ideas and hazzards. There could be thunderstorms with lightening strikes, blinding sun spots on some tracks or perhaps the sun could overheat you and drain your energy bar.

A track in the eye of a tornado would be pretty cool purely for the visual aspect :D

[Lion]

lightning strikes - by which I guess you mean forked lightning? - if they damaged your ship or obscured your vision, would be a right royal pain. if the lightning was just white flashes then it wouldn't seem so random and like the game was picking on the player

[Xavier]

Wind certainly would be fun to deal with, especially if there were a choice between windy and non-windy (but longer or otherwise more challenging) paths. Was it Anulpha Pass that had that thin shortcut path off to the right of the main course? Imagine that area being buffeted by winds while the main course is quiet -- then put the shortcut directly above the main course so that if you fall off, you're stuck driving "normally".

How about a blizzard course with many indoor segments? Imagine an "Orcus 2" where you're underground most of the way, then BOOM! you're being buffeted by snow and wind (and are suddenly in the light of day).

Has Wipeout ever made use of dirt on the track to slow you down?

It's really too bad F-Zero hasn't come out with a next-generation game in so long. FZ and WO should be leapfrogging each other in innovations, each spurring the other to new heights.

[stinkleroy]

The idea of lightening was more that of a distraction rather than a destruction tool. As you said, it wouldnt be fair to randomly strike somebody, but since when has wipeout been fair? :D

[andy]

There could be ... blinding sun spots on some tracks or perhaps the sun could overheat you and drain your energy bar.

Cool idea. Maybe there could be a fast racing line in the sun, and a wiggly slower line in the shade, so you'd have to take a gamble and use a little strategy and hope you've got enough shield energy to make it through.

[Xavier]

Cool idea. Maybe there could be a fast racing line in the sun, and a wiggly slower line in the shade, so you'd have to take a gamble and use a little strategy and hope you've got enough shield energy to make it through.

Better yet, how about if some ships have tinfoil-thin bodies that lose energy in the sun, and other heavy ships have solar panels that gain energy?

The recent games don't even seem to be using "nature" environments, much less letting nature affect the race. I really want to see more courses like Alca Vexus and Valparaiso (? original jungle course) and the ice of Cubiss Float. Remember that open area in Cubiss where you were dodging around trees with snow kicking up all around? That was fun. I want a whole course full of that, only with fewer trees and maybe more leaves flying around.

[LOUDandPROUD]

Cat, I also like your sun/extreme heat idea. After I read that, I was totally picturing hitting a long, sunny stretch of track and hearing/seeing my ship creaking, sizzling, smoking and starting to glow orange a bit. I love it! And I like Andy's idea about having the option to gamble with the faster sun route or take a safer, but slower, route. Man, I hope SL are reading all this! They probably have already thought of it all though...lol.

[Darkdrium777]

Totally unrelated but with the heat thing I was thinking about the prison planet Crematoria (http://www.dylancolestudio.com/Matte/Riddick/images/cr.001ab_MP.jpg) in Riddick. :o Now that would be hardcore racing.

For the lightning, Thunderbomb was a power up that blinded you for a fraction of a second when you used it (It was not available to bots). It could work the same way for the strikes.

[LOUDandPROUD]

Crematoria! Yes! Good call!

[stinkleroy]

Yeah Darkdrium thats more where I was going with the lightening....there are times when you're blinded in HD anyway. Going through a recently exploded bomb cloud can totally obscure your view, but it always makes me feel good when I come through unscathed hehe.

[Velocitar64]

A track in the eye of a tornado would be pretty cool purely for the visual aspect :D

That would be AWESOME! I concur to this idea!

[LOUDandPROUD]

Ooh! How about a cave track? I'm picturing it to be poorly lit with a couple of pitch black sections that are only illuminated by headlights on the crafts. I imagine there being some large, cavernous areas that will provide jumps, drops and BR opportunities, as well as several alternate routes to choose from and narrow sections that are so narrow that two crafts could not pass through side-by-side. Bats flying around...water dripping...stalagmites...stalactites...echoes...ma ybe a steaming hot spring... I WANT!

[IH8YOU]

GOOD OLE WEATHER EFFECTS - rain / lighting / thunder / snow / sun / aurora effects from XL/2097 - that MUST come back in future iterations - as it made the game so much more interesting. (gar'd europa with those echoing booms in the tunnels, Silverstream on Rapier /drool)

TIME OF DAY EFFECTS - same track, different lighting conditions - would jumble things up a lot - and would extend playability on even the most simple tracks. (day, dusk/dawn and night, for example) Some stretches at dusk - the sun is now in your eyes - can't quite see ahead of yourself now...

REAL TIME WEATHER. With tracks that are on Earth - that could be located - embed a web service that captures the current weather for that area, maybe even the current time - and loads that into the track when you play it. (so if weather.com says snow - when you play, it'll be snowing)

WATER H2.0 A section of track with water on top, and the track JUST BENEATH it - so you can still see the Speed and Weapons pads below the surface - but as you fly across, you kick up some mist, and maybe even have weapons splashes, or if you lev-rotate - your wingtips dip into the water. Maybe quakes don't quite work correctly in this section of the track. Perhaps mines are a lot harder to spot in this section? :o

QUAKE MODIFICATION - how about if you're flying off the track - as in going for Delta Skymiles or on a track gap - quakes won't hit you.

SPEED EFFECTS - when you're about to go supersonic (say over a group of speed pads on Phantom, or a well-placed boost on Rapier) - you get a small bow-wave / vapor-cloud and hear an audible crack during the transition. Remember the water bit? You could make some insane effects with sound barrier + water. As you whip by foliage - maybe some invisible contrails or shock waves (from the craft) affects grass / leaves, ect on the side of the track?

[jtc42]

I want every last one of those ideas so bad! ;)

[Darkdrium777]

Friend there is no need to quote the whole thing ;)

And yes, I want everything too. :)

[andy]

I would get rid of that whole quote if I was you xD Lance'll get angry. You don't need to quote something if the post it's from is right above yours.

And yeah, those are excellent ideas =]

[Lance]

Not angry, just disappointed that several people don't read the guidelines/rules. [and make extra work for me when I've got other things to do that would be more fun] But I digress.

[LOUDandPROUD]

@ IH8YOU - Like all of your ideas a lot! :+

[RedScar]

IH8YOU's ideas are all great, the speed affect is a must. I have XGRA for my PS2 and its very similar style of game with high speed racing and weapons. Break the sound barrier and you get a bluring effect at first, and most of the sound is dampened to almost pure silence, and the same sorta thing when u deaccelerate out of it. Great fun

[ACE-FLO]

I've just read this entire thread - The ideas expressed here are excellent. Eyes are now a lil blurry from all the reading but boy was it worth it...

...currently I am engaged in a fantasy where I pilot my own AG-Craft into a cave which is dimly lit, and I'm turboing through chicanes I can hardly see - just awesome! Sorry for trippin... ;)

[Lance]

Live your dream; play Wipeout 3.

[ACE-FLO]

I already own it. haven't played it in years coz the ps1 is broken... still a fusion head though, the ps2 is fine!

you ever go online on pulse Lance?

[Lance]

No; I do not own a PSP or PS3.

[Darkdrium777]

Lance is Oldschool ;)

[ACE-FLO]

So am I... Decided to move with the times though!
Must admit - The PS2 is still played indoors - but that may change when the PS3 gets purchased...

I still have my PS1 - it only works when it wants to though!

[IH8YOU]

Flip the PS1 upside down and play it - should help the worn sled assembly get the lens close enough to the disc in order to read it.

My PS1 (launch PSX in North America) can only play this way - used to be on it's side - but now, only upside down. :lol

[Lance]

I tried that early on just to see if it worked, didn't seem to, but so far, Jamie Hancock's suggestion to put it on its side is still working.

-- ---------------

D777 and ACE-FLO: The only game console I've used lately is my DS. However, I think we're wandering offtopic for a bit too long.

[andy]

Now I know pitlanes might not come back, but I like them and I thought that one or two could be a bit crazier.

I drew this in about a minute so please excuse the rubbishness of it, but anyways, it's a pitlane going under the racing grid. Maybe they could go over the top too, or maybe just go along side but hilly with the need for pitch control.

[swift killer]

Totally unrelated but with the heat thing I was thinking about the prison planet Crematoria (http://www.dylancolestudio.com/Matte/Riddick/images/cr.001ab_MP.jpg) in Riddick. :o Now that would be hardcore racing.


That would be brilliant!

I'd love to see a track set inside a massive Hindu temple, but it would have to be without the branding out of respect and have a force wall stopping stray weapons hitting the scenery (having the ability for stray weapons to hit statues in a temple would be very disrespectful and would cause offense)

[ACE-FLO]

Not the greatest idea then!

How about this, a track remeniscent of 'the temple of Doom" barring the Kali ma statue... With the ships being forced through a narrow section trying to escape the flooding water! Looks real cool in my head!

[RJ O'Connell]

I'd love to see a track set inside a massive Hindu temple, but it would have to be without the branding out of respect and have a force wall stopping stray weapons hitting the scenery (having the ability for stray weapons to hit statues in a temple would be very disrespectful and would cause offense)
*sigh* Don't even start me on the LBP mess, that was just griefing at it's worst.

On topic, it'd be nice to see a track section where if you don't take a specific action you will cause damage, i.e. in this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ix35c_8DEXk), the ship takes "damage" because Dade didn't pull the nose up. Maybe even a loop or corkscrew where if you fail to maintain a certain speed you'll fall off.

[Lance]

I would think that racing any sort of vehicle at all in a temple of a still practiced religion would be considered sacrilege.

[swift killer]

They did it in Fusion... then again Fusion as a whole was considered sacrilege

[Sausehuhn]

They did it [=racing in a temple of a still practiced religion] in Fusion
Was it a Maya temple? If it was Inca they did not do it! :naughty

;)

[Lance]

It appeared to be Maya. Completely different style than Inca [actually Quechua; Inca was just the title of the ruler].

[GalacticSpartan]

It was the mayans, the inca could`nt build anything like that.

[Aeroracer]

Anyone remember ps2/xbox game terminator redemption.

They should use the track in this game for a wipeout track. Its really good.Better than a lot of wipeout tracks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcEuCiHhT-Q

Best part of the track is at around 2 minute where the speed increases to like mach 3 or something and everything goes blue.

[NightArh]

That looks like Ballistics Game ;)

[Aeroracer]

New track would be called Gare d'london :turd

Full of traffic lights and speed cameras.go to fast and you are disqulified from the race stop and you get jacked by a traffic warden.plenty of speed humps to break your racing line.

[slimjim]

New track would be called Gare d'london :turd

Full of traffic lights and speed cameras.go to fast and you are disqulified from the race stop and you get jacked by a traffic warden.plenty of speed humps to break your racing line.

lol and youd probably have to pay a congestion charge somewhere along the line

[Lance]

Piccadilly to St.Pauls via Oxford? ;)

[diddymal]

I'd like to see a track with an extremely large jump over a drop, so if you screw up before the jump you fall off. Plus the landing ramp should not be inline with takeoff point, that way you have to glide left or right and spot the landing.

Going on that same thought, there could be a large jump that leads to a magnetised strip at a 90 degree angle to you, that way you'd have tho aim yourself paralell to the wall so you'd stick and flip around.

[LOUDandPROUD]

Cool ideas! :+

[Kyonshi]

I often had ideas about tracks settled on other planets.

- A remake of secret WipEout track Firestar, taking place on Mars. This track was awesome and featured nice scenery from the red planet.

- Also a remake of Katmoda 12 from Fusion, on the Moon. This track was sick and i feel that the vertical maglock portion of Metropia may have been inspired by the big crater drop of Katmoda... :P

- I had an idea for a fictive track that would be held in space, on an emormous asteroid. Then the track would extend into the adjacent asteroid field, with shifting portions of the track, according to asteroids movement. Of course it shouldnt be mind twisting shifts, but just slightly enough to offer a different challenge.

- Another track could be build on a planet with unstable gravity areas on it. That would affect the behavior and AG cells of the ships, causing them to be lighter or heavier according to where they are on the track.

- Anybody remember the ad that was made in video game magazines when Fusion was announced? It featured a real view of metropolitan London with a track passing through it, twisting around buildings and even going under the city, with sick loopings. Now THAT would be freaking awesome in 23rd century London! :P

Here's the ad...

[willsgb13]

I would like to have a track that goes vertical for about 75% to later change to a freefall.

i like this, would be different and could be thrilling, there could be bits of magstrip and then leaps before which are 2 or 3 boost pads to fling you onto the next vertical bit, same on the way down except you wouldn't need the boost pads but they could still be placed there too for maximum thrill and overkill speed, and it ends with a massive freefall leap after which you rejoin on a loopdeloop that loops around to rejoin the ascent, :hyper


Going with the weather theme here, I think it would be neat (and challenging) to have a really windy track that's mostly walled, so as to buffer the wind, but with an open section or two (similar to Sol 2) that offers no protection from the high winds. So, not only would you naturally have to be careful not to fall off the track in those open areas, but you'd also have to compensate/counter-steer for the wind. How about incorporating a jump onto the track where you're battling the wind while in mid-air too? I'm imagining hearing the wind during the whole race, with it really howling when you hit those open sections and the jump. Hmm, maybe they could call the track Chicagopia? LOL. (Sorry to any non-U.S. folks that don't get the reference) Anyway, I think that would be really cool.

this is also a fantastic idea, just to throw something new to consider into some tracks to increase the concentration necessary and make the gameplay experience more immersive; this could also create a real need for a weight value for each craft, heavier craft finding it slightly easier, unless the wind was in your direction, in which case lighter craft would be buffeted along, and it would be random which way the wind blows and in what way it changes; this should only affect the ships very minutely, however, but it would be interesting, and the sound of the wind would definitely add atmosphere and immersive quality to the experience too, fantastic stuff. i'm thinking sol 2 would be a prime candidate for testing something like this out!


Haha! Yes! You get the idea! How about piloting in a blizzard too?! What fun!

:cold


Ooh! How about a cave track? I'm picturing it to be poorly lit with a couple of pitch black sections that are only illuminated by headlights on the crafts. I imagine there being some large, cavernous areas that will provide jumps, drops and BR opportunities, as well as several alternate routes to choose from and narrow sections that are so narrow that two crafts could not pass through side-by-side. Bats flying around...water dripping...stalagmites...stalactites...echoes...ma ybe a steaming hot spring... I WANT!

fantastic idea... some people would spend a lot of time crashed, though, perhaps?


GOOD OLE WEATHER EFFECTS - rain / lighting / thunder / snow / sun / aurora effects from XL/2097 - that MUST come back in future iterations - as it made the game so much more interesting. (gar'd europa with those echoing booms in the tunnels, Silverstream on Rapier /drool)

TIME OF DAY EFFECTS - same track, different lighting conditions - would jumble things up a lot - and would extend playability on even the most simple tracks. (day, dusk/dawn and night, for example) Some stretches at dusk - the sun is now in your eyes - can't quite see ahead of yourself now...

REAL TIME WEATHER. With tracks that are on Earth - that could be located - embed a web service that captures the current weather for that area, maybe even the current time - and loads that into the track when you play it. (so if weather.com says snow - when you play, it'll be snowing)

WATER H2.0 A section of track with water on top, and the track JUST BENEATH it - so you can still see the Speed and Weapons pads below the surface - but as you fly across, you kick up some mist, and maybe even have weapons splashes, or if you lev-rotate - your wingtips dip into the water. Maybe quakes don't quite work correctly in this section of the track. Perhaps mines are a lot harder to spot in this section? :o

QUAKE MODIFICATION - how about if you're flying off the track - as in going for Delta Skymiles or on a track gap - quakes won't hit you.

SPEED EFFECTS - when you're about to go supersonic (say over a group of speed pads on Phantom, or a well-placed boost on Rapier) - you get a small bow-wave / vapor-cloud and hear an audible crack during the transition. Remember the water bit? You could make some insane effects with sound barrier + water. As you whip by foliage - maybe some invisible contrails or shock waves (from the craft) affects grass / leaves, ect on the side of the track?

all fantastic ideas, please implement studio liverpool


New track would be called Gare d'london :turd

Full of traffic lights and speed cameras.go to fast and you are disqulified from the race stop and you get jacked by a traffic warden.plenty of speed humps to break your racing line.

and cyclists WOOPS watch out mate fackin ell i did indicate

edit - oh and kyonshi, your ideas about unstable gravity and the asteroid field track - both excellent and the london ad - thanks for posting!

yes i did just quote and affirm other people's ideas.

[Dr. Angryman]

I wonder if WipEout can work with a tube for a track, like F-Zero. The bottom half would be normal, the top half would be mag-strip.... But would it be fun? :?

[tileon]

it sure was fun in F-Zero... how I loved that game! It was just too damn hard.