New Zone mode

[GreenPhazon]

What would people say to a Zone mode where every lap is on a different track (i.e. First lap on Metropia, straight into Sol2, and so on)? I think it could work, but the next track would have to load as you were racing down the current one. I'm not sure whether this is plausible, but I find it interesting nonetheless.

[AnErare]

Uhh LOL.

That would be insanely confusing with the ever increasing speed :P The game would need to advertise the coming track so you can mentally prepare for it. Otherwise it would not be playable at all at high speeds.. This also means you'd loose focus on the current track.

I don't think it would be fun to fly like that in zone mode. In Races it could maybe work though but I think the transitions would visually be confusing enough :P

[GreenPhazon]

Uhh LOL.

That would be insanely confusing with the ever increasing speed :P The game would need to advertise the coming track so you can mentally prepare for it.

Agreed


I think the transitions would visually be confusing enough :P

Pulse never had any mehusive colour scheme changes when you go from class to class.

[AnErare]

No, and in my opinion that visual silence in Pulse was very comfortable. The colour differences in the shapes you pass become a flowing whole but what HD does is continually stimulate visual input, and with heavy flashes as well.

Entering the next track would probably look like or be perceived as passing through a very minute tunnel. What may be very confusing is switching to the spatial layout of the following track. It would also mean zone mode will become a journey through the available tracks and that might be a spectacular thrill :)

I do like the idea but it's practically weird :) About the processing power of the ps3 I have no idea whether this could work or not. The machine is a powerful one but it may take too much ram to process.

On a side note, what is "mehusive"? No such word exists as far as I can tell..

[GreenPhazon]

It's a slang synonym of 'massive' that a friend of mine used once and I kind of stole it.

But yeah, I know how crazy my idea might sound but I think, if it could work, it'd be great, especially for those of you that go to 70+ zones, much less boring than circling the same track over and over, however fast.

[silverfoxy]

It sounds like a proper 'out there' idea.

Maybe just doing 1 lap of VinK then followed by a lap of reverse VinK and so on. Not sure if I could handle every track each lap especially on Chenghous. Plus it would be a lot harder to get perfect zones (IMO anyway) as you would be too busy worrying whats next. At least when you do the same track you get into a routine and habit and know when to change your lines due to the speed. Having so many different tracks would feck it up totally for me anyway.

I think Zone mode can be explored more though and it is a mode that reflects improvements to your skills.

[GreenPhazon]

Maybe it'd be better without the increasing speed of Zone mode. maybe it should be an all new race mode, seperate to Zone.

[Xavier]

GreenPhazon, I agree; that could be quite a lot of fun as a new mode. Imagine Zone mode brought back to its original monochrome visuals, and then this new mode where you race a virtual tour through a large number of courses, with the color changing as the course changes.

"Virtual Tour Mode"?

You could even mix things up by not telling the drivers which courses are coming until you actually cross the preceding goal line. Or the driver in first place could choose.

The only problem I could see would be that the computer would have to have at least two courses loaded in memory at the same time; more if one ship falls more than a lap behind. Maybe you could be instantly eliminated if that happens.

[rdmx]

Only way this would work is if you had some outrun2 style connecting areas in between the stages...

[GreenPhazon]

Maybe you could be instantly eliminated if that happens.
That almost makes it a bloodsport. I like it.

[WolfKill01]

That would be uber fun, mate. But as mentioned before the transition from track to track at super-phantom, zen, and so on, would be
hectic, confusing, and overwhelming. Great idea though.;)

[djKyoto]

Only way this would work is if you had some outrun2 style connecting areas in between the stages...

Then you could have a chick in the cockpit with you and she'd give out challenges like 'do as many BR's', 'pass all those other ships', 'hit all the speed pads'.

Amirite? :D

[Xavier]

Now this could be cool too. Imagine an online race with eight participants, with eight or so tracks all attached to each other using Pure's VR environment (the more sophisticated one used for the download tracks, not the pathetic green one). Challenges are given out while the race is going on, and points are assigned for accomplishing those things. The biggest bonus of all goes of course to whoever finishes the whole thing in first place.

[RJ O'Connell]

You know, Zone on it's own could make a really cool stand-alone PSN game, for a small fee.

[jan709]

i was thinking today what if you could race zone online ? with eight players and weapons.

that would be fun especially wit the longer races when the speed starts to go beyond phantom.

[F.E.I.S.A.R]

Then you could have a chick in the cockpit with you and she'd give out challenges like 'do as many BR's', 'pass all those other ships', 'hit all the speed pads'.

Amirite? :D

I don't know about HD but it looks like fun.
Do any of you know Daytona USA 2:Power Edition? It has a course called Challenge.It is a mix of all three tracks in Advanced,Expert,Beginner order.They use tunnels to connect courses together at some parts of each other.Maybe they could use that.

[diddymal]

Sounds like a pretty cool idea to me. Maybe instead of having the zones change every 10 seconds or so, it goes up in blocks of 10-20 zones at a time, but you have to run through all the tracvks before the zone gets changed, that way each track could be run at the same speed.

[MEKAGORI]

If anyone could do this, it's Liverpool.

They pulled Zone off, didn't they?

I'm pretty sure that a decade ago, the idea of having a racing game mode where the track pulses to the beat of your music while your vehicle speeds up was definitely out there.

Look where we are now.

[Dr. Angryman]

I once imagined a Zone track shaped like a hollow torus (donut). The speed pads randomly change each lap and you get a HUGE bonus if you hit all of them in one lap.

I dunno. It's not very challenging but it'll look so cool.... :lol

[Aeroracer]

It would perfect mode for training you to be good at all tracks..

i dont think the track could be loaded without affecting gameplay..maybe next gen..


You would have to keep original zone too cos its popular and has it own unique feel about it:nod

[plasma_king]

I reckon the idea of the track model shifting with each lap (or zone? - that would be a bitch to get your head around in the middle of a 90 degree bend at zone 75!) is a kick ass idea.

My idea is to have a chase mode where the player is sent after an AI or human opponent trying to make up a hefty head start. The aim - simply catch him, and kill him before the finish line! This would then combine two very different skills: 1; racing extremely well to make up the head start (obviously the difficulty would determine the AI lead and the ease of catching him), and 2; blowing the sucker to kingdom come before the end of the track (if he survives and gets over the finish line you lose ). I also envisaged this mode taking place on a different class of track, one where the start and finish aren't at the same place (a la stage racing from Colin McRae Rally).

How does that sound?

[cort_weiss]

sounds good, some type of cat and mouse game the only thing I'll add is only cannons and infinite ammo, reload between clips like in bomb disposal mode (I don't remember the name)

that would give more strategic racing and more a challenge, maybe the ship on the lose can be also a special kind of ship

[F.E.I.S.A.R]

I'm wondering...
If Zone Chase is implemented,is it possible to have a set number of Laps or Zones to destroy the opponent? Because the only time I've seen Point-to-Point tracks implemented is in Fusion. And Making Zone Chase-exclusive tracks would make them similar to Devillia tracks in Fusion. I can,however,vision destroying an opponent before Zone 60 on Syncopia! :D