Detonator mode

[Spece2goin]

New mode, New thread!

i've always been good in detroying mines with canon, and Detonator mode is nothing more than that, with incredible Zone tracks, lights, colours...

i really like this mode, i took a lot in the eyes.

For the most i understood, each stage (lap) you gain shield.

You got to reload your gun if you want (absorb) but if it's empty, stop firing will reload it, if you dont stop, you can't fire, and you take mines in the face.

Speed pads are replaced by other pads,
passing over 4 of them will load the EMW, use it by pressing L1, but it's not effective until you load it more by passing over more pads
the more you load, the further the wave will be sent.

I suppose that chains are the number of consecutve hits with your gun
full chain (15) will give you bonus points and a bronze trophy.
5, and 10 gives also points.

Bombs are beautifull, and all mines are beating on the music!!

Good job to the Detonator devs!!!

[Roz]

Indeed! It's really fun! But Zone battle is hard! Can't beat the Elites in the first grid!

[Paul Tweedle]

Indeed! It's really fun! But Zone battle is hard! Can't beat the Elites in the first grid!

It just takes some getting used to. Try firing a one or two zone boost as near to the start as you can to get out in front and then try to stay there. Pay a LOT of attention to the barrier warnings.

Paul.

[Roz]

Indeed. I'm quite good at dodging the barriers, but the AI is relentless. I usually try to get the 1st three pads and then boost but sometimes the AI goes all the way to zone 5 while I strugle to even get to 3 with the acumulated boosts. And sometimes when I get to zone 8, the AI is already at 17~19.

Tell me, does the energy of the ship matter when boosting? That would explain alot since I usually ram into the ships since I need to get the pad.

[Paul Tweedle]

Tell me, does the energy of the ship matter when boosting? That would explain alot since I usually ram into the ships since I need to get the pad.

Don't really know what you mean. Boosting is independent of your energy. Unless you absorb that is.

Paul.

[Roz]

You're right, energy doesn't count apparently.

Well I guess it just takes practice, I just won by a large margin. Perfect zones are a must, they give a lot of boost bar. That explains it since I was huggin the walls quite a few times. This gives the mode quite a bit of strategy really, very nice. We need to accumulate boost bar but not that much since we begin losing speed in comparison with other short boosters. So it all comes down with the boost bar control and strategy, skill in piloting (perfect zones and laps) and skill in dodging the barriers and putting them in right places, like after a double or triple speed pad.

Congratulations, this mode is very, very interesting.

[Darkdrium777]

Please release this here already :'( I watched a video someone put up of Detonator, it's awesome. Zone Battle is awesome. Eliminator is awesome. (They also were in that video)

But damn if I've got to wait till 5PM, it's only near 1PM. :/

[stever]

We're getting slightly off topic for the title of the thread but my biggest tip after having managed the first zone battle on elite is to hold of boosting (after maybe doing a couple of early ones to get some clear track) as the boozt gauge builds more per pad if you have more stored up.

[Roz]

Oh by the way, that instant 180º turn button in eliminator is a game changer. For the best I mean. It's soooooooooooo much more fun now. And really, it's stylish as hell turning around at full speed, deliver some rocket goods and turn around again. It's that fun.

- edit

Oh man, just did Talon's Junction Detonator event (2nd grid). The 1st grid event was easy but this one started to show that Detonator can be very, very evil. Firstly, the mines in the loop are dangerous cause we can't see them. I usually let a few bursts off and then save a few if the thing is swarmed after the loop. Also, the track is kinda narrow so it really becomes dangerous in later zones. Only managed 11/14 but got the gold medal. Haha, will love Sebenco and Chenghou detonator!

[djluring]

Anyone else experience that the Shield stat in the HUD of Detonator is off screen except for in internal view?

Tried tinkering with the screen and display settings as well as HUD effects but nothing seems to fix it. But it'd be nice if someone else can confirm the issue before bug posting.

[Nunalho]

I really like this mode, but unfortunately i suck at it...i rarely get pass level 10 :|

Let alone getting the points for gold in medium/elite.

[Darkdrium777]

I've had Caroline Bernstein not call the bomb's location twice, but other than that it's fast becoming my favourite mode.
It seems I've got competition, as some Japanese (I think they are) players are scoring high.

[TheFrostE]

i have a few top 10 detonator spots right now....just got my "da Bomb" trophy as well as sharpshooter ...2 down 1 to go...you got some comp. here too xavier.

I LOVE DETONATOR

[ProblemSolver]

Yeah Detonator rocks! :rock

[NeilSmith]

Oh man, detonator is hard on elite. I've done most of the Fury grids but I still lack some of the Detonator ones :)

[RobCoxy]

Detonator is awesome!! :D

I have a few top 5 spots :D and a wr last time i looked :).

[mic-dk]

Drugs, you have to much free time :D

I spent 30 minutes yesterday trying to beat the elite AI on Talons Junction. On Venom... But Detonator is a lot fun, alltough I'm crap at it.

Oh man, this is gonna be an uphill battle... :)

[Casshern1981]

Best mode evaaarrrrrrr....:rock:rock

[Darkdrium777]

My current top scores:
Sebenco Climb Reverse: 538825, stage 14, 63,3%
Talons Junction Reverse: 623925, stage 14, 72,5%
Modesto Heights Reverse: 543575, stage 14, 65,2%
Syncopia: 729650, stage 14, 67,3%

These are my world records for the moment, I have a few top 10 as well that can definitely be improved.
Also that cease fire trophy is very easy.

I am still progressing and learning how Detonator works. 'Fraid I wouldn't be able to teach though for the moment, it's all instinctive work atm.

[lunar]

Detonator is brilliant and beautiful. I don`t think anyone expected SL to come up with something like this, it`s so clever. I think it`s going to be great training to play this as you have to learn to do a lot of things at once, but it is also a whole new game within the game. There is something for everyone in HD now and it must be the best value game on the PSN.

[As Heaven Is Wide]

Got the "Hold your fire" trophy last night and was :lol the whole time. Never thought frantically weaving and side-shifting around mines could be so much fun.

[Sideshow]

Love how everything pulses with the music. Machine Gun came on and blew me away.

[jan709]

detonator is by far my favourite Zone-ish mode :rock

[Darwock]

Are you allowed to use the EMP for 'Hold your fire'?

If not, then god help me... it seems impossible!

[Paul Tweedle]

Are you allowed to use the EMP for 'Hold your fire'?

If not, then god help me... it seems impossible!

Nope! That would be too easy!

You'll get there, keep trying.

Paul.

[Reezy]

You sure about that Paul? :)

[NeilSmith]

So... does anyone have any tips for Detonator mode? I have done the first 2 grids on elite, but I'm struggling on the remaining grids. What is your focus? I think Detonator is a very complex game mode that requires you to use alot of different skills. First of all you have to avoid the bombs, aswell as hitting the walls, next you have to line yourself up so that you hit the energy pads. And last you have to know when to shoot and when to reload. Timing is everything. But apart from that I just think I need to practice alot, like with everything else in life :)

[djKyoto]

Nope! That would be too easy!

You'll get there, keep trying.

Paul.

I got the "Hold your Fire" trophy whle still using the EMP, so you might want to double check that ;)

Also I still havn't reached Stage 14 yet.

[Paul Tweedle]

I got the "Hold your Fire" trophy whle still using the EMP, so you might want to double check that ;)

Also I still havn't reached Stage 14 yet.

Yep, my mistake, you're right.

I've always done it without using the EMP. Me and Ste have just tried it now using the EMP and we think it might actually be HARDER to do so! Reason being is that each stage/lap has a maximum (and increasing) number of mines so any you destroy are replaced with new ones along with the extra ones for the next lap. So basically you get a LOT of new mines in a lot of new places.

We think it's better to leave them and learn where they are lap on lap rather than have them replaced with new ones.

Paul.

[axisone]

Egads, Detonator is a nightmare for me! What would really help is if I could manually change the reload button from the circle to the X, my thumbs are super clumsy so whenever I feel the need to reload I occasionally change views. :evil Plus I think reloading's a better strategy for me than waiting for the clips to automatically reload themselves. :?

All the other modes are fantastic though. I can't get enough of Zone Battle, its ridonculous.

[blackwiggle]

I agree, this mode of play needs a PRESET configuration.

Any possibility of having this in a future update .:)

[Eloï]

I'm personnaly a bit sceptical about detonator. It's a good mini game, it seems well balanced and challenging, it's beautiful to watch, rewarding... good job to sl, first. But I feel it has nothing to do in wipeout. Maybe I'm old fashioned ( french word is "vieux-jeu" ), but I like to have what I want to play. Zone & zone battle are about speed, it fitted in wipeout universe. Eliminator may become boring but it makes good use of the tracks. Detonator, well... detonator reminds of an old school shooter. It's a shoot game. That's doesn't fascinate me, would it be the best shoot game in history of video game. This reminds me of an expansion Criterion games had planned for Burnout, which could have included PLANES in their RACING game. That's cool but, lol, I'm just not interested in planes when I play burnout.

Though I didn't play Detonator much for now, and only on zone tracks... Maybe my opinion will change afterwards.

And Zone tracks are beautiful to... zone on ;) I was not convinced by these "abstract" figures in the sky when I saw Rita's blog, but in high-speed motion it looks quite good. GG Rita :p :)

PS: and sorry for the just-woke-up english :)

[Darwock]

Yep, my mistake, you're right.

I've always done it without using the EMP.

Well that's a huge relief, when you said it would be too easy otherwise I was just thinking to myself "but, but... it's only a bronze trophy!" lol

I'll give it a second go tomorrow with & without EMP and see how I fare.

[Darkdrium777]

I recommend myself doing it without EMP. The reason is that you will not have as many mines spawn, since the first stage mines will take pretty much all the available spots, stage 2 and 3 will complete a little, but by stage 10 you'll still have a lot of space (relatively speaking) to steer around the mines. If you were destroying any mines, by stage 10 you'd be dead because many more mines spawn in stages 7, 8 and 9, and the EMP wouldn't cut it to clear the way.

[FrenkyV]

Is it true that on elite bombs/mines hurt more then on novice?

[Darkdrium777]

I've been playing exclusively on Elite, so I don't know about the other levels.
I know mines do 10 damage, wall scrapes are pretty punishing (For a ship with 100 shield stat, it sure doesn't look like it), I haven't fully checked bombs.

[okam]

IMO detonator feels a little... un-wipeoutish ^^ Beyond the trophies and campaign stuff I doubt I will play it much.

[Darkdrium777]

The rules so far:
Perfect Lap: 1000 points
5 Chain Bonus: 1000 points
10 Chain Bonus: 3000 points
15 Chain Bonus: 5000 points
Fresh Mines give a basic 100 points.
Old Mines give a basic 50 points.
Bombs I think it's 1000 points.

However, there's a trick.
If you destroy one fresh mine with one bullet, you get 100 points. Destroy a second fresh mine with the next bullet, you get 200 points, destroy a third fresh mine and it's 300, and so on. Miss once, you break the chain and the next fresh mine you destroy gives 100 points. I think it works the same way with the old mines, except it's 50, 100, 150, 200.
If you get a bomb in the chain, for example the bomb is the second destroyed, it gives 2000 points, if it's the third 3000. (That bit I am unsure of)
The EMP destroys mines along the same principle I think.
One mine, fresh or old, will deal 10 damage to you if you hit it. Bombs I still haven't checked, though it's considerably more.
You get 10 shield points every lap.

An example for the mine chaining:
Fresh mine - old mine - fresh mine - fresh mine - old mine
Assuming you don't miss, you will get the following points:
100 - 100 - 300 - 400 - 250 + 5 Chain Bonus 1000 points

I think that's it, you guys can probably double check on that.

[Reezy]

Hey darkdrium do you think to get good scores its worth not using EMP ever?
Also when the voice tells you bomb ahead, its nice that they leave atleast 14 things for you to hit beforehand so you can get the bomb on the 15th, could be worth doing.

[Darkdrium777]

I'll check on the EMP, cause I'm not yet 100% sure how it gets the points (To be honest it's a little hard to see white numbers on a blue-white flame).
The bomb takes two hits to destroy, I forgot to say that. So you'd only get 14000 from theoretically (Because I'm not even sure that's how it works)

[Darkdrium777]

Well it seems I was all wrong about the point scheme. I'll try to explain well, it's more complex than what I said previously.

First, the old mines always give 50 points when shot. In a chain or not, it's always 50.
Bomb, the first one is worth 2000 points, then add 500 points for each bomb after. So second is 2500, third is 3000, fourth is 3500, etc.

Now for the chaining, I am right about the bonuses (5-Chain, 10-Chain and 15-Chain) scores, but I'm wrong about the mine chaining.
The mine chaining works only for the bullets of the same clip. If you reload, the next mine you hit will give 100 points. But, if you hit mines with the same cannon clip, and assuming they are all fresh mines, the first one you hit will give 100 points, the second 200, the third 300, and so on. Even if you miss, this chain will still apply, so if you shoot the first bullet and hit, you get 100 points, miss the second bullet, hit the third, you get 200 points.
If you have old mines in the chain, they don't count, they give 50 but say you hit a fresh mine for 700 points, hit an old, hit another fresh you get 800 points.

The only thing left is the EMP. It appears to divide the points you would normally get by two, so old mines are always worth 25 with it (That I am certain of), but I don't get the fresh mine scoring, I think I saw some 100s, some 200s and some 150s... Also, EMP divides bomb score by two (That I am certain of as well).

So now for some general strategy:
Hit fresh mines first.
Hit bombs always with cannon, not with EMP, or try and if you know you can't hit it, use EMP for the half points anyways. (Bombs take two cannon hits)
Do perfect laps, though it's better to hit a wall than a mine or a bomb.
Use EMP to clear a very large stack of mines, in order to minimize the division by two. Never use the EMP in the same spot on consecutive laps, you're loosing points you could get from shooting with Cannon.
On the later stages, use manual reload a lot, as mines appear to spawn more in straights than in turns. If you know you're coming up to a large stack, make sure to have your cannon fully loaded.

Lastly, do not crash into a bomb, it does 20 damage.
Also, it appears there is a bug in the scoring as firing the last bullet of a clip on a mine will net you 100 points and not the expected score of the chain you were doing, apparently because of the timing issue with the automatic reload so it considers that last bullet as belonging to the next clip. So if you're manually reloading, try to let the last bullet you fired dissipate, or else if it hits something it will only give 100 points.
And on split tracks, on one lap go in one direction, on the next go the other (For Corridon 12, for Anulpha Pass you will want to prioritize the lower section, though make a pass once in a while on the upper one, except if you see the bomb down below then head for it).

[NeilSmith]

Great informative post there Darkdrium. I'm only missing a couple of Detonator tracks on my Fury Campaign Elite grid as we speak :) Hopefully this info will help me improve my scores

[zeeZ]

Yep, my mistake, you're right.

I've always done it without using the EMP. Me and Ste have just tried it now using the EMP and we think it might actually be HARDER to do so! Reason being is that each stage/lap has a maximum (and increasing) number of mines so any you destroy are replaced with new ones along with the extra ones for the next lap. So basically you get a LOT of new mines in a lot of new places.

We think it's better to leave them and learn where they are lap on lap rather than have them replaced with new ones.

Paul.
Haha, you're saying that now I got it without shooting anything. Using the EMP would have saved me a few attempts for last-second OHexcrementICANTGETPASTTHISWALLOFbooooooom...

[RobCoxy]

Does anyone think it's humanly possible to get a score of 1,000,000 +...? On all of the tracks i've played detonator on so far, it would mean hitting pretty close to 100% mines...

I suppose it is a new mode and many of us will probably find ways to increase our scores enormously once we get more to grips with it. But still, what do you guys think...?

[Darkdrium777]

I got 777800 on Syncopia with clearing 70.8% of the mines, so yes I would say it is possible to get 1 million points, but your clearance score will have to be close to 100%, or you just keep getting high chain bonuses.
I personally think that for now the clearance will stay around that, 60%, but you must work on your accuracy. I get a lot of 5-Chains myself, but 10-Chains are rare and 15-Chains even more. I suspect that if I could get more 10s or 15s, with the current clearance score I would've done a higher score.

Also, have to figure out whether clearance score talks only about fresh mines, or old mines count too. 30% missing seems a lot for what I essentially missed on stage 14, so I think this "Mines Cleared" column refers only to fresh mines. Since you have to target those in priority, it would make sense.

[TheFrostE]

i think your sickly obsessed with this mode lol

[Darkdrium777]

Like you with Soldner X :p
Can't help it, I just discovered how awesome it is in first person.

[TheFrostE]

lol ill have to try that ...i havent played soldner X in a while but wait until you see my new castle shikigami 2 playthrough...even more epic

[LOUDandPROUD]

Just wanted to chime in and mention that I hate this mode. Have a nice day! :p

[Darkdrium777]

I'm neutral to Eliminator and don't like Zone Battle for now because everyone drops barriers when they have 0.8 of boost D:

I'll be making a video of one of my Detonator runs, now that I have two camera batteries.

[HISHO[JP]]

Tech De Ra(reverse) Detonator in aftermath(elite) campaign is too hard!!:frown:

I completed the session(cleared all stages) but score was 417850 and no medal awarded...
(I already got elite GOLD medal in Syncopia Detonator with 655375points)

Because track difficulty is...
Syncopia <<<<[unexceedable wall]<<<< Tech De Ra
Tech De Ra has more technical corners.
And the width of roads are narrower...

[Darkdrium777]

Eh, yes that seems a little crazy. I was not up to that point in the campaign, so we'll see what happens then.
For now, you can watch my Sebenco Reverse Detonator video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irpyTm-rlzE&fmt=22) and be inspired a little. Or not :lol

[Handmadelion]

You pulled it off Dark, trying to get me back into that god-forsaken mode. I was cheering you on in that vid! Going to myself "Yes 9!" then "All right 11! Two more to go!" hoping you would get that 14/14 trophy! And you destroyed all 14 mines! Apparently you already had the trophy though cause nothing popped up. But either way good for you! Was nice to get a little Noisia action going on as well beginnin of that ;) So many wipeoutzone names in that top 10 globals list. Crazy.

[TheFrostE]

nice vid dark....ill be working on practicing that stuff once i finish all my grids on elite. watch out...master of shmup is coming!!! lol

[razor_sharp84]

If you're looking to improve your scores a bit, one tip I have is to not reload after every cluster of mines (which I was doing at first as it was the safest way to advance through the stages). Instead, try to take out 2 clusters of mines with each clip. The points go up by 100 for each 'fresh' mine you hit with a bullet from the same clip, so hitting a lot of mines from one clip results in some pretty big points.

Another tip would be to wait until you're almost on top of a mine cluster to fire on it. Since each 'shot' actually has two bullets, one will hit the mine in front of you and the other will ricochet down the track. The closer you are to the cluster of mines when you fire, the more likely it'll be that that stray bullet finds a target a little farther down the track.

One last tip I can offer is to use your EMP in places where old, 'dark' mines are building up (usually around tight corners). This will (1) reduce the chance of running into a dark mine while reloading between 'fresh' mine clusters and (2) create more 'fresh' mines, which are worth more than the dark ones.

My last piece of advice: If anything I said contradicts any advice offered by Darkdrium777, always trust the words of Darkdrium777.

[Darkdrium777]

Nice advice there, I think that's what I'm missing with the EMP :)

[RobCoxy]

Tech De Ra(reverse) Detonator in aftermath(elite) campaign is too hard!!

I did it first go :P. Got all gold, elite medals on fury campaign now :D.

Honestly Hisho, just keep trying. Look at Darkdriums video and all the advice given in this thread. You'll get it eventually ;). You weren't far off anyway.

[billychanxtr33m]

detonator mode is, dare i say, a blast.... but is it just me or does the rumble get harder as you go up through the levels. around lvl 14 its like a jackhammer in your hands every time you shoot

[Handmadelion]

I forget which Tech De Ra I'm on, but I appear to have landed myself in lucky number 5, between Ridium and kyoto.

3. Darkridium777 - 544425
5. handmadelion - 533600
6. djkyoto - 521630

[superpj1]

Eh, yes that seems a little crazy. I was not up to that point in the campaign, so we'll see what happens then.
For now, you can watch my Sebenco Reverse Detonator video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irpyTm-rlzE&fmt=22) and be inspired a little. Or not :lol

awesome

[Handmadelion]

I now, officially love this mode.

I wish I could go back and find my post, just like a day ago that said how badly I hated it. THAT was when I was spamming my laser cannon. NOW when I play, it's tap... ..tap...tap.. .....tap I won't even shoot unless I know I'm going to hit a mine. And that's how I cracked the lock on how to do this mode.

It's all, about, the chains. Not 100% confident that you're going to shoot a mine? Then DONT! The entire mode I'm serious, is about the 5-10-15 chains. In the first lap I had 70k+, whereas 4/14 I didn't even have that score just shooting berserkly.

And I also noticed, chain is another word for combo, so if you get a 5 chain, then shoot the wall, then start racking up combos again, you'll have started over and you'll get another 5 chain next. So what you should have done is waited until you know for a fact you'd hit a mine, and then it would have been a 10 chain.

This mode is incredibly addictive now that I'm playing the conservative/sniping game.

[Darkdrium777]

Yes, that is the trick. In stages 1-5 you should be very conservative, however this becomes harder as the game moves on and in late stages it's almost necessary for you to shoot constantly as there are a lot of mines and very few time between stacks. :)
I've completed writing the tutorial in English, so that will help some of you here I am sure. Writing it in French before I post it though, just a while longer. ;)

http://h.imagehost.org/t/0932/DetonatorTutorialPreview.jpg (http://h.imagehost.org/view/0932/DetonatorTutorialPreview)

[sh1kamaru-]

oh man this mode is really awesome ! It reminds me when I played REZ on the dreamcast, the mines folliwing the rhythm, the new zone colors, it really kickass ! thanks a lot SL for such an awesome mode !

Just something worries me a bit, I find the medal scores too close from each other, once you get bronze you're not far away from gold (ie 320k, 330k 340k)

the cease trophy was fun too :D

[EDIT] can a moderator move the first page of this topic to another one, it's completely off topic :/

[Darkdrium777]

Just coming back to say that the EMP definitely has it's uses. Not sure it does for all tracks, though I just tried it on Tech de Ra reverse... 665650, stage 14, 65.4%... You can obviously do much better than this, as some people have 70% cleared and more.
This will require some time to incorporate in the tutorial before it is published. It's also what I feared, I don't want to lead people in the wrong direction. Please bear with me while I figure this out correctly. :?

Though the things I already posted are "safe" and will get you the Elite targets in the campaign, there are some new things I discovered that I haven't mentioned here yet. Don't worry though, I will deliver the strategies I use in the tutorial fully. It wouldn't be fun if there was no competition :) so sorry if it appears I can blow the crap out of any score for the moment, it's those essentially two new things I discovered that help me do that, so they will help you too. Just give me time ;)

[blackwiggle]

I had a weird race with detonator on Anulpha Pass forward,and it might explain why you don't always seem to see a bomb on every lap,and why using the EMP might be the only way to detonate the bombs on some laps on some tracks.

I went through approx 8 laps and had hit all the bombs,got to the 9th lap and I'm waiting to come across a bomb or get the bomb warning.
I get the warning just as I'm coming around the bend which gives you the choice of the bridge or the lower deck,then something caught my eye at the top left of the screen so I paused the game.

The bomb had been place ,not on the bridge,not on the lower deck, but up high on a ledge on the left of the lower deck,even higher than if you were on the bridge [I wish I had taken a photo :brickwall ],there is absolutely no way you could of shot it,I don't even know if the EMP would of detonated it.

I've had other races on Zone tracks that have no upper/lower level and no split tracks,even in the early zone laps bombs have not appeared,well I certainly haven't seen them or received a bomb warning,and you know you have hit a bomb by the rainbow arc that appears for a short while afterward s,so I don't know if they are not always being reset for each lap [which would mean some sort of game glitch]or they are somehow being hidden from view.

[Darkdrium777]

Nope, you're right Detonator still has some quirks :p

Like this mine right here, let's call her Isabelle. Well, Isabelle didn't want to be destroyed, so she decided to climb up a mountain and sit it out.
When I saw Isabelle, it immediately struck me. Those poor mines, their sole purpose was to be destroyed or to destroy. Either way, their end was predetermined, unavoidable, and they all knew that. But Isabelle didn't want to explode, she wanted to see the world, to live on indefinitely as a mine. This gesture of her stunned me so much that I immediately turned around to capture these two pictures of her. What an emotional moment for me that was.

http://h.imagehost.org/t/0867/wohd_20090727_064646.jpg (http://h.imagehost.org/view/0867/wohd_20090727_064646)http://h.imagehost.org/t/0121/wohd_20090727_064712.jpg (http://h.imagehost.org/view/0121/wohd_20090727_064712)

Then I used the EMP. :g

Fear not, the guide is coming...

[Mateo]

I absolutely hate this mode...:frown:

First: I can achieve decent scores and also I got gold on all of them in Elite Campaign, so it's not like I dont like it because I suck at it. I'm not bad at it, I just don't like it. Just played the races which where needed for the campaign and one "voluntary" race on Anulpha Rev. I don't think I'll enter this mode ever again.

1. Like Eloi mentioned it doesn't fit into Wipeout Universe, because it's a shoot 'em up and isn't a racing game anymore (I have no problems with shoot 'em ups, in fact I really love this genre). But when I want to play a shoot 'em up I'll turn off the Playstation and turn on my Super Nintendo and play Axelay, Super R-Type, Gradius III, Pop'n Twinbee or [insert your favourite shoot 'em up here]!

2. Wipeout is all about the immense speed, but Detonator is slow. It's fast for the last few laps, but before that it's just boring for me (Zone Battle is more thrilling because you have enemies + you're becoming very soon much faster. Normal Zone starts boring too, but has a way longer highspeed element in the end). And also the most important part for a good score is this slow part. From about lap 7 or 8 you're getting always very similar amounts of points, but the first few "slow-motion" laps are making the difference between a good or bad endscore or if you'll obtain the elite gold medal on the last Tech De Ra or not.;)

3. The position of the magazine + hits on the screen is horrible. It's important to always look how much shots are left and how many have hit so far. It happens so often that I look in the low corner and then in the next moment can't evade hitting a mine.:mad: It would be much better to have it where normally the item + health is displayed. The health-meter isn't that important in this game mode and would better fit in the corner than the very important magazine stats. I lost often just because taking my eyes away from the upcoming trackpart and mine placements and this frustrated me seriously.

As a minigame this would be very nice, but as part of the campaign I hated it. It felt so boring and misplaced that I stopped doing Detonators after I did the first 2 or 3 and after I finished the whole campaign with gold medals I went back to "work" my way through the Detonators. It spoiled the very funny campaign for me a little bit...

I don't want to offend anybody (as I see that there are many fans of the mode), this is just my opinion of this mode and I thought it would fit into this thread. I don't want to disrespect the people who have put much effort into creating this mode and also people like Darkdrium who are spending much time with Detonator and helping many other people with their work and knowledge (I think I would never have completed the campaign without your great Seb Rev video:+).

[NeilSmith]

Detonator is definately something new to the Wipeout series. It's different, and I applaud SL for trying something that hasn't been done before. The whole Wipeout package is expanding with new modes (Zone battle & Detonator) and I think this is something that will cater to both new and old players. I enjoy any challenge, whether it be online races, speed lap,(battle) zone, detonator or eliminator. They're all different in their own way.

[Spece2goin]

lol Dardrium777!!!

other thing : try to get the 14bombs on Corridon12 :D

[Asayyeah]

and clean mines at 100% with 1.200.000 pts :beer

[Spece2goin]

i got the elite gold medal on corridon12.

i go on the right for 4 laps, hitting as much as possible, and each lap, sending a full EMP before the splitting.
then i go on the left side, there are much old mines that don't worth lot of points, but i hit 5, 10 maybe 15 chains easily with that ammount of mines (and get the thousands of bonus points with it).
then i go for 4 laps again on the same side...

[stin]

I didn`t realised this Detonator mode is that hard!! but I do love it!:beer

stevie:)

[billychanxtr33m]

as of right now i am the global leader for metropia forward!!! :D i figured i would gloat considering this will be the only time i have a global record for anything and i doubt it will hold up for long

[Darkdrium777]

You shouldn't give me incentives :g

[PLazarou]

I'd like to ask Paul or Colin (or any other devs that use this forum?) why Detonator was decided to have a finite number of laps?

To me, it feels very much like a more frantic version Zone, apart from the fact it stops at 14 laps. Why not just keep going? I mean, I've occasionally managed all 14, inevitably very near death, so I'd probably not get much further... but I'm sure some skilled players would want to carry on?

Was it a performance problem? Too many mines on screen = low fps perhaps?

[sny]

Okay, I thought I was pretty good at this mode, since I got elite gold medals in under 5 tries in most cases during the Fury campaign, but the point requirement for the final elite gold medal on Tech De Ra reverse Detonator event is just ludicrously high. I'd have no problem reaching it point-wise, since I can get anywhere from 40k to 60k points per lap most of the time, but I simply can't survive for long enough! Most of the time I die at around stage 7-8 (with around 300-350k points) and when I do get to higher stages, it's at the cost of accuracy, which in turn costs precious points. Even so, I've never made it past stage 11 I think.

So I think I already learned how to score high, now I need to figure out how to survive. On every other event, I got more than the required points from 8-10 stages usually, but it seems this approach won't cut it here. Any tips on how to last longer? One thing I should probably start using is manual reload, but I have no idea how to incorporate it into my playstyle, especially since it detracts from the score potential of the current round of bullets.

Another thing that I feel is pretty much specific to this track is that the long glass bridge has absolutely no reload spots (as I like to call them) where you can empty your clip and get a new one... the whole bridge is a continuous, packed, Cambodian, effin' mine field, and at higher speeds there is simply no way I can get through it without having to reload, and no matter how accurate I try to be, there are simply more mines that need shooting than I have the ammo for. I haven't seen any other track yet on which there's a continuous mine section like this. This bridge is the place where I lose most of my health, even at lower speeds... I can get past the other sections with well-timed reloads pretty consistently.

Any help or tips appreciated!

[okam]

Save your EMP for the tricky spots (heavily mined area in a tight turn, etc), maybe? You should be able to get loads of new pads and recharge easily on the recently cleared part of the track so it won't necessarily "cost" you the EMP.

I never manually reload my clip, I just try and keep track of when it automatically changes since that leaves you without guns for a few seconds and you need to dodge and weave a little.

[CJS]

13/14 bombs, and I smash into the last one and blow up. Not that it counts towards Transcendence, but I could really do with Da Bomb... That run did get me Wipeout Disciple with (my avatar), though
Your ship becomes a floating disco ball when you blow up and I don't like it:!

[RedScar]

Well DD777, when the records finally updated you will see some surprising scores on the Pure Four tracks =).

I love detonator, so much fun and highly competative. Okam, it is best not to use the EMP, the score you got from it is much less then shooting the mines/bombs. It is best to only save that to prevent death or on stage 14 to clear mines you know you won't be able to shoot.

PLazarou, I think the 14 lap cap is to help cap the scores and make it more about accuracy in the 14 stages then just who can get the furthest through constant shooting. Without a lap cap, you even up having people reach stage 15-20 through constant shooting and getting huge accuracy bonuses because the # of mines is so high even firing non-stop can get you non-stop 5/10 chains.

[Darkdrium777]

If you managed "only" 810k on Mallavol (Just to beat my score), you will be disappointed xD

[RedScar]

I beat your score but all of my attempts have plenty of room for improvement. I wish the record table would update a bit faster :(

[Darkdrium777]

What scores did you get? Right now my Syncopia one is the only "valid" one, the others all need updating, some by a very large amount. ;)

[RedScar]

Don't know off the top of my head, but even after it updates I will still be chasing you most likely.

[LOUDandPROUD]

Well, I think I finally found the key to Detonator lol. Finished the campaign getting all elite golds except in detonator. Sat down today and tried the detonator event in the second grid (was able to get the elite gold in the first grid), which was on Talons Junction. The target was 320,000. My first attempt fell short of my best of 250,000. My second attempt was 251,000. Then it all just clicked and I scored 520,000 or so on my 3rd attempt, which, according to the global rankings, was good for 11th in the world. :rock I know there have been problems with the rankings, so I doubt that's accurate though. Anyway, I'm just excited to have figured it out and hopefully now I can blow through the rest of them on elite, so I can stop looking at those plain old novice golds lol. :hyper

[RedScar]

Well DD777, I've got Pro Tozo and Mallavol records back, you have C12 and sync although sync you only have by 5k. We should setup a weekly challenge where we pick a track and go at it :P

Also, grats L&P

[Darkdrium777]

Playing this all day have you? xD
Finally getting a run for my money, I'll see what I can do...

[RedScar]

I can't match ppl on the record tables for TT, SL, Zone, so I gotta find my niche :P. I need a new soundtrack though, I'm starting to go insane from hearing the new music over and over and over again >.<

[Darkdrium777]

That challenge idea sounds pretty neat, I want to try it out once I'm done with my tutorial (So more people can join in hopefully).

Just got 921k on Pro Tozo, but enough with the dumbtarded bomb placement already :|

Tomorrow I'll try again, now I'm making that Modesto Heights video I said I was making.

[Darkdrium777]

Well, I beat ya again :D

But I am certain you can beat me again. Hopefully we reach 1,000,000 points on Pro-Tozo soon :)

[RedScar]

*Crys* Serious?
idk how much I can improve on my current scores.
*grumbles as he loads up his PS3*

[LOUDandPROUD]

What's the best way to tackle Corridon12? I've managed to get elite silver after a bunch of attempts at the gold. Scored 170K, but I need 175K for gold. I'm close, obviously, so I know I can do it. Just looking for some tips that might make it easier. (and yah, I try to use my EMP just before the branch so it goes down both sides, which is how I increased my score to 170K) Thanks for any help! :)

[RedScar]

I never use the emp, and alternate sides ever lap. That said I can't quite catch DD777's score by about 10k-15k. 270k something is my best but I don't like the map so I never really put the effort like pro, mellv, or sync
I was distracted so I never got a chance to beat it DD777, stupid internet has been cutting out all day.

[Darkdrium777]

Detonator Tutorial (http://www.mediafire.com/?mzjiwjwmnr2)
In English and French, as promised. Tell me if you have any troubles reading/opening it.
Any mistakes/grammar/spelling corrections appreciated. :)

[RedScar]

Great guide DD777, sums up det very nicely.
Only thing I would add are some small bits, the red bits are just personal statement.

The Bomb,
The bomb will change colours from lap to lap, and generally is a different colour from the current "fresh" set of mines to contrast and make it an easier to see target. However there are a few stages (particularly stage 14) where the bomb is similarly coloured, making it easier to miss. It is also place near or behind a cluster of mines, so make sure to fire enough shots to take out the mines and fulfill the two shot requirement for the bomb or you risk passing it.

Bomb Warning,
You are warned of an upcoming bomb through two methods. The first is a verbal Q where the announcer will call out "Bomb Ahead", the second is a small picture on your HUD below your energy meter. The picture will look identical to the one you see in normal races, warning you of of incoming weapons (Sorry, don't have a picture). It will flash either left, centre, or right depending on the bombs location on the track. While you will always get the visual Q, the verbal Q far less reliable. Such cases where the verbal Q is missed are when the bomb spawn very quickly after you start into a new lap, after getting a 5/10/15 chain bonus and come up to the bomb shortly after, and finally sometimes the game fail to call it out although this is a rare case. Thus you should not become completely reliant on the verbal Q if you find you are just shy on points to make the medals or are going for record point runs.

Reload Strategies,
These are on a track to track basis and largely different. However, I would add that the reload strategy should work from stages 1-12. This is assuming you deal with the increased speed as you progress, but you should be able to reload in the same area on a track each lap. After 12, the mines become so heavy that you will more likely then not end up reloading after firing a a full clip rather then reloading manually.

Ship Cannon,
When you fire the ships cannon, you are firing one shot of your magazine. However, this one shot is made up of two projectiles. This becomes troublesome when shooting at two mines which are grouped close together, as sometimes the two parts of your shot will be spent killing only one of the two mines, or sometimes end up taking out both mines. One can just simply fire a second cannon shot to deal with the left over mine, but if you are aiming for accuracy and the first shot got both mines, the second will count as a miss and mess up your chain. This means you have to pay attention in the 1-5 stage of Darkdrium777's guide closely because the 10/15 chains are well worth the effort.
I know you mentioned this in your guide but I felt it didn't stand out as much as it should DD777, and it can make the biggest different in the accuracy stage

"It appears, from playing this mode long enough, that using the EMP or the Bomb to destroy mines also uses the chaining system described above for the score reward, though I am still uncertain of that. "

I would agree with the bomb part of that. I found that shooting a bomb and having it take out nearby mines can net you a chain bonus if you had been accurate enough before shooting the bomb. I don't find this EMP although I don't use the EMP often (since I have to match your scores :P) so this may still be true.








I would like to try and do a track by track guide for people, since AP and C12 are especially troublesome to get good scores on. Would you be up for it?

[blackwiggle]

Great guide DARK , worth the wait. +1:+

[PLazarou]

Yes thanks Darkdrium777, this is very helpful indeed. I have one more Elite Gold to achieve on the Fury campaign - and it's the Tech de Ra Detonator on Aftermath. It's been sooo difficult to get compared to the others! But according to your guide I've been using the EMP too frequently and in the wrong places, so hopefully I should be ok now. :)

[djKyoto]

What's the best way to tackle Corridon12? I've managed to get elite silver after a bunch of attempts at the gold. Scored 170K, but I need 175K for gold. I'm close, obviously, so I know I can do it. Just looking for some tips that might make it easier. (and yah, I try to use my EMP just before the branch so it goes down both sides, which is how I increased my score to 170K) Thanks for any help! :)

At the split go left, right, left, right, left... repeat till end.

[LOUDandPROUD]

Thanks, that's actually what I've been doing. Guess I just need to be a bit more accurate with my shots. I'll have that gold today though. :)

[jimsin]

Wow Darkdrium777! That's a wonderful tutorial - you never cease to amaze me!

I'll keep trying to implement your strategies - although I fear that even knowing what I'm supposed to be doing won't be enough to get me elite medals in this mode :(

[RedScar]

I still can't figure out C12, but I barely squeaked the record in. So far it seems like a higher focus on accuracy to try and get constant 10/15 chains and pure luck and picking the side where the bombs spawn.

Got the other 3 records also DD777 :P, Sync run was awesome, I was in the GROOVE!

[Darkdrium777]

Ahhh for Corridon 12 you'll need more than accuracy, you'll need cleverness! :D

[RedScar]

Well I was clever enough to beat your previous score, show me what you got :P
Those be fighting words

[Darkdrium777]

"You're doing it the wrong way."

... is all I'm saying :g

[RedScar]

ok ok, well then show me how it is done oh great detonator foe :P

[Darkdrium777]

I think you can figure it out from the italicized words and a visual cue that sometimes comes up during gameplay. :D :D

[RedScar]

^^^ is slow

Does that acutally work? If so then hmmmmmm.

[Darkdrium777]

It works only for a short while, after you die a very quick death. ;)

And here's the arrow you're looking for: ↑

[RedScar]

doesn't seem worth it, rather just stick with shooting accurate. =)

[Darkdrium777]

Just suggesting some crazy stuff because I like doing crazy stuff :p :dizzy

[RedScar]

Well no offense Dark, but I'm kinda disappointed that its just you and me fighting it out. I'd like to see some other zoners take a stab at our scores.

[Frances_Penfold]

I'd like to participate but my scores in detonator are just... terrible :(

I want to like this mode-- I DO like this mode-- but I may not be cut out for it.

[Connavar]

Yeah Corridon 12 was the nicest Detonator :)
I beat it in 13 laps then stupidly exploded...
(Took me some time to figure out how to score many many points, won't divulge
anything so you can enjoy it by yourself)

[RedScar]

Well if you beat the current record I will see it anyway :P

[TheFrostE]

corridon 12 detonator is butt. :p

[RobCoxy]

Well no offense Dark, but I'm kinda disappointed that its just you and me fighting it out. I'd like to see some other zoners take a stab at our scores.

I may have to get into this mode. I played it and liked it all the way through the campaign and found it easy to get all the elite golds but haven't put any time into it since. Well, today i had about 4 runs (2 on syncopia and a couple on Vineta K i think) i managed to grab the #3 spot on Syncopia fairly easily and a top 5 spot on Vineta K if i remember correctly. So, with a little practice I may be able to compete with your scores but we'll see. Most of my focus will be on actual racing and TT's/SL's to be honest and zones here and there but i'm sure i can find a little time for detonator :P. It is a BRILLIANT mode after all :beer.

[RedScar]

"3rd" on Syncopia is great, behind dark and I lol
See what I mean though? No offense to you but 3rd place after just a 2 runs without much practice it shows how little people play it. Grats though!

[RobCoxy]

it shows how little people play it.

I know :(. After all, it is a great mode! I'm sure it will pick up though don't worry ;).

[DawnFireDragoon]

i finally got a chance to play Fury, and although i have very mixed feelings about it. i do like detonator. i have a lot of love for Geometry Wars and it feels like they've mashed that together with wipeout...which is great. I think in any future wipeout i would prefer more content on the racing side of things, ala tracks / ships. But for HD i think this is a nice bit of variation. Good one whoever at SL is responsible for this little gem.

Fun.

[sh1kamaru-]

oh well, my top1 on corridon12 hasn't lasted long :/ gg Dr777 your score will be very hard to beat for me, I'm more concentrated on chaining than hitting every mine, but I'm not accurate enough if I try to hit them all :)

[RedScar]

Well since my score on C12 lasted so long lol, I'm assuming that the ones on the other pure four are also taken by now. I should load up my PS3 soon, haven't done anything this weekend involving it.

[Darkdrium777]

Haven't done anything either. If you were first, you still are.
I got the Steam 10 games for 30$ pack, and I've been playing that ever since. Currently playing Darwinia (http://www.introversion.co.uk/darwinia/), mixed with some Audiosurf.

[Darkdrium777]

BREAKING:

You guys were wondering earlier if 1 million points was ever possible. Guess what: it is. AND YOU CAN DO BETTER!! At least I can, but with practise you will too!!

1 013 500, 14/14; 77.6%; 56 5-Chain; 8 10-Chain; 1 15-Chain on Pro Tozo.

The gates are opened, you can come in now!

:D

Manual reload = VERY important. VERY.

EDIT:
How ironic, the game won't upload it to the leaderboard 'cause it's identified as "PLAYER." Get rid of this SL, please.
Photographic evidence.
http://h.imagehost.org/t/0193/1milProTozo.jpg (http://h.imagehost.org/view/0193/1milProTozo)

[RobCoxy]

Wow! Awesome mate, well done! :)

Just like to point out though that i think the leader on both Vineta K (FWD and REV i think) detonator boards passed the 1,000,000 barrier a little while ago. Might be worth checking this though ;). Still, well done!

[RedScar]

I saw that last night DD777, insane score. Now I just have to figure out how to break the 1mil mark to beat you :P. I've been neglecting my PS3 lately, time to show it some love.



Edit:
Well after lots and lots of attempts (from 25k to 100k loyalty with feisar) I only managed 1 run that came close, although still shy of yours by 5k (I missed a bomb on the run also, so I WAS PISSED). I can't figure out how u destroyed 77% of the mines, my limit is like 67% with almost constant shooting from stage 8-14 and no EMP. Do you toss an emp during your run or not?

[RedScar]

Double Post! Come one ppl, play this dam mode already.

YA, I managed to beat your score finally on Pro Tozo DD777, and I missed 2 bombs to boot so I was thrilled at my score.
71.0% of mines
12/14 Bombs
69 5 Chains
14 10 Chains
2 15 Chains
No EMP used
don't have a picture because I don't have a camera but I can say the score is legit (give the tables a few hours to update). I also took back the VKf record beating 1mil with a pretty meh run.

[XBARNSTERX]

Nice one tehredscar , show that dd777 whos boss :)

[RedScar]

lol well since me and him are about the only 2 who actually go for record scores its a heated rivalry to say the least. Its 1.02mil something didn't copy down the exact score.

Gotta be good at something, since you blew paste me earlier on that race barn :P

[Darkdrium777]

Eh, gonna be hard for me now since school starts Monday for good. And I'm more into other games right now.
Too bad that people don't seem interested by the new modes as much (Detonator and Zone Battle), they're probably the most new things since Barrel Rolls back in PurE. With all the people wanting novelty, you'd think it would be more popular, but unfortunately no. It's a shame really, even with the guide and all it just doesn't catch on. Oh well.

[guillaume]

Even though I haven't read it yet, I'm very grateful for your guide Darkdrium! And even though I can read English, the French version is most welcome, with all this vocabulary...
I'm going through the Fury campaign but I set every Detonator event to easy because I'm no good at it even though I like this mode. When I complete everything I'll try again in hard mode, and your guide will come in very handy I'm sure. So thanks! :)

[RedScar]

Well I can maybe obtain a camera (battery is dead and I'm not sure which voltage it is) to maybe take some videos of some runs to show those who don't know a way of scoring. Can't say they will be as good as quality as DD777's but worth a shot, although idk how much good it will do considering that DD777 has already done 2 det videos.

[Jguesty94]

It seems my score for Modesto Heights finally updated. If the rankings website is right, I'm 1st with 613750, but I'm sure you 2 will beat it when you get round to doing the track ;)

[RedScar]

If I even do MH, I hate it with a passion that rivals my hate for the CP hard left turn.

[Jguesty94]

I guess it could stand for a little while longer then :g

[RedScar]

Now you just make me wanna turn my PS3 on and race it :P

[Jguesty94]

lol, go for it, might give me a target to aim for ;)

I haven't done anything on WOHD for a long time, been playing Killzone 2 again, quite a few clan matches have been going on. It'd give me a reason to get back on it.

[RedScar]

Well I retook the APf and MTf records tonight, not my best score so lots of room for improvement.

[RobCoxy]

It seems like the competition is increasing a little then...?

I have still yet to find the time to have a proper go at some of the scores in this mode :(.

[Spece2goin]

yeah!!
got elite gold on tech de ra reverse, which close my campaign with a top 5 record!

thanks to darkdrium for his awesome tutorial!

[Jguesty94]

We have a new World Record for Modesto Heights Fwd - 660,775 points, 64.3% mines cleared, 14/14 bombs.

If I can hit more mines and be able to stay getting 15 chains for longer without getting on energy critical early, I'll definitely get more.

EDIT: Forgot to ask, do any of you guys use sideshift in Detonator? I tend not to because I don't react fast enough to dodge mines that I'm about to go into.

[RedScar]

Maybe 1 or 2 SS, but generally I am to focused on shooting to react fast enough. That and it significantly changes your line so I avoid it.

Grats on the WRs Guesty

[Jguesty94]

I didn't think sideshift would be as useful in Detonator, seems I'm right.

Talons Junction Rev is annoying me - I set my record (which is about 500 points off 1st) when I wasn't doing any chaining at all, just spray and pray, and the closest I've come to beating it now is 3000 off, albeit missing 4 bombs.

It's a little annoying when I know I'm better at Detonator now, here's hoping tomorrow/later today brings more success. Must've been a pretty decent run for me to have got 700,000 odd points with low accuracy.

EDIT: It's not by much, but I just beat the current WR by 2000 points, missing 4 bombs. Definitely more to come.

EDIT 2: Just beat that by 60,000 - new score 761675, 13/14 bombs, 65.6% mines cleared.

[RedScar]

Posted a Challenge thread (http://www.wipeoutzone.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6819)

[sHoqa]

so here are some new #1 for you to beat:

Talon's Juction
Points: 836200
Mines: 76.40%

Corridor 12
Points : 337525
Mines : 51.50%

Mallavol
Points : 896150
Mines : 75.30%

Syncopia (not updated yet)
Points : 969200
Mines : 74.10%

Vineta K
Points : 1025425
Mines : 79.60%

Next up : Pro Tozo... :sonar

[RedScar]

How did you run C12? It is still the only track I can not get a solid record run on. Right now I alternate sides every lap, but I've never found it that great.

Also, GL on the Pro Tozo. That is to date my best score and I cannot for the life of me replicate it somehow. If you beat it I will have to figure it out lol.

[sHoqa]

Yes I did alternate sites every round... I think that's the best way for solid records :)

2000 points to go on pro tozo... damn it's challenging
btw nice record.

[RedScar]

lol thx, it was an annoying one to get. That run somehow I missed two bombs so I have no clue how I got that.

[sHoqa]

pro tozo

mines cleared: 74.5%
bombs cleared: 14/14
5-chains:58
10-chains:10
5-chains:5
points: 1080375

... got it :)

[sHoqa]

made it possible to be #1 on every track (28 tracks) :)

[RedScar]

lol well you can keep them. Sad to say but I'm done with wipeout for a long while, I'm done with my PS3 in general for a while. Sony has turned me off and I don't have nearly as much fun as my PC.

[newtype]

lol well you can keep them. Sad to say but I'm done with wipeout for a long while, I'm done with my PS3 in general for a while. Sony has turned me off and I don't have nearly as much fun as my PC.

Mind if I ask why you've been turned off as of late?

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

I'm starting to get more serious about Detanator, so I'm going to be gunning for you guys-

[RedScar]

see pilot lounge post about taking a break

[Connavar]

Shoqa: congratulations for having the 28 records!
Too bad some of the best players (RedScar) are not willing to play more ...
Are you planning to play any other mode, like Zone maybe?

[sHoqa]

thanks for the congrats :)
at the moment im playing a lot of counterstrike, but yes, I played a lot of zone mode and in the future ProblemSolver has to fear for his records ;)

[QjonPL]

No, he doesn't ;)
I was thinking the same way while practicing ZONE on Moa for about a month, I've beaten him, he's beaten me a while later with no problem ;p

He's the ZONE ZEUS and I'm his first follower xD

[RedScar]

Shoqa: congratulations for having the 28 records!
Too bad some of the best players (RedScar) are not willing to play more ...
Are you planning to play any other mode, like Zone maybe?

I'm willing to play, just hella busy with school. My PS3 has been relegated to a paper weight right now.

[RedScar]

Well considering that tomorrow is my last final for the Fall semester of 2009 :rock. I plan on reclaiming some of (if not all :P) of my records in detonator. I know with the scores you've put out shoqa that it won't be easy, but I know the local convenience store has 2 2L cokes on sale (probably the deal that shortens my lifespan) and some awesome tunes to listen to.

[ProblemSolver]

... I plan on reclaiming some of (if not all :P) of my records in detonator. ...
That's what he is waiting for. I think you will face a tough competition when
beating his records. :+ Good luck. /liquidsvoice (MGS4)

[RedScar]

Well yesterday i couldn't quite get back into my groove on some of the tracks, so i haven't even beat my old records. Still trying though

[Hoooof]

There doesn't seem to be a lot of love for Detonator mode out there. Maybe its because its quite different from traditional Wipeout? Its become my favourite mode anyway.

There's a great guide to detonator on page 10 of this thread by Darkdrium777 - well worth a read.

One of the reasons I like it is that there's quite a few different strategies to playing it. On the leaderboards, I've always destroyed between 10 and 20% fewer mines than those on the same score as me. There's usually someone on the same score who's destroyed 30% more mines than me. I've obviously got a different strategy to them - not sure if I'm missing a tactic. I'm certainly missing something compared to people like Itosiki on the Wipeout Rankings site. He's got some incredible scores.

[Zzonkmiles]

I like Detonator mode, but sometimes the advance warning for bombs is too short. This game mode takes a lot of strategy beyond simply spamming the fire button.

[JFthebestJan]

yeah, strategy is to reload manually very often, and survive until the finish line. top 10 score achieved ;)

[mannjon]

My main strategy is a combination of things.

1st, you get a consecutive point bonus for each mine you hit. So once you reload, you no longer get that bonus; essentially, reloading stops any point bonus. You still get a consecutive point bonus even if you miss. Ideally, you would only get 15 chain bonuses, but that just isn't realistic past zone 3 or 4 even on a lucky run. The solution here, is for as many zones as you can, try to empty the entire clip without manually reloading. I shoot to do this at least to zone 8-9 depending on the track. You do get a bonus for 5, 10 and 15 chains, but the bonus is 100 points for each mine hit in a clip.

So for instance you hit 1 mine, and get 100 points. Then you miss 2 in a row and hit the 4th and 5th and get 200 and then 300 points respectively for a total of 600 points for 3 mines hit out of the 5. If you had reloaded after hitting the 4th mine, you wouldn't get that extra point bonus. Essentially, if you don't reload manually, you get points equal to: (Maximum Hits) + (Maximum Hits - 1) + (Maximum Hits - 2)... x 100. So if you hit 7 mines without manually reloading that is worth ((7) + (6) + (5) + (4) + (3) + (2) + (1)) x 100 = 2800 points. If you reloaded manually after each hit, you would only get 700 points.

2nd, if you are going for points, don't use the blast wave to sweep the track in front of you. Save that blast wave for places where the track splits, and use it on the path you chose not to take. This can be worth an extra few thousand points alone. If you absolutely have to, use it for defense, but it really hurts your score. You can also use it to look behind you and hit a bomb if you miss one. But just DONT use the emp for anything other than emergency defense or to sweep a portion of the track that splits.

3rd, what to do when you hit zone 10+... Ok this is where things really change. At this point, you won't be able to clear nearly as many mines as you previously could, and you are way more likely to get impact damage. What you need to do, is get a rhythm going where you empty the clip and know when you are vulnerable. If you can afford to not manually reload, you'll get more points, but if you are low on ship energy it might be better to manually reload when you get the chance.

One final thing, which I guess can really be considered an advanced tactic, is turning around to sweep part of a split in a track. Take Corridon 12 for example: Instead of complete the lap, turn around and fire an emp or go backwards and hit a few mines. Don't go too far because you will start loosing ship energy. But for certain tracks, it can result in a huge score difference. Ideally on Corridon 12, you would fire an emp at the fork, then turn around right before the finish line for each lap. There are other tracks where this tactic makes sense. Just remember that going backwards too far results in a loss of ship energy.

Overall, the one two basic rules here are actually to avoid manually reloading as long as you can and not fire the EMP as both result in a score reduction. Beyond that it is just how risky you are with ship energy.

[JFthebestJan]

http://youtu.be/jy7eMd3xZKY

how to own c12

[mannjon]

http://youtu.be/jy7eMd3xZKY

how to own c12

That is EXACTLY the tactic I was talking about. If you are skilled enough, it is worth back-peddling a little bit to get those extra points!