Simulated garage/parts market in future WipEout games?

[feisarfan]

I've been thinking long and hard about the PS3's hardware - and ways to refresh the series, and I had a huge brainwave a few weeks ago regarding the idea of a simulated Wipeout garage and parts marketplace within a future Wipeout game.

A future Wipeout game could also have a built-in 3D modelling program included within it, so that people could make their own ship parts (which they could then sell to others, making the Wipeout marketplace a real possibility).


Alert - This is not an idea designed to turn Wipeout into a Need For Speed style tuning/customization game!

Instead, the tuning/ship construction sequence takes place within a huge hangar environment, with team members walking across the floor (giving the illusion that they are at work). The designer/player can use either the Playstation Move controller or the DualShock 3 to move around the environment and have a closer look at the ship as they pick and choose parts for it.

Displayed on a bar at the top of the screen are the ship's key statistics, which include the following:

* Mass (kg) - heavier = less speed
* Top Speed (kp/h or mp/h)
* Thrust (kj)
* c/d (Aerodynamic resistance) - less = more speed, more = better handling

On top of that, a meter showing a side profile of the ship can identify how much lift the ship produces (front, middle, and rear), as well as the option for a simulated windtunnel inside the hangar.

As for the ship parts, I thought of giving each type a 'mix' of weight, cost, and either speed/handling benefits:

* Engine core (top speed/mass/cost)
* Thrusters (acceleration/mass/cost)
* Chassis (cd/mass/cost)
* Airbrakes (stopping power/mass/cost)
* Wings (cd/mass/cost)
* Armour plating (cd/mass/cost)
* Energy banks (mass/cost)
* Weapons systems (mass/cost/increased chance of specific weapons/power-ups)

What does everyone think?

[Xpand]

Yeah, that sounds nice! I always wanted to make my own ship mods for Wipeout...

[Interlewd]

It sounds pretty cool and innovative. Very hands-on, too.

[jesse9705]

YES PLEASE :hyper:hyper:hyper
that would be really good, Plus it would also mean that you could adjust your ship for each race,it would be EPIC!!!

[XR_GTR]

It's a good idea yes - but not something I see that fits the "Wipeout" feel.

Teams are practically defined by the way they design and construct their racing craft - it would never make much sense to have, for instance, Icaras suddenly have an extremely heavy battering ram of an AG racer. I can see small, little bits of evolution of the team's craft working perhaps - little canards on the nose, raising cornering ability at the cost of some drag and additional weight penalties, or ventilation around the thrusters allowing for additional thrust at low speeds... but I don't think we should have total control over how a craft is constructed. Else we'll be setting FEISARs that turn like crap and go like stink, or Icaras that are slower than snails but have epic shield and cornering.

Rather than allow the player to design/construct a craft for a team completely from scratch, allow him/her to use existing teams as a base platform to evolve the craft from that base, perhaps by "drawing" these alterations or by "morphing" the ship's shape (like the Auto Sculpt feature in NFS Pro Street). You of course would (or at least should) not be limited to a few set "zones".

Say for instance, FEISAR pilot figures his top speed stinks because the ship is too focused around generating lift and not lowering frontal area and drag coefficient - he could design a new wing shape that has lower area. Or he could create a new canopy that would be more rounded. As long as the "editor" is powerful enough, a pilot with good design sense could still turn a team's "default" craft into something of his or her own. These alterations would not be too radical though - no changing Triakis into a single hull craft or giving Icaras a chassis with as much weight as Jupiter :/

[Rotational_aspect]

Or why go the whole hog and create new teams from templates? Means your not tied to a team and its the ultimate in customisation. Ironically this was a goal for my Wipeout style game that I thought about.

It would be easy to do, enter a name, pick a logo (from a pool or upload) and go from there. If your ships were good enough, then why not let others race them? Then YOU would become like Icarus etc and be a proper team.

[feisarfan]

It's a good idea yes - but not something I see that fits the "Wipeout" feel.

Teams are practically defined by the way they design and construct their racing craft - it would never make much sense to have, for instance, Icaras suddenly have an extremely heavy battering ram of an AG racer. I can see small, little bits of evolution of the team's craft working perhaps - little canards on the nose, raising cornering ability at the cost of some drag and additional weight penalties, or ventilation around the thrusters allowing for additional thrust at low speeds... but I don't think we should have total control over how a craft is constructed. Else we'll be setting FEISARs that turn like crap and go like stink, or Icaras that are slower than snails but have epic shield and cornering.

Rather than allow the player to design/construct a craft for a team completely from scratch, allow him/her to use existing teams as a base platform to evolve the craft from that base, perhaps by "drawing" these alterations or by "morphing" the ship's shape (like the Auto Sculpt feature in NFS Pro Street). You of course would (or at least should) not be limited to a few set "zones".

Say for instance, FEISAR pilot figures his top speed stinks because the ship is too focused around generating lift and not lowering frontal area and drag coefficient - he could design a new wing shape that has lower area. Or he could create a new canopy that would be more rounded. As long as the "editor" is powerful enough, a pilot with good design sense could still turn a team's "default" craft into something of his or her own. These alterations would not be too radical though - no changing Triakis into a single hull craft or giving Icaras a chassis with as much weight as Jupiter :/

Those are some pretty good points - I remember WipEout Fusion had a similar customisation scheme where, over time, the craft became more advanced, until you got to the 'grey' ships.

What about this idea - Let's say you built a part for a ship. That part goes onto the online auctionhouse, where it is reviewed by the moderators and game designers.

Based on its look, the designers could either:

* Class the part as 'third party' - for example, a part created by Magec. These parts are compatitable with all ships and frames, but are not as effective as 'team' parts on a 'team ship.

* Class the part as 'works' - that part will work really well with a 'works' chassis and computer, but it won't be compatitable with other ships and/or chassis.

On top of that, the game designers could create works parts.