New to Wipeout HD! Some thoughts on my experience so far.

[sweetdiss]

Hello all!

Just bought a used PS3 off craigslist last week, and the first game I bought is Wipeout HD with the Fury expansion. I played the crap out of Pure so I'm not totally new to the series, but am new to this version at least.

My impressions so far is that it's just as insanely fun as I remember Pure being, and also just as challenging. I'm working through the HD campaign on novice and have just under 60 golds so far. It's a bit disheartening since as I said, I'm on the lowest difficulty setting, but the game is notoriously hard right? Or do I just suck since I'm finding it really difficult? Particularly the rapier single race on Sebenco Climb in the Vertigo "cup". I've gotten 100% gold on the next several cups after that one, and I still can't beat that particular race. Yikes!

And finally, I can't seem to get the hang of side shifting. I've read around the 'net that it's important to learn if you want to be competitive, but my reaction times are too slow to even decide if I need to use it at a particular time, let alone doing the double tap to execute it. Is there any good way to practice it? Or any other tips on when it should be used?

Anyway, despite my difficulties, I'm having a blast. My PSN name is "n8thegreatest" if there are any fellow noobs that want to race with me or show me the ropes...

- Nate

[GiraffeRider]

Heya, welcome to the zone! This is indeed a fiendishly difficult, ragequit inducing game, but once you manage to tame it somewhat it's the most fun you can have with an arcade racer. That sebenco race gave me lots of trouble too, because I always lost in the first corner the little time I managed to gain on the rest of the track, and then some. If you're having the same problem, try approaching that corner from as far right as you can, then airbrake hard and sideshift so you'll get the speed pad, and pitch down before the jump to preserve speed. If you want more help check out this video from one of the all-time pros: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i473NnU31-8

About sideshifts, you'll definitely need to abuse them; try to add them to your normal racing line instead of deciding on the spot whether to use one or not. They let you cut a lot of time in the most difficult turns, and they also give a smallish speed boost that can open up plenty of BR opportunities, when combined with pitching up. If you have problems doing the double tap consider switching airbrakes to L1/R1. Made it much easier from me, but your mileage may vary; try both configs for a while and see which works best for you. You'll also need a LOT of BR's to get competitive SL/TT times. Try this on for size: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5-SFpcg_wA#! Other than that, all I can say is that practice makes perfect.

I'll add you, but I'm taking a break from online till they sort out the patch 2.50 cluster****, so I'm not on much anymore. By the way, they reset the online ranks not too long ago, so even the pros got low ranks now; don't get discouraged if you get shredded by a rank 5, he just might be a player with 500+ hours under his belt.

[sweetdiss]

Thanks for the tips Giraffe! I also found a tip somewhere else that suggested doing 30 or 40 speedlaps in Phantom as practice first. I tried that, and coupled with your advice and the tutorial vid, gave it another go. The first try I exploded on the third lap. The second try, gold medal. : )

As for sideshifting, thanks for those tips as well! I had no idea they gave a small speed boost. I shall map them to the 1 triggers and see if my luck changes...

By the way, what do most of the pros use for steering? I've been using d-pad myself, as I'm used to that from Pure on the PSP...

[Sausehuhn]

Hellfire made a very good tutorial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxzYkTralIA) about the basics of WipEout HD, you should check it out! :)

[GiraffeRider]

Steering control is just a matter of personal preference, like airbrakes. I'd say most players use analog, but there are plenty of elite dpad pilots too. It won't make any difference in lap times, just use what you feel comfortable with.