Ballistic NG - Wipeout fan project

[bigsnake]

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This is the thread where BallisticNG started! BallisticNG is a free love letter to the original Wipeout trilogy, you can find it on Steam using the links above. There is also a discord server if you want to talk with us directly.

About (steam description)
BallisticNG is a free anti-gravity racing game that takes the genre back to basics and aims to deliver a similar experience to the original Wipeout games on the Playstation One. Coupled with the gameplay is an artstyle that seeks to completely mimic that retro 90s Playstation look with a few extras thrown in.

You are a pilot in the 2159 Anti-Gravity League and you can choose to race for a variety of corporations all looking to get their own outcomes from the race. The game comes with a large array of tracks with five increasingly fast speed classes. Each team is configured for different playstyles, all have their pros and cons and it’s up to you to find which one you like!

Features:

• 14 tracks all in unique locations
• 13 teams setup for different play styles
• 5 gamemodes - Arcade, Time Trial, Practice, Tournament and Survival
• A big arsenal of weapons to slow and damage your opponents
• Cockpit view - each ship has a unique cockpit!
• A soundtrack full of songs inspired by electronic music from the 90s and early 2000’s
• Modding Tools - Custom tracks, custom ships, custom sounds, custom music, workshop support and more to come in the future!

Dev Branch
The dev branch is a branch of the game on Steam which is updated nearly every day, sometimes multiple times a day. It's the best way to try out all of the latest additions and changes as they happen.
To join the dev branch right click the game on Steam and then go to properties, the betas tab and then enter the password PsygnosisWereCoolGuys, click check code and if you entered it correctly then you'll be able to select Developer from the the dropdown menu. Once you've selected that branch the game will then update.

[JFthebestJan]

this is really awesome thinking, unfortunately i cannot help coding, cause i don't know how to code. but i could help as a testpilot ;D
i'll follow your project that's for sure. maybe Apple Guy Cipher can help with the coding, i think he's studying this kind of stuff. obviously i cannot spewk for him, but he's a nice guy so who knows...

[Hellfire_WZ]

...the original Wipeout games are now classed as abandonware

No they are not. Sony holds the copyright for all Wipeout branding and content, including the original games. This is why the SSGX team had to remove their remake of Porto Kora from their game and cannot use ANYTHING from the Wipeout games.

This project has no intent to break Copyright

A complete remake of a game without the copyright holders' permission IS a breach of copyright. At the very least you would need to make sure that none of the original names, logos or trademarks are being used.

[bigsnake]

Damn, sorry Hellfire my bad. I've amended the copyright section of the original post and added some more information about a few topics I hadn't mentioned. I should have worded it a lot differently then I did, apologies for that.

[Jonny]

First of all, the product would be free and bigsnake won't focus on profits of any kind.
Secondly if he remakes everything from scratch it would be his very own work.
Third, in doubt change the name, put a simple space inbetween.
Forth, Idk but are content part of the brand? Again, change names.
Fifth, would Sony give a damn?
Sixth, how many story elements do you bring in? May I could help you with that. (I can't do much coding though).

[CJ_Denton]

Fifth, would Sony give a damn?

There have been some fan made remakes like this that have been shut down by the owners of the original IP,like Metal Gear or Chrono Trigger,so the possibility that Sony isn't okay with this kind of thing exists

[bigsnake]

like Metal Gear or Chrono Trigger,so the possibility that Sony isn't okay with this kind of thing exists

Those are much larger franchises though, and with a new Metal Gear right around the corner it would understandably be in Sony's and Konami's best interest to try and get all the attention directed at the real game. You are very right though and there is the possibility Sony won't approve. Wipeout is a much smaller franchise that isn't exactly cashing in anything for Sony right now so the likelihood of them stopping this project would hopefully be much slimmer. If Sony see this project and decide they want to tell me no then fair enough, like I mentioned I'll rename the project and swap out anything that's copyrighted for original content. Unofficial remakes are definitely a large topic of controversy and I understood what could happen if I posted this thread.

Sixth, how many story elements do you bring in? May I could help you with that. (I can't do much coding though).

Since I am quite weary of copyright I'm not looking to really make any suggestions about the story in the game, although if you can think of any alternative stories that could fit well then that would be great!

this is really awesome thinking, unfortunately i cannot help coding, cause i don't know how to code. but i could help as a testpilot ;D

Sweet! People who can test the game is always very useful, more useful then you might first think

[AGgamer]

May I please make a few suggestions? Ive been thinking about what a remake of 2097 would be like for a really long time now.

As far as gameplay is concerned, do you think you could simply make the game fast? What I mean is make phantom exceed the sound barrier. maybe 2097 kph? I say this because Wipeout has never had a topspeed exceeding 800 kph. just make the track wide, 20 km long, buff up the speed and stuff. If it doesn't work out that's fine though.

Story. oh my. This gets me excited because I have been working on a Wipeout fanfiction since November. my Idea is to basically "reboot" the story; fusing Wipeout 1 with 2097. I have a lot written down, but it's still only a draft and it's not ready to be posted in full. I can summarize my basic idea if you want, but I don't really know how in-depth you want this remake's story to be.

[bigsnake]

Making the tracks really wide is a bit over the top, it would take away one factor why Wipeout is quite hard to begin with and make it more like FZero, even at higher speed it just wouldn't feel right. Respect for the idea though. Speed is a top priority. At the moment I have the four speed classes in but I'll happily add more. A work around for the speed making the ships uncontrollable (which would warrant the wider tracks) is to just increase the ships grip per speed class, I'm already doing this with Venom and Flash having a lower grip then Rapier and Phantom. The sensitivity of airbrakes is also determined by how fast the ship is traveling, so going faster will pretty much just rely on making sure you have extremely good reaction time until the speed becomes ridiculous.

If you think your fanfiction is ready to be summarized then post it, it's always interesting to see what people come up with In terms of the story in-game it will more then likely be about the same as the actual game where the story isn't given to you directly, but you can get a gist of all the basic events through advertisements (like in Wipeout 2048 where you have messages about Piranha possibly leaving the AGRC).

[TheXTR09]

Great! A true classic Wipeout remake.

We have AGR2280 that I'd call Re'lapsE" referring WipEout's slang term in the 90's, and Wipeout Rebirth...Future Perfect?

Realistic, car-like ships, old school dance music and an overwhelming city: what's not to like?

Oh, I would help out in concepts and design consulting. Just look at this HUD I made.

[AGgamer]

So, i spent about an hour summarizing my fanfiction and I got logged out and lost my progress. So without further adieu... here it is, copied and pasted from a word doc.

I want my story to be character driven (something the games are desperately needing imo), but since my plot is still being written I’ll post the universe’s history instead as it will be easier.

So, the wipeout universe in my story is similar to the canonical one but tweaked to make more sense and work with a story better.

in 2030 AG-systems was founded by Pierre Belmondo to experiment with quantum levitation tech, and in 2035 revealed the world’s first Anti-Gravity (AG) vehicle. Belmondo believed AG-technology would one day benefit all mankind. Shortly after, AGS migrated to Japan, leaving Europe without AG technology. This resulted in the formation of FEISAR in 2038. Meanwhile in Japan, there was a huge falling out between a few AGS executives disagreeing with Belmondo’s decision to remain in Japan. One believed in Belmondo’s ideology about AG-tech benefiting all mankind and moved to the US to found Auricom, another moving to Russia and forming Qirex desiring to milk AG-tech for profit. And so the Anti-Gravity revolution ensued, flying vehicles replacing the slower motor ones.

In 2044 Belmondo proposed the idea of racing AG vehicles and began preparations for the 2048 Anti-Gravity Racing Championships (AGRC). FEISAR and Auricom both joined in as well as Pir-hana, who traded braking and shield tech for AG tech. Qirex however was failing financially and was sold to Overtel Corporation. Overtel then transformed Qirex into a racing team for the AGRC. Pir-hana left the sport before the end of the 2050 AGRC and vanished for no apparent reason (I’m still working on it).

After the sport exploded in popularity Belmondo founded the Anti-Gravity Racing League (AGRL), firmly establishing it as a true sport. To get an idea of how popular the sport is, you can’t walk down the street without overhearing someone talking about it. The popularity led to profit, more than AG-systems needed in fact. AG-Systems then founded the “Belmondo Foundation” a massive charity fund that uses a large amount of AG-systems’ profits. In addition to bringing the world together in sport, the belmondo foundation is just another way AG tech benefits mankind.

My story takes place in 2097, so the sport has existed for a few decades now. The main plot mainly involves Overtel’s attempt to own the league by buying AG-systems. They plan to do this by frequently destroying AGS’s craft in races, forcing them into bankruptcy through replacement expenses. Then Overtel will have all the money and power that goes with owning the world’s most popular sport.

My characters involve to original cast of Wipeout 1. Arial Tetsuo, Arian Tetsuo, Anastasia “Stacy” Cherovoski, Kel Solaar, Paul Jackson, Sofia de la Rente, and John Dekka. Daniel Chang is a character of interest from earlier in the sport’s history, he won’t actively appear in the story. AG-system’s second pilot will be replaced with Natasha Belmondo from Wipeout Fusion, Granddaughter of Pierre Belmondo himself. I will also have characters for team Piranha: Myima Tsarong from fusion, and an OC: Jann Zico, named after the other Piranha pilot in fusion but his last name changed to reference the “beat Zico” trophy. There are other characters such as Yuuki Tetsuo (the twin’s father), James Belmondo (son of Pierre), an Overtel representative, etc.

I have detailed character profiles for everyone, but that would be way too long to include in this one post I think. I’ll post it if you want though. I hope I haven’t bored you too much.

[Hellfire_WZ]

First of all, the product would be free and bigsnake won't focus on profits of any kind.

Irrelevant, you don't have to be making money to be in breach of copyright.

Secondly if he remakes everything from scratch it would be his very own work.

Unless his assets have a distinct likeness to the originals, then it is also a breach of copyright

Third, in doubt change the name, put a simple space inbetween.

Nowhere near enough, names that bear a distinct similarity would also fall under copyright law.

Forth, Idk but are content part of the brand? Again, change names.

If you mean things like track layouts, I'd imagine they would as the designs are owned by Sony. Less so if the environments are very different and the name is changed though.

Fifth, would Sony give a damn?

Maybe they will, maybe they won't. I'm not willing to put this forum at risk on a gamble.

I'm not saying "don't do this" by any means, all I'm asking is that you make sure you aren't potentially treading on toes in the process, because ultimately the responsibility would fall on me for allowing this forum to be a hub for it.

[Jonny]

I have seen a lot of unlicensed Formula One-inspired games where only one or two letters were changed in names.
Include a name editor to the game, that's what Infogramms has done with their first Grand Prix game. False names and a in game name editor.

About the fanfic: It is good, but shouldn't a remake also contain the original canon.

[JABBERJAW]

The physics test looked fantastic, like the old games with no side shift. I also like the thin tracks. Do you have pitch control in, bringing the ship a bit higher off the track like the old games, and also controlling the ship in the air, for softer landings, farther/shorter jumps etc?

[vincoof]

I don’t want to sound mean, but I agree with Hellfire. There’s a thin line between inspiration and copyright infringement. On WipeoutZone we have nothing against supporting WipEout-inspired projects like SSGX or AGR2280. If you rename the game, the ships and everything it should be fine. I’m not sure about the track layouts. I mean, if someone creates an oval layout, is it a violation to the Indianapolis track? :p As for the physics, it should be fine if you don’t reverse engineer physics from the original game.

Which leads me to the next point: if the physics have changed, doesn’t it look weird for something that’s supposed to feel like WipE'out"? I think the game is what it is mostly thanks to its physics (with its pros and cons). If you don’t get exactly the same feeling, it might be a good racing game (WipEout sequels all have different engines and most of them look fantastic) but it just won’t be WipEout.

[JABBERJAW]

Keep the game going, but change the name, that way there will be no trouble. Keep it Wipeout in spirit. Looking at what you have done I have no doubt you have a great game in the making.

[bigsnake]

I'm not saying "don't do this" by any means, all I'm asking is that you make sure you aren't potentially treading on toes in the process, because ultimately the responsibility would fall on me for allowing this forum to be a hub for it.

No problem. I'll do my best to make sure that I don't put this forum and you in a bad situation, that's the absolute last thing I want to happen. For starters I will change the name, for now I'll just put a hyphen in between the name but if need be then it can always change more drastically. I'm open for ideas, I've mentioned this under all the quotes.

I don’t want to sound mean, but I agree with Hellfire. There’s a thin line between inspiration and copyright infringement

Man that's not mean at all, I get where you and Hellfire are coming from completely and I am willing to take steps in a different direction to ensure that everyone is appeased here.

I’m not sure about the track layouts. I mean, if someone creates an oval layout, is it a violation to the Indianapolis track?

Yeah I'm not exactly sure if you can copyright a layout, the names however yes definatly. If other names are changing then track names will have to change too.

if the physics have changed, doesn’t it look weird for something that’s supposed to feel like WipE'out"? I think the game is what it is mostly thanks to its physics (with its pros and cons). If you don’t get exactly the same feeling, it might be a good racing game (WipEout sequels all have different engines and most of them look fantastic) but it just won’t be WipEout.

That's why I want to release an early physics test as soon as possible. I've worked with recreating Wipeout physics enough that I have somewhat of an idea how to get a Wipeout feel, but that's just an opinion without everyone else pitching in and giving their thoughts too.

The physics test looked fantastic, like the old games with no side shift. I also like the thin tracks. Do you have pitch control in, bringing the ship a bit higher off the track like the old games, and also controlling the ship in the air, for softer landings, farther/shorter jumps etc?

Pitching is the one thing I still need to add, it will pretty much be exactly what you just said

This is going to be lengthy, so let me get the short part out first:
In the likely event that this project changes there are going to need to be changes. As this is a game for you guys and also because I'm terrible with creativity please let me know about any name changes and features you want/don't want to see in the game.

Now for the lengthy bit, please correct me if I am wrong on any of this. I've already mentioned what the game will be doing to stay within somewhat of a "safe zone" so I won't repeat it. However, while I do completely understand and respect what copyright infringement is and how this plays into the role of how it could on the off chance endanger this forum, the likelihood of anything negative coming from a cease and desist from Sony is pretty much Zero in this case, it just means the project can't then use copyrighted material. I appreciate Hellfire's role and dedication as admin to this forum and as mentioned above I will not do anything that endangers him or this forum, I may only lurk it for the most part but this forum means just as much to me as it does anyone else here. When it comes down to how Sony would react to this project, seeing as how Wipeout is no longer much of a source of income for them and that no future games are coming in the foreseeable future, plus coupled with the fact that this project stands no financial threat to Sony and that I'll even go to the length to advertise the original games then I don't see why Sony would even begin to care. Now obviously that's just a guess, Sony might feel otherwise and decide to tell me to stop, but in the likelihood of that I'm not seeing any reason why this would affect the forum. If this project stood some sort of threat to Sony then yeah alright, this forum could end up in a bit of a pickle. I understand these problems also inherently fall onto Hellfire which is why I'm remaining so open to changes and holding back on making any content right now, it's not fair that Hellfire would have to deal with something that on the slim chance could happen as a result of me

When it comes to a project like this there isn't anything illegal providing that the creator(s) are not receiving any form of income and that the project doesn't generate any sort of revenue (and doesn't use copyrighted assets, exactly why I put that disclaimer above the progress video mentioning said assets will never be any releases of the project). Naturally that also means that there's nothing illegal with Sony then telling me to stop. It's their franchise and their rules at the end of the day, and I understand any action taken against this project. Now in terms of names the project will for now be renamed Wipe-Out Rebirth, not the best solution but it will do for now. If anyone has any better names then like I said, let me know because I'll happily change anything. I don't want to start any arguments around copyright because that will be getting silly, I want to avoid running into as many issues as possible and will make required changes if there is any sight of anything that could go wrong.

[TheXTR09]

It's such a shame companies are getting so tight-assed just to squeeze every bit of profit for their product they distribute. Of course if I'm made a game and if someone broke my copyright rule, there is a chance to take legal action, but it all comes down to do I want it to. If the violator in question is actually promoting the past games, I would have actually glad to oblige.

It's quite a cynic-idealist problem. We aren't quite sure what kind does Sony stand, best to play safe. But seeing this game is made as a tribute to the first-ever "grown-ups' game" for thr PS1, I really hope Sony would understand.

[Jonny]

Let's be open as long as there is no trouble. If there is trouble, continue in secret.
Ironically, it could be like the Foundation for Anti-Gravity Research (we), lead by Pierre Belmondo (bigsnake) after AG technology (the game) get's officially disbanded by the World Technology Symposium (Sony). Doing this in secret, closing this thread for people under ~20 posts and "selling" the product under the table to people of our trust, like a game that is on the index*.
If I had the money I already had bought that brand.

*In Germany, the index is a list of games and movies that aren't allowed to get sold.

[bigsnake]

That would be pretty cool actually, it won't ever happen for obvious reasons though

First Physics Test is available!
Grab it here - https://db.tt/ICbnC7EJ

The track provided is in no way perfect, it's only a track for people to try out the physics after all. If you fall off the track then you will be lifted back onto it (the actual model for what lifts you back onto the track isn't in yet). Just a reminder that nothing in this test contains anything that is copyrighted. All content with the exception of audio (from Freesound) is original. The physics are also not complete by any means, let me know what you think and how they can be improved!

You can change the speed class by pressing 1- 4.

Default controls are:
Keyboard
Accelerate - Space
Steer - Left/Right Arrows
Pitch - Up/Down Arrows
Airbrakes - Q/E

Gamepad (defaults to Xbox 360 controller)
Accelerate - A
Steer/Pitch - Left Analog Stick
Airbrakes - Triggers