Will I ever get used to Phantom?

I'm a complete noob at Wipeout. I feel pretty good in my progression but I for the life of me can't get into racing in Phantom class. This pertains more to online racing than anything because if I'm in campaign mode I just do what's expected and move on. If I'm in Racebox I just either choose Rapier or lower or bang around the track in Phantom.

Anyway online I'm sort of limited since most of the races are Venom or Phantom. I get into Venom races and it feels like it's in slow motion. I don't even enter Phantom races because from all the solo runs I've made in Phantom I know I'll not make it through.

Is this just a practice thing? I guess the question I'm asking is did Phantom seem totally out of control for you at first? Is this something I'll eventually get? Of course I know you can't really answer whether or not I'll "get it" but I'm curious if I'm just too hand/eye impaired or if others at first were intimidated by the Phantom speed.

Totally.
My first WO was XL, and I spent months learning Phantom. Rapier I could manage, but only just barely. Phantom I was lucky to survive the race, never mind place in the top 3.

The first step is to know the track. Really know it. Fly that thing in TT until it's second nature and you're pulling off consistent times that are among your best. Then crank the speed up a notch. Repeat until you're at Phantom. It will take a while.

The good news is that once you've really nailed Phantom your brain is adjusted to it and it's a lot easier to get back into later. Phantom on WO3 is likely the fastest Phantom there is, but after all the time I put into WOXL it wasn't that difficult to get myself up to the same abilities. I didn't have to relearn Phantom, I just had to really get to know the tracks and Phantom came as a natural progression by then.

This forum is really just a collection of all the people that wanted to put the time into it that's necessary. There ain't much magic to it, it's not about natural piloting skills, it's all practice.

Thank you Task. That's exactly the response I was looking for. I suppose if I had just jumped in and ran a Rapier class race right from the beginning it may have seemed out of control too but I sort of worked my way up to it and it's not hard to control (mostly). It just seems like there's a much bigger jump from Rapier to Phantom than the other classes (which may be my perception only).

Practice, practice, practice.:+

You're also really putting a cap on your skills if you routinely race with Pilot Assist :)

hehehehe how good old times...
if phantom was out of my control at first???? hehehehe even the defunct vector (r.i.p.) was out of control for me at first! hehehehe

i remenber the first approach at wipeout was with the wipeout 2097 demo...after a while i've get both the first 2 games and for a month or 2 i was a disaster, i remenber the first times i continuosly think that this game was impossible and what kind of moron could have designed a game so hard, keep in count that once in the old games you have to deal with the checkpoints too , bastards bastards checkpoints, ah how many times at first i never reach even the first check, but i really miss those bastards...but i never quit 'cause since that time i fallen in love...and after i while i had reached progress who you cannot even image you can do now, but believe me if you like very much this game you will become unbeatable, this game is so addictive! hehehehehe

i remenber there was a period who i play so much with 2097 and wo3 that i was able to do at least 2 or 3 perfect laps at race in phantom...

While I agree that the game requires a lot of practice to be competent at Phantom speed, I do believe that you need to have a certain amount of quick reflexes as well when you are racing with weapons on. It is one thing to have a solid racing line that you can execute 99% of the time without error. It is another to have to jump, sideshift and dodge weapons fire and then get back to the racing line.

But with practice, anyone can improve and handle Phantom class. Zone mode is a good way to practice, as you learn all the details of the course that way.

My first Wipeout was Pure, the first game I ever bought for my PSP...I couldn't do anything faster than Flash at first...then I gradually got into Rapier, and I didn't get good at Phantom until I'd had Wipeout Pulse for a while, after it was released. I thought I'd never get good at it.

You know what's really helped me lately, though? Zone on HD. I used to squeak by in Phantom mode, but after Zoning it for some serious loyalty points in a short period of time (lost all my skins with the patch; kept my trophies and campaign progress somehow, though), my Phantom laps have been getting cleaner all the time...I've been nailing consecutive perfect laps lately, because once you've hit Super Phantom, Subsonic, etc., Phantom seems very manageable by comparison, lol.

Zone mode is perhaps the best method of getting used to faster speeds such as Phantom. Zone helps you learn the all different circuits and is good for learning to play without pilot assist which can slow you down. Racing competitively is a bit different with all the commotion of weapons, speed boosts and shunting that goes on. Try practicing with weapons online, you have nothing to lose stats wise.

I agree it's all about practice, but I do disagree using Zone mode. Because it's giving you a tricked out AG that is 100% on everything. When outside of Zones you will never get a craft like that, so the turns you do won't reflect the actual races.

I like to use Speed Lap, do 99 laps on a track to learn it. Just keep going over and over the same track. Since it gives me my craft I'll be using online. Speed Lap helps me because the speed stays constant so I cant practice my lines, without worrying about exploding.

I think the best way to get used to phantom is actually to think about what yor doing. I don't know about anyone else, but i used to just take one corner at a time, and just hope my approach to the next corner would work alright (it usually doesnt). So yeah, plot your lines in rapier, then step it up to phantom.

I personally think TT is the way to go as you have a reference every 5 laps and a personal best time to beat,where you don't with speed lap.

I've basically never played the reverse tracks unless somebody else chose them in an online tournament.[probably less than 5 times each]and I've been using TT yesterday and today to get used to the tracks, and aiming for at global top 20 time [getting better than that ATM] and it sure is helping me breeze through Arcade Perfect against the elite AI, especially if I jump straight from TT and then challenge the AI.

Pity I didn't do this when I first started the game, as I'm sure it would of made getting the elite campaign legend trophy a whole lot easier.

Hi All.

It's only practice..... :)

A very long training drive you to perfection!

Every pilot here has his style of practice....

For me it change in every version of the game.

WO HD has two perfect possibilities: Lap Record and Zone.

Normally I start a training/warm up with zone (1 or 2 times in a row) after this warm up I step into LR Phantom for 99 turns.

I feel the track when I'm starting a sequence of perfect laps.
When this succeeded I start to make some BR where I think it work....and in the same time I'm Searching for the perfect turbo location.

I'm pretty sure that in the end I'm really near to master the track, but......online in armed races all is totally different...... ;)

Read You Soon
CdRom

My experience is that the sense of speed you feel is relative to what you are used to. If you never play Phantom, then Rapier will feel fast. If you play only Phantom then Rapier starts to feel pedestrian. There is no speed class faster than Phantom to have the same effect, but I agree with the idea that Zone really helps you acclimatize to the sense of speed at Phantom class. The handling is very different of course, but it trains your brain.

I also believe trentdf makes a great point to really think about what you`re doing. I think if you practice every turn in Phantom class TT or Speed Lap and try to understand how your ship is reacting at all parts of the course it eventually becomes almost automatic to to the "right" thing when racing online and the pressure is on. If you`re flying a good line by instinct then you are free to think about your shield, tactics and what the other pilots are up to. I`m not there yet, but that`s my plan and it will need a lot, lot more practice. Also Elite AI Phantom races are good training for the mayhem of online, though it`s hard to work on learning the courses in this. Playing offline, I won`t allow myself to play anything other than Phantom or Zone, because slower speeds are bad for me. I don`t do enough Zone and should do more, really.

Man! Thanks all. This is good stuff.

You can tell when you are getting up there when you are racing against the harder AI and a plume of smoke will obscure your view of the track,nearly always at a corner or mid bend, and you can pilot around the course without the need to see the track and without hitting a wall because it has become so familiar.

^^^

using the force eh skywalker???

anyway...I felt that getting to know your craft also helps...its limits...its weight...the lines you can take...learn to throw you craft in an out of turns, chicanes...and try and find YOUR perfect line you can accelerate out of...

I'm finding it difficult adjusting to HD...it's a little looser than Pure and Pulse...which isn't a bad thing...but trying to fly moa therma in HD after Pulse needs a bit of tweking in my brain...

once you get used to Phantom though...after copious amounts of practice...it will be worth it...the speed...the adrenaline...the rush...will keep you coming back for more...

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Originally Posted by klax75

I agree it's all about practice, but I do disagree using Zone mode. Because it's giving you a tricked out AG that is 100% on everything. When outside of Zones you will never get a craft like that, so the turns you do won't reflect the actual races

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That is a good point there that I really didn't notice :eek Zone does help with getting used to extreme speeds, Phantom is tame in comparison. But in actual racing there is no super speeds so I would agree that 99 speed laps on Phantom with a favourite ship is indeed a good idea for getting used to and learning new racing lines.

It's practice and specialy "JOY". we have to love it for try it. practice. attempt. fail. deception. practice. attempt. sucess. HELL YEAH! :D by the time you notice, you are doing perfect laps ;) you'll see that in time. trust me :)

I like speed lap the most for practicing. Since using that I have 99 laps in the ship of my choice the track of my choice to get things going. Plus I don't have to worry about damage and a lot of times I don't even use the free turbo I spend my time find my racing line, or trying new racing lines. 99 laps is a good number, I am not concerned about setting a record when practicing, if it comes great if it doesn't I still have lots of laps to turn to practice.

After doing speed laps then I'll go to TT, that is more a race event, so put all the things I've learned from countless speed laps in to one simulated race with TT. By the time I hit TT I've already run so many speed laps that there isn't as much pressure to preform in 3-5 laps.

One thing I do suggest is pick one ship you feel comfortable with and use that for a while. So you feel you know how it will react when racing, once you feel you got a handle on it try a different track. Constantly changing ships can hurt in the beginning.

It seems good pilots have all the same training program.;)
Zone untill the eyes and brain are familiar to the high speed.
Speed laps and after TT to learn the several tracks.
In HD, racing against elite AI offline is also a good training for online's fights.