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I always liked the flip button, the only thing I would worry about is copyright issues with Sony. That's the only way that a main cannon would work though, although that might interrupt the speed flow of the game. I guess the minigun could just be a locking cannon, so it would be less powerful. Also, just because it's "locking" doesn't necessarily mean that every shot hits. It could be programmed to where it can't turn very fast so the Zombie ships can avoid some of the bullets to make it more fair.
My concept really does look like the FEISAR Prototype, doesn't it? :) I never really noticed that, but once you said it, I see exactly what you said, it does have a lot of resemblance. I've always been a fan of the 2048 style ships, so I guess that's shining through. :P
I like your ideas for Sao Paulo, that's what I would guess that they are planning to do, maybe with some skillcuts, narrow sections, and stuff like the 2048 tracks. Overall I think we have a good start on this mode, with some work to do, but we'll get there! :D
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I highly doubt that Sony would copyright the "Flip" button, otherwise they would have shut down the entire project already. It's still a good idea, and I highly doubt that Sony gives a crap about the Wipeout series anyway (even though that they still keep the servers going), so no troubles there (not certain, just most likely).
Anyways, with the minigun, why not make it user controlled (like World of Tanks where you control how you rotate your weapon and where you rotate it)? Also, with the Sao Paulo sections, why not make some of them underground like Subway from 2048, as that was quite fun. (I don't actually own 2048, but I have played it on my friend's Vita) Also, what about the boss concept ship? Have you gotten started on that? I think that it should be based off of a triple or dual-hulled ship, or possibly one of the Fighter Class ships from 2048.
We're getting there to making this game a reality, and it's just only going to be a matter of time until we get there!
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They wouldn't copyright the flip button, but they copyrighted WipEout, therefore ALL intellectual property is copyrighted. We already worry about barrel rolls and sideshifts, it would just be best nod to add to many more, plus like interrupt the flow of the mode to be flipping around all the time. It was good for eliminator, but I don't know how well it would work for this.
And about Sony, I must disagree. I think they always cared about WipEout, and still regard it as important, just look at the heritage video they posted recently, it's chalked full of WipEout references. It may not have been their favorite franchise, but I think they always cared about it, even if their decisions may not have been the best for it.
The problem with making the minigun user controlled is that you would then have to be using both airbrakes, turn buttons, cannon control buttons, and fire buttons all at the same time. I don't know about you but I couldn't do it. It would be too hard to try to evade the zombies and shoot them accurately while controlling a cannon at the same time. It would make it more fair, but way too hard to do.
I like the idea of an underground section in Sao Paulo, that would be cool. And for the Boss ship, I actually didn't think about it, I always just thought of having a different skin on the Zombie ship. It just depends on if the devs want to model a third new ship for one game mode. If they do, I would be happy to submit ideas, but we'll have to see what they say first.
Also as a sidenote to the devs, have you guys worked out how the barrel roll system will work yet? I have some ideas if you haven't, so keep me posted! :D
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We will have multirolls, the more rolls you do, the higher the boost, but the more integrity you loose. It is actually implemented into the latest demo already, but fine-tuning will always happen ;)
And yeah, the Flip-button would kill the speed of the mode. After all, you gotta remind yourself that we might not have a Zone mode, and that this mode MIGHT be a replacement. So I'd go with something that doesn't kill the speed. And yeah, the whole concept with the cannon is rather difficult, maybe we need to think about something completely different when it comes to attacking.
Do you guys know games like Slender? It is somewhat scary and challenging cuz you are haunted by a creature and you have nothing more than a flashlight. You can't defent yourself, you can only run. Maybe we could do something like this, you only need to get away from the Zombies as your primary goal. Now that would destroy the checkpoint & Zombie respawn thingy we have talked about, but maybe we can find some new ideas. Just wanna say that we don't HAVE to include weapons, or at least it doesn't have to be a Cannon if it won't work out for that mode...
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TBH, I think that gamemode you described could grow into another mode alltogether as sort of a Cops and Robbers mode. What I think that we're doing is to keep as close to the 2048 variant of Zombie mode as possible, so removing the cannon would just destroy the mode. However, I don't know a better option to help the speed of the mode along with keeping it in-line with the style of 2048.
Anyone have any other ideas?
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We're not just stealing 2048's Zombie mode, we're creating something of our own. Plus, their the developers, and their say is final, we're just brainstormers here. I'm perfectly fine with having a sort of Survival mode, maybe you could have an option for cannon on or off. What do you think about that?
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Great idea. However, I think that we should lower the amount of zombies if you select the cannon to be off so that you don't die instantly as soon as you spawn. The checkpoint idea might be a good idea for both modes because the zombies can just wait for you to pass and then they will join pursuit. With Sao Paulo, I think that it would also be a good idea if we include open sections like in Fusion to allow you to lure zombies to smash into obstacles, allowing you some breathing room.
Also, is there going to be rubber - band AI for both cannon on and off? I honestly hope not, as there should be an acomplishment to actually outrun the zombies rather than just getting beaten the crap out of.
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There would have to be a rubber banding system, otherwise you could just lag behind the zombies, the mode would have to be extremely rubber banded, so players of all skill levels could play it. Of course, the AI wouldn't react instantly, and agile and fast flying would help you avoid them and survive longer, which is the point of the game. You could program the Zombies so they are not quite as agile as the player, to keep the mode interesting when it comes to evasion.
I don't think the open sections would work in a city layout, there's just no way to implement it logically, in a tight, cosmopolitan city, the streets would not open up much. Keep in mind that it will also be a racing circuit, not just a zombie circuit, so it will have to work smoothly for both.
The mode itself would have to be altered if there was a on/off option; from what Kai says it sounds like the Zombies would not die if weapons were off, so your score would be measured by time of survival. (Am I interpreting that right?) I also was wondering if you would accept concept sketches for the Sao Paulo circuit, just to provide some ideas as far as scenery, corner layouts, skillcuts, etc.
As for the BRs, how does the energy/boost system of the multiroll work? Does the energy cost and the boost decrease after the first roll, or does it stay constant? I know you guys were playing with ideas earlier, and I'm eager to know what you came up with. ;)
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We have some slight rubber-banding in our demo already. Damian can provide more details about the strength.
I can see both points. There should be some rubber banding or skilled people will get bored with that race mode. But on the other hand you also gotta give the player some reward for running from the Zombies. This whole idea is going a bit complicated, but that is perfectly cool since we are going deeper into the details of the racemode.
To be honest, up to this point I don't see any good way to have circuit tracks available for the Zombie mode. If the Sao Paulo city really provides some open-world [even it will be very limited anyways], you could run from them, face single ones, hide and refresh energy or work out a plan or have fast paced chase races... It works nice there, and you can even use the cannon the way the cannon works right now, because you have the possibility to approach the Zombies from behind, from side streets, bridges, shortcuts etc.
It all depends on how exactly the city layout will look and how opened it will be for the player. And the reference persons for that are Ric & Theo [Xpand & Oryx Crake]. So maybe we gotta wait for their reply.
For the BR's: Currently it is like this: You roll one time, energy gets drained and a boost charges. If you still have airtime, you can try to execute a second roll. If it is successful, even more energy got drained [but not as much as the first time] and the boost charges even more. Same with the third roll. So a triple-roll would really make sense on places where there is a long straight ahead, or at least no technical section.
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Well I'm not opposed to only running it on the Sao Paulo circuit, it sounds pretty amazing from what you've said about it. If that's our best option, then let's go for it, and if we only have the forward cannon, it kind of incorporates the defenseless part when the zombies are behind you and the attacking part when they are ahead of you, like the best of both. I still think the best way to work the rubber banding is to just have a delay between when you get away from the zombies, and when they react to speed up to you. Therefore you would have a short break and not lose energy during that time. The BRs sound good too, I was just wondering how you ended up configuring that, sounds like it will be fun to try to cram a few BRs into the Nazca skillcut! ;)
On a sidenote while we are talking about difficulty and rubber banding, I would suggest a harder yet difficulty for the single race and endurance modes, either that or to reduce the difference between the ship stats, because with iFreet, ATLAS, LOGOS, and Solaris, I can easily win any race even on Cassandra, which seems to have harder AI than Draco Cavernae. It would be cool (and challenging) to have a super hard mode, where you can never guarantee your victory, or something to even the ships. If I were to rank the ships as far as ease-of-winning goes, it would be:
Easiest to Hardest:
iFreet
ATLAS
LOGOS
Solaris
CEN-R
Amphithere
Zepher
Helios