I'm in no way involved in the coding or building of the physics/UI of this game, but I'm pretty sure I know just a little bit about game design, having played them for many years. A game mechanic needs to be tested not only for its appeal and ease of use in the environment, but also for redundancy based around your original concept and a working prototype.
The idea isn't create an homage to HD. That's what SS-GX was built to be. B-NG's direction is an homage to the original trilogy of Wipeout games.
Here are current facts necessary to know about the game as it stands (as far as I'm aware):
- Barrel rolls are not a feature, removing the 15-point shield drain present in Pure/Pulse/HD/2048. Average shield levels in a race stay higher as a result.
- Instead, Hyperthrust is implemented. This boost is activated at the push of a button, gradually reducing the shield the longer the button is pressed.
- However, this doesn't make the Turbo redundant, as Hyperthrust is slower on the uptake and more costly. The decision of Speed vs Shield management is still valid.
- The path of the pit lane is deliberately designed to recharge a large amount of shield while risking the loss of a race position and taking away from your track times.
- Meanwhile, the instant use Energy-Pack has been brought back - available from the weapon pads as an item while at low shield levels, replenishing a small amount of shield.
If absorbs are an option (even with a cooldown), several things will be unbalanced:
- With a supersaturation of shield recharge methods, average shield levels will stay even higher, making combat prospects less risky and exciting.
- With every item and weapon absorb providing the opportunity of an instant shield recharge, the E-Pack item will be redundant.
- Even with a pitlane, who would risk it to lose a position when they can rely on an absorb? Consequently, as bigsnake said, this makes the pitlanes redundant.
Realistically, in all the Wipeout HD videos you've seen, how often would someone ever bother to absorb above 50%? Most would argue that it would be a waste of a decent weapon, others would absorb without a doubt just to increase the number of barrel rolls they can pull off safely.
Back in 2097 and Wip3out, pitlanes and the chance of an E-pack were all you had, making you rely a lot more on your skills in avoiding weapons and walls to make it to safety. While the option to absorb may be preferable to some people, I for one support being faithful to the original vision of the Wipeout series.
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As for mouse control... even if it's not built into the game, there are many programs out on the web that can convert mouse movement directly into a button press input.
Current one I'm using is GlovePIE, it's built to emulate everything from joystick controls to Xbox Kinect inputs.
All you need is a list of the keys and commands, the least amount of patience to code a script, save it and run it, and then you can adjust it for sensitivity.
Like for instance:
The code lines for the Up and Down keys are written to provide inverted pitch controls like Wipeout uses, and obviously you can change the 1 to a different number.Code:UpArrow = delta(Mouse.DirectInputY) > 1
DownArrow = delta(Mouse.DirectInputY) < -1
LeftArrow = delta(Mouse.DirectInputX) < -1
RightArrow = delta(Mouse.DirectInputX) > 1
I honest wouldn't recommend using a mouse in a racing game, though... if it can be helped at all. I'm not an expert, but it's no joystick. I've tried Flight Simulator with a mouse and I can tell you it's not easy.
But hey, I'll let you know how I get on with Wipeout 3. I'll test it out right now
EDIT: It went terribly. A mouse really isn't the best for precise motion, its too floaty.