Does Fusion deserve a remake?

[Amaroq Dricaldari]

PROJECT CANCELLED

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<sup>For the past week or so, I have been trying to figure out whether or not it would be worth the effort to remake WipEout Fusion for a modern platform, giving not just a raw graphical face-lift but also making changes to the gameplay in order to facilitate for a more enjoyable experience without deviating too far from the established WipEout canon. Unfortunately, with my lack of skills and inability to draw sufficient interest to assemble a development team, this project is currently grounded entirely in the Hypotheticals and Planning stage.

So I figured I would take to WipEout Zone instead, and ask around in a more official capacity. It already has a very mixed reception, and I fully agree that the game has a lot of problems, but it is still one of the most important leaps in the franchise. It took risks, and introduced many concepts that have altered the series as a whole. More importantly, though, it also produced a significant amount of lore for the WipEout universe, helping solidify the world in which later games take place.

Does anybody here believe Fusion deserves a remake, a second chance as it were? Besides upgrades in visual fidelity, what changes would need to be made to the gameplay to preserve the atmosphere and lore while maximizing overall enjoyability? Speak up, and maybe this dream can become a reality.

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I do intend on actually going through with this once I can get the manpower and legal authorization. As it stands, I am the only person on board, and my talents seem to be limited at the moment. We would need both a modeler and a programmer at the very minimum.

Please share your thoughts on the matter below, as well as any relevant material you wish to share. Reading material, sketches, personal feedback and ideas, anything and everything to get the conversation going.

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Relevant threads and videos:

Discussion on the possibility of making a new WipEout game that isn't a mere port or remaster:
What would it take to make a NEW WipEout?

Here, people discuss both the good and the bad things about WipEout Fusion in greater detail.
I for one, accept WipEout Fusion. Thoughts?
Why is WipEout Fusion hated?

Previous discussion about the game's aesthetic, artwork and screenshots:
Is it just me, or does WipEout Fusion look more "Old"?
Artwork Request
Screenshots of the various ships in Fusion

Discussion about remaking Florian Heights:
Who wants to see Florian Heights return?

Here, people mod the existing PS2 version of the game. This is a good way to prototype new ideas pertaining to gameplay, such as adjusting the physics and reworking the balance.
Reverse Engineering

This thread discusses what the developers of Fusion originally had in mind while making the game, and why they had to make certain sacrifices.
Early vision of WipEout Fusion

These threads deal mostly with emulation and playing the game on new hardware, though the video does show just how well WipEout Fusion's existing graphics stand up to modern standards when played at a higher-than-native resolution. Meanwhile, a patch is demonstrated that fixes the game's awkward zoom when playing in Widescreen mode, which makes the game a lot more playable.
Widescreen Patches (PCSX2 Forums)
New gear got Fusion running at 1080p and 3D!
Fusion on PC


And finally, we have some threads which deal with the lore surrounding the game. These are especially important due to changes in the WipEout timeline with the release of Fury, Omega Collection and 2048. It would be a good idea to use these as a reference when developing the remake.
After Fusion, was AG racing forgotten about?
AG League + Backstory Analysis
WipEout Timeline Redux
WipEout Chronicles (fan-canon)

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Like I said above, remember to add search tags to this thread. Anything to help exposure.</sup>

[mannjon]

I'll help. I liked fusion. Wasn't my favorite but I loved it all the same.

[WikEv_512]

Hi !

A remake would be a fantastic idea ! And, tbh, I had the idea of a Fusion remake in my mind for a while.

I really loved Fusion because it was the very first Fusion I owned, even though the 1st I played was Wip3out.

It is the game which made me a WipEout addict. Since then, I played and finished every WipEout game of the franchise and that's why I understand the hate on Fusion: the gameplay... and the ships' designs

But I find it kind of sad, because this game had such a great potential. And when you think about the backstory etc... I think a remake should be made to honor the F9000 era.

That's why I'd like a remake to be made ! Unfortunately, I am like you, lot of ideas, but no programing skills... However I love to draw, and I imagined, a year ago, a more modern looking FEISAR for the F9000. Inspired by both a German BF109 (the two nose guns) and modern F1 with the tail (which we can't really see from this perspective) feisar.jpg

I think the tracks' design was actually pretty good, I also liked the ads etc... But the tracks were too generic... I mean, Florion Height had a loop and I think there should be only one track to have one. There shouldn't be one on Alca Vexus nor Cubiss Float. Each track should really have their unique part.

That's why I think we should remain some tracks and also the variant system. We should vote for the best race of each location and then create some brand ne tracks, in new locations.

Changing ships and tracks wouldn't hurt the continuity and the canon thing of this remake: Fusion is set in 2160, so let's set this remake in 2168/69, so 1-2 year before the Fall.

Look at F1: Existing since the 50s but tracks and cars have changed since then, and it remains the same league. And if WipEout was real, I do think it would work like this too. Do you imagine that there are about 30 or 40 years between F3600 and F5000, so tracks ships and even rules must have changed during the F3600 era.

So we may change lot of things in a remake.

So what should be done is: better looking ships (Honestly: does the Auricom look like a racing ship ? They all look old, and not in a good way... and some even look like they are from FZero)

So: more WipEoutish, modern, better looking ships

New tracks and removal of the worst ones. And a HD/2048 handling style. The physics of the first three game wouldn't work but IMO the physic of HD or 2048 should work.

And... That's all... For the moment ^^

I'd like to help if this remake thing becomes real, but the only thing I can do is some drawings /sketches fo ships if you like them, someone more competent thant me will have to modelize them ^^

[Amaroq Dricaldari]

<sup>Your attachment link is invalid, you'll have to reupload it.

I actually want to respect the original art style as much as I can while keeping things up to modern standards, but I hope I can see your picture soon (try joining the BallisticNG Discord and sharing it in the WipEout channel)

I have a lot of ambitious plans for a remake, but I need to find a proper means of organizing everything. Like I said, I want to be as faithful to the original game as I can as far as the current ships and tracks go (except those stupid bulkheads). Replacing or relocating tracks, changing when the game takes place, and giving ships radical designs that barely resemble the originals all fall into Reboot territory.</sup>

[WikEv_512]

I reuploaded it, hope it works this time

You are right my idea is more a reboot than a remake. But I get what you want to do and it does sound like a great idea, you'll have my support if I can help !

[Amaroq Dricaldari]

<sup>That ship does more closely resemble their design from the F7200. I think I spotted the FX400 FEISAR logo in there.

I think the best place to start for the time being... Would be to rip existing models and tracks from WipEout Fusion and get them running in Unreal Engine 4. Once we have a modeler, we can worry about new visual assets.

Right now, a programmer is the highest priority.</sup>

[Sausehuhn]

Well first of all someone needs to extract the assets. That’s probably already quite a feat to accomplish. I’m also guessing a WOHD/WO2048 handling (minus barrel rolls and side shifting, maybe even without absorbing) is what probably fits best with WOF – although I’m ready to be taught otherwise and see how it works with WO3’s.
The guys from BallisticNG are probably our best bet to get things going. They’ve done a fantastic job with both classic and modern WipEout physics, so that’s a good start, too.
Even if they get the tracks into Unity there’s probably still a massive amount of manual tweaking to be done. The game won’t work without magstrips and those have to be assigned and tested. There’s also a good chance collision boundaries have to be redefined. The AI must be tweaked, too.
The game has eight environments with a total of 45 tracks – there’s probably work to do for every one of those, even if they share the same assets.

And that doesn’t even take into account any cosmetic changes such as texture up res, advanced shaders, effects and animations, yet alone remodeling.
And we haven’t even talked about track selection, leagues, potential campaigns and all that – basically what makes it a game.

There’s nothing I’d like to see more than WOF getting the credit it deserves with a remake. There’s so much that makes the game great – even more so in retrospective. I could talk for hours about that and I’ve written many, many words about it on this very board. There’s so much potential.

So yeah, hopefully someone successfully extracts the track data at least. I’m looking forward to see a ship doing its first lap on Florion Height. Let all the the stuff that make it a real, full-fledged game come after that.