Whats your strategy?

[zargz]

yes the tables r f¤%kt up right now but u'll notice when the site looks differrent
THEN the tables'll b ok as well .. (^_^)
b4 New Year? ('_'?)
may b

[Task]

Wow, this is awesome.
Did you guys read the Fusion site? The little snippets of information they put in there? There was one part where it was mentioned that most pilots agreed that Autopilot was not for "real" pilots, but of course they all had a different idea of what a "real" pilot was, because they all thought that different uses of Autopilot were "okay", and yet even though there were those who swore that Autopilot was only a rookie tool and that they were just "so much better than that" and that they'd rather Autopilots were banned... Computer logs of the races showed that _every_single_pilot_ used Autopilot at one time or another during races.

So here we are, a collection of fans of a racing game, acting exactly like the game designers figured that actual pilots in the game would act.

We rock.

[Lance]

.
either
A: those guys were geniuses
or
B: we are waay too predictable
or
C: they balanced the game elements on the edge of advantage/disadvantage which therefore required the greatest balance of piloting skill and judgement to be at the top. in other words, those guys were geniuses
.

[Shem]

I say, theres nothing to predict really.
Put yourself in a developers position -
You create a game (whatever it would be), u put some things into the game wich accutally helps you play it.
As a developer u would easily assume that there will be a group of geeks (that's us! )
who will be puristic about this game ("using in game "helpers" is lame man!" ).
It's quite obvious to me.

[science]

Do keep in mind that we were watched from afar for quite some time during the development of Fusion...

On the topic of autopilot-
Autopilot is usually used as an aid for rookies, as it is in many comparable games, but not exclusively.
A perfect example can be found in the ntsc records, single race: manor top: phantom class. note the the ship that Al used. He set that record during our little battle for 1st on that track a year or two back. We went back and forth setting new records almost daily with Assegai for a few weeks, and when I set a record that he couldnt beat with Assegai for a few days (or didnt have the patience to) he gave Icarus a try. It is literally impossible to achieve that record with Icarus without autopilots, and I'm not jumping to conclusions here. He told me that he used an autopilot each time through the series of 90degree turns after the first big jump. Icarus simply does not maintain the speed it needs around sharp turns with manual control, but with autopilot you actually get through that part of the track significantly faster. So, in some cases autopilot can make a perfect race, well, better than perfect!

[Shem]

In theory i should be done with this autopilot issue, but...
I still use Asseqai at Manortop. Yes, It's slower than Icaras, but that's the reason I hit the hyperthrust every time I'm on to the last straight on this track. Apart that, this track is seen to be ideal for Asseqai - the turns are perfect for this ship (u don't have the manuverebility problem as if u were flying Icaras), U enter most curves, and glide through them perfectly, so U don't even have to hit the airbrakes. I just love to fly Asseqai at Manortop, it's a perfect match.
As for the 90deg. turns at this track - if it makes U happy to fly them with autopilot, and what's moreover - u get better times using autopilot - good for you man!

P.S. - Well, I hope that someone from the developing team for the new Wipeout is watching us

[science]

Shem, I agree with you completely. I tried Al's trick with Icarus and autopilots on manortop, but it didnt feel right, and it just wasnt much fun. Assegai is hands down the best craft for the track at phantom speeds.

[Lance]

.
Joel, have you ever used Pirhana in phantom class at Manor Top, and if so, how does it compare to Assegai?
.

[science]

yeah, but its been so long that i cant remember. i havent had a chance to play in months! I used to use AG-Systems whenevr i was just racing for fun, but it's not really suited for record setting, nor are any of the other crafts except icarus and assegai. unfortunately youve got to go with max speed or max handling with nothing in between.

If i had to guess, i would say that you could set better times with AG-S than with pirhana on manortop at phantom...

[Task]

Yeah, the AG Sys is actually fairly similar to the Icaras and Assegai, it's kind of the compromise between the two. It doesn't have max speed, but it's faster than Assegai. It doesn't have max handling, but it's better than Icaras. I plan on finding the right track and class to prove that on the right class and track, AG Sys is the best craft.

Pirhana, Auricom, Goteki, FEISAR, they just don't have what it takes to be a "track beating" craft: Devotion. Icaras is devoted to speed. Pure speed, and nothing but. And that'll own most races. Except for the ones with high speeds and a lot of turning. And there's the Assegai, devoted to slick-as-oil handling.

If there was a track where hyperthrust was key, then perhaps Qirex could have a track, but I find that highly unlikely. Qirex is likely to remain "the craft for eliminator" and stay that way.
Somewhere is a track and class combination that the AG Sys is perfect for.
Dunno if I'll ever find such a beast, but I'm keeping my eyes open.

[zargz]

Wow, this is awesome.
Did you guys read the Fusion site?

hmm .. surprises me that place is still goin .. ('_')
after what happened with the wo3 page ..

[Shem]

To answer Tasks question about Quirex.
I don't know why, but a perfect track for Quirex to me is Hi-Fumi. Really I can't tell you why, maybe becouse it's an industrial track, and this team comes from Russia, which reminds me of Korodera (W'O - i hope i didn't make a mistke spelling this one).
I think it all comes to similaties.
I like to fly AG sys. at P-Mar Project, and Pirahna at Stanza Inter. There's somethin' about it but i don't know what it is.

[science]

I'm afriad that AG-S just doesn't have much of a place in record-breaking. Believe me, I've tried. I thought maybe I could beat the times of Stanza Inter using AG-Systems, as it seemed like it had a good combination of turns and straights, but I didnt come anywhere close to even my own times with Icarus...
The only tracks i could be wrong about are the prototypes (which i really dont play as much as I should) or the extra tracks that were added to SE (which i will never get to play!). The main tracks, unfortunately, are out of the question.

[lunar]

AGS at Phantom class is a beautiful ship, and I love it for fun flights and refresher-courses, but I think its only about as quick as a rapier class Icaras, sadly.

I think the only track where it might just possibly win out is Arridos/Phantom, as Icaras is a real beast on that track at Phantom, and Assegai, though faster on the bends, might not have the the power to eat up the straights well enough.

I once held Phentia Park/Phantom with AGS, until Vasudeva, and then Al, noticed and took their Icari (?) to it..... the rest was carnage. :cry:

[Shem]

I WANT MY AG-SYS BACK!!!!!!! :cry:
( )

[JABBERJAW]

I can say for a fact that autopilot is faster in certain circumstances than actually piloting some turns(mega mall) using the assegai. It is true that piloting icarus on manortop sucks, and using assegai without autopilots is faster than using them with assegai, but not by much. If you use to much airbrake it is slower.

[Shem]

Zoolander wrote :

If you use to much airbrake it is slower.

And that's where you use tricks like rail slide.
Heh, do you remember what happened in XL when you flew into one of the cameras at the final jump at Gare D' Europa? U could see the whole last straight from aerial view.
Ahhhh, remember the good times........ :wink:

[science]

If you're using railslides to improve your race, I can all but guarantee you that you are slowing yourself down. First, railsliding is far too unpredictable to be worthwhile. Second, Its not helping your time by more than a few hundredths of a second if you pull it off successfully. Third, even if you are pulling it off successfully time after time, you are most likely pulling yourself off of the ideal racing line to do it, so in the end it's more harmful than good.

[Shem]

If you're on a straight, there's no need to perform a rail slide, guess that's what you're trying to insinuate science. Slides are helpfull with curves, other ocassions, but for God's sake - not flying a straight line!
In that case your ship will slow down, and nobody needs this.
Yes, slides are pretty unpredictible, but still predictible enough to use them, If they weren't, there wouldn't be any use of them at all.
It's your choice wether u want to use them or not. I don't force u to. :wink:

[infoxicated]

It's your choice wether u want to use them or not. I don't force u to. :wink:

Obviously - I think the debate is only whether it's really beneficial. I've never actively tried to rail slide / turbo-scrape (as it has been called in the past), but then I don't try to cut corners or take advantage of other quirks of the game just to boost my times.

I think the reason folk like Manortop so much is that it's a very honest track in that regard - there isn't really anywhere on it where cutting corners or turbo-scraping is beneficial.