Track analysis.

[Mad-Ice]

Now that I have finished the game and that I have around 20 hours of online experience, I thought it is about time for me to discuss the tracks that are in Pulse.

I will talk about all the tracks in phantom speed.


Talon's Junction White and Black:

They both work for me just fine. I think they are great tracks to begin the game with and they keep on being interesting. They are very simple but challenging to find the perfect racingline.


Moa Therma White:

This track layout is superb except for the curve after the mag-strip section. I think it is almost random for your ship to go up in the air. You loose a lot of time and this curve is getting the speed and flow out of the track. I think it doesn't suite the physics of the game.

Moa Therma Black:

In this direction this curve is working very well, so here I think this track is superb. Fast turns, long straights, and challenging chicanes.


Metropia White:

This track is fun except for the first jump where your ship is uncertain to go up or not. I think this jump shouldn't be there, it is getting the flow out of this track.

Metropia Black:

This track is beautifully designed up onto the last jump. This track can also not handle the speed of the ship. Especially if you do a BR and another. I think if we are able to BR, the track should allow us to keep our speed in a nice flow and not that the track is able to flip us on the side or throws us up into the air.


Arc Prime White and Black:

I am just in love with these tracks. Eventhough there are many many BR's, these tracks can handle the speed and they are able to keep the flow alive. It is a thrill to fly them. It has got a rhythem that reminds me of Burgertown and boy do I love that track.


The Konstruct White:

I am not fond of this track. It has got it's really nice parts. Especially, the section after the magstrip. Very nice chicanes and then you can choose between the mag-strip or not. But the turn after the starting grid onto the mag-strip is just too floathy.

The Konstruct Black:

A skillcut which you are not allowed to enter at full speed because you will gain too much height. The mag-strip itself doesn't really lock you on very well. Furthermore, the track hasn't really got a lot to offer.


Tech Da Ra White and Black:

These tracks are very fast with open sections, which are very tricky and fun. These tracks got a nice flow and rhythem. Long curves and tricky narrow chicanes and open turns.


The Amphiseum White:

The track with one of the longest straights for big fights and overtaking, combined with challenging turns. The last jump before the finish should have been a magstrip down, because the speed you will have coming down with or without a BR is too high to go into the next turn to the left. So I think this track section is not built for the speed we can gain to keep our flow.

The Amphiseum Black:

Here is where we see the mag-strip down, problem solved. This version is just awesome for all the things I mentioned in White and more.


Fort Gale White and Black:

Eventhough there are some other sections between them I mention them together. For they are great. Chicanes to worry about how to take them the fastest and long straights to worry about not getting shot. Both got one turn which is too floathy for my taste. Chenghou like but far less manageble. I would have like to see a more smooth banked curve which is able to be taken with full speed.


Basilico White:

Very small, tricky but fast track. This one got rhythem is challenging all the time and every inch should be taken with precaution.

Basilico Black:

A little longer then the White version. I have to get used to the mag-strip section but it is a very nice and dark, fast track.


Platinum Rush White and Black:

Eventhough these tracks look amazing, they are not amazing to fly. Just too floathy for my taste. More airtime then tracktime. If these tracks were just far more bigger with longer curves, these tracks would be able to handle the speed.


Vertica White and Black:

Wauw, these are so fast and cool to fly.


Outpost 7 White and Black:

Again a skillcut which is not really a skillcut. It is just a brigde blocking the way. It is not giving you the reward it should be given. It is not faster!!! Anyhow, these tracks are challenging especially with the two V-turns. It really takes awhile to get the rhythem of these tracks. You have to concentrate every millisecond. There are so many different turns to master and they are really pushing you to fly it perfectly. The most challenging tracks upto now.

[lunar]

Arc Prime White and Black:
It has got a rhythem that reminds me of Burgertown and boy do I love that track.

Amazing, I posted the same comparison a while ago in another thread. It`s so true, except that Arc Prime doesn`t have jumping sausages so can never be quite as good

I think I like the floaty stuff more than you do - I love Platinum Rush for the reasons you don`t, I think.

great post, I`ll do the same when I get to the end of the road.

[phl0w]

Good analysis, especially pointing out the many flaws the track suffer from on Phantom. There are way too many bumps/ camber in some of the longer curves, so your ship is sent off flying (you mentioned them: Platinum, Amphi White, Metropia, Moa White). I don't know how you guys wipeout, but I only play on Phantom. Throughout the series I always thought of the lower classes as "practice" or duty one has to go through to get authorization of some sort to play the game the way it is meant to be played, i.e. on Phantom. I miss that in Pulse. Many of the tracks work very good on Flash and Rapier but lose their flow on Phantom. So, is it just me or did Wipeout lose that "yeah, the slower classes are there, but you know, you're actually supposed to play the whole thing on Phantom" - approach?

[Mad-Ice]

Hi Lunar,

that really is amazing!! Where did you posted about this comparison with Burgertown? Indeed we are the fanclub. Burgertown for life!

About Platinum Rush. Did you already flew it on phantom? The white one is better, in terms of handling of the ships. The black one really give you too much height I think. I am able to BR in turns because of this height. I will do this because of better race times but I don't think it suits this track. Can you explain to me how you are flying this track and why you really like this floathyness?!

At phl0w: So, is it just me or did Wipeout lose that "yeah, the slower classes are there, but you know, you're actually supposed to play the whole thing on Phantom" - approach? This is what I meant with tracks not able to handle the speed we are gaining and wanting to be able to keep the flow! I totally agree with what you say on this one.

[Dogg Thang]

While they go hand in hand, I wouldn't so much lay the Phantom blame on the tracks so much as on the physics. While in real life things go a bit crazy at higher speeds, in the early WO games, the higher speed classes worked pretty much like the lower speed classes only faster. In complicating the physics of the more modern WO games, it has allowed things to break a bit on the higher classes.

I do feel this is less of a problem in Pulse than it was in Pure. Pure felt to me like it was designed for Flash and I didn't really enjoy racing on Phantom, even thought I loved the speed. Pulse feels better in Phantom, though it's still a bit crazy.

Edit: Just to clarify on that, I mean I'd far rather see the physics sorted than see the tracks go all smooth and rollercoastery.

[Mad-Ice]

Indeed they go hand in hand and therefore, physics and track design combined should allow us to keep our speed and flow in phantom.

What you said here Dogg:
In the early WO games, the higher speed classes worked pretty much like the lower speed classes only faster. In complicating the physics of the more modern WO games, it has allowed things to break a bit on the higher classes.

I totally agree on this one, but I think it unfortunate that this has happend!

What you said here Dogg:
Pulse feels better in Phantom, though it's still a bit crazy.

I also agree on this one. Phantom is okay to be crazy, but in terms of speed and use of airbrakes to be able to handle your ship in really difficult turns and chicanes, on topspeed. So that you will be able to keep the speed in your flow and not going up into the air and loose speed or flip on your side!

[Dogg Thang]

The part I guess I'd disagree with is that you should be able to do a track at top speed. The brakes are there for a reason and you can let go of the accelerator. I have no problem with tracks that require care as well as speed. It then becomes about strategy - how fast can I risk taking this corner at?

[phl0w]

But that's not what WO is about. It was always about finding a line on Phantom where your speed didn't drop too much from airbraking, and not thinking about whether a corner requires 50%, 75% or 98.9% throttle, but keep your concentration up to actually clear bends at the highest speed possible. You have to find a racing line that enables you to do so, and it's not as if good times come easy, because you don't have to let go of the accelerator, right? That was true for Pure too, contrary to your statement, I think Pure's tracks worked best on Phantom. Pulse, though, features quite a few corners that don't have such a line, thus require you to release the accelerator. And that, I will not take So I'm spending quite some time on finding ways to take bends like the one on Outpost7 or Fort Gale at full pelt, to no avail so far but who knows what lines people come up with in the future.

[Dogg Thang]

Well I'd argue WO isn't about smooth tracks either. That's pretty much what happened in Fusion and I found it dull. I don't know if you were able to take Rapier Silverstream at full speed throughout (I couldn't) but I'd be pretty sure, if you could, that it took you a long time.

Ultimately, I think this is a physics issue. Smoothing off all the tracks is fixing what's not broken to cover up what just might be.

[Mad-Ice]

Mmmm, I guess I wasn't really clear with this; Phantom is okay to be crazy, but in terms of speed and use of airbrakes to be able to handle your ship in really difficult turns and chicanes, on topspeed. (Edit: With the aid of airbrakes) So that your ship isn't going into the air nose-up or flips on the side.



The main reason why I started this thread is because; I want to know from you all which tracks you like and which you don't like with arguments.

Looking forward to read all your opinions.

[Chrono]

I think the tracks are a tad to crazy in Phantom, considering how differnt on slower levels.

As far as Platinum Rush White, I think is one of the best laid out tracks in the game. However, as the whole game was built around mag strips (as all tracks have them), Plat Rush does not. If I'm not mistaken (and I may), I don't think there is a single mag strip on the whole track. That's why it gets a little nuts.

I think Plat Rush Black is rubbish.

Oh yea, Vertica White is my favorite track in the game

[Purp]=]]

outpost 7 Is Awsome So Tricky But Fun When You Are Using Feisar

[Flashback Jack]

Guh.

Adding to the thread, however, while Basilico may be the shortest run of the lot, I quite think it flows well for a track of its (lack of) size.

- F

[Stardragon88]

I quite like Basilico as well, but I've still yet to get those last few turns after the drop in Basilico Black. The lighting there is oddly dark and, especially if you choose to BR before, makes it hard finding the correct line through without smashing into one of the walls.

Also in Basilico Black, the apex of the inner curve at the turn leading into the twisty mag strip section. It seems to blend in pretty well with the track, like camouflage of sorts. Many a time I've turned left too early, only to scrape it and lose time.

I also agree that Platinum Rush Black is kind of odd at Phantom. I find myself often fighting to get the craft back on the ground. On another note, both Metropias and Vertica White are my personal favourites.

[ZenDJiNN]

As a relative newcomer to WipeOut (Having only started with Pure) i feel that the tracks are fine for the lower classes, even up to say Rapier (Which i can just about cope with on most tracks) but could do with perhaps "Extending" (ie: making some sections longer perhaps and maybe even making some of the bends & turns "Flow" better) for the Phantom class. Outpost 7 is hard enough (for me anyway) on flash, but forget it on Phantom.

On the whole, at the moment i find the Phantom class a bit bonkers anyway, and too fast to do anything but "Hang on until the end" and hope for a placing. But maybe as i get better i'll see things in a more "Phantomesque" way!

Great thread though..... i love to read other people's experiences about Wipeout, especially the "Long Time" players that have been through many different incarnations of WIpeout.

[phl0w]

@DoggThang and Mad-Ice: let's not confuse topspeed and full throttle! What Mad-Ice and I are argumenting about is, that WO tracks should be built to be taken at full throttle. Of course it gets crazy on Phantom and requires perfect usage of airbraking and sideshifting, and I don't care if it takes endless hours of practicing, but it should at least be possible physics-wise. And there are quite some bends in Pulse that don't allow for that. That's all I was saying.
I think that's what Mad-Ice was saying, too, but he referred to it by using the term "topspeed".

And btw: Arc Prime doesn't feature Mag-Strips either and both runs are most probably the best tracks in Pulse. They have that old WO feeling, let you BR on obvious places not were it shouldn't be possible like on Platinum, Tech de Ra et cet., and flow very well on Phantom. Very technical and lots of different lines on Phantom without interrupting your flow make this the best designed tracks imo.
Basilico White, Vertica White and Metropia White are my favourite "speed runs". It's just thrusting through the tracks, leaving the steering alone most of the time to clock a low time.
Platinum Rush lost it somehow, I really liked the track but on Phantom it just doesn't "click" and ships' behaviour gets very weird.

And DoggThang, you're right: I can't race Rapier Silverstream full throttle, at least not on my PSP. Can't remember though, what it was like with the neggie on my PSX.

[Lion]

What Mad-Ice and I are argumenting about is, that WO tracks should be built to be taken at full throttle.

No racetrack should be entirely able to be run with the throttle held wide open. it's great for some of the faster tracks in the wipeout series, but the fact that some corners require backing off the accellerator is a good thing to me. there's only 3 bends (6 if you take black/white into account) I can think of in the whole of pulse that need it - and one of those only in certain ships - but they add to the whole game by being there.

[G'Kyl]

Yep, I too like the fact that lifting your finger off the throttle is needed in a few instances. However great the full-throttle experience is (awesome! ), having to slow down gives the game a more believable touch. After all, controlling your speed is at the core of ANY racing series, even NASCAR, so yes, I'd like to see more of that in future WipEouts!

Ben

[Au_Xtr3me]

I have a love/hate relationship with Outpost 7. It is unfortunately torture at phantom with the ramming and smashing into walls. However, the best joy is nailing the "double V" turns, quickly and precisely.

with the full throttle part; if you had a speed class way faster than Phantom, like Zen, you would force players to slow down at sharper turns because of reflexes, handling, speed, etc.

[Dogg Thang]

What I love about the extreme turns in Outpost 7 is that the turn process gives you a glimpse around the corner you just came through. There's nothing better than being first, making that turn and seeing nobody behind you.