Whats your strategy?

[TYSON]

Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to know what people believe to be the best strategy for Wipeout 3 & SE? Do you go into the pits every lap? every second lap? etc.

Do you deliberately rail slide (touch the wall)? etc.

I really have no idea at the moment, I'm used to 2097 & havn't got the hang of the whole shield/turbo concept, can i please get some help from experts?

Cheers

Tyson

[tyltyI]

Hi Everyone,
Just wanted to know what people believe to be the best strategy for Wipeout 3 & SE? Do you go into the pits every lap? every second lap? etc.

Do you deliberately rail slide (touch the wall)? etc.

I really have no idea at the moment, I'm used to 2097 & havn't got the hang of the whole shield/turbo concept, can i please get some help from experts?

Cheers

Tyson

I go into the pits everytime I need to. If I'm low on energy and I know that I won't be alive for another lap then I go. If not I just pass along.
I do a rail slide only to save me from a wall crash :

[Shem]

Yeah, rail slides - it helps but it's exteamly difficult to be done properly. It's a thin line between smashing against the wall, and gettin' faster thanx to the rail slide. Personaly - it helped me houndreds of times at Porto Kora - mainly at this zig-zag turn just after the start. Come to think of it - i did'n even had to turn in any way - nose up, little jugglin' with air breaks and u go thorugh these turns like through butter.And one more thing - it's way more easy to perform a slide piloting a very fast ship - like Icaras, Asseqai, Qirex. I guess Qirex would be the perfect tool for training slides since it's like a flying brick.

[Shem]

P.S.
Pit stop is good for championship, single race, or link battle, but even there - it's not so usefull at all. Not to metion Time Trial. I think that pit stop i W"O 3 is the weakest point of the game.

[lunar]

I`m talking about getting fast race times here, not playing the actual game against CPU opponents.

pit strategy depends entirely on the track and class. You`re more likely to want to pit on vector and venom for the extra hyperthrust, but the time lost pitting in fast classes is seldom won back by the extra juice gained. The main exception is on some shortcutty tracks where having extra boost may enable you to use aerial routes you could not use without getting a shield top up.

Also if the pit lane is a pretty easy one like on Altima you will probably pit more often. Its all very very strategic, and unless you`re a perfect pilot your ideal plan must change as the race unfolds.

As far as turbo scraping is concerned, I think the general consensus is that its a good idea on Vec and Ven if you can do it, but probably too dangerous on rapier and phantom. On the fast class it causes more grief than anything, particularly on narrow sections of track. I never do it deliberately as it seems a bit artificial, but fairplay to those who do, after all I`m not shy about taking shortcuts.

[TYSON]

Hi everone,
Yeah they sound like good ideas, I'm figuring that Single Race strats should be waaaay different.

I've found that in Time trial you get a better overall time by avoiding the pits, but they are sooo tempting for that extra boost.

[jmoid]

Boost can make a lot of difference. Tap it as you go over speed pads and you'll get a more sustained burst. If you've got an auto-pilot, boost yourself into a difficult part of the track, then ue the auto-pilot (for instance this works really well on the 90 degree turns at Manor Top).

[TYSON]

jmoid wrote:

Boost can make a lot of difference. Tap it as you go over speed pads and you'll get a more sustained burst.

but wouldn't it be better to use our hyperthrust when not on the speed pads? that way you'd make up some speed instead of slowing down again. I guess most hyperthrust gets used for big jumps anyway, that's what i've been trying to do.

If you've got an auto-pilot, boost yourself into a difficult part of the track, then ue the auto-pilot (for instance this works really well on the 90 degree turns at Manor Top).

yeah i love doing that, going flat out straight for a wall then turning on auto pilot, i find it pretty funny the places the ship ends up... yet it seems to never get hurt.. lol.

Would expert pilots agree when i say pits should be used in Time trial in Vector & Venom but NOT Rapier & Phantom? And for race it would be for all classes i think, with all those weapons flying around?

Thanks for the advice guys.

:wink:

[lunar]

IMO there`s not a lot of difference between TT and race, really, except that on lap 1 in race you`re looking for defensive weapons so you don`t get shot, and after that you`re in the lead and looking for autopilots. If you get shot early in a race you`re not going to get a good time anyway and might as well restart, so the offensive weapons on AI ships won`t affect your pit strategy on a good run. On rapier and phantom classes my pit strategy between race and TT would only differ where use of autopilot would affect what decisions I make.

[Shem]

First of all - a good pilot never uses an autopilot
Well there are some exceptions on this one. Eg. - when u're about to hit the wall, there's this wierd situation - u engage an autopilot and fly trough the wall unharmed. Also the Manortop 90 dgree turns are well handled by autopilot, but there's nothing like cutting, these with Aggeqai! And here's my point - why use these devices? If u're good enough, there'll be no need to!

The best strategy is to know the track as good as the back of your hand, and the rest is just the consequence. U don't have to worry about opponents 'couse they'll be way behind, no worry about shield 'couse u don't hit any walls, not to worry about speed 'couse u pilot Icaras
The only problem are mines - u never know where they are.

[lunar]

First of all - a good pilot never uses an autopilot .

I don`t care about being "good" in your purist terms, Shem, I want to be fast. If that requires autopilot......

why use these devices? .

because its sometimes faster, and the object of the exercise when competing on the tables is to get the fastest time you can within the Wipeoutzone rules.

The only problem are mines - u never know where they are.

A good pilot`s reactions are of course so fast that mines present no problem to him. :wink:

[TYSON]

hmm....
And so more excellent advice continues, it's nice to see that people have slightly varied opinions on what they believe to be the best strategy. This is perhaps Wipeout 3 & SE's strongest calling card: it's flexibility for different pilots. Wipeout 2 was far more linear, basically from A to B, it was raw skill with the obvious objective of "Dont hit that wall!" now in the 3rd generation we have to deal with the whole tech issues of rail sliding and hyperthrusting. At first i thought this was silly but i'm starting to appreciate the challenge.

If anyone else has advice or would like to share what helps you through the laps, give it a quick write up, i think everyone will find it interesting.

:

[Lance]

.
presumably some of our members are already working on articles for the piloting guide that is to be eventually included in the new version of the wipeoutzone. for those who've not followed that story, the new wz layout is pretty much complete except for problems relating to the code for the times tables. once these are resolved, the new wz will go online and we can pay attention to new features. such as the piloting guide.
i hope you article authors are working assiduously on those advice sections!
.

[TYSON]

Lance wrote:

presumably some of our members are already working on articles for the piloting guide that is to be eventually included in the new version of the wipeoutzone. for those who've not followed that story, the new wz layout is pretty much complete except for problems relating to the code for the times tables

Sounds good, this will be a big help for beginners and experts alike i suspect as there are many technicalities to deal with.

:wink:

[Shem]

Lunar said

I don`t care about being "good" in your purist terms, Shem, I want to be fast. If that requires autopilot......

We're from different schools Lunar, my piloting skills have roots in the first W'O so that's why I'm so puristic (as You called it). And one more thing - good piloting=fast piloting.
That's all I have to say.

P.S. - if u like autopilot so much, try to avoid mines while using it :wink:

[lunar]

You seem to suggest that someone who uses autopilot doesn`t actually have to fly the ship himself and doesn`t need skill - which is nonsense if I may say so. In a 4 lap race on rapier you would expect to get maybe two autopilots - and maybe they`ll do 2-4% of the race for you, something like that anyway. You have to decide where is the best place to deploy them, and work out a place to safely disengage, in order to gain the maximum advantage from them, which is the idea of competition.

If YOU can do the tunnel section on Altima (SE) and the Hexagonal tunnels on LS103 faster without autopilot than with it - I congratulate you. You yourself half-admitted the manortop turns were faster with autopilot......maybe not so much fun, or as satisfying to veterans of the game - but faster. And of course even an autopilot user is going to have to fly these turns on the laps when he doesn`t have the autopilot. If he can`t fly them his final time will suck.

"Good piloting = fast piloting....." is too obvious. Of course in the 97% of the race where you don`t have an autopilot you still have to actually fly it - but its about competing within the rules and putting up the best times you are able to, not claiming moral victories because you never use autopilot.

Finally, if you`re hitting mines with autopilot, then you`re not in the lead. They shouldn`t be a problem. :wink: There is a risk of it on lap 1, or at the end when you`re lapping, but that`s a small percentage risk which I accept.

[Lance]

.
i'm with lunar on this one. if pure racing is what is required, then WipEout is the wrong series for anything but time trials. other races involve weapons, one of the main characteristics that separated WipEout from earlier racing games. one works within the basic parameters and physics of the game structure and computer engine; so i don't consider the use of any of the elements of those to be impure. it is more complex and dangerous to use auto-pilot than it is to avoid it. it is an extra opportunity for skill. and you need to develop the judgement and timing of where and exaCTly when to use it. most of the time it will bite you, and even in the minority of cases where it can help you, it must be used perfectly or it will harm you instead. i have nothing against pure racing and one of my absolute favourite games is one of the purest of the pure, but the WipEout series just isn't that type of game
.

[Shem]

I harldy ever use autopilot - that's true. I don't suggest that someone who uses autopilot is lame or so...AS I SAID - i use autpilot in such cases whrn i'm just about to hit the wall (after that i disengage it), and that's it.
I'm more into flying all by myself 'cause it helps to work out an individual technique for every track. Do you suggest that W'O developers made some turns so difficult that U must use autopilot?

Let's say i have nothing against autopilot, but only when it saves my arse from smashing it into wall. I'm not gonna repeat myself at this point.
I can surely say that every turn in W'O is possible to fly-trough faster than with autopilot. U just have to master these, whether it's the tunnel section on Altima or the Hexagonal tunnels on LS103. I'm also sure about the fact, that there is an individual method to fly through these difficult sections of tracks.
Remeber that autopilot pilots tha craft in most optimal way there is. Your ship flies by wire. I'm trying to more flexible, trying to find another way to fly trough. And in most cases - it works.

P.S. You can hit the mines being behind someone(when you're not in the first place) as well you can hit the mines wich were left by someone in the last place (when you're fast enough to takeover the last opponents). :wink:

[lunar]

I agree with you about practice and not relying on autopilot, firstly you won`t always have it so you must practice without it, and secondly, as you say, your skill will increase and you will stop using it in some sections because its slower for you. At first I used it at the end of Porto Kora, but its obviously slower and now I just drive manually and keep an AP in reserve incase I screw up the jump. To a certain extent the skill of the driver is very much a deciding factor in this, and I know there are plenty of better pilots than me.

But until I see the evidence with my own eyes (a video of the sections in question) I will still believe there are some sections where cunning and accurate use of autopilot cannot be beaten. In some cases the handling of the Icaras ship just will not allow it, no matter what you do. Of course you might beat autopilot/Icaras with Assegai in some cases, but then you`d suffer on the rest of the track and still end up using Icaras. I could be wrong of course - it has happened before. :wink:

So yes I think the programmers did put in sections where autopilot is the fastest way - whether they did this on purpose I don`t know, and doubt if they really thought about it as deeply as we do. :wink:

Guess we`ll have to agree to disagree, Shem.

[Shem]

Then I guess that concludes our topic Lunar

P.S. I'd love to show you my flying technique at Porto Kora (Icaras), but first I'd have to confront my TT lap times on this with the best lap times that were posted in the Records section. (that's becouse the fastest lap times are wierd, I see something like 9:59:00 - what's this? I hope that the rebuilt of this site will affect these)
In case i'd make a complete idiot out of myself of course