(SSGX Origins) Let's make a Wipeout game! This time for real! [Archive] - Page 12

nick98

17th September 2012, 04:59 PM

OK, here are some small description for my racetracks: Manakaluia, Nemoka Way, Sondian, Grand Climb, Port Isis, Fortisk Grande and Excessium X.

Manakaluia
Location: Mauna Kea volcano, Hawaii
Length: 4,5 km/2,7 miles
Completion: 5th July, 2191
Motivation: Making the Mauna Kea volcano a world-famous tourist spot. The track's construction was encouraged by the Hawaiian inhabitants and various researchers living in the island.
Building process: It has a breakneck mag-strip drop on the Mauna Kea's crater, in order to make the race more exciting. Since the Mauna Kea is an active volcano, there is a super powerful cooldown device installed inside the AG racers' engine just for this race, so the engine won't melt! Plus, there is a pathway at about 3/4 of the track in the Hawaiian jungle. The starting line is on the slopes of the Mauna Kea.
Government funded: No, but the government of Hawaii encouraged the production of the racetrack.
Phantom class lap time: 22 seconds

Nemoka Way
Location: Sapporo, Hokkaido Island, Japan
Length: 6 km/4,2 miles
Completion: 31st January, 2188
Motivation: The Japanese government, the Diet, heavily encourages AG racing and wanted a racetrack to be held in Japan for the amateur AG racing championships, after the great success of the F3600's racetrack Karbonis V. This track was created as a memorial to Arial Tetsuo, racer of the F3600 for Auricom, who died shortly after the F9000's fall.
Building process: the track is very straightforward, and uses various open roads of Sapporo's city limits.
Government funded: Yes
Phantom class lap time: 25 seconds circa

Sondian
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Length: 5,1 km/3,6 miles
Completion: 1st August, 2189
Motivation: A Québécois engineer, Léo Rentre, desired a racetrack in Montreal, and asked the AG racing committee for the financing of the racetrack's construction. As the Canadian AG circuits Altima VII and Talon's Reach were very popular, the committee financed Rentre with 35 million dollars, and thus, the production of Sondian started.
Building process: As Rentre liked the mag-strip technology, he used it extensively around the racetrack, making various spirals, loop-de-loops and corkscrews.
Government funded: No, but it was funded by the AG racing committee.
Phantom class lap time: 36 seconds

Grand Climb
Location: Mont Blanc, Italy and France
Length: 8 km/5 miles
Completion: 25th December, 2187
Motivation: The AG racing committee wanted to make a twist on the AG racing, thus, asked Dutch architect Roy Nimmrock to make a point A-point B racetrack on the Mont Blanc, Europe's highest point.
Building process: Since it is an hillclimb race, it has many twists and turns similar to those found on Sebenco Climb and Silverstream. It has many snowy roads, which are merged perfectly with the asphalt and the artificial crystal that make the racetrack.
Government funded: Yes, funded by the French and Italian governments, along with the AG racing committee.
Phantom class lap time: 3 minutes and 21 seconds circa

Port Isis
Location: Cairo, Egypt
Length: 4,9 km/3,5 miles
Completion: 31st July, 2190
Motivation: A young Egyptian sheikh, Mohammad Izmi Akhar, supported and financed by the MAGEC, built the racetrack Port Isis, in order to make AG racing more popular on the Arab world.
Building process: The racetrack is better notable for its quarter-pipe part on the Nile riverside and its triple branch right after the start.
Government funded: No, but was funded by MAGEC.
Phantom class lap time: 29 seconds

Fortisk Grande
Location: Vladivostok, Russia
Length: 10 km/6 miles
Completion: 6th October, 2195
Motivation: Liroy Solaar, grandson of Kel Solaar, the AG racing's greatest racer, in order to commemorate his grandpa's success in AG racing, created the racetrack Fortisk Grande, aided with the team Qirex and Feliks Levovich, who will later own the Russian AG racing team.
Building process: The full name of this racetrack is "Kel Solaar Circuit of Fortisk Grande, Vladivostok". It has many chicanes, 90 degree corners and mag-strip parts, making this racetrack one of the most emblematic of the AG racing story.
Government funded: No, but funded by Qirex and Feliks Levovich.
Phantom class lap time: 1 minute and a half

Excessium X
Location: Black Forest, Germany
Length: 70 km/56 miles
Completion: 22nd June, 2196
Motivation: Harold Ackwitsch, a German magnate, wanted to make an AG circuit which is a step further than the other ones. Thus, financed from FEISAR, Van-Uber and Icaras, the European AG racing teams, created the ultimate AG circuit, Excessium X.
Building process: As Mr. Ackwitsch wanted to create the "ultimate AG circuit", he spent a lot of his money to make the track as more challenging and stomach ache-inducing as possible, with many corkscrews, spirals, jumps, loops and 90 degree-banked corners and upside-down parts suspended in the air.
Government funded: No, but funded by FEISAR, Van-Uber and Icaras.
Phantom class lap time: 7 minutes

Xpand

17th September 2012, 06:02 PM

That's great and all, but where are the actual tracks?
Sorry to burst your bubble...

docfo4r

17th September 2012, 07:32 PM

Yep, like Xpand said... Doesn't meant to be rude but just a short text won't make a track. If you really are interested in making these tracks alive, then get Blender, 3DStudio or something like that and try to design it. Focus on one of those tracks and put all your passion into it instead of loading up ideas which will get lost. Just an advice so one of your tracks can really make it into the game :) Also...

Phantom class lap time: 7 minutes

How do you know it? You test-raced it? ;) [I hope you get what I am trying to say]

I also only had an idea for my track at first, never really did any modeling stuff. And I found I have no talent in sketching, so eventually I downloaded Blender, watched some tuts, received some help from the team and now I am designing my track as good as I can. Trying to do as much work as possible on my own before I have to give it away to our modellers like Xpand or dreads.

Anyway...
dreads, zero, Oryx, Xpand, Type... You guys should also create a backstory/description for your tracks, so F.E.I. can work on the overall story ;)

Dusk118

18th September 2012, 12:21 AM

As well as mine. I've already got a backstory for Amphithere and a description of the chassis itself (both found on deviantART). So I need to come up with something for Draco Cavernae both in writing and an icon for track identification.

dreadofmondays

18th September 2012, 12:57 AM

Kealakekua Bay
Location: Kealakekua, Hawaii, Big Island
Length: ??? How do I measure this? XD
Completed: 2185
Press Release
Located on the coast directly between the Hawaiian towns of Kealakekua and Hōnaunau, this city circuit may look simple from above, but thanks to its mountainous location, it hides the largest elevation changes of almost any AG circuit you’d care to name. Pilots will climb almost a kilometre as they race to the top, before dropping 600 metres as they make the final approach to the finish line. With two large descents and a large amount of open, fast corners mixed with winding technical passages, this course encourages ship-to-ship combat and will keep any pilot on their toes.
History
When AG racing returned in 2185, Hawaii responded. After seeing the immense popularity and global business that AG racing was, the Hawaiian governments decided to finance the construction of a circuit in their own home ground. This decision was made easier by the formation of Takul, a home-grown AG racing team - The authorities felt that they owed it to the team and the world to utilise the open space in Hawaii.
The track commission contracted a number of well-known and successful planning and design firms to submit briefs; Out of a number of locations, a spot directly between Kealakekua and Hōnaunau was picked due to a design's interesting use of the terrain there. The eventual track that was created became well known for fierce combat and it's characteristic sweeping drop section (a section now featured on the logo.) Kealakekua and Hōnaunau were able to ride the fame and popularity the track brought to their towns, and over time a large metropolis grew around the track, giving it a unique skyline.
[If this ever is put to print it will probably need to be edited to be slightly more realistic.. :p ]

Dusk118

18th September 2012, 01:43 AM

Name: Draco Cavernae
Location: Lake Schluchsee, Black Forest, Germany
Date of completion: August 11th, 2179
Motivation: Create a testing track for a future AG team.
Building process: As a testing track, it needed to be varied in its terrain, so part of the track was left unpaved to put ships under more stress than necessary, despite said track section being almost perfectly straight.
Source of funding: Entrepreneur Leopold von Strauss, donations from fans and local businesses.
Approximate Phantom Lap Time: 0:31.50
TRACK NOT REVERSIBLE

Official Backstory
Draco Cavernae was more of a dream than an investment. When AG racing died off, and its return uncertain, Leopold von Strauss set out to revive the sport as a whole after several years of test driving commercial AG ships for the European Union. Because Germany did not have such a prevalent presence in the AG League as France and Great Britain, his start was rocky. But once his proposed test track was released to the public eye, he had no trouble gathering resources to make it a reality.

After its completion in 2179, Draco Cavernae became the base of operations for the team known as Amphithere Engineering, hence its Latin namesake: Dragon's Cave. The track is buried into Germany's Black Forest bordering on Lake Schluchsee, and the main HQ tower can be seen from the town bearing the same name. It features many sharp turns, an unpaved straightaway, and a fairly large incline that could launch unsuspecting pilots into the lake.

Name: Amphithere Engineering
Base location: Draco Cavernae, Black Forest, Germany
Date of formation: January 18th, 2182
Inspired by the Big Four: Yes
Motive of team forming: To form a team that would later ignite amateur competition among hardcore AG racing fans.
INDEPENDENT RACING TEAM

Official Backstory (http://bnsfcam.deviantart.com/art/Slipstream-GX-Amphithere-290395274?)
After the fall of the recent AG Racing League, New German Empire entrepreneur and former European Union AG pilot Leopold von Strauss formed Amphithere Engineering in 2182 with the sole purpose of keeping remnants of the AG sport alive. However, he did not want to completely abandon the team he held so dear, so with the help of the European Union's commercial development branch, he created one beast of a machine that proved he loved the sport.

Appropriately named The Dragon, this ship soars with unmatched grace and ferocity. Despite meager shields and the lack of an outright top speed, the incredible handling allows the ship to navigate tight, twisting sections with ease, and the increase in thrust capacity makes it quick out the corners as well. Needless to say, this is one ship to keep an eye on.

Speed: [7] *******
Handling: [10] **********
Shield: [7] *******
Thrust: [8] ********

TypeProton

18th September 2012, 02:24 AM

Name: Hubian
[pic 1 (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/pchalalai/Slipstream%20GX/SSGX_TRACK_Hubian_sketch.jpg)][pic 2] (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/pchalalai/Slipstream%20GX/SSGX_TRACK_Hubian_01.jpg)[pic 3 (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/pchalalai/Slipstream%20GX/SSGX_TRACK_Hubian_02.jpg)][pic 4 (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y214/pchalalai/Slipstream%20GX/SSGX_TRACK_Hubian_03_wip.jpg)]
Logo : Coming SOON. :P
Location: China
Date of completion: September 20th, 2185
Motivation: First major AG racinig track in China, due to popular demand.
Building process: Built from ground up. Based on ancient Chinese nobles' houses.
Source of funding: China's local government and local businesses' funding.
Approximate Phantom Lap Time: Ask SSGX track modellers about it, They already got a playable mockup running.
Track type : Medium difficulty semi-technical
Track reversible.

After many, many pleas and requests from AG racing fans in China, the governments finally decide to build AG racing circuit. Even if it is for a small circle of post-The Fall AG racing, it is indeed a brilliant one.
Hubian is based on many Chinese garden you'd find in noble's houses in ancient times. Black marbles laid ways through gorgeous woodwork and housing design. Moving on to outside, decorated by bamboos and trees under a breezy atmosphere. China spare no resources to make this lakeside track as beautiful as possible.
But don't let the view distract you. Indoor section will require attention as it is littered with tight 90 degree corners and narrow straights. While it's outdoor section are not as unforgiving as many certain track which is a stage of battle before The Fall, it's bumpy road can throw any rookie racers off if they come unprepared.

F.E.I.S.A.R

18th September 2012, 02:39 AM

@dread:can you make the date of completion no later than 218x? If the game is set in the 2180s, your track is anachronism stew...

Also,I should have elaborated,only those with tracks currently being worked on should give their stories.

dreadofmondays

18th September 2012, 03:58 AM

Raptor1, 'reverse' variants of tracks are separate from forward variants, with their own mesh and files. Your track is reversible with a modification of that rock section on the reverse variant, in the same way that the corner on Chenghou becomes flat when played in reverse. Just to clarify with everyone. We will find a way to make every track reversible regardless of how difficult it is! :)
And I've changed the completion date. :)

TypeProton

18th September 2012, 04:44 AM

Oh BTW Raptor1, are you still making logo for Draco Cavernae? So I can omit it out of my WIP logo queue.

docfo4r

18th September 2012, 05:50 AM

Gotta keep all those nice descriptions together, someone gotta store them into the story-docs!

Dusk118

18th September 2012, 07:16 AM

Oh BTW Raptor1, are you still making logo for Draco Cavernae? So I can omit it out of my WIP logo queue.
Yes, the DC logo is mine. I will get it to you as soon as possible. I like working on everything that was my idea that's also within my abilities, like logos and certain texturing. Everything else, I leave to the pros.

Xpand

18th September 2012, 07:38 AM

Cassandra
Finalized: 20th February 2178
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Description:
Situated on the luxurious shores of the Mediterranean, southern Spain, Cassandra stresses the importance of touristic influx to the city of Barcelona.

The track itself is characterized by winding tight corners and a narrow sections. The pilots need to be constantly aware of the path ahead, because it might just disappear in front of their eyes. Race with caution and enjoy the scenic view to the sea.

(...)

Oryx Crake

18th September 2012, 08:44 AM

Ok laddies I have added all the track stories I could find in the last few pages to the story document. and will be writing the story for the basin parks soon enough....

EDIT: Actually I'm gonna leave that up to someone else to do it's in a park in a seaside metropolis, I was thinking somewhere in south east asia, other than that your reins are as it were free :)

docfo4r

19th September 2012, 03:51 PM

Oh BTW Raptor1, are you still making logo for Draco Cavernae? So I can omit it out of my WIP logo queue.

Oh hey Type but if you like to, can you create one for my track [Nazca Remains]? I really like your work on the logos so far. And maybe can you add one of these symbols from the nazca lines into it?
http://www.labyrinthina.com/nazdrawing.jpg
[I think the Lizard or Parrot looks nice although they are one of the bigger ones, what do you think? Possible?]

EDIT:
I test-raced your track on phantom speed, I got a lap time of around 40 seconds although I just raced a few rounds. I think it can be shortened up by ~5 seconds when you have some skills on the track. I put it into the Storydocs for you :)

FEISAR_ARCH

19th September 2012, 09:54 PM

I'm about to test this pet project, and I was thinking of a Game Development Kit release, sometime in the future. One that will allow us to implement our own teams and tracks.

Xpand

20th September 2012, 12:28 AM

That is one of the main objectives of the final release. But we have a bigger problem than making the SDK, which is how are we going to import the new ships without havint to recompile the whole game, because unity saves ALL the game-files in a encrypted compressed file.

FEISAR_ARCH

20th September 2012, 01:18 AM

Perhaps you have to release it uncompiled with a batch file that can be used to recompile when needed.

Amaroq Dricaldari

20th September 2012, 05:09 AM

Any new musicians?

Also, my laptop broke, my dad is getting it fixed.

The Hard-Disc died, and I was unable to back up my data. Fortunately, I still have my unbreakable tablet, and life can't take that away from me.

dreadofmondays

20th September 2012, 07:07 AM

Blend1 (http://www.soundcloud.com/blend1)is also on the list to produce some music for us. :)

Xpand

20th September 2012, 12:20 PM

Perhaps you have to release it uncompiled with a batch file that can be used to recompile when needed.

No because we don't compile this with a regular compiler. The game is made in unity, which is in itself a compiler. You would need all the source files (models, codes, textures, sounds, effects, etc)+unity3D to add a new ship and recompile the game...

FEISAR_ARCH

20th September 2012, 01:03 PM

Then why not give us the source? And to follow-up, is there anyway to set up a development environment for Unity?

If you don't think that giving us the uncompiled source is possible, why not set up an SVN repository?

UPDATE: Maybe I should get the free version of Unity, and then worry about the SlipStream GX source files, once I make something with my current knowledge of the engine.

Xpand

20th September 2012, 01:33 PM

Oh no we won't make the source files available to public. There will be modding support, but sure as hell we're not releasing the project files. What if someone grabs hold of them and then states the game is theirs. There will be no other way to prove that we're the original creators since both copier and creator have the original source files... I have fallen in that mistake a couple of times... And I saw a friend of mine having his work stollen by another person because they had access to his online source files...

docfo4r

20th September 2012, 01:38 PM

Xpand

20th September 2012, 01:45 PM

One of the basic ideas when I started the project was to make a moddable wipeout-based game. Where you could import your ship models from 3D cads and give them custom performances and skins, like in flight simulator, for example.
But we need a mesh importer for that, that's why we haven't add that feature yet...

DeloreandudeTommy

20th September 2012, 01:47 PM

This idea of a moddable Wipeout game is really sounding great!
Keep up the good work!
Also, I've submitted one song for the game but I'm more than willing to make more for you guys.

FEISAR_ARCH

20th September 2012, 02:15 PM

Exactly. We gotta be careful about this. I think we should release the game itself when it's done. Play it, collect trophies, complete the campaign, play online... Plenty of things that entertain you. There is no need for a users track/ship editor/importer at the first place. Wipeout also doesn't have that and we all love it anyway.

We have to be careful with public editing availability. Otherwise SSGX will turn into a cheap version of TrackMania. A track editor might be fun for the first moment but the whole game will become boring very easily [at least that happened in my case with games that had powerful editor tools].

Dang, I was hoping I would try something out, you know, design a technical circuit, I mapped out in AutoCAD. And probably a team like McShane Enterprises Ltd.

McShane Enterprises is another Amateur Team in the FX150 Circuit. Formed by former F7200 Champion, Archibald McShane, that raced for FEISAR in the early years of the F7200 before retiring five years later, he broke ties in the F9000 to aid the Purist Coalition, that ultimately collapsed the corrupt F9000 League, hoping to keep Pierre Belmondo's philosophy alive among Auricom. McShane was said to be Auricom's amateur division during the FX150 period. Although considered a one-hit wonder as with all the other teams, they were the only ones to have (un)official ties with an official team of the Continuity. Their craft is said to be made with sturdy, composite, lightweight materials, making it half as agile as FEISAR's LS model. This is due to the fact that its stability was easily disrupted on more technnical circuits due to the slight emphasis on speed and sheilding. It is said that Pilots that race for McShane, had to be talent with potential champion material, one of which is Mark Amoh, a Belmondo purist with Scottish decent. As a kid, he was fascinated by Belmondo's intentions, and decided to try his luck in AG racing to preserve the spirit of good sportsmanship, and Belmondo, himself.

zero3growlithe

20th September 2012, 02:26 PM

About music: These people agreed to let me use their music in SSGX:
http://soundcloud.com/windowsnine
http://soundcloud.com/eb_3
http://soundcloud.com/dawid123d
And those agreed to make more especially for the game:
http://soundcloud.com/deloreandudetommy
http://soundcloud.com/southerntrax
http://soundcloud.com/alien-speech
I'm already making a playlist but well... there is problem about so called copying which occur when I'll send this music album for SSGX to someone else to check it out so I guess I'll make a short sample of each track and send album like this.
btw. Names written already on GDocs in Credits table.

Xpand

20th September 2012, 05:01 PM

Well, you don't need to place the track in the game to make it. Besides the game is still in an early stage, a lot will change, and I mean a LOT. I only added the tracks I finished when they are done or almost done... Before that there's only the basic track layout for testing...

FEISAR_ARCH

21st September 2012, 11:12 AM

Are there any spots left on the development team? I have some ideas for track designs, and background music, but I'm still brainstorming them, at the moment. If I help contribute, may I have the project source? I already have Unity, I just need to see what you're doing currently, so I'm up to speed.

F.E.I.S.A.R

21st September 2012, 12:02 PM

I believe we are already...packed. Eight on the main team is already...quite big.

Oryx Crake

21st September 2012, 12:16 PM

just post your ideas in the thread mate if they're good they will definitely be taken into consideration

DeloreandudeTommy

21st September 2012, 12:51 PM

By the way, how is the music going to work? Is it going to be that you can choose which song is playing from the list of songs or is it one preselected song per track?

zero3growlithe

21st September 2012, 03:35 PM

I'm leaving this decision in your hands guys :P I'm for scripting :g

dreadofmondays

21st September 2012, 03:58 PM

We'll have a list of songs that players can switch on and off, and it'll just choose a song from this list and play it depending on which game mode you are in :) We were hoping for some nice progressive/melodic house things going during Zone and Speed lap, and some more active thumpy songs during regular races.

Also, Feisar_arch, you don't strictly need the source to start creating your tracks and things. We can put them straight into the game once you've finished them. If you want to make something, just make it, you don't need the source as yet :)

Amaroq Dricaldari

21st September 2012, 06:48 PM

A couple days ago, someone offered to make Cover Art for us. I've seen some of their work before, and I think it is awesome. Unfortunately, he says he needs some 3D renders to base the concept art on.

Anyone mind if I put up his email address?

rdmx

21st September 2012, 09:04 PM

It's great to be enthusiastic about that kind of thing, but I feel as though you should wait until theres at least a 'vertical slice' of gameplay before anything like cover art happens.

I also think that while there are a lot of good ideas that show up in the thread, implementation is another matter. While ideas like a custom ship/track importer are interesting, you need to take a big step back and realise exactly how much work would have to go into something like that.

Heck, Studio Liverpool outright said no to a track editor. They cited an example where they spent an extremely long time perfecting the hairpin on the Amphesium - a degree of camber here, a degree of camber there. There's a lot of effort that goes into making tracks for Wipeout, making sure they work on all speed classes with all available craft. A track editor cannot guarantee that.

@dev team: you guys need to be not afraid of saying 'no' sometimes.

*rdmx retreats to his pessimistic hole*

docfo4r

21st September 2012, 09:19 PM

You got it exactly right, rdmx. That's exactly how I think.
Like I mentioned before, every idea that sees the light of the day here is important, no matter if the idea makes it into the game or not, or might get changed a little bit. But SSGX development is not a musical request programme. You always have to remember if your idea is codeable, or if it would really add up to the fun instead of killing the fun long-term wise.

About the track editor and everything related to it: We did not decide how we are going to handle it. I for now got the opinion to release SSGX with the original stuff and without any editing tools. People can race on the given tracks, work out perfect times, battle them. I think if there is a track editor right away, then nobody would be really interested in having perfect times on certain tracks just because the single track is not important anymore. Storyline is another thing! Anyway... After SSGX has been released for some time, my idea was to create a contest. Everybody can create a track or team for SSGX and the best ideas/quality workouts will get into an updated version of the game. Like Fury for HD.
But since SSGX' progress is far from being released, this is all just future music.

@Amaroq do you have a link to the arts they created so far? You can find some artwork on slipstreamgx.com and youtube.com/slipstreamgx I think that is enough to base a coverart design from. But like rdmx pointed out... It's actually pretty early for a coverart, features might get added which should be seen on the coverart, ship design might still change etc. Let's just see what they can come up with when they work from scratch.

Oryx Crake

21st September 2012, 10:18 PM

well for now and for a while the coverart has been: THIS (http://media.wohdcup.sommarpojkarna.com/2012/04/coverartmini.jpg) I'm ok with changing it if people want to but it's based on a 3d render, and the kind of minimalistic art style we wanted to have for the game. Essentially the main inspiration here is Wip3out. Thats the kind of minimalistic art style we were going for in general and what I nwas going for in the cover art.

docfo4r

21st September 2012, 10:21 PM

Yeah, actually I like that coverart. It's pretty simple but cool. Just need to change the title font/logo to the current one ;)

Amaroq Dricaldari

21st September 2012, 10:26 PM

@Amaroq do you have a link to the arts they created so far? You can find some artwork on slipstreamgx.com and youtube.com/slipstreamgx I think that is enough to base a coverart design from. But like rdmx pointed out... It's actually pretty early for a coverart, features might get added which should be seen on the coverart, ship design might still change etc. Let's just see what they can come up with when they work from scratch.

I don't know the address for their website, but I did see their cover art for my friend's albums, and there was some included contact info. But again, I must respect our 'silent treaty', and not share the information until one of the project leaders authorizes it.

@Oryx
Also, while that WIP cover art does look kinda cool, I don't think it would be very good for long-term use once we release the game.

docfo4r

21st September 2012, 10:36 PM

Can you explain us why you think so, it would be helpful for us to understand your opinion, you know.

Amaroq Dricaldari

22nd September 2012, 12:04 AM

@docfo4r Well, it just looks kind of un-professional to me. Maybe we can make special versions of the ships with more polygons for extra detail and with better textures, then we can replace the outlines with much thinner, straighter ones, add some Flat Cel-Shading, then perhaps put a lightsource behind them (and maybe some ambient light to keep them from being obscured by shadows). Something kind of like what you have with the Wip3out cover only looks good if you do it right.

Finally, there was that really fancy Slipstream GX logo someone made, so we would have to edit the cover art anyway to use the new logo.

Oh, I checked the website just now. I think Zephyr is spelled wrong :P

Mu5

22nd September 2012, 06:27 AM

Just checked out the demo - very impressed :) :+ respect to you guys.

I would love to see more interactivity when you ..

1) let go of accellerator (engine glare dies down) / more feeling of slowdown
2) Hit a boost ( more of an 'accelerated' feeling') / more feeling of speeding up.

I would also love to see more of a 'floaty' / sliding feeling. The ship has pitch up / pitch down which was great - if it affected the actual flight of the ship more it would rock :)

What you have done so far is really great - Cassandra is sweet and I knew it took a lot of work :) I would love for you guys to deliver a more Anti-Grav / wipeout 2097 feeling. I think that would make the game awesome :D :+

Again, great work :D :+

docfo4r

22nd September 2012, 09:31 AM

Thank you alot for the kind words Mu5 :)

Yeah, the boosting feeling & effect aswell as the pitching etc. is still in development. I am curious myself how the ship will act when floating over a speedpad, we're just not that far yet.
Have you barrel-rolled already? I think the movement here is very nice, even the Wipeout barrel roll looks a bit stiff now xD Credits to zero, our main coder!

Also Blocky will get her voice sooooooon [yep, it turned out Blocky is female xD]!

oh and Amaroq, thx for the advice but "Zepher" is the right way to spell it. The website will be redesigned anyway into a development progress/wip & team showcase thing later on.

Coaster1235

22nd September 2012, 03:06 PM

If you don't mind me asking, where exactly is the demo? I'd be eager to give it a try :D

Xpand

22nd September 2012, 03:10 PM

Here you go.
http://www.mediafire.com/?yiaazkac7fx6775

Keep in mind that we already worked out some of the bugs there. We basically update the game weekly or even daily...

dreadofmondays

23rd September 2012, 03:11 AM

Hey guys, all the models for the weapons are now complete. Here are the images:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/94454272/Slipstream%20GX/Modelz/Mines.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/94454272/Slipstream%20GX/Modelz/Missiles.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/94454272/Slipstream%20GX/Modelz/trapmines%20%26%20magnets.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/94454272/Slipstream%20GX/Modelz/rockets.png

docfo4r

23rd September 2012, 07:52 AM

Really great work on the models, man :D

rdmx

23rd September 2012, 10:42 AM

The rocket 'fins' look like they are pointing the wrong direction :S

Xpand

23rd September 2012, 11:24 AM

No rdmx, it's called FSW, forward swept wings. Like this:
http://www.fas.org/man//dod-101/sys/ac/x-29-EC87-0182.jpg

rdmx

23rd September 2012, 04:45 PM

I'm not aware of forward swept missile fins though :P It seems that there aren't any forward swept fighters in production either.

Xpand

23rd September 2012, 04:50 PM

Dude, stop living in 2012. This is the 2180s! xD
Well, the fact is, the FSW layout makes the plane a whole lot maneuverable. It simply isn't used because the air forces are afraid of taking risks and go with a more traditional approach...

Dusk118

23rd September 2012, 07:07 PM

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/94454272/Slipstream%20GX/Modelz/rockets.png
Hey, it's my Dragonairs! :D

FEISAR_ARCH

23rd September 2012, 07:57 PM

Ok, I've come up with a new track design, but it's very unfinished:
6719

The top three reasons are:

1. It needs more challenge, not enough undulations.
2. It's flat, embankments and elevations will be added after I satisfy problem 1.
3. Scenery, which is something I must pass up on to you, I'm only concerned with track plans, not the entire game scene.

Once I finalize the track plans, I will give them to you. One question, what modeling tool do you use? I use Blender 2.63.

docfo4r

23rd September 2012, 09:36 PM

I use blender aswell. And I am pretty new to it but try to design as much as I can. Go texture/landscape design if you can, aswell :)

Your track doesn't look that bad so far. But that looooong straight section could become boring^^ also try to add a little bit of banks, it looks pretty flat right now. Keep up the work!

Xpand

23rd September 2012, 09:39 PM

What's the area the track occupies? Our tracks are all based on a rectangle with an average of 1 km x1 km in dimension.

FEISAR_ARCH

23rd September 2012, 10:37 PM

I'm not concerned with units, but I'll give you an estimate in X, Y, and Z dimensions in that order:
53.183m
43.276m
4.798m
and this is from my latest incarnation:
6720

Xpand

23rd September 2012, 10:49 PM

So, basically, you have an RC-scale racing track. You need to scale up that by at least 20x.

FEISAR_ARCH

23rd September 2012, 10:54 PM

I'll get to it when I get a break from College.

Amaroq Dricaldari

24th September 2012, 12:35 AM

So the Left Route is longer than the Right for once?
Maybe if you want to make them about the same length, you could theoretically have the left route go under the right one.

Also, I found a cool song on the internet. You can download it for free, so I was going to ask the artist if we could use it in Slipstream GX. It might make a good intro.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyqdwX7o0as&feature=relmfu

username

24th September 2012, 06:48 AM

I've just given the demo a go. Thats some really great work. I can see this project going far.
I really like the way the boost uses energy, like hyperthrust. Also the way the rockets have slightly random flight.

FEISAR_ARCH

24th September 2012, 11:33 AM

So the Left Route is longer than the Right for once?
Maybe if you want to make them about the same length, you could theoretically have the left route go under the right one.

Actually, the left route might have to be the pit lane. BTW, the track is called Zenul VI.

Xpand

24th September 2012, 11:37 AM

Hmm, a pit lane sounds like a waste of polys because the game doesn't have that option, so, it will just be another section of the track with no special stuff...

FEISAR_ARCH

24th September 2012, 11:42 AM

OK, a few more tweaks, and up-scaling, and the plan is ready. I just need to know when and where I can squeeze this into my schedule.

Amaroq Dricaldari

24th September 2012, 01:08 PM

I had an interesting idea: What if we could integrate Dynamic Music into Zone Mode? Not switching between songs, but stuff like effects and filters and whatnot (a prime example would be some of the more recent Valve titles).

docfo4r

24th September 2012, 01:36 PM

Also the way the rockets have slightly random flight.
Actually the rockets have a huge random flight xD
This is not the final version of the rocket anyway. Final version will have an actual model instead of just particles and it will travel mostly straight.

I had an interesting idea: What if we could integrate Dynamic Music into Zone Mode? Not switching between songs, but stuff like effects and filters and whatnot (a prime example would be some of the more recent Valve titles).
I like the idea. We anyway might make the re-entry from the pause menu kinda like a time-warp from slow to normal speed so re-entry is easier, and there will be sound effects aswell ;)

Amaroq Dricaldari

24th September 2012, 01:49 PM

One example is if you're using Hyperthrust, the music could speed up or something, or if you make a barrel roll then the music will take on a mechanical feel, similar to what you hear in the earlier levels of Portal 2 when you start using Aerial Faith Plates.

Also, why does the Turbo pickup consume Shield Energy? I thought it would have its own fuel. You have to take into account that you have infinite Shield Energy in Time Trial and Speed Laps.

docfo4r

24th September 2012, 02:16 PM

Hmmm no Turbo pickup shoud of course not consume ship energy, only barrel rolls.

Amaroq Dricaldari

24th September 2012, 02:24 PM

That is what I was asking. Someone above mentioned that when you boost, it consumed Shield Energy. I could only assume that they were talking about the Turbo pick-up.

dreadofmondays

24th September 2012, 02:29 PM

We are looking at revamping our sound system to allow for these effects as well as some other benefits such as time-warped sound. With any luck you should see these features in the game :)
edit: whoops, took to long to post and got left behind :/

edit2: We have a seperate boost ability in addition to turbo boost that you can use by pressing B. It will most likely be removed in the final game.

docfo4r

24th September 2012, 03:30 PM

Yeah it will... Otherwise the Turbo pickup would not make sense and also it would be unfair in Speed Lap :D

Also regarding the sound effects: Sorry for me being a bit fast here, we are not sure yet if and how we will add any sound FX on airtime or zone mode.

Xpand

25th September 2012, 12:33 AM

Oh look, it's a blimp, let's try and burst it!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NI-sIdFNs2w&feature=youtu.be

Rotational_aspect

25th September 2012, 06:45 AM

Looking great! Love the music too.

One question: is that race speed equivalent to Phantom? If its not, will you be limiting how high you can 'fly' after boosting?

dreadofmondays

25th September 2012, 06:55 AM

That is phantom. :)

TypeProton

26th September 2012, 03:30 PM

Oh hey, someone's acting all geeky here. :)
[Slipstream GX - Blocky's expressions ('Explaining' expression added) (http://i.imgur.com/heXcv.jpg)]

docfo4r

26th September 2012, 06:26 PM

Hehe, I love it!!!

rdmx

26th September 2012, 06:31 PM

In so far as soundtrack goes, don't forget that there are a lot of artists who release their music on netlabels under creative commons. Don't be afraid to go hunting!

It's a good opportunity to showcase unknown artists.

Have you guys decided what 'genre' of music you're looking for? Anything electronic? Vocals allowed? etc.

Oryx Crake

26th September 2012, 06:49 PM

as for now I don't think we've decided on any specific genre. I personally feel it's a good platform to showcase electronic music of all creeds and colors so to speak. I myself have suggested some bitpop/techno and some industrial synth stuff (though I'm unsure of what the other guys think exactly XD)

Xpand

26th September 2012, 06:52 PM

IMO human voice ruins electronic music. I mean voice effects or "hits" are ok, but lyrics no. I think what we want is obviously fast paced music for racing and soft music for menus.

docfo4r

26th September 2012, 07:00 PM

Same here, Xpand. Lyrics won't fit into racing game music I believe.

Here are some links [also to current music we received so far] so everybody can keep track of the project, just in case you didn't know:
www.slipstreamgx.com (http://www.slipstreamgx.com) <- dreadofmondays is updating it from time to time now, check the nice banner animation he made!
http://www.soundcloud.com/airtime-productions-devtm <- Current incoming music for SSGX
http://www.youtube.com/slipstreamgx <- Videos, obviously ;)

Also a short texturing update for Nazca Remains:
6723

Amaroq Dricaldari

26th September 2012, 10:35 PM

I have been playing around with Pandora, and I have been getting a lot music that reminds me of WipEout (Wip3out in particular). Probably because I had Cold Storage on the artist list.

Also, what is wrong with music containing lyrics? I have played plenty of racing games with music containing lyrics, and I never minded one bit.

JABBERJAW

26th September 2012, 11:56 PM

I have a few questions, comments

1) the game looks great!
2) is there pitch control on the track, and how does it affect handling?
3) is there pitch control in the air, so you can adjust where you land?
4) i would recommend walls slow you down some some more, so a perfect lap really means something. It doesnt have to slow you down ridiculous though
5) is there analog control yet? Id love to try my usb negcon on this
6) OH, maybe touch more float,where your ship has a bit of a softer cushion underneath THe ship creating a bit. More up/ down movement. This could make more pitch. COntrol options. Such as having to pitch up/down at. THe right time or risk bottoming out and losing some speed. This has been sorely Missed in the previous 4 versions.
7). Great job!!
I havent tried any demo yet as im fixing my computer, but the game looks more like classic wipeout than the last 4 games!

Xpand

27th September 2012, 12:11 AM

Hmm, I think we need some sort of physics test version for you guys to try out the new physics. It is way better than the demo. The wall hits now make your ship bounce back in case of frontal hit and the ship feels a bit more "slidy" than before. So far the pitch control has little to no effect on the flight trajectory...

Dusk118

30th September 2012, 02:30 AM

6737
Hey look. A Draco Cavernae Logo. I'm sure someone's going to be happy to see this. c:

rdmx

30th September 2012, 07:20 AM

I think it would look better with just the dragon. The gradients make it look ugly >_>

docfo4r

30th September 2012, 08:08 AM

Hmm nope, I like it that way. It gives you an idea about the environment of the track :)

Also the Cassandra logo as well as the Basin Park logos somehow include markable environments from the track.

Xpand

30th September 2012, 10:42 AM

Just make the gradients a bit less black so the image won't be so dark.

Dusk118

30th September 2012, 07:25 PM

6738
Is this a little better?

BrunoDG

1st October 2012, 04:59 PM

Amaroq Dricaldari

1st October 2012, 05:17 PM

*sigh* Compress it in a .ZIP or .RAR archive, and put it up on ModDB (assuming we have a page there yet). I believe they allow downloads of up to 2 Gigabytes in size.

Xpand

1st October 2012, 05:28 PM

Hey guys, I've made a Mac Port of the latest demo, but I can't put it on mediafile because the file is too damn large! D=
does someone knows a server where I can put files larger than 200 Mb without paying?

I use mediafire for when I want to share the game files that are larger than 100 MB or too large for skype... I know the whole SSGX game so far fits in there. It's around 800MB...

BrunoDG

1st October 2012, 06:09 PM

Strange, I was trying to put the port into mediafire (which incorrectly I've wrote mediafile :P [someone kill me, please XD] and the file is around ~318Mb) but mediafire was telling me that my limit is 200 Mb per file only =/

username

1st October 2012, 08:52 PM

If you want, I can host the file on my server. I have about 500GB free on one of my disks.
The only problem, is that it wont be a fast download - I'm on residential internet connection.

BrunoDG

2nd October 2012, 12:43 AM

thanks! That would help! what's the address?

username

2nd October 2012, 12:53 AM

The address to my site is http://dansnetwork.dynalias.com. I don't quite know how to set up FTP with IIS6 though. Currently I only have the knowledge to hyperlink the files.
If you know how to set up an FTP account to a directory, you can tell me how, and I'll give you access to that directory to modify it.

username

2nd October 2012, 01:20 AM

OK. I have set up FTP on my server now.
The address you need to type from Windows Explorer is: ftp:/dansnetwork.dynalias.com
I will PM you the username and password.
The disk has ~250GB free actually, but this should be plenty.

Ill get to work on making the contents of the directory listable from a web browser, so everyone else can download.

***** EDIT *****

OK - once you have uploaded the files to the FTP, anyone can access them from a web browser at the following address http://dansnetwork.dynalias.com Click on 'Other Downloads' and then you will see 'WipEoutZone Game'. Once you click that, the contents of the directory will be listed, and available for download.

BrunoDG

2nd October 2012, 02:29 AM

Guys, I've managed to put it on the web. This is a Wrapper made on Wineskin, running with no problems on Mac OS X 10.7. Not Sure 'bout 10.8, btw.

Oh, and @username, thanks for the help, but I've figured out how could I insert it on 4shared, it finally accepted my file. =)

Ladies and Gentlemen, the first SlipStream GX Mac Port: http://www.4shared.com/zip/XPkOAxux/SlipStreamGX.html?

dreadofmondays

2nd October 2012, 04:32 PM

*throws confetti in the air and runs in small circles underneath it* :D

Xpand

5th October 2012, 11:09 PM

A night time race?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9NRBz2hKaA&feature=youtu.be

username

5th October 2012, 11:23 PM

Just watched the video. This looks beautiful!

AG-SYSTEMS

6th October 2012, 03:07 AM

Awesome Xpand.

For some reason, I love good lighting effects. It adds a awesome atmosphere.

Amaroq Dricaldari

6th October 2012, 05:43 AM

The ships need headlights. Soft light, preferably.

rdmx

6th October 2012, 08:01 AM

That looks REALLY nice! :D. As someone suggested, an illuminated, perhaps pulsing center strip would be good.

Now, if you could get equalisers on buildings reacting to the music...

In fact, more animation in general on the track will make it look even better!

Mu5

6th October 2012, 08:02 AM

Bro - looks awesome :D :+

I would love to see massive neon signs scattered around the track :+

...would look amazing :D

docfo4r

6th October 2012, 08:58 PM

@Amaroq, the ships will receive some lights aswell :)

MyNameIsBom

7th October 2012, 04:28 AM

When is the next demo coming out?! xD This game looks amazing!

Do we need any more tracks? I've drawn up some already, not 100% sure if I should post it, it may seem that there may already be enough tracks ideas as it is.

Amaroq Dricaldari

7th October 2012, 05:02 AM

@Amaroq, the ships will receive some lights aswell :)
Hell Yeah!:rock

Anyway, I came up with some new ideas for modes. They might not be implemented, but who knows?

- Tag Race
Tag Race is a standard race, but with a twist. There will be between two and four teams (each with at least 2 players): Red, Yellow, Green, and Blue. Each ship will be recolored to match that team (and so will eyecandy such as Engine Trails, Weapon Effects, Shields, etc). In addition, there will be some new pickups (hereafter referred to as Modules). They will have two categories, Logistics and Electronic Warfare. In addition, friendly fire will be disabled (you cannot harm friendlies, and unless otherwise noted, you cannot target friendlies target friendlies). In addition, there will be benefits to sticking together, but it is not required.
- Tag Battle
A cross between Tag Race and Eliminator
- Flag Tag
WipEout meets Capture-the-Flag

Team-based pickups (only available in the team-based listed modes above):

Repair Tool
Classification: Logistics
Description: Repairs the targeted ship
Notes: Can target friendy ships (ignores the 'Friendly Fire' rule), but cannot target enemies (why would you want to repair an enemy ship?)

Target Painter
Classification: Electronic Warfare/Logistics
Description: Targets an enemy ship and 'paints' then, which makes friendly aimed weapons home in on them, and allows them to be targeted more easily (faster lock times and longer targeting range).

Capacitor Recharger
Classification: Logistics
Description: Recharges a friendly ship's Hyperthrust Capacitor

Control Disruptor
Classification: Electronic Warfare
Description: Locks an enemy's airbrakes and reverses their steering and pitch control
Note: May be combined with 'Virus'

Virus
Classification: Electronic Warfare
Description: They cannot deploy Offensive Weapons, Logistics Modules, or Electronic Warfare Modules. They can however absorb them, and they can still use defensive pickups such as Turbos, Autopilot, Shields, Mines, etc.
TL; DR: It is a more sophisticated version of the (in)famous "What's This?" from the first WipEout
Note: It will also start messing with the HUD so that you know immediately that something is wrong.

Non-team Weaponry:

Flare
Classification: Deployable
Description: Launches a small flare in front of you that illuminates the surrounding environment, only available during night-time races or on poorly lit tracks. Can also distract unsuspecting contenders (who wouldn't notice a glaring bright light flying past them?)

Stasis Webifier
Classification: Deployable
Description: Creates an area of effect bubble that slows all ships that pass through it

Smoke Cloud
Classification: Deployable
Description: Releases a cloud of gas that obscures vision. In team-based modes, it is team-colored, and friendly pilots can see right through it.

---

My ideas here are supposed to add a new layer of tactical depth to the game. What do you think of them?

Dusk118

8th October 2012, 04:09 AM

So I was playing the Cassandra Night video on my PSVita, and I thought "Hey, maybe we could do a PSP port or something, because this looks damn good." Here are some screenshots of said video on the PSVita YouTube app.
680468056806680768086809

Xpand

9th October 2012, 12:49 AM

6815681668176818

I was bored... First of the 8 prototype ships... Red Orb by TypeProton.
Very early WIP.

Now off to bed!

Amaroq Dricaldari

9th October 2012, 03:29 AM

I asked around for people who could help with the soundtrack, and one guy sent me some music he made.
Deploying Hyperlink: http://bananaiguana.com/share/Wipeout.zip

Dusk118

9th October 2012, 04:32 AM

I don't see why not. Go for it.

TypeProton

9th October 2012, 12:44 PM

6815681668176818

I was bored... First of the 8 prototype ships... Red Orb by TypeProton.
Very early WIP.

Now off to bed!

*Rolls around with joy*
I apologize for not contributing anything ATM. Exams.

Xpand

9th October 2012, 01:08 PM

Textured, mostly:
6819
6820

DeloreandudeTommy

9th October 2012, 01:15 PM

If any of you need some non-racing-team logos and advertisements for trackside decoration, I can design something.
Here's my Deviantart page if you want to see some of my works: http://deloreandudetommy.deviantart.com/gallery/

docfo4r

9th October 2012, 01:42 PM

@Xpand, wow great work on the prototype ship. I'm glad that there is a chance for the cool END-Racing ship from TypeProton to also make it into the game :)

@Deloreandude, that looks cool. Indeed we already wrote down some ideas for sponsors. I'll paste some of them and you can see what you can do with it :)
Amp-Up Energy Drink
Fibre AI Robotics / Japan
Maya Communications Archaeologistic foundation for lost places / America
AG_Wheelchair Anti-gravity for retired persons/racers / Denmark
Ground Thumb Inc. Air Locks for AG Crafts / Japan
Cralmonce SQL Servers and Data Bases / America
S.T.A.R. Space tested AG-Racing. Foundation to make races on moon possible / Japan
BM Research Facility Independent AG Research and development / China
XYZ Recordings Worldwide music label / Sweden

These are just some so if you need more, I can expand the list. But let's see what you can do with it :)

Rotational_aspect

9th October 2012, 02:38 PM

Check out these prototype vessels:

http://conceptships.blogspot.co.uk/ (scroll down a bit!)

By the way, is bloom and emissive maps a Unity Pro feature? If not it would help your night-time scenes.

Xpand

9th October 2012, 04:12 PM

Wow, those are pretty good models, though the ships don't really fit here, they look a lot like kayaks.

Bloom and other HDR/post processing effects aren't available in Unity free...

Oryx Crake

9th October 2012, 09:00 PM

ah indeed xpand but also featured far back on that blog is this: http://www.tomercs.blogspot.se/2010/04/wipeout.html

docfo4r

9th October 2012, 09:15 PM

Nice design... But I wonder how often these wings would scratch on the ground :P

Amaroq Dricaldari

10th October 2012, 12:49 AM

Bloom and other HDR/post processing effects aren't available in Unity free...

How much does the full version cost? And why did you switch back from UDK?

BrunoDG

10th October 2012, 02:38 AM

Hey guys, what about a "Hardcore Mode"?
I was thinking with Raptor1 and I thought that it would be a nice idea if we had one on SlipStream GX, just for the players that want to have some extra fun. ;)

This mode would consist on:
- Instant Elimination if the driver fell out of the track (very similar with the F-Zero series),
- Weapons do 3X the damage (on enemies and on YOU TOO),
- Shields would be depleted after 1 or 2 shots (or wall hits) taken,
- Ship speed would decrease if you get to 10% Integrity (and not only if you're boosting, but the overall speed of the ship) and
- Falling from heights makes you loose Integrity on your ship.

What you think about this? Would this be a good idea?

Amaroq Dricaldari

10th October 2012, 03:03 AM

Here are my ideas:

The Hyperthrust Capacitor would be rerouted through the shield emitters, thus instead of a separate capacitor (in all of the other modes), it would actually damage your ship
The airbrakes have a chance to fail if structural integrity is low
If there are any pits on the track, they will be disabled
Bumping into walls brings you to an instant stop (like in the original WipE'out)
The HUD will start failing if your ship is critically damaged
No side-shifting; You'll have to resort to opposite braking
Acceleration is automatic. However, you can still get a boost start if you're skilled enough (won't do you much good though)
AI is locked on the hardest difficulty
The race is locked on Zen class

---

Now it is truly hardcore.

rdmx

10th October 2012, 05:53 AM

How much does the full version cost? And why did you switch back from UDK?
The game was never in UDK. All he did was import one of the ship models. Also, it doesn't hurt to do some research yourself to find the price of Unity Pro - $1500

A lot of these 'hardcore mode' suggestions don't sound fun at all. It's just making the game hard for the sake of being hard.

Amaroq Dricaldari

10th October 2012, 12:11 PM

Well, they were just ideas.

"Also, it doesn't hurt to do some research for yourself"
You don't need to be a jerk about it.

docfo4r

10th October 2012, 01:06 PM

The Hyperthrust Capacitor would be rerouted through the shield emitters, thus instead of a separate capacitor (in all of the other modes), it would actually damage your ship
...I don't understand a thing here.

The airbrakes have a chance to fail if structural integrity is low
When the ship energy is low, we plan to include some control failures anyways.

If there are any pits on the track, they will be disabled
No pits on the track...

The HUD will start failing if your ship is critically damaged
Same with the airbrake failure, only that your HUD can also be jammed by the EMP ;)

Acceleration is automatic.
That's why the Zone mode is there...

Also, please no vulgar language :)

Amaroq Dricaldari

10th October 2012, 01:29 PM

Vulgar Language? Oh, you must be referring to my post earlier about my ideas for team-based modes and weapons to go along with it. There is nothing wrong with saying "H*** Yeah"

docfo4r

10th October 2012, 01:43 PM

xD nope. Nevermind :)

Also, we are on Facebook now :)))
https://www.facebook.com/SlipStreamGX

Amaroq Dricaldari

10th October 2012, 08:12 PM

How about Twitter?

Xpand

10th October 2012, 08:16 PM

Twiter, G+, mySpace, Hi5, Orkut, Flickr, etc.

The only way people will know about our pages is through here, and frankly Facebook is the most commonly used... And it takes a lotta work to moderate lots of pages...

Amaroq Dricaldari

10th October 2012, 08:42 PM

I'm sure I'll do my best to spread the word of a Twitter page :P

GekkoP

11th October 2012, 08:18 AM

Seen some videos on the Facebook page. Pretty cool stuff, guys!

JABBERJAW

11th October 2012, 12:12 PM

Just a quick thought. Worse controls for low shield is not fun in the least, remember fusion, everyone in the tournament hated the controls going to hell

dreadofmondays

11th October 2012, 02:12 PM

We now have twitter! :D We are @slipstreamGX. Feel free to follow us :)
Jabberjaw, I completely agree with you. The controls should stay the same.

Amaroq Dricaldari

11th October 2012, 10:51 PM

The HUD should still go frak when you're almost dead, though.

Also, I came up with an idea that will breathe just a bit more life into the game, exploring on the idea that there are actual people flying the ships.
Whenever someting happens, the pilots should automatically commmunicate with eachother via radio. Here is an example:
*pilot a fires missile at pilot b*
*pilot b slows down, and pilot a overshoots him/her*
Pilot A: "Anyone else want some?"
Pilot B: "I hate you so much"

Alternate example:
*Pilot C lays down a bunch of mines*
*Pilot D hits those mines*
Pilot C: "Congradulations, you lost!"

Note that these are just examples, this doesn't have to be the exact dialogue.

JABBERJAW

11th October 2012, 11:22 PM

You should use the quantum redshift dialog! That was the best

Amaroq Dricaldari

12th October 2012, 12:44 AM

I was actually thinking of the Unreal Tournament games (specifically, Unreal Tournament 99).

Oh, I had another idea: How about making Zone Mode where the track is randomly and procedurly generated? It would garuntee a fresh experience everytime, and force you to think aheaed rather than just memorizing laps on the same track over and over again.

Xpand

12th October 2012, 12:48 AM

That zone mode was already thought and it's now on the to-do list.

rdmx

12th October 2012, 06:54 AM

What makes zone mode work in Wipeout though is that you CAN memorise the track.

At high zones you're basically flying ahead of your craft, making inputs well before the corner. A randomly generated track does not work for this.

docfo4r

12th October 2012, 01:15 PM

Yep, if you compare the SSGX Zone mode with the Wipeout Zone mode, it would not work. But this Zone mode is a bit different. You can complete a stage if you drove over a certain amount of segments. Of course we can also go for an endless zone that only ends once the ship is destroyed.
It's not about memorizing a layout, it's about reaction skills. That's why the track will be generated randomly cuz' this concept wouldn't work on a normal track ;)

EDIT: Well I also have to add that we have an amount of track segments that will randomly sticked together while racing. So if you practiced the Zone often enough you can recognize the segments when they appear ahead of you. Track segments have a lifetime of about 30 seconds before they disappear. If you are on a segment when it disappears, you will fall apart and loose.

Amaroq, I think the idea with that radio chat would just be annoying. You don't drive in teams, only for yourself so there is no need for radio chat. I prefer the music :D

zero3growlithe

12th October 2012, 01:58 PM

How about something like this for Zone Modes:

case (Endless Mode): Player is beginning his race on randomly created track on slow speed which increases BUT to a certain level and what happens later is that track is getting harder by adding some more turns while keeping track possible to do without breaking (which u can't do anyway xd) and adding random objects on track like mines, bombs, track open sections, jumps and other stuff. Player can increase the speed faster if he feels like it :P (can't be decreased)

case (Event Mode): Speed is constant from the very beginning and tracks are not generated randomly in real time, they will be generated and saved by me (track section placement, mines, bombs, open sections) and listed as "track 1, track 2, and so on", they will be long, like, reaaaaaally long, and by choosing track the higher number the harder the track is.

Amaroq Dricaldari

12th October 2012, 02:06 PM

Amaroq, I think the idea with that radio chat would just be annoying. You don't drive in teams, only for yourself so there is no need for radio chat. I prefer the music :D

NO! Not team-based radio where you select an option. Automatic Radio Communication between the pilots, TAUNTING EACHOTHER. This is a rather extreme example, but READ IT CAREFULLY.

Pilot A is hit by a Disruptor Bolt from Pilot B
Pilot B: "Sucker"
Pilot A: "I am going to kill you!" *destroys Pilot B's ship*

*Pilot C targets Pilot D with a missile, Pilot E gets in the way*
Pilot D: "You took a missile for me? You shouldn't have..."

I know I shouldn't be so angry right now, but I reallky hate it when people don't think about context.

So again, this is not team-based chat, and you aren't pressing keys on your keyboard to communicate, these are the pilots automatically (and verbally) responding to events around them, because there is nothing in the series that states that the pilots are mindless machines.

But if you just want music, then go ahead and turn it off. Same thing for when someone doesn't like the music, they turn it off.

---

EDIT: Sorry for all of that yelling, but I have had the worst week of my life.

zero3growlithe

12th October 2012, 02:15 PM

Well, then i suppose game is getting annoyed for you so u don't need to get angry urself? :g
I think that adding such thing would just make player think that the game "invites" him to get pissed xD

docfo4r

12th October 2012, 02:17 PM

Yep, I did get you exactly. No matter if it's team based or not, the radio chat is just annoying :P

Also...

Pilot B: "Sucker"
Pilot A: "I am going to kill you!" *destroys Pilot B's ship*

Aggressive and vulgar language does not belong into this game, sorry. Drop the idea.

EDIT: There is no need to unload your negative energy in a constructive forum. Better listen to some relaxing music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rs24_gFVMG4) :)

Amaroq Dricaldari

12th October 2012, 02:31 PM

'Kill' is not vulgar. Vulgar language would be cussing. And the "I am going to kill you' example was so that you would GET THE POINT.
And in the F5000, in the 'Minigun Races', Pilots actually got KILLED.

Also, we aren't making this game for 5-year-olds, we don't need to limit ourselfs with 5-year old language. Obviously, we should avoid cuss words, but not avoid EVERY word in the English language.

docfo4r

12th October 2012, 02:38 PM

Still would you enjoy races which are commented like a football match? I don't care if Amphithere dropped mines on position 5 and CEN-R drove into them on position 7 when I am on position 3 struggling with a Tractortrap.

F.E.I.S.A.R

12th October 2012, 02:41 PM

In memoriam:
Daniel Chang
2023-2056

Could not help the Minigun Race Pilot fatalities reference.

dreadofmondays

12th October 2012, 02:54 PM

Okay, lets all stop yelling. It;s 1:30 am and I don't want to wake the neighbours. :v

F.E.I.S.A.R

12th October 2012, 02:55 PM

I concur. Don't want to disturb those who are sleeping :|
No ALL CAPS there,just huge font size

Amaroq Dricaldari

12th October 2012, 05:55 PM

Again, sorry about all of the yelling. I think I'm going to give up now.

docfo4r

12th October 2012, 11:28 PM

Some of your ideas are quite good :)
Just accept if an idea might not make the cut and don't bring your personal negativity here. You know, the echo always returns ;)

Amaroq Dricaldari

13th October 2012, 03:47 AM

Darkdrium777

13th October 2012, 09:54 AM

My mind is blown. I have not been keeping up with this enough I have to admit. Wow.

The only thing I want from you guys is to update the first post of this thread with relevant/current information like where to download this game, and also put relevant links to Facebook/Twitter/Youtube and the works (website, I don't even know if you guys have one) so people can follow this project a bit better. Delete the rest or move it down one if you want to keep it for history (Xpand has two posts at the start), but yeah. Information access is kind of hard right now.

dreadofmondays

13th October 2012, 10:36 AM

Yeah, we'll edit the first post to include the info. I'll jot it down quickly here:
- website is slipstreamGX.com
- we have a facebook page and twitter (@slipstreamGX) :D

Xpand

13th October 2012, 12:05 PM

What about another thread for SSGX. This one just has too much history, lol.
We'll make a new thread for SSGX and use this one for general indie wipeout-based games.

Dusk118

13th October 2012, 05:35 PM

I got WipEout Pure recently, and I have been having difficulty with accessing alternate skins for the different teams. How do I change the livery? And if I have to unlock it first, how do I unlock it?
You DO have to unlock it first. I believe you have to unlock the Rapier class to get additional liveries. And once that happens, on non-Classic races, when you're on the team select screen, just hit the left/right buttons to adjust them. You'll know when you have the alternate livery selected because there's a box below the ship outline that says Livery. It'll be highlighted.

In other news, there is a strong possibility that Tim Wright, a.k.a. CoLD SToRAGE, a.k.a. King of WipEout, will be providing SlipStream GX with an original music track. Will provide more updates as time goes on.

Darkdrium777

13th October 2012, 09:34 PM

What about another thread for SSGX. This one just has too much history, lol.
We'll make a new thread for SSGX and use this one for general indie wipeout-based games.I think this thread's pretty much been just for this game (correct me if I'm wrong) so renaming it is probably a bit more appropriate. Of course just one thread is kind of difficult to manage, perhaps a forum would be at least better for organization...
Also I'd like to know what I need to try and get started in helping you guys. I see the game is made with Unity, so I'd like to start by learning that (I'll use the docs for this, don't worry, i'm asking if there's anything extra). I've some experience in Unreal Engine though I'm definitely rusty by now. I could at least try and provide some feedback on the levels.

Hellfire_WZ

14th October 2012, 06:22 PM

Are we happy with that? I can rename the thread if you want

Xpand

14th October 2012, 07:31 PM

I'm not really sure, I mean, sure we can rename the thread and add a few details in the first post, but then it will be a mess of things that have nothing to do with SSGX until the last 100 pages, that were prior to it. I don't know what's best, really. If creating a new thread or reshape this one

docfo4r

14th October 2012, 07:37 PM

Maybe just rename the thread or add "SlipStream GX main thread" to it or something, so people who are new to this place and seek for this thread can find it. The current title might be a bit too "trivial".

Darkdrium777

14th October 2012, 07:48 PM

then it will be a mess of things that have nothing to do with SSGX until the last 100 pages, that were prior to it.If there is that, then making a new thread with updated info is probably better.

Amaroq Dricaldari

14th October 2012, 08:53 PM

As long as it isn't anything obscure, I'm fine with people renaming it.

dreadofmondays

14th October 2012, 10:39 PM

I think we need to make a new thread... this one has way too many posts, it's very difficult to keep track

TM.Mordred

15th October 2012, 02:28 AM

hello, new guy here.
i've been playing the mac port of the demo (my PC computers are complete incompetent fools)

anyways, there are plenty of bugs in the Cassandra track, such as misplaced thrust textures, trees popping up everywhere, frame rate issues, and the absence of any of these on the 2nd 90 degree corner of the track. Other than that, everything looks on the up&up, aside from the lack of music and some textures on Draco Cavarne.

speaking of music, i read some debates on music style. i get that you guys are trying to keep the wipEout feel of the past music, but quite honestly anything electro-tinged, fast paced, and/or dance-y will do.
for some examples, here's my playlist from Pulse:

Control - Metro Station
Everything's Magic - Angels & Airwaves
Ghosts 'n' Stuff - deadmau5 ft. Rob Swire
Shake It - Metro Station
Propane Nightmares - Pendulum
Santa Maria (Del Buen Ayre) - Gotan Project
Granite - Pendulum
Baditude (Radio Edit) - Spoon, Harris, and Obernik
California - Metro Station [you can probably tell that i liked them for this playlist]
Lisztomania - Phoenix
1901 - Phoenix
Witchcraft - Pendulum [them too]
Derezzed - Daft Punk
Gangnam Style - PSY
Soul Surfer - daiki kasho [from Gran Turismo 4 OST]
Mylo Xyloto+Hurts Like Heaven - Coldplay
Paralyzer - Finger Eleven
This Head I Hold - Electric Guest
Easily - Muse
Survival - Muse
What You Know - Two Door Cinema Club
Brokenhearted - Karmin
Misery Business - Paramore

you can probably tell that a lot of those songs aren't electronic at all, but they fit the game for me
or maybe i just like them that much lol

Xpand

15th October 2012, 09:42 AM

We will have a custom soundtrack option.
We can't use stuff without the artist's/producer permission, and I'm pretty sure more than half those producers will be reluctant in giving us a license. Plus, we want to use this as an oportunity to showcase underground, less known artists. Plus we might have an original Cold Storage music...

Now about those bugs. I gotta ask Bruno about that because he was the one who ported the PC version to Mac. Maybe some files got lost in the way...

RaTcHeT302

16th October 2012, 01:25 PM

I made a gameplay video about the demo I found around and I noticed that the ship tend to hit the ground a lot wich didn't happen in Wipeout HD.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZMYUr2xCFc

I do hope the ship will feel more floaty and less heavy than it is now, also no aerobreaks make piloting quite tedious and the current tracks are really too tight/tiny and not too varied.

docfo4r

16th October 2012, 01:54 PM

The airbrakes, and actually the whole physic system is about to be overworked right now. Currently the airbrakes only work then turning. But still I manage to do perfect laps on phantom speed on both tracks. Do you play with the keyboard or the controller?

BTW: It's SlipStream GX, not SplitStream GX ;)

vaakneri

16th October 2012, 03:17 PM

The demo has no airbrake buttons set for the keyboard by default, they have to be set manually.

Dusk118

17th October 2012, 12:30 AM

They are the same buttons as the Sideshift buttons. They've just been labelled differently.

vaakneri

17th October 2012, 08:32 AM

There were no sideshift buttons set when I first played it, I had to edit the input settings for sideshift and airbrakes to work.

TypeProton

20th October 2012, 03:26 AM

Trying not to forget WipeoutZone folks over here after we've moved to Facebook.
Not completed yet! Still missing Alphard. I'll have to ask Zero for more inspiration. P: Also Docfo4r needs to decide which Nacza logo to use.
http://i.imgur.com/ZlgEU.jpg

edit: Welp, I forgot Draco Cavernae (Raptor 1 did the logo himself) and Shukoto. I haven't think of that yet. :(

docfo4r

20th October 2012, 07:19 AM

Awesome logos so far. Especially like Hubian since that blue object somehow resembles the track for me, which is almost too big for the whole scene since it has these difficult corners^^

And now it's already decided to take the bird logo for Nazca Remains. Can't wait to see Alphard, too :)

Darkdrium777

21st October 2012, 02:14 AM

Hope you're ready for some feedback.

1. Logos should be the same size, or very nearly.
This will help with UI design later on as you won't have a jigsaw puzzle of logos to try and make fit in a uniform grid without losing details. I can already say with certainty that if you go for a typical square layout in the UI, you will lose detail on 4 of those as they're either taller than wide or the opposite.

2. Some of them have a lot going on, while others have nothing at all.
I'd say Cassandra seems to be the best out of the lot. The color choice is a little cliche (orange/purple) however it's still representative of something. The name isn't but the logo invokes a specific section of the track, so that's good.
Porto Kora is a little iffy. The bird I remember (I assume that's a bird of course), but the orange stripe as the track seems a little bland. Perhaps a better representation of a setpiece of the track could be made. If it's supposed to be the jump, see how SL did it with Chengou Project (hint, the star at the end of the tip).
I haven't seen Basin so I can't comment, but Park looks like building/biosphere/building to me. Hill is a giant arrow poiting up so I guess the perspective is a little wrong on that. It also seems for Hill that the buildings from the Park logo are reused though shown at a different angle, so this looks like they are setpieces but I have no idea.
Bay has mountains and a sort of typhoon thing? It doesn't really look like a bay IMO, and the thing jutting out is too tall as said in 1 and I don't get what it's supposed to be.
Hubian I'm guessing will be with Asian traditional architecture, so if that's the case that part is working. I don't really like the horrible gradient oval though.
Nazca, nothing goes on here. It's a line drawing and it's kind of boring. Sure that immediately says Nazca to me, but that's it. Involve some of the background architecture in the logo to make it a bit more interesting.

Here I'll go through the WipEout HD logos in comparison:
Vineta - Obviously the numerous hotel buildings right by the sides of the track.
Moa Therma - Waves of the sea, as it's the only track going that far over it.
Anulpha - I can't quite place that one, looks as if it's a sort of tower going up in the sky with a dome around it. There is one on the track but you don't quite get to see it in it's entirety during normal gameplay.
Sebenco - Mountains. Snow. Enough said.
Chengou - As I said, the last jump on forward before the last chicane. The half sphere looks to be used as the sky there. The star is for emphasis on a trajectory.
Sol - Looks to be like a solar eclipse. Solar/Sol, the connection is made there but reinforced through the fact that from the ground the track itself eclipses a part of the sunlight.
Metropia - Very tall buildings seen from ground level. The sphere is again the sky.
Ubermall - This is a representation of the huge arches there are over the track. First, arches over the start/finish lines, also the gigantic archways leading to the outside/inside of the different buildings.
Modesto - The cable bridge.
Amphiseum - I have no idea.
Tech de Ra - I think it's supposed to be a cross section of the track with the void around it (ie going through the canyon where the walls open up) but I don't have any other ideas.
Talons Junction - The loop.
Syncopia - Seems to be about the four quick jumps.
Corridon 12 - The butterfly structure. The explosion is telling you that you explode there if you keep going straight.
Pro Tozo - Beats me.
Mallavol - Same.

3. Fonts.
God, the fonts, some of them are just straight up bad. Legibility is something you want here. Fix the font kerning too where it needs it, like the k in kealakekua, park hill and hubian.
I can't read kekalekua whatever it is at a glance.
Porto Kora I know starts with a P but it may as well start with a stylized N for some.
Basin shouldn't be inconsistent. Park and Hills bothers me when it's side by side like that. You guys thought of naming one Park and one Hill? As in Basin Park and Basin Hill? Even then, a little unoriginal IMO :/
Nazca Remains is straight up misaligned (look at the ending of the words) and the fonts don't match each other well, you have a very square font for Nazca and a round font for Remains, so it looks weird.
I feel that Cassandra is leaning to the left by quite a bit.
Hubian is a little plain, for something I'd say should fit with the Asian theme. I like the dot on the i though. I'd like to see at least a version where u, i and n get the little tail like the a does right now, to give it a more calligraphic impression while still being an obviously printed character.

4. Spell check your stuff. Amatuer should not pass.

5. On the UI I'd just remove all of those custom fonts anyways, have just the logo and the track name show up with whatever general purpose UI font you have selected.

TypeProton

21st October 2012, 03:41 AM

Wow. Thank you for your feedback!

- The orange stripe in Porto Kora is supposed to resemble a crane (one that move stuff) at the port near starting line if I remember correctly.
- The oval in Hubian's logo means the huge lake in the middle of the track.
- As for the K-Bay, Dreadofmondays requested something representing a sweeping curve which present on track to be added into the logo. Looks like I didn't do good enough in this case. In my original idea it was thunder striking down the mountains seeing that it is a combat-friendly track as stated in backstory. Also I use mountain because I looked up Kealakekua Bay in Wikipedia. Might fix that.
- Nazca still WIP. Me and Docfo4r are thinking about adding some more color into it.

For other things I'll see what I can do with them. :)
PS: Did anyone have Wipeout HD/Fury tracks logo picture for references?

docfo4r

21st October 2012, 07:46 AM

Wow, now that was a feedback, Darkdrium.

I agree with you in certain things. Maybe the Basin Park logo looks somehow like a helmet with horns for me due to the round shape of the ground layers. And K-Bay looks like it has an colorized tornado^^ But Bay's can also have a huge cliff and I think dreads is aiming for that on his track, so the hills are ok with me in the logo.
Yeah, NR is still the first concept. And I know not all track logos are done anyways. Alphard is missing, for example.

Did you see the menu before? As far as I know, the track logo get's displayed over the blue hologram of the track. So it doesn't need to have an exact square. In fact, making every logo exactly the same size and shape would make it a little boring to look at and limits the design progress. You were referring to the WO logos in the cell itself, right? Well I don't think we would even use that for track selection. More likely there will be the name of the track displayed like you can see in the first official demo. I think squeezing these logos down to fit a tiny cell would look like a mess regarding the logos have color while the WO looks are just white.

Oh by the way...

Moa Therma - Waves of the sea, as it's the only track going that far over it.
I always thought about that magstrip-wave-section when looking at the logo :)

dreadofmondays

21st October 2012, 03:17 PM

EDIT - Link removed, build not intended for release

Xpand

21st October 2012, 03:33 PM

Nope, don't download that one, it's lacking a crapload of things... Please wait a bit.

docfo4r

21st October 2012, 03:44 PM

The physics system is not right on that one. This build was meant to be a short test to continue working on physics, it's not well configurated to represent SSGX gameplay. zero3growlithe is working on a new build already which should be done soon, so please wait and download the upcoming one instead.

zero3growlithe

21st October 2012, 06:01 PM

Newest version of SSGX for testing purposes: (no menu, one ship, one track, no AI)
http://www.mediafire.com/?xqqt2dd0e758rg5

Includes:
- lightmap affecting
- airbreaks animation and independent work
- physics tweaks
- new smoother camera
- cannon and bullet holes
- updated Draco Cavernae track
- some other fixes and bug fixes
Controls: "d"f" - airbreaks/sideshift/break, "c" - change camera, "x" - accelerate, "v" - shot cannon, "b" - boost, "n" - rockets. (works with PS3 controller using DS3Tool, other controllers not tested)
Enjoy.

Rotational_aspect

21st October 2012, 07:53 PM

Looks very, very polished! The movement of the ship is spot on, but the weapons need work.

The cannon shots sometimes do not register on walls (do you use a ray to see what the bullets hit, or is it based on physical contact? If its the latter, then the bullets may be travelling too fast to register. But I have to ask, going at Phantom speed, do you need to see bullet holes?)

The rocket trails look at bit odd. I would expect something like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CRF53SNzHA (about 1:09) and smoke trails....but this is more personal opinion so you can have it like you want!

But great job! I just wish my project looks as good when I finish it!

SaturnReturn

21st October 2012, 08:19 PM

I downloaded it and have to say, it's really addictive. >.< I really like sideshifting off the top of the jump and then barrel rolling and almost landing it properly. Much fun. The only thing I didn't like was the sound effects when pressing and lifting off the accelerator. They were a bit grating. But overall this is really cool.

Hellfire_WZ

21st October 2012, 08:19 PM

This is starting to look the bollocks, seriously! The physics are really coming together nicely, it only took me a couple of laps before I got the hang of things. Great job! :D

Darkdrium777

21st October 2012, 09:12 PM

- The orange stripe in Porto Kora is supposed to resemble a crane (one that move stuff) at the port near starting line if I remember correctly.Oh okay. Maybe add something to make it look a bit more like a crane, maybe the cabin? (just a small rectangle at the bottom or something)

- The oval in Hubian's logo means the huge lake in the middle of the track.The oval is okay, I was talking about the gradient. That's a bit basic and bad IMO. If you compare with pretty much all the other gradients you have, this one looks a bit worse with the origin point being centered right in the middle of the oval. The left and right end points are especially bad because they are much darker than the rest.

- As for the K-Bay, Dreadofmondays requested something representing a sweeping curve which present on track to be added into the logo. Looks like I didn't do good enough in this case. In my original idea it was thunder striking down the mountains seeing that it is a combat-friendly track as stated in backstory. Also I use mountain because I looked up Kealakekua Bay in Wikipedia. Might fix that.By all means if there's supposed to be mountains keep them. I have no idea what the track looks like. But yeah the thunder or tornado needs a bit of work IMO.

PS: Did anyone have Wipeout HD/Fury tracks logo picture for references?They are all on the website, under tracks.

You were referring to the WO logos in the cell itself, right? Well I don't think we would even use that for track selection.Yea, thought you were going for something similar. I still think it will be a bit of an idea to make the tall logos a bit less tall since we use widescreen monitors now which may allow for wider logos. Taller ones are a bit weird though it of course depends on how the UI looks. I haven't seen it so I was just commenting on the logo.

I always thought about that magstrip-wave-section when looking at the logo :)Yes that's probably it.

JABBERJAW

22nd October 2012, 01:14 AM

Where is the latest download?

A couple questions

1) is pitch control in yet, meaning nose up down when the ship is on the track, and up down control in the air?

2) is there analog, or joystick control for the ships. I really want to test my negcon on this ( element 42s design).

3). Also, at a later date, maybe putting in control options such as
A) steering sensitivity on analog sticks
B) dead zone adjustments
C) custom controls ( you may have this already?)

Darkdrium777

22nd October 2012, 01:18 AM

I tried recording a video of me playing the game to give some feedback but my voice really sucks and doesn't come out with the microphone I have. All will be in text because damnit.

First things first, the launcher. There are a couple of issues with it, the first one being that there's absolutely zero documentation with regards to what the graphics presets do and the controls are not explained either. I had some troubles setting up controls specifically because what's the difference between Horizontal +, Horizontal -, Horizontal? I think it should be more clearly explained. I didn't have issues with the graphics because I know my GPU's awesome (so I run on the Awesome! level) but what about lower end folks? I think you need to provide more granular control over each option like texture resolution, antialiasing, anisotropy, etc. or at least provide some documentation on the presets and what they do.

Next up is lighting. It's really bland so far, and the reason is I think you're using something like Ambient Brightness (http://udn.epicgames.com/Two/TypesOfLights.html#ZoneLight) (Using UE3 knowledge here, don't know what Unity calls it) to light up the track. This completely obliterates shadows and other light effects. I think you should lower that, and use the emissive surfaces (glowing surfaces) you have like at the starting grid and place some around the track as lighting points, either point lights or spot lights. We're in a sunset situation right now and the whole tunnel is lit up like it's midday basically, however with what appears to be zero light emitting points nearby. You could use the texture on there as light placement reference or something. Also add some color to the light, since it's a sunset.

Trees. They are bad, let's just put that out of the way. They remind me of PS1 games. There needs to be some work put into those especially since you're gonna have that many of them around. First of all the model and texture are really not detailed enough for this generation of graphics. Second, you can fly through them, that's just weird. Third is that tree sheet thing on the border of the track. Man that's ugly. What I would do in it's place is make the trees progressively denser and tightly packed together, have that behind them but you know, hidden. You shouldn't be able to get that close to it. Put a respawn point before it. Also depending on how punishing you want this to be, bring the trees closer or push them back further from the track, but add collisions to them.

Overall texture work needs a bit of love. Some textures are quite low resolution (I don't know if there's a limitation with Unity Free) and also need a bit more detailing. Track texture is for example orange throughout, whereas in games like HD, Pulse, there were varied markings all along of it, especially in turns and such. Building texturing also needs a bit of work, now it's just lines. You could put vents, pipes, doors, windows, lights, different types of bricks, metal, etc. Also some detailed is lost in the very bright lighting. Rock texture is the same everywhere too, you could have different colors or strata for the arch thing.

The terrain is bad. Is that a 3D mesh? I'm thinking it is and that's why it's bad. You should really use the terrain tool. From what I've seen of it and if it's any way similar to the UE3 terrain tool, it will give you a higher poly, more smooth, better looking result. As a bonus you'll be able to paint stuff on it, that stuff being different textures (instead of the unique lower resolution one) or 3D meshes (ie trees, grass, fern, rocks, etc.) so you'll get a much nicer result. It will also light better due to the higher amount of polygons. You can also mold and remold it however you wish without using a 3D modeling program. You should definitely try remaking it with that, both the track and the terrain around it.

The view of the water needs some love. Right now there's a couple of buildings, a black mass (again, due to lighting all the detail is lost there) and a couple of immobile boats. Maybe make boats move, have boats of different sizes (a cruise ship hanging near the track with some spectators like Vineta K maybe), etc. Also the lens flare of the sun doesn't show up here. It only appears on the jump, which is weird.

Vegetation needs some work. I talked about the trees, but I mean vines too. Right now they're all pretty uniform along the cliff edges and just a sheet over the track before the tunnel. I'm thinking you could have some dangling low, and I don't know if that's possible (Physics?) but have them react to ships passing by eventually.

Coding wise, I think the collisions need a bit of work. Right now scrapes are very punishing, the game sometimes detects scrapes as thumps, which is weird, and thumps just send you straight on flying with basically zero punishment. I think scrapes should be less punishing than thumps, unless you scrape for a very long while. There's also some issues with the bumps on either side of the terrain part of the track, gravity tends to act weirdly around there and it does cause some issues when going over these fast. The airbrakes also appear to be hooked up wrongly with respect to the animations. When pressing one brake, nothing happens to the ship. You have to press both for them to lift up. Also unlike the WipEout games pressing an airbrake doesn't cause the ship to lean. Finally the airbrakes open during normal steering operations.

EDIT: some logs:

Failed to find fonts for font asset 'HUD_Font_Wide_Blue'

(Filename: C:/BuildAgent/work/d9c061b1c154f5ae/Runtime/Filters/Misc/DynamicFontWindowsNative.cpp Line: 199)

The referenced script on this Behaviour is missing!

(Filename: C:/BuildAgent/work/d9c061b1c154f5ae/Runtime/Mono/MonoBehaviour.cpp Line: 1592)

IndexOutOfRangeException: Array index is out of range.
at (wrapper stelemref) object:stelemref (object,intptr,object)

at WepS_PlasmaBall.GetEnemies () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at WepS_PlasmaBall.Start () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

(Filename: Line: -1)

NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object
at CameraScript.Update () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

(Filename: Line: -1)

NullReferenceException
at (wrapper managed-to-native) UnityEngine.Transform:INTERNAL_get_position (UnityEngine.Vector3&)

at UnityEngine.Transform.get_position () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

at YourDeathCounter.Update () [0x00000] in <filename unknown>:0

(Filename: Line: -1)
Those repeat a lot.

zero3growlithe

22nd October 2012, 07:00 AM

1. As for launcher, ok, I'll write a brief documentation on graphic presets and setting up controls.
2. No, there is no ambient brightness options and i wish there was glow effect in Unity Free, there is ambient color with which i can manipuate brightness but that is not that. Because i suppose that track's surface is shiny and reflective I've set the occlusion contrast to value of 0.3 because light can get to the tunnel by bouncing back off the track, i could just make lightmap to do this but i don't want to use dual lightmaps. (final lightmap size)
3. Trees texture is not my matter but about collisions, well, open sections are fun to race on and this is the only one on this track and it would be not cool to hit a tree when avoiding something on track or just flying throught this "Forest" so imo it should stay like this even if it is strange.
4. Not my business.
5. Not my business.
6. I can make boats move, ok. About this sun flare, it disappears cos there is a collider on its way, it is high cos it needs to be (though with new physics it may be not needed) but i just realised that i can change its layer cos its detection is based on tag.
7. Hanging physics affected wines? I can do that, though i don't know why should they move cos no one will notice their movement anyway.
8. About physics, I'll think later bout that, about airbreaks, they affect flying when ship is moving, as they should in real world cos they can't turn ship on their own when there is no air blow.
And they make ship lean in WOHD, also, airbreaks are used for normal turning too like in jets though they have separate spoilers for breaking and turning if i'm not wrong.
Logs: I know about those errors, but they don't affect gameplay and also i don't need to fix them anyway.

Xpand

22nd October 2012, 09:53 AM

I have to admit the trees look rather simple, but that's more of a texture problem. It's very hard to find good tree textures with transparency, not to mention making your own.

About the mesh terrain: I'd rather make everything in a 3DCad and export to unity than to depend completely on unity based assets. It helps me to keep the polycount under control and optimize it. I think you mean that the terrain is made up of only one texture. Don't worry about that, it will be improved once I know how to do that perfectly. Same thing with the track textures. I usually leave those details to last...

But I seem to be under the impression that you expect something like Wipeout HD from us. You have to keep in mind that we are a bunch of amateurs with almost no resources and time, unlike SL, for example... You gotta think to yourself what you would expect from a hobby based free indie game... I would aim around an enhanced Wipeout Pure...

Sausehuhn

22nd October 2012, 10:17 AM

It's very hard to find good tree textures with transparency, not to mention making your own.

You should try cgtextures.com (http://www.cgtextures.com/) :)

Xpand

22nd October 2012, 10:22 AM

Oh yeah, I forgot about that one... Thanks...
This is what I've been using...

Sausehuhn

22nd October 2012, 10:31 AM

Mind the license, though! :)

Xpand

22nd October 2012, 10:45 AM

Indeed that's always a problem... But I can always try and replicate them...

zero3growlithe

22nd October 2012, 11:14 AM

Well, it is not so hard to create a transparent tree texture, for example all tree textures that were present on Tristans Inferior were done by me by cutting them out in Photoshop based on color keying and some other methods xd

JABBERJAW

22nd October 2012, 12:18 PM

Not sure if you had read this, a few questions from last page

Where is the latest download?

A couple questions

1) is pitch control in yet, meaning nose up down when the ship is on the track, and up down control in the air?

2) is there analog, or joystick control for the ships. I really want to test my negcon on this ( element 42s design).

3). Also, at a later date, maybe putting in control options such as
A) steering sensitivity on analog sticks
B) dead zone adjustments
C) custom controls ( you may have this already?)

dreadofmondays

22nd October 2012, 12:26 PM

A while back I made a set of tree prefabs based on that texture; you can always use that to drop trees in easily

docfo4r

22nd October 2012, 12:37 PM

The rocket trails look at bit odd. I would expect something like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CRF53SNzHA (about 1:09) and smoke trails....but this is more personal opinion so you can have it like you want!

The rockets are just some particle effects as of now. We already have a real 3D rocket model and of course those spark effects will be changed aswell. They also fly way too uncontrolled at the moment.
All kinds of pickups are in a very very early state at the moment. You might notice the cannon bullets get shot from the wings instead of the minigun^^

Rotational_aspect

22nd October 2012, 01:43 PM

docfo4r: That's cool, you should see my trails (they are just planes!).

My only thought was not putting too much emphasis onto weapon effects if they will barely be seen. In HD the explosions are quite simple, and when going at Phantom speed they may just be overlooked.

And aren't the rockets supposed to be 'dumb'(press fire and off they go in straight/expanding lines)? Its only the seeker that needs to home in.

docfo4r

22nd October 2012, 02:44 PM

Yes I thought so, too. The rockets should travel straight forward to make a precise shot possible.

Weapons are a queued task at the moment so once the coding starts here, we all can decide if an effect is good/too weak/overloaded.

Also, short update: Remember that Nazca Remains is an over 100 years old track, so mind the cracks ;)

http://s10.postimage.org/b9awcz1g8/Naszca_Cracks.jpg

Darkdrium777

22nd October 2012, 06:10 PM

But I seem to be under the impression that you expect something like Wipeout HD from us.No, what I am doing is suggesting things to make what you already have better. Some things like the trees right now don't require that much of an effort actually (http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/fir-tree-3ds-free/480723) (top hit on google search fyi) and it will look much better. Other things like upping texture resolution is indeed more involved for less of an improvement, but that is indeed just my suggestion. I was also talking about just putting more details into it, ie put some different looking parts in the textures you already have to break up the monotony when they are mapped to large surfaces. About the lighting, I don't know how simply it can be done with Unity but again, this is just basically down to modifying values in engine to give the shadows more contrast so that not everything is lit up uniformly like it is right now. Finally, I suggest the terrain tool because while you can indeed control the polygon count with your 3D modeling, it's just much more impractical (in my opinion) than having a fully separate terrain you can remodel anytime with simple tools, not to mention texturing it will be a hell of a lot easier.

I hope you can see that I'm not asking you to rework the entire game, just improve certain things I feel are lacking right now compared to other things you already have in there.

More trees from the same guys:
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/free-lwo-model-tree/480769
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/tree-3ds-free/480746
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/tree-3ds-free/480774
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/free-firtree-3d-model/480733
http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/free-fir-tree-3d-model/480700

Where is the latest download?Here (http://www.wipeoutzone.com/forum/showthread.php?7584-Let-s-make-a-Wipeout-game!-This-time-for-real!&p=222119#post222119). There's everything but deadzone adjustment and sensitivity. Analog will work so long as your prototype is properly recognized by the computer. You can adjust deadzone and sensitivity with Windows anyways I believe.

cobaninboban

22nd October 2012, 06:17 PM

In this case it's better for them to use meshes instead of terrain, unity's terrain editor is probably one of the weakest parts of the engine. Supports diffuse only, no normal support so you need buy plugins, but then you get performance penalty because code is not optimized or it gets unstable.

Xpand

22nd October 2012, 06:29 PM

Texturing the terrain isn't hard. The only reason it has one texture only is because I like to take care of non-modeling details after I modeled the whole thing. And mesh corrections don't take long. I find it easier to control each individual vertice and face than have like a drawing tool...

About the trees, they're a pretty good find, but here's why I don't use them: http://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/free-fir-tree-3d-model/480700 Polygons: 14,600

That's twice the polycount of a single ship...
Now in tracks where the tree count is low (like 20 at max) it's ok. But in DC there are over 500 trees, plus bushes and short grass. And since Unity renders the whole scenery at once (unlike some game engines that only render in a certain range from the camera), it would take forever just to draw 1 frame. I can adapt that design into a low poly 3D tree like some we have in DC already. My intent was to make the first layer of trees 3D and then use the 2D trees as background...

Darkdrium777

22nd October 2012, 06:30 PM

Diffuse IMO is still fine for their application if it's done well. What they have now is diffuse too, it's just always the same texture. Using terrain would provide them with some easier texturing and painting solutions I think. The documentation seems to indicate there's at least some form of basic sculpting and painting tools available. I don't know if there's a visibility tool to hide vertices you don't want to see though, which may be a problem.

EDIT: Okay.

About the rendering, damn that's bad. So that's a pro only feature D:
Also yeah just use the trees as reference or whatever.

Amaroq Dricaldari

22nd October 2012, 08:14 PM

And now it's already decided to take the bird logo for Nazca Remains. Can't wait to see Alphard, too :)

The letters need to be part of the logo.

Darkdrium777

22nd October 2012, 09:27 PM

UI bug with lap counter (http://i.imgur.com/AAWrc.jpg).

I think I've narrowed down the scraping issue to when the ship scrapes it's side completely (ie parallel to the wall). If that happens for even a fraction of a second you slow down to 50km/h. Most noticeable in the last turn before the starting grid. I'll play some more though to be sure that's that.

Xpand

22nd October 2012, 11:26 PM

Yeah that lap counter issue is on the to-do list for bugs... We're probably gonna make the counter start in 01-09 so we don't have to dislocate stuff or create numbers...

About the scraping, I think it has to do with the fact that we're using a box colider, so the game interprets the ship as being a box with the absolute dimensions of the ship and detects the collisions accordingly... Something we need to work out better...

JABBERJAW

23rd October 2012, 02:35 AM

I like that the ship slows down a good amount, it rewards excellent driving. Im going to try and test it this weekend, cant wait

dreadofmondays

23rd October 2012, 02:53 AM

Xpand, if you take the ships and make low-poly collide meshes (somewhere around six to ten faces depending on the shape of the ship) then that should solve that particular problem.. I tried doing it myself but blender wouldn't load the 3DSs properly.

docfo4r

23rd October 2012, 05:03 AM

The letters need to be part of the logo.
Yep, they will.

Darkdrium777

23rd October 2012, 06:04 AM

I like that the ship slows down a good amount, it rewards excellent driving. Im going to try and test it this weekend, cant waitIt would if the effect didn't happen randomly and on very small collisions. Big collisions = usually a loud thump that throws you immediately off the wall and you hardly lose any speed.

zero3growlithe

23rd October 2012, 09:14 AM

Well, about this box collider and mesh collider there is problem of this kind: box collider has its bad sides (it's a box xD) but in Unity it is fast if it comes to performance and collision detection is better, more precise, as for mesh collider it takes shape of objects mesh which is cool but its performance is much worse and collision detection not as precise as box's so some collision skipping may occur like it is in case of bullets... well, was cos it is fixed (increased ray length) but maybe something improved from last time i've used this kind of collision detection.

dreadofmondays

23rd October 2012, 11:28 AM

So you sue a different mesh for collisions that isn't the ships mesh but instead a simple mesh that marks out the boundaries of the object with more precision than the box mesh can.

JABBERJAW

23rd October 2012, 12:20 PM

@ dark, i get it, it should be the opposite

zero3growlithe

23rd October 2012, 01:19 PM

Damon: No matter what mesh u take it is still a mesh, box collider is not made of mesh (something else but no idea what xd)... but aaanyway, I'll try using it though it will complicate my collision detection script with force feedback.

Xpand

27th October 2012, 12:56 AM

It's exactly what it looks like.
693069316932693369346935

docfo4r

28th October 2012, 02:23 PM

Hey guys,

it has been done :D Our first Blog video is ready.
First episode is all about introduction and what we are doing at the moment. This is part a. You can find part b on our YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/slipstreamgx) and if you have comments activated, there is a link at the end of the video. Thanks to the whole team and everyone here on the WZone, I hope you will enjoy it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qXn1BfK8Jw

Xpand

28th October 2012, 06:26 PM

Oh boy.... I promisse next time I'll try to have a little bit more life! xD

Anyways:
694269436944

zero3growlithe

28th October 2012, 09:11 PM

Looks a lot better than first Aphithere :D Totally awesome!
------------------------------------
btw. I'm trying to recreate my old track called Alphard in Maya and here are some screens: https://picasaweb.google.com/106083964399065727105/AlphardReconstruction?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Xpand

28th October 2012, 10:00 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjpohWLhABU&feature=youtu.be

Nathman

29th October 2012, 08:57 AM

To whoever is heading this project:

I love WipEout, and stumbled upon your project by chance while working on some Wipeout-inspired AG ships. I was wondering if you were in need of any more models and whether I could contribute to this game.

Xpand

29th October 2012, 05:15 PM

Well, there's no leader per say, but please go ahead and show your ideas. We probably need design ideas for prototype ships based on the current ones, like Fury ships, so to speak. ;)

docfo4r

29th October 2012, 07:19 PM

If you, Nathman, and all the others here like to, you can spread the word in Facebook to get more people on our "fanbase" ;)
facebook.com/slipstreamgx (https://www.facebook.com/SlipStreamGX)

Other than that... Yeah like Xpand said, you can check the current teams and see if you have some ideas for a prototype ship. Are you good at 2D-art? We also have a list of sponsors which need their logo and description. If you like to help out here, maybe get in contact with dreadofmondays.

Can't think of anything else at the moment. But welcome to the Wzone :)

feisar rocket

30th October 2012, 10:35 PM

Cha, I was like failing in school and kinds had to prioritize... XD sorry for like leaving you all...

While my grades improve I'll be here and there... So in a week I'll be on daily!

Ahh, time to come to the past...
You all working so hard! I feel terrible xD

@all: work hard! Good luck, I'll be here to describe some tracks and draw stuff... And I started drafting in tech so, I wonder if that could be any help to anyone? :)

@doc, I see something needs describing xP I can do it unless Nath got that under control...

@Nath, I'm here and there once in awhile so it's kinda an informal greeting xD you'd be a great help, more the better! What you mainly want to do? Don't be like me xD I still don't know what I want to sit with... Drawing or describing? Hmm~

docfo4r

31st October 2012, 06:23 PM

A basic layout test on phantom speed on "Nazca Remains":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtMbVTfJ128&feature=g-all-u

Track progress around 5% so I don't wanna hear anything about the landscape :P

rdmx

1st November 2012, 08:24 AM

Does the camber of the track affect ship handing?

The first route flows well. I especially like the sweeping uphill corner.

The reverse of that has too many blind corners though - though I realise that's because the first design has less blind corners.

feisar rocket

1st November 2012, 10:00 AM

I just realized there was a link, opera mini wasn't showing it xD

Anyways, where is that suppose to be? Like location, country, etc. Tell me that and I'll give it a description for you?

It's pretty nice honestly, except you get so much air you'll fly off... But for being 5% done, it's pretty good ^_^

And, do we have an editor? For in-game text, etc... I can do that if none. Unless you are doing it yourself :)

docfo4r

1st November 2012, 02:47 PM

Yeah you can fly off the track too damn easy at the moment, but that is because the wall colliders are not set right, or... not even there in some cases^^ Will be fixed later on of course :)

It is located around the famous Nazca Lines (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines) in the desert of Peru. That's where the track logo is coming from [resembling the "hummingbird" symbol].
I actually created an introduction for the track already. Was kinda like one of the first things I did so I can build up the ambience in the right way. Here you go:
While the more than 200 meters large line-shaped symbols in the desert of Nazca have always been a subject for archaeologists and scientists, the abandoned constructions and buildings mainly remained undiscovered. An AG-Research establishment finally bought up the whole piece of land for a very large amount. Their goal was to create a racetrack while leaving the remains untouched. This explains the strange course of the road and why there is no crowd yet only video transmissions of the races. Anyhow the project was given up since the sponsors saw no profit. The track was left for almost 100 years now. Pilots have to be careful since there wasn’t any maintenance on the track for a long time.
When you feel loneliness combined with the spirit of mystical history, you know you're racing on "Nazca Remains"!

As for the blind corners. Jup, it is indeed a bit difficult to suggest when is the right time for turning or using airbrake etc. This track is not so easy so it takes a few rounds to figure out a raceline, especially on phantom. But we agreed it is ok to have a difficult track for the later stages in campaign. Since it is very wide compared to other tracks, Nazca Remains is actually damn easy on Venom for example :)

- - - Updated - - -
Sorry, I don't know what you mean by "in-game text". Can you explain? :) And thanks for the feedback!