Bug in WO64?

Yesterday my copy of Wipeout64 finally arrived (I had bought it on eBay), and I was amazed to see how different it plays. It's got quite a unique feel about it compared to the 2097/XL version it was derived from.
Anyway, what I wanted to ask was whether there is some known bug in the game or if it is a problem with just my copy... I had this happen several times now - I play any mode and all of a sudden the game freezes and doesn't recover before I turn the console off and on again, which of course frells up all my times and achievments made to that point. :( Now, what's interesting about this is that so far it only happend when I was flying a right turn with my nose up very high - never when the craft is pointed towards the track and never on any other occasion than right turns. It hardly seems to matter which turn it is, though. Another game I have on the N64, namely Blast Corps, runs fine for hours, no problems with that whatsoever. Now, what should I do? Return the game? Return the console? I'll be very thankful for any help you could give!

Ben

Take a look at this message board:
http://www.n-planet.co.uk/cgi-bin/ik...rum=18&topic=7

They talk about some games that freeze while playing on the N64, one of those games is Wipeout 64.

Hm, the essence of what they say is that the N64 sometimes freezes when you do something unexpected or run into any glitches. Yet somehow I don't think that raising the nose in order to slide more easily around the turns (I usually fly that way when all I'm driving for is to complete the different modes on any of the Wipeout games) and so getting somewhat high above the track can be considered one of the glitches they talk about. At least it should not be one that crashes the game. After all, I have already found some amazing shortcuts in N64, and all of them include riding far (!) off the track and through a lot of objects, never experiencing any problems at all. Dunno... guess I'll have to keep looking...
Oh, but I'm nopt saying I didn't appreciate your link, Cobol! At least I got an understanding of what might be happening. Thanks!

Ben

Something which can help you G'Kyl. I was knowing this damn bug very well, many years ago i ve bought W64 at the beginning, and bad surprise: the game has frozzen several times( exactly the same as you mentionned above this), so i was thinking it was a cartridge default for only few serial numbers but it wasn't, many many people i know who have had that game, they have the same problem about freezing.
3 years later i ve also bought a new copy : the same happended to me again.

But maybe a good news , recently i was talking with a french wiper who told me 2 things about the bug:
1° sometimes , when the game seems frozen just wait few minutes, he said . but he adds that time to time it's long ( more than 10 minutes) and sometimes its completely frozzen (you need to switch off your N64 and loosing all your times
2°) But he told me that after he has completely finish the game ( with many many saves on memory each time), nomore bugs after that.

So try to finish it first after it will be good ( it seems)

Hey, thanks a lot, Arnaud! This actually made me cheer a bit, since at least my console and game copy seem to be OK. I would have hated to be unsure about either of them. What I'll be doing is get some practise on all tracks and then play through the game as quickly as possible as soon as my controller pak arives (note to myself: Never again buy a game that requires some sort of extra equipment to be able to save stats and preferences... ;-) ).
I guess I will also have to be carefull about where to point the nose. Then again scraping is not that much fun as it is in 2097, anyway. Even though that's a pitty, because I LOVE to do a few just-for-fun Phantom races and be all over the walls in those turns where I can manage to take a wide line. :)

Ben

Hey!
I think it isn't a REAL bug...the processor of the n64 can't handle the speed, because i only get the "bug" when in phantom mode and activating a turboboost.
And i get it sometimes when I'm doing something really unexepted, like jumping trough ceiling in Qoron IV
Oh, and theres another bug (?) in the game... in the bonus combo challenge, after you beat a race, something messed with the controller-input so you cannot do anything but turn the game off.
devil

hey devil! welcome 2 da zone!! 8)
that happened to me too a couple'f times .. :evil:

I had a bug once on this game, it was one of the later challenges (it was a while back so I can't remember it that well) I was in an Auricom, and as I passed the finish line (having successfully completed the task) it went to the 'in cockpit' view and never brought up the stats screen, but it never froze either. Twas annoying and wierd.

Yep here also twice the freeze bug. But i thought it was my fault because i cleaned it with water and soap and couldnt wait with playing :oops:
Aty first it didnt reconize the joystick but later after opening it and drying the parts it worked again only that freeze bug. But that seems it is not a faulty game but is "normal"
So never clean you N64 if you wanna play it that day. :wink:

It doesn't hardly ever happen on the US version of mine. However, It could be due to the memory thingy upgrade that the n64 came out with.

The same thing happens to me. Last night I was playing on Wipeout 64 on Qoron IV on phantom class, and it frozen on lap 3 when I was passing the sharp turn after the first checkpoint. It happens a lot... :(

I haven't played WO64 enough to have the game freeze on me, but I've had another little glitch show up on me. I don't know whether it qualifies for the term "bug" or not.
When I'm racing in a ship which I haven't unlocked the superweapon for, and I'm given "superweapon", I fire it (although not actually having it, lol) and a square shows up on the track blacking out the graphics. (I always fire instead of discard, unless it's autopilot) Not actually a "black" square, sort of a brownish colour. Very distracting.

How long does the square stay visible?

Uh, until I pass it? It isn't there on the next lap. I've never actually "parked" in front of it to see if it has a time limit on it though...
Once I play the game somemore and unlock all the superweapons I won't be able to do more research on the subject. But I'm busy with Klies Bridge so not too much chance of that happening soon.

OKAY, THIS IS EMBARRASSING!
This mysterious brown square is apparently the superweapon for Qirex...I still don't know exactly what it does, but it's definitely NOT a glitch or bug...and apparently I don't need to actually unlock the superweapons...
Talk about a learning experience. WO64 is full of surprises for me.

If I understand you correctly that is the 'force-wall' superweapon - kind-of looks like a thin sheet of wavy liquid?

Sure...:p That's exactly what it is.

I recently purchased a brand new Wipeout 64 (NTSC) cartridge-- haven't had any problems with the game freezing, at least, not yet, but I am playing only on the slower speed classes ATM.

Folks interested in getting another copy should look into it-- I found my brand new cartridge (unopened, original packaging) for around $20 using Amazon.

that's about the price I payed for mine preowned way back in ....'99 I believe it was:rolleyes:

I was a bit surprised (disappointed?) that the Wipeout 64 hadn't become more expensive due to demand from retro gamers and collectors. Brand new copies of some N64 games fetch a considerable price (>$50) but not Wipeout.

Ah well. Better for those of us that know truly fine games :)

I own a PAL copy and originally bought it brand new when it was first released. I even have the original receipt someplace too ;)

I've also had my fair run in with freezy time and its not cool. Especially when in the process of busting records. I also think the N64 just couldn't handle the amazing speed that WipEout offers for average mortal.

That freezing issue was a real b*tch! But the game was amazing. But the game was very fast, especially when you was doing Phantom on Qoron IV with Piranha. Damn those were some serious good times.