Why 2048 is sooo unbalanced and different?

[blackwiggle]

Games don't get 'commissioned' - that's not how the industry works, bro. And these balance issues are not a result of shorter development time, but of insufficient testing, mainly because it's quite hard to find enough testers who can play wipEout on a level where the misbalance actually shows.

Commission : definition : An instruction, command or role given to a person or group.

They were rushed anyway you look at it
It was from suddenly people looking for work elsewhere [for those that hadn't left already] to, hang about, we need a Wipeout for the Vita release, and it needs to be ready by [insert date]
No other Wipeout has suffered this imbalance, and I'm sure if given more time the issues raised would have been sorted eventually.

I remember Colin Berry, who had by then moved to Bizzare Creations and was or had been working on Blur, posting that he was surprised that 2048 ever came into existence after what Sony had told the SL team when he was still there.

[JFthebestJan]

i think i've seen on a YouTube video that the very first wipEout was done in about a month or so, to have it ready for the release of the very first PlayStation ... could be wrong though ...

[eLhabib]

Commission : definition : An instruction, command or role given to a person or group.

They were rushed anyway you look at it
It was from suddenly people looking for work elsewhere [for those that hadn't left already] to, hang about, we need a Wipeout for the Vita release, and it needs to be ready by [insert date]
No other Wipeout has suffered this imbalance, and I'm sure if given more time the issues raised would have been sorted eventually.

I don't know what makes you think that, honestly. In my eyes, 2048 is one of the best wipEout games ever released. Yes the balancing is off on A+ speed, but then I figure they would try and balance a game for the entry level players. On top level, every pilot takes what's fastest anyway because handling stats are not an issue anymore once you get good. So what exactly in 2048 seems rushed to you?

[blackwiggle]

So what exactly in 2048 seems rushed to you?

Pretty much 3/4 of the reasons XxSuperRyugaxX originally posted......he has made valid points about 2048 deficiencies.
IMHO it was, and would have been if it had never been remastered and made available on another console system, a close orphan of a Wipeout edition, to the PS2's Wipeout FUSION.

It never seemed to get any love around this forum in comparison to previous Wipeouts

[eLhabib]

Well, I for one love it. I think the ship design and overall visual identity is strong, the tracks are mostly interesting to race and the handling is the floatiest and nicest since w3oSE.

[mannjon]

Well, I for one love it. I think the ship design and overall visual identity is strong, the tracks are mostly interesting to race and the handling is the floatiest and nicest since w3oSE.

I really like the Canon personally. To me it feels like a mash up of HD meets street racing, which if you play attention to the progression of the games story wise, is exactly what happens in the 2048 league.

The ship design is superb. What I really like though is the track design, and not even from a racing stand point. They feel like the start of AG racing.

The handling feels more like drifting, which once again makes sense in context as this is the start of AG racing.

As far as the unbalancing, it is only unbalanced to those that haven't unlocked the piranha and Feisar prototypes. In a lobby with no prototypes, I feel the balancing is fair and on par with HD. Even HD has balancing issues in the hands of a master. I green race with an Icaras. In a true race mode I don't lose often and when I do it is to another Icaras pilot. There are simply better ships for better events. Snakenator has all but proven that the piranha prototype is just as fast as the Feisar prototype, but he knows what he is doing and his play style is vastly different from that of a novice.

One final point to consider is that A+ is kind of a pro only speed. Once you got A+, you've got to have some skill. Though it does suck that the AG systems is still glitched, and is the best ship, if they nerfed that ship, many of the current WR times could not be beaten. Just ask anyone pre 2011 WOHD patch how they feel.

[Cipher]

I don't think the game was focussed too much on multiplayer when it initially released on the Vita (wouldn't be surprised if the single player experience was prioritised over it), as indeed, there is no such thing as ship balancing in 2048, which is fine for a single player campaign I'd say, as events are tailored towards a certain ship and it means you'll explore all of them (as opposed to HD/Fury where you can complete the entire campaign, without ever trying a different ship).
And I honestly like the new mechanics they played around with, Feisar Prototype really is a cool concept and awards consistency/lines.

But indeed, throwing all those wildly varying ships together in multiplayer just causes problems, if the host doesn't allow you to change your ship after changing the track, you will probably be in for a rough time.
There's no real way to balance for both though, you'll take away from the single player experience by balancing out all ships (all the prototype ships would have to be removed due to completely different mechanics & agility ships would become pointless).

I think this is why they had voting for tracks/mode on the original 2048 for Vita, as you'd know in advance what track/game mode is coming up, allowing you to select the appropriate ship for it, in Omega, you're at mercy of the host and whether they give you time to change ships or not (provided you're paying attention and noticed the track changed).
Don't think there's a solid approach to resolve this to be honest, not if you don't want to get rid of the new/different mechanics, which I guess is why it's the same in Omega, it wouldn't be 2048 anymore if you completely redesigned the game (doubt there was time for that either way though). I did suggest a category filter (eg speed only ships, prototype only, ...) for the host to set, but that didn't make it in (although some of the prototypes are on a level playing field for some tracks, so it would take that away as well :/)

Touching the balancing of ships would've also meant lots of testing required and I don't think there was time for that with Omega either.

In the end though, I still love 2048, the track design & art direction is superb! The ship handling is also a lot more interesting than HD/Fury. And racing against an equally skilled pilot in the same ship really gives you that exhilarating racing feel, unfortunately it's just hard to get a session like that with random online people.
Every track having a certain meta ship is just a result of what makes 2048 unique/fun and I'm not sure i'd want to get rid of that just to keep it balanced.

The only issues I have is the balancing within a certain ship category and the wacky RNG with weapon pads, both of which could be solved, but require lots of time testing. We'll just have to live with it I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Lion]

I've seen a number of comments lately on various locations talking about severe rubberbanding in 2048. I've played very little of it, so I can't comment... But if it's half as bad as the complaints I can see that contributing a lot to the game feeling unbalanced.

[WolfKill01]

2048 is fun for what it is. The various ship types and the tracks are all interesting and gratifying to race with/on. HD/Fury is just a much more polished experience. Shame to see Studio Liverpool and WipEout IP go the way of e DoDo. Still holding out hope for the future.

*Sorry to bump a two year old post.

[Jonny]

Any activity is welcome
cough