Relaunched Formula Fusion to get name change to 'PACER'-June release

[blackwiggle]

From what I'm reading at the Formula Fusion discussion pages on the Steam boards, it has been decided that for the re-release of what up till now has been known as Formula Fusion, will get a name change to 'PACER'

Where that name came from I don't know [I'm suspecting the new publishers had a strong saying in it's choice ]

The name change I suspect was to give the re-released game the best start it could have, without all the negative baggage that the name Formula Fusion has attached to it over it's overly long and troubled existence.[And a lot of that negative stuff got posted at this forum-which had been noticed by R8, hence the reason they officially stopped posting about updates]

Already Formula Fusion videos have been taken down from R8's YouTube channel and would suspect new ones will appear to replace them, also the official Formula Fusion website has been removed.

There are reportedly big changes to the last release, what those changes are, I have only had hints on.

But I must admit, the new title does worryingly make me think what was originally planned to be a serious AG racing game, seems to be heading to more like 'Pacer'- The Arcade Racer ....I just don't know.

We shall see what we shall see...... Slated release date for 'PACER' or whatever it does eventually get called, is now for June.

[Dawn_Fire_]

I remember funding this a very, very long time ago and waiting patiently....very patiently for the console release or any real solid update. I kind of gave up on it, but any news would be nice, maybe a re-brand will do it some good. I certainly hope so. From what i've seen it looks pretty good. Here's hoping for a good release and hopefully some solid communication.

[multibodydynamics]

I remember some negative comments when the kickstarter was running. One from myself, and I'm afraid that one got them a bit upset. I just thought that the console releases had such a low priority on their kickstarter. I found that odd. Now here we are 4 years later and we still want to play the game so that is good I guess. I hope it finally comes to PS4, that I will get my free download according to the kickstarter pledge and that the game turns into a huge success with lots of online players!

[blackwiggle]

There was a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes with personnel changes at the beginning, this was when they had closed the original TPP and opened the kickstarter campaign.
The resulting mess from that was many people had signed up for both, and at different levels, it just became a mess of people not getting codes, what codes they were entitled to etc, with nobody really knowing WTF was going on......not the ideal start when you have to delegate somebody from such a small team to try and sort the mess out......I still don't know if it did get sorted fully for some people.

Then you have had the lack of information from R8 on all platforms they had originally been communicating on, that was, and still is to a large extent, a bone of contention.
Their own reporting forum for the TPP was a case in point, as the person allocated to run it was trying to sort out the mess I mentioned above instead, result was deathly silence for the most part, so people just slowly gave up reporting as it was a one way street.
The reporting forum was eventually shutdown with nothing more said about it.

There was another factor to the stalling of the console versions release, and it something a lot of people don't know that went down.

Little did we know that Sony ExDev had commissioned the remastering of HD/FURY/2048 to become the Omega Pack, if the thought of ex Studio Liverpool people making a 'Spiritual successor to Wipeout' was the spur needed to start that project, one can only guess,[I suspect it was commissioned more as a showcase VR title, as Sony have always tended to use Wipeout to highlight any new tech development] but the end result was that R8 were dicked around by Sony ExDev and not given a PS4 development kit till a month after Omegas release.

Since it seemed rather a waste of resources only developing for the Xbox and PC only, rather than also for the PS4, it was decided it was better to concentrate solely on the PC version, get that as good as possible, then get a publisher for the console versions, then let them port it over [which is what I have been told is what publishers prefer to do ]

Due to the false starts,the mess with Kickstarter codes etc, and the eventual need to release a game on Steam that was less than finished just to get money to keep the project going,the inability to actually make a PS4 version due to no PS4 development kit, compiled with the lack of information coming from R8 on the state of things, all resulted in a pretty negative state of affairs for Formula Fusion.

With a lot of negative connotations still held for the game posted on the internet, and a new publisher to satisfy, it's not really surprising that it was decided that a change of the games name would give it the best chance of success.
You can't have people Googling a newly released PS4 game that they have heard nothing about, only to find negative reviews of what was in reality only a partially finished game from several years ago, it would turn many away.

It make much more sense to change the games title, and although I'll be sad to see the name Formula Fusion fade into history, if it means the game gets people playing it, then that's what needs to be done.......but 'PACER'....

[JFthebestJan]

I played an early version of FF back in 2016 on 'appleguycipher' PC at wipeout convention in frankfurt, it wasn't very convincing to say the truth. I played an early version of BNG as well over there, which was not very good as well. Here we are now years later with BNG being the best AG racing game of all time, and FF still not fully released, lol

[blackwiggle]

Even up until Nov 2016 there were only 4 tracks available [There were changes to those in later builds], they were still changing handling, the weapons pretty much didn't work [Still ineffective in the last build for what it's worth] and the CARD system had yet to be introduced [Craft alterations], so yeah, it would of been lack luster back then, that's for sure.

I think there would have only been two craft and speed types back then as well.

Things certainly progressed through the years, but the last update to the game of any real note that actually added new stuff was back on 23rd Aug 2017, the rest of the updates since then has been bugs fixes and small alterations across the board.

So by the time of console release there would have been nearly two years worth of work done to the game, from what I've read they have it running rock solid at 120FPS on the latest Unreal engine.

When you consider they started with nothing and basically built the so called 'Full Game' game in two years, given that the same time span has passed to improve of what they had, it should be pretty spectacular, as most of the really hard work had been done

[eLhabib]

I'll believe it when I actually play it on my PS4. Following this project as a TPP and kickstarter backer from day one has been a huge, disappointing mess. I don't care, how much trouble they went through - it all would have been a lot easier for them AND for the community if they had just communicated a bit more openly. And they don't seem to have learned from their mistakes, as their KS and FB communication is still horrible. I just hope that whoever is porting this mess to PS4 now knows what they're doing and delivers a somewhat playable online racer.

Needless to say I have pretty much given up all hopes of ever receiving my TPP and KS tier rewards

[chri5]

new trailer

[eLhabib]

Just saw it. All is lost, it seems. Not only does it look exactly like it did 2 years ago, it now also has terrible sound design, judging by the trailer. Not to mention the awfully generic 'futuristic' font placed on a brown, gritty background to show how edgy and dystopian this future setting is. The new marketing guy just finished college, I guess...
Sorry for the negativity, but if this is the best trailer they can come up with after TWO FRIGGIN' YEARS then I don't know how to see the good in it.

[chri5]

I liked the name formula fusion, pacer sounds generic.

[Hybrid Divide]

"Pacer" is going to take some getting used to, but I'm in!

[AdHoc]

Yep, looks terrible. Was never a fan of the project anyway, but yeah, miles away from what we could have hoped. Won’t be missed.

[blackwiggle]

Here is a copy and pasted message posted at the Formula Fusion Steam page regarding the name change and the changes to the game etc.

BIG NEWS!
5 Apr @ 12:03am - purdisc
Hi brave, wonderful and patient Formula Fusion (now Pacer) community

You’ll see our press announcement and trailer soon if you haven’t seen it already and you can’t have missed the changes to the Store page.

We just wanted to clarify what’s happening and why we’re doing it:

- we’ve re-branded Formula Fusion as "Pacer"
- we are removing the Purchase option as we’re going to be increasing / changing the price when we launch Pacer later this year / summer
- existing owners will still be able to play the game they have in their libraries and can expect a massive update at launch
- Pacer will launch on XB1/PS4 with a free update on Steam. A new game; bigger, better, more polished in every way and a price to reflect this.

Release
On final release the game formerly known as Formula Fusion will be called Pacer and will feature:
- a brand new UI and branding while retaining all the Designers Republic graphics
- 14 Tracks: 6 brand new ones and 8 you’ll recognize from before but polished and improved until you can see you face in them
- 5 Craft, each with its own handling characteristics but massively customizable in the Garage
- 10 Weapons, including 4 new ones. Every one with considerably polished FX and mechanics plus new Modification cards
- Loadouts for Handling, Weapons and Cosmetics
- a completely rebuilt SinglePlayer Campaign based around playing through Careers in the 10 teams
- a new auto-targeting system
- a hugely optimized fps on Steam - a 1070 GPU maintains an average 140fps approx, maxing out at 200fps approx
- new music from Cold Storage (8 track OST) and licensed tracks from a bunch of old favorites including DubFX and a many more
- upgraded FX
- upgraded Sound FX some by Tim Wright himself
- hosted servers
- Spectator mode from outside of the Lobby for viewing races from any craft at any angle: Chase, Nose, Orbit and Environment cameras
- Tournament Mode multiplayer: set up a series of races in your Lobby, results update after each race
- Ranked Mode for multiplayer: Results increase or decrease your ELO score in one global game leaderboard. Who will top it?!
- voice chat in multiplayer - you’ve just blown up, tell them how you really feel!
- a unique race mode for single and multiplayer which we’ll be revealing nearer to launch
- a re-written physics and handling system
- re-engineered, machine learning AI to give everyone a challenge
- a massive lore expansion on the flip side of the game
- languages: to be announced

Marketing Campaign
We are on a road tour to show the game at the events below:
SXSW, Austin TX, GDC, San Francisco CA, and PAX East, Boston MA,
and we’re going to have the same build playing at
EGX Rezzed, London UK, 4-6 April (in the Unreal area)
Insomnia64, Birmingham UK, 19-22 April
Play Expo Manchester UK, 4-5 May
London MCM Comic Con, 24-26 May
E3, Los Angeles, CA, 11-13 June

We should love to see you at any of these events so you can get a taste of what’s to come. Meantime we’ll be posting far more frequently on Kickstarter, FaceBook, YouTube and Twitter as we run up to launch.

I got a PM from NZ-Lion that he got a message last night from Kickstarter , so it would appear all fingers are out of their butts at R8 for those who have been bitchin about no communication from them [Rightly so I will admit, they have been bloody terrible in this dept, it's been their biggest sin]

I'm 50% Realist and 50% Pessimist, but even after all that's gone down I never lost faith......I think /hope the Naysayers might be in for a bit of humble pie eating soon.

[eLhabib]

I would gladly eat that pie, mate, but I have about 1,3% faith that this will amount to something enjoyable after all this mess.

[blackwiggle]

I would gladly eat that pie, mate, but I have about 1,3% faith that this will amount to something enjoyable after all this mess.

Yeah, I know how you feel.
Just think, you subscribed to Kickstarter for FF T-Shirt, now you get one with PACER on it instead.... LOL...salt into wounds ...

By the way, I've just started a PS4 PACER community .....Titled. PACER AG RACING GROUP... to anybody reading this , on your PS4, go to Communities, then do a search for PACER AG RACING GROUP if you haven't got a invite yet and join....the more the merrier.

[Concealed Sequence]

Well I'm hoping it's going to be as good as they say it will be! The name Pacer is going to take some getting used to! I remember them asking for suggestions for a name on Facebook near the beginning. I suggested Circuit Smasher which I think is better than Pacer!

[blackwiggle]

I asked a series of questions to PURDISC at R8 specifically about the PS4 port of PACER and got the following information.....By the way, here's some unexpected news, they didn't get a publisher, they are self publishing, so obviously the name change was entirely theirs as well.

I requested the 'Players Met' function be implemented a year or so ago [It was mandatory on all PS3 games,but up to the developer if it's active on PS4 games], the request was noted and he is checking to see if it can still be implemented, so here's hoping, he said he'll get back to me on this topic.

There will be 3 servers, one in Europe [Amsterdam apparently ] one in the USA [Dallas] and a third somewhere in the Asia pacific region, as yet to be decided.

PACER will be able to have 10 players online at once.

Cockpit view will return, but post launch....strange.

Just like HD/FURY/OMEGA players will be able to choose which server to use, but unlike OMEGA, and more like the PS3 version of HD/FURY, players woun't find themselves booted from a server not in their area....so good news there.

PACER will be a 60 FPS 4K PS4 PRO optimized game.

I asked if players will be able to change HUD's....NO

I asked will control/button remapping be available in game or will you need to use the PS4's Advanced settings.....He wasn't sure, and will get back to me, but added. I’d assume remapping will be functional within the limits of what we can do with the PS backend

Will air brakes have a % adjustment.....Yes, but not as we know them in Wipeout......they will be able to be modified within the CARD system.....[So very limited in comparison from my experience with this in testing, but I expect the new game to have tweaked this]

It was mentioned previously that the were going to change the perceived ride height of the craft, I asked if this has happened for PACER......the reply was...........Slightly - we’ve overhauled our camera system - not sure what we’re doing with the Nose cam but we know how important it is to some of the best AG racers

I asked will craft skins be changeable for team events [a double loaded question ].....reply was.............Not on launch but we plan to look at team play soon after launch which would inevitably have a Team skin function.

I asked how many craft configuration can you have saved for immediate recall.......reply was....I’m not sure on the actually limit but I’ve seen well over 20 - how many do you need?

I asked if they will be handing out any BETA testing codes, and he replied as far as he knows they will be using the standard SONY beta testing group

[Concealed Sequence]

Thanks for the as always, very informative post blackwiggle ☺

[Lion]

Similar to the above post from blackwiggle relaying the Steam post, this was the content of the Kickstarter email:

Dear patient, beautiful Kickstarter backers
Late? You’re not kidding!
As we’ve said many times in the past, we realize this has been a long time coming. We weren’t around at the start but we’ve certainly got stuck in to make sure as much of what you were promised is fulfilled.
Press Release
In an hour or so you’ll see our press release, announcement trailer and Steam post telling the rest of the world what’s about to happen with the game you pledged money for. We’re talking to you just before this goes out publicly to emphasize how important you are to us. Without your backing none of this would have happened! We’re about to deliver you a game bigger in scope, quality and content than was promised to you back in 2015.
13291e41df1ccbaabee887d8fe043508_original[1].png
Pacer
First off, we’re changing the name of the game from "Formula Fusion" to “Pacer". Based on the same game you’ve already seen but better in every way…and there’s more of it! Many reasons for changing the name but principally it was to give us a clean break from what went on in the past. When we say "clean break” we’re still using all the amazing Designers Republic graphics from Formula Fusion plus a few more you haven’t seen yet.
To be clear, everyone who paid and received the Steam version of the game will get a free upgrade to Pacer. Everyone who pledged for a digital copy of the game on PS or XB platforms will get Pacer. We’re about to remove the Purchase option from the Steam store while retaining the Store and Community Hub. In the meantime existing owners will still be able to play the game.
With Pacer you’ll get the same original 8 tracks but polished and reworked to the same level as our 6 new tracks. A total of 14 tracks in Day/Night, Forward/Reverse and even Mirrored options. We have a new physics system, AI and Campaign mode. More customization, more skins, more weapons, new Modification cards plus new Single and Multiplayer modes. A new multiplayer system with Spectator Mode, Tournament Mode, Ranked Races with ELO scoring for a true global Leaderboard as well as regular Time Trial Leaderboards. Languages TBA. See the News post on Steam… and, oh, did we mention an 8 track OST from Cold Storage?!
Marketing Campaign
We are on a road tour to show the game at the events We are on a road tour to show the game at the events below:
SXSW, Austin TX, GDC, San Francisco CA, and PAX East, Boston MA,
and we’re going to have the same build playing at
EGX Rezzed, London UK, 4-6 April (in the Unreal area)
Insomnia64, Birmingham UK, 19-22 April
Play Expo Manchester UK, 4-5 May
London MCM Comic Con, 24-26 May
E3, Los Angeles, CA, 11-13 June
We should love to see you at any of these events so you can get a taste of what’s to come. Meantime we’ll be posting far more frequently on Kickstarter, FaceBook, YouTube and Twitter as we run up to launch. You will be the first to know about our launch date.
Pledges
We’re going to honor all of the pledges that can be fulfilled; almost 95% of all rewards. For those which can’t be completed we’ll be contacting you directly via Kickstarter offering a full or partial refund or an alternative reward to suit. As we said, we didn’t originate or design this Kickstarter and some of the rewards and promises made to you were as unrealistic then as they are now. We will soon be contacting everyone to check online and physical addresses are still correct and confirm what you’re going to get.
Before you ask, the Formula Fusion tDR Art book is being made and will be shipped physically or in pdf format as per your order. It will also be available for sale in a slightly different format at the Designers Republic online store.

Glad to see at least some lip service to the kickstarter rewards. I was a Gold TPP backer, and apparently backed the kickstarter to the tune of £160, so I am keen to see something for my money.

As a side note... anyone remember when it was called SlamJet Racing?

[Concealed Sequence]

Yes I do! That seems like a lifetime ago!!!