ZONE / Zone Battle thread of vEry awEsomEnEss

[BlackStar]

Hehe, I plateaud for quite a while, made it to 80 / 60 numerous times, and I kept messing up the right left curve after the starting line. Then when I switched to Qirex I managed to get some perfect laps on supersonic. Well, there aren't many moments that feel that good I'm trying to get to 100 before the end of this year, but the speed increase after 90 is just mind-blowing.. can't even imagine how things must be at 140+

Hehe, a boxed Wipeout HD autographed by the one and only ProblemSolver himself... that would be awesome.. problem is, I wouldn't want your sig only, there are numerous others Reach 160 quickly so the box will bend as well Then everyone should be able to sign it

Lol, that was 2 days ago

Current record : 105, 72 perfect zones, 285K. Leaderboard not updating *sigh*

Words cannot describe the moment when I heard her say

Zone One Hundred

Clear!

And 10 seconds after that,

Perfect Lap!

at 97-98 my heart started beating like an idiot. Had a small crash due to that, but maintained focus. Still, just a few moments later it was, crash pinball pinball crash crash end

Nevertheless I did it 110 is my next goal

[QjonPL]

Be prepared that there won't be any "Zone one hundred and ten" announcement

[BlackStar]

Be prepared that there won't be any "Zone one hundred and ten" announcement

Hmm maybe for the next expansion
Anyhow, I don't think anything I do in the Zone will ever beat "Zone One Hundred.. Clear....Perfect Lap"

[QjonPL]

I had that

[yeldar2097]

I turn off SFX in zone mode so I never hear that, gonna have to turn them on just to say I've heard it

[ProblemSolver]

Ok, lets see how this Audi Home Space (i.e Vertical Run) works out.

"Audi to Launch PlayStation Home Space Next Week [yesterday]"

I haven't that much time to play games atm, can somebody check it out and
write something about it over here? Perhaps some more sceenshots and
things alike?

[Reezy]

Getting down to the final beepy shield and surviving for another 10 zones is pretty cool
Still not beating your best score on Syncopia though is not

[plasma_king]

Similar zone experience for me. I was stuck at zone 72 for ages (I just couldn't get the hang of the all black colour scheme at Mach 1 level) then had a long break concentrating on fury campaign. Upon my return to zone mode I owned it and got my Zone Zeus trophy. Admittedly not at first time of asking!

Funny story - I wore my jogger's heart rate monitor to see how much the adrenalin was affecting me - I was at 138 bpm on from zone 65 onwards! That equivalent to a reasonably fit person jogging at about 5.2 mph! It is official... playing WipEout is actually cardiovascular exercise!!! =D

I'd also like to say that I recently found out about the cheat on Anulpha Pass forwards some people use to get their multi-hundred-thousand scores - deliberately bailing on the overpass and simply taping the D-pad down to keep it going for ages - and I think it's despicable. There should be some kind of patch made that doesn't allow scores obtained in this way to be posted on the global leader board.

How do other people feel about this?

[SaturnReturn]

I think there are some opinions on it in this thread:

http://www.wipeoutzone.com/forum/sho...d.php?p=136947

If you do a search for 'zone' and 'glitch' you'll probably find plenty. I think the consensus here is that it's pointless getting the trophy using the glitch, and generally people specifically tried to not share the youtube link so as not to increase awareness of the glitch. I think it was maybe removed with an update. Or maybe only the glitched times were removed from leaderboards. I'm not sure, actually, but someone will know better than me, as I don't really do Zone mode. The answer is on the forum somewhere too.

[yeldar2097]

The glitch was removed with a patch but some (sad, annoying, worthless etc...) people deleted the game and re-downloaded (so that no patch was there) in order to get it. This is why there are still glitched scores above ProblemSolver.

[Dark_Phantom_89]

Funny story - I wore my jogger's heart rate monitor to see how much the adrenalin was affecting me - I was at 138 bpm on from zone 65 onwards! That equivalent to a reasonably fit person jogging at about 5.2 mph! It is official... playing WipEout is actually cardiovascular exercise!!! =D

Lol I never realised that, that's pretty cool

*Goes to play some Zone to get exercise"

[ProblemSolver]

About Vertical Run:

<rant on>
Whoever worked on this project, esp. the developers / programmers, deserve to be
punished for releasing such an inferior product. And I don't compare to WipEout HD
ZONE, no, not even close. The controls, the collision, the car itself, the
overall behavior is worser than anything out on this planet. Even an ape would
come up with something better by slamming a keyboard long enough! I got much
better racing games back on my Amiga 500 like for example Stunt Car Racer and
Indianapolis 500 -- a one-man project!

I'm getting sick of inferior products and of developers who have no idea of what
they are doing. Step the f**k off, please!
</rant off>

Having said this, there is actually a good thing about VR. The sky-line makes
up for a good reference point and the way the camera is handled (it doesn't
rotate with the track) makes you experience the bending / curvature of the
track a lot better. I would really love to have an option for WipEout HD to play
that way as well. Given smart developers, VR has potential.

Getting down to the final beepy shield and surviving for another 10 zones is pretty cool ...

Right. I wish that everything would be much more intense. For example, the final
beepy sound should be much stronger at the end, and even a voice would be cool
saying something like, at 10% energy; "structure integrity lose ...", and
at < 5%; "warning: structure disintegrating ... warning: structure
disintegrating ..." while the controller starts rumbling and the frequency of
the beepy sound peaks somewhere at 150 bpm at 1% energy. Yeah something along
these lines. Additionally, it would also be cool to have a voice indicating the
status once you recover from low energy like; "all systems nominal ...", while
recovering from 5% energy back to 15% for example. Anyone?

... Funny story - I wore my jogger's heart rate monitor to see how much the adrenalin was affecting me - I was at 138 bpm on from zone 65 onwards! That equivalent to a reasonably fit person jogging at about 5.2 mph! It is official... playing WipEout is actually cardiovascular exercise!!! =D ...

Yes, it is. Since I know when my pulse is at about 140 bpm due to some intense
workout session, I can say that I had some zone session where my pulse was way
beyond that. At some point it must have peaked at 160 bpm. I got to a point,
while zoning, where I was thinking about to lay down my controller due to a
very high pulse. I got this feeling two or three times. I still remember the
race to zone 100 on Anulpha Pass or the mission beating down Vineta K at
supersonic speed. This was so exhilarating!

Despite running ZONE at high pulse is pretty awesome, I want to say that
anyone who got some heart issues should not try to play ZONE to its
limits! Seriously. I would encourage the developers to include a message of
this kind within the game. There might be some people out there trying to beat
the hell out of ZONE having heart issues. It's not worth to lose anyone in the
ZONE, despite it's the second best way to die -- but that's just me.

... people deleted the game and re-downloaded (so that no patch was there) in order to get it. ...

This shows that SL has removed to fault entries by hand. I'm rather questioned
whether we will see a clean leaderboard some day.

[ProblemSolver]

I think that the color schemes for ZONE should really be extended. Color schemes
are a kind of reward and as such should be taken more seriously within this
regard. Many racers were so pleased reaching a certain color scheme for the
first time, esp. supersonic on Anulpha Pass. Putting more and even more
sophisticated color schemes into ZONE would perhaps draw more people into it,
since seeing all these schemes in motion with his / her own eyes makes all of the
difference. I know some people that never liked ZONE that much, initially, but
got into it after going for all the color schemes.

For those who are interested; if you wanna make some new color schemes for ZONE,
a pretty good starting point would be to record a ZONE run and modify the color
palette of the recorded video thereafter. Another and perhaps better way would
be to take a single image and recolor it to create a mock-up of what may become
a new color scheme. However, all these methods are limited to some degree since
one can only tinker around with the color. Much more sophisticated color schemes
can only be created by modifying WipEout HD's ZONE shaders. For example,
chromatic effects all over track combined with some nice spectral colors would
need much more serious work. For example, look at the following picture;



With a bit of imagination one can create some pretty stylish and clean color
schemes. Or just take a look at the opening animation of WipEout HD (HD & Fury)
where the crafts fly though that reflecting tube. Pretty cool.

I think the experience of ZONE can be much more enhanced by just creating more
stunning color schemes, which, to some degree, should also play a rewarding
role. I also can imagine having different sets of color schemes that become
available after having seen all the current ones or after reaching a certain
zone or whatever. I hope Rita may have some time to build some new color scheme
for us that would make our jaw drop in full enjoyment, again!

[Cyberio]

Few days ago i raced online in a combat zone mode. Yes, the first online combat zone i see in months!

[Koleax]

PS, regarding new zone colors, you have seen this thread, right? Still needs some work, but it does appear that several color and effects values are being altered.

Also, simply changing the hue, tint, color temperature, color balance, and other such settings on your monitor or television can produce some interesting and pleasant changes.

Cy, that must have been when you raced me last. Any new competition out there?

[yeldar2097]

Crikey I'd completely forgotten about that thread...might have to have a proper syncopia run on some of that, yet to try it properly besides R&D-type stuff

[Koleax]

I just went to supersonic on AP after setting the hue on my TV all the way to the right, so that light blues were more indigo, pinks more red, yellows more green, and so on, and I really liked the shades of blue.

Pretty cool if you just want to chill with some new colors, but not necessarily alter their balance and richness like the bug does.

[Cyberio]

Cy, that must have been when you raced me last. Any new competition out there?

Yes, another yesterday!

I have luck around 1 am (gmt+1), when a combat zone appears.

And new record, zone 97 (syncopia of course). But still don't arrive to 100. Anyway, i'm around 94th, so still i'm in top 100.

[ProblemSolver]

@Koleax: I've seen this thread, but to be honest, I don't like it. And it's not what
I'm looking for. Well, I had discovered this bug before anyone did, I still have
the images on my disc, but I didn't wanted to make the developers aware of it
for some very good reason (fixing other bugs) and, personally, I don't like to
post glitched images because they somehow break the illusion the artist has
created. But I do understand that this is a cool thing to explore. Some pictures
do look very interesting, but most of them are just terrible. Another thing is the
title, if anything, why not saying 'Glitched Zone Color Experiment'? However,
don't take me too seriously ... it's just a personal thing.

@Cyberio: Not much zoning from my side at the moment, because I spend my
time getting used to the dpad for normal races. There are quite a bunch of
things I have to iron out and to get used to.

[Koleax]

Did you ever use the bug to uniformly change the zone colors? I'd be very interested in seeing your pictures.

I initially labelled the thread "new zone colors" because I was thinking about the possibilities and exploring more precise ways of doing it. That's also why I posted several ugly pictures along with the good, to say here is something new wild and crazy that might be tamed.

I understand how provocative it can be to post images of an artist's creation that were not intended to be viewed that way, however they are unaltered. The game was not modified and no artistic copyrights have been infringed. This is the game the artists created, whether they like it or not. As an artist myself I am intimately familiar with this acceptance. To produce something and publish it is to accept that it's out in public view, flaws and all.

Zone mode in Wipeout HD is one of the most beautiful things ever produced, but it's not flawless particularly with the default color scheme. From Sub-Rapier to Phantom it looks overtly girly and even menstrual. That combination of pink and red is not only unappealing but an affront emotionally. All the calming earth tones are over and done with in the beginning, then it's as if I'm interrupted by the rotten volcanic acrimony of a woman during her period. It even accompanies the sound of the word "rape" as part of "rapier," itself an aggressive point used to draw blood, and I wonder if Zone mode is trying to express some kind of indignant punishing message for my masculine sexuality. Now, perhaps this imbalance between masculine and feminine tones and the association it carries was unintentional and generally speaking that could be considered a "bug." It is nonetheless there and I don't find it appealing overall.

Consider then pausing this action and using photo mode to calmly examine the changing mood of the zone transitions as they're happening, revealing chaos. Then out of this chaos, using relaxed attention comes a logical order, and one discovers new deeper moods that were not there before. This is all "there" in the game whether the artists intended it or not. I'd actually rather it wasn't and prefer a more purposeful and customized approach, but it is still art, and it is the nature of art to be flawed and alive.

I had this reaction before I knew the lead Zone artist was a woman. Given psychological studies on differences in color preference between the sexes, perhaps that explains some of why it looks the way it does to me. Perhaps it does not. Other than knowing that "Rita" is a woman's name, I do not know Rita at all and do not mean any comments I make on Zone mode to reflect on her personally or any woman in particular. Just a snapshot of my own personal reaction to Zone mode and part of why I think the photo mode bug is so compelling.