(SSGX Origins) Let's make a Wipeout game! This time for real!

[docfo4r]

@dreads
Yeah I also think that logo is great! If you ask me: That's our logo!
Nice, I can't wait to see your work, but don't rush

I created some text for the voice in the pickup animation video. Some of them are informative only, others are a bit naughty, if you guys have other ideas or corrections, let me know. If not, I'll send the text over to be recorded & vocoded... [Maybe, dreads, this text might also help you for creating the symbols - would also be helpful for me if you can send me over each symbol in hq on an one-color background so I can key them out for the videos]

Turbo Highly compressed kerosene will be added to your engine for a brief moment pushing your ship infront of your enemies.
Phantomizer While your own ship is almost invincible, a hologram will be placed on the track distracting any autoaim-systems and confusing your enemy for sure.
Gravitron An intensified AG-Device makes handling of your ship easier as it won't take off the track anymore.
Teleporter Shoot a portal to travel through and recur some meters ahead. Beware that the portal won't last long and can be shot down by other weapons. Also enemies are able to use your portal.
Impulse If you have an enemy scratching your rear, use the Impulse to send out a shockwave that clears the track for you.
E.M.P. An electromagnetic pulse will turn off the AG-Device of the enemies close by. See them grinding on the ground while you're passing by.
Rockets Shoot two rockets in the direction of your ships nose. Immense damage on the impact when hitting the enemy ship.
Canon Shoot 30 bullets in the direction of your ships nose. A single bullet won't create much damage but unloading a whole magazine on your victim will definitely distract his raceline.
Missile In case you have an agile enemy ahead, use the missile to make sure to hit him since it's a homing rocket. Beware that the missile becomes a ricochet if the autoaim-system could not find a target.
Tractorbeam Send off a short laser beam in the direction of your ships nose. Whoever touches the beam will experience mediocre damage.
Tractortrap If you think your enemy needs a break, place a Tractortrap for him. If he traveles over it, he'll surely have a short moment to enjoy the ambience.
Magnets Drop some magnets onto the track and bring the life of your enemy out of balance if he is passing by close enough.
Mines If you need to make sure that nobody will catch up with you, place some mines on the track which slow down and damage whoever is travelling straight into them.

@Xpand
I like this music aswell... But will we have different music for each sub-menu? Maybe it might become a bit annoying then. Another option would be to have a playlist with just a few songs on random for the menu...

[Xpand]

Not diferent musics. I'm just showing some I have. We'll make a selection of them when the time comes...

[docfo4r]

Ah, okay alright.

[dreadofmondays]

You could simply randomly choose a music from a selection... pop up with a little box whenever you enter the menus that says: "Now Playing: X by Y"

[Amaroq Dricaldari]

I got a little too excited when I saw the number of people currently viewing the thread.

[vincoof]

Missile In case you have an agile enemy ahead, use the missile to make sure to hit him since it's a homing rocket. Beware that the missile becomes a ricochet if the autoaim-system could not find a target.

I don't know if it's the place/moment to talk about it, but isn't it a bit weird that a weapon strikes you ? I mean, apart from that weapon, nothing can turn against you (well, Turbo can be a bad idea sometimes but that's truly different), so having a single weapon that has a negative side effect doesn't seem right. At least not for a weapon that only is an homing missile.

I for one would take a risk of a side effect only for a huge weapon. For instance when I have a Plasma Bolt I sometimes run into a wall if it helps me hitting the opponent because if you hit him, he's almost dead. Big risk, big reward. With the above missile, the risk of hitting yourself is too high for the reward of removing only ~20%HP of some random opponent.

my 2c

[docfo4r]

Hm yeah I get your idea and I agree. Actually when I re-think about it, the behaviour is strange anyway. I mean, if the missile hits the enemy it will explode but if the missile hits the wall it will bounce off... So how does the missile know if it hit the wall or the enemy?
My idea: If the missile is triggered without a target it will just travel straight and explode on the next wall or whatever will be hit. This makes the weapon a bit more tactical aswell.

So the text could be changed to this:
Missile In case you have an agile enemy ahead, shoot the missile when the autoaim-system found a target to make sure to hit him. The missile will travel straight if it's triggered without a target.

Better?

[Amaroq Dricaldari]

The missile explodes when it makes contact with a ship's shields or engines (or when it runs out of fuel, in which case it explodes anyway). The reason it ricochets is for gameplay reasons. If it didn't ricochet, it would be only 60% as useful.

Missile
Category: Offensive
Range: Medium-Long
Ammunition: Single Use
Explosive: True

This long-ranged homing rocket uses a sophisticated targeting system, allowing it to lock on to an enemy vessel by tracking heat and energy signatures and cross-referencing the data with a continueous radar feed. Even if it fails to acquire a target, it is still a very devestating weapon.

While it doesn't turn very quickly, it is still a very tactical weapon as it can ricochet off walls, allowing it to hit targets that have just cleared a difficult corner series (such as a single (but not a double) hairpin).

[dreadofmondays]

I really did like the bouncing missile in HD though. Being able to hit an opponent around corners is a thrill, and hitting yourself because of a mistake or bad judgement (or just luck) is a thrill for the opponent, who escape the missile in a lucky way. Either way, a player has fun.

[docfo4r]

So it should have the ricochet ability as I can read...

@Amaroq nice text, I will just shorten it a little bit if you don't mind.
Missile - If you have an agile enemy ahead, use this long-ranged homing rocket which will lock on to an enemy ship by tracking heat and energy signatures and cross-referencing the data with a continueous radar feed. Even if it fails to acquire a target, it can be used in a tactical way as it has the ability to ricochet off walls.

Also some changes here:
EMP - An electromagnetic pulse will interfere with the electronics of the AG-Device used by enemies close by. See them grinding on the ground while you're passing by.

Animation for Turbo + Impulse are done, just need to add up voice & info text. Am rendering EMP now. So, do we have an official font I can use for the each title? The font from the logo, or something else?

[Amaroq Dricaldari]

It doesn't need to be that short. I tend to hear what I'm writing in my head, and it was about the same length as Hellfire_WZ's explaination (in his 'Basics' tutorial for WipEout HD).

Also, I don't know of any fonts, but I think we can make one. Just let me contact my good friend in Missouri and ask him to make us a really awesome font (he once made a Predator font, so I think he can manage).

[docfo4r]

Remember we just have about 10 seconds time for speaking the text. I don't wanna make every pickup half a minute long just to add some technical information which isn't really helpful, after all it's just about understand what the pickup does, not how the missile is developed etc. Hope you get my point So I'd keep the length like this.

About the font: I also think it's best if we create our own font instead of looking for something to download...

[Amaroq Dricaldari]

It isn't that long. I have seen weapon demonstrations in other games that are WAY longer. Plus, if we want it to look impressive, we may as well make it sound impressive.

[Xpand]

So I've been thinking of having a concept type racing class, where only concept ships can participate.
This would be a good spot for TypeProton's ships to fit in and I started redesigning other teams that we already have.
Here's a quick sketch of Solaris for example:
Attachment 6604

Sorry for the crappy picture quality....

[Amaroq Dricaldari]

Is anyone new asking to join the team? We seem a little... shorthanded.

[Oryx Crake]

want me to give my ships a going over for the prototypes too xpand?

[TypeProton]

So I've been thinking of having a concept type racing class, where only concept ships can participate.
This would be a good spot for TypeProton's ships to fit in and I started redesigning other teams that we already have.

Well, concept class idea is good and all but is there anything special to make it worth while for players?
I originally intended them (my teams) to be unlocked for player after completing each speed class or other team's campaign at most. With themselves having campaign of their own.
Also, more important stuff : Do we really agree on current weapon list? So I can stop worrying about it.

[zero3growlithe]

@Xpand: Heeee, where do you take these awesome ideas for ships from? xd
@Proton: Well.... i think it is ok (weapon list)
Anyway, my try to make music for ship selection screen (although i would prefer to make it ship modification screen music, aka "garage"): http://soundcloud.com/zero3growlithe/chose-wisely-wip
As for AI i've finally pointed out how to make it work as it should, they will make mistakes, they will have same possibilities as player, that is: make barrel rolls, use side shifts/air breaks, and of course they will suffer the same as player: slow acceleration (xd) and slow down on collisions. They will also dodge mines (if possible) and I'll make them want to take revenge on those who "bully" them Maybe I can add them some memory too so they'll remember you so u better be careful ^^

[vincoof]

Let's forget what I told about the missile thing. I once thought not hitting an opponent would make you the opponent (i.e. it searches hot engines and if there is no opponent hot engine your engine would be aimed). If it's a HD-like ricochet then I think it's fine. There is very little chance the missile hits you back and even if it does you're kind of lame to be stupid enough to send the missile on this L-turn that was just staring at you.

[docfo4r]

@vincoof, yep, agreed
@zero Awesome work on the AI. Now the word artifical intelligence really makes some sense here. I love the part that it's possible to make one enemy to go nuts on you if you shoot him all the time xD The music is nice aswell, I like it
@Proton yeah I'd also say the weapon list is set. 13 pickups, I wouldn't add more and everything in there right now is a good mix of classic stuff, low and high damage thing and some nice special effect stuff for your eyes xD
@Amaroq hmm yeah no-one new at the moment but I see we are moving forward anyways
And about the weapon animation. Ok, I agree something technical like a missile could be explained a little better but I wouldn't try to input as many technical terms in one sentence as possible. Imagine a 14yrs old will play this, he just won't care for that stuff^^ And you have to agree there's not much to say about things like a Turbo, actually everybody knows how a Turbo works. Soooo big question: Do you agree with the current textes? If you don't, then I'd ask you to create a text for each pickup by yourself. But still I'd go for something simple to understand. The video is meant to explain the basics of how you can use the pickup, I think the WOW-effect comes in when you use it yourself while racing

I'll clean up the G-Docs for now, I found it's a little confusing. And I will store a copy twice a month so in case someone is accidentially messing it up, we'll have a backup.

Further on I felt free enough to create a date for a Skype meeting [voice or text chat is both okay]. It'll take place if you guys are okay with it and if enough people have time to attend it. So we can discuss some stuff and post a summary here in the forum for everyone who couldn't make it. Check the date & time for your city here!

Side note:
Maybe you guys also read about the sad news that SL has been closed. The Wipeout future is uncertain but doesn't look good at all. Now it's our turn to make Slipstream the replacement for 2048 ^^