Jay's Speed Mod

[Frances_Penfold]

The way I see it is that we as a Wipeout community lack termini technici to describe techniques that are pulled off in a certain way EVERY time what as a consequence qualifies them as a method. However, at the same time, I am often under the impression that especially with Pulse, many stuff seems rather random and can't be reproduced that easily like in F-Zero or MK.

That is an interesting point that had never occurred to me I suppose there are several other advantages of this sort for MK: (1) mini-turbos punctuate one's racing line, and serve as a natural reference for describing it in text form (MT-L, MT-R, MT-R, hop the barrier, MT-L, MT-R, etc.); (2) MK supports replays, making it MUCH easier for time trialers to share strategies.

As Lunar and Jabberjaw mention, another complication with Wipeout is the crazy amount of topography that exists on tracks-- plus the existence of pitch control, side shifts and airbrakes as alternate means to steer the ship. It's hard to capture such complexity in text form, I guess.

On Pure the high level competion is there - look at the Vineta K TT tables and others. It`s not there in great numbers on Pulse yet, but it will be. Wipeout`s just not a hugely popular game, but I think the standard is very high all round - nobody is going to come along and knock chunks off the records on any game.

You may be right-- but I agree with Jabberjaw that it seems unlikely. In time trialing games where there is a high level of competition with numerous players, you usually see a significant decrease in record times each and every year. If you look at MK64, a game that has played HEAVILY for more than a decade-- most world records have been set in the past several years. (For example see: http://www.mariokart64.com/kart64/archive/wr.html).

Asayyeah and Mad-Ice and Flashback and others have managed amazing times with Wipeout Pure/Pulse but I suspect all of our current records could be improved upon, in many cases significantly, if there were more wipers out there playing

This may sound harsh, but a racing game where a record lap can be summed up by the inputs necessary?! That's just pathetic, and proves just how little of a real racing game MK actually is...

Heh, it sounds simpler than it really is. I grant you that MK has fewer controller inputs than Wipeout but remember, there is the mini-turbo mechanic that has to be hit in the right place and the right time. Besides, when players summarize their paths it's not like they are REALLY saying how many times they are pushing the D-pad, it's a simplification that helps with transcribing their racing line into text form.

I do not agree that MK is very difficult. It moves slow enough for over 50 year olds to eventually learn how to master it. It does not require quick skills, just acquired skills with practice (like nascar )

OH YOU GUYS

I think that you should dig up whatever version of Mario Kart you have lying around the house, pick a course and race it for an hour in time trials-- and them compare your times against those listed at Mariokart64.com. I think you will be shocked at how shitty your records are. As I mentioned before, I spent almost 2 years playing Mario Kart DS and wasn't anywhere near the top 10% for any particular course. With less effort in Wipeout Pure/Pulse I have 3rd, 4th, 5th ranked records on some courses using the ZONE ship of all things. Mario Kart is really ****ing hard to play competitively, I swear it

This thread may be the most destructive that I've read here in my five on-and-off years of posting here. It gets two stars accordingly. In time we'll look back at this and be ashamed of ourselves and the way most of us acted. :-

Admittedly there has been a whole lot of stupid in this thread, and I apologize for my contributions to the stupid. At the same time, I think this thread has been helpful for discussing real issues related to Wipeout time trials and the nature of competition at WOZ. I know that I have changed my mind on issues several times in the course of things, I suspect others have sharpened their thinking as well