Wipeout HD pilot assist

[Frances_Penfold]

Features of Wipeout HD's pilot assist are revealed in eLhabib's most excellent interview with Tony Buckley (http://elhabib.at/2008/09/08/elhabib...re-wipeout-hd/)

Sounds like:

1. Auto-assist will automatically be turned on for players that say they are new to Wipeout.

2. Auto-assist "kicks in" only when you are about to hit a wall.

3. When auto-assist kicks in, your speed is diminished by ~5%.

Personally, I think this is a good feature to make the game accessible to newcomers. I highly doubt that newcomers are going to be beating experienced pilots either with or without the pilot assist. I guess my remaining concern is that, somehow, the pilot assist will facilitate some sort of exploit that can be used by skilled pilots-- I hope this possibility was thoroughly evaluated by game testers. I also hope that pilot assist can be disabled for online matches, if so desired by the host.

What do you guys think?

[leungbok]

Well, if auto-assist low the speed (i thought about something like that, several week's ago), i don't think good pilots will have a big interest on this feature.
Looking at El Habib's video, it seems that the auto-assist help the player to drive on the middle of the track, and you know like me, that the best trajectories are often close to the walls. So i don't think it can be a big help for the best pilots (happily).

[Rapier Racer]

It's already been said that pilot assist does not work for multiplayer mode.

[Linchpin]

I think that it is good overall .
But maybe like you say , the host should be able to set a rule that forces pilot assist off for all players .

[eLhabib]

It's already been said that pilot assist does not work for multiplayer mode.

Really? Where? I am still a little bit concerned about a potential exploit with pilot assist. Picture a turn like the hard hairpin left right after the long starting right at Chenghou - there's some intense braking needed at phantom speeds. If pilot assist lets you zip through the corner at 95% speed, that's still a lot faster than flying it the normal way. I guess we will only know when we get the game in our hands.
Even if it's not in mutliplayer, it could still ruin the record tables.

[Task]

And there's no way anyone's going to get a record time with pilot assist on. Did you notice when it kicks in? Before you hit the wall by a significant amount. So the track is effectively narrower with pilot assist on. The fast line typically requires the full width of the track. So with that and what leungbok pointed out, I'm not seeing a chance of exploit.

That being said, if you're bad at Phantom or something, I can see pilot assist helping you at least get _somewhere_, which I'd say is pretty damn cool!

[Rapier Racer]

Hmm a search has turned out fruitless, I heard it somewhere I know I did damn it...

[Rubix42]

I'm no Wipeout Expert, I will never challenge on the record tables, ever.

I highly doubt that any pilot assist would be exploitable to get faster times. Like in Chenghou, on that hairpin, it's an assist, but I bet it won't let you take the turn at 95%. I'd bet that it continues to lower the speed the worse you do.

[Darkdrium777]

Strange RR I've been reading all about HD and I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe if you find it it will be one piece I didn't read... Anyway:

Pilot assist will help you take the hairpin on Chengou, but it won't be faster than without. The fastest way through is airbraking and staying very close to the inner corner, not possible with assist. Also, the chicane at the end for example is much faster without than with. Pilot assist won't be faster than without I am sure. Like leungbok said sometimes you must pass close to walls, well with PA (The inverse of AP xD) you can't do that.

[Frances_Penfold]

I think some of you guys are too optimistic that "there is no way" pilot assist would ever be used for an exploit

Little things of this nature OFTEN end up as the basis of an exploit in racing games-- "nose down" in Wipeout Pure/Pulse giving a speed advantage... perfect boost start coupled with perfect mini turbos in Mario Kart DS allowing you to travel unimpeded over any terrain... physics engine in F-Zero GX giving a speed advantage to heavy ships when turning. I'm sure the ultimate ramifications of such features as exploits weren't recognized during development or testing. People try things with video games that designers and testers would never have imagined.

My concern for the pilot assist is that it could turn somehow improve speed around corners-- maybe allowing a pilot to drive straight through a corner (albeit with a 5% speed reduction) rather than use the airbrakes.

My guess is that probably a good feature with no value as an exploit. I just hope it was inspected more thoroughly than, say, a U.S. presidential candidate may have researched his V.P running mate

Edit-- in terms of being able to disable pilot assist in multiplayer, that would be good-- but my bigger concern lies with whether pilot assist can be active for Time Trials and for Speed Laps.

[Lance]

I think that all the wannabe presidential candidates of the past couple of years are in reality pseudoclones of alien-abducted citizens who were sent down to replace the originals as psychosocial experiments in a decades-long study of humans.

------

I reallyreally hope that the Pilot Assist cannot at all at all be used to gain speed.

[Wip3ou7]

Well if you suck and then using it would be helping you gain speed right?

[Axel]

Well the good thing about this game being on the PSN network is that patches can be forced onto the client to update the game. Besides, you will need to have a upto date version of the game if you want to upload your time on the world rankings remember.

But yeah I was hoping for a greater decrease in speed, 10% would have been better IMO. But it will be interesting to see if anybody finds a exploit.

[chboing]

one solution would be : "have fun offline with all the exploit and great laps you can do with pilot assist, but be aware none of those will be usable outside the offline mode"

hence, no pilot assist in the top ranking, no pilot assist in online races (or switchable), no pilot assist in TT at all.
The only thing you can do if you're a god of pilot assist, is take your video recorder and youtube

[Axel]

Or have PA next to our TT scores on the record sheets to show that you used PA to acheive your times

[JABBERJAW]

I was thinking the exact same thing as El habib about the sharp turns. I have a really bad feeling that this is going to be the case, making it essentially fusion (wall riding = faster). I hope not though. I think this feature is completely unnessesary. The slowest speed is so slow, that getting used to it is not that bad. If it ends up making the race slower by a decent amount, then I don't care though. If the race is slower by 2 seconds compared to a perfect race, then it completely sucks, and the testing of the feature was not performed properly. Lets wait and see, but I hope that the programmers of this feature are reading this thread.

[Frances_Penfold]

I hope the programmers of Pilot Assist traveled into their future, which is our present, then read this thread, then traveled back to their past to change Wipeout HD so it is perfect for our future

What seems non-intuitive to me is that the slowdown is only 5% (if indeed that is what it is-- the interview in question said it was "about 5%" if I recall correctly). That seems like a pretty modest penalty-- though of course I haven't played the game, maybe it is right on.

[cybrpnk]

I'm pretty sure pilot assist was implemented more as a training tool for newcomers to get a feel for the layout of the track...I highly doubt pilot assist will be made available in time trials and speed laps...

As much as it may seem like pilot assist will help one achieve faster times, I reckon you would achieve even better times without it...each pilot has their own flying style and as mentioned before in another post, there is never really one definitive racing line in WipEout...

coupled with the fact the each team's craft behaves differently which will then affect the different flying styles...I don't see how pilot assist can help in understanding the little, more finer nuances to piloting...like pitch control etc...and achieving times better than a super proficient pilot that knows the finer skills like pitch control, side shifting...and *shock horror blasphemy!!!* barrel rolls...

Anyway...I don't know what I'm rambling on about...all i know is...I'm turning this one off as soon as I get my hands on HD...

[eLhabib]

I strongly disagree with the voices saying Pilot Assist is unnecessary. IMHO it is perfect for players who are new to the game. Why? Well, the true bliss of wipEout only comes out at higher speeds, and for a total beginner even Flash is blazingly fast, so he will be crashing all the time, not really picking up speed, and therefore fun. I just hope it won't be abuseable.

[ZenDJiNN]

I agree, Pilot Assist is something that's long overdue. I'm pretty good at Flash but when i have a go at Rapier or Phantom, it's really hard NOT to hit the walls etc.

I'm really looking forward to trying it out (once i get a PS3 of course).