More Articles on Wipeout Pure
Full WipEout Pure DLC Details RevealedWipEout PureWipeout Pure Q&AFirst WipEout PURE DLC UnveiledSCEA Announce First-Party PSP Launch TitlesLatest Features
UK Exclusive: Lineage II Chaotic Throne Gracia FictionUK Exclusive: Dawn Of War II Q&A - Part 2The Bourne Conspiracy Dev Diary 4UK Exclusive: Dawn Of War II Q&AFar Cry 2 - Q&AUser Reviews
There are currently 0 User Reviews for Wipeout PureWrite your own review for this game today and you will receive 100 Gamer Points.
Click here to register
Wipeout Pure Q&A Feature
Derek dela Fuente
28/06/2005
Eleven years after launching the Playstation Wipeout returns to kickstart Sony's new handheld...
Returning to the franchise that first launched the Playstation brand and kicked off a culture surrounding the format, Derek recently had the chance to speak with Colin Berry, Lead Designer on Wipeout Pure, about the trials of bringing the futuristic racer to the PSP and what fans can expect...
"I personally believe that Europe may well become known as the āhome of the PSPā Europe really wants this machine, its just lovely."
How would you best describe what the āWipeoutā brand stands for in gameplay terms and what fresh ideas will āPureā offer gamers?
In terms of game-play I think Wipeout is synonymous with speed, yes it is a combat racing game but at its heart it is all about controlling a ship at high speeds with the emphasis on racing rather than the weaponry.
There are several new ideas we have implemented and some āold ideasā that we have brought back. Most importantly was a return towards the original dynamics, not copying them exactly but using them as a base for how the game felt. We no longer wanted the ships locked to the track as with the PlayStation 2 version; we wanted the freer, āfloatierā feel to return. That was the basis for the name pure which subsequently flowed through other aspects of the game. As for new fresh ideas we have introduced two new elements to the handling, the ability to side-shift the ships and also the ability to perform a barrel roll in the air, both of which add extra layers of depth to the game-play. There is also the new feature of recharging energy by absorbing weapons rather than using pit-lanes.
Then of course there is the dedicated zone mode levels, the classic tracks housed in all new environments, multiplayer Wifi play, downloadable contentā¦. so despite some older ideas returning we have freshened up many aspects of the game. Pure was never intended to be a remake of one of the earlier titles; it was more a case of taking elements that worked previously and then building on them and adding new features to compliment them.
It is a mix of familiarity and freshness.
Are they any important considerations you have to take into account when developing on the PSP and what are you initial thoughts on it?
The machine itself, I love. The size, the screen, the power, Iām just a huge fan and I hope and think it will be a huge success in Europe. I personally believe that Europe may well become known as the āhome of the PSPā Europe really wants this machine, its just lovely.
As far as developing on the PSP is concerned in respect of game-play we didnāt have too many issues to take into account regarding Pure. Handheld gaming is associated with quick bursts of play, snack size game-play experiences I suppose; Wipeout by its nature lends itself to this pretty well as it is, as a result from a game mechanic point of view it was not hugely different to developing for a home console in that nothing had to be sacrificed or fundamentally changed. The features of the PSP also allowed us to introduce new aspects to Wipeout that hadnāt been done before, wireless 8 player games and allowing downloadable content being two big new features.
What improvements ā“ adjustments have you made regarding the physics and 3d engine that drives the game and do you see āPureā as a big continuation of the brand?
The entire game was written from scratch, as mentioned above with regarding the dynamics and flight model we used earlier versions of Wipeout to influence our base model and then expanded from there. The collisions ship to ship and ship to wall have been improved, the physics and handling models of the ships are quite complex there are numerous figures and statistics controlling the feel and performance of each ship and indeed the AI.
As for pure being a ābig continuationā of the brand, thatās what we hope. There has always been a certain style and feel associated with Wipeout and we believe we have captured that and advanced it. Pure is not an attempt to recreate the original Wipeout, we just wanted to make a really good kick-ass version of Wipeout for the PSP. I wouldnāt say it was back to basics as some people have, more a case of a rebirth perhaps, taking elements from the past which have worked well and adding features to expand that. The first Wipeout was launched in Europe with the PlayStation One and it is nice that we are now launching Pure with the PSP hopefully putting Wipeout back into the minds and hands of many people.
What are some of the track styles on offer and how do you go about designing them and have you had any feedback of wish list from the public?
The style of zone tracks and classic tracks simply came from the amazing imaginations of our art team. The design of the track layout for the zone tracks was also influenced to an extent based on how the mode works.
Regarding the main tracks in the game, from an artistic point of view the decision was taken to base the game on the same island, all the ideas spawned from that. The design of the tracks themselves, the track layouts, came first (before the artwork). We have a track tool, that allows us to build and test rough tracks quickly, each track that āhas somethingā then goes through many refinements until we are completely satisfied with how it plays.
Inspiration for the track designs can come from many places, you also need to look at the context of the track within the game structure, and you can not over complicate the first track for example. As for feedback or a wish list from the public we did have an eye on the results of a poll on a fan site (wipeoutzone) regarding favourite tracks for previous versions of the game but really thatās as far as it goes. We do keep an eye on what the fans of the game say and want regarding all things in the game; fortunately with Pure we seem to have pleased most of them so far.
Can you also tell us about the controls and how much time and focused effort has gone into getting them perfect?
One of the key areas of the game from a design perspective was the controls and the feel of the ships. Early on we decided that the ships should be reasonably well balanced, we did not want an obvious ship hierarchy with one ship being far better than the rest and we wanted all the ships to have strengths and weaknesses that was our aim. An awful lot of planning regarding the balance of the ships was done on paper early on, followed by a period of fiddling with numbers and some trial and error to get the balance and feel right. It was a very important aspect of the game for us and one which we are happy with.
Given the button layout and design of the PSP we also decided to introduce an alternative control method which some players may prefer. This alternative method slightly alters the controls of the airbrakes and side shift maneuver.
Tell us about the weapon on offer and one of the devious ploys to win along with the basic rules of the game.
There are 10 pick ups in the game, 7 of which are weapons, 3 of which are none offensive pick ups (Turbo, Shield and Auto-Pilot). Old favouriteās the plasma bolt, rockets, quake, missiles, bomb, and mines return as well as one main new weapon, the disruption bolt which has 8 or so different effects; when you hit a ship with it you donāt know what you are firing at them most of the effects will be detrimental but there is one effect there that could actually aid the person you hit slightly. There is also weapon to weapon collision which allows the player to use rockets or missiles to destroy mines or bombs that may be in their way this can be useful and it is not something immediately obvious.
What downloadable material will there be and can you expand on the Wi-Fi link for multiplayer gameplay and what it offers?
Downloadable content, Iām unsure as to the full plans and we keep thinking up new things we could download to extend and expand the game experience but at the moment I can say for sure there will be 16 tracks, 4 ships, 8 front end skins and quite a few music tracks. Downloading new content also opens up new league structures and there are a couple of other things we are looking into. The game was designed with extra content in mind so itās not just bolted on it seamlessly, integrates into the game. The content can be accessed from in game using the PSPās Wifi capabilities to connect to the internet to download content, or from the website www.wipeoutpure.com by connecting your PSP to your home computer using a USB cable and following the instructions on the site.
The Wifi multiplayer aspect is relatively straight forward; up to 8 players can play together in a single race, time trial race or league. The host has the option to allow downloadable content (such as new ships) to be used in the multiplayer games or not.
There are no pit lanes and energy is absorbed from unwanted power-ups. How this work does and what improvements does it offer?
We felt that pit-lanes had had their moment in Wipeout and it was time for a new approach. One issue we always had with pit-lanes was that you might take a lot of damage just after the pit section as a result you would be conservative through your next lap as you tried to get back to the pit-lane. We decided to introduce the new system whereby you absorb a weapon instead of simply ditching it, and by absorbing it you are given some energy back. This allows a player to get energy back pretty much anywhere around the track. A side effect of this is that it becomes trickier to destroy opposing ships; however this is a side effect that we see as a benefit as part of the whole philosophy of the game was to focus more on the racing than destruction.
Allowing the player to absorb weapons for energy instead of firing them also creates dilemmas for the player during the race, if they are chasing first place and are low on energy yet carrying a missile, do they absorb the weapon and hope to consolidate 2nd place or do they try and shoot the leading ship and overtake them but run the risk of destruction.
The change was something of a leap of faith, we felt it worked well and played well and weāve been pleased that the response to this change has been positive.
Tell us one fact about the game that is not commonly known about the game?
Erm, the alternative hacker skin came about as a result of the Lead Coder deleting a file by mistake, we liked it so much we kept it.
TVG thanks Colin Berry for taking the time to answer our questions. Wipeout Pure is scheduled to form part of the PSP European launch line-up on September 1st 2005. Weāll have more on the title soon.
Anonymous
Date Added:Thu 15th Mar 2007 15:07