BallisticNG is presented as a love letter to wipEout; written, you could say, from the present to the past. But the present is supposed to be about the future. I am writing hate mail to Pacer, from the not-too-distant future to the present. Pacer presently sucks, and isn’t going to get well soon. The genre itself can get better, be reborn.
Nothing is such a sticking point in the anti-gravity racing genre as combat. REDOUT opted not to even touch it, going instead for pure racing*. Any title tipping a nod to wipEout has combat, because SONY brought a combat factor to the genre NINTENDO spearheaded. The problem with wipEout combat is the Arcade-style. Arcade-style combat is not meant to be taken seriously. Most racers enjoy Mario Kart, few take it seriously. Which is why it is not an eSport, despite its dominant popularity. Most will opt to play Mario Kart over watch, because while it isn’t serious, it is serious fun.
*I favor a dual approach, with both pure & combat classes of competition
A few of the problems with combat in AG Racing are the lack of time, the distraction of…driving. The controls too have to be kept simple, given the limited availability of buttons for console platforms. One solution which addresses the former is to lengthen straight stretches of track, allowing more time for targeting and getting ordnance off. The latter is a simple matter of developing exclusively for PC, which offers a full keyboard of buttons to slave for a much wider variety of hot-keyed tasks.
My designs solution to ‘distracted driving’ is to take steering and throttling out of the equation, making craft maneuvering far less precise yet, in context, extremely exact. A less demanding system of movement frees competitors for combat considerations.
And combat has to be serious, not action-y/comedic, damn certain not ‘Arcade-style’. I previously, briefly touched on loading out, which is a key part of it. Limited room, with less Weight being far more desirable for craft performance. Carrying your full arsenal with you, tailored to your needs and preferences, and available for use as you see fit, rather than ‘picking up’ firing queues like they are cards you are drawing and playing from the top of a TCG deck you’ve built to battle it out with another racer.
Combat requires situational awareness, also known as a HUD. The more tactical depth in combat, the deeper the HUD has to dive for an increasingly informational interface, the more immediately responsive it has to be via tight, efficiently activated inputs.
The selection of weapons too has to be carefully curated. I prefer to keep things fairly simple, with mines, mini-missiles/rockets, small & medium caliber guns and lacers, all on-boarded via a variety of “rigs” which either install internally or mount externally.
Counter and defensive measures have to be in keeping with tactics. I eschew the gold standard ‘god mod’ energy shield in favor of interceptor rockets, lacer and gun fire and various mines, as well as multiple layers of physical, customizable armors.
Finally, kills without respawns, at a minimum. Or even the thrill of ultimate kills…
Permadeath reigns supreme.
R U 2 QU1CK 2 D13 0R 2 SL0W 2 SURV1V3…?
