[Loudninja]

Interview with new gameplay
http://www.gametrailers.com/video/fi...karting/729752

Two part in-depth interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uQNF...feature=relmfu http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RulOD...feature=relmfu

More importantly, the game's controls feel natural, comfortable and less 'loose' than those of ModNation. Drivers are easy to keep centered on the track, even while drifting. In Karting's default control scheme, ModNation's controls have also been reversed -- pressing X now controls the gas and drifting is controlled by R2. (You can swap this from the pause menu.)

Like any good LittleBigPlanet game, Karting features a wide array of customization options, allowing players to create tracks, characters and even weapons from scratch. Customization is controlled through the same Popit menu found in LittleBigPlanet, and everything from steering wheels to horn sounds to chassis can be replaced while customizing karts within the Pod. This is one example of what makes Karting unique. While plenty of games feature a track creator or allow characters to be dressed up, LittleBigPlanet Karting gives players access to the same level editor as the game's designers. Nearly every element of a course can be controlled, from the frequency of weapon spawns to the appearance of the track itself. This fits perfectly in a franchise famous for letting players build things from scratch.

These weapons are a big part of multiplayer. According to United Front, Karting's suite will include Battle Mode, waypoint races, treasure hunts, score attacks and more. We tried out Battle Mode, an eight-man deathmatch that can be played either locally or online. The goal of battle is to use weapons like seeker missiles and straight shots to hit other players and earn points, and the result is one of my favorite parts of LBP Karting.

Karting did have a few noticeable technical issues. Like ModNation Racers, the game features long load times when loading a new track, though ModNation's percentage wheel has mercifully been replaced by a fly-through of each course. There were occasional framerate dips and clipping issues as well, though it's worth noting that this was an early build of the game specifically marked as a "work in progress." ModNation Racers was a great game that was held back from its full potential by a few flaws. While LittleBigPlanet Karting still has a long way to go, it's already an incredibly promising step up for United Front and a great new direction for the LittleBigPlanet franchise. Plenty of new details have yet to be revealed, so it's probably a safe bet to expect more info at E3 in June.

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/122/1224027p1.html

The Verge preview

An obvious improvement at this early stage is the load times, which in ModNation Racers motivated players to take bathroom breaks or read Russian literature. Here, they have been significantly trimmed. The included stages are also more elaborate and vertical with big jumps and steep hills. Height allows the player to get a view of the rest of the track, making the game feel bigger. Like a real kart racer, not a trifle made by a dedicated fa

All tracks and modes will have asynchronous multiplayer, even those tracks made by users. Ho was careful not to reveal if the asynchronous system will be on the level of Need for Speed's Autolog.

http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/...g-and-slapping

[Sponge]

I absolutely loved Modnation, and since the same team is making this that gives me a lot of reasons to be excited.

[DMPrince]

Karting did have a few noticeable technical issues. Like ModNation Racers, the game features long load times when loading a new track, though ModNation's percentage wheel has mercifully been replaced by a fly-through of each course.

i don't expect them to get this fixed. other than that sounds good. will eventually pick it up.

[ReaperXL07]

So does this pretty much mean that Mod Nation is dead, and being replaced with LBP? Thats abit of a shame if true to an extent, I love LBP but I really liked that Vinyl toy style of MNR.

Either way, this looks like alot of fun to me, so i'm interested.

[Thrakier]

I really hope that the controls will be fixed. ModNation was horrible. Controls and framerate destroyed any fun potential. 60FPS or bust.

[The Albatross]

Platformer on wheels? But Trials came out two weeks ago :)

[jett]

Karting did have a few noticeable technical issues. Like ModNation Racers, the game features long load times when loading a new track

Ah hell one of the devs said that they had fixed this. :/

[Don'tBeWeird]

Come on UFG, fix those loading times. Don't let me down.

[V_Ben]

See, with most games I'd say that the loading will be optimised as it gets closer to release. But, this is UFG.

[Loudninja]

Ah hell one of the devs said that they had fixed this. :/

Well...

An obvious improvement at this early stage is the load times, which in ModNation Racers motivated players to take bathroom breaks or read Russian literature. Here, they have been significantly trimmed. The included stages are also more elaborate and vertical with big jumps and steep hills. Height allows the player to get a view of the rest of the track, making the game feel bigger. Like a real kart racer, not a trifle made by a dedicated fa

http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/...g-and-slapping

[jett]

Well... http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/...g-and-slapping

That's encouraging

[Oni Jazar]

Karting did have a few noticeable technical issues. Like ModNation Racers, the game features long load times when loading a new track, though ModNation's percentage wheel has mercifully been replaced by a fly-through of each course. There were occasional framerate dips and clipping issues as well, though it's worth noting that this was an early build of the game specifically marked as a "work in progress."

FAIL FAIL FAIL FAIL. Any racing game with these two problems are absolutely worthless and that point needs to be nailed to the forehead of every single developer, designer and product owner of that project.

But hey, keep working on those customization options. I'm sure people will love to mess with those since it'll take to long to actually... y'know... race.

[Phoenician_Viking]

An obvious improvement at this early stage is the load times, which in ModNation Racers motivated players to take bathroom breaks or read Russian literature. Here, they have been significantly trimmed.

Yeah, that´s what people who play MNR do when the game is loading.

[Carl]

If it takes 3 years to load, like MNR, i aint buying

[Phoenician_Viking]

See, with most games I'd say that the loading will be optimised as it gets closer to release. But, this is UFG.

can´t SSM give them a hand or a 1000 :P

[Kazuma Kiryu]

i really wanted to try out modnation racers, but man those load times were awful. Really want to give lbp karting a try, but they really really need to fix that.

[Loudninja]

I really hope that the controls will be fixed. ModNation was horrible. Controls and framerate destroyed any fun potential. 60FPS or bust.

Its 30FPS.

[GuitarAtomik]

I'm still intrigued. Haven't had a good kart racer in a while (I hated Mario Kart Wii).

[KalBalboa]

I really hope that the controls will be fixed. ModNation was horrible. Controls and framerate destroyed any fun potential. 60FPS or bust.

60 FPS or bust = self-fulfilling prophecy of disappointment.

ModNation was a joy, for the record. My buddies and I had many a great night of four player split screen racing.

[Izick]

Sounds cool! I haven't played a good kart racer in a long time. It seems with all these new games, Sony is trying to make the PS3 the new N64, and I'm down with that. A little kart-racing, a little mascot fighting, I'm down with that.

[mclaren777]

I would love to see it include a hardcore mode that drops the power-ups and essentially requires a steering wheel.

[SykoTech]

More importantly, the game's controls feel natural, comfortable and less 'loose' than those of ModNation. Drivers are easy to keep centered on the track, even while drifting. In Karting's default control scheme, ModNation's controls have also been reversed -- pressing X now controls the gas and drifting is controlled by R2.

Thank goodness. But drifting being controlled by R1 would be better. Seriously, what's so hard about following the CTR setup? I hope there's an option to fully customize the controls and get drift set to R1.

Everything else sounds pretty great though. I skipped ModNation, but I probably buy this.

[Loudninja]

If the default AI is bothersome, you'll be able to tweak that as well. "All of the AI is as easy or as hard as you want it to be in your custom levels… You can give them different personalities, you can give them different objectives, to try to dogpile after someone for example. The AI is very deep for customization." Perhaps the most exciting aspect of LittleBigPlanet Karting's creation mode is the ability to create more than standard races. While MNR offered a truly great track-laying kit, all you could really do was create new courses. United Front Games is taking a page from LittleBigPlanet 2, by offering players the ability to create their own game types as well. "If you are familiar with the scripting language of LittleBigPlanet 2, you're going to feel right at home," Ho told us. "We can script this so that it's not just a race, it's about hunting for things. It could be a deathmatch battle on a track--all those possibilities are available to you."

http://www.shacknews.com/article/736...dnation-racers

[Mikey Jr.]

Hopefully they learned a lot from Modnation, and also listened to the fans. I have hope.

[dallow_bg]

Yeah, that´s what people who play MNR do when the game is loading.

Did you not get the joke?

[Ranger X]

Well, I see a positive in the controls change. I might find the drifting fun now.

[petethepanda]

Considering the devs I'm not even flirting with the idea of being excited for this until we know it has a stable framerate.

Interview with new footage on GT. Has those lovely MNR-esque framerate drops but I guess I'll hope they actually smooth those out this time.

[Oni Jazar]

Considering the devs I'm not even flirting with the idea of being excited for this until we know it has a stable framerate. Interview with new footage on GT. Has those lovely MNR-esque framerate drops but I guess I'll hope they actually smooth those out this time.

Fourth time's a charm?

[Loudninja]

Considering the devs I'm not even flirting with the idea of being excited for this until we know it has a stable framerate. Interview with new footage on GT. Has those lovely MNR-esque framerate drops but I guess I'll hope they actually smooth those out this time.

Looks so awesome, thank you for the vid.

They said they were going to fixed the frame rate,we see how that goes though.

Fourth time's a charm?

Well going by Verge they did fixed the load times.

I think IGN just talking about the tracks load time.

[dralla]

What bothered me about MNR was that the tracks had no personality, nothing distinct, since everything was built using the in-game track editor. Other kart games have iconic tracks, like Rainbow Road, that just aren't possible when using a limited set of creation tools. I really hope they fix this in this game, I really want this game to be good, it's such a perfect fit..UGC and kart racing.

[jett]

What bothered me about MNR was that the tracks had no personality, nothing distinct, since everything was built using the in-game track editor. Other kart games have iconic tracks, like Rainbow Road, that just aren't possible when using a limited set of creation tools. I really hope they fix this in this game, I really want this game to be good, it's such a perfect fit..UGC and kart racing.

This is a problem with LBP as well. I don't remember a single level from that game.

[Thrakier]

Its 30FPS.

Well...that was that.

[newjeruse]

This is a problem with LBP as well. I don't remember a single level from that game.

LBP has no personality? Come on, man. It's overflowing with charm. That cake level is the best confectionary-based level in videogame history. Hands down.

[mclaren777]

Considering the devs I'm not even flirting with the idea of being excited for this until we know it has a stable framerate. Interview with new footage on GT. Has those lovely MNR-esque framerate drops but I guess I'll hope they actually smooth those out this time.

I hate the look of that drift mechanic. In fact, it's probably enough to keep me from buying this game. :(

[jett]

LBP has no personality? Come on, man. It's overflowing with charm. That cake level is the best confectionary-based level in videogame history. Hands down.

I uh don't remember that level. :lol The game had some personality and charm sure but the SP campaign was meh and forgettable for me. In terms of level design nothing really stands out.

[Tim-E]

I would love to see it include a hardcore mode that drops the power-ups and essentially requires a steering wheel.

It's....a kart racing game based on a cute platformer. Stylistically, that would make no sense.

[The Omega Man]

Its 30FPS.

maybe on ideal conditions, judging by those videos the frame rate is going down way below that, I guess frame rate and load times are not really a priority for these developers, maybe they have some sort of statistics or market research done and they know they will loose some sales because of that but the majority of gamers won't notice these things and will buy regardless? I mean they have to know that their games have long load times and sub-par frame rate, right? right?

[Tucah]

Just seeing "a platformer on wheels" makes me want another BK Nuts and Bolts :(

[Loudninja]

maybe on ideal conditions, judging by those videos the frame rate is going down way below that, I guess frame rate and load times are not really a priority for these developers, maybe they have some sort of statistics or market research done and they know they will loose some sales because of that but the majority of gamers won't notice these things and will buy regardless? I mean they have to know that their games have long load times and sub-par frame rate, right? right?

An obvious improvement at this early stage is the load times, which in ModNation Racers motivated players to take bathroom breaks or read Russian literature. Here, they have been significantly trimmed. The included stages are also more elaborate and vertical with big jumps and steep hills. Height allows the player to get a view of the rest of the track, making the game feel bigger. Like a real kart racer, not a trifle made by a dedicated fan

http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/...g-and-slapping

[The Omega Man]

http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/...g-and-slapping

they said the same after the modnation beta, that they were aware of the frame rate and long load times.
how did that turn out?

[Endo Punk]

Im sort of embarrassed on behalf of the team. They wanted Modnation Racers to be a LBP equivelent for Karting and now they are working on a LBP Karting game instead of a sequel to the IP they created. The irony lol.

[Loudninja]

they said the same after the modnation beta, that they were aware of the frame rate and long load times. how did that turn out?

What? are you talking about.

Thats from a preview.

[Phoenician_Viking]

Sony should have given this game to a competent developer.

[Teppic]

I wonder if you can change the character you're racing with. That was a great thing about ModNation Racers. I really liked Sackboy at first, but now I think it's such a boring character. Customizing Sackboy wont be the same thing as riding with Snoopy in his airplane.

[Callibretto]

they said the same after the modnation beta, that they were aware of the frame rate and long load times. how did that turn out?

That article is preview of the game. Verge think loading time is much better than modnation, while ign said loading is long. Dunno who to believe.

[BHK3]

Framerate and loading times still aren't fixed?

Jeez, get it together. A whole game with a couple patches and the 'sequel' is inheriting the issues?

[Callibretto]

I wonder if you can change the character you're racing with. That was a great thing about ModNation Racers. I really liked Sackboy at first, but now I think it's such a boring character. Customizing Sackboy wont be the same thing as riding with Snoopy in his airplane.

I always though modnation customization with draw your own texture etc is the culprit for long loading time? Dont know if it's true

[Callibretto]

Im sort of embarrassed on behalf of the team. They wanted Modnation Racers to be a LBP equivelent for Karting and now they are working on a LBP Karting game instead of a sequel to the IP they created. The irony lol.

I wonder who approach who. I have feeling yosp is the culprit, or maybe mediamolecule is really do think of expanding and modnation is in their way. Lol

[The Omega Man]

What? are you talking about. Thats from a preview.

I know those are journos impressions, but "significantly trimmed" may still be long for all I care, one of the developers said the same on psn blog once regarding the long load times on the beta, he said load time and frame rate were greatly improved for the retail release, and we all know how that turned out.
That's what I am getting at. "significantly trimmed" "greatly improved" is not really saying anything, until we see the game running for ourselves, we won't be really sure of how "significantly improved" are the load times.

[Seventy_X_Seven]

they said the same after the modnation beta, that they were aware of the frame rate and long load times. how did that turn out?

I got MNR long after release after all the patches and stuff and had no clue long load times was ever an issue. In the updated version I played that thought never crossed my mind.