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New ModNation Racers details

I really hope this game will be good, but I'm cautiously optimistic. It doesn't really matter how good the track editor and customization options are if the game itself isn't all that fun. Little Big Planet was an amazing level editor for a kind of bad platformer. The success of custom maps in a game like Starcraft or something is due to the fact that you can create things for a really good game, not because the options for creation are particularly easy or awesome.
 
Zissou said:
I really hope this game will be good, but I'm cautiously optimistic. It doesn't really matter how good the track editor and customization options are if the game itself isn't all that fun. Little Big Planet was an amazing level editor for a kind of bad platformer. The success of custom maps in a game like Starcraft or something is due to the fact that you can create things for a really good game, not because the options for creation are particularly easy or awesome.
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Definetely. I loved the idea of Little Big Planet, but it just wasn't fun enough to keep me around. Hopefully the gameplay in MNR is cohesive, because at the end of the day, an exclusive Mario Kart rip off could be just what the doctor ordered for the casuals.
 
Looks like Garnett Lee has done a 180 on Modnation since E3 (I know he already gave it props on an edition of LU):

GarnettLee great day with United Front Games and ModNation Racers. More on that Friday. Real kart racing action this afternoon was intense
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G4 has a preview up:
http://g4tv.com/games/ps3/62020/modnation-racers/articles/69145/ModNation-Racers-Hands-On-Preview/
The character creator is extraordinarily deep. At the offset I was given a choice of no less than 260 types of eyes. From there I could change their position, height,width, and even their size and slant. I could change the placement and type of each eye individually. From there I could choose to make my character’s nose, mouth, comprise their wardrobe, and add decals to give each racer a little flair. Every component of your characters -- from their clothes to their skin -- can be altered by giving the material a metallic, rubber, or cloth sheen. All told, this is a game that you could sink plenty of time into before starting a race proper.
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All of the customization in the world wouldn't mean jack if the core gameplay mechanics were broken. I'm happy to report that the game's kart racing is a lot of fun. A major part of the racing experience comes from drifting, something you're meant to be doing almost constantly as it fills up your boost meter, which is used in a variety of clever ways. Of course, it gives you a speed boost, but you can also use a pittance of your boost meter to pull off a side-swipe attack with a quick flick of the right analog stick. Its other use is that you can spend a quarter of your boost gauge to momentarily put up a shield protecting yourself from an oncoming attack, which is indicated by a blinking target symbol at the bottom center of the screen. Your boost meter, and how you decide to use it -- towards offensive attacks, defensive protection, or simply to gain an extra speed boost -- provides more tactical options than many kart racers out there.
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Finally, we were shown the game’s level editor. While a lot of games in other genres have featured level editors before, few racers have, and none have made it so intuitive. You create a track by initially paving the road. From there you can choose to tweak the track manually, or auto-populate it with all manner of boosts pads, item pickups, decorative backgrounds, and obstacles (like exploding barrel launchers or sheep). From there you can edit individual sections of the track and change things like road width, elevation, textures, and more. The backgrounds can also be changed drastically by altering the buildings, sea level, and even the placement of the sun.
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Sony's E3 2009 GOTS. Not buying a second copy of LBP (which I was mixed on anyway) to play the beta/demo/whatever, but I'll be buying the game day one!
 
Nothing on 2-4 split screen?

All those details sound great though. So a robust kart racer with great customization for both karts and players. And online racing to boot.
 
The preview sounds awesome, can't wait.
gladtomeetya.gif
 
Curiously, for a game that's all about customization, there is no way to tweak your kart's stats. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, however, as according to Lead Game Designer, William Ho, "There's no customization because we wanted the game to be fair to everyone. We didn't want someone to break the game and find a 'silver bullet' kart.
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i guess that's a good thing.
 
Is this another one of those GAF reactions where everyone is mum about the game when it is first shown and then it ends up being awesome, ala Demon's Souls?
 
Mirimar said:
Is this another one of those GAF reactions where everyone is mum about the game when it is first shown and then it ends up being awesome, ala Demon's Souls?
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Yep :D

I have high hopes for this game.
 
DMPrince said:
"Cart stats"
i guess that's a good thing.
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I think they said there are fast/weak, medium/medium and slow/strong karts to pick from, but no actual sta customization to keep it fair.

It makes a lot of sense. You dont want to mess up the balance of the underlying game, just the aesthetic on top by allowing people to craft so much of the experience.

I hope we get loops, gravity pads (think drive on the wall or upside down), and more stuff.
 
SolidSnakex said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3c36bV_MlU

4 player offline splitscreen, 2 player online split screen and 12 player online multiplayer.



I just hope that it doesn't have any performance issues. This is being made by former Black Box employees and that's a studio that's always struggled with the PS3.
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NICE!

Last I had hears it was 2p offline and aiming for 4. Now that is done. But the 2p online is also very very cool.

Looks like this will be newrly infinite variations of driver and karts.
 
4 player split screen cart racing in HD with uber customization, 12 player online, and an immense, intuitive level editor?

The fact that this thread is still less than one full page (as opposed to the 50 pages of "holy fuck I must have this game now" it deserves) should say something profoundly sad about this generation of gamers.
 
day 1. Looks awesome. Online will kick ass and so will all the tracks. I want remakes of real racing tracks now. the Ring with some jumps and power ups? Yes please.
 
HappyBivouac said:
4 player split screen cart racing in HD with uber customization, 12 player online, and an immense, intuitive level editor?

The fact that this thread is still less than one full page (as opposed to the 50 pages of "holy fuck I must have this game now" it deserves) should say something profoundly sad about this generation of gamers.
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Well said.
 
I should mention that while I am extremely hyped for this game, I feel like it has a pretty terrible name.

Example: I live in an apartment with a few other guys. I have no problem walking into their rooms rousing people up for a couple of hours of gaming with the simple words "Mario Kart?" But if I tried the same thing with the words "ModNation Racers?" I would be likely to get a serious "the fuck?" face. It just doesn't work all that well as a convincing brand.
 
HappyBivouac said:
I should mention that while I am extremely hyped for this game, I feel like it has a pretty terrible name.

Example: I live in an apartment with a few other guys. I have no problem walking into their rooms rousing people up for a couple of hours of gaming with the simple words "Mario Kart?" But if I tried the same thing with the words "ModNation Racers?" I would be likely to get a serious "the fuck?" face. It just doesn't work all that well as a convincing brand.
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30j5nis.gif
 
SolidSnakex said:
This makes me thankful for being able to customize tracks, because right away my feeling is that those tracks are way too wide. You have no chance of hitting a wall to knock your speed down which just turns it into a powerup fest.
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Hopefully you can set the width of the track before editing.
 
HappyBivouac said:
4 player split screen cart racing in HD with uber customization, 12 player online, and an immense, intuitive level editor?

The fact that this thread is still less than one full page (as opposed to the 50 pages of "holy fuck I must have this game now" it deserves) should say something profoundly sad about this generation of gamers.
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If it was called Call Of Duty: Modern Racer it would have 100+ pages. Instead we have a new IP with a wonky title, from a unproven development studio. Don't get me wrong, I'm hyped, as it looks to be incredibly fun, but cautiously hyped.
 
wow at that newest trailer. The driver animation is insane.

QUOTE=SolidSnakex]This makes me thankful for being able to customize tracks, because right away my feeling is that those tracks are way too wide. You have no chance of hitting a wall to knock your speed down which just turns it into a powerup fest.[/QUOTE]
You can and that is good in my mind too. I want some really windy narrow tracks like a rally race. Just drifting up and down a hill side.
 
i wonder how it'll handle multiple path and how elaborate can you get. if i create a FORK path and it end up all leading to one spot. will it connect or layer up?
 
The carts seems to feel great from those videos. I can't wait for this game.

Betaaaaaaaaaaaaa, where are you? (must be soon since there's some sort of blowout right now)

.
 
does anyone know if there will be a hood or bumper cam view?
 
Square Triangle said:
Why is it so hard for me to gain interest on this game? I loved LBP too.
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Same. I think it's the fact that this totally lacks the charm that LBP had.

This isn't gonna be $60 is it? It looks cool and all but come on.
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I usually hate when people say this but in this case.. I totally agree. This would be the perfect PSN title.
 
Looks good, will depend on gameplay. Neat idea.

But what's the deal with the helmets? Surely customising your character then putting a helmet over you defeats the objective a litte?
 
I was skeptical about this when they showed it at E3, but looks like this game is focusing on easy customization with solid kart racing. I cannot wait!
 
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