WipEout launched in the UK alongside the PS1 20 years ago this week - and for the first time one of its creators has published its design document.
Nick Burcombe, who worked at UK developer Psygnosis on WipEout, gave Eurogamer permission to republish the design document, which includes additional pages intended to support the game's later US launch.
The document reveals details on tracks, ships, pilot backstory and game design. There's even a history of the anti gravity technology used by WipEout's futuristic rally. There are some cool playing tips in there, too, if you fancy revisiting the blisteringly fast racing game.
Wipeout works no problem on 0.74, just tested. Simply mount your CD-ROM drive (in addition to mounting the C: where a wipeout folder will be created for data) then run it from the disc. There is no install process and if there was one then it's definitely not authentic.
It offers some fantastic insight into one of the PS1's defining games, which went on to help secure PlayStation's place as the console of choice during the mid to late nineties.
Burcombe, who founded Table Top Racing developer Playrise Digital, offered some background on the document in a note sent to Eurogamer. We've republished it below.:
WipEout Design Document - A footnote for context.
I've seen some comments on the web already that this document is too loose and woolly and not a Technical Design Document, so I think it's only fair to give it a little context first.
This Design Document is really only a Game Direction Document. Of course, much more activity was going on in the studio in all areas, including programming, art and design. Many other chunks of the game design are not documented here at all. It's a real shame (from a personal point of view), that all the hand-drawn, paper designs for the race circuits are long lost to me - I would have enjoyed looking through those again.
So this was never meant to be a Technical Design Document in any way shape or form. In fact, it was actually my first ever attempt at a game design document and although I'd done some scripting work on the 'End of Level Bosses' for Microcosm and contributed to the action scripting for 'Scavenger 4/Novastorm', this was the first time I'd had a crack at figuring out the whole game - and as you can see, (36 tracks, reduced to 15, reduced to six in the final product), there was some inexperience at play, but I put it down youthful enthusiasm and optimism.
The goal of the document was that the people on the team could have some level of confidence that someone knew where the game was heading and what this futuristic racing world was all about. Yes there's a lot of fluff in it and it might come across as a pitch document to some, but if someone on the team had any questions about what we were supposed to be making, (rather than 'how are we making it', which would definitely fall under the 'Technical Design' remit), they knew they could come and talk directly with me and I would hopefully have an answer for them. As always in development, there were changes and compromises along the way, but in terms of getting the team pointing in the same direction - simple documents like this serve a useful purpose.
In fact, this is still how I design games now, Table Top Racing: World Tour (our new, console-led, follow up to our mobile hit Table Top Racing) only has a 'Game Direction and Scope' document rather than any technical design. In fact it's actually a Powerpoint with more visuals in it than I've ever put in a document before, and the main reason I can 'get away' with only using a 'Game Direction Document' rather than a technical design, is that I'm fortunate enough to work with brilliant, highly-experienced programmers, artists and designers who can extrapolate the 'intent' of any given design feature, add to it, improve it and then implement it directly in the game.
Besides, I couldn't write a technical design as I'm not a programmer, I'm only concerned with how it supposed to make the player feel and what they will encounter in the game. If you rely too heavily on TDDs to drive the game, it often leads to the creation of cold and lifeless games.
Game Direction and Team Confidence - that's the purpose for this style of document.
So why share it? Well it's 20 years since I'd seen this document and just four days ago, my wife had saved it from a 'blanket incineration of all my old Curlymonsters paperwork', so you can thank her. I initially shared this, mainly for those with a long-term interest in the WipEout franchise. I've also had a lovely warm feel of nostalgia reading back through it and so it seemed appropriate to post it in-line with WipEout's 20th Anniversary (EU release). I know the die-hard WipEout fans will enjoy comparing it to the final product and I hope they enjoy it. I also think that it would be great to see more of these type of documents online and so perhaps help demystify the process.
In summary: it might be loose and fluffy by today's AAA standards, but it was 20 years ago and I think the result speaks for itself. The whole team: Concept, Art, Programming, Design, Sound FX, Music, Graphic Design, Marketing, Legal and Licensing, PR, QA and of course, Sony who created a revolutionary ground-breaking platform that transformed the whole industry - the WHOLE team did an amazing job in creating something special.
WipEout, I think, has a unique place in UK gamedev history because it has that 'little something that can't be bottled', that help it transcend stereotypes and redefine who would call themselves a 'Gamer'. WipEout has a soul and I think everyone who worked on it over its 18 years of development can be proud of that.
Nick Burcombe
@PlayriseDigital
For more on the WipEout series, head over to Eurogamer's article, The rise and fall of Sony Studio Liverpool, in which we talk to WipEout developers about the famous racing series.
The futuristic hoverboarding of TrickStyle is more or less divided into two games. For people who enjoy performing tricks, the Challenge mode consists of various races and contests that often hinge on how well you can perform some of the game's 400 stunts. Complete one challenge, and you unlock more stunts you can use in the next. It's easy to burn time this way -- you'll start by trying to get your character to do certain stunt, and before you know it, a half-hour has just slipped by. And then there's the straightforward racing game, which will eat up the rest of your gameplay time.
Trickstyle's best accomplishment is its track design. The tracks are wide, expansive, and have almost no rules. There are power-ups and shortcuts in virtually every one. Feel like going under the bridge? Knock yourself out. Think you can jump that wall? Maybe you can. Want to see if you can go through that glass? Give it a shot. You have to hit the checkpoints in sequence, but other than that, you're free to do as you like.
At first, it might seem that the safest course of action is to keep the tricks to a minimum and keep the speed high, but many of the game's items, power boosts and shortcuts are impossible to reach without catching some air. TrickStyle does an amazing job of rewarding creativity and exploration, so even after you've beaten a track, the odds are good there's more to be seen and found the second time around.
The four major levels -- UK, USA, Japan and 'the velodrome' -- are all drawn beautifully. The vast settings range from subways to suspension bridges to gardens and canyons. TrickStyle is a gorgeous game, and although the character models are a tad blocky, they are animated very smoothly. The sound is consistent, but not overly memorable. The music keeps the pace up well with a kind of flimsy techno. The voice acting, though repetitive, can be a source of great amusement (Zak's especially).
If there is a downside, it's that TrickStyle lacks depth. Just as you begin to get truly interested, you run out of scenarios and settings. The average gamer should be able to complete the game in just about five hours of earnest playtime. Due to the ingenious track design, you could probably add a few hours if you feel like heavily exploring the various stages.
TrickStyle is an unquestionably fun mix of action and racing. Its slick graphics, fast-paced competition, and silky smooth operational stability make it an excellent addition to any hard drive. However, its relative lack of depth means that it doesn't amount to much more then a good diversion.
Graphics: Broad, colorful settings, bring a camera, you're going traveling!
![Crack Crack](http://www.vgmonline.net/images/features/interviews/timwright/promopostcard.jpg)
Sound: Amusing but repetitive voice-overs, and a soundtrack to match its tone
Enjoyment: A roller coaster of a game, colorful, fun, quite a thrill, but over too quickly
Replay Value: Vast worlds, very easy to miss items/shortcuts, plenty of reasons to go back
When I first picked up Trick Style, I noticed that on the back, next to some juicy looking screenshots, was the slogan 'Got the skills to get ill?' Little did they know, a wave of sickness washed over me. I imagined a room full of marketing executives in suits and ties, reading through a slang dictionary. 'Trust me Mr. Tate, all the hip kids love this new lingo.'
Being the devoted soul that I am, I read on, 'Carve it up all over futuristic Manhattan, London and Tokyo.' Choking back the bile that I could feel trying to race up my throat, I popped a refreshing mint in my mouth and continued my ordeal. Sadly, I happened upon the ultimate sin, 'Speed is cool but sick tricks rule!' Ill? Sick? The mint, valiant though it was, was not nearly enough. I spewed up chocolate cheery brown and egg-yolk yellow. We had to call the cleaners. Acclaim would be well advised to do the same.
Trick Style is a new hoverboard racing game and the first Dreamcast to PC port in history. It could be, if it worked, a light and entertaining racing game that wows with flashy graphics and amusing stunts. That is, like I said, if it worked.
You fire up Trick Style, negotiate its simple console based interface, select a racer, grab a hoverboard (think Back to the Future part 2, but with colorful streaks like in Akira), and then you begin to race around in something called the Velodrome (what the hell is it with 'dromes' anyway?). This is an arena from which you can select a race or compete in challenges to gain access to more flagrant stunts.
Once you learn the basic controls, master the basic stunts, and get a feel for things, you might very well try out a race. You and five other racers compete over medium-length, linear (non-looped) tracks located in future versions of London, Manhattan, and a flying Tokyo.
By now, you will have definitely noticed the slick graphics. Using an updated version of the Renderware engine used in Redline Racer, Criterion Studios, developer of both games, has created a very slick graphical package. The textures are sharp and clean, not exhibiting any of the blurryness common to N64 or Playstation ports (Dreamcast is good for something you know). Colored lighting is well implemented, character design is varied, track design is typically cool, and the special effects, such as the color trails left by your Hoverboard, Homeworld-style, are nice enough to look at. Still, you can't help but think that a game intended to put to good use the power of the Dreamcast could do far better.
Control is also a pleasant matter: your racer responds quickly, and you should have no problem pulling off some cool maneuvers in no time. The game spends a good deal of time forcing you to exploit environments like half pipes to really get a hang of the more advanced maneuverability. There are four basic stunt buttons (Ollie, SpeedLuge, Spin, and Drill), and these effects may be strung together to pull off more impressive stunt combos. There is also a stall control for extending the duration of some stunts, and a tight turn control for pulling all those tricky 90-degree angle turns.
It should be noted though, that the game is winnable even without using any stunts. You typically only have to learn stunts to get future stunts, which are cool to look at but will and up slamming you into a wall more often than giving you the advantage.
Playing Trick Style can be reasonably, though not extravagantly entertaining, (it being basically a gimmicky racing game, nothing too new). But it would be more entertaining if you could play without the game crashing, which sort of shoots the whole thing in the foot, causing it to fall down a flight of stairs, out onto the street, where it is run over by conventional cars which do not float above the ground.
Trick Style suffers from complete system freeze, hard-restart crashes. This happens more frequently with certain 3D cards, although there is a patch now that makes it run better. This makes the game a great exercise in frustration, especially when it crashes just as you are about to finish in 1st place, which is Trick Style's one and only victory condition, no Bronze or Silver medals here. Beyond that, there are some 'loading' times where your screen goes black and the computer does nothing for about 2 minutes. I'd guess it's probably just mentally preparing itself for the eventual forced restart.
Want to race online? No way. The only multiplayer supported is a split screen view that seems even more crash prone than the regular game.
Add that to the lackluster sound (except for the voices of the racially stereotyped characters, which are downright aggravating), and you end up with a average, unimpressive, at times frustrating game that needs a more serious patch than the one currently available. The flashy graphics just aren't enough to satisfy, and the tricks are nice, but unnecessary. Don't bother with this one until it works better, and the irate Asian racer no longer passes you while saying, with full chop-suey accentuation, 'sooo suuu meeee!' It's almost as nauseating as the slogans on the box.
People who downloaded TrickStyle have also downloaded:
Track Attack, Wipeout XL (a.k.a. Wipeout 2097), Re-Volt, Triple Play 2001, Triple Play 2000, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, Virtual Pool 3, Wakeboarding Unleashed featuring Shaun Murray
Track Attack, Wipeout XL (a.k.a. Wipeout 2097), Re-Volt, Triple Play 2001, Triple Play 2000, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, Virtual Pool 3, Wakeboarding Unleashed featuring Shaun Murray