"A racing sensation unlike any other game."

PlayStation 3 is picking up speed and WipEout HD is taking you along for the ride. Get an in-depth look into the game with its Development Director, Clemens Wangerin, of Studio Liverpool.

Can you take us through a potted account of how WipEout has evolved over the years?

Since the release of the original WipEout back in 1995, every iteration has offered something new to the player. The team decides before the start of every WipEout project which area of the game will be targeted for revisions, replacement or expansion and always takes great care not to mess up the fundamentals that contribute to the lasting appeal and success of the series.

A very good example of this is Zone mode, which first appeared in WipEout Fusion [PlayStation 2] in 2002 and has been present in every WipEout game since. Another example is Barrel Rolls; these first appeared in WipEout Pure [PSP] in 2005 and will also be present again in HD.

Perhaps the biggest evolvement for the game was the introduction of eight player multiplayer in WipEout Pure on PSP. This added an extra dimension to the WipEout experience. Needless to say, this is now a staple feature for the franchise and online play forms a major part of the WipEout HD experience. Online is the game mode that's provided many intense and enjoyable competitions within the development team.

What were some of the challenges in creating the game and how did you set about overcoming them?

Right from the start, we set out to create a game that would run at a maximum resolution of 1080p and at 60 frames per second to showcase the performance PlayStation 3 is clearly capable of. Because WipEout HD is our second title for the format (the first was Formula One Championship Edition), we were able to draw on our experience and achieved the goal we set out early on.

After that, the biggest challenge was probably deciding when the game looked beautiful enough. Creating the visuals was a very iterative process and with every step we cranked up the visual quality another notch until we arrived at the captivating look you see today. For us, WipEout HD is the most complete vision of WipEout we have ever created and one of the best looking PS3 racing games out there.

Can you give us an idea of the sort of incidental stuff that happens in the game that players may not notice because they're too wrapped up in the high speed races?

WipEout HD is absolutely chock-full of visual detail that players won't necessarily notice the first few times they take to the track. For example, in Time Trial, the players' Ghost Ship (representing their fastest time) is a 3D Hologram being projected by a small, light-emitting robot that circles around it. Another good one is that the computer displays inside the cockpit of each ship are actually working.

As with practically every WipEout game, we take great pride in the quality and level of detail we put into the world around the racetrack, so we encourage everyone to take the time and have a look around each level to find their own highlights. That's actually one of the reasons we've included Photo Mode in WipEout HD, which enables players to take a photo at any point during a race and save it as a JPEG to their Photo folder in the PS3 Home Menu (they're saved at the screen resolution the game is running in). And these photos make great PS3 wallpapers!

Music obviously plays a big part of the series - what was some of the decision making in choosing what sort of tracks would make it in WipEout HD?

Compiling the soundtrack for each WipEout game is always one of the most fun aspects of working on the series. There are several development team members who have a real passion for the sort of electronic music the series usually features. We either receive suggestions from the music licensing department or we have specific acts in mind that we'd love to have on the soundtrack.

Generally, we always look for music tracks that have an immediate impact and that add to the experience of racing through the world of WipEout at breakneck speeds. It's important that a music track kicks in and peaks relatively quickly.

A race in recent WipEout games is usually over within a minute and a half to two minutes, so you need a music track that gets going quicker than something you'd hear on the radio for example. Thankfully, a lot of the music creators are willing to produce remixes or revised versions of their tracks for a WipEout game, so that they fit the bill.

What were the main considerations when trying to strike a balance between racing and weapons?

The debate of racing verses weapons is one that WipEout fans around the world have been having since the first game. We are aware that for some fans there shouldn't be any weapons at all and it should be all about the racing. Others enjoy the fact that WipEout successfully manages to bring the two together in one game, as it introduces some unpredictability into each race and can level the playing field a bit as well. Since weapons can be absorbed to regain lost energy, they also bring an added element of strategy into the races

Including weapons also means that weapon pads are embedded in the track (you fly over them and automatically collect one of the weapons) and these are usually positioned off the racing line, forcing the player to make a choice: pick up a new weapon or take the ideal line.

To cater for those that prefer no weapons when racing, the RaceBox feature in WipEout HD allows players to customise the type of race they would like to have including the option to switch weapons on or off.

Can you expand on some of the plans for online/downloadable content that will available for WipEout HD?

WipEout HD offers global online play for up to eight players and includes Single Race and Tournament (up to eight races in succession). Voice chat during races is also supported.

Full details of our plans for downloadable content are yet to be announced. Ever since the release of WipEout Pure pioneered the concept of downloadable content for PlayStation formats it has played an integral role in the series and we're not planning on disappointing the fans. For now though our focus is on ensuring we deliver the best possible game with the initial release.

What are some general tips on how newcomers should approach the WipEout experience on a whole?

Anyone who's completely new to WipEout should make use of Pilot Assist, a new feature we've introduced in WipEout HD. Pilot Assist basically helps players piloting the ship by keeping it pointed in the right direction and away from the sides of the track. The assist can be switched on or off at any time in the Pause menu.

Another good place to start playing WipEout is Zone mode, as in this mode the ship automatically accelerates leaving the player free to only think about steering. Since Zone mode initially starts out slowly and then gets progressively faster, it's also a good way to learn the flow of the tracks.

One of the key things for newcomers is to get their head around the fact that the vehicles they are controlling do not have wheels and are floating above the track surface; they're essentially very, very low-flying aircrafts. Once they get the hang of it though they will enjoy a racing sensation that's unlike any other game out there and exactly what has made the series so popular over the years.