Hello, Mark here back for another developer post. Since we last talked, our North American and European Public PS3 Betas have exposed ModNation Racers to the world. These previews generated lots of great feedback and have helped us focus on key issues in these final months. I’m happy to say that frame rate, load times and race cameras have all improved.
In my last update, I talked about some of the more advanced features of Track Studio that we’ve used to create the tracks for the game. Today I’d like to talk about some of the cool props you can add to your tracks to make them fun, challenging and memorable! Dynamic Props are interactive objects that you can place on your track to enhance the gameplay.
We’re including a load of exciting things to place on your tracks, such as barrel launchers that shoot crushing or exploding barrels.
There are also ModBots, robots that move back and forth across your track and attack karts that get close. Some shoot flame, some will bounce racers off the track if they aren’t careful. They can be scattered anywhere, so it’s a nice touch if you want your racers to watch the road.
We’ve also included ramps for cool jumps, and launchers for shooting the kart over huge distances. We have barriers that pop out of the ground to test a driver’s agility, and flame vents to make any careless driver extra crispy! We designed them to be customizable, reusable and effective in a variety of different scenarios. The devilish setups we’ve put in our tracks are just the beginning of what can be done!
Highlighting a Dynamic Prop in Track Studio and pressing the Square button will pop up a dialog where you can adjust settings on how the prop behaves. For instance, you can dial in the height of a ramp, or change the direction of the Twister (a giant rotating platform). Adjusting these things gives you the power to customize your track to make it as crazy as you want.
Dial your ramp just right or you might hit some humps!
These dangers work well with gameplay incentives such as item pods or boost pads – give the racers a reason to brave the danger! For instance, use a Devastator (a giant stomper) and boost pads in combination with a popup ramp to let them jump clean over it, versus the faster, more treacherous route under the Devastator.
A whole gauntlet of Devastators to slalom through!?!
With so many Dynamic Props, and so many possible combinations, I can’t wait to see what the community comes up with.
Until then, check out our new trailer (above) that gives you a taste of all the insanity you can create with the toys we’ve built for you.
I can’t wait for this game!
will there be a sackboy costum?
cannot wait for this
Since that Sonic & Sega All-Stars racing game was garbage then I guess I will buy this instead. This seems to be the only thing that will be close to Mario Kart for the PS3 (not to mention you can even make Mario and his kart in this game).
I wonder if I can make any classic Mario Kart maps in this game. I guess I will try anyways. lol
Kind of off topic, but when i signed up for the free limited psp theme, before March,2, I never recieved a code. I entered my email several times. Any Ideas?????
I am so dying for this game! I know it comes out this Spring, but does anyone know of an exact date or at least estimate when it may release?
do we really have to wait until summer?
Was wondering, is this game REALLY releasing in Spring because it just seems too soon for me. Summer or Fall release seems much more better in my opinion.
Also, will there be a time frame in which we will know the release date, or at least which month you guys are projecting for this game to be released in? I’m suspecting you will tell us during GDC but I don’t know.
Finally, will the PS3 and PSP versions be released in the same day, or seperate like LBP?
looking forward to this game
are there going to be tracks that you can download & play offline?
I can’t wait for this game!!! This has been on my wishlist since it was announced!
Can’t wait. hope there are lots of in-air “tricks” too other then the horizontal car spin XD
Can’t wait to kick butt.
When will we get a release date? GDC?
Day 1 buy for me, it looks soo much fun.
I really hope you guys fixed the community system! The rating system was totally wonky in the BETA. Maybe more messed up than LBP’s! (Thats quite a feat, as LBP’s ratings system is just messed)
The first comments on this post make me worried that this will turn into another kids game like LBP did. Then again, there is a hardcore crowd in LBP too.
Wait… what am I saying? Any game rated E and published by Sony HAS to be good. Good luck on fixing the crazy community issues!
Will there be camera angle options? Most other race games give you an option to adjust the camera….
Also will Custom Soundtrack be supported?
I love this game btw i was in the beta
cannot wait for this game!
The game looks great but what would make the game a must buy for me is split screen functionality. Is the game going to support 2 player or 4 player split screen? I miss the good old days when multiplayer games could be played offline.
I’m also wondering if there was any way I could build a race track that purely goes downhill so instead of doing laps, it will simply be who can make it down the hill the fastest. I want to create a race track similar to the ones on Downhill Domination, one of Sony’s hidden gems on the ps2. thanks!
this would be a good came for my creative outlet! love props and environment-interactability! would love to be able to play my own music quasi-burnout paradise. :D
Have you fixed the ability to join others and race together? When I last tried this ability in the beta, it did not work, so I was only able to test ModNation Racers by myself (which isn’t as fun).
You can both invite friends to a race, as well as find and join races your friends are in.