[bityard]

> Each new release was decidedly worse than the previous one. Compare the original PSX version (video) to the DOS release (video): The vertex lighting on the track is gone, everything looks flat, there is no transparency and the speedometer was redrawn by a programmer. The ATI Rage Edition (video) carried this mess forward, introduced visible seams in the geometry everywhere, somehow corrupted the software z-sorting and then screwed up the text rendering with ghastly letter spacing.

I played a lot of Wipeout XL on the Playstation in my late teens/early 20s. I mean a LOT. The only thing I really wished for (other than less frustrating maps and smarter AI) was a higher resolution and farther draw distance. At some point, I found the Windows version in a bargain bin at some store and snatched it up. 640x480 Wipeout XL would be glorious!

Unfortunately whoever ported it was brand-new to programming or something because they pinned the game speed to the CPU speed, or screen refresh rate or similar. Net result was that it ran way too fast even on a modest computer at the time. It's like nobody even bothered to test it. There was a patch floating around to fix the speed at one point, but there are so many other problems with it that's just far easier to run the PSX version in an emulator and call it a day.

[bityard]

I played the WASM version and the controls/physics feel about right!

For the other Wipeout aficionados out there, note that there IS a modern game on Steam called BallisticNG. Supposedly created by (some of?) the original Wipeout developers. It was one of the first things I bought for my Steam Deck when it arrived. Unfortunately, I can't make heads or tails of it. It doesn't seem to be the kind of traditional Wipeout game where you start off with slow ships on slow maps and unlock more as you work your way up. In Ballistic NG, it seems like you just sorta pick your ship and and your map and then go racing against the AI. Or something like that. Maybe I just can't figure out the menus, I'm not sure.

All of this is a long-winded way of saying I support this rewrite and hope to see it evolve to adopt Wipeout XL/2097 features and maps eventually. (But not Wipeout 3, that was a disaster.)

[jamesgeck0]

> It doesn't seem to be the kind of traditional Wipeout game where you start off with slow ships on slow maps and unlock more as you work your way up.

IIRC there isn't a lot to unlock. There's one or two locked ships and a bunch of paint jobs. It does have a Wipeout-style campaign (left-most menu option). Each set of races in the campaign mostly resolves around a different set of three maps with various modes and variations, getting faster and faster.

[happymellon]

As another commenter mentioned, I found RedOut to be excellent with lots to unlock.

It still doesn't have quite the same feeling that I had with Wipeout but it's fairly close.

[bityard]

I hadn't heard of RedOut, but it looks fun. I'll have to check it out.

[lukeck]

Thanks for sharing. I’ll check out Ballistic NG.

I would love love to see XL/2097 added. That was my favourite. Wipeout 3 was a close second. It was certainly quite different in tone though. In what ways did you find it a disaster?

[hitbyirony]

2nd'd, 3rd'd and 4th'd. 2097 was my favourite by far. Something about the controls was just right. None of the others has felt quite the same. I love seeing WipEout in there. But I long for 2097.

[jareklupinski]

i play ballisticng when i have 10-15 min to blow in between other things

i kind of like booting a game, going into a race, and just having it "go", kind of rare these days i guess

[fdsafdsava2]

> Unfortunately whoever ported it was brand-new to programming or something because they pinned the game speed to the CPU speed, or screen refresh rate or similar.

'twas common practice than you might think-- https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/List_of_CPU_speed_sensi... http://www.cpukiller.com/

[kanwisher]

WASM version ran fine on safari in osx, no speed issues