Think I just answered my first question...red gates are for boost, but not required to finish, and the lap gate is black, right? I wasn't noticing...too busy drooling at the silky-smooth scenery!
You have to be within the gate's width of one of the pylons to move on to the next. Accuracy is important though as it gives you extra boost while being outside-but-close-enough takes some away. Terrain drivability is entirely down to the physics system. There are no invisible barriers or rules. It's entirely down to the boyancy of the ground effect cushion. WARNING: Potentially boring techy stuff below. Lift is created by measuring how much surface (land/water) is under the craft, how close it is and how fast the craft is moving. This up-force has to fight gravity. As you fly over land more "surface" enters the cushion, causing more lift. If a large bit of "surface" (a lump of rock, a steep slope) enters the cushion at high speed it can't generate enough lift quickly enough, the nose hits the ground and BOOM! It is sometimes possible to get over land you otherwise wouldn't be able to by slowing slightly (giving the cushion more time to apply it's upward lift), in fact this is vital for some of the shortcuts on later levels.
Okay, the shortcut info makes sense--thanks! I'll just experiment, and try slowing down occasionally. (Right now I seem to be an expert at smashing into islands on level four.) Was I right about the gates, though? That the black one is the only one you need to complete a lap? Sometimes skipping a gate gives me the "you missed a key gate" arrow the top of the screen, while other times I just lose boost.
You need to go 'through' them all but they are all (including the black lap gate) three times wider than they appear. Making it accurate gives a significant boost bonus. I wanted to reward accuracy but avoid people having to turn around and go back to the gate. The freedom of choice isn't about missing gates, it's about later levels where you get to pick your own route between the gates but I imagine, now you are on level four, you probably starting to understand that BTW I'm glad you're enjoying the graphics and your experience so far tells me that my objective of making the game challenging and fun at the same time are being met, so thanks so much for your feedback.
Yes, I'm helping out on this title in an admin capacity but I can honestly say, as someone who's never really played a game in my life, that I'm really loving it. I've managed to conquer Level 3 (mum would be so proud) and am still getting to grips with level 4, which I guess should not be too challenging (even for me) at this point, as it's a free-roamng one. I must say, I'm really looking forward to level 6 which is the first one with the big jumps (Twin Peaks). I've heard that it's really exciting and would love to hear from anyone who's got that far.
I passed level six, and it was fantastic. I am totally loving this game. The best way I can sum it up is: perfect for fans of F-Zero, not for fans of Wipeout. Not that there won't be crossover, of course, but that F-Zero was a pure speed/skill racer, just like this. Flying off of the high peaks rules...unless I do it on accident, and I'm heading toward a cliff! Thanks for the tips, Glenn. I guess I was hitting every gate, but I didn't know it since they were so invisibly wide. Back to work on level seven...
Blimey, I see what everyone meant about level four now. Took me an inhuman number of goes to finally get past it. Level five's a nice breather - second on my second attempt. (I got lost first time.) Right then - on to level six.
"Invisibly wide" is a great, concise way of putting it. I'll remember that next time I have to explain it
Sorry, you can't use that phrase. I have a trademark on the word "wide." I'm currently suing all major electronics makers for infringing with "wide-screen" televisions and "wide-angle" camera lenses.
Congrats. Moving up the charts today. http://www.topappcharts.com/335955369/app-details-ground-effect.php Best Chart Rankings* #14 in Racing Games on Nov 14, 2009 #63 in Action Games on Nov 14, 2009 #198 in Top Games on Nov 14, 2009
Glad to hear you enjoyed level 6 and those big jumps and I was also interested by your comparison to F-Zero - not heard that one before but I think you have a point (and so does Glenn)...
If I recall correctly, the F-Zero vehicles were ground effect racers, too, right? What makes GE so cool is that, instead of being stuck on a track, there is much more freedom to explore. In both games, though, there is a sense of speed and...calm, I guess, since there aren't weapons firing at you. This is even more true in GE, since you can't bump other racers. What's left is a pure enjoyment of movement/speed/scenery. Here's a short F-Zero movie...I played this course in high school. I would have flipped if someone had told me I'd have a better game in my pocket as an adult! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji089dLCLI4 [hqyoutube]Ji089dLCLI4[/hqyoutube]
Glenn, Ground Effect is amazing. The review should be up soon, and it's full of positive impressions, with a little constructive criticism.
Wow, that's quite a compliment, thanks! I don't remember the F-zero vehicles being called ground effect racers but that might have something to do with the fact that I played it on Japanese import when the SNES first came out and couldn't read anything about it! A few of us at Bullfrog got them shipped over because the port of our game Populous was, I think, one of the launch titles. Great, I look forward to reading it. Hopefully I'll have preempted some of that constructive criticism in the rev
Got to track 14 yesterday!!! Just rated the game five stars in eye tunes!!! Please say more tracks are coming!!!
