Miss the classic Wipeout and feel the need for speed? BallisticNG is a fine choice and it just expanded with a DLC and a huge free upgrade for everyone.
First, the expansion! BallisticNG - Outer Reaches adds in 6 seriously cool looking tracks, each of which can be played in reverse giving you 12 options in total. A pack for big fans of the game who want more official tracks and looks to be worth picking up. Have a looksie at the trailer below:
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Direct Link
Direct Link
Now onto what's even bigger, with the BallisticNG 1.2 update. Honestly, it's massive. There's a bunch of new music, the Custom Race menu got a nice overhaul to be more streamlined and easier to use, multiplayer mod support expanded although "code mods" can only be used over direct IP connections to keep multiplayer secure, reworked lighting of tracks, two new game modes with 'Rush Hour' and 'Team Race', tons of improvements to weapon behaviours and the list goes on with AI updates, ship updates, bug fixes and more. Everything you would expect from a major post-release update.
There's also a bunch of new settings, allowing you to tweak the racing experience a bit further to your likely. New options include the ability to change screen shake intensity, muffled audio when in vacuums, custom track music overrides, cockpit audio filtering, fine tune the camera distance and more.
I definitely don't remember Wipeout being as challenging as I find BallisticNG. Even getting to grips with the correct amount of acceleration and good braking with the flaps is difficult enough, once you get it down though it's totally exhilarating and it works so wonderfully with good performance too. If you love retro-inspired racers like this, you should check it out.
You can buy BallisticNG and the expansion on Steam.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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15 comments
For people who have this game, how does it compare to Distance [Linux native] and Redout [proton]?
I haven't tried Redout, but compared to Distance, BallisticNG feels much more like using your reflexes to control your momentum and direction where Distance has a more arcade-like feel to the car. A bit like Distance's flying mode in high speed.
2 Likes, Who?
Thanks for the responses. To be far, I have Distance and I like it a lot, but only because I use it with a Logitech G29 wheel. I find it to be close to unplayable with mouse+keyboard, DS4 or the Steam Controller (even though I have not trying using the gyroscope). I wonder if I'll feel the same if/when I acquire BallisticNG.For me, the Steam Controller gyro works great for Distance but is way too slow/imprecise for BallisticNG - it really needs fast and precise input to control, especially on the side breakers. I do recommend that you pick it up though; it feels a lot like WipEout, with the training wheels taken off :P
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Distance is superior.Distance is a very different game from BallisticNG both in gameplay and theme. Distance is basically a platformer with bunch of acrobatics. BallisticNG on the other hand is all about high-speed hovercraft racing. As far as racing games go, they are very much on the opposide side of the spectrum.
It's a nice game, it's sad there isn't so much people playing it, I should check it out again.
1 Likes, Who?
I really like BallisticNG because it is very close to Wipeout 2097, which I used to play on OS X back in the day, which was ported by no other than Virtual Programming, mind you.
Last edited by omer666 on 22 July 2020 at 8:30 am UTC
Last edited by omer666 on 22 July 2020 at 8:30 am UTC
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"inspired by"... oh, yeah. The "inspiration" may perhaps be detected if we look real close. :D
Or how about we just call it what it is, "a blatant copycat of"? :D
Or how about we just call it what it is, "a blatant copycat of"? :D
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"inspired by"... oh, yeah. The "inspiration" may perhaps be detected if we look real close. :DYes indeed, but considering Sony isn't going to release a real good Wipeout anytime soon, I am glad that copycat exists.
Or how about we just call it what it is, "a blatant copycat of"? :D
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Yes indeed, but considering Sony isn't going to release a real good Wipeout anytime soon, I am glad that copycat exists.
I don't really understand how they are allowed to, to be honest. How they get away with this. Not plagiarism like this. Even the music sounds like it is like straight from Wipeout!
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I don't really understand how they are allowed to, to be honest. How they get away with this. Not plagiarism like this. Even the music sounds like it is like straight from Wipeout!You cannot copyright the feel, the gameplay style, or the rules of the game. As long as they are not using the code, or the assets from Wipeout, they are in the clear.
And to be honest, I don't believe it is fair to the developer calling it plagiarism. Ideas are a dime a dozen, but making a functional, well balanced, and fun game takes a lot of effort and dedication.
By the same logic SuperTuxCart is plagiarism of Mario Kart, OpenArena is plagiarism of Quake 3, PUBG and Fortnite, Call of Duty and Medal of Honor, etc. World is a better place by not going down this rabbit hole.
2 Likes, Who?
As long as they are not using the code, or the assets from Wipeout, they are in the clear.
So you're saying that I can make a game with a 60s themed "what if", post-apocalyptic scenario with a "popboy" on the protagonist arm, about vault dwellers exploring the wasteland filled with lawless "raiders" and a faction "The Brotherhood of Iron", seeking out technology for their benefit, and Obsidian can't do anything about it?
Because really, this game is not even *trying* to make a twist on the formula. It's even copying the vehicles being used!
By the same logic SuperTuxCart is plagiarism of Mario Kart, OpenArena is plagiarism of Quake 3, PUBG and Fortnite, Call of Duty and Medal of Honor, etc. World is a better place by not going down this rabbit hole.
It's very difficult to draw a clear line between where "inspired by" ends and "plagiarism" begins. Absolutely. But I personally think this particular game crosses that line.
Last edited by Beamboom on 23 July 2020 at 12:09 am UTC
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Well, first of all IANAL, but I would think that the story is copyrightable. Like you cannot just take Harry Potter, rename the character to Harriet Otter, rearrange the events a bit and be done with it. But other than that, yes you could make a post-apocalyptic game that follows the same general recipe, and uses the same gameplay elements (like a computer on the protagonist arm).As long as they are not using the code, or the assets from Wipeout, they are in the clear.So you're saying that I can make a game with a 60s themed "what if", post-apocalyptic scenario with a "popboy" on the protagonist arm, about vault dwellers exploring the wasteland filled with lawless "raiders" and a faction "The Brotherhood of Iron", seeking out technology for their benefit, and Obsidian can't do anything about it?
Because really, this game is not even *trying* to make a twist on the formula. It's even copying the vehicles being used!
Of course one can always try to sue, and that has happened. So if Sony really wanted to ruin the life of BallisticNG developer, they certainly could try. But Wipeout is not on Steam and definitely not on Linux, so I am glad that BallisticNG exists.
1 Likes, Who?
Yes. Why should anyone be allowed to forbid that and punish them with violence?
lol wtf are you onto here? Violence? Dude?
We also have dozens of open source game engines which do just that, so much that they even use the original game assets, like OpenRA, OpenMW and others.
To own the original game and import their original assets into a new engine is completely different. It's another complex legal discussion no doubt, but it's nothing to do with plagiarism.
Intellectual property is bullsh*t.
That's a personal opinion and irrelevant for the discussion of legality. I don't discuss the morality here - although I could very well do that too. But that's another discussion. :)
Last edited by Beamboom on 23 July 2020 at 10:51 am UTC
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I would think that the story is copyrightable. Like you cannot just take Harry Potter, rename the character to Harriet Otter, rearrange the events a bit and be done with it. But other than that, yes you could make a post-apocalyptic game that follows the same general recipe, and uses the same gameplay elements (like a computer on the protagonist arm).
That's probably the difference, yeah. Point taken.
And it's not like Wipeout were the first "pod racer" either. Nor the last. Plenty that follows the same general formula (obviously). But this game here is like a cheap Chinese copy of a product! :D
I just find it puzzling. But it's not meant as more than a footnote really.
Last edited by Beamboom on 23 July 2020 at 10:52 am UTC
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It is more of a spiritual successor than a "cheap" copy. I mean, is Cities: Skylines a blatant copy of SimCity? Is Road Redemption a cheap Road Rash? Is FIFA a Kick-Off ripoff? Oh I loved Kick-Off so much...I would think that the story is copyrightable. Like you cannot just take Harry Potter, rename the character to Harriet Otter, rearrange the events a bit and be done with it. But other than that, yes you could make a post-apocalyptic game that follows the same general recipe, and uses the same gameplay elements (like a computer on the protagonist arm).
That's probably the difference, yeah. Point taken.
And it's not like Wipeout were the first "pod racer" either. Nor the last. Plenty that follows the same general formula (obviously). But this game here is like a cheap Chinese copy of a product! :D
I just find it puzzling. But it's not meant as more than a footnote really.
1 Likes, Who?
It is more of a spiritual successor than a "cheap" copy. I mean, is Cities: Skylines a blatant copy of SimCity? Is Road Redemption a cheap Road Rash? Is FIFA a Kick-Off ripoff? Oh I loved Kick-Off so much...
Those mentioned titles are instantly recognisable, though. They got their own looks, own aesthetics. Their own identity (imo). So it's not the fundamental game concept I refer to. This game looks and sounds exactly like another game! If I were shown a video snippet I'd guess it was the PS2 gen version of Wipeout!
Check this video of Wipeout Fusion (PS2);
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqe2SdW2pck
It's even the same colour palette!
Last edited by Beamboom on 23 July 2020 at 12:19 pm UTC
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