Hey, I hope this random idea is somewhat interesting to you. As always, if you have ideas like that yourself, feel free to tell me about them. As I mentioned in the video, I don't know if I am even able to make a video for next month. I will keep you updated on the community page of this channel! See 'ya then o/
I have to agree that for online multiplayer, we'd basically need a new game. That being said, I don't think removing the glitches and bugs from the 3D F-Zero games would necessarily ruin the experience, because the 3D F-Zero games are so batshit insanely fast in the first place and there's still quite a bit of easier but less broken tech left over, _especially_ in GX: QTs, momentum throttling, side attack dives, etc. On the 2D side, we kinda already got one in the form of F-Zero 99. Problem is it's a 99 player Battle Royale game so it's a massive clusterfuck up until the final course of a GP, and it's already starting to experience over-centralization in regards to viable machines. Granted, every machine is _technically_ viable but the Golden Fox is revealing itself to be the optimal choice for GPs, Mini GPs and most courses while the Fire Stingray remains the best pick on longer and more technical tracks. Thing is, on courses where the Fire Stingray is optimal, the Golden Fox is a close second, while on courses where the Golden Fox is optimal, the Fire Stingray struggles noticeably, which is why the Golden Fox is optimal for GPs and Mini GPs. Personally, I believe that Maximum Velocity would be the best option here. It has the overall best course design out of the 2D games (GP Legend and Climax are too focused on gimick tracks and SNES is racing hell) and really good balance apart from the Jet Vermilion. Although I'd argue the meme pick would be Hot Violet, not J. B. Crystal, as J. B. Crystal still has a decently long booster that's good for taking extended rough cuts while Hot Violet is just a worse SNES Blue Falcon (still somewhat viable, though).
I really disagree that a well-balanced and mostly glitch-free f zero wouldn't be f zero. GX would still be very fun with good balancing and no snaking or MTS
I remember watching head-2-head play in a GX tournament and almost every time, Fat Shark would be winning. The only time I saw it struggle was if there were tracks involving a lot of turns. But even then, it's just too powerful and overly dominant. For that reason, I can see that if F-Zero GX did have the online support people dream of, the competitive online scene would really need to give everyone else some serious buffs. Of course, that's what GX Unleashed does. The 2D F-Zero games can be a good time if online. But there the record setting machines have to be banned. That is, IF you want actually varied and competitive games. I've seen this one issue where for a time in various Pokémon scenes, players would often see the same or very similar teams far too often and considering that the 2D F-Zero games (at the highest competitive level) are usually dominated by a tiny 2% of the roster that's probably going to happen there too. As for the number of active players online. Everyone seems to be fixed on having 30 simultaneous players. That is just unrealistic for a high-speed racing series like this. I can't think of any racing game that does anything higher than 12. And even then, they're not as fast, to help with balancing. Mechanics do play a role at some point, as you mention, so some features may have to be cut (like snaking) if a game is going to look competitively balanced. Failing that, then they may have to disable Machine Settings so everyone races at 50% when online (both of which may be undesirable). Furthermore, in regard to Aero GPX, it's said that the dev didn't build this game with online play in mind. I can also see why: It's actually a lot more difficult to do so, regardless of the amount of experience a developer has. This video makes some good points on the matter: ruclips.net/video/eQt7TwCr6ao/видео.html Besides, before a game can be played online with others, the foundation (usually in the form of some kind of single player) has to be laid down.
I remember watching this GX 1v1, one guy used fat shark other used hyper speeder, the fat shark user won by a lot, could honestly imagine competitive gx just fat shark everywhere
i think a bigger problem than unbalanced machines and broken tech is the lack of interplay between racers. basically every game with a strong competitive scene, whether it's a shooter or a fighting game or a racing game, is designed to encourage and reward interactions between players. this is crucial for realtime competition. kart racers use items to let racers affect one anothers' races and sim racers have drafting mechanics and the the car itself can be used to physically block opponents on a racing line, but fzero doesn't really have anything like that. the machines are too quick to block one another effectively and the combat mechanics stop being a factor as soon as one racer starts to pull ahead. after that they might as well be playing time attack. imo this is a way bigger detriment to an active pvp community. you can have a broken or unbalanced game with a strong competitive scene but without that interactive element, there's just not much reason to play together at all instead of comparing time attack records.
Well said. It's true that the more ways to interact with other players there are, the more fun and interesting competitively the game is. However, I appreciate the strict grading curve F-Zero offers... Can you pull ahead? Are you calculating your maneuvers or going off instinct? That, to me, is fascinating. Reminds me of classic arcade fighters. Respect the win, but if you just mashed buttons like a child, you'll have fellow gamers rolling their eyes. Pretty cutthroat culture.
I very much disagree. You'd be surprised, but right now one of the biggest competitive gaming scenes is classic NES Tetris. There is ZERO interaction, because NES Tetris's VS mode doesn't have the Tetris VS mechanics of later games, it's just a high score contest. But even so, it can get VERY down to the wire, and it's often a race to see who can stay one Tetris or even just one line ahead in points before reaching the "Kill Screen" where it becomes humanly impossible to place tetrominos with any sort of precision.
It could also make four player matches a lot more fun, but that would be difficult for an audience to watch without a well thought out commentary and editing.
Hey,
I hope this random idea is somewhat interesting to you.
As always, if you have ideas like that yourself, feel free to tell me about them.
As I mentioned in the video, I don't know if I am even able to make a video for next month. I will keep you updated on the community page of this channel!
See 'ya then o/
I have to agree that for online multiplayer, we'd basically need a new game. That being said, I don't think removing the glitches and bugs from the 3D F-Zero games would necessarily ruin the experience, because the 3D F-Zero games are so batshit insanely fast in the first place and there's still quite a bit of easier but less broken tech left over, _especially_ in GX: QTs, momentum throttling, side attack dives, etc.
On the 2D side, we kinda already got one in the form of F-Zero 99. Problem is it's a 99 player Battle Royale game so it's a massive clusterfuck up until the final course of a GP, and it's already starting to experience over-centralization in regards to viable machines. Granted, every machine is _technically_ viable but the Golden Fox is revealing itself to be the optimal choice for GPs, Mini GPs and most courses while the Fire Stingray remains the best pick on longer and more technical tracks. Thing is, on courses where the Fire Stingray is optimal, the Golden Fox is a close second, while on courses where the Golden Fox is optimal, the Fire Stingray struggles noticeably, which is why the Golden Fox is optimal for GPs and Mini GPs. Personally, I believe that Maximum Velocity would be the best option here. It has the overall best course design out of the 2D games (GP Legend and Climax are too focused on gimick tracks and SNES is racing hell) and really good balance apart from the Jet Vermilion. Although I'd argue the meme pick would be Hot Violet, not J. B. Crystal, as J. B. Crystal still has a decently long booster that's good for taking extended rough cuts while Hot Violet is just a worse SNES Blue Falcon (still somewhat viable, though).
I really disagree that a well-balanced and mostly glitch-free f zero wouldn't be f zero. GX would still be very fun with good balancing and no snaking or MTS
I remember watching head-2-head play in a GX tournament and almost every time, Fat Shark would be winning. The only time I saw it struggle was if there were tracks involving a lot of turns. But even then, it's just too powerful and overly dominant. For that reason, I can see that if F-Zero GX did have the online support people dream of, the competitive online scene would really need to give everyone else some serious buffs. Of course, that's what GX Unleashed does.
The 2D F-Zero games can be a good time if online. But there the record setting machines have to be banned. That is, IF you want actually varied and competitive games. I've seen this one issue where for a time in various Pokémon scenes, players would often see the same or very similar teams far too often and considering that the 2D F-Zero games (at the highest competitive level) are usually dominated by a tiny 2% of the roster that's probably going to happen there too.
As for the number of active players online. Everyone seems to be fixed on having 30 simultaneous players. That is just unrealistic for a high-speed racing series like this. I can't think of any racing game that does anything higher than 12. And even then, they're not as fast, to help with balancing. Mechanics do play a role at some point, as you mention, so some features may have to be cut (like snaking) if a game is going to look competitively balanced. Failing that, then they may have to disable Machine Settings so everyone races at 50% when online (both of which may be undesirable).
Furthermore, in regard to Aero GPX, it's said that the dev didn't build this game with online play in mind. I can also see why: It's actually a lot more difficult to do so, regardless of the amount of experience a developer has.
This video makes some good points on the matter: ruclips.net/video/eQt7TwCr6ao/видео.html
Besides, before a game can be played online with others, the foundation (usually in the form of some kind of single player) has to be laid down.
I remember watching this GX 1v1, one guy used fat shark other used hyper speeder, the fat shark user won by a lot, could honestly imagine competitive gx just fat shark everywhere
Video in question ruclips.net/video/fGXsVHC4A8I/видео.html
i think a bigger problem than unbalanced machines and broken tech is the lack of interplay between racers. basically every game with a strong competitive scene, whether it's a shooter or a fighting game or a racing game, is designed to encourage and reward interactions between players. this is crucial for realtime competition.
kart racers use items to let racers affect one anothers' races and sim racers have drafting mechanics and the the car itself can be used to physically block opponents on a racing line, but fzero doesn't really have anything like that. the machines are too quick to block one another effectively and the combat mechanics stop being a factor as soon as one racer starts to pull ahead. after that they might as well be playing time attack.
imo this is a way bigger detriment to an active pvp community. you can have a broken or unbalanced game with a strong competitive scene but without that interactive element, there's just not much reason to play together at all instead of comparing time attack records.
Well said. It's true that the more ways to interact with other players there are, the more fun and interesting competitively the game is.
However, I appreciate the strict grading curve F-Zero offers... Can you pull ahead? Are you calculating your maneuvers or going off instinct? That, to me, is fascinating. Reminds me of classic arcade fighters. Respect the win, but if you just mashed buttons like a child, you'll have fellow gamers rolling their eyes. Pretty cutthroat culture.
what if there were more players on the track so interactions were more likely? say, a 99-player tournament? 🤔
I very much disagree. You'd be surprised, but right now one of the biggest competitive gaming scenes is classic NES Tetris. There is ZERO interaction, because NES Tetris's VS mode doesn't have the Tetris VS mechanics of later games, it's just a high score contest. But even so, it can get VERY down to the wire, and it's often a race to see who can stay one Tetris or even just one line ahead in points before reaching the "Kill Screen" where it becomes humanly impossible to place tetrominos with any sort of precision.
A max speed custom machine only tournament with many techniques banned could work in vanilla GX.
It could also make four player matches a lot more fun, but that would be difficult for an audience to watch without a well thought out commentary and editing.