ModNation Racers PS3: Bringing The BOOM with Weapons!

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Hi PS.Blog dwellers,

Because Mat has already gone in to how racing skill and split-screen are key in ModNation Racers, I’m here to chat about a key part of the title — weapons. Specifically, it’s what we like to call the “Boom Box” weapon system.

Take a peek at our new trailer for a taste and read more below on how ModNation Racers will bring the BOOM on May 25.

Designing the Boom Box

When making ModNation Racers, we realized the need to advance the kart racing genre to the next level with a more physical driving model, but we also wanted to change how players use weapons. Nothing feels better than taking an opponent down, but that feeling of euphoria is soon forgotten when you are on the receiving end of an attack. Weapons can change the course of a race — it’s one of the defining characteristics in this genre, but we wanted to reduce the frustration of unskilled randomness. We wanted to give players more options.

Strategy – Using the Ladder

In ModNation Racers you can choose to upgrade your weapons to make them more powerful, but that doesn’t always come easy. When you get hammered with a lightning bolt from the sky, at the very least, you know your opponent had to work for it. In addition to having the choice between upgrading and firing, we also wanted players to plan out their attacks and try to utilize weapons in different ways. With that in mind, we designed each to have three distinct levels – so when you upgrade, you change the properties of the weapon, which then gives you a different style of attack.

ModNation Racers PS3 Screenshot 16 ModNation Racers PS3 Screenshot 13

Level 2 Bolt attack will hit multiple karts / If the driver a head of you is bringing the HEAT, these puppies will SEEK it.


Using the Bolt ladder as an example, players can decide to fire off a level-1 Bolt attack for a quick, but risky electrical takedown. They can save up to a level-2 Chain Bolt for a homing attack capable of electrocuting multiple opponents, or they can wait until they have a level-3 Bolt Storm (the most powerful) and try to shock entire pack. Finally, any level of weapon can be dropped behind the kart as a mine. The higher the level of weapon dropped, the more potent the mine.

ModNation Racers PS3 Screenshot 23A

Drop it like it’s Hot

This is a great way to leave traps for your opponents, and incidentally, gives the player in the lead the ability to still be able to use the weapons they have collected. Now you’re probably asking, “Why would I not just save up and always fire a powerful level-3?” Well, a number of reasons actually, but first and foremost is that your weapons can be knocked out by an opponent’s attack, so holding a weapon for too long might cause you to eventually lose it.

ModNation Racers PS3 Screenshot 31A

This is going to hurt.

Also, level-3 weapons take time to work their way through the pack, so your opponents might finish the race before they are hit, or they may have built up enough boost to shield your attack.

Balance

One of our core mantras when balancing the weapons was to ensure that there aren’t any “silver bullets.” No matter how powerful a weapon is, there is still a chance to evade it. We also wanted to ensure a tight race, so the power of each stun is scaled based on your position in the race and distance from the player attacking. What that does is allow anyone in the pack to always have a chance. This isn’t so much a “punish the leader” situation, but a way to prevent stalemates. If players in positions 7th to 1st are hit by the player in 8th and stunned for an equal length of time, nothing will change. By having the weapons stun time (slightly) increase as it passes through the race pack, it helps to create a more dynamic race. This then opens up more opportunities for everyone to have a chance at changing their position.

ModNation Racers PS3 Screenshot 172 ModNation Racers PS3 Screenshot 22A

Sonic Bombs will give the kart in front of you an earful / The Sonic Rift blasts all the racers between you and first place

Let’s be clear though, there isn’t going to be a significant difference between the weapons power on the last racer as compared to the leader, but enough to make the leader worry that there are always racers on their tail. We have raced thousands millions of times in the office, and a skilled driver utilizing all of the tools at their disposal can maintain a lead, and that was an important factor for us. Skilled drivers should be rewarded for skilled play, which in turn causes other players to have to think and play differently.

We have a particular useful strategy we sometimes employ here at the office to take down a skilled driver. Two players will “team up” to swap positions and then each fire at the player in front in quick succession, the first to hopefully drain their shield, and the second to take them out. Very effective, although normally those alliances last about as long as the distance it takes to get to the next set of item pods, at which point all bets are off.

ModNation Racers PS3 Screenshot 18A

That’s weapons in a nutshell. I’m sure everyone is going to find all sorts of fun ways to take out opponents online when the game is released, so until then I will leave you all to your plotting.

Comments are closed.

79 Comments

10 Author Replies

  • Great game. Day 1 buy for me. Any word whether we will be able to play our own music while playing? Hope this game has a good soundtrack.

    • ModNation Racers will support custom soundtracks. So you can play music out of your XMB and it will replace the music in the game. That being said, the music in the game is really solid, so don’t be too quick to play your own.

  • I was wondering if the user created tracks will be for ranked games,or just or just the tracks premade when the game ships?
    and could you call sony and tell them to put more PS3 out… haha.. before launch i cant find one. and im not going to buy a over priced Ebay ps3, well maybe, this game is the reason i want a ps3

  • I have a question, if I wanted all 3 of the pre-order skins, will they be availible for download later? how about a killzone skin like a helgast troop or something? sounds like that would be awesome.

  • hey uh can you make ur own weapons? and can u pre-order the ratchet and clank skins somewhere else than amazon?

  • Will voice chat also be available on the psp version?

  • Quick question, will the current Modnation website be updated into a community site where you can check out your stats and see the top creations and stuff, because I really want to see a community site for this game with the same quality as the LBP community site.

    Any answers will be much appreciated, thanks.

  • Hey anyone mind to answer these 4 questions,I pre-ordered maybe a few weeks ago or more at GameStop and they said any pre-order content would be given out when I come on May 25 and I live in the US so are they right??Also how will you be able to unlock things for your Mod,Kart,and Track??Another do any one of ya’ll know of a demo coming to US PSN Store before and the exact date because I didn’t get to play the Beta and can ya’ll please post it on here right the day ya’ll fing out??Lastly do ya’ll have a PSN Account because I would like to play MNR with Dan Sochan,Chuck Lacson, and a few others??Thanks if ya’ll answer and thanks anyways for a GREAT game!! :)

  • The weapon names are great. What’s that coming? eh…that’s just the Hydra hunting me down… I love it.

  • Will the PSP version be released on PSN the day of the UMD release? If so, is there any way I can still get the Kratos, R&C, and Drake mods for my PSP go since I cant preorder the download and are they available for the PSP version?

    Also will there be any kind of connectivity between the two versions, and will the PSP version be a watered down version or just as grand as the PS3 version?

  • Sounds Awesome!! One thing I hated about the new Mario Kart was that there was too much randomness and you could drop to last place in a few seconds. I also hope the team at UFG removes any “snaking” the game might have. I know people say that its “part of the game” so its fair, but it can be really unfair for all the casual players and people new to the game.

  • Every time someone attacks you, you drop your weapon? That’s stupid. I get a level 3 just for so it can be taken away. I’m sure when others are on the other side they will feel the same. Basically, if a player can keep attaining weapons to hit people in front, they could achieve a very high chance of gettin into first place because everyone he passed was hit and lost their weapon, so no retaliation. I don’t like it. If I have the weapon, let me keep the weapon. What else are shields for?

    • Don’t be too quick to judge. Attacks from other players will cause you to drop weapons, but let me clarify:

      • If you are hit with a level 1 weapon, you will not drop anything.
      • A level 2 weapon will cause you to drop 1 level (so for example if you were holding a level 3 weapon and were hit with a level 2, you would drop down to level 2).
      • Finally a level 3 weapon will cause you to lose everything.

      We did this for many reasons, most importantly, trying to prevent every player in the race from hoarding level 3 weapons until the last lap. Imagine driving towards the finish and then suddenly being hit with 11 giant weapons…all in a row…every race. Not very much fun. Also, keep in mind that you will always have your shield, so not every attack is a guaranteed hit. Plus, shields also have the ability to protect you from various track related hazards, so it can come in very handy in multiple situations.

  • Pre-ordered.

  • Will you have any sackboy racer add ons or any add ons for customizing tracks and stuff?

  • If not it is still my favorite game even if its not out yet!LOLZ

  • Shin Spikes trhats part of the challenge and fun!What if your on the other side?I’d be happy I knocked it out!

  • I’m pretty sure you guys will be ignoring my question because you’ve been ignoring everyone else’s regarding a battle mode on ModNation Racers. HAHA! OK then, simple question. Is their going to be a battle mode like on the Mario Kart game series on ModNation Racers? Please answer my question.

  • Will the online splitscreen allow multiPSN logon? i know resistacnce did it and so can you! Other wise this is a perfect game to move my cousins off of mario kart.

  • I love all the responses they are giving us, I didn’t even have to ask the same thing like in the many past blogs from other blogs posted here.
    Will buy the PS3 and PSP Version :D and fully support the DLC :p
    as long as its not 4 kb lol

  • Cool game, I hope they have more weapons though.

  • I’m really looking forward to this game, especially with all the recent media released about it in the last month or two. I hope that you have a long list of DLC planned for it as I’ll get it all!

  • I had this game on my radar, was *probably* gonna get it, but it just keeps getting better and better…it’s even motivating me to beat all the other games I haven’t beaten yet before the end of May!

  • You guys need to make a game called Modnation Golfers.
    Where we can create our own golfers.
    create any kind/type of golf course.
    set our own wind speeds.
    create funny golf clubs.

  • will there be modspot on psp

    <

  • to #72 I like it wut about modnation skate borders
    where you can make your own skate park and skater

  • cant wait til it comes out.. i know its a full game.. but will it be available for download on psn too? or is it just available through retail stores? im getting tired of swaping discs lol..

  • hey guys i think u guys are doing an amazing job!!

    But…

    i do have one concern.

    i love games that u can compete online in multiplayer against eachother! i also like showing off my stats and trophies and accomplishments. so what im asking is if this game is going to have any sort of ranking system at all? i get kind of upset when amazing online games come out like James Camerons Avatar but they dont have any ranking system. :(

    so are u guys going to have any ranking system in this?

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