Q & A session for November 2009

[monumental]

Hi

We'll be giving you some feedback on the October Q&A session at the end of the month, but in the meantime please keep your questions coming in for Novembers session with the development team.

[d_man74]

Would be cool if you could put in a feature which keeps a record of the player's wins, losses, championships, race starts, crashes, retirements etc.

[tawia]

Will there be 125 and 250 again for 09 season? The most important question of all, will Moto2 feature in this game??

[d_man74]

Yes to all of your questions!!! moto 2 will be available as dlc as the season progresses

[batcountry84]

I have moto gp 07 and 08 for PS2 and one thing that annoys me is how unrealistic qualifiers are. I always end up last but in the race, i'm winning first second or third.
Will this be fixed.

Will there be a training round to show people how to ride the moto gp bike, what kind of lines to follows, the breaking point, etc?

Post race celebrations are a must. I hated how if i came anywhere after 1st place, i'd get the crew shaking their heads in a little window. I want to be rewarded by podium display, be congratulated if i come anywhere in top 3. The ability if you've come first to do a victory lap, doing stunts of your choice.

Will the crowds be intelligent? i.e. if you're doing well in the championship, you get more supporters holding up your signs, cheering, etc?

If you come off your bike, you should have to walk back up to it yourself and get on and cope with whatever damage you've sustained to yourself or bike in the crash.
Same goes with other players. If its a major crash, players should be out.

Although Valentino and Lorenzo are more often than not heading the MotoGP races, i would like some variety. For instance, remember when all the big players crashed out and Dovizioso ended up winning with Colin Edwards in third? So not always Lorenzo and Rossi leading.

Rain should be able to come on at any time during a cloudy race, and if so, you should be able to drive in to the pit lane to change bike.

Will any of these be in the game?

thanks

[Ion Blaster4]

I have moto gp 07 and 08 for PS2 and one thing that annoys me is how unrealistic qualifiers are. I always end up last but in the race, i'm winning first second or third.
Will this be fixed.

Will there be a training round to show people how to ride the moto gp bike, what kind of lines to follows, the breaking point, etc?

Post race celebrations are a must. I hated how if i came anywhere after 1st place, i'd get the crew shaking their heads in a little window. I want to be rewarded by podium display, be congratulated if i come anywhere in top 3. The ability if you've come first to do a victory lap, doing stunts of your choice.

Will the crowds be intelligent? i.e. if you're doing well in the championship, you get more supporters holding up your signs, cheering, etc?

If you come off your bike, you should have to walk back up to it yourself and get on and cope with whatever damage you've sustained to yourself or bike in the crash.
Same goes with other players. If its a major crash, players should be out.

Although Valentino and Lorenzo are more often than not heading the MotoGP races, i would like some variety. For instance, remember when all the big players crashed out and Dovizioso ended up winning with Colin Edwards in third? So not always Lorenzo and Rossi leading.

Rain should be able to come on at any time during a cloudy race, and if so, you should be able to drive in to the pit lane to change bike.

Will any of these be in the game?

thanks
I love it! All of those are a must! Pit lane FTW and please some getting up and getting to your bike after you crash! And no not always the top guys leading... I remember in a 250 race Marco Simoncelli crashed and in 6 laps he was in second place again...

[Nigelman]

Will there be for the 2010 downloadable content the probably new MotoGP team Inmotec?
Will the downloadable content include also their bike?

They have been developing their own 600cc sorry, looked wrong wasnt 800cc

[Nigelman]

Will there also be paint jobs which you can choose out for your bike which capcom made, if yes will there also be an xbox 360 paint job?

[d_man74]

The colour palette in the videos is way too bland. Looks foggy as well. Is this because the game is in early development or is this how the finished product will look:chin:

[monumental]

The colour palette in the videos is way too bland. Looks foggy as well. Is this because the game is in early development or is this how the finished product will look:chin:

The final Donnington lighting values hadn’t been set at that point, giving a slightly over bright look for the video. This has now been addressed.

[Almightydutch]

The videos......You are joking right?

I understand the low res of the video trailers but the bikes still seem to have that very floaty vibe to them. yet again the bikes dont seem connected to the track.
This isnt helped by the fact the bikes dont seem to track correctly. Yes you can get slide from the front and rear wheels but only when you are on the extreme limits of adhesion. When cornering normally you just dont get that slight sideways movement that the videos portray.
The way the bikes go round corners doesnt look right either, looks way too fast aswell way beyond what a 'normal' GP bike can do, i understand the game needs to be fast for the game to feel fast but it didnt look right at all. Riders being able to flip the bike way quicker than what is physically possible.
The idea of adding correct racing lines is good but I do think you guys fail to grasp the concept of how motorbike and car racing lines differ. I would hazzrd a guess that none of you have ever ridden on track at speed.
Sadly I will not be owning the game as I am a hardcore PC gamer and was previously discussed that the title will not be released in a PC format but it does sadden me to see the culmination of all the forum feedback to result in such a poor couple of videos.
I guess i would hope for the game itself to provide a more realistic experience but gauging in on the videos i would say the end user experience is going to be very similar to the previous release.
Also the fact that Moto 2 will be DLC only shows that this wasnt foreseen by the Dev team. Again showing that there isnt really teh high level interest as shown by many of the fans and critics on this forum. Its a well known fact that yes you can still run a 250 GP bike in next years Championship but its also known that there has been NO entries for 250 as everyone is going 600 4 stroke motors.

[Revolution72]

Haha I like this... I come on here trying to find the latest info and I bump into a fellow racer (AlmightyDutch)!!!

Have to agree with everything Almighty has said RE: realism... and especially the direction change comment. Even a super high tech MotoGP bike has some weight to it, and that coupled with the gyroscopic forces created by any rotational part on the bike means that at any speed there is a significant effort (and planning) need to change direction.

As a racer myself, I understand that racing a bike well is paramount to threading a needle at 100mph+ and i've always found the MotoGP & SBK games to be somewhat sterile when it comes to a simulation mode.

Now I understand you have to cater for all walks of life, and casual gamers are making up a much larger percentage of the buying public these days, but it seems that most hardcore bike racing fans get short changed while car racing fans have a huge simulation offering. Which seems a shame when we are the ones putting in some substantial hours on these games, and potentially providing the most in detail feedback to developers to increase the quality for all gamers.

Personally I would like to see an ultra accurate physics engine as the basis for any racing game (it really makes it or breaks it for me)... then look to make it as customisable as possible with real world consequences to the changes to bike geometry, gearing, electronics settings.

Then once the ground work is down, populate it with bikes, liveries, riders, tracks that ultimately help shift units. Tourist Trophy did not do this to the extent of having pro riders, and lots of real world tracks, but as the physics and customisation was good, it is regarded highly among the racing gamers.

I asked the question of "what do you want in a bike racing game?" on a racer/rider forum and here is what we came up with;


1. Wide spread of bikes available - from production bikes to prototypes. - In the case of MotoGP this would be 125s, 250s, 500s, 900s, 800s both past and present.

2. Performance customisation - aftermarket parts to reflect real life components both in visuals and performance. - This is a comment for a general bike racing game, but in the case of MotoGP this could go down the lines of a bike development mechanic, where you tell the engineers what to work on and get new parts to test.

3. Ability to change looks - remove road kit, fit race fairings, paint, decals etc... - full livery customisation (a big plus in a previous MotoGP game, and a stand alone attraction on games like Forza).

4. Rider customisation - physical build, kit from real manufacturers, change colour of kit, apply decals. - again, an extension to the customisation to give a gamer his/her own online identity.

5. Riding style customisation - this was an ace feature on Tourist Trophy, could get the rider doing 250 style down the side of the bike, or a more upright riding style like Colin Edwards. - a personal request, but only if it made a genuine difference to the way the game plays, some riding styles are better for mid-corner speed, some better for braking etc.

6. More involved tuning - virtual dyno runs where you can adjust fueling like a PCIII interface and improve power delivery.

7. Sponsorship system - that allows you to offset the cost of racing in the lower ranks, as well as get big money deals at the top.

8. Realistic damage - Not only to the bike (with parts bending/breaking), but also to the rider and his equipment (torn leathers, ground down bits of his boot etc..) AND although not damage as such, it would be cool to see knee sliders actually touching the ground and wearing down. Too many games (SBK and MotoGP) seem to have the rider's knee never quite touching down) .

I know it's all a little late to be throwing in some features like this, but should you retain the license it would be ace to see a racers game created, once the work has been done you can adjust handicap levels to cater for the arcade fans.

I hope my comments are well received.

Ryan
#72

[d_man74]

Have you sorted the engine sounds out yet? do they sound like REAL motogp bikes now? and not like lawnmowers

[monumental]

I can very confidently say that the bikes sound great!

[Lastchance]

Just been watching the new "career mode" video -

How deeply can you customise your bike/rider/helmet? I hope you've done more than just give us a load of base colours and pre-designed patterns to choose from, these were the options 5 years ago!

At the start of the video the blue 125 pops a huge wheelie straight off the start line! when was the last time you saw a bike do this in any GP class!? especially 125's, those things are notoriously difficult to wheelie.

Why do the graphics still look so cartoon like? Please tell me it's only becuase I'm watching a low-res image?

I keep hearing that your including two camera angles that will focus on two different pivot points? - The first pivot point is down the centre of the bike and the second is through the contact patch of the rear tyre - although I am yet to see any evidence of the second and more widely preferred style?

[monumental]

Hopefully we'll be able to get you some footage of the 'preferred' camera angle very soon.

[Lastchance]

Just been watching this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-vL0fFMRl8 -

Please tell me that as Rossi approches the Foggy Esses at 0:05 this won't be how the physics of the bike will respond under heavy braking!!!

And the skidding/squealing nosie seems a little irritating in my opinon - will there be an option to turn it off/tone it down?

I was also wondering how much attention you guys have paid to the crash animations? - (high-siding and low-siding) as this is a massive part of bike racing!

[Almightydutch]

I also have just watched the video posted in the link above. I truly hope this was a development video sent out to magazines/websites just to show how progress is being made. (i have also watched all the official videos on www.playmotogp.com (http://www.playmotogp.com))
I've said it before but how many of the team have a high level of interest in bike racing? It just feels that people seem to think they know without really looking into it and understanding the physics and control needed to ride bikes in general let alone at top level.
As for the entrace to Foggy Esses at Donington Park, its just not realistic to have a bike sliding on both wheels at the same time. Also the noise is horrific!!! I dont think i have every heard bikes squealing/screeching llike that ever. The closest you will come to that is right at the point before a bike is lowsided usually and even then it rarley makes a squeal/screeching. Please feel free to enlighten me on this.
Todays Moto GP bikes are able to slide despite the electronics used but its only by the riders supreme control of the machine that its able to do this.
Also its not a slide as such apart from rear end slide, you can also get front end slides from goin in too hot but its such a minefield i daren't go into it as i'd be here all day. Its more of the tyres 'slipping' and again this can only be acheived by the control of top level riders.
While I can appeciate its very hard to replicate the sounds made by these bikes i do feel that in the video link about that there is a very distanct lack of difference and resonance from the exhausts. These things howl for gods sake(bar the Yamaha's which have a strange flat sound) Please tell me that was just from that video itself.
Regarding the riders movement on the bike, i see most of them appear to follow the same design, is this something that can be worked on or is this what we have to put up with. I understand different rider models could be hard to create but when you have the likes of Supersmooth Rossi, hang off and scrape his arse Elias, midget but efficient Pedrobot it becomes essential to start developing this so people can immerse themselves a bit more.

[kurzwe1l]

Most of what I have to say / ask has been said / asked already, so I'll cut to the finer details.....

1) Has there been any final say on whether or not the controller configurations will be completely customizable, or are we going to be forced to use a preset? I hate presets. Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em. I think it's a big mistake to not give the users as much customization as possible.

2) Are we going to be able to turn off the motion blur, artificial racing line, names over the riders' heads, etc?

3) I mentioned this in the U.S. forums....can we get dimable / fadeable displays? I want to be able to fade the lap times, position indicators, etc. I have a plasma tv and this stuff starts to leave ghost images if I play too long. SBK 08 has the dimmable displays and I can play it for hours without having to worry.

4) Will the online have leader boards / rankings? If so, what all will be shown? I'd like to see overall ranking, individual track overall, best lap, lap average, etc. The more you can give us the better. Also, stuff like comparing stats with people would be really nice.

5) PLEASE no force views or transmissions like in the SBK games.

6) Do the bikes/riders countersteer? Or do they turn the bikes by turning the handlebars like we've seen in the past?

7) Low speed maneuvers....has this been addressed? In GP 08, the hairpin at Shanghai, and the chicane at Estoril get you going so slow it's pretty damned hard to even turn the bike, let alone race it.

8) Will there be a late join option to join an online race already in progress? F1CE had this and I thought it was great, but it did cause some bad lag problems.

9) Having said that, will there be ai in the online games (like in F1CE)? Or will it be just the people racing? I really like the idea of having a full (full-ish) field racing online.

10) How about an option to calibrate the throttle / brake. I use the R2 and L2 on ps3 for my throttle and brake, but it seems like it's not really a smooth curve as far as the controller input / game reaction is concerned. It's either not enough, or too much. The "sweet spot" is almost non-existant.

11) Will the weather be the same throughout the entire session? By this I mean is it possible to start a race dry and it start raining during the race?

12) I read in the U.S. forums where you said the traction control "prevents loss of grip". Does this mean that we won't be able to slide the bike around? I hope not. Half of the fun of racing a bike, whether in a game or in real life, is the thrill of sliding the bike. Also, will we be able to adjust hte traction control settings to stronger / softer, or turn it off completely?

13) I noticed in pretty much every video released that the rider's outside foot moves a lot on the peg. Is this something that is intentional, or is it going to be fixed? It looks very unnatural.



I'm sure I could think of more things to ask, but I'll stop it at that for now.

Thanks.

[Lastchance]

So whens the Q & A coming out for November? Theres some interesting points in these questions.

[monumental]

So whens the Q & A coming out for November? Theres some interesting points in these questions.

I've collated the questions and will have all the answers for you early next week.

[Nigelman]

will we be able to ride in a rainy qatar?