Visit to Monumental Studios

[monumental]

We're very excited about meeting some of the community this Friday 26th February and showing them MotoGP0910 at the Monumental Studio's.

We'll be welcoming people from the Capcom and X-Box Live Addicts forum, offering them the chance to play the game and discuss various aspects of it with the developers.

No doubt our visitors will offer you plenty of feedback, through the forums, after their visit...

[monumental]

No doubt our visitors will offer some feedback when they get home later, but overall we found it to be a very enjoyable day.

Playing through Arcade, Career and Online mode, we were treated to not only some constructive feedback, but also some great racing.

Here are a few images from today's event.

[Revolution72]

Finally getting around to writing my report, so hopefully it will put to bed some questions the community has been waiting to be answered and build up a bit of excitement about the impending release.

The day kicked off at 11:15 when I turned up at the Monumental offices, which are in a very smart building in the centre of Nottingham. Picked up my visitor's pass at the front desk and was then taken through to the main Moto GP 09/10 offices to meet Steve. Turned out I was the last one to turn up as the 2 attendees from the xbox live addicts forum were already there. Unfortunately AlmightyDutch was ill and couldn't attend so I was flying the flag for the Capcom-Europe forum.

Steve then introduced me (caught drinking my coffee in the 1st pic) to the xbox live addicts chaps along with a representative from Capcom and then 2 senior members of the dev team.

Greg - Senior Producer (tall chap in the hoodie 1st pic)
Harvey - Lead Artist (not pictured as he was behind the camera)

Both went on to explain some of their background in the business along with some history on the game and the work they have been doing to bring us a game we would enjoy.

This was the first eye opening point in the day as all 3 of us community visitors raised the "ARCADE" issue as it was to be the first mode we would get to sample.

It soon transpired that the community has collectively misunderstood the term and made a very false assumption that it is a reference to the handling model. Greg explained their interpretation of the "Arcade" mode, which using the exact same handling model that is applied across the game, has elements that you would find in a computer games arcade. Think back to playing racing games in the arcades at fine UK holiday resorts like Blackpool etc and you'll get an idea about the mode (countdown timers, objectives to get extra time/points).

With that cleared up we were all eager to get on and play it, so we were walked into a dark room with 5 XBOX 360s setup with LCD monitors for each. Everyone picked their seat of choice and got down to some gaming.


Arcade Mode

I jumped straight on and into the single race option on the arcade mode, the only class available was the 125s at this point, which wasn’t an issue as I’ve often enjoyed the sub-classes more on the previous Moto GP games.

First track was Losail, and the night race was the perfect introduction to the new graphics engine. The colours are all very striking and the detail in the textures and models are definitely a step up from the previous titles. The HUD is very “arcadey” and consists of a time countdown (more on this in a minute), current lap time, best lap time, position, revs, speed & a tyre wear / slipstream indicator. The later of which was not really utilized during my first play as the tyre wear does not take effect during in arcade mode.

Initially the controls felt a bit over sensitive and it was difficult to judge turning points which led to a few inside corner track excursions lol. A feature of the control system I wasn’t particularly looking forward to was the ‘tuck’ button. This again turned out to be another well implemented decision by Monumental, as it became very intuitive after a couple of laps and really added to the skill requirement needed to get good lap times. When the ‘tuck’ button is pressed the turning speed of the bike is dramatically reduced, which in turn forces you to be precise in where you initiate a turn to avoid running wide or having to go on and off with the ‘tuck’ button. A good lap cannot be achieved without the use of this button, and at the same time the way it works means the possibility of player abuse of the speed increase is next to zero (no elastic bands on your controllers kids). A few laps in and I soon got to grips with the controls and with some increased pace and correct use of the ‘tuck’ button, the control sensitivity was spot on. This is all helped by the suggested racing line that is overlaid on the track, which also has gates to indicate turning, apex and exit points.

The countdown timer at the top of the screen was the key arcade feature of this mode, and as the race took place the time would count down to zero… at which point it was time out and race failed, however by hitting all the gates, doing clean sections/laps, slipstreaming, showboating and completing some sub-objectives (overtake, intimidate… the only 2 I was set) you could win additional time to enable you to complete the laps and finish the race. This now added an element to the mode that moved it further away from the previous title’s downfall of just completing laps and introduced in race targets/objectives to keep your interest. I have to say that this is not a new idea, but it’s certainly an effective feature of the arcade mode and I could have happily played that all day.

After a couple of races in which I annihilated the AI riders I soon realised that the difficulty needed ramping up. Greg kindly told us where the setting could be changed, and that they were all set to “Gentle” during a test the day before. Feeling a bit confident, and judging on past games I stuck it on the hardest setting “Insane”. Bad Idea!! I’ve never claimed to be the best racing gamer but have always seen myself as being ‘handy’… In the past the hardest difficulty level on any racing game has not been a challenge at all, and I’ve always had to go online to get my racing fix. With Moto Go 09/10 this is definitely not the case. The AI on this setting knows how to race, and it is fast… not insurmountably fast, but enough to make you feel a sense of achievement by coming in the top 5. For a couple of laps I could hold them, but make once mistake, take an unconventional line, or even brake a little to early and they dive under you and proceed to get wicked drive off the corner. To add to the ‘real’ feel of the AI, they are also prone to mistakes which have to be exploited on this difficulty if you are to get a good result.

I went on to praise Greg for this as it is refreshing for a game to have the pick up and play factor yet offer a level of difficulty that will challenge even the hardcore out there.

After a few plays, and a quick switch of the difficulty to ‘Savage’ (next one down lol), Greg kindly offered to unlock all the classes for us.

Like the kids we all are, we completely ignored the 250s and went straight into the 800s. In hindsight I wish I’d given the 250s a proper go, but it was good to see the other end of the class spectrum.

Unlike the 125s, the 800s are understandably livelier and the rear brake that was very weak on the 125s is now the no1 tool for the back-in kings! They have absolutely nailed the rear brake, and you can confidently slide into a corner, without too much fear of an unexplained dismount, spot the apex, come off the brake and throttle to the exit.

At this point Greg explained the bike performance balance that they have aimed for in Moto GP 09/10, and I really hope I get this right lol

For the 800s, Rossi’s bike is used as the benchmark by which all the other bikes have been spec’d to. To avoid a Rossi-fest on and offline they have balanced the performance across the entire grid, in that all the bikes have the same fastest lap time achievable for any track. However, they are differentiated in how they achieve that lap time. E.g. The Ducati is quick on the straights, the Yam good off the corners, Suzuki good on the brakes, etc… In theory this means that when the Ducati comes screaming down the straights and pulls a lead, the Suzuki should be able to catch it on the brakes. This should lead to a lot of cat & mouse style racing, lots of overtaking and plenty of racing action. Personally I think this is a brilliant idea and it is noticeable when you decide to drift away from the usual bikes and try the Hayate and Suzukis.

Time for lunch, and Monumental kindly put on a 3 course sit-down fine dining experience…. Just kidding…. It’s every man for himself in the pit of Monumental staff all volleying for position around the table full of Dominos Pizza haha. No complaints here, a day full of gaming and a cheese topped Italian delicacy (dreams can come true).

[Revolution72]

Career


Greg & Steve mention the Career mode and suddenly us community lot have lost our appetite and are already sat in the dark room ready to get going.

As expected you begin the career mode on the 125s.

You have to specify your rider name, team name & race number before getting to the main career screen. You can then pick a bike (think there was only 2 available to begin with) and can also customise the look of your rider/bike.

A lot of people will be disappointed with the livery system as it is not the Forza-style in-depth system we all requested. For bike livery it is limited to some preset designs that can then be customised by changing the colours within the design (3 colours can be set). Those colours are then used on the leathers, the design of which can also be changed from a range of presets. As for the helmets, you can choose from a pretty big selection of presets but you cannot change any colours (if the helmet is yellow, it stays yellow), and from what I saw (didn’t look into it too much) they are all fictitious brands (licensing restrictions?).

Once you have sorted the branding you can then look around the rest options from the career menu. 2 of which are Staff & Research… which at this point is only good for hiring a press officer as my reputation isn’t high enough to hire an engineer.

After a brief look around I get stuck into the Event Calendar which is where you launch your races from.

Just so everyone knows now and doesn’t jump on here complaining afterwards… you will be obliterated in your early races (unless you are on a very low difficulty level). The bike you start with is good enough in the corners, but is painfully slow on the straights compared to the AI riders. You will get frustrated and probably throw a bit of a strop, but stick with it.

This is where the racing line gates and additional objectives come into their own. It could get insanely boring and frustrating to be sat so far down the running in any other game, but by setting these objectives, Monumental manage to give you a reason to stick with it and finish the race even if you are dead last lol. Whereas in the arcade mode the gates/objectives were there to boost time, in career mode they are there to boost your session rating and ultimately your reputation. At the end of each session (practice, qualifying, race) your PGR kudos style points are added up… + for result, perfect line, overtaking, slipstreaming, clean sections etc, and – for collisions, being overtaken, using the ‘second chance’ feature, crashes etc… these are then translated into a session rating (A, B, C, etc) which contributes to your reputation level at the end of the race weekend.

At the end of each race weekend you receive some funds (sponsor related) and reputation points. As your reputation and finances improve you gain additional sponsor slots, along with the ability to hire more staff and research into performance improvements for your bike. You can also change manufacturer as more bikes are unlocked, but you will have to start any research from ground zero, however you will retain all your staff so the research shouldn’t take long. It is this research that will enable you to claw your way up the results and be able to race for positions.

One thing I did notice (and reported to Monumental) was the apparent imbalance of the AI from qualifying to the races. Often I could qualify top 5 and even pole position on a couple of occasions, and despite then lapping even faster in the race, the AI would find some unexpected pace and completely whoop me. A bit annoying but nothing that can’t be sorted with a patch perhaps??

After a couple of races with the 125s, I was offered a wild-card ride on a 250 at Donnington…another neat feature that kept my interest… but this was cut short by an impending multiplayer show-down.

[Revolution72]

Multiplayer/Online


After Greg returned from the main office where he had disappeared to for 5-10mins we are duly asked to try out the Multiplayer mode. He had set up a Career lobby for the 800s where we were to be pitted against some of the dev team. Now the biggest difference between the arcade and career modes (online or offline) is the tyre wear, which is active in the career mode but not the arcade one. Up to this point none of us had tried the 800s with active tyre wear, so it was going to be interesting.

Once everyone selected their bike (I chose the Marco Melandri on the Hayate) and readied-up in the lobby we went to a Halo-style voting screen where we could vote for the no. of races, then the number of laps per race, then the track itself and finally the weather. Voting is limited to 10seconds on each option to get you into the action swiftly and was a nice touch, taking the control away from the host after the initial game setup.

1 race
3 laps
Valencia
Sunny

Luckily Greg had turned collisions off so we could move around and go as fast as possible.

First corner… Marco Melandri takes the lead… Whoop! Whoop! And it’s not even raining lol

I manage to hold the lead for a couple of laps, which the rest of the pack are having their own battles. As mentioned earlier the rear brake in this game is a pleasure to use and I was thoroughly enjoying backing it in at every available opportunity. Although a sound style choice on my behalf, it was not a good one in terms of tyre wear and I soon found myself drifting into and out of nearly every corner. While the feel and visual feedback when entering corners was spot on, I can’t say the same about slides initiated on the power… again it’s something I mentioned to Monumental and they completely took it on board. As you powered on, on worn tyres the rear end naturally steps out of line, nothing unexpected. But as you try to carry this around a corner it all starts to look a little unnatural as the bike appears to just pivot around the centre point and the steering doesn’t look right. There is also a distinct lack of ‘feel’ from either the visuals or the vibration on the controller… the other community members echoed my comments as we played further races. This led to my undoing at the end of the 2nd lap, with over a 1 second lead, highside!!! No warning, no signs of it about to happen… =( and with everyone up to pace, I rejoined the race and came in 5th… boo hoo.

With some readjustment and now trying to anticipate the highsides I think we all got to grips with the bikes and were able to knock out several epic races which culminated in the 3 community members beating the devs at their own game. Sorry.

The multiplayer was so addictive that we ran over the schedule by an hour and still none of us wanted to go home. Greg got particularly drawn in by his own game lol and was eager to beat the new boys =P but unfortunately the day was drawn to a close.

As an added bonus, Harvey was kind enough to let each of us have a framed still from the game that he had signed…. Worthless, I can’t give it away… joke joke; A very cool souvenir from an enlightening and thoroughly enjoyable day.

Now, I know I’ve missed a million things that occurred on the day, and won’t have answered everyone’s questions about the game, so please feel free to ask me about the game and I will do my best to answer based on my experience.

All in all, I think a lot of you will be pleasantly surprised with Monumental’s take on the Moto GP license. They’ve managed to create a very easy to pick up game, that at the end of the day is not a sim, but actually a very fun bike game.

Granted there will be the hardcore sim racers out there who will grumble about the easy to get on with handling, and would much prefer to have to put in mega hours to gain tenths of a second, but they will be missing out on a very solid and ultimately enjoyable game.

Lastly, I would like to thank and praise the team at Monumental.

Thank you for an awesome day, and for letting me play the game before release.

The praise goes to you for creating a very good re-launch of the Moto GP license… and for how open you are to constructive critism both on this forum and face-to-face in the office. I have been assured that Moto GP 09/10 is only the beginning (a very good one) and like another well known motorcycle racing license, it will evolve and be added to for the next incarnation.

Ryan
#72

[Ix Oh Yeah xI]

Great read Ryan. :thumb:

[StillNotHappy!]

Great effort Ryan!Thx for taking the time:thumb:1Q:did you get a chance to try out the manual gears vs.tuck,because I cant help but think.....well you know what im thinking:)

[Roach]

Great read Ryan & well done Monumental for taking the time to listen to the communities input.

Got a question for you Ryan

Would you say that this is the best bike racing game you've played on the next gen platforms?

[Lastchance]

Cracking read their Ryan! And a big thumbs up to Monumental for organising the event - Could this just be the first bike game I bother spending more than 10 minutes with since 07!? under 12 hours to go till the demo drops and I sure hope so!

[Ion Blaster4]

Thank you for that post! After a post like that, I am 100% confident this game will be excellent.

[Revolution72]

Great effort Ryan!Thx for taking the time:thumb:1Q:did you get a chance to try out the manual gears vs.tuck,because I cant help but think.....well you know what im thinking:)

I have to admit, I didn't try the manual gears at all... sorry.

This is what the lads from xbox live addicts said about the control layout

As for the Tuck button, thats default on 'A' & i'd say there are probably around 8-10 different control configurations to choose from, I did notice my suggestion on control layout was in there but with now needing to use the Tuck button i'll probably be choosing a different one.

The default layout was also no good for manual riders:
A Tuck
X Rear Brake
Y Gear Up
B Gear Down

Rear braking & changing down would be seriously awkward like that however the next configuration had:
A Tuck
X Rear Brake
Y Gear Down
B Gear Up

So I guess you could roll your thumb from X to Y so you can do both, hopefully the other configurations will work for others http://www.xboxliveaddicts.co.uk/forums/public/style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif

So it may be that the manual gear change lot are going to get a little short changed on this occasion... but don't let it put you off the game. It's plenty fun enough without the added challenge of selecting gears.

Ryan
#72

[Revolution72]

Great read Ryan & well done Monumental for taking the time to listen to the communities input.

Got a question for you Ryan

Would you say that this is the best bike racing game you've played on the next gen platforms?

It's a better game than SBK 09 which I'm sure everyone will agree is the current benchmark in terms of next gen bike games. So yes, the best on a next gen platform.

It's by far the nicest looking bike game I've ever played.

Ryan
#72

[StillNotHappy!]

It's a better game than SBK 09 which I'm sure everyone will agree is the current benchmark in terms of next gen bike games. So yes, the best on a next gen platform.

It's by far the nicest looking bike game I've ever played.

Ryan
#72Well now that I have played the game I cant say that I agree.To me its one of the worst im sorry to say.Anyway I hope Monumental doesent let a bit of criticisem knock them of there composure:)Everybody is allowed to make a few mistakes along the way.Even Monumental.Thats how we learn,and it is when times are tough we see what people are really made of.What I really wish for is that Monumental whould learn from those mistakes they have made,and redime themselves.Rewrite the hole thing from scratch,and start listening to what there community is telling them:cool:You know I hate to say I told you so,but if you had only listened to us from the beginning you whouldent be in the mess your in:dry:Keep the faith!

[Ix PADDY xI]

When I first got my hands on the demo I was not very impressed. However, I have to take back Some of what I thought.

There are things I am not happy with and hopefully these will get ironed out in due course but after all is said and done it's all about the racing.

I can make do with the crappy livery . I would have preffered the livery of past games where you could nicely do up your bike. To be only able to choose from a few pre-set designs is a bit of a no no with me.

The rain has no effect whatsoever over the bikes and gives the general feel of skating on ice. This would really need to be corrected. The blur motion , well that's another story .

The Engine sounds all sound the same to me and tinny at that.

Rumble strips, chiqanes, ect, can drive straight over them like they are flat pankcakes. No bumps that could send you sliding down the track on your arse, are present within the game like previous versions GP.

I could go on but I won't. There is a bigger general audience than just me so Hopefully the devs will take on board all the critisicm and even act on some of it.

For the most part though - I look past these issues and actually enjoy the racing.

After an absence of two years almost from the GP series I would like to say I will stick with it again. Time will tell. .

[nufcmickey]

LMAO ! Do you guys work for Monumental or something ? It sounds to me your just trying to help them sell the game, But unfortunatly we are clued up about racing games and especially how they should play. Why is it that IGN, Gamespot and now supposedly fellow gamers have not once mentioned the 3 lap restriction ? Why is it being overlooked ? I mean you say you like to play racing es on the hardest setting right so surely you know your stuff man.

Yes the game is good but you only mention the good points and none of the bad. I just really want them to send out a patch for all the issues to be fixed.

P.S Also I still have Moto Gp 06/07/08 and now the new one, Trust me ive played them all to death and always on full sim if its available. Oh and not to mention I have both SBK games too and you saying this is better than SBK09 ? Yeah maybee 08 coz that had quite a few issues but 09 is great. Its also a full on sim and you can do full laps. The bike setups are way more extensive. Im not bashing this game at all as I like it, It just annoys me a little that your supposedly a big racer and yet you aint seem to notice any of the problems the game has. Even a casual gamer would notice the lap restriction.

Thanks for the read man but please dont give a buyist review of the game. Especially coz we all have already played it for many many hours.

[steadiworkz]

It's soooo funny reading reading this crap having played the game inside out.
The only thing this game wins is the most f*ck ups in one game.
DON'T WAST YOUR MONEY wait for SBKX