Suggestions and improvements for Trials 2 Second Edition
This thread will include all improvements planned for Trials 2 Second Edition and all suggestions how you would like to have the game improved in the future patches.
Please remember that all radical large changes for Trials 2 Second Edition are not possible at this stage of the project. Please post suggestions like these to the "Suggestions and improvements for future Trials games" thread: http://www.redlynxtrials.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2678.
Quick checklist of things NOT possible for future Trials 2 Second Edition patch:
1. Installer and patcher size limits
All changes that would require major changes to the installer, and require a patch larger than 20MB or require the game installer to be larger than 200MB are not going to be considered. Portion of our existing Trials 2 SE users are using dial-up connections (modems, gprs/3d wireless modems, etc). We have listed dial-up as the minimum requirement to run the game, and we will support everyone with the minumum hardware specification.
This means that all completely new environments (Warehouse, Stadium) and expecially outdoor racing (Construction Yard, Forest, Mountain/rocks) are not possible add-ons for Trials 2 Second Edition. Also large scale modifications for our current object and material set are not possible. New tracks itself are small, so expect to have many new tracks in the future for Trials 2 Second Edition.
2. Replay and track high score limits
We have a quite large comminity right now, and everyone has worked hard to get solid high scores in the 45 levels available. We do not want to make any changes that would require us to clear all the high score lists, unless there is a huge bug that prevents majority of players enjoying the game. All changes that would affect bike physics and driveability would affect the level records and replays.
This means that features such as improved physics modeling (mofidied traction, collision response, etc), bike customization (suspension, engine, brakes), new bikes models, real analog control (for leaning, braking and acceleration), separate back and front brakes, leaning up/down in addition to back/forward, etc are not possible add-ons for Trials 2 Second Edition.
3. Technology and testing limits
Trials 2 is the first PC game released that uses our cross platform game development library. We have used lots of money and resources to test the technology properly on multitude of Windows/PC platforms in addition to all console platforms we support. Even with all this testing doing on, there has been many small compatibility issues found after the game release, and it has required us 3 patches (v1.04, v1.05, v1.06) to get all these issues fixed.
This means that all major scale technology changes, such as configuring Trials 2 SE to use our new terrain rendering engine or our new particle engine are out of question at this stage of the project. We do not want to risk causing additional compatiblity problems and requiring to patch the game multiple times again. Also adding completely new supported systems, for example Mac, would require us to validate everything again for all hardware configurations available (PPC/Intel CPU, ATI/NVidia graphics, different OSX versions, etc). We do not have the required workforce or the testing hardware to implement huge changes like this currently. For any future Trials games we are of course evaluating all our options again in case by case basis.
4. Server limits
Currently Trials 2 SE utilizes one game server and one download/patch server. We do not have any server scaling beyond this. All the current online features of the game have been designed so that the stress to the server is minimized. Level files are small, replay files are small and there is no need for the game to stay continuously connected to the server. There are also no direct connections between players, as this would complicate the system considerably, and open up a whole lot of new possible security issues.
This means that we are not introducing any new features to the game that would increase the server stress considerably. Features such as user painted bikes, driver costumes and driver faces, user recorded replay sharing/ranking, etc are not going to be implemented for Trials 2 Second Edition. Also all real multiplayer modes that require direct connection between players cannot be implemented without large scale modifications to our server structure. All these features are of course evaluated for future Trials games.
Re: Suggestions and improvements for Trials 2 Second Edition
What about to bringing the Trials series also to the Playstation 3? I'd buy Trials game from PSN right away!
It doesn't need much new: Same things as Trials HD (Different bikes, level editor...) + Some new things:
More surfaces: mud, water, ice and wood and concrete should have different grip.
More camera angles: from up, riders wiew, and those what was in Trials 2 SE.
More musics and sounds: Don't you think that the bike sounds always the same? (Trials 2 SE) + more musics.
Riding outside: mountains, highways, parks, cities, forests and deserts.
These ideas are good for other Trials games too, not only for PS3.
And RedLynx, you're doing such a great job with you'r games. Keep going!
Re: Suggestions and improvements for Trials 2 Second Edition
Hi, would it be possible to have the lean forward or backward control to recenter itself when neither button is pressed in? I think trials hd was like that cause i played it a couple times. Like as a control option? that would make it so much easier to play the game and get thru some sticky situations the first time instead of faulting 20 times. Or maybe i just haven't found the option yet. although i am using a joy to key emulator so i could customize my controls. but still, really hope to play this game with that option.
Re: Suggestions and improvements for Trials 2 Second Edition
Trials HD does not recenter the rider's posture if you just let go of the control stick.
Adding that option would leave you with a pretty big split in groups, those who use leaning and skill to keep the bike balanced, and those who just quit pressing buttons.
Trials 2 SE is a much harder game (in my opinion) because the leaning influences the bikes position much faster.