Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled (June 21st, 2019)

[Rowl]

I think they could add the rest of the Crash cast to the game. The technically only have to add 4 characters: Tawna, Brio, Komodo Moe and Koala Kong + Spyro as a bonus. So... yeah with Spyro only 5. 

[Your Vest Friend]

If they're referencing CNK, I wouldn't even rule out Crunch and Nina. About as relevant to CTR as Spyro. 

[Teoskaven]

Don't forget N.Trance, the N.Sane Trilogy already referenced the GBA games and while VV is not doing this, their influence may still be possible.
Honestly, considering Activision and everything, i would have thought the extra characters would have been relegated as DLC, but there's no news of a season pass, so that's out of the question for now. We'll see.

[Meta77]

And the trophy girls can be added as well among all those

[Rowl]

1 hour ago, VEDJ-F said:

If they're referencing CNK, I wouldn't even rule out Crunch and Nina. About as relevant to CTR as Spyro. 

I'm sadly not really a huge fan of those two. Nina is kinda boring and Crunch feels way to much like a Knuckles ripoff. With him Crash Team feels just like Team Sonic. Sonic = Action Hero, Tails = Brains, Knuckles = Muscles. Crash = Action Hero, Coco = Brains, Crunch = Muscles.  

45 minutes ago, Meta77 said:

And the trophy girls can be added as well among all those

If they come back, which I'm still not 100% sure about it. I mean, they are called "Trophy Girls". Like you own them as a trophy, a girl, a female, as your personal item. I know that this isn't the case with them, but you know how sensitive people are nowadays.

[Meta77]

Oh my God if someone takes offense to that then I really have lost all hope for my generation my God. That's what they bloody are. trophy girls to hand out the prize for their team winning.  Surely no young millennial is that naive. I could care less if a few sensitive folks get ruffled like people did at doom eternals showing

54 minutes ago, Teoskaven said:

Don't forget N.Trance, the N.Sane Trilogy already referenced the GBA games and while VV is not doing this, their influence may still be possible.
Honestly, considering Activision and everything, i would have thought the extra characters would have been relegated as DLC, but there's no news of a season pass, so that's out of the question for now. We'll see.

Well there is the digital bonus version so possible day 1 character

[Rowl]

28 minutes ago, Meta77 said:

Oh my God if someone takes offense to that then I really have lost all hope for my generation my God. That's what they bloody are. trophy girls to hand out the prize for their team winning.  Surely no young millennial is that naive. I could care less if a few sensitive folks get ruffled like people did at doom eternals showing

Even if its just a few people complaining about them, they can still force the creators to change their ideas. They just have to be loud enough, which a lot of SJWs are. I mean look at the controversy with Apu from The Simpsons. Sure, it was only a few people that had an issue with Apu, but they have gotten so far, that even the network might will remove Apu from the Simpsons entirely, or make him at least just simple background character that will never talk again. 

I know it is stupid, but this is the world we are now living in. Everything has to be political correct.

[Pawn]

3 hours ago, Rowl said:

Even if its just a few people complaining about them, they can still force the creators to change their ideas. They just have to be loud enough, which a lot of SJWs are. I mean look at the controversy with Apu from The Simpsons. Sure, it was only a few people that had an issue with Apu, but they have gotten so far, that even the network might will remove Apu from the Simpsons entirely, or make him at least just simple background character that will never talk again. 

I know it is stupid, but this is the world we are now living in. Everything has to be political correct.

Do you really think the network gives enough of a toss about "only a few people" that they'll risk changing a show enjoyed by millions of others? Or maybe attitudes in general change as the world does and sometimes networks feel it's best to reflect that, lest they stagnate and fall from relevancy.

Either way, let's not conjure up a cycle of outrage over a currently inoffensive kart racer. This ain't Youtube.

[Plasme]

It's a remake of Crash Team Racing. The remakes of the original Crash games added hardly any new content.

You guys are just setting yourselves up for disappointment with your wild hopes.

[Tracker_TD]

1 hour ago, Plasme said:

It's a remake of Crash Team Racing. The remakes of the original Crash games added hardly any new content.

So because a set of remakes of three games by [Studio A] didn't add much content (and for what it's worth I'd say playable Coco, a couple of remade beta stages and an entirely new stage, and implementing relics into C1 and C2 is a fair amount of new stuff given, again, they had three games to remake), this remake of a single game by [Studio B] definitely won't have any new content - even though we've already seen new stuff? 

There's cynicism and then there's just being eager to piss in the punchbowl. Having reasonable expectations is fine, and I've not exactly seen anything crazy in this thread. 

[Plasme]

18 hours ago, Tracker_TD said:

So because a set of remakes of three games by [Studio A] didn't add much content (and for what it's worth I'd say playable Coco, a couple of remade beta stages and an entirely new stage, and implementing relics into C1 and C2 is a fair amount of new stuff given, again, they had three games to remake), this remake of a single game by [Studio B] definitely won't have any new content - even though we've already seen new stuff? 

There's cynicism and then there's just being eager to piss in the punchbowl. Having reasonable expectations is fine, and I've not exactly seen anything crazy in this thread. 

I'm comparing it to what's come before. All we have to compare it with is the trilogy. I understand that remaking a Trilogy is harder than a single game, but I'm warning you all not to get so excited based on what evidence we actually had. The N Sane Trilogy only added new stages post-launch. It's most notable changes were with the Time Trial and Coco, which isn't the same as what's being suggested by you guys here (a lot of new characters and stages, even stuff from Nitro Kart, and as if it's to be expected too). All we know at the moment will be new for this remake is Oxide and the new karts (although I think the Spyro stuff looks very credible). That's great on its own, but that's all we know for sure at the moment.

Look, I adored CTR back in the day. I completed Adventure Mode and beat all of Oxide's ghosts. I want new stuff to be added just as much as you guys. All I'm saying is please exercise caution, because I'm worried people are going to hype themselves up for new content and then get themselves disappointed if it ends up being a mostly straight remake. 

If you guys want to call me cynical and get aggressive then go ahead, I just don't want to see you all upset.

[Meta77]

We are suggesting it cause like with crash 1. Content meant for the game was cut and added back in the remake. Ctr had many characters cut or edited out that were meant to be added but game size back in the day did not allow it. I'm sure they have plans to add more

[Sonictrainer]

Do you think Fasty will finally get in?

[Your Vest Friend]

Ah, I think that might be too deep cut. He doesn't have much (if any) of a player base to appeal to. What with being cut and all. 

[Guest]

Sorry for not posting the new screenshots and concept art, here's some of them from Crash Cove, Dingo Canyon and Cortex Castle:

 

 

And finally, the new screenshot that was just posted today for Cortex Castle:

 

[Jango]

The level of detail is amazing in this game, I really hope it isn't distracting while racing tho'.

But seriously, this kicks ass, you can see that they have way more artistic freedom than the NST's team.

[Multikaris]

On 1/7/2019 at 11:42 AM, VEDJ-F said:

If they're referencing CNK, I wouldn't even rule out Crunch and Nina. About as relevant to CTR as Spyro. 

If the other racing games, such as Tag Team Racing & the mobile sequels to CNK, are considered then we can add characters like Pasadena O’Possum and Yaya to the list of potential characters. 

[Guest]

New Screenshot for Tiger Temple

[TCB]

Goddamn that night sky is gorgeous. This art direction is such a improvement over N-Sane while still being faithful to the original source. Can't wait to see tracks like Hot Air Skyway and Oxide Station. The reveal trailer and press release mentioned that there will be even more tracks and characters that weren't in the original right?

[Jango]

Holy shit this looks beautiful. But I still feel like some areas are a bit too full of stuff, like those palmtrees up there, they don't even make sense, it looks off and not really necessary. Oh man, this ain't gonna run 60FPS... 

[Meta77]

Well doubtful full 1080 60fps on switch but one x can hit that easily and maybe the pro

[Guest]

 

Concept Art for Tiger Temple

[mayday2592]

I love how they're really fleshing out these areas and making them seem fresh and new. The fact that the N-sane Trilogy didn't really do this was what disappointed  me the most about that game.

[Guest]

Back in December, we got our first Q&A blog article from Activision detailing some stuff about the remake, like online, game modes, teasing, etc...

Earlier yesterday, the 2nd Q&A (2nd part of the original one) was published with the following details from the blog:

Quote

Five months from now, Crash and friends will race once more after a 20-year-long pit stop in Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled.

With a new year kicked off, we think it’s a good time to release the second part with our interview with Beenox Creative Director and Co-Studio Head Thomas Wilson to talk more about CTR.

Here’s more of what he had to say about the game as release fans are revving up their gears:

Activision Games Blog: What makes Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled stand out as a racing game?

Thomas Wilson: For me, there are a few things to be talking about:

First and foremost, the way you race; the racing experience is very unique in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. In the original game, you can drift around corners — and on straight lines too — and get a boost, but it requires skill. You have to trigger it manually and time it right to get up to a three times boost, and you can maintain that boost for quite a long time when you become an experienced racer.

There’s an old saying out there: easy to play, hard to master. That totally applies to Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. It’s a game of skill. Anyone can enjoy it, but those who want to go for a competitive experience needs to master the drifting mechanic.

Another is the Adventure mode. You can enjoy a single-player experience with bosses to defeat and things to unlock as you are competing in this mode. This alone makes this game very different from the rest of the racing games out there.

And last, but not least, the personality we’re injecting into Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled will stand out from the rest of the racing games out there. There are so many details that go into the characters themselves — their animations, how they react when they win or lose, the victory animations when they get on the podium… That’s all unique to each character, and it’s something I think people will appreciate.

You just released new gameplay assets, what can you tell us about new gameplay features (e.g., music)?

We’re huge fans of the iconic sound of the original games, and I still have the original soundtrack to Crash Team Racing stuck in my head. It was so important to us that, when we were talking about remastering the music, we had to pay tribute to the original sounds.

For example, the Dragon Mines. In the original soundtrack for that level, you can hear a harmonica, but it was made with a synthesizer. Our Animation Director, Alexandre Lessard, plays the harmonica – he’s an amazing blues artist – so he went into the recording booth to play that same melody with a real harmonica. You still have the same sound, but it feels more authentic.

Another is Tiny Arena. In Nitro-Fueled, we pushed the personality of the track to feel more like a monster truck arena with metal, graffiti, and fire coming out of Tiny statues. Then our Senior Audio Designer, Nicolas Tremblay, listened to the soundtrack and made it sound more like a rock song with a little bit of metal to emphasize that feeling you get in a monster truck arena.

It’s still the original music or sounds — the layouts are all the same and the same soundtrack is there — but there is just a little more personality injected into it. Everywhere we could, we injected personality into the soundtrack by adding deeper layers of music.

How is your team able to take a game from nearly 20 years ago and bring it back to life? In other words, what is the development process like for this game so far?

When you’re talking about bringing back a game from two decades ago, you need to first do your homework. So we booted up our old PS1 and started playing the original game.

When you do that, you get a feel for what the game was and start to remember why you fell in love with it in the first place. So we play the game, analyze it, and, by using a whole new engine, figure out how we can pay homage to the look and feel for driving in this generation.

We also made sure we compared the feel of accelerating, turning, drifting, jumping when we got that new game engine running, and we are constantly working to make sure we are staying true to the inspiration of the original game.

At the same time, we knew we could recreate the spirit of the original environments in stunning HD, so we took screenshots of the original game and had our concept artists paint over them to see how much detail we could add to them. Then we share each concept art with the Environment team so they can identify what needs to be created to enrich those levels.

It’s really all a matter of looking at where we can add details while staying true to the game’s original spirit.

Out of all of the development team members, who is the best Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled racer? Is there already a Beenox racing league already in place for this game?

*laughs* We have regular play sessions and have a few team members who are really good at it.

We have two designers — William Parent-Labonté and Christian Auger-Morin — who used to be testers for and were super hardcore fans. Another hardcore fan is one of our programmers, Richard Harvey-Levert.

These guys were still playing the original game even when we started with Nitro-Fueled. We turn to them to make sure we do things right in terms of being authentic. While we are developing the game, we put the controller in their hands and ask them, “Does this feel right?”

Finally, five months out from the game's release, what do you hope old-school fans of Crash Team Racing will appreciate from this game? What do you hope newcomers to the series feel about it?

The easy, cheesy answer is that I hope they enjoy everything. I hope they see the love and passion that our studio put into this game, and that every decision to make Nitro-Fueled a reality will be appreciated.

We are fans of the original game; we want to bring back that authentic experience, but we also want to introduce this game to new fans of Crash Bandicoot.

We want the old fans to jump in and appreciate how authentic it is based on what they remember. And we want newcomers to come in and just appreciate a great racing game.

Above all, whether it’s playing by themselves in Adventure mode, playing Multiplayer offline on the couch with a buddy, or racing online, we hope everyone has a blast playing this game.

 https://blog.activision.com/crash-bandicoot/2019-01/thomas-wilson-interview-part-II

[Red Hot Jack]

I appreciate this interview, but still they haven't shown much after the reveal trailer, however I still watch the trailer and it was satisfying because it shows lots of content.