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

[Sonictrainer]

It'd be cool if we got Skins like Sheila Dingodile, Sgt Byrd Penta, Bentley...Crunch....yeah... and Agent 9 Rilla Roo

Seeing the Spyro stuff just makes me want a Spyro Racing game now...

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

5 minutes ago, Son-icka said:

As I mentioned previously, it wouldn’t surprise me if the timed Wumpa multipliers are tied to health and safety protocols for promoting healthy screen-time. 

You'd be wrong on that front, given the company we're dealing with. Especially since when there's not coin-grinding to get, there's Nitro-grinding to do that encourages even more screentime. 

Anyone can tell you that never in Activision's recent history are the unfair limits put in for the sake of the player's well-bring. Not when they prefer to leech off of us more.

Besides, for offline players, they're forced to have even more screentime in grinding for the extras.

9 minutes ago, Son-icka said:

In retrospect of the talk of the reduction to only 3 characters per GP... it may have been the plan all along. I actually think this might be a good thing overall and could well have been something that was implemented to the players benefit to not let people burn out further from trying to unlock even more timed exclusive characters.

Considering how burned out people are to this point, even with Back N. Time supposedly cutting down on stuff, that would be a terrible plan since it evidently hasn't worked.

Again, it's been said before,  but what they actually need to do is give us a damn break.  Take a month or so. Give these events more love and care so that they can have properly ironed out content, oh and fix the inherent bugs and problems that still riddle the game.

Amount of content be damned. There are plenty of ways they can cut down on the grinding without cutting the content.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

The exclusive Sour Patch items. 

[Sonicka]

1 hour ago, Jovahexeon Ogilvie Maurice said:

You'd be wrong on that front, given the company we're dealing with. Especially since when there's not coin-grinding to get, there's Nitro-grinding to do that encourages even more screen time.

Well, no, frankly... I wouldn’t necessarily be wrong per se on this.

I probably should have been a bit clearer - because I’m not dismissing the other bad practises by any means - but they will have their own industry regulations and standard practises to meet. 

For balance, Activision would more than likely have to provide a pro-player stance on particular gaming fronts and player habits. This is a bit sketchy though as what may be a pro stance online isn’t offline, and vice versa. It’s also why there is 100 pages of disclaimer to sidle through when the game is first booted up - as this covers their respective asses.

I’m just providing a potential pro-explanation for timed events and character reductions. I’m not going to excuse the other messes.

Personally I feel the game does improve every update, maybe not by much. But then again what is considered by many to be a mess I just find to be a mild inconvenience a lot of the time. I think this is because I’m not an online player by choice usually, so I don’t really have the experience to tell the difference between what constitutes to good and bad servers and glitches etc... as per previous discussions.

A months break would certainly we welcome though for most of the reasons you’ve suggested. And if the Halloween GP is incoming - hopefully this will be the case and they will start it at the end of October rather than leading up to it.

They need to understand that the players won’t go anywhere - but they’ll probably abandon ship if pushed too hard... or purchase Wumpa coins instead. The latter more likely.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

1 hour ago, Son-icka said:

Well, no, frankly... I wouldn’t necessarily be wrong per se on this.

As you yourself have admitted, you don't have as much experience or know-how of Activision's usual scummy behavior as was demonstrated in previous titles. 

Know what they had in common? Grinding encouragements. Not something that's supposedly for player's well-bring. Unless you've got documentation of such,  you're giving Activision far more credit than they deserve.

1 hour ago, Son-icka said:

I’m just providing a potential pro-explanation for timed events and character reductions.

All the more power to you, but it just doesn't hold water because of how money grubbing the whole setup is.

It certainly doesn't benefit anyone who doesn't want to spend hours upon days of grinding to get stuff in the game, lest they pay out of their own pocket.

If anything, it's pure stress-inducement, and they know exactly what they're doing to players.

1 hour ago, Son-icka said:

A months break would certainly we welcome though for most of the reasons you’ve suggested. And if the Halloween GP is incoming - hopefully this will be the case and they will start it at the end of October rather than leading up to it.

Not for nothing, but if we were to get a Halloween event,  it's highly unlikely that they'll delay such to start near the end of October rather than just end on or close to the actual event.

If they do that, I'll change my avatar for a week.

1 hour ago, Son-icka said:

They need to understand that the players won’t go anywhere - but they’ll probably abandon ship if pushed too hard

Well going off the data and numbers crunched here,

 

Spoiler

 

a

 

lot did actually by the time of Back N. Time.

And if they're not careful, more will, especially if they continue some of the more unsavory practices.

[Jango]

New datamine. Nina Cortex might be coming next after all. They found her head icon and the name "Nina's Night Ride". "Night" and "Ride", unless it's just something generic (like Spyro Circuit), it could be a track based on Nina's level from... Crash Twinsanity!  Rooftop Rampage is the level that takes place on top of the Academy of Evil, and there's a memorable chase sequence ala Sonic Adventure, but with a suspended bus xD

Academy of Evil would make for a great level anyways, not just the rooftop part. It could start off the outside area, than move to the boiler room, the class room and finally the rooftop. You then jump from the rooftop and land again on the outside area for lap 2. IIRC, All-Stars Racing Transformed has a track based on "The House of the Dead" that goes almost like this

Oh, they also found a battle war plane kart that's apparently from... Call of Duty? Now that's a weird cross-over.

[DabigRG]

On 8/30/2019 at 12:23 PM, Your Vest Friend said:

There's a precedent for this with Bowser. Seems like Aku Aku and whatever rules Skylanders goes off share the trait of not giving a shit if you're a bad guy outside their jurisdiction. 

 

18 hours ago, Sonictrainer said:

It'd be cool if we got Skins like Sheila Dingodile, Sgt Byrd Penta, Bentley...Crunch....yeah... and Agent 9 Rilla Roo

Seeing the Spyro stuff just makes me want a Spyro Racing game now...

Bowser and Rilla Roo are in this game?

Also, I'm sure this has been discussed, but why Gnasty?

[Your Vest Friend]

Bowser's not, but he was in Skylanders (Nintendo versions only, of course). He teamed up with Donkey Kong to help the heroes according to the official supplementary material. 

As for why Gnasty as opposed to, say, Ripto, I have three theories on that;

1. This GP is more Spyro 1-centric so he got priority. Hunter pokes a hole in the theory, but doesn't completely sink it as it may be a reference to him staying in the Dragon Realms at the start of Spyro 3. 

2. They're more attached to Gnasty since the Reignited Trilogy (not by Beenox but still) was allowed to add more flair to him over any other villain. 

3. They really want a Bowser-like figure since Tiny isn't quite up to snuff for that. I mean they gave Dingodile some of Vector's fratboy tendencies and Joe got injected with a bunch of Espio's attitude so what's three for three in this cruel game of crossing favourites.  

[Sonictrainer]

42 minutes ago, Your Vest Friend said:

1. This GP is more Spyro 1-centric so he got priority. Hunter pokes a hole in the theory, but doesn't completely sink it as it may be a reference to him staying in the Dragon Realms at the start of Spyro 3. 

IIRC, Hunter helps Spyro fight against Gnasty Gnorc in Hero's Tale.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

7 hours ago, Sonictrainer said:

IIRC, Hunter helps Spyro fight against Gnasty Gnorc in Hero's Tale.

Hmmm. That does seem to point to the idea that this Spyro GP is meant to represent the series as a whole.

[mayday2592]

On 09/01/19 at 8:31 AM, Sonictrainer said:

IIRC, Hunter helps Spyro fight against Gnasty Gnorc in Hero's Tale.

Unless I'm forgetting something, Spyro fights Gnasty on his own.  Edit: He does. However there's a cute little easter egg i found. When Gnasty is about to be fought  in A Heroes Tail he claims to have defeated Spyro before and again makes that claim in the GP intro.

[Candescence]

Well, I finally got my hands on this game, partly because of the new Spyro grand prix stuff, and I've heard this game is pretty good. That being said...

I really have no idea what to think of this game. Either I've played way too much Mario Kart 8, or this is one of the most unintuitive kart racers I've ever played. Neither control set is nearly as comfortable as they should be (I actually have to use REM4P to make something comfortable for me), and the handling and drifting is rather tricky. It's not bad by any means, but I'm having a significantly harder time getting into this game than I was expecting.

Also, bloody hell, timed collectathon levels in a racing game sounds like the worst kind of idea. I had a miserable time trying to complete the first area's in adventure mode.

I mean, I'll probably beat adventure mode, unlock Spyro and try to experience most of what this game has to offer, but I likely won't bother to 100% it or anything.

[Meta77]

The thing I hate about each gp it sort of forces you to play as that gps character to get anywhere with the grind. Sort of how i liked the trophy girls. I love playing as megumi but each new event your better off playing with the main face that run for the boost.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

And in the latest news of recurring bugs and issues. Oy very. I may like this game, but Beenox really missed quite a few vital spot checks. The signs of rushed development never stop.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

As much as I am almost definitely going to regret asking, anyone have tips for doing the time trials against the ghosts for someone who hasn't done them before?

[Jango]

Why would you, Ryan? Honest question. I doubt someone here would just come out and use the "git gud" slang.

Some good tips to start: pick accel characters, such as Coco and N.Gin, they have the best starting boost, which should give you a lead from the go and give you confidence. Speed characters are great to maintain speed even when not boosting, but handles the worst, making it easier to loose control and hit/touch a wall, killing your fire. Speaking of fire, that's what you're gonna need to master.

The best strategy is the most simple: keep drifting and chaining 3 boosts to build reserves. Drift, activate 3 boosts (perfect, if you can), jump, drift again, 3 boosts and so on. With time you're gonna be doing that without even noticing. Try to activate a boost while in a turbo pad, it will automatically give you the yellow fire, which is the kind of fire you wanna get. Once you're in yellow fire mode, you get a great speed without sacrificing too much handling. If you've done enough chains, the yellow fire will last longer, and then you won't even need to drift-boost in straight lines, which can be hard at first. Just keep chaining boosts when you feel confortable to maintain yellow fire.

Also, take every chance at a jump-boost you can, even the smallest slopes can give you some. Land and continue drifting and chaining.

Also, study Oxide and see which shortcuts he takes and the ones he doesn't.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

2 minutes ago, Jango said:

Why would you, Ryan? Honest question. I doubt someone here would just come out and use the "git gud" slang.

Not sure what the question is - if it's why would I go for the time trials, or why I'd regret asking - for the former - honestly? I've already done nearly everything in the game, with 79% completion of trophies. I've got hard mode, and the time trials left. I've got every other platinum for both Crash and Spyro, and I want to at least give one honest to goodness attempt at getting CTR's as well. Plus, N. Tropy is my favourite villain in the series so I want to unlock him.

If the latter - it's nothing with a git gud slang, but more so that I can have a really short patience with bullshit difficulty, and I know I'm probably gonna have many angry experiences dealing with Oxide in particular, as well as Coco Park, and Crash Cove in hard mode. So when I say I'll regret asking, I mean it more so as "I'll probably regret doing this, but here we go anyway".

[Jango]

It felt like you would regret asking because you imagine the responses would be... Short, to say the least. 

But yeah, get ready to rage a bit. If anything, beating Oxide's ghosts is easier than getting all the platinum relics, like, by a wide margin, and it only awards you a paintjob. 

Tracks with less turbo pads are harder, by the way

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Where's the best place to start in general?

[Jango]

I would say the CNK levels because for some reason the Oxide ghosts there are a bit less brutal. You'll get a good idea of what to expect. Take my tips in consideration, once you're in yellow fire, Oxide will normally not catch you, there's no rubberband effect here, he'll take a path and go on everytime, you can totally follow him and see where he fails to take advantage. The accel characters are great because even when they're fast, they control well.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

1 minute ago, Jango said:

I would say the CNK levels because for some reason the Oxide ghosts there are a bit less brutal. You'll get a good idea of what to expect. Take my tips in consideration, once you're in yellow fire, Oxide will normally not catch you, there's no rubberband effect here, he'll take a path and go on everytime, you can totally follow him and see where he fails to take advantage. The accel characters are great because even when they're fast, they control well.

Do I need to worry about Blue Fire?

[Jango]

In one track: Tiny Temple.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

Will a acceleration character also be best for Hard Mode?

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

40 minutes ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

Will a acceleration character also be best for Hard Mode?

Time trials against ghosts don't come in modes. Only relic races do.

That said, I'd recommend trying to get the hang of speed characters. Especially on tracks with long straight lines since their handling actually works best on most tracks. 

Each track calls for something of a special strategy. It's possible to best N. TROPY and Oxide with all classes, but good luck doing so.

Your best bet lies with speed characters and acceleration characters.

If you need any advice on those or relic races, feel free to ask, as I've long since reached the point of obtaining Digital N. Tropy.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

1 minute ago, Jovahexeon Ogilvie Maurice said:

Time trials against ghosts don't come in modes. Only relic races do.

I meant hard mode for Adventure Mode, since I need both that, and the time trials. I heard doing Oxide's ghosts first is the best way to beat Hard.