United Front Games Answers Your ModNation Racers Questions!

Hi Everyone,

As you may recall, a couple of weeks ago we asked you to submit your ModNation Racers questions so we could ask the guys in United Front Games when they visited Ireland.

Unfortunately, thanks to the volcanic ash cloud the guys didnt make it over but they’ve kindly sent through the following answers to your questions:

DANTHEMAN121: What kind of PlayStation Home content will there be for ModNation Racers – Game space? Game launching? Items and outfits?

The ModNation Racers Event Space launched just last week! Straight away, you can explore a gallery full of Mods of all different styles. It shows off the versatility of our Mod Studio and hopefully it will give you lots of inspiration for what you want your Mod to be like. There’s even a mini-game that challenges you to hunt for Mods in record time. Try and top the leaderboard and you could win an exclusive Mod! There’s also a really neat hat available for your Home Avatar. It has animated karts racing around it, so you can literally have ModNation Racers on your brain!

Dave-The-Rave: Will there be DLC post release?

We’ve included an incredible amount of content for you to race and create with straight away. But for those whose imaginations can never have enough, we’re working on DLC plans right now. Stay tuned for more details…

s_wrenn: Will any future DLC be reminiscent of how LittleBigPlanet do their DLC packs?

Certainly, the response to LittleBigPlanet’s DLC has been amazing. It shows that there’s a real appetite for different types of content for different needs. We already have some in-demand downloadable characters ready for launch like Kratos, Nathan Drake, Ratchet and Clank and, yes, Sackboy! You can play as these characters straight away. Later on, we’ll have more characters, as well as larger downloadable packs and themes that extend our Mod, Kart, and Track Studios creative possibilities even further.

rymanb: When creating the game did you set out to create a game which used the same concepts as LittleBigPlanet?

ModNation Racers was born out of the collective skill sets and creative goals of our team at United Front Games. Many of us had already made games that offered lots of customisation options, as well as online play and sharing. But with our new studio, veteran team, and clean sheet approach to the game design, we had the luxury of taking racing, creating, and sharing to the next level. And the fact that Sony shared the same values made it a perfect match for ModNation Racers to join the Play Create Share movement.

What games (other than LittleBigPlanet) influenced you in designing ModNation Racers?

Our team has literally hundreds of man-years of racing game experience. So ModNation Racers is the product of many years of playing and making many racers of all types – too many to mention, really. But we were also heavily influenced by non-racers as diverse as Skate, Spore, and World of Warcraft.

VioletGiant: What kind of connection will there be between the PS3 and PSP versions of ModNation Racers?

There is some exclusive content available if you play both the PS3 and PSP versions. All you have to do is go online with both versions using the same PlayStation Network account, and you’ll have a surprise waiting for you on the PSP!

moriarty1975: Are the loading times any quicker since the beta?

Our public beta was released earlier in the development cycle than most other public betas. We knew our game was not optimised, but we couldn’t miss the opportunity to get some large-scale testing and player feedback. I’m happy to report that our engineers have improved load times in several different places in the final game.

Sir-Dark-Haze: Can you use the sixaxis feature to control your kart?

We experimented with using SIXAXIS, but we felt the results did not meet our standards for including the feature. In fact, we prototyped many features that did not make the cut. But we decided that if something wasnt Super Wicked Awesome, we wouldn’t ship it!

Can the preorder mod skins (R&C, Kratos, Nathan Drake) be created with the avator mode tool?

The Mod Studio and Kart Studio are definitely powerful enough to let you create just about any design you can imagine. We’ve seen players pay homage to their favorite videogame heroes with their own personal style. But the pre-order characters have a level of fit and finish to them that I think you’ll appreciate. They were approved by all of their original creators!

THE-ASSASSIN911: Will there be any integration with PlayStation Move? e.g. using the Move controller to control your kart

We’re fascinated by the possibilities of PlayStation Move and how it opens up games to an even wider audience. We looking at the Move controller in the UFG labs at present but looking and playing only at the moment.

Plambey: Are there any plans for country specific DLC or official merchandise e.g. ROI jersey for Irish mods?

Personally, I prefer making all of our DLC available to the widest possible audience. But never say never…

What is your opinion on paid for DLC and what are your plans for DLC for ModNation Racers?

There’s so much content included with the base game that you won’t bore of it soon, but we’re sure you’ll want more content to play and create with. So you can expect to hear more about ModNation Racers DLC in the near future.

Bonyman: For those who took part in the beta, can you load creations from the beta into the full game?

We released our public beta relatively early in the development cycle, early enough that we made many technical changes to the game. This means importing creations from the public beta is not a slam dunk, but we continue to investigate it.

GeoMarine: Will there be a special edition of ModNation Racers available?

There is only one edition of ModNation Racers: the ultimate one.

SKELLY7 Are there any other members of the PlayStation family you’d like to use in ModNation Racers (besides Kratos, Drake, Ratchet & Clank)

We were pretty thrilled to welcome those awesome characters to ModNation Racers. Hopefully, we’ll get more!

Mod or Sackboy? Who would win in a create off?

It depends on the category. Sackboy dominates the Action Platform Create-off, but Mods take the trophy for Best Race Tracks. Everyone wins!

Otune: In LBP, community members who do something really distinctive get a special crown for their Sackboy as a reward – will there be similar rewards in ModNation Racers?

Fame is the ultimate reward for publishing great creations in ModNation Racers. Every published creation earns Create XP based on how popular it is in the community. These points are then used to rank creators on a leaderboard seen in the ModSpot (our virtual hangout). Will we see Otune on top?

KylieDog: Can you build volcanoes in ModNation Racers to race around/through?!!

One of the tracks included in ModNation Racers contains a huge jump over a volcano called Mt. Pain. You can use the Terrain Brushes in the Track Studio to sculpt your own volcanoes in your custom tracks.

Grainne Murray