Line #36 VideoGame/BallisticNG


1	[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ballisticng_banner_320px.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:Back to basics.]]
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4	''[=BallisticNG=]'' is an anti-gravity {{racing game}} for Platform/{{Windows\|Games}}, Platform/MacOS, and [[Platform/{{UNIX}} Linux]] created by the three-man outfit of ''Neognosis''. It is largely inspired by the ''[[{{VideoGame/Wipeout}} WipEout]]'' game series, in particular ''2097'' and ''3'', aiming to emulate the latter's gameplay, physics, and Platform/PlayStation-era graphical quirks while providing [[{{GameMod}} a creative sandbox]]. Player races high-speed anti-gravity ships, using speed, skill, and weapons to gain the upper hand. It comes with a multiplayer and a fully-fledged arcade-style single-player campaign.
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6	First released on May 30, 2016, it passed {{Platform/Steam}}'s Greenlight program and entered Early Access for a while. Originally a completely free-to-play game with donation options available through Neognosis' Patreon up until its closure, the developers have since transitioned the game into a [[http://steamcommunity.com/games/473770/announcements/detail/1439318968088458913 commercial title]] on September 21, 2017. It left Early Access as a complete game on December 15, 2018. A free expansion pack titled ''Neon Nights'' was released on July 26, 2019, with 6 new tracks, a new set of campaign stages, and new unlockable liveries, alongside the announcement of more expansions to come, both free and commercial. Another expansion, ''Outer Reaches'', released on July 20, 2020, adds another set of 6 new tracks and liveries, and a new campaign for $2.99. A third expansion, ''Maceno Island'', was announced on March 10, 2021, the same day of the Switch port announcement. [[https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/473770/view/3714963077084183659 Unfortunately, as of September 2023]], plans for that version release has been cancelled. Coinciding with the v1.3.3 update, a Website/GOGDotCom version of the game was released on November 23, 2023 with ability to sync save data progress and share leaderboard scores across both platforms.
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8	The game can be found on [[http://store.steampowered.com/app/473770/ Steam]] and [[https://www.gog.com/en/game/ballisticng GOG.com]]. You can also visit the game's official website [[https://neognosis.games/ here]], Facebook page [[https://www.facebook.com/BallisticNG/ here]], and twitter page [[https://twitter.com/BallisticNG here]].
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11	!!This game contains examples of:
12	* OneHundredPercentCompletion: The game's campaign has a percentage counter for each league events and the overall completion rate of the game's campaign. Each event, however, requires completing them with a platinum medal for 100% completion, which requires playing through each one in Expert mode.
13	* AdvancingWallOfDoom: The Tremor pickup.
14	* AllThereInTheManual: Like the game it's based on, there is little to no story exposition within the game itself. [[https://ballisticng.miraheze.org The game's official wiki]], on the other hand, is jam-packed with lore for the teams and tracks that exist in the game.
15	* {{Animesque}}: The MNK sponsor billboards, heavily inspired by The Designers Republic.
16	* AntiFrustrationFeatures:
17	** The Autopilot pickup will delay its deactivation if your craft is taking a hard turn as it expires, holding out for up to three seconds longer.
18	** The Shield pickup will automatically activate if you take damage from enemy fire.
19	* AprilFoolsDay: In 2017, the game had an update that applied a '[[{{Vaporwave}} ＶａｐｏｒｗａｖｅＡｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃ]]' graphic filter and soundtracks to the game, alongside a ''[=Ballistic64=]'' cheat code which makes every ship handle like those in ''[=WipEout=] 64''.
20	** As of the current update, the vaporwave mode can be activated by typing "vaporng" in the main menu.
21	* AttractMode: If you wait at the Title Screen for a moment, the game will play a demo of a race with varying camera perspectives between ships.
22	* BlackComedy: The achievement for destroying an Omnicom ship with a Diavolt ship is called "Media Blackout".
23	* BlingBlingBang: Those that donated at least $5 towards the Neognosis' Patreon prior to its closure and the game transitioning to a commercial title on Steam received a special set of liveries that gives ships a shiny gold color, along with their Steam user name given a golden color. The v1.2.2 update later introduced the Bling Pack DLC, which give players that missed the Patreon liveries set not only the golden liveries, but also platinum (as well as iredescent and psychedelic) liveries for $2 and granted to the developer's past Patreon donors free of charge.
24	* BloodSport: Wouldn't be a ''[=WipEout=]'' homage without it.
25	* BrutalBonusLevel:
26	** The "Barracuda Challenge", which mirrors the Piranha Challenge from ''2097''. This event forces you to play on ten tracks in Zen class, all in a row. Not only that, the AI opponents are set to the hardest difficulty, and if you are struggling in a race, you're forced to restart the challenge from the beginning, as the "Restart" option is disabled for this challenge. However, you can restart the race you just lost after you finish it. If you find it too difficult, you're probably better off using Tenrai.
27	** The Precision Runs, which are a series of tight point-to-point courses that will make any experienced pilot question their handling abilities. [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin As the name suggests]], the closer to perfection, the better.
28	** The two Expert tracks, Hydrome Bed and Arrivon Peak, are the hardest tracks in the game and are unlocked after progressing far enough in the Campaign. Both feature extremely unorthodox layouts featuring sharp blind corners and narrow alleyways without walls. You'll need to know the ins and outs of your ship if you want to win in these tracks.
29	* CastFromHitPoints: Hyperthrust, which can give your craft a boost of speed at the cost of your health, not unlike that of ''VideoGame/FZero'''s or the original ''[=WipEout=]'' games.
30	* CherryTapping: Ramming into walls or other opponents can take you out of the race if [[CriticalExistenceFailure you're low on shields]].
31	* ComputerVoice: The game uses this as the announcer voice by default. The player can mod it or turn it off entirely.
32	* CopyProtection: Averted. Despite the game being released on Steam, Neognosis has gone on record to support ''[=BallisticNG=]'' as a DRM-free PC game, even after the game transitioned from free-to-play to commercial, however, players won't be able to access Steam Workshop content (unless imported locally to the game's custom ship/campaign/tracks/music folders) or Steamworks features without a Steam log-in.
33	* CriticalExistenceFailure: If your craft runs out of energy, ''boom''. As long as you've got some left, you can continue to race.
34	* CrutchCharacter: The G-Tek R34 has superb grip and handling, but severely lacks the speed and acceleration of other teams that experienced players could take advantage of.
35	* CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain: Occasionally shows up in some of the tracks, like Aciknovae, Surge, and Omega Harbour.
36	* DeathOfAThousandCuts: The Cannon pickup can fire up to 30 bullets. While each of them deals very low damage, it still can destroy foes.
37	* DeathMountain: Utah Project snakes around a dam in Glen Canyon, Utah.
38	* DeflectorShields: The shield pickup, which temporary absorbs weapons and collision damage. Activating the autopilot pickup also grants you this.
39	* DifficultButAwesome:
40	** Certain ships are rewarding once you get the hang of them.
41	*** The ''Nexus'' ship as of its 0.6 iteration; blistering top speed but comes with absolutely sluggish handling and abysmal grip.
42	*** [[FragileSpeedster The NX2000]]. Very similar to the [=NX1000=] craft from VideoGame/WipEout 2048, thanks to it's very high top speed, but it's also the most fragile ship in the game. A very good choice for those [[SuicidalOverconfidence with a death wish]]. Even if they can handle enough punishment from the other crafts.
43	*** All of Barracuda's ships are this. [[spoiler:All 10 stats across the board, just without being able to use weapons. The problem is, can you handle it?]]
44	** The Plasma pickup, which can cripple opponents. The catch is that the weapon has a 1-second firing delay on top of its own travel time.
45	** [[ForceFieldDoor The Energy Wall]] deploys a barricade ahead of your ship in the lane opposite of where you're occupying. This make strategic use of it more difficult than other pickups, but it can stop ''several'' ships in their tracks if used right.
46	* DifficultyLevels: Outside of the AI difficulty, the game also separates races into several speed classes, which are also inspired by the ''[=WipEout=]'' games:
47	** [[EasierThanEasy Toxic]] (equivalent to Venom)
48	** Apex (equivalent to Flash)
49	** Halberd (equivalent to Rapier)
50	** Spectre (equivalent to Phantom)
51	** [[HarderThanHard Zen]] (equivalent to Super-Phantom)
52	** Hyper Zen (greater than Super-Phantom, exclusive to Survival courses)
53	* DoABarrelRoll: Performing one after a jump with 2280 physics enabled grants you a speed boost, at the cost of a sliver of your health.
54	* DownloadableContent: Ties in with GameMod, thanks to the Steam Workshop.
55	* EasterEgg: [[spoiler: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZLy7bHQ1rE There's a hidden Morse code message on the Luna track]], which translates to "WIPEOUT FOREVER".]]
56	* EndlessGame: Survival Mode, in which you pilot a craft that [[DifficultyByAcceleration goes faster and faster until you wreck it]].
57	* EnergyWeapon: Some pickups fire energy projectiles.
58	** The Tremor creates a wide wave of energy to damage everyone in front of the ship.
59	** The Plasma fires a slow, large ball of plasma, which can heavily damage an enemy ship and slow it down.
60	* EternalEngine: Aciknovae, which is located within a Russian factory.
61	* ExpansionPack: The ''Neon Nights'' and ''Outer Reaches'' DLC adds their own set of unique new tracks (normal and reversed), a new campaign, and unlockable liveries relating to their respective expansions.
62	* {{Expy}}:
63	** The Barracuda Model A is this to the Piranha ship in ''2097''. Best top speed, acceleration and handling in the game, but no weapons.
64	** Several teams are similar to the ones from the ''[=WipEout=]'' series, such as G-Tek (AG-Systems), Omnicom (Auricom), Diavolt (Qirex), Wyvern (Icaras), Nexus (Feisar), Hyperion (EG-X or Xios), Scorpio (Goteki 45) and Tenrai (Van-Uber).
65	** The [[HomingProjectile Hunter]] pickup is very similar to the [[VideoGame/MarioKart Blue Shell]], but it's actually based on a weapon from ''[=WipEout=] Fusion''.
66	* FloatingContinent: Ishtar Citadel, located above Tokyo, Japan.
67	* GameMod: One of Neognosis' goals is to allow this. The game supports the Steam Workshop since launch, and scripting support first became available on August 10, 2017.
68	** The game's Steam Workshop allows players to add custom tracks and ships, including AG crafts ported from ''[=WipEout=]'', or [[ComicallyMissingThePoint things]] like [[ForWantOfANail real-world cars]]...
69	** Some users have even created soundpacks that features sound effects from the ''[=WipEout=]'' games and the announcer from ''[=WipEout=] 3'', and you can also import your own music to play the game with.
70	* GreenHillZone: Zephyr Ridge, a race track located in an Italian business park, alongside its sister course Zephyr Climb.
71	* GuestFighter: The CYGON Tempest from ''GRIP'' appears in this game [[https://steamcommunity.com/games/473770/announcements/detail/3353416125411415103 as part of a collab with the game's developers]].
72	* GuideDangIt:
73	** Some shortcuts(or "skillcuts") are less obvious than others. One such cut in Cassandra, for example, involves firing your afterburner and clipping ''through'' a building.
74	** The "Opposite Braking" technique [[note]]Steering to one side while activating opposing airbrake causes your ship to 'strafe' sideways.[[/note]], which is critical in righting your ship during difficult corners, used to be not explained in-game proper.
75	* {{Homage}}: To the ''[=WipEout=]'' series, especially the [=PlayStation=]-era trilogy's later installments.
76	* HouseRules: The Custom Race mode, which allows you to tweak various options and rules of the game's various modes, such the speed class, whether or not {{collision damage}} applies, enable or disable weapons, number of laps possible for certain modes, et cetera.
77	* HypocriticalHumor: There's an achievement for taking down a G-Tek ship with a Tenrai ship called "Impurity", referring to the latter team contradicting their own protest against weapons in AGL and their own motto due to their heated rivalry with the former.
78	* Instant180DegreeTurn: Pressing the afterburner button in Eliminator does this, allowing you to unleash hell on enemies behind you.
79	* JackOfAllStats: The Omnicom Series 2 has good acceleration, decent handling, and above-average shielding and firepower.
80	* JokeCharacter: The AG Bike, which was formerly removed, but now a part of its own separate class.
81	** The Scorplet, available with the '''nanomachines''' cheat, is a forklift. It's pretty fast for a forklift, but any other vehicle will easily overtake it, and its highest stats are measly ''2/10's''.
82	* JungleJapes: Arrivon XI is located in the jungles of resort island Maceno.
83	* LethalJokeCharacter: Despite the fact that the AG Bike looked downright ridiculous (not to mention out of scale), it still acted the same as any other ship in the game.
84	* LethalLavaLand: The second Expert course, Arrivon Peak, is located in the midst of an active volcano.
85	* LevelEditor: The game features a basic, if still incredibly powerful, track editor. The tracks you create can also be exported to Unity to add the scenery.
86	* LevelInReverse: An update for the game added the ability to race on any official track in reverse.
87	* LightningBruiser: The Diavolt Di-500 has very good top-speed, firepower, and shielding, so it's faster, stronger, and more durable than most machines. However, it lacks acceleration power and the handling is very stiff.
88	* MacrossMissileMassacre: The Hellstorm missile (first seen in the 12 August 2017 dev branch) splits itself apart to damage up to 4 opponents at once.
89	* MegaCity: All the tracks in the ''Neon Nights'' DLC are set in the gigantic Vega City. InUniverse, the arrival of the AGL sparked a mixed reaction: fan reception was highly positive, but the city's residents weren't quite as pleased.
90	* MegaCorp: It's a ''[=WipEout=]'' homage, so of course they'd have a presence here.
91	* MultinationalTeam: Nexus, an Austrian team with some key people hailing from Europe and Japan.
92	* MythologyGag: A meta example; Cassandra was originally a track made for ''[[https://www.facebook.com/SlipStreamGX/ SlipstreamGX]]'', another ''Wipeout'' fan-game that's in development hiatus (as of April 2017). Some of its developers continue to work on ''[=BallisticNG=]'' during said downtime. One of its weapons, the Wormhole, also made an appearance until it got replaced with the Hunter missile.
93	* NecessaryDrawback: The Barracuda Model A, Model B, and Model S have no weapons systems. Same with the [=NX2000=].
94	* {{Nerf}}: The Plasma pickup was able to [[OneHitKill destroy any ship instantly]] in ealier versions, but it just deals very high damage in the official release.
95	* NintendoHard: Naturally, given that the game takes clues from the early installments of ''[=WipEout=]''.
96	** Part of the reason why ''BNG'' is hard for players new to Wipeout-esque racing sub-genre is because some single-player events force you to fly certain craft. The player ended up having to re-learn muscle memory for new track/craft combination again. How the game heavily punish collisions does not help matters at all if you're shooting for platinum medals.
97	* NitroBoost: The Afterburner system, based on ''[=WipEout=] 3''[='=]s Hyperthrust, allows you to drain your own health to gain more speed by holding down a button. There's also the more traditional boost pads and turbo pickups.
98	* NoobCave:
99	** The first circuit, [[PalmtreePanic Cassandra]], is far shorter and easier than the others, and its pit area also doubles as a shortcut. Later updates gave it a massive overhaul and a longer layout.
100	** Surge, a short, simple track added in the official release.
101	* ObviousRulePatch:
102	** Back when it was still in the game, you could only pick up the Wormhole when you're dead last in the pack [[PurposelyOverpowered to prevent people from teleporting their way to victory]].
103	** From v0.8, using the Barracuda Model A will give the other pilots [[PurposelyOverpowered the same craft]] in order to prevent you from [[NoFairCheating cheating the campaign mode]].
104	* PaletteSwap: The unlockable liveries (i.e. skins) for the ships feature unique texture designs, of which includes Alt (an alternative team design), Clean (a simple white color scheme), Stealth (a black variant of Clean), and Neon (''Film/{{TRON}}''-esque neon design) for the base game, as well as liveries for the Neon Nights and Outer Reaches (featuring unique designs for the expansions). There was also a special golden livery for donors that contributed at least $5 USD to the developer's Patreon prior to becoming commercially released through Steam.
105	* PalmtreePanic: Cassandra and Marina Rush, respectively located in the coastlines of Barcelona and Sao Paulo.
106	* PatrioticFervor: The Neon Nights livery for Omnicom is modeled after the flag of the United States of America.
107	* PortTown:
108	** Omega Harbour, located in France.
109	** There's also Dover, which actually has waves crashing against the course's walls on the back straight.
110	* RankInflation: The Campaign's events are graded based on your performance. From lowest to highest: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
111	* {{Retraux}}: Players can make the game look as modern as possible with its advanced lighting and visual effects, or they can those tune settings down or disable them entirely and add a few extra retro-styled effects settings such as draw distance clipping, lower vertices, and color dithering to make the game look like the [=PlayStation=]-era ''[=WipEout=]'' games it alludes to. The v1.2 update even adds a set of CRT scanline effect options and affine texture warping.
112	* RubberBandAI: The higher difficulty settings all play this trope straight, but special mention goes to Hardcore difficulty, where every single AI-controlled opponent will boost ahead of you once you pass them, and they only slow down in the final lap to give you a chance to win. The v1.2.2 update however added the ability to turn AI rubber-banding off, but it is on by default.
113	* SecretCharacter:
114	** Some AG ships, like the Barracuda Model A, need to be unlocked before they can be used. [[spoiler:Of course, there is an option to unlock all secret ships in the secrets menu, but this won't change your progress.]]
115	** The official release adds [[spoiler:the Precision Delta, a ship unlocked after beating all of the [[BrutalBonusLevel Precision Runs]]]].
116	** There are a handful of skins to be unlocked for each ship through raising your rank in the Campaign and clearing the expansions (when available).
117	* SelfDamagingAttackBackfire: It's possible to activate the Hunter and have it home in on you if you accidentally move up to 1st place while the Hunter is in mid-flight.
118	* SharkTunnel: Both Omega Harbour and Hydrome Bed have these.
119	* ShoutOut: If you play the Utah Project track, you'll find [[https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/857228082460704735/9DA76FC58B76B97FA66EB3FAFEDF338C56F5387D/ a billboard]] that says "[[Music/UtahSaints Utah Project Saints]]", while accompanied by a heavily modified version of the background featured in the cover art of ''[=WipEout=] 2097''. There was also a piece of older promotional artwork of ''[=BallisticNG=]'' that also mimics that game's cover art.
120	* SlippySlideyIceWorld: Harpstone, which is located in Greenland.
121	* SpaceZone:
122	** Luna, a racetrack located on the Moon.
123	** Many tracks in the Outer Reaches expansion qualifies in some way or another, but Kuiper Overturn takes the cake as it is a full zero-gravity course snaking around the Kuiper Belt.
124	* SuperTitle64Advance: The now-cancelled Switch version of the game, which has been subtitled ''NX Edition''.
125	* UnderTheSea: Hydrome Bed, one of two new Expert League tracks introduced in recent updates.
126	* UrbanRuins: Nova Split in Chicago, which was once Nova Park before it got torn apart by an artificial earthquake.
127	* VehicularCombat: Akin to the ''[=WipEout=]'' series, which you can collect various weapons by running through a trackpad that gives weapons and use them to try and eliminate your competition.
128	* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon:
129	** [[PortTown Omega Harbour]], the (formerly) final track, is the longest track in the game and features all kinds of corners, from spirals to broken roads. Oh, and it also has [[EpilepticFlashingLights lightning strikes]]! Later updates, however, have dethroned Omega Harbour (and Marina Rush) with ''two'' new [[HarderThanHard Expert League]] tracks: [[UnderTheSea Hydrome Bed]] and [[LethalLavaLand Arrivon Peak]]. Both courses make Silverstream from ''[=WipEout=]'' look like a Sunday drive by comparison!
130	* WackyRacing: Like the game series it was based on, the game is about racing hovercraft shooting weapons at each other.
131	* VariableMix:
132	** Progressing through the menus adds another layer to the initially ambient-sounding music.
133	** The 1.0 release allows players to use their own custom menu music.

Context VideoGame / BallisticNG