Review of Wireout Vectrex homebrew title...

[pcenginefanx]

I finally got a copy of the highly regarded Vectrex homebrew game that goes by the name of Wireout (just one letter change and it becomes Wipeout easily). I originally ordered a copy of Wireout with a pink colored overlay but got one of the more rarer "orange" colored overlays instead. I think a blue colored overlay would better suit Wireout with it's futuristic anti-grav racing machines. 120 of the pink colored overlays were produced along 30 each of both the green & orange colored overlays as well.

I like the cool wedge shaped cartridge that Wireout is comprised of along with the slick Vectrex paperworks that accompanies it. It's a 32kb cartridge and doesn't have NVRAM on-board to save high scores nor high score initials (although a possible revision of Wireout could have this cool feature implemented and should be imo). From the moment the initial Wireout screen boots up, a slick BGM tune plays and loops endlessly (it would be nice to have more than one BGM tune to listen to during gameplay though).

If you've played the cool Cinematronics game of Star Hawk (or the Vectrex version of the same name), the sliky-smooth scrolling vector graphics and background scenery grace Wireout just like with Star Hawk. There's no power-up to enable missiles nor any option to fire back at the CPU anti-grav hovercrafts -- but it's a hallmark feature of the Wipeout series, indeed.

There's no UI indication to let the player nor the AI racers know what place they're in during a race (should be included in the 2nd revision of Wireout would be another good tip for the software developer to include) and there isn't a finish line/checkered flag to let the player know when the race ends either (making the player second guess as to how long in duration each race is which is a minor quibble at best).

With a bit of more polish, a 2nd revision of Wireout could be a serious Vectrex homebrew killer app.

[gauze]

did the boxed version come with any instructions? I just got the bare cart and i think the game is obvious enough but maybe I'm missing something.

[fmml]

There is a short instruction written on the box.

Tbh I was a little bit disappointed after playing the game for the first time (an hour or so).

pcenginefanx has mentioned the points. There is no indication which position you are or how long the race will continue. For me this is important for the excitement of a racing game.
I also find the music to be good but very repetitive.
Many things are very well done like the feeling of speed and smooth movements. The collision detection was good.
The game has an overlay which is great to achieve for a new developer. It looks nice, I chose the purple one because it matched the box art.
The size of my overlay is not perfect to stay in place firmly.
Overall I can see that Ben put a lot of effort into the game and the physical release. The gameplay though for me has an unfinished feel to it.

[hcmffm]

Thank you for your reviews, pcenginefanx and fmml. A Vectrex friend of mine also said that Wireout was a bit disappointing due to the lack of variation. Looks like I have to try it out and see myself, soon.

[50tbrd]

The programmer is working on a sequel and spin-off currently and has some improvements he is making.

"Yep, it's Wireout 2 game engine: Softer curves in the background, player and oponnents can shoot's missiles and be hits, opponnents have a better behavior, there are objects to catch to finish the level (Bits keys) and I am currently working on a routine that will propose several paths to the player in the labyrinthine track. But honestly I do not currently know if I will release any Wireout 2 nor Recognizer game."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=45hj05L-63M

[TrekMD]

That's cool but unfortunate that he may not release more games.

[jbrodack]

I'm kind of mixed on this one myself. It's very much a reinterpretation of Wipeout in that you don't control speed at all. It's more about dodging obstacles.

I would have liked a real box for this but he said to keep everything safe he shipped it flat. So it's kinda a box but doesn't close and is flat.

The overlays are cool. I got a bonus overlay with mine. The shape is weird but not too bad to get on and off. Colors look good.

I usually don't like carts not in a shell but this one looks really cool. Original idea too with the ship shape.

A full manual would have been nice instead of instructions on the "box".

Was expecting more music tracks but the track there is high quality.

The gameplay moves quickly and handles well but doesn't feel completely like racing on a track. The graphics look good but not enough variation in how tracks look. Mainly 2 types and slight variations of those. There are powerups which is cool but not as exciting as Wipeout which has weapons. The autopilot is a bit disappointing in that it doesn't move your ship that much and will still collide with some things making it not that different from the shield.

When you're listening to the music, looking at the nice graphics, and start getting past difficult parts it can be a lot of fun. It's a good first effort from the developer and an ambitious project. There's just some things that detract from it and keep it from being as good as it could be.