Published in Gaming

Unbounded may get controls patched

by on06 April 2012

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Developer admits they cut the tutorial

Bugbear Entertainment, developer of the new Ridge Racer Unbounded, has admitted that they are considering addressing complaints about the game’s control scheme. However, the developer seems to feel that the problem is due to their failure to explain how the game’s braking technique operates.

The developer thinks it was partly caused by the cutting of a planned tutorial explaining the control scheme for the title. Sources tell us, however, that it apparently existed in developmental builds of the game and was taken out right before the final builds of the game.

The tutorial was cut due to the developer’s belief that it the tutorial over-explained the control scheme and seemed to get in the way. Besides, as the game developed over time and the control mechanics changed, it apparently became difficult to continue updating and revising the control tutorial. In the end, they might have been better off to have left it in the game.

Now, the developers are going back to the drawing board to see whether it would be possible to add a more interactive tutorial back into the game in a patch, or perhaps revising the control scheme altogether. While nothing has been confirmed or decided yet, Bugbear is definitely looking at the problem and wants to figure out a solution.

All of these problems with the control scheme and drifting have really had an impact on the scores, and taken what the developer intended to be a straightforward game and made it much more complex than necessary. Some believe that the problem stems from the fact that the developer was trying to incorporate realistic physics into an arcade racer.

Bugbear also seems puzzled why the focus groups that play tested the game didn’t have more trouble with the brake button, drifting, or the entire control scheme. We certainly expect that they will be taking a look at their play testing in the future.

As things stand right now, they are not sure what they are going to do; but sources tell us that we should expect them to do something pretty quickly. It is hard to predict, however, what that something might be or how long it might take for them to get this completed. The end result is that the issue needs resolved, and sales are going to be lost until it is.


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