Does this game have much speed tech? Any techniques and whatnot to go for the fastest possible times? Just in general any info that benefits fast times
The secret to Wipeout is learning to effectively use the airbrakes to make turns. I've always felt that the original Wipeout is superior to the later ones in the series as it encourages perfection.
If you're playing on Venom difficulty you should use AG Systems and be able to beat all the tracks without using airbrakes. Instead let off the gas to decrease speed when necessary. The exception to this is Qirex for IL runs of Altima VII (you should still be able to get through without airbrakes), and of course Silverstream will require airbrakes a few times. Use pitch to keep your ship level with the ground, this applies to jumps as well. Keep your ship level to reduce speed loss from that can occur from the impact (it is often safest to have the nose of the ship pulled up on landings if you're uncertain). Find the most strategic places on the tracks to use the boost power ups, but don't hang on to them too long in races against the AI. In races against the AI you should use anything that isn't a boost right away since it is useless for a good time. I'm not as sharp on Rapier, but Auricom seems to be the best. Races against AI are equal parts skill and RNG. A good race doesn't matter if you don't get enough boost pick-ups, likewise a terrible performance can be salvaged by getting a ton of boost pick-ups (if there's RNG manip in this game then that will be the secret to breaking it). Routing is also important. You'll need to hit every boost pad you can (if not all) to get a good time. I never got very good at dealing with the AI in this game, but passing is a matter of faking them out I guess. Someone more knowledgeable and experienced on that matter should share strats in that area. If you're doing the full game categories you should play on either the PSN version or an emulator as those have the best load times. Disc has the worst load times, PSN is better, and emulator is best. I played on the PSN version and it saves maybe around 1-5 seconds per load, but I forget (I think it averaged to about 3). Emulator saves another few seconds per load on PSN. I can't be 100% sure, but emulator could save around a minute (maybe more, maybe less) compared to disc for full runs. I forget all these time differences since its been a year since I even thought about the game, and I based what found off watching emulated runs and not actually playing on an emulator. Most importantly; play a lot. That's all I got. Hopefully there's something useful in that wall of text.
