SCE San Diego Studios has revealed new details on the online features of ModNation Racers: Road Trip for the PlayStation Vita. They’ve also addressed the game’s lack of online multiplayer functionality.
First, the game has competitive localized leaderboards. If a MNR:RT user has opted for the game to be able to “Use Location Data,” a time that they post to a leaderboard is connected to their current location. Location names can be personalized for reference and become part of a leaderboard that friends can use to compete against each other for the best times on various tracks. Gamers can also check their location leaderboards and check leaderboard times for other locations near that location. When browsing for times, the game will finds the closest 8, 24, or 48 gamers who posted their time for a particular course.
Ghosts are also included in the game. The player will face off against other players’ ghosts whose times are competitive to the player’s. A filter can be applied so that gamers only face off against the ghosts of their friends. The Vita also has a notification feature to let players know whenever their time has been beaten or to tell a player’s friends when he or she beats their time.
MNR:RT has a “Travel Points” feature as well. The first time a player checks in with Mod Explorer, the game recognizes their location. After that, players will earn Travel Points at any location different from the location that the player first checked into. Gamers will unlock parts for Track Studio after accumulating certain amounts of Travel Points. Travel Points will also have leaderboards for points earned.
The collective MNR:RT community can earn Global Travel Points as well, which are all of the MNR:RT community’s earned Travel Points added together. When they reach certain milestones for Global Travel Point accumulation, new track creation parts will unlock.
Mod Explorer has support for up to 45 cities worldwide that can be checked into, with three distinct destinations per city. When a MNR:RT user checks into a destination that can be found by Vita’s GPS, they unlock unique parts for creation use. As certain numbers of unique users checks into a location, though, unique parts can be gradually unlocked for the entire community.
Also, when a player checks into a location, they’ll be prompted to take a picture that they can modify to create a special MNR:RT postcard.
Ad-hoc play is supported for up to four players. Players can race on any track or up to over 500,000 tracks created by the MNR community.
In regards to further creation details, created tracks can be shared with the community or players can download one of the over 3 million creations from the original MNR for PS3.
Finally, the game’s lack of online multiplayer is addressed:
I know there are some of you that are disappointed that ModNation Racers: Road Trip doesn’t let you play head-to-head online other than ad-hoc. But we really wanted to evolve online functionality and take advantage of the PlayStation Vita’s unique feature set in new ways. If all we ever did as developers is rehash features that have been done in previous games, we’d still be entering passwords instead of using save files and you’d have to start the entire game over after you lost your three lives (extra 1-ups aside). While online head-to-head has been a mode used in many games in recent years, we focused on making a game that is crafted for how portable games are most often played—in quicker “pick up and play” sessions multiple times in a day. Your online interaction, competition and socialization will always be when it’s convenient for you. I hope that all of you are as interested to check-out the robust online features that ModNation Racers: Road Trip has as we are to see you enjoy them!
To view screenshots of the game, see the Media Gallery below:
ModNation Racers: Road Trip will be available at launch for PlayStation Vita.
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