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--- screamer [2026/04/08 22:46] – ultracomfy
+++ screamer [2026/04/10 16:39] (current) – ultracomfy
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 ====== Cornering ======
-I come from a racing rich gaming background. I've played [[Moorhuhn Kart 2]], [[Mario Kart Wii]], [[Wreckfest]], [[Grid 2]], [[Assetto Corsa]], F1, [[Blur]], [[Redout]], [[Grip: Combat Racing]] and many, many more. Particularly my experience from Redout and Blur were useful in understanding this game, but they partly also led me to misinterpreting the game. In the first second you get to control a car in the game, the game already introduces you to the //drifting//. Drifting in this game is done by two more keys that can instantly commence a drift in the direction of the drift key. There is one for left and one for right. This is //different// from most drifting systems, especially the Mario Kart style drifting most players will be used to, in which you "lock in" the direction of the drift with the drift key and then modulate normally using the steering of the car. Thanks to Redout I am used to a kind of drifting style where the car kind of breaks out behind you and is pulled away from the corner. That's what this game does and why the "twin-stick drifting", as the reviews call it, needs the twin stick. I am perfectly used to this and love how this game has a drifting system that is... comparable to Redout, but still entirely different and serves an entirely different purpose too. The purpose, that is, in Screamer is to change the direction of the car. The car is attached to the ground and drifting is strictly faster in getting the car to change its direction than traditional steering. In Redout, this is called //strafing// and isn't primarily used to change the racecraft's direction of momentum. Redout raceships are not attached to the ground, so turning them around has no effect on their momentum at all. Instead, in Redout the strafing is useful primarily to get the ship to //point// in a different direction. However, pointing the car in a direction and actually going where you're looking are two very different things in that game, and making the ship change course still needs to be done seperately. Screamer is different of course, since with its tires on the floor it always generates traction in the direction of where the car is looking. Still, these two cornering systems, genetically, share a common ancestor, which made racing in Screamer feel comfortable and intuitive, even though it //is// different and I have a lot to learn to get really good at it. Reviews //really// don't like it and, knowing how difficult it was for me to get into Redout, I can understand where they are coming from. They're still wrong, though.
+I come from a racing rich gaming background. I've played [[Moorhuhn Kart 2]], [[Mario Kart Wii]], [[Wreckfest]], [[Grid 2]], [[Assetto Corsa]], F1, [[Blur]], [[Redout]], [[Grip: Combat Racing]] and many, many more. Particularly my experience from Redout and Blur were useful in understanding this game, but they partly also led me to misinterpreting the game. In the first second you get to control a car in the game, the game already introduces you to the //drifting//. Drifting in this game is done by two different keys that can instantly commence a drift in the direction of the drift key (one for left and one for right). This is //different// from most drifting systems, especially the Mario Kart style drifting most players will be used to, in which you "lock in" the direction of the drift with the drift key and then modulate normally using the steering of the car. Thanks to Redout I am used to a kind of drifting style where the car kind of breaks out behind you and is pulled away from the corner. That's what this game does and why the "twin-stick drifting", as the reviews call it, needs the twin stick. I am perfectly used to this and love how this game has a drifting system that is... comparable to Redout, but still entirely different and serves an entirely different purpose too. The purpose, that is, in Screamer is to change the direction of the car. The car is attached to the ground and drifting is strictly faster in getting the car to change its direction than traditional steering. In Redout, this is called //strafing// and isn't primarily used to change the racecraft's direction of momentum. Redout raceships are not attached to the ground, so turning them around has no effect on their momentum at all. Instead, in Redout the strafing is useful primarily to get the ship to //point// in a different direction. However, pointing the car in a direction and actually going where you're looking are two very different things in that game, and making the ship change course still needs to be done seperately. Screamer is different of course, since with its tires on the floor it always generates traction in the direction of where the car is looking. Still, these two cornering systems, genetically, share a common ancestor, which made racing in Screamer feel comfortable and intuitive, even though it //is// different and I have a lot to learn to get really good at it. Reviews //really// don't like it and, knowing how difficult it was for me to get into Redout, I can understand where they are coming from. They're still wrong, though.
 This brings us to the thing where I said "more on that in a second". In Redout, the //correct// way of taking a turn often involves tapping the barrier on the exit of the turn. That just //is// the fastest way to drive in many corners. That is intentional and the game is designed around making taps with the barrier not a punishment, but a proper, non-punished way of taking turns. Getting into the Redout mindset, I started playing Screamer the way I play Redout, putting myself into the barrier on the outside of a turn because I took in too much speed and didn't realize that eating the barrier is actually slower. This... worked. For a long, long time the game just let me do that as the tracks were mostly straight and didn't communicate that braking is necessary. Of course I'd lose speed in those corners, but if I brake I'd lose speed as well. At the time I didn't even know how much braking force these cars had because I was thinking in Redout and Mario Kart terms, and in those games you just //do not release// the throttle. I saw the problem in that turn but thought that it was maybe just a particularly difficult turn that I have to drive into at a better angle. In [[video game design]] terms, the game's feedback clarity (ie. walling it into turns is wrong) is low, which makes changing your driving style more difficult. More on that, again, later.
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 Also, unlike the cars in Blur, Screamer cars //can// be "bounced". If you wanna boost into a corner and use the car ahead as a guardrail, that is entirely possible. Slower collisions don't really do very much, but boosting into other cars with high speed can really take them across the track, even if it takes some effort to pull off. Obviously this isn't "impossible" in Blur, but Blur's cars resist that outward motion that you impart on them a great deal more than cars in Screamer do.
-The other part, track limits, is another reason to like Screamer. Going into a wall in Screamer feels hefty and discrete. Screamer has found the middle ground between bouncy wall collisions like Mario Kart, and grindy wall collisions like most racing simulators will have them. Screamer leans towards the grindy collisions, wherein the car is redirected into the direction of the wall, slowed down and receives friction from the wall, //minus// the part where cars tend to hook into the wall and refuse to let go. Screamer likes to just let you go mostly unscathed. Taps on the guardrail don't upset the balance or kick you out of your drift, and you don't get eaten up into the guardrail. Sure, it will cost you //some// speed, but overall this system is very forgiving and wants to see you continue where reasonable. Now, for harder hits, it //will// slam your side square into the wall and it //will// deduct from your speed, but the walls are made so that you can get back out of them near-instantly and get back up to speed. There is no additional friction, unless you keep grinding into the wall. The goal here seemed to have been to accept that the track has to have limits somewhere, but to let you continue to engage with the game's systems as much as possible or - in case you hit it harder - to act as a redirection tool that can be used to take turns really fast if combined with a boost or dash.
+The other part, track limits, is another reason to like Screamer. Going into a wall in Screamer is a bit hard to pin down because it really depends on how exactly it feels. In most cases it feels hefty and discrete. Screamer has found the middle ground between bouncy wall collisions like Mario Kart, and grindy wall collisions like most racing simulators will have them. If you go into the wall without drifting, screamer leans towards the grindy collisions, wherein the car is redirected into the direction of the wall, slowed down and receives friction from the wall (//minus// the part where cars tend to hook into the wall and refuse to let go). Screamer likes to just let you go mostly unscathed. Now, //during// a drift, taps on the guardrail tend to fling the car around its axis and has the potential to serious upset the balance and kick you out of your drift, though because of how slidey the car is - especially in drifts - more often than not the car just lets you stabilize the car and drift on. The fling looks dramatic but barely touches the car's momentum, and its direction can be corrected very quickly. Blink and you'll miss it. Sure, it will cost you //some// speed, but overall this system is very forgiving and wants to see you continue where reasonable.\\
+Now, for harder hits, it //will// slam your side square into the wall and it //will// deduct from your speed, but the walls are made so that you can get back out of them near-instantly and get back up to speed. There is no additional friction, unless you keep grinding into the wall. Overall, the goal here seemed to have been to accept that the track has to have limits somewhere, but to let you continue to engage with the game's systems as much as possible or - in case you hit it harder - to act as a redirection tool that can be used to take turns really fast if combined with a boost or dash.
 Many games have no real collisions anymore at all and won't ever let you properly spin yourself out. Their tracks are mostly just tunnels with no sharp edges, and you'd have to work really hard to crash your car square-on into a wall, as these tunnels kinda just always redirect you back into the direction of the corner. This game is different. It will seem rather tunnelly at first, but you will quickly find out that, no, sharp edges exist in this game, and they //can// hurt you. In fact, they will properly crash and spin you around if you don't watch out, even with the game's lenient collisions. There is also no crash cam or anything that would prevent you from ever having to deal with the consequences of such an event. High speed collisions don't crash you out, show you a quick animation and then reset you to track - no, you have to reverse out of that hole, turn the car around and accept your fate.
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 Important detail: Cars and drivers belong together! You cannot select a driver and a car pairing independently. When I say that different drivers have different abilities, and that the cars have different personalities, I really am mostly talking about the same thing.
-The cars are responsive and predictable. One thing I like about the game in particular is the active upshift. As someone who came to racing from Mario Kart and Need for Speed, and who only just recently started playing without assists in games like F1 or Assetto Corsa, manual gearboxes are very scary to me. But I understand why you want gear shifting in your game, as it gives you something to do and makes you more intimately connected with the car you're driving. In most games shifting is something you just do to avoid the consequences of not doing it [at the right time]. There is no real incentive and while it feels //better//, it's not quite there. Screamer did it perfectly, because it actively rewards you for shifting - it gives you a speed boost and grants you "Sync", a resource you can use later to get a speed boost or a shield. The speed boost is very powerful and often the fastest way to get out of some of the tightest corners on the tracks, so you really want that Sync resource. You will be constantly peeking at the RPM meter and wait for the RPM to hit the orange range so that you can get that upshift. It feels really good and flows well once you understand the car's RPM behavior in different situations and don't need to look so often. That's why the resource you get is called "Sync", as you are meant to be "In Sync" with the car, so you get it for Active Shifts, drifting, and going fast. In this game you just //want// to shift and you will take every opportunity you can get to do it. Though fret not, it //is// lenient. The gear is still largely automatic. It will always downshift automatically, and if you miss the orange range for upshifts it will eventually upshift for you automatically, to make sure you don't get bogged in a lower gear because you forgot or were distracted by on-track action.
+The cars are responsive and predictable. One thing I like about the game in particular is the active upshift. As someone who came to racing from Mario Kart and Need for Speed, and who only just recently started playing without assists in games like F1 or Assetto Corsa, manual gearboxes are very scary to me. But I understand why you want gear shifting in your game, as it gives you something to do and makes you more intimately connected with the car you're driving. In most games shifting is something you just do to avoid the consequences of not doing it [at the right time]. There is no real incentive and while it feels //better//, it's not quite there. Screamer did it perfectly, because it actively rewards you for shifting - it gives you a speed boost and grants you "Sync", a resource you can use later to get a speed boost or a shield. The speed boost is very powerful and often the fastest way to get out of some of the tightest corners on the tracks, so you really want that Sync resource. You will be constantly peeking at the RPM meter and wait for the RPM to hit the orange range so that you can get that upshift. It feels really good and flows well once you understand the car's RPM behavior in different situations and don't need to look so often. That's why the resource you get is called "Sync", as you are meant to be "In Sync" with the car, so you get it for Active Shifts, slipstreaming, and going fast (but not for drifting). In this game you just //want// to shift and you will take every opportunity you can get to do it. Though fret not, it //is// lenient. The gear is still largely automatic. It will always downshift automatically, and if you miss the orange range for upshifts it will eventually upshift for you automatically, to make sure you don't get bogged in a lower gear because you forgot or were distracted by on-track action.
 The RPM behavior of each car is different, which gives all of them another layer of personality and you will become intimately acquainted with the quirks of each. Especially during drifts, ie. when you lose grip, the RPMs will go up a lot and prompt you to upshift a lot. This is cool but it's also very easy to fall into the unhealthy habit of focusing too much on the upshifting during drifts, which actually hurts your speed and laptime. Yet another way you can easily learn this game "wrong".
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 Screamer differs very importantly from a game like Blur in one aspect: There are no items, especially not pickups (ie. item boxes). Every driver has their own set of abilities, but these are tied to your driving and only your driving. I think this makes it a much more competitive game in comparison to a game like Mario Kart or Blur, as there is no randomness and tracks don't get cluttered up with hazards. To the most part, this game is about how well you are able to get your car around the track. Still, there is a rather in-depth ability and combat system:
-Drivers in Screamer get two types of resources: Sync, and Entropy. Sync is gained, as previously mentioned, from Active Shifts, going fast and drifting. If you have enough Sync, you can spend it to get a powerful turbo shot. It is based on a Quick Time Event, and if you hit the timing perfectly you get an extra strong turbo shot. The length and the strength of the turbo shot is custom to each car and some cars might have better base acceleration and top speed stats but make up for it with a generally weaker boost.
+Drivers in Screamer get two types of resources: Sync, and Entropy. Sync is gained, as previously mentioned, from Active Shifts, going fast and slipstreaming((The full list of methods for gaining Sync is: SGU [going fast], Active Shift, slipstreaming, executing a successful strike on another car, and some driver abilities.)). If you have enough Sync, you can spend it to get a powerful turbo shot. It is based on a Quick Time Event, and if you hit the timing perfectly you get a turbo shot that is extra strong. The length and the strength of the turbo shot is custom to each car and some cars might have better base acceleration and top speed stats but make up for it with a generally weaker boost.
-Using Sync to get boost loses you one unit of Sync but - besides the boost - also gives you a unit of Entropy. Entropy fuels the combat system in the game. Entropy can be used to execute what it calls a "Strike". In practice it's best described as a //dash//, a dash forward that destroys any car you collide with during the dash. This dash and KO system is useful in many ways: The dash really just shoots you forwards, even out of a standstill. It is perfect for getting out of slow corners fast. Also, if you get a kill on someone, you get a lot of Sync. That Sync can be used to get turbo boost shots, which in turn refuels your Entropy, which can be used to make more dashes, ie. kill more people. KO'd drivers have to wait a second and then respawn at racing speed somewhat behind, so they lose time but get right back to racing. This resource loop (Drive Well → Gain Sync → Boost → Gain Entropy → Enable Aggression → Regain Sync) works really well because it allows skillful players utilizing all elements of the loop to convert good driving into sustained momentum and pressure, ie. rewarding continuous engagement with the system rather than brief, isolated interactions.
+Using Sync to get boost loses you one unit of Sync but - besides the boost - also gives you a unit of Entropy. Entropy fuels the combat system in the game. Entropy can be used to execute what it calls a "Strike". In practice it's best described as a //dash//, a dash forward that destroys any car you collide with during the dash. This dash and KO system is useful in many ways: The dash really just shoots you forwards, even out of a standstill. It is perfect for getting out of slow corners fast. Additionally, if you get a kill on someone, you get a lot of Sync. That Sync can be used to get turbo boost shots, which in turn refuels your Entropy, which can be used to make more dashes, ie. kill more people. This resource loop (Drive Well → Gain Sync → Boost → Gain Entropy → Enable Aggression → Regain Sync) works really well because it allows skillful players utilizing all elements of the loop to convert good driving into sustained momentum and pressure, ie. rewarding continuous engagement with the system rather than brief, isolated interactions. KO'd drivers have to wait a second and then respawn at racing speed somewhat behind, so they lose time and (for most) a lot of Sync and Entropy, but get right back to racing.
-The combat system in particular is where the cars and drivers express their differences. All personalities and abilities tie together in the character's personality. Róisín, for example, is a story about revenge, and she is hotheaded, really aggressive, really angry and //really// wants to get her revenge. So, even though Róisín's dashes cost only one unit of Entropy, her dashes are extremely short. However, she has the unique ability to chain these dashes together, so she will yell "DIE! DIE! DIE!", one "DIE!" for every small but aggressive stab she makes forward, much like she wants to stab someone in the actual story.\\
+The combat system in particular is where the cars and drivers express their differences. All personalities and abilities tie together in the character's personality. Róisín, for example, is a story about revenge, and she is hotheaded, really aggressive, really angry and //really// wants to get her revenge. So, even though Róisín's dashes cost only one unit of Entropy, her dashes are extremely short. However, she has the unique ability to chain these dashes together, so she will yell "DIE! DIE! DIE!" (one "DIE!" for every small but aggressive stab she makes forward) much like she wants to stab someone in the actual story.\\
-Some other differences are that some cars generate Sync //and// Entropy from kills, some characters can store much more Sync or Entropy at once while others can store much less. But then again, being able to store much less Entropy means that you hit your maximum Entropy capacity much sooner, which lets you use your ultimate ability "Overdrive" much sooner than other characters. One character starts with very weak boosts and dashes, but over the race their boosts and dashes evolve - so they will be running behind in the beginning but gain the upper hard later on and will be hard to stop. For another character, the boost quick time event is different every time, but the perfect boost is much stronger if they hit the randomized timing perfectly. This list will just keep on going on. The point is that every possible niche (in terms of abilities) is explored in the game. And, admittedly, this does lead to cars that are objectively faster than others, but if that is a problem to a reviewer of the game (and it seemed to be for some) then you are missing the point.
+Some other differences are that some cars generate Sync //and// Entropy from kills, some characters can store much more Sync or Entropy at once while others can store much less. But then again, being able to store much less Entropy means that you hit your maximum Entropy capacity much sooner, which lets you use your ultimate ability "Overdrive" much sooner than other characters. One character starts with very weak boosts and dashes, but over the race their boosts and dashes evolve - so they will be running behind in the beginning but gain the upper hard later on and will be hard to stop. For another character, the boost quick time event is different every time, but the perfect boost is much stronger if they hit the randomized timing perfectly. This list will just keep on going on. The point is that every possible niche (in terms of abilities) is explored in the game. And, admittedly, this does lead to cars that are objectively faster than others. In the story and single player this is generally not a problem as these weaker cars still have their own personality and offer new, fun experiences to the player. Weaker cars here //are the point// and let you play the game in ways that would be difficult to pull off if every car was designed to cross the line at the same time (under ideal conditions with an ideal driver). Online, this is actually a bit of a problem and there have been many complaints about cars being too weak, especially that of Akemi. There are also some cars considered too powerful, like that of Gabriel. Time will tell if and what Milestone will do about them.
 Besides a boost, Sync can also be spent to generate a temporary shield. This protects a player from dashing players from behind. Additionally, as I mentioned, there is an ability called "Overdrive". Entropy can be used to dash, but if you save up Entropy until your bar is full, you can also enter Overdrive. Overdrive is essentially a prolonged Sync boost, except it also KO's enemies like a dash and keeps on going for 30 seconds. If you hit a wall you die. Overdrive is a really good example for how both car personality, driver abilities and track characteristics shape your driving. In general, Overdrive can be seen a bit like the Mario Kart bullet bill. It's useful to make up a lot of ground.. but only sometimes! Unlike the bullet bill, Overdrive just gives you a boost - you still need to steer, and if you go really fast in cars that like to resist changes in direction by entering drifts, it is really easy to drive into a wall, which will explode you instantly. This is much easier to deal with in cars with good handling, which lets you go overall faster and makes the walls of the track less scary. On some tracks, especially narrow windy ones it can be - depending on your car - strictly better to dash out of corners and //never// use Overdrive. This is entirely on a per-car basis and you will see - in the same race! - some cars that save up to reach Overdrive while others will keep using dash to get out of corners. In some cases this can even be a on-corner basis, as one half of the track might be much better suited for overdrive - some cars might trigger Overdrive coming out of the hostile section of the track onto the part that is better for Overdrive.
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 ====== Enemies ======
-Some reviews on this game complain about CPU enemies not following the rules that players have to follow. They say that the player is forced into drifting through corners whereas enemies can just take the racing line and have the necessary grip to not be forced to drift. That... I don't think that is even true? There are some more straight-liney cars and those cars do prefer to take a racing line where possible, but every car that doesn't drift will also be missing out on Sync by missing out on drift and upshifts. I haven't observed such a thing and found the CPU to just be really good at the game. They approach some of the more difficult corners very intelligently and some of their skills are rather subtle. Really, what doesn't get talked about a lot in this game is the absence of [[rubberbanding]].
+Some reviews on this game complain about CPU enemies not following the rules that players have to follow. They say that the player is forced into drifting through corners whereas enemies can just take the racing line and have the necessary grip to not be forced to drift. That... I don't think that is even true? There are some more straight-liney cars and those cars do prefer to take a racing line where possible. I haven't observed such a thing and found the CPU to just be really good at the game. They approach some of the more difficult corners very intelligently and some of their skills are rather subtle. Really, what doesn't get talked about a lot in this game is the absence of [[rubberbanding]].
 Due to how the systems and abilities are designed, the game generally pushes you forward towards 1st place. Doing this without items is already a masterclass of game design and deserves its own article. The way Sync accumulation and many of the abilities are designed create a natural catchup mechanic that, however, //still// relies on you making good use of your abilities and driving well. Players behind can use combat and the many different abilities to gain extra speed and a resource advantage, and can push forward in a way frontrunning players can't because they don't have cars in front of them. Rather than anything artificial, this is fair, as a well prepared frontrunner will still have the full ability to fight back against players from behind in the same way that a player in the midfield can fight back against players from behind. Elegant. However, they could have also just applied some aggressive rubberbanding to the CPU like Mario Kart does it, but it just //doesn't//. If you fall behind then it is up to you to make it back in. For an arcade racer, this is already rare, although no doubt that will make the game less appealing for many. At the same time, that's also a big deal and a racing game players will notice this immediately. The fact that this isn't talked about as much, and that instead reviews focus on the CPU that allegedly breaks rules is confusing to me.