Wipeout 3 - Development

Development

In developing the next entry in the Wipeout series, developer Psygnosis retained many of the developers of the original game in order to preserve the distinctive racing experience of earlier games. At the same time, Psygnosis sought to make the game more accessible to new players of the fast-paced racer, and kept early courses easier for these players; the difficulty was adjusted for later courses so that experts still experienced a challenge. Wipeout 3 was the first Wipeout game to take advantage of PlayStation controllers with analog sticks, used to offer smoother control of the player's craft.

Psygnosis turned to the graphic design studio The Designers Republic to assist in development. The Designers Republic, known for its underground techno album covers, provided "visual candy" to Wipeout 3's graphics, designing the game's icons, billboards, color schemes, and custom typefaces. The look and feel of the futuristic courses was bounded by a desire to retain a believable sensibility; Wipeout 3 lead artist Nicky Westcott said that " tried to make it look like a believable future, instead of making the sky toxic orange with 10 moons flying around and the world gone mad. It's very low-key a lot more refined." Wipeout 3's graphics were improved over previous games in the series, and the title was the first in the series to run at high-resolution mode (640 x 480, or 480i).