ModNation patch to improve load times

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 3 August, 2010

Due tomorrow.

Load times in PS3 game ModNation Racers will be reduced by an update set for release tomorrow.

The patch, due for release at 10am Wednesday, is designed to address "issues the community has been concerned about".

It'll also implement a new casual difficulty mode, fix a bug that allowed players to cut the track and post unbeatable times in Hot Lap, and improve server stability to improve disconnects.

"On behalf of UFG [United Front Games], we want to thank everyone for supporting ModNation and being patient as we've worked hard to make it the best experience possible," Sony San Diego community manager Ramone Russell wrote on the US PlayStation Blog.

Eurogamer reviewed ModNation Racers in May, and returned with a solid 7/10.

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About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

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Comments (17) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Grump #1 2 years ago

    Much needed.

  • chrisjm #2 2 years ago

    cant wait for the patch of the patch of the patch.

  • vizzini #3 2 years ago

    Any improvements they make I'm sure will be great, but I still scratch my head to wonder how Eurogamer's review only managed a 7 for this 10/10 game.

    Good work United Front Games, this has been my top game of this generation
    Edited by 1 at 03/08/10 @ 12:21

  • onezeonx #4 2 years ago

    Traded this in after the 1st week as creation was class but actually getting a decent race with 5+ people is to hard!

    Simply wasn't enough online wanting to race :(
    Will see how this patch is received and might buy this again!

  • Nuronv #5 2 years ago

    @Vizzini
    It is a great game but it does have some flaws. There are many problems with the layout of the online sections. For example when you finish a race online rather than just having an overlay to select the next track the game takes you back to the Lobby to select the next track. You essentially have to look at loading screens twice as often as you really need to, I'm sure they have a reason for doing it this way but it does make the user experience very choppy, you probably spend as much time loading and waiting in the lobby as you do actually racing.

    Secondly the game is build around creating, however if you play online on other peoples tracks you don't get XP which means there is no real incentive to play other peoples tracks. Due to this if you try to play online with other peoples tracks you spend a massive amount of time sitting in the lobby. I can see why they have set it up like this but it does make the track creation process feel a bit underused.
    Edited by 1 at 03/08/10 @ 10:33

  • Lee_Morris #6 2 years ago

    It really shouldn't have been releashed in the state it was in. A lot of good will was instanly thrown out of the window with them diabolical load times.

    Ask Rocksteady the difference it can make delaying a game untill it as polished as a new penny. Games like that grow and build a loyal tand trust worthy audience. MNR can never get that now, not in large numbers by any means. It's such a shame as it is a real tidy game in many respects.

  • vizzini #7 2 years ago

    I think if you stopped to complain about anything in any great game, the best score ever given out would be 7/10, including brilliant games like Valkyria Chronicles in this gen.

    Online is all well and good, but a karting game's main mutiplayer is 4 player split screen; and the race again option (without loading does exist).

    Since getting headsets, when me and multiple friends fire up an online game (to race each others tracks), we spend the loading times chatting which actually adds to the gaming.(but will be happy with them being shorter)

    Though I'm not a fan of loading times, MK double dash on cube didn't have any loading times and our four player split gaming days included very little chat because of that.
    Edited by 1 at 03/08/10 @ 12:24

  • rotmm #8 2 years ago

    "we spend the loading times chatting which actually adds to the gaming."

    Exactly. The long load times are a community interaction feature and more devs should go that route in future.

  • Nuronv #9 2 years ago

    "I think if you stopped to complain about anything in any great game, the best score ever given out would be 7/10"

    Isn't that the whole point of the review scoring system? That said the current scoring system of almost every video game review is flawed as the scores just range from 7-10 anyway. I hope eurogamer have the balls to follow through on one of the questions in the questionnaire from a few months back and just get rid of Scores all together, they mean absolutely nothing. Just score the game as Rubbish, Ok or Excellent. Any other detail will be in the text of the review.

    Oh and Valkyria Chronicles is awesome.

  • rotmm #10 2 years ago

    "I hope eurogamer have the balls to follow through on one of the questions in the questionnaire from a few months back and just get rid of Scores all together, they mean absolutely nothing. Just score the game as Rubbish, Ok or Excellent."

    Exactly. We need Eurogamer to completely get rid of scores, and at the same time change the scoring system from the current x/10 to x/3. That will be much better.

  • Darren #11 2 years ago

    Well that is fantastic news because I finally decided to order the game from Amazon after being put off by the uber-slow loading times in the demo I tried and, admittedly, really enjoyed.

    What made me order it was watching a YouTube video walkthrough of the excellent customisation options which extend to almost every aspect of the game including tracks, cars and characters. There were copies of characters from other games, the A-Team van, Mario, Iron Man, Shadow (from the Sonic games)... it really impressed me. This game looks as much fun off the track as on and a step beyond what the likes of Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing and Mario Kart Wii offer.

    Looking forward to playing the game within the next couple of days... and with quicker loading times! :D

  • reelbigkris #12 2 years ago

    That career mode was a nightmare! I managed to complete it, but damn, if it wasnt the most frustrating thing i've ever played! Glad theres a patch, my younger cousins may be able to actually play this now :)

  • Eraysor #13 2 years ago

    Really looking forward to this, the load times are literally the only bad thing about the game.

  • Nuronv #14 2 years ago

    Oooo Fresh from SavvyGamer if you don't have it already.
    Modnation Racers PS3 £26
    http://sa vygamer.co.uk/2010/08/03/modnat...

  • Beano #15 2 years ago

    Shorter load times and easier career mode will certainly bring me back to this otherwise exellent game.

  • spiritsnake #16 2 years ago

    that last sentence,maybe eurogamer should introduce that into its review scores,a weak and solid sub score,eg a solid 7 or a weak 9.

  • DiamondIce #17 2 years ago

    I tried ModNation this morning. They allow you to click past certain bits when the game first loads.

    There is more feedback of smaller percentage changes when the tracks are loading instead of being stuck on say 75% for ages.

    It still seems to take as long to load a track though.

    The online wasn't working so I couldn't test that. I am hoping you can start another online race without loading screen - back to ModSpot - choose to race again - loading screen.