What appears to be the original design document for Psygnosis’ 1995 sci-fi racing game WipeOut has been published on a WipeOut Facebook fan page by original developer (and current Playrise Digital chief) Nick Burcombe.
The document [PDF] is chiefly interesting because it showcases how the game’s design was curtailed in response to development deadlines. While an earlier version laid out plans to design 36 tracks for the game, for example, this iteration (seen below) shows that number cut down to 15 “slightly longer” tracks split into five themed groups with the overall difficulty curve ramped up.
It’s also interesting to note that the document is dated October 2nd, 1995, while the original WipeOut was itself released in Europe on September 29th, 1995 — 20 years ago this week.
The document was posted to Facebook with a note that it was likely “assembled for the U.S. office,” suggesting it may have been a key part of Psygnosis’ work to release WipeOut in the U.S. at the end of November 1995.
The studio went on to make many more WipeOut games before eventually shutting down (as SCE Studio Liverpool) in 2012.
