http://www.pcgameworld.com/article.php/id/116/
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We’re working very hard with our physics system to get the feel just right. On average the game will probably be someplace in between the two previous games, but there are some very important changes that we’re trying to put in place. Most importantly there will be no maximum speed. As an individual player gets better, they will be able to go faster. Tribes 2 put a cap on individual skill and we want to avoid all artificial penalties.
Personally, I think a cap on speed places more of an emphasis on skill than a system where any wahoo can ski down a hill and get to 10,000kph before snagging a flag.
That's a very strange way to write the game, for at least two reasons:
1. There are natural speed limits in the real world, thanks to air resistance. Skydivers know that there is a maximum speed at which they can fall. Any machine with thrust or other built-in finite acceleration reaches a speed at which the force of air resistance equals the acceleration and speed stops increasing.
2. If the speeds were really infinite, player movement would eventually outstrip the engine's ability to handle it.
Frankly, I LIKE vehicles. I never really understood peoples complaints with them. IMO, if you are in heavy armor you SHOULD need some sort of transport to get you from one side of the map to the next. I thought the speed adjustments that they made to Tribes2 Classic were just silly.