SEGA GT: GAME GUIDE by Jamie Stafford/Wolf Feather feather7@ix.netcom.com Initial Version Completed: September 14, 2002 FINAL VERSION Completed: September 30, 2002 ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== JOIN THE FEATHERGUIDES E-MAIL LIST: To be the first to know when my new and updated guides are released, join the FeatherGuides E-mail List. Go to http://www.coollist.com/group.cgi?l=featherguides for information about the list and to subscribe for free. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== CONTENTS Spacing and Length Permissions Introduction Comparison with the Gran Turismo Series Non-Championship Modes Licenses Initial Car Purchase Sponsors Chaining Points Carrozzeria Contact Information ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== SPACING AND LENGTH For optimum readability, this driving guide should be viewed/printed using a monowidth font, such as Courier. Check for font setting by making sure the numbers and letters below line up: 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ============================================== PERMISSIONS Permission is hereby granted for a user to download and/or print out a copy of this driving guide for personal use. However, due to the extreme length, printing this driving guide may not be such a good idea. This driving guide may only be posted on: FeatherGuides, GameFAQs.com, f1gamers.com, PSXCodez.com, Cheatcc.com, gamesover.com, Absolute-PlayStation.com, RedCoupe, ps2replay.com, InsidePS2Games.com, CheatPlanet.com, The Cheat Empire, gamespot.com, ps2domain.net, a2zweblinks.com, Games Domain, Gameguru, cheatingplanet.com, neoseeker.com, RobsGaming.com, ps2fantasy.com, gamespot.com, and vgstrategies.com. Please contact me for permission to post elsewhere on the Internet. Should anyone wish to translate this driving guide into other languages, please contact me for permission(s) and provide me with a copy when complete. Remember: Plagiarism in ANY form is NOT tolerated!!!!! ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== INTRODUCTION Sega GT is an excellent racing game - not quite the 'racing simulation' as touted by the Gran Turismo series on the PlayStation and PlayStation2 consoles, but still very intriguing, quite fun, and mildly challenging nonetheless :-) This guide is designed to help those who are just starting with Sega GT. The majority of the guide focuses upon Championship Mode. There is no indication of the currency used in Sega GT - the player is unsure whether the monetary figures are based in Dollars, Yen, Marks, Francs, Lire, etc. Therefore, since the version of the game that I am using is that which was released in North America (which is monetarily dominated by the U.S. Dollar), I will use the American currency notation. Please note that I have just recently acquired a DreamCast console, and Sega GT is the first game I have played for this console (and the first DreamCast game for which I am writing a game guide). Previously, my console gaming experience has consisted of first PlayStation, then PlayStation2 (I did have a Sega Genesis before the PlayStation, but it was already sadly outdated even before I bought it... so that does not really count!!!!!). For this reason, references to other games will be for the PlayStation and PlayStation2, as these are the game consoles with which I have the most familiarity and expertise. ============================================== COMPARISON WITH THE GRAN TURISMO SERIES Sega GT is an excellent racing game - not quite the 'racing simulation' as touted by the Gran Turismo series on the PlayStation and PlayStation2 consoles, but still very intriguing, quite fun, and mildly challenging nonetheless :-) The variety of (types of) courses is wider than the Gran Turismo series, and the circuits themselves are moderately more challenging as well. However, there are noticeably fewer courses overall in Sega GT, and certainly not nearly the level of repeat gameplay as in games such as Metropolis Street Racer (DreamCast) or Gran Turismo 3 (PlayStation2). Many of the same cars appear in both Sega GT and the Gran Turismo series, although some cars are indeed unique to Sega GT. For those who own a PlayStation, I strongly suggest acquiring Gran Turismo 2; for those with a PlayStation2, I EMPHATICALLY suggest buying Gran Turismo 3 (and perhaps GT2 as well, since the PlayStation2 can handle both games - but a PlayStation- compatible memory card will be required for saving game progress in Gran Turismo 2). While Sega GT is fun and exciting in its own right, the high level of playability (as based upon having oodles upon oodles of things to do in both GT2 and GT3 in order achieve 100% completion in each game) makes Gran Turismo 2 and especially Gran Turismo 3 much better games overall. However, Sega GT's innovations - in including both general Driver Licenses and Factory Licenses, combined with the ability to create factory-produced original cars - make Sega GT a much, much more intriguing game than anything in the Gran Turismo series to date. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== NON-CHAMPIONSHIP MODES Championship Mode is certainly where the 'meat' is in Sega GT. However, there are also Time Trial and Single Race Modes available. Single Race Mode is essentially the equivalent of an Arcade Mode in other racing games. Here, the player can select Easy, Normal, or Hard levels of difficulty, then one of the pre-selected cars in each level, then head to the races. Fortunately, a player is not obligated to use the same car across all races in a difficulty level. Players should probably start the game here, working at least through the three Easy difficulty races, as this will provide a good general overview of car handling and other elements within Sega GT. Winning all races in Single Race Mode results in an extremely corny 'You are a great driver' screen and a 'Don't get cocky' screen, followed by the record times for all the races in Single Race Mode; then, after being given an opportunity to save game progress, the game essentially reloads itself as if the game disc had just been inserted, so it is IMPERATIVE to use the opportunity to save game progress just so races will not need to be reraced. Time Trial Mode is simply the player battling against the clock. This is a straightforward and typical feature of virtually all racing games. In Sega GT, however, winning Time Trial Mode depends upon a player's overall time for three consecutive laps at a race venue - while a lap record may be attained in the process, it does not count toward having defeated the record time for a given track. Also, Time Trial Mode is dependent upon car class, and uses the cars a player has already acquired in Championship Mode. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== LICENSES Acquiring various licenses (in Driver's Test) permits players to participate in races in Championship Mode. For those who have played the Gran Turismo series (on PlayStation and PlayStation2), the licenses in Sega GT are NOT as difficult to acquire, so there should not be any broken controllers or television screens due to controllers being thrown in frustration :-) Further, while there are numerous tests (by car manufacturer) for each license, only one such test must be successfully passed in order to acquire each license. (However, the tests are all so relatively easy - especially for those with a lot of experience with racing games in general - that players may as well earn them all before truly embarking upon a career in Championship Mode.) Fortunately, Sega GT's license tests require only that a lap at a given circuit and a given direction be completed with a given car within a given period of time. Therefore, driving off the main circuit and/or banging the barriers will not mean instant disqualification as in other racing games with licenses or challenges (such as the Gran Turismo series or EA Sports' F1-based series) - thus alleviating one of the most frustrating aspects of acquiring licenses. However, banging barriers and driving off the main circuit will likely slow the car severely (especially if driving through sand traps), thus resulting in a slower lap time and risking to cause the player to fail that particular license test. Tip: If a player is about to fail a license test, press the Start button before crossing the Start/Finish Line. This will bring up a Pause Menu with Retry as one of the options. Selecting Retry (using the Start button) will instantly cause the player to restart that test. Failure to restart a license test in this manner means waiting around for the results screen to be displayed, and the license test to be reloaded. The following is a list of all license classes, car manufacturers per license, and license test locations - in the order in which they appear in the license tests. Again, only ONE license test needs to be passed within each class in order for the player to receive the appropriate license. Class Manufacturer License Test Location ----- ------------ ----------------------- Extra Suzuki Sport Snowy Mountain Extra STI Sky Peak Hill Extra DRS Great Rock Road Extra Mugen Deep Rock Road Extra Mazda Speed Solid Circuit Extra Ralliart Night Section A B DRS Night Section A Reverse B TRD Snowy Mountain Reverse B Nismo Solid Circuit B Mugen Great Rock Road B Mazda Speed Sky Peak Hill B Ralliart Night Ground A STI Night Section A A TRD Snowy Mountain A Nismo Sky Peak Hill Reverse A Mugen Great Rock Road A Honda Speed Solid Circuit Reverse A Ralliart Night Section A Reverse SA STI Snowy Mountain Reverse SA TRD Solid Circuit Reverse SA Nismo Night Ground Reverse SA Mugen Great Rock Road Reverse SA Mazda Speed Sky Peak Hill Reverse SA Ralliart Night Section B There are also Factory Licenses, acquired in the Carrozzeria. Each of these licenses has five tests, and specific requirements on cars (of the player's choice) which can be used for acquiring these licenses. A strong suggestion is to wait on the Factory Licenses until a car has been 'race- tested' and can perform well enough to win fairly easily while still maintaining a decent level of handling; this will make the Factory Licenses (similar to the regular licenses, but only on short sections of circuits) much easier, and will also allow some recovery time in case the player makes a major mistake (such as banging a barrier hard enough to significantly slow the vehicle) during any of the tests. ============================================== INITIAL CAR PURCHASE The first car will definitely need to be a used car, as there are NO new cars which can be purchased for $10,000 (the player's initial cash stock when beginning in Championship Mode) or less. The used cars are available by selecting the 'Used' menu option near the bottom (on the left-hand side) of the Car Dealer main page; it is easy to overlook the 'Used' menu option, but it IS definitely there. Here is a comprehensive list of the initially-available used cars - sorted by prize - which can be purchased with the player's initial cash of $10,000: Price Car ------ ---------------------------------- $3,000 I-Mark $3,600 MR2 G Limited (AW11) $4,000 Silvia Q's (S13 1.8) $5,200 Silvia K's (S13 1.8) $5,980 Beat $6,200 CR-X SiR (EF8) $6,500 Sprinter Trueno GTV(AE86) $6,500 Corolla Levin GTV (AE86) $6,800 MR2 G Limited Super Charger (AW11) $6,900 Silvia Q's (S13 2.0) $7,000 Sprinter Trueno GT Apex (AE86) $7,000 Corolla Levin GT Apex (AE86) $7,800 RX-7 GT-X $7,800 MX-5 Miata S Special 1.6 $7,800 Cappuccino $7,800 Silvia K's (S13 2.0) $8,200 RX-7 InfinityII $8,450 AZ-1 $8,900 Supra Twin Turbo R (JZA70) $9,000 MX-5 Miata S Special 1.8 $9,800 Pulsar GTI-R (RNN14) Obviously, those cars with higher prices have generally better performance than those with lower prices. However, spending less on a car provides more money with which to buy parts and/or services initially; this may provide a better chance of being competitive for a few race wins from the start - and that in itself will rebuild the player's money supply to continue upgrading and/or buying cars. The initial car will obviously not be able to compete in a lot of events. I suggest the Small Event Races, which will pay more than the Open Event Races (and also should not have any potential outclassing, which can occur in the Open Event Races), but which also require a car which will perform well in its stock (untuned) condition. My first race series was the Hertz Novice Car Cup (one of the Small Event Races) using a Cappuccino; winning an individual race awards $1,000, winning the series awards $10,000 and the Hertz sponsorship (plus a bonus car - I won a Storia X4), while $500 can be gained for qualifying on Pole Position at each race (for a total potential payout of $14,500, plus permanent Hertz sponsorship throughout the player's career in Championship Mode). Winning events results in bonus money (if the event is a series of races) and bonus cars. Before performing upgrades, try to use each car as long as it can possibly be competitive for race wins, or else time will be required later to remove all those parts to enter certain events. Also, note each car's displacement, as this is one of the main requirements (other than holding an appropriate license) for entering many events, especially in the many Event Races. ============================================== SPONSORS Championship Mode includes sponsors, which can provide a nice boost of income upon winning even the lowest-paying of races. Depending on the multi-race event or single race entered, each sponsor a player has acquired will pay a given amount of money per win. Players acquire sponsors by entering and WINNING their sponsored (pardon the pun) events. Once a sponsor-sponsored event has been won, that sponsor stays permanently with the player, continually paying relatively small amounts of money for race/event wins. The beauty of the sponsor system in Sega GT is that the more sponsors a player accumulates (and these are PERMANENT sponsor accumulations for Championship Mode), the more sponsorship money can be gained... so that even a low-paying race (perhaps paying only $1,000 to the winner) becomes a nice-sized moneymaker if a player has acquired many or even ALL the sponsors and they each pay as little as $500 in bonus money for the win. This extra boost in income can be quite handy for buying a desired car or for buying new parts and/or services for cars already in a player's garage. The only 'difference' to this is that in those events with heats (i.e., the 0-400 and the 0-1000 Events), sponsors pay out after the player wins each heat; therefore, even if a player does not have a car capable of winning such events, if a player can survive several heats and has a lot of sponsors, these events can be good ways to gain a fair amount of money fairly quickly :-) Note that once a player has acquired more than seven sponsors, the sponsor money will be presented on two screens, with the first seven sponsors and their bonus money shown on the first screen, followed by the other sponsors and their bonus money. There are twenty-six total sponsors which can be acquired in the game - collecting ALL the sponsors alone makes for a nice windfall upon a race victory :-) ============================================== CHAINING Also in Championship Mode, within a multi-race event, it is possible to gain bonus money by chaining together victories at consecutive individual races. The amount of money per chain (as recognized at the end of each individual race) is determined by this formula: Chain = $1,000 x ((consecutive wins) - 1) Since this formula is applied at the end of EACH individual race within an event series, some consecutive race victories will actually pay the player multiple times. For example, in a three-race event series, if the player chains Race A and Race B, the player receives $1,000 bonus money for that chain. If the player also chains Race C, the player is rewarded with $2,000 bonus money for the three-race chain. Note that Race A and Race B are in both chains, so they actually pay out twice :-) A four-race chain will have Races A and B pay out thrice, and Race C pay out twice. ============================================== POINTS In multi-race events, Sega GT uses a points system similar to that used by FIA for its real-world events (such as F1 and World Rally Championship). At each race, drivers receive one or more points based upon how they finished the race; the driver with the most points at the end of an event series is the winner. Here is the points system used in Sega GT: Position Points ------------ -------- First Place 9 points Second Place 6 points Third Place 4 points Fourth Place 3 points Fifth Place 2 points Sixth Place 1 point Fortunately, in the event of a tie for First Place in an event series, the CPU still awards prize money and bonus car or body to the player. This is different than in many other racing games, where the player must win a series outright to be declared the true winner and receive any due bonuses (in terms of money and/or cars). ============================================== CARROZZERIA Here, players can build their own cars and obtain factory licenses. This is a rather unique an interesting feature of Sega GT. However, building these original cars costs money - A LOT of money - and simply cannot be done at the beginning of the game. Plan on spending approximately $50,000 for a good Extra Class original car, plus another $30,000 for parts and service upgrades to make the car fast enough to easily pass the five tests in the quest for a Factory B License. Note that if using an original factory-built car, winning will sometimes produce not a new car, but a new body. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== CONTACT INFORMATION For questions, rants, raves, comments of appreciation, etc., or to be added to my e-mail list for updates to this driving guide, please contact me at: FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM; also, if you have enjoyed this guide and feel that it has been helpful to you, I would certainly appreciate a small donation via PayPal (http://www.paypal.com/) using the above e-mail address. To find the latest version of this and all my other PSX/PS2 game guides, please visit FeatherGuides (http://www.angelcities.com/members/feathersites/). The latest version will always be immediately available at FeatherGuides, while other Web sites may lag behind by several days in their regularly-scheduled posting updates. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== ======================================================================= Wolf Feather Jamie Stafford ======================================================================= Just as there are many parts needed to make a human a human, there's a remarkable number of things needed to make an individual what they are. - Major Kusanagi, _Ghost in the Shell_ ======================================================================= What isn't remembered never happened. - _Serial Experiments Lain_ =======================================================================