MIDNIGHT CLUB 2: PARIS GUIDE by Jamie Stafford/Wolf Feather FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM Initial Version Completed: April 12, 2003 Version 1.0 Completed: April 12, 2003 ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== 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 Paris Overview Phrase Translations Sign Translations Paris Tips 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, Games Domain, PSXCodez.com, Cheatcc.com, gamesover.com, Absolute-PlayStation.com, GameReactors.com, RedCoupe, InsidePS2Games.com, CheatPlanet.com, The Cheat Empire, a2zweblinks.com, Gameguru, CheatHeaven, IGN, cheatingplanet.com, RobsGaming.com, Infogrames Australia, neoseeker.com, ComputerUnderground.com, ps2fantasy.com, and vgstrategies.com. Please contact me for permission to post elsewhere on the Internet. Should anyone wish to translate this game 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 When I learned that a sequel to the original Midnight Club: Street Racing was in the works, I knew that I would buy it, as I had purchased the original game at the North American launch of the PlayStation2 and absolutely loved it :-) But when I learned that Paris would be one of the locales in Midnight Club 2, I instantly rushed to pre-order it... about six months before the game's release. Having lived in Paris in the mid-1990s, the city still has a definitely attraction to me, even in game form, and given what the developers had done with New York City and London in the original Midnight Club: Street Racing, I knew that I would definitely enjoy Midnight Club 2 even more :-) This guide does not cover the races specifically held in Paris during Career Mode. This guide is intended more as an overview to the city, with translations of signs and pedestrians' catch-phrases. Some tips for navigating Paris are also provided. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== PARIS OVERVIEW The original Midnight Club: Street Racing became unexpectedly popular at and following the launch of the PlayStation2. Taking place in New York City and in London, the game presented excellent, fun, challenging racing - including the ability to target pedestrians, by accident and otherwise - while still remaining generally faithful to the presentation of both cities. This time taking place in Los Angeles, Paris, and Tokyo, Midnight Club 2 takes all the elements of the original Midnight Club: Street Racing, greatly improves the graphics and sounds, and adds motorcycles into the mix. The result is a spectacular blend of faithfulness to the locales and a powerful continuation of what has come before in the series. Paris itself is extremely breathtaking, especially for me personally as I once lived in The City of Love. While the version of Paris presented in Midnight Club 2 is both massive enough and detailed enough to convincingly present the French capital in the game, it is somewhat of a disappointment to see the city 'reduced' to its size in the game. For example, walking from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame takes FAR longer than it does in the game!!! Of course, some things must be changed in the translation from reality to game. One of my favorite places in Paris is the set of narrow streets to the left of Sacre-Coeur (as looking at the front entrance of the cathedral). These streets, also perched high upon the hillside, contain numerous cafes, a small but elegant square where merchants and artists often sell or perform, and breathtaking views of the city far below when glimpsed between buildings. Unfortunately, this area of the city - like so many other intimate spots which are not very likely to be known to the average traveler - is eliminated from the game :-( The general 'construction' of Paris in Midnight Club 2 is itself quite faithful to the real-world city. Le boulevard peripherique (or simply 'le peripherique') is a highway which encircles the city, generally forming its border; thus, it is not surprising that there is really only one place to get 'out' of Paris in the game, and even that is a long tunnel loop linking the two-lane roads running along the Seine River. The main landmarks of Paris are all in place in the game, and those highly familiar with the main roads of Paris in reality will have little or no trouble navigating the city. The many traffic circles can definitely be annoying, especially when driving around them at high speeds while drifting the rear of the car and still trying to avoid collisions with the slower mundane non-competitor traffic. Adding a sense of realism to the game, Midnight Club 2 presents a number of small shops throughout the city. Some of these are designated by names or initials, likely as an electronic tribute to those involved in the game's creation. However, most of these are more 'generalized' with French words indicating the type of shop for each - 'marche,' or 'velos,' or 'glaces,' for example. While there are a number of such shops along the main streets, there are also many small shops in the alleyways of the city; this is quite true of the real-world Paris as well. In fact, many of the best shops and cafes in Paris are located 'off the beaten path,' and are generally not known to travelers; even some of the best movie theaters (cinemas) are located well away from the main streets of the city, both in reality and in the game. Not surprisingly, the pedestrians in Paris also often yell things in French. Exactly what they yell at the player is selected at random. Unfortunately, however, their catch- phrases seem to be biased toward the use of English rather than French, at least in the North American version of the game. Nonetheless, the use of French does help to localize the game, thus creating a more convincing gaming experience for the player. Overall, the Paris experience in Midnight Club 2 is an excellent introduction to the city for those who have never lived in or visited the capital of France. Certainly, there are many things from the real-world city missing from the game city - such as the boat traffic on the Seine River. Of course, true to the Midnight Club series, there are numerous places to jump between or over buildings, and even several river jumps. The inclusion of the catacombs is a great addition to the game, even though navigating through the catacombs is extremely frustrating at best. If only it were possible to also race through the Paris subway system....... ============================================== PHRASE TRANSLATIONS Paris in Midnight Club 2 attempts to further localize the player's experience with pedestrians and rivals in Paris sometimes speaking in French. For the rivals, some of these catch-phrases are pre-determined and come during the cutscenes before or after races, while others are used at random during the races themselves. For the pedestrians, all sayings are randomized, with a noticeable bias toward the use of English (in the North American version of the game). This section of the guide provides translations for the French-language sayings in the game. This is not meant to be a comprehensive listing, since so many of the catch-phrases are randomized; it is quite possible that there are more French-language catch-phrases than I have heard in my experience playing in Paris in the game. As the Internet is heavily dominated by English-speakers, standard text-only documents are not designed to handle accents. Therefore, to avoid a document full of strange characters, accents have purposely not been used, necessitating some knowledge on the part of the reader to visualize the accents where they belong. Translation is FAR from a precise science. For example, consider the controversy over the U.S. Government's official translation of the Osama Bin Laden videotape found in early December 2001 in a home in Afghanistan (the videotape advanced by the government as the ultimate proof of Bin Laden's involvement in the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001) and the more specific translations offered by CNN and other news organizations in the days after the videotape's official release. There are certainly many more potential translations which could be made for each phrase beyond what I have provided here; the translations given below are simply meant to give a general meaning. Please note that some of the phrases include swearing. While I try to accurately present the idea of the speaker with each translation, I also do not wish to offend anyone by translating 'in full.' Julie Tu me fais chier! You make me want to s***! Parfait Parfait (name) Perfect Stephane C'est pas vrai! - Literally: It's not true! - Colloquially: This can't be happening! J'ai perdu mon auto! I lost my car! Police Garez-vous maintenant! Pull over now! Pedestrians Aie! Ca fait mal! Ow! That hurts! Attention! Be careful! / Pay attention! Ca n'va pas, non!?! That isn't right, is it!?! Mais non! - Literally: But no! - Colloquially: That's wrong! Merde! S***! Oh, merde! Oh, s***! Oh, regarde! Oh, look! (This is used in the familiar form here, so the pedestrian is pointing out the player's reckless driving to a friend.) ============================================== SIGN TRANSLATIONS With the signs in the game, meaning is generally much more fixed than with the characters' catch-phrases. While this information is certainly not essential to the game, as players are not required to go to a specific shop in a given area, it could nonetheless be useful information to know. Again, accents have purposely not been used here. Also, there are likely other types of stores that I have not noticed while roaming the city. boissons drinks bon bons candy store boucher butcher shop boulangerie bakery cadeaux gift shop change a place to change money chaussures shoe store chocolat chocolate shop cinema movie theater coiffure hair dresser or barber shop crepes a place selling crepes, thin pancake- like food which can be topped (or filled, when rolled and eaten by hand) with various items such as bananas, chocolate sauce, whip cream, strawberries, etc. cuirs leather shop femmes women (used in the game in the red light district near Sacre-Coeur - rather ironic, but true to life - to help attract customers) glaces ice cream parlor jouets toy store librairie bookstore (NOT library; this is a false cognate) marche small market patisserie pastry shop peep peep show (again, seen only in the red light district) pharmacie pharmacie, or drug store poisson fish shop tabac tobacco store toilettes public toilets (generally requiring some form of payment) velos bike shop vins wine shop ============================================== PARIS TIPS While some may find it rather awkward to go do some real- world research to better enjoy a game, a player can definitely benefit from finding one or more maps of Paris to study. This will help the player to gain a better overall feel for the layout of the city, which can in turn provide a better chance of getting from Point A to Point B in a hurry. Granted, the player will rarely be able to simply follow a single street from Point A to Point B (to reach the next checkpoint, pick up a flag, etc.). However, it is often best to avoid the narrow and twisting streets and alleyways in favor of the wider streets and boulevards; even if it means a longer traveling distance, it is often easier to attain fast speeds on these wider streets and boulevards and also to corner quickly with less need for precision. To the extent possible, use le boulevard peripherique to get from one side of the city to the other in a hurry. This may be the 'long way' from Point A to Point B, but there is no cross-traffic, and the right-most emergency lane is rarely ever blocked by a parked vehicle, so the player can attain insane speeds here (especially if using the nitrous, if available) while rivals are colliding with each other and with other vehicles on the surface streets. Tunnels are generally well-marked on the map in the game. However, the catacombs are NOT indicated on the map. Therefore, it is best to learn where the catacomb entrances are located. This can also mean AVOIDING the many immovable columns - of which there are far too many for comfort - in the catacombs. Save the nitrous until it is absolutely necessary. There are a few jumps - notably some jumps across the Seine River - which will require an unfathomable rate of speed to complete successfully, and suddenly hitting the nitrous may be the only option for a player to successfully complete such jumps. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== 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. 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