RALLY FUSION: GAME GUIDE by Jamie Stafford/Wolf Feather feather7@ix.netcom.com Initial Version Completed: November 23, 2002 FINAL VERSION Completed: December 1, 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 ROC (Race of Champions) Quick Race ROC Challenge Navigators Car Customization Tips Drivers Racing Tips: Braking Racing Tips: Cornering Racing Tips: Wet-weather Racing/Driving Diagrams 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 This guide is nearly 20 pages in length using Courier 12 font in the Macintosh version of Microsoft Word 98. ============================================== 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, PSXCodez.com, Cheatcc.com, gamesover.com, Absolute-PlayStation.com, RedCoupe, ps2replay.com, CheatHeaven, IGN, GameReactors.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 Rally Fusion's 'main event' is the annual Race of Champions, held on a parallel circuit in Gran Canaria. However, there are plenty of stage-based and circuit-based events spread throughout a number of gameplay modes which can unlock better and faster cars as well as higher and tougher classes of competition, with the end result of Rally Fusion having a tremendous run of repeat gameplay. However, in ROC Challenge (the main gameplay mode in which others are unlocked), the learning curve is VERY steep. The Qualifiers and Class C are both incredibly easy, although Class C will still require approximately three hours to complete. The competition is tougher in Class B, as one would expect, with approximately four hours required to complete Class B. Class A, however, is virtually impossible; it would NOT be unusual to spend four hours simply trying to get past the first two events in Class A >:-( This would be comparable to someone who has never even flown on an airplane as a passenger being required to fly a fighter jet across an entire continent AND refuel in the air several times... without any prior training. Players can expect plenty of fun and frustrating racing action in Rally Fusion. The circuits are varied, from snowy/icy hill climbs to desert stages to desert circuits to seaside courses and beyond. The cars range from single- seater buggies to Lancias to Opels to Mitsubishis and beyond. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== ROC (RACE OF CHAMPIONS) ROC Mode actually includes two types of events: ROC (Race of Champions) and Nations Cup. ROC (Race of Champions) is divided into three classes: Class C, Class B, and Class A. Initially, only Class C is available. In each class, the player is entered into a bracket of eight competitors, and must win (best two of three races) three series to win the Race of Champions for that class. Winning in Class C unlocks Class B; winning in Class B unlocks Class A. Nations Cup is essentially ROC (Race of Champions), but in multi-player format. Here, two, three, or four players - each using a DIFFERENT controller - take turns competing in the Race of Champions. Initially, only Class C is available. Winning in Class C unlocks Class B; winning in Class B unlocks Class A. ============================================== QUICK RACE Quick Race Mode is a conglomeration of multiple events. The events and circuits/stages in Quick Race Mode become available as they are unlocked by progressing through all three classes in ROC Challenge. Race of Champions: This is the annual tournament at Gran Canaria pitting driver against driver in identical cars on a parallel circuit. This makes the Race of Champions a TRUE test of driver skill, NOT a challenge of who has the better car. Rally: This is a traditionally rally stage, with only one car on the stage in an attempt to complete the stage with the fastest possible time. Rally Cross: Run on rally stages, the player competes directly with multiple cars on the stage at once. Circuit: This is a traditional circuit with rally- esque features. There are several competitors on the circuit along with the player. Time Trial: Using any of the unlocked stages or circuits, the player attempts to break the current stage/lap record. Hill Climb: This is a stage-like setting, with the player attempting to get to the top of the mountain as quickly as possible. Hill Climb Extreme: This is essentially Rally Cross, but on a hill climb. Checkpoint: This is true arcade-style racing in that the player must reach each checkpoint before the countdown timer expires. Elimination: Competing against three CPU-controlled vehicles, this is a three-lap race at a circuit. At the end of each lap, the car in last place is eliminated. Follow the Leader: Competing against three CPU-controlled vehicles, this is a unique gameplay event in which all vehicles have the same amount of energy at the beginning of the event. Only the leader will NOT lose any energy; the further back a car is in the field, the faster that car loses its energy. The winner is the car is keeps going the furthest (i.e., all other cars have run out of energy and are stalled on the circuit). Driving Challenge: Set in an arena, the player must complete a number of driving tasks within the allotted time. Relay: This is essentially a baton race, but with cars. The player can only choose ONE of the cars to use; the other is assigned at random by the CPU. Each lap is driven with a different car. World Tour: Run across six rally stages, the player must complete each stage as quickly as possible while incurring as little damage as possible to ensure finishing the World Tour. World Tour Extreme: This is World Tour with several competitors on-track and a points system. ============================================== ROC CHALLENGE ROC Challenge has the player competing across the world against the world's best drivers. This is first done by completing all the Qualifier events to obtain a license. Next, each class is handled from easiest (Class C) to hardest (Class A). WARNING: CLASS A IS VIRTUALLY I M P O S S I B L E >:-( Qualifiers The Qualifiers are somewhat easy, so players need not fret about not being able to obtain a license. There are four events here, but only three are shown; once the first three events have been completed, only then will the fourth event become available. The first and third Qualifier events are timed stage-based rallies. The fourth Qualifier event is a head-to-head competition at Gran Canaria. The second Qualifier event could use some explanation. Here, the player must enter an arena and complete a 'slalom' course. There are four 'slalom' sections of four checkpoints each (designated by panels displaying arrows). Between the panels at each checkpoint are three flags: a green flag in the center flanked by two red flags. Touching a red flag will add FOUR seconds to the player's overall time; touching a green flag will subtract TWO seconds from the player's overall time. As long as the player only touches two or three red flags, there should be no problem in passing this Qualifier event. Class C In Class C, there are two initially types of competition: Rally Challenge and Circuit Challenge. Rally Challenge is comprised of three rally stages where the player is alone on each stage and must attain the fastest total time for the rally. In Circuit Challenge, the player and several competitors are on the tracks at the same time and must strive to have the most points at the end of the Circuit Challenge, with points awarded in each event: six points for first place, four points for second place, two points for third place, and NO points for last place. In both Rally Challenge and Circuit Challenge, the player is given a total of twenty repair points to use to fix any damage to the chosen vehicle; these must be spent wisely, as these points must last for the entire challenge!!!!! Once the Class C Rally Challenge and Circuit Challenge have been completed, the Rally Cross Challenge becomes available. Rally Cross Challenge includes two competitor and is run on three rally stages, with points awarded for each stage: six points for first place, four points for second place, and two points for third place. Once the Class C Rally Cross Challenge has been completed, Driving Challenge I appears. Winning this unlocks Ford Escort Miki Duel, Compact Rally Challenge, and Single Seat Circuit Challenge. Ford Escort Miki Duel is a one-on-one competition at Gran Canaria. Compact Rally Challenge is run across three stages. Winning the above events unlocks the Opel Kadett Duel and the European Rally Cross Challenge. Opel Kadett Duel is a one-on-one competition at Gran Canaria. European Rally Cross Challenge is run against two competitors across three stages. Winning the above events unlocks Driving Challenge II. This is HARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In the arena, there are four platforms upon which specific feats must be completed. The Forward Park is conducted on each of the first two platforms; here, the car must be parked for two seconds upon the platform between the red flags. The third platform is the 360 Spin, where the car must come to a stop and complete a FULL 360-degree rotation (in either direction). The final platform is for the Reverse Park, in which the player must back onto the platform and must be parked for two seconds before leaving. Winning Driving Challenge II unlocks Formule France Duel, Hill Climb, Ford Escort Miki Elimination, and Toyota Rav4 Follow the Leader. In Ford Escort Elimination, all competitors drive a Ford Escort; at the end of each lap, the car is last position in eliminated from the competition. Of these four newly-unlocked events, Toyota Rav4 Follow the Leader is the most difficult of these. Here, the player is against three competitors, and everyone is equipped with a Toyota Rav4. Everyone begins with the same amount of energy; energy is depleted by NOT being in the lead (cars further back in the field lose energy faster than cars ahead) and by damaging the vehicle. The player ALWAYS begins in final position, which inherently means that the player is ALWAYS in the worst possible position; winning these Follow the Leader events is thus virtually impossible >:-( Getting past ALL these events unlocks the Class C Race of Champions. The player is entered into a bracket of eight competitors, and must win (best two of three races) three series to win the Class C Race of Champions. After the Toyota Rav4 Follow the Leader, the Class C Race of Champions is incredibly EASY!!!!! Winning the Class C Race of Champions completes Class C of the ROC Challenge and unlocks Class B. Players should anticipate approximately three hours to complete Class C. Class B Class B begins with three events: Peugeot 306 Duel, Rally Challenge (run across four stages, with only 20 repair points despite the 'extra' stage), and Circuit Challenge (run across four circuits, with only 20 repair points despite the 'extra' circuit). The Peugeot 306 Duel is definitely a bit more difficult than the duels in Class C. Also, whereas the Class C events at Gran Canaria were held at sunset, the Class B events at Gran Canaria are held at midday; this makes the Gran Canaria parallel circuit look just different enough to essentially be 'foreign' on the first few runs in the very-bright lighting conditions. [Those who have played other racing games with variable lighting conditions, such as F1 2002 and Le Mans 24 Hours (also on the PlayStation2), will likely have an easier time adjusting to the different lighting conditions.] Winning the initially-available Class B events will unlock the Toyota Celica GT4 Duel and the Rally Cross Challenge (run across four stages, with only 20 repair points despite the 'extra' stage). Winning the Toyota Celica GT4 Duel and the Rally Cross Challenge will unlock Driving Challenge III. This time, the first area is a forward slalom with NO green flags to lower time, but plenty of red flags to ADD 4 SECONDS for each flag touched. Next comes the forward park on a truck platform. The third test is the 360 Spin. The final test is the reverse park. Winning Driving Challenge III unlocks the Lancia Delta Integrale Duel, Japanese Rally Challenge, and European Circuit Challenge. Winning these events will unlock Peugeot 206 Duel and Champions Rally Cross Challenge. Winning Peugeot 206 Duel and Champions Rally Cross Challenge will unlock Driving Challenge IV. This time, the tests are: 360 Spin, Reverse Slalom, Reverse Park, and Reverse Park on a Trailer. Winning Driving Challenge IV unlocks Toyota Corolla Duel, Hill Climb, Toyota Elimination, and Peugeot Follow the Leader. Winning these events unlocks the Class B Race of Champions. The player is entered into a bracket of eight competitors, and must win (best two of three races) three series to win the Class C Race of Champions. After the Toyota Rav4 Follow the Leader, the Class C Race of Champions is incredibly EASY!!!!! Winning the Class B Race of Champions completes Class B of the ROC Challenge and unlocks Class A. Players should anticipate approximately three hours to complete Class B. Class A Class A begins with Rally Challenge and Circuit Challenge available. Each event includes five rallies or races, with only twenty repair points for the entire Challenge. In the Rally Challenge, rolling or severely damaging the car only ONCE across the five rallies automatically prevents the player from winning Rally Challenge because the goal times are set so ^#&*@$ low. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== NAVIGATORS Rally Fusion includes a choice of three naviagtors/co-drivers to give aural driving instructions. The first is a British male with a VERY short fuse; simply getting the car dirty will cause him to explode into profanity (which is bleeped out). The second navigator is an American male with a slightly longer fuse than his British counterpart; he tends to get excited, but is not verbally abusive. The final navigator is a British female; she is also somewhat excitable and she does occasionally slip into profanity, but she is definitely a little more mellow than her two male counterparts. It is really amazing that the navigators in Rally Fusion have such personalities. One would expect that the world's best drivers would have the world's best navigators, who are generally 'impersonal' and stick strictly to the driving instructions, offering little other commentary or chatter. Perhaps this was simply done to provide a little more 'flavor' to Rally Fusion. ============================================== CAR CUSTOMIZATION Since Rally Fusion is primarily an arcade-style game, there are only three areas of car customization: Transmission, Tires, and Gear Ratio. Transmission: The player can choose Automatic or Manual. Tires: The only choices are Snow, Tarmac, Mud, and Dirt. The CPU will always make a Tire suggestion, and the player should never make any changes here. Gear Ratio: Rally Fusion offers three Gear Ratio settings: Acceleration, Intermediate, and Top Speed. Acceleration provides faster acceleration, but at the sacrifice of top-end speed. Top Speed provides excellent top-end speed, but slower acceleration. Intermediate is the 'middle- ground' setting. The CPU will suggest a Gear Ratio for each event... AS LONG AS THE PLAYER HAS NOT MADE ANY PRIOR CHANGES TO THE GEAR RATIO SETTING. Once the player has changed the Gear Ratio setting, the game will no longer automatically make a Gear Ratio suggestion; instead, the setting last used by the player will appear. ============================================== TIPS Buy or rent or borrow any game in the Gran Turismo series, but especially Gran Turismo 2 or 3. In one of these games, work through the License Tests, as this will teach how to approach the various elements of racing, from judging braking distances to controlling a car on a surface with little grip. Gran Turismo 2 introduced rally racing to the series, so GT2 and GT3 both include a Rally License; the time and effort spent in acquiring the Rally License in GT2 or GT3 will help with World Rally Challenge. Overall, Gran Turismo 2 is probably a better choice of the three games in the Gran Turismo series, as GT2 includes the Pikes Peak Hill Climb and Pikes Peak Downhill courses, the only point-to-point rally venues in the series thus far (all other rally events are held at actual circuits); unfortunately, both Pikes Peak stages were removed for Gran Turismo 3 :-( In rally racing, the principles of standard pavement-based racing apply. However, there is generally less tire grip in rally racing, which makes anticipation a key element in correctly holding a tight racing line at the apex of a corner, in judging braking distances on a steep downhill grade, etc. In general, 'Easy' corners do not require braking to safely clear; 'Hard' corners and hairpins DO require braking; 'Medium' corners may necessitate braking depending on the surroundings and the entry speed. Hairpins ALWAYS require braking. Do not depend solely upon the navigator's instructions (these are deactivated if driving a single-seater car, for obvious reasons) and the sign icons at the top-center of the screen to drive cleanly through each stage. Try to look as far ahead as possible and use the lay of the land to determine what the road ahead will entail. Most roads follow the contours of mountains and hillsides, using a series of switchbacks for climbing and descending steep mountainsides. On occasion, visibility is clear so far ahead that it is possible to see turns several hundred meters - or more - beyond what the navigator is currently saying. Some roads leave one particular mountain and run along an adjacent mountain, and this can sometimes also be seen across a valley. For those roads atop short ridges, it is often possible to see the various turns far ahead. Try to use really tall objects such as trees - and especially telephone poles, as they are almost ALWAYS located directly next to the road - to determine the location and severity of upcoming turns. Rally Fusion does not provide long complex navigation directions (aurally or on-screen) - unlike some rally-based games, such as World Rally Championship - nor are distances given by the navigator (when activated). There are times when this information could be REALLY useful. For example, '200 Hairpin Right Caution Over Crest into 50 Hairpin Left Caution Jump' in World Rally Championship would translate to simply 'Hairpin Right Hairpin Left' in Rally Fusion. This makes the player wonder about other unnamed issues, such as: 1.) 'Is there an unprotected drop-off on the outside of either hairpin corner?' 2.) 'What is the distance between the two upcoming hairpin corners?' 3.) 'Is that simply a crest or an actual jump ahead?' Whenever SAFELY possible, it is generally faster to straightline consecutive corners, especially when these are 'Medium' or 'Hard' corners. This is especially true for chicanes. Players need not worry about being penalized for driving off the circuit; the navigator will likely make a fuss about it, but there will be no penalties assessed for making use of this tactic. Spectators will sometimes be standing in the middle of the road, or will run across it. There are also occasionally animals (primarily chickens) in the raceway. Then, of course, there is the television helicopter, which sometimes comes down so close to the ground that it appears that the car(s) will ram into it!!! While this can definitely be difficult at first, players must learn to essentially ignore all these extraneous elements and concentrate on the road ahead. When racing on the parallel circuit at Gran Canaria, do not bother trying to cheat by crossing to the opposite lane as soon as possible. The CPU will only credit a race as being completed if the player has crossed the OPPOSITE Start/Finish Line first, THEN crossing the Start/Finish Line for the lane in which the player began the race. In other words, if the player begins on the Inside Lane, then the player must first cross the Start/Finish Line on the Outside Lane before crossing the Start/Finish Line again on the Inside Lane. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== DRIVERS Rally Fusion has the player competing against many well-known motorsport drivers and riders from around the world. Class C Drivers (Virtually no rally experience): Troy Bayliss Frank Biela Luca Cadalora Yannick Dalmas Robby Gordon Tom Kristensen J.J. Lehto Jeremy McWilliams Emmanuele Piro Katja Poensgen Kari Tanen Harri Toivonen Ralf Waldman Ruben Xaus Class B Drivers (Skilled rally drivers): Andrea Aghini Flavio Alonso Neal Bates Dario Cerrato Marc Duez Francois Duval Per Eklund Yoshio Fujimoto Rui Maderia Rhys Millen Rob Millen Luis Monzon Gabriel Pozzo Jesus Puras Kenjiro Shinozuka Bruno Thiry Class A Drivers (World's best rally drivers): Didier Auriol Miki Biason Stig Blomqvist Marcus Gronholm Hannu Mikkola Michele Mouton Gilles Panizzi Walter Rohrl Harri Rovanpera Timo Salonen Bjorn Waldegard ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== RACING TIPS: BRAKING The first step in driving fast is knowing when, where, and how much to slow down (braking). The braking zone will differ somewhat for each car depending upon its strengths and weaknesses. It certainly helps for the player to try a Practice run to truly learn the circuits - including the braking zones - before engaging in the actual events. When looking for braking zones, try to find a particular stationary object near the entry of each corner; it helps tremendously if this object is far enough away from the circuit that it will not be knocked over during a race. To begin, try using the brakes when the front of the car is parallel with the chosen stationary object. If this does not slow the car enough before corner entry or if the car slows too much before reaching the corner, pick another stationary object on the following lap and try again. Cars with a higher horsepower output will inherently attain faster speeds, and will therefore require a longer braking zone than cars with a lower horsepower output. A final note on braking: To the extent possible, ALWAYS brake in a straight line. If braking only occurs when cornering, the car will likely be carrying too much speed for the corner, resulting in the car sliding and/or spinning (a slide or spin can mean the difference between winning and ending up in last position at the end of a race.) If nothing else, players should strive to become one of the best 'breakers' they possibly can. This will essentially force a player to become a better racer/driver in general once the player has overcome the urge to constantly run at top speed at all times with no regard for damages to self or others. Also, slowing the car appropriately will make other aspects of racing/driving easier, especially in J-turns, hairpin corners, and chicanes. ============================================== RACING TIPS: CORNERING Ideally, the best way to approach a corner is from the outside of the turn, braking well before entering the corner. At the apex (the midpoint of the corner), the car should be right up against the edge of the pavement. On corner exit, the car drifts back to the outside of the pavement and speeds off down the straightaway. So, for a right-hand turn of about ninety degrees, enter the corner from the left, come to the right to hit the apex, and drift back to the left on corner exit. See the Diagrams section at the end of this guide for a sample standard corner. For corners that are less than ninety degrees, it may be possible to just barely tap the brakes - if at all - and be able to clear such corners successfully. However, the same principles of cornering apply: approach from the outside of the turn, hit the apex, and drift back outside on corner exit. For corners more than ninety degrees but well less than 180 degrees, braking will certainly be required. However, for these 'J-turns,' the apex of the corner is not the midpoint, but a point approximately two-thirds of the way around the corner. J-turns require great familiarity to know when to begin diving toward the inside of the corner and when to power to the outside on corner exit. See the Diagrams section at the end of this guide for a sample J-turn. Hairpin corners are turns of approximately 180 degrees. Braking is certainly required before corner entry, and the cornering process is the same as for standard corners: Approach from the outside, drift inside to hit the apex (located at halfway around the corner, or after turning ninety degrees), and drifting back to the outside on corner exit. See the Diagrams section at the end of this guide for a sample hairpin corner. If there are two corners of approximately ninety degrees each AND both corners turn in the same direction AND there is only a VERY brief straightaway between the two corners, they may be able to be treated like an extended hairpin corner. Sometimes, however, these 'U-turns' have a straightaway between the corners that is long enough to prohibit a hairpin-like treatment; in this case, drifting to the outside on exiting the first of the two corners will automatically set up the approach to the next turn. See the Diagrams section at the end of this guide for a sample U-turn. FIA (the governing body of F1 racing, World Rally Championship, and other forms of international motorsport) seems to love chicanes. One common type of chicane is essentially a 'quick-flick,' where the circuit quickly edges off in one direction then realigns itself in a path parallel to the original stretch of pavement, as in the examples in the Diagrams section at the end of this guide. Here, the object is to approach the first corner from the outside, hit BOTH apexes, and drift to the outside of the second turn. FIA also seems to like the 'Bus Stop' chicane, which is essentially just a pair of quick-flicks, with the second forming the mirror image of the first, as shown in the Diagrams section at the end of this guide. Perhaps the most famous Bus Stop chicane is the chicane (which is actually called the 'Bus Stop Chicane') at Pit Entry at Spa- Francorchamps, the home of the annual Grand Prix of Belgium (F1 racing) and the host of The 24 Hours of Spa (for endurance racing). Virtually every other type of corner or corner combination encountered in racing (primarily in road racing) combines elements of the corners presented above. These complex corners and chicanes can be challenging, such as the Ascari chicane at Monza. See the Diagrams section for an idea of the formation of Ascari. However, in illegal street/highway racing, the positioning of traffic can 'create' the various corners and corner combinations mentioned here. For example, weaving in and out of traffic creates a virtual bus stop chicane (see the Diagrams section at the end of this guide). Slowing may be necessary - it often is - depending on the distance between the vehicles. See the Sample Circuit Using Some of the Above Corner Types Combines in the Diagrams section at the end of this guide; note that this is a diagram for a very technical circuit. At some race venues, 'artificial chicanes' may be created by placing cones and/or (concrete) barriers in the middle of a straightaway. This situation exists at numerous circuits in Tokyo. One thing which can change the approach to cornering is the available vision. Blind and semi-blind corners require ABSOLUTE knowledge of such corners. Here is where gamers have an advantage over real-world drivers: Gamers can (usually) change their viewpoint (camera position), which can sometimes provide a wider, clearer view of the circuit, which can be especially important when approaching semi-blind corners; real-world drivers are obviously inhibited by the design of their cars and racing helmets. Also important to cornering - especially with long, extended corners - is the corner's radius. Most corners use an identical radius throughout their length. However, some are increasing-radius corners or decreasing-radius corners. These corners may require shifting the apex point of a corner, and almost always result in a change of speed. Decreasing-radius corners are perhaps the trickiest, because the angle of the corner becomes sharper, thus generally requiring more braking as well as more turning of the steering wheel. Increasing-radius corners are corners for which the angle becomes more and more gentle as the corner progresses; this means that drivers will generally accelerate more, harder, or faster, but such an extra burst of speed can backfire and require more braking. See the Diagrams section at the end of this guide for sample images of a decreasing- radius corner and an increasing-radius corner. For traditional road racing circuits, increasing-radius and decreasing-radius corners may not be too much of a problem; after several laps around one of these circuits, a driver will know where the braking and acceleration points are as well as the shifted apex point (should a shift be required). However, for stage-based rally racing, where the roads are virtually unknown and the driver knows what is ahead only because of the navigator's instructions (which - based upon notes - may or may not be absolutely correct), the unknown can cause drivers to brake more often and/or more heavily. This need for 'extra' braking is also tempered by the fact that in much of rally racing, corners are either blind or semi-blind, due to trees, buildings, and other obstacles to clear vision all the way around a corner. One particularly interesting aspect of cornering is one which I honestly do not know if it works in reality (I am not a real-world racer, although I would certainly LOVE the chance to attend a racing school!!!), but which works in numerous racing/driving games I have played over the years. This aspect is to use the accelerator to help with quickly and safely navigating sharp corners. This works by first BRAKING AS USUAL IN ADVANCE OF THE CORNER, then - once in the corner itself - rapidly pumping the brakes for the duration of the corner (or at least until well past the apex of the corner). The action of rapidly pumping the accelerator appears to cause the drive wheels to catch the pavement just enough to help stop or slow a sliding car, causing the non-drive wheels to continue slipping and the entire car to turn just a little faster. Using this rapid-pumping technique with the accelerator does take a little practice initially, and seems to work best with FR cars; however, once perfected, this technique can pay dividends, especially with REALLY sharp hairpin corners, such as several in London. ============================================== RACING TIPS: WET-WEATHER RACING/DRIVING Almost everything written to this point in the guide focuses solely upon dry-weather racing/driving conditions. In fact, most racing/driving games deal ONLY with dry-weather conditions. Metropolis Street Racer simply will not allow a player to drive a circuit the same way in wet-weather conditions as in dry-weather conditions. The braking zone for all but the gentlest of corners will need to be extended, or else the car risks to hydroplane itself off the pavement. Throttle management is also key in wet-conditions racing. Due to the water on the circuit, there is inherently less tire grip, so strong acceleration is more likely to cause undue wheelspin - which could in turn spin the car and create a collision. If a car has gone off the pavement, then the sand and/or grass which collect on the tires provide absolutely NO traction at all, so just the act of getting back to the pavement will likely result in numerous spins. ============================================== DIAGRAMS This section contains the diagrams referred to earlier in the guide. Ascari Chicane (at Monza): * * * * * *** * ***************** Bus Stop Chicane (Variant I - Wide Chicane): ******************* ******************* * * ********* Bus Stop Chicane (Variant II - Narrow Chicane): ******************* ******************* *********** Decreasing-radius Corner: ->******************* * * * * * * <-************************* Hairpin Corner: ->***************** * <-***************** Increasing-radius Corner: ->********************** * * * * * <-******************* J-turn ******************* * * * * Quick-flicks (Variant I - Wide Chicane): ************* * ************* Quick-flicks (Variant II - Narrow Chicane): ************* ************** Sample Circuit Using Some of the Above Corner Types Combined: ******|****** ***** * |-> * * * * ** *** * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * **** * ** * * * * * ******** ******* * ******* Standard Corner: ******************* * * * * * * * * U-turn: ->***************** * * * <-***************** Virtual Bus Stop Chicane: +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Car #1 ->->->->->-> Car #3 Player Path: ->->->->->->-> Car #2 ->->->->->->-> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== 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/DC/Mac game guides, visit FeatherGuides at http://feathersites.angelcities.com/ ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== ======================================================================= 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_ =======================================================================