WORLD OF OUTLAWS SPRINT CARS: GAME GUIDE by Jamie Stafford/Wolf Feather FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM Initial Version Completed: May 3, 2002 FINAL VERSION Completed: June 11, 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 Getting Started Career Mode Traffic Points Wish List 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, RedCoupe, InsidePS2Games.com, CheatPlanet.com, The Cheat Empire, a2zweblinks.com, Gameguru, cheatingplanet.com, RobsGaming.com, neoseeker.com, ps2fantasy.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 I knew nothing about sprint car racing when I purchased this game. From seeing an occasional highlights segment on Speed News or RPM Tonight, a few of the driver names sounded slightly familiar, but I was extremely surprised when, in reading through the excellent game manual, I learned that the right rear tire is larger than its left-side counterpart. However, despite my extreme ignorance of sprint car racing, the first thirty minutes with the game sold me on this form of racing. While the array of tuning options can feel threatening initially (and also seems to run counter to tuning options in games such as Gran Turismo 3 and F1 2001, two games which place a HEAVY emphasis on tuning), the basics are well- explained in the game manual, with brief tips on-screen in the tuning menu. After a few runs through Single Race and Time Trial to become accustomed to driving a sprint car and learning a few circuits, anyone can have fairly quick success in Arcade Mode; success is initially rather rare in Career Mode, so concentrating in Arcade Mode for several days first is definitely advisable. One common complaint players often have is the loading time required in various games. Fortunately, World of Outlaws has one of the FASTEST loading times I have encountered in a racing game - in my experience, only F1 2001 is faster, but only by less than a second on average. One important note: World of Outlaws REQUIRES a DualShock2 controller. I use a MadCatz DualForce controller (designed for the original PlayStation) for all my other racing games due to the better grip of the controller, but WOO does not support PSX/PSOne controllers. Third-party controllers designed for the PlayStation2 may also work with World of Outlaws, but I have not had the opportunity to test any of them with this game. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== GETTING STARTED First, game manuals are generally not very good at really explaining the intricacies of a game. However, the game manual for World of Outlaws is by far the BEST I have ever seen!!!!! There is a lot of detail - all of it necessary to know to perform somewhat well from the start - throughout the entire game manual. DO NOT OVERLOOK THIS GOLD MINE OF INFORMATION!!!!! Next, spend time working in Arcade Mode. Try many different venues in Time Trial and Single Race. This will give a good, hands-on feel for the game. Tuning takes only a minor role in Arcade Mode, so there is no need to worry about the nuts- and-bolts of tuning a sprint car. However, what IS important here, especially for those with little familiarity with sprint car and/or dirt track racing, is learning how to read the dirt at each venue and how to drive cleanly to attain the lowest possible lap times. Certainly, it will be MUCH harder to make low lap times at extremely short tracks, such as Silver Dollar, due to the incredible amount of traffic; with such a tiny venue (1/4-mile), traffic is inescapable, except the first 2-3 laps of a race if starting from Pole Position. As the last step in Arcade Mode, work through one or two Championship runs. Each Championship consists of twenty-four events, and will give a great view of the circuits in the game. Here, tuning takes on more of a role, specifically Wing Pitch (which can be set initially in Tuning, then adjusted as needed - within reason - throughout a race). When ready, go to Career Mode, enter a Driver Name and Racing Number, and opt to watch the Career Mode Tutorial Movie. This excellent overview of Career Mode explains the basics first, then the details. The narrator speaks rather slowly, which allows time to digest the information. The Career Mode Tutorial Movie is also available at any time from the Movies section. ============================================== CAREER MODE Beginning in Career Mode is even more frustrating than starting in the Gran Turismo series :-( At least in the Gran Turismo series, there is a fairly wide variety of cars to choose from to begin a game. Career Mode in World of Outlaws, however, only provides two choices of sprint cars for the beginning racer. Of the initial $12,000, the cheapest car will consume $9,000, leaving fairly little money for upgrades or repairs. Obviously, many races will be locked out to the newcomer to sprint car racing, as the necessary travel costs would be prohibitive. However, the initial local race is a good place to start. Performing well here results in an initial sponsorship offer; my first sponsor gave me a two-race contract worth $400 per race, which was definitely necessary to keep going as my first race with the sponsorship deal (in the World of Outlaws Support Series) resulted in only $50 for placing last :-( In the following regional race, I won $1,000 for placing 16th, but such a poor showing is still very little consolation - both for finances and for a driver's ever-present oversized ego. This makes it rather difficult to save enough money to buy the parts which are likely to make a BIG difference in race performance, such as a new engine. One way to keep costs down is to turn off the damage option. Especially at the start of a career, there will be a number of incidents - usually just banging a wheel against a wall or into another competitor, but perhaps even flipping the sprint car repeatedly - which would require repair or replacement and which would serious eat away any money from winnings or sponsors. As you become much more comfortable with the car's handling and are better able to tune the vehicle for each particular circuit and time of day, damage can be reinstated to add another level of challenge to Career Mode. ============================================== TRAFFIC No matter where a competition is held, all these tracks are rather TIGHT. This is nothing like CART or F1 or ALMS, where cars can easily spread out quickly. In this game, even the 'long' tracks are extremely short, which means that - except for those starting a race from the front row - every car is always involved with traffic on every lap. As an event goes on, the best racing line often moves further and further up the track, especially in the turns. However, it may be beneficial to tune a sprint car to consistently run tight to the apex of the corners. This is because most CPU- controlled vehicles tend to stay high in the corners, thus sacrificing themselves to a pass on the low line. This is also great for dealing with large packs of traffic, as there is always the potential that the lower car(s) will slide upward into the higher car(s) in a turn, and knocking the whole pack up into the outside wall (if there is one at that venue). Also, if evasive action is needed, it is far easier to quickly dart up the track to avoid an incident than it is to slide back down toward the apex. Another method of passing, which does have its risks, is using a well-placed wheel to bump a car on the high side. This will often cause the other car to temporarily lose control, and if done in a pack of traffic, this maneuver can send other cars scattering as well, thus opening a little more space on the track to make a successful pass. However, this tactic can backfire in terms of a temporary loss of control and/or incurring damage. ============================================== POINTS In Arcade Mode Championship and in Career Mode, points are awarded based upon placement at the end of each event. These points determine the winner of Championship runs in Arcade Mode, and the winner of the various championships in Career Mode. Place Points Place Points Place Points 1 150 9 132 17 75 2 146 10 130 18 75 3 144 11 128 19 75 4 142 12 126 20 75 5 140 13 124 21 75 6 138 14 122 22 75 7 136 15 120 23 75 8 134 16 118 24 75 Also, a DNF (Did Not Finish - i.e., quitting an event) results in 0 points. Even worse, in Career Mode, quitting an event usually results in a loss of sponsorship. Therefore, no matter how badly the car may be handling, no matter how little hope exists of ending the night in a good position, no matter how damaged the sprint car, a driver must ALWAYS finish the event to gain the minimum 75 points and (in Career Mode) the ever-valuable sponsorship money. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== WISH LIST 1.) There needs to be a much faster/easier way to exit modes such as Time Trial and return to the main menu. 2.) A training mode (or at least a training movie) would be helpful for those with little or no knowledge of sprint car racing. This should include the basics of tuning, how to read a track's changing conditions, and the format of the events (from Practice to A Main, including the distribution of championship points). ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== 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 posted 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_ =======================================================================