Where to Start Drivers-ED Drive Types License Carlist Tracks/Races VMU Mini Game Cheats and hidden stuff Bugs and Other Oddities veryone is touting this as Sega's answer to Sony's Grand Turismo. Is it? The short answer, No. This game is not a replacement for Grand Turismo. However it destroyes any and all current racing sims for the Dreamcast! On its own without any expectations, this game holds its own. It is one of the CLEANEST looking racing games out there! The detail on the cars alone puts to shame many of Dreamcast's own titles. Well on to the guide! Comments or questions to be directed to [email protected] Guide & CG by: Dan Uyeno WHERE TO START Where to Start Drivers-ED Drive Types License Carlist Tracks/Races VMU Mini Game Cheats and hidden stuff Bugs and Other Oddities Where to start? Well let us begin here. Above is your navi bar/list this will help in your navigation of the GT web. Now the first thing you may want to do is get racing! You will want to blow that 10,000 on a cheesy car. Well DO NOT. You will be limited to a very few tracks. Read up on my Drivers ED and Drive Types sections! Then head right over to the licenses part of the game and get your license! This area is broken into different sections from Extra to SA class. You must go in order, from Extra class to SA class. It is hard in some areas but keep at it. If you get first in time, you can race that car in the Works Cup. If you complete all of the works cups then you get a Subaru STI Impreza WRX 4WD tuned by STI. Now you can either finish all of the licensing or get one then compete in all of the races related to that license class. It is up to you. The final goal in the game it for you to compete in the W.S.K. Cups and to build a Carrozzeria car. Some races will limit entry to only Carrozzeria cars! Another "get going fast" tip is to enter the Arcade area and clear out the races there. You need no license to enter. Clear all of these and get a treat. Tip the Harder races seem easier! I cleared these first then tackled the easier levels. Drivers ED! [ Where to Start | License | Drivers-ED | Drive Types | Carlist | Tracks/Races ] [ VMU Mini Game | Cheats and hidden stuff | Bugs and Other Oddities ] Here is where I tell you how to drive.... Well at least I think... First, there are two setups for the Arcade part of this game. The first is a "grip" style the second is "drift" style. Keep in mind you can drift without the drift option the game gives you. Use the parking brake (emergency brake) to will lock up the rear tires. This allows the rear of the car to swing around, thus sharpening up the steering. NOTE the regular brake in this game does the opposite it kills the steering. On some cars, you will lose all steering input. I avoid the regular brake unless I need to slow the car on a straightaway or, if I need to straighten out the car in a turn. Something to remember is an object in motion will always continue in the path of least resistance. That path being in a straight line. Sharp movements will kill your speed. Keep it smooth and clean. Our first lesson, a basic and simple curve. As you enter the turn, you need to be near the far side of the road as seen in Fig.1. Then you shortcut the turn by going to the innermost area near the turn’s sharpest point Fig.2. As you reach the apex of the turn, you swing outward to the outer side of the track Fig.3. This technique allows for the fastest turn and helps grip by reducing the lateral forces on the car and it is tires. This works unless the turn is large enough for you to pass on the inside without slippage or drop in speed. This works for the drifting style too. (Mash the parking brake and adjust it to suit while negotiating the turn.) Just keep in mind the nose of the car is the marker, and to counter steer on the apex of the turn or you will swing rearward to the inner side of the track. The second lesson is a sharp 90% turn. Here you use a similar style but you need to over compensate the turn to keep from hitting the outer wall from the force of the turn. See figs 3& 4. This corner can be taken like the above in a drifting style. Just follow the rules for lesson one, and watch out for the inner wall. Keep your car pointed to the apex or exit of the track or you will hit the inner wall. Lesson 3 is a different route than lesson 2 this plan of attack needs more precision and finesse. You need to judge your speed and know just how much your car can take while under load. You can easily lose it in Fig.2. Drifting this lesson is the best route. You can see by Fig.3 that the curve is like a hairpin but you need to counter steer to keep off the wall and keep your speed up. This technique is best used in the most severe 90% like in the Snowy Mountain track. Lesson 4 the lopsided hairpin. This type of hairpin will destroy most drivers. Especially if taken in reverse of my sample. As you enter the turn, you must be on the outside of the track. Then short cut it to the inner wall.(see Fig.2) Then as you exit (Fig.2) you need to cut tightly and swing out to Fig.3. As you pass Fig.3 you need to head to the center of the track or the gradual curve will cause you to rub. Remember smooth movement = speed. Sharp movements will kill your momentum. I would avoid drifting this type of hairpin since the curve is inconsistent and hard to judge. It is not impossible though. Lesson 4 the tightening hairpin. This is most common on the Sky Peak Hill course. It follows the same style as the first hairpin but since the curve is consistent and pinches on entry and exit, you must watch the momentum of you car on exiting this type of turn. Observe how you must continue your curve from Fig 3-4. If you straighten after Fig.3 the wall will come out and bite you. S-curves, these can be nasty or easy. I have two basic ones. There are others with varying curves but all are just combinations of the above curves. This one here is quite simple. This is the quintessential use all of the road available to you! Notice the line of travel is almost straight. This cuts down on time and momentum killing lateral force. No drifting needed here! This is a harder curve it is essentially two 90s connected together. You enter this curve like you do for a 90% turn. At Fig.3, you need to continue around the curve to get to Fig 4. If this is not done you will hit the inner wall of the turn and spin out or T-bone the wall. The rest is just like exiting a tight 90% turn. DRIVE TYPES [ Where to Start | License | Drivers-ED | Drive Types | Carlist | Tracks/Races ] [ VMU Mini Game | Cheats and hidden stuff | Bugs and Other Oddities ] Drivetrains and their characteristics.... I will give you a basic idea on how these types of cars handle. By no means, ignore a car because of its drive train. Any problems that are inherent in a chassis can be to an extent be tuned out with modification of the suspension or engine. Tires can make a big difference in how a car behaves. Remember the car, as a whole is not just the engine! I recommend you try all of these drivetrain types out at least once. Then work on the one you like the best. FF= Front engine, Front Drive. FF your most common layout. This layout tends to understeer at high speeds and extreme steering angles. Understeer is where the car continues straight when you have the steering to the full left or right. This is due to the drive wheels being the same as the steering wheels. You are pulling not pushing in this layout. So getting the rear to follow where you want to go is difficult. This is where the drifting technique comes into play. You use the parking brake, which locks the rear wheels and allows them to swing around the car. This allows you to get some steering from the rear of the car. There is another technique of using the brakes but this does not work in this game. Any braking during cornering with ANY of the vehicle types kills the steering. The vehicle will immediately straighten up. This type of drivetrain will corner with braking before the turn. Another trick is if you are at half throttle during a turn and need more steering, gunning the engine and dropping a gear will cause the car to cut in better. I have not tried this to see if it works well since I have found the parking brake easier to use around most of the tighter turns.