So close!!

[SonicChaos]

I always hated those. never did see anything in those.....

[WolfKill01]

Got two more vids for ya'll.

Went for a ride at mega mall and porta kora this time around.

Mega Mall: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv4_AltFv_Y

Porta Kora: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAnTG8Qgj00

Please read the descriptions before watching. And if you have youtube accounts, please subsribe. Thanks and enjoy.

BTW, I don't remember seeing a rule against it, but are times that use auto pilots valid for the records table?

[stin]

AP is ok, but seriously, I`m impressed with your times.

Just stick in and play the rest of the games.

stwevie

[SonicChaos]

I'll get to Phantom eventually. I really don't wanna use the pass if I don't have to.

[WolfKill01]

Just making sure that AP times are acceptable. Thanks.

SonicChaos, if you can post a video of the tracks and races you're having trouble with, it'd be easier for us to offer some tips to help you improve. Just an idea. What you do is completely up to you.

[SonicChaos]

Well the only tracks that are giving major issues so far are stanza and the blue tunnel in hi-fumi, but it's mostly because of my bad timing in airbraking. I tend to be either way too early or slightly too late. I'm working on it as those tracks I haven't raced a whole lot. If you really want me to post vids I will though. It's just that I need to race them more to find out when I need to airbrake.

[WolfKill01]

They always say, "practice makes perfect". It's how I learned so it'll probably work just as well for you. It took me a while to get used to that tunnel on hi-fumii too. I grated my teeth whenever I had to go through it without an auto-pilot. As for stanza, it used to be my worst track(other then p-mar). But once I raced on it a few hundred times(a little exaggeration there), it eventually became one of my best and favorite courses in any wipeout. Just stick with it. You'll get better.

[SonicChaos]

Yea, I'm trying. and that's only on venom, I haven't even touched rapier yet.

[Task]

Nice videos! I can see your dedication. Hear it, too! <clickety-clickety-clickety in the background of those videos>

You've definitely got some speed there. I'm not often very good at Phantom, but I totally recognize all your lines and everything. You hit the wall at exactly the places where I hit when I was really trying to push the envelope. Even the way you dodge the pilons at the start line is familiar. It looks very similar to the way I flew W3O many years ago.

Ain't nuthin wrong with a bit of reliance on AP, if you're breaking Phantom records in an Icaras it's sometimes required.

The only thing I could ask from you is this: Get all your times in the record tables! It's always nice to see pilots reap the rewards of their efforts by placing "top 3". I had a quick scan of them and you've actually still got a #1, well done! If Al can't knock you down in a day or two it must be a nice time! 8 )

However, with as much as I recognize your piloting, I think I can come to some conclusions if you're interested:

1) You can go faster. A lot faster.
Really, I can see small errors in your line, and they're at consistent locations. You train yourself a bit and you can overcome.
- Work on your pit line. Make it perfect and you'll speed up. It's pretty sweet for Porto Kora (better than I could ever do!), but I think you're a tad too far to the right for the best Terminal pit entry line.
- Stop aiming those weapons! You get sweet eliminations while you're racing, but you stop focusing on your racing line while you aim those and you invariably wall right after. All weapons are fire-and-forget, don't bother to aim with more than 10% of your concentration. Your main weapon is your speed (play eliminator to work on this if you don't believe me! 8 D), so focus on your line, ignore your crosshairs.

2) Question: How much pitch do you use? I'm not used to watching 3rd person (nice to see it though!) and I can't tell how much pitch you're using. It doesn't look like a lot. You should be using serious pitch on every corner. I imagine you are to be flying smoothly at those speeds, but I can't be sure since I'm not used to 3rd person. If you're not, get right on it. Necessary skill.

3) Practice and the consistency will come.
It looks to me like you're truly zoning the track to get your speed laps. With more practice you'll be able to zone a track sooner in the race and for longer. Eventually you'll be able to hold it for a whole race. It takes some time, but the race record results will be phenomenal.

4) Learn to fly.
That's the last step to true speed. You have to cut the corners, fly over the buildings, skip as much of the track as you can. If you're going this fast without flying, I can almost guarantee record laps and races once you've found your wings.


So that's what I can give back to you in return for the videos. Hopefully it comes across as "sage advice" and not "me talking out my ass". 8 )

Hmm, one last question: I notice you stop in the pit lane a lot. Is that just for your speed lap attempts? Or is it a regular habit?

[WolfKill01]

Thanks for all those tips task. Let's take it one step at a time:

It's really hard to keep a consistent line with a d-pad. I mean REALLY HARD. I usually don't try to "aim" my weapons. I aim only when I need someone out of my way who might cause a problem later. And I'll admit I really need to work on those pit lines.

It may not look it, but I use quite a bit of pitch in my races. Well, as much as I can use with a d-pad.

I don't usually worry about consistensy since I've never really worried about race times. Though, it is something I would like to get better at. I'll try focusing on it more.

Cutting corners is near impossible. There are a few I have found, and I'm sure there are more I haven't found. Though I have done quite a bit of investigating, most a the corners I try to cut have an invisible wall I always hit. Even if it looks like I've cleared it.

I definantly would NOT call this "talking out your ass". These are very good tips i'm sure others could use. As for your questions about the pit lanes, I stop in them after a lap which i used all my shield/hyperthrust for, or after I take extensive damage in a race. Just running through the pit at high speed isn't enough time to completely restore my shields, and if I'm destroyed in a race the times don't count. It's a just a precaution. Thanks again for all your tips.

[Task]

Yeah, I know how tricky that d-pad is, I fly it myself. On WO1 I've been using a bit of black neggie, but that's very recent and I'm not adapted to it yet. But oh is it a sweet thing... Anyway, yeah, I'm already distracting myself. All my records are d-pad based. Moving on!

If you're already using a lot of pitch then it just means that I can't see it very well, probably mostly due to my never playing in 3rd person. 8 )
It took me a long while to get used to cornering with the d-pad and pitching hard in every one, but by having the "right" kind of d-pad and using the corners instead of the "just right" or "just left" portions of the d-pad I was able to gain a lot of benefit. If you're already doing that (sounds like you are) then there's nothing I can teach you in this area. Just wanted to make sure you had it down, since pitch is so critical.

Once you can do a speed lap, the next hurdle is doing a couple of them in a row and getting a hot race time. That's your next destination if you're gonna ride this train. 8 )

To cut track, you have to leave the track. One of the best examples of this is on Porto Kora. If you go right off the ramp while hyperthrusting you can take the whole corner off and land on the downhill into the tunnel. No joking, it's quite a flight. There's many discussions hereabouts about flight paths (check the Arena particularly, there was a sub-minute Porto Kora challenge that I remember quite well) and there are excellent demonstrative videos online. Look for zargz's videos (I believe they're on YouTube), he's crazy good at that PK cut.

Going slowly through the pit is definitely a necessary survival skill in that Icaras, but I think once you start working on fast race time records you might find that fine hyperthrust management (tap, tap, short hold, tap: that would be a lot of hyperthrust for me on a lap) will give you a faster race than speed laps and long pits.

So it's all about what direction you want to move in.
You can continue your pursuit of the fabled hot lap, there's lots to be earned there, and it'll be really easy if you look in the right places.
But I'd say that the real challenge is in the race times. It's the next step up in my opinion.

Oh, here's another piece of advice: Configure your game!
In the options you can set the default name for Player1 and Player2, so you don't have to manually enter your name each time. It was a little painful watching you scroll through all the letters to get your score in when I'm so used to just hitting x a bunch of times and it's done. After you've broken records enough times you'll be hating the letter crawl. 8 P

Hope that helps!

[Lance]

I remember that sub-minute challenge on PK, the one where I ended up seven dinky little hundredths of a second over one minute. However, I cut nothing. I wonder how much flying over the corner would help, assuming I could actually do it.

[Task]

At least a tenth of a second would be my guess. 8 )

[Lance]

That would not catch Al.

[SonicChaos]

Catch Al, that's actually possible?

[Lance]

Not for me.

[Task]

Catch Al, that's actually possible?

That's what the thread's about.

[SonicChaos]

Indeed. I am trying to perfect some of my lines and hopefully get closer to Al's time.

[WolfKill01]

Guess what guys...it's movie time!!

I brought a mixed bag this time around. I decided to try my hand at a perfect TT on porto kora, and I have a new record speed lap for sampa.

Porto TT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpHh5A3pHMc

Sampa Speed Lap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5OI5r8lgIs

Thanks for all the tips task. I'm working on that porto short cut. As for the game configuring. I'm just usually too lazy to go to the game options and typing in my name. I'll try to remember to do that from now on.

I won't be around to read any comments or questions any of you might have till friday. I'm off to a leadership camp (a.k.a boot camp for JROTC) at North Georgia State College. I haven't done ANYTHING this summer. I'm so out of shape.

[SonicChaos]

I haven't done much either. I'm to used to HD and keep yelling at the screen telling you to do BR's.