Hi!

Jammer78 (jammer78@aol.com) wrote:
: Will their be another global netlink competition?

Yes. I believe the next one is scheduled for March 31/April 1 1998, depending on your global location relative to the International Date Line. For a preview, just set the time and date on your Saturn to that time, then load the game.

: How about the CPU A.I. car option? I assume it works
: something like the artificial intelligence option the
: AM teams put into VF2. Watches your strategies and
: learns them? Yet, the first few races after I turned
: it on I crushed the computer, it wasn't even close?!?

OK, it helps if you have a Backup RAM Cartridge to start with, if you don't have one, go out and buy a couple of them ASAP. It's best to get Sega's official cart, IF you can find it. Fry's Electronics were selling them for $20, but that was a few months ago. DO NOT buy any of the carts from Interact Accessories unless they have a blurb on the front that reads - NOW WITH DIRECT SAVE. I believe Target stores are selling the IA Carts for around $15 these days, good luck finding them. You *might* still be able to acquire Sega's official cart through Working Designs website:

http://www.workingdesigns.com

Now I believe the CPU AI works like this, I have no actual proof, this is just deduction based upon my observations.

While in Saturn Mode, enter the Options screen. The 'CPU Car' option shown is a toggle, so if it says NORMAL you are playing against AI cars and vice versa. If you are not using a Backup RAM Cartridge, there is NO AI data available. So all the competing cars will be dumber than rocks. If you are using a Backup RAM Cartridge, then there will be an option called 'A.I. DATA'. If you enter A.I. DATA you have the option to either LOAD data from the cart or SAVE current memory resident data to the cart.

I believe the A.I. DATA saves information on your driving style for each and every car on each and every track. So if you drive the Mercedes all the time, and never touch the other cars, gradually you will find that you are always fighting the rival Mercedes for position in Championship mode, even if you are lapping the other cars. Also, if you only drive on Country Circuit all the time, even the Mercedes will be a dumbass drone on the Grunwald track. Get it? But this will NEVER happen if you DON'T save your current A.I. DATA to a backup cart.

THUS, each and every time you start playing STCC, before you do anything else, go to Options and LOAD A.I. DATA from the backup cart. Then, play as usual. When you are done, before you turn off the Saturn, SAVE your A.I. DATA to the backup cart. The game *might* load the most recently saved A.I. DATA from the cart automatically at system startup, but I'm not sure... LOAD it yourself, that way you know it's been done.

There are three hidden cars in the game. If you have defeated Championship mode, you recieved the Exhibition track. If you won the Exhibition race, you recieved the Sega Prototype car. This is where things get tricky. In order to get the other two cars, you must 'train' the Sega Proto to WIN Championship mode by itself, without a driver! (You also have to win on Arcade side...) Go to Championship mode and at the car select screen press the 'X' button. This will show the Sega Proto with two options - 'DRIVE' (yellow car) or 'A.I.' (red car). Choose A.I. and the RED Sega Proto will go through Championship mode on it's own, but if you haven't driven it well enough yourself, it will perform poorly.

Another way to check the performance of the A.I. car is to go to 'VS RACE' mode. You should see an option called 'VS A.I. CAR', choose this and then press 'X', you will see the yellow A.I. car, but don't choose yet. Press up or down to change it's color to RED, then choose the car. You will then see how well your trained car fairs on each track you choose. If you know it's not going through laps fast enough, you know you need to drive it some more to improve it's abilities.

What do you get when the RED Sega Racing Prototype wins the Championship? Access to the 'Toyota Celica GT-Four' and 'Lancia Delta HF Integrale' from Sega Rally! With these cars the entire experience of STCC changes once more with tons more replay value. You'll have to learn to drive all over again once more. Happy, happy, joy, joy! There now, is that the kind of help you were looking for or what?

: So far I've beaten the game in Saturn mode on normal
: skill level. Are there extra bonuses for completing
: the more advanced skill levels?

I don't know yet, but I doubt it. Chances are your only reward will be knowing you were able to complete the task.

: Which cars are the best? I score the best times with
: the Supra.

I prefer to use the Opel, because I like the way it looks mostly. All the cars have their advantages, though.

: How about car modifications? What combinations are most
: effective?

I like to max out the brakes and final drive ratio and make the tires a *little* bit sticker. The rest depends on the vehicle and your particular driving style. Happy Silicon Dreams.

Toyoniya Hiyaku, Noromuoy!

Red Ronin, The Cybernetic Samurai

redronin@gamesages.com
http://www.gamesages.com

• Re: What is the purpose of racing the a1 Car ? Squads 98/8/07 03:51:53