Posted 7th December 2006 23:58 by Mark Turner
Bcdefg123 again! This week we have a racing game specialist being interviewed. Running down the list, he’s got ToCA race driver 3, Gran Turismo 4, Gran Turismo 3 A-spec, Gran Turismo 4 Prologue, Formula One 2005, Gran Turismo Concept 2002 Tokyo-Geneva, Formula One 2001, and Trackmania Nations. Quite a lineup.
Bcdefg123: First, tell us a bit about yourself if you want, what kinds of games you play, what other hobbies you have, etc.
Zienoow: Well I think that I’m one of the “senior-players” on cyberscore, lol, I was born in the summer of 1963.
Although I’m not playing that really long, playing on a console that is, I purchased my first console back in 2001, it was a present for one of my kids, a PS2 together with Gran Turismo 3 and Formula 1 2001.
I started to play both games to support my son in his first “driving” steps on the console, and found that Gran Turismo was the game I liked the most.
From then of it was the only game I played, aiming for the 100% game status, played almost every time I had some spare time.
In my search for game info I found Cyberscore, which was back in November/December 2003 with the launch of V2, and I started to submit my personal records.
Hardly records I could be proud of, I was at the end of the charts, but I was here.
Now 3 years later, I expanded my game collection to the whole Gran Turismo serie except 1 and 2 (but it’s not too late to do that) some Formula 1 games (2004, 2005) and ToCA Race Driver 3, the game I purchased on recommendation of Marc (TheBrain) and Iceydragon.
ToCA3 was actually the game which gives me the boost I needed to climb the CS Mainchart ladder.
Sadly enough the game ToCA3 on PS2 gives me a problem, there are 10 challenges who won’t load (tried different copy’s of the game) so it’s a game I can’t get for the full 100%.
Lately I try only to keep up with the challenges which other players gives me in the charts, and play again some GT3 and the other games of the series.
Other hobbies of mine are computers; I got 5 running for the moment, for fun and for work.
I got one game there: Trackmania Nations, when I installed my steering wheel on the computer (Logitech Driving Force Pro) I will play that game again.
But there are more games on my shelf, Geoff Crammonds Grand Prix games (2 and 3) NFS2 and 3 but I have so little time to play on the computer, lol.
Also you can find me frequent on MSN-Messenger, and working on about 5 websites, the latest design is hosted by Mikky (thank you Mikky, you’re a kind guy)
Just recently I purchased an Xbox360, of course with a racing game, PGR3.
I was not online yet but I think that won’t take to long anymore, first I tried to get myself a bit more familiar with the console and the game, how else could I race without not having any change to stay with the leader.
So this is the first part, hope it isn’t too much for starting.
Bcdefg123: Congratulations, you win the world record for longest intro. But seriously, I don't really mind that, it helps to make me look like I'm doing my job. All your games are in the racing genre, that's cool. So which game is your favorite?
Zienoow: Even it’s being a while I played for more then one hour in a row, I must say that I still like GT4 the most.
Since the makers from Polyphony changed to the more improved engine, I got the feeling that the cars in the game are more reliable about there handling.
I will probably play the game again by half of December, trying to improve my position in the GT4 charts again, at least I hope so :-)
I went down in that list while playing ToCA3, you can’t get it all in the same time as you all know, and there are many good players here in those charts, I doubt it but I hope to come a bit closer to FUKA, this is the man who’s really great on this games, respect!
ToCA3 is also cool, but I think the makers went a bit over enthusiastic while setting there lower limit lap times on the different circuits.
For instance, that’s my opinion, the lap times on the well known “English” circuits are way to sharp, while on some other circuits the lower limit is too easy to beat.
Bud that is probably because it’s my first contact with the game, the game play is one I can live with.
Bcdefg123: I can see that there's a TON of modes in this game. What's your favorite?
Zienoow: Well there is one constant I look for in a racing game, driving against the clock, and in this particular case try to stay on top in the ToCA3 charts :-)
And this game is full of such challenges and they are all to find in the “simulation modes” section.
Inhere you find all the challenges, from Time Trials in all the different disciplines to every kind of mode with the same possibility’s but then in “Free Race” “Multiplayer” “Network play” and “online play”
But before you can race inhere you’ll need to race in the “World Tour”, win separate races (or beat the lower limit to pass the challenge) to unlock challenges in “simulation modes”.
From then of your in the game, it took me about 6 months to go as far I can reach in the game, 706 from the 716 charts are filled by me, the other 10 I can’t load sadly enough.
But the part of the game were I have the most fun are the GT and the Touring Car classes, these types of cars are the ones were I feel myself most comfortable with.
Bcdefg123: Speaking of cars, what's your favorite to use in this game?
Zienoow: There are in the game a few cars I like. From the GT section there is the Subaru Impreza 22B Sti and the Gemaballa GTR 750 Evo. Both cars have a good amount of power against there weight and they are quick coming out of the corners, downside is that the breaking distance they need is way longer so they make them for me a bit tougher to drive because my driving style leans onto “late breaker”
From the Touring Class there is the Renault Clio V6 Sport, Ford Falcon BA and of course the AMG Mercedes C Klasse DTM.
These cars are the ones I like the most; they come close to the way I want to race a car.
But the car list in this game is not that big so the choice is limited this way, otherwise I would look for a Mercedes Benz CLK Touring Car or a Nissan Motul Pitwork Z (JGTC), when you see the chance you must try one of these cars, I love them, lol.
Bcdefg123: Favorite course?
Zienoow: One of the greatest courses: Spa Francorchamps, the circuit where the Belgian Grand Prix is driven on.
Now that is maybe some chauvinism talking here but this course is one of the most challenging courses of the world, considered by many other, spectators and drivers.
I have the luck that I can visit this course more then once in real live, when you look at the “Raidillon” from bottom to top, the difference in altitude is really huge, you don’t see this in the game.
I also like the Nürburgring in all his different race layouts, Silverstone and Adelaide, all this courses makes great demands on your knowledge of the circuits, if you want to reach great lap times.
In general, there are more courses in the game I love to drive on, but I mostly have a good feeling on circuit-races in contrast to street-races.
Bcdefg123: You have any tips for us?
Zienoow: Like in every other game, practice over and over again is the main key to success :-)
But there are some other things you have to take notice of, when playing all kind of racing games, don’t try to beat the top-times from the start of, be patient.
First you got to know the handling of the game, learn your way around the courses, “feel” the car if it’s forced upon you (mostly you got to race the car given by the game)
You can learn the tracks with the standard settings of the car, further in the game you will have to change the settings of the car to match you’re personal driving style.
Some settings are unavoidable, like the gearbox for instance, you have to set to 1e gear in a way that you can take the slowest corner of the circuit on a normal, fast, way.
The highest gear (5e, 6e or 7e, depending on the car) is set so you can reach maximum speed possible.
The best way of finding the top-gear is to lower it in that big way, that you reach the end of the gearbox to soon, raises it then until you’re satisfied.
The gears between 1e and last are almost equal distribute, where the “gap” is a bit bigger at the beginning of the gearbox, smaller to the end.
Keep in mind that the highest possible top-speed not always mean that it is the fastest way around the track, the shorter the gearbox (distance between 1e and last) the more you can “race” the car.
Another one is the suspension; here you got the possibility to set the strength and the damping of the suspension.
Basically you’ll need to set the strength lower then the damping, it can be set 2 to 4 times smaller then the damping setting without a negative effect on the way the car handles.
Advantage of these setting is that you can “take” some curbs without bouncing away from it, disadvantage of a strength which is to low is that the car needs “smooth” driving because the car “rolls” a bit easy, so you can loose control over it and loose it in the corners.
If you look for more info about settings, I have a section on my webpage’s called “GT Car Setup” where you can find some basic explanation about settings of a GT Car.
You find the link through the CS Forum, or go straight to http://www.zienoow.be
Finally a very basic tip: better go a bit to slow into a corner, this way you can get fast out of it.
This is very important when the corner gives out on a long straight.
I hope you all enjoy this interview; it was my pleasure to do this.
Good luck to everyone and don’t forget to enjoy the games you’ll play.
Bcdefg123: Thanks! Remember that you, yes you, lucky reader, can request interviews with people. In fact, this one was requested. All you have to do is Csmail me, but remember the guidelines at the bottom of Interview #11: Interview with Yazzo. That’s it for now, keep playing those games!