________________________________________________________________________________ * * ________________________________________________________________________________ F355 Challenge/F355 Challenge Passione Rossa FAQ v1.1 Games (c)1999 Sega Enterprises, Ltd (c)2000 CRI Additional Copyrights and Trademarks property of their respective owners For the Japanese and North American Sega Dreamcast games Copyright 2000, 2001 FAQ Consortium (faq_consortium@yahoo.com) This FAQ is written only for the GameFAQs website (www.gamefaqs.com), where the latest version can be found. This document may not be reproduced or retransmitted in whole or in part without express written permission. Portions of this document specifically credited to individual authors are the property of those authors. Unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of any portion of this document is a violation of criminal and civil law. If you appreciate the free exchange of help and information provided by this FAQ and others like it, please support such public benefit by reporting to the authors those who profit by the theft of such FAQs. ________________________________________________________________________________ This FAQ is a collection of the best information available as of its compilation. It is written in good faith, but may nevertheless contain errors. Contributions, including corrections and additions, will be appreciatively considered. Incorporated additions will be credited. Send stuff to faq_consortium@yahoo.com Everything in this FAQ applies to both the Japanese and North American versions, except as noted, and most information is accurate for the European version, too. ________________________________________________________________________________ * * ________________________________________________________________________________ F355 FAQ This FAQ is divided into three main parts, one structured around the main menu items, one structured around general subjects within the game, and one for items relating specifically to this FAQ. ________________________________________________________________________________ Menu Items: 1. Arcade 2. Championship 3. Single Play 4. Versus Play 5. Cable Versus Play (Hidden in North American version) 6. Network Race 7. Car Setting 8. Driving Data 9. Home Page 10. Options 11. Save 12. Load Subjects: 13. Courses 14. Distance 15. Level (Transmission) 16. Assists 17. Computer Cars 18. Replays 19. Ghosts 20. Registering Times 21. Driving Advice 22. Version Differences 23. Mixing Versions 24. Peripherals 25. Bugs 26. Car Specifications 27. Websites FAQ Information: 28. Revisions 29. Acknowledgements ________________________________________________________________________________ ******************************************************************************** -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Menu Items: 1. Arcade 2. Championship 3. Single Play 4. Versus Play 5. Cable Versus Play (Hidden in North American version) 6. Network Race 7. Car Setting 8. Driving Data 9. Home Page 10. Options 11. Save 12. Load Subjects: 13. Courses 14. Distance 15. Level (Transmission) 16. Assists 17. Computer Cars 18. Replays 19. Ghosts 20. Registering Times 21. Driving Advice 22. Version Differences 23. Mixing Versions 24. Peripherals 25. Bugs 26. Car Specifications 27. Websites FAQ Information: 28. Revisions 29. Acknowledgements -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Arcade Choose Course, Level (Transmission), and Driving Mode Only the six courses used in the original arcade version are available. Settings changes are not allowed. Replays are the edited Digest Replay, and shown only once, and only after a 3rd or better finish. The basic arcade style timer ticks down while driving, with time extensions at checkpoints (time limits are adjustable in Game Settings). After each event in Arcade you are asked whether you want to save a ghost of your best lap (See '19. Ghosts' for details). For information on Courses, Assists, Level (Transmission), Replays, Computer Cars, and Driving Advice, see those specific subjects as listed in the second portion of this FAQ, Subjects. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Championship Choose Level and (before each race) Car Setting The original six courses from the arcade version are run in order for accumulated points. Before each race you can adjust car appearance and performance in Car Setting and practice the course with Test Run as often as you like. A ghost is displayed in Test Run if Ghost Car is turned on in Game Settings. Ghosts of best laps cannot be saved after the races, and it is uncertain whether best lap times are recorded. There is no timer as in Arcade. NOTE: If you do Test Run before a race, you must exit by pressing the Start button to pause then selecting QUIT. If you select RETIRE from the pause menu, you retire from the race, and there is no 'Are You Sure?' check before retiring. After each race, the edited Digest Replay is available, except for the last race for which it is shown once automatically, regardless of where you finish in the race or in the series. Position and points awarded for the race are displayed: First - 15 Second - 12 Third - 10 Fourth - 8 Fifth - 6 Sixth - 4 Seventh - 1 Eighth - 1 Retire - 0 Pressing down on the D-pad or analog stick displays the points won for all races completed and the accumulated series points. There is no way to save part way through Championship. You can exit Championship any time using soft reset: hold A + B + X + Y and press Start. Ghosts of best laps apparently cannot be saved. For information on Assists, Level (Transmission), Replays, Computer Cars, and Driving Advice, see those specific subjects as listed in second portion of this FAQ, Subjects. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Single Play Choose Course, Level, Driving Mode, and Car Setting Select from any available course (the original six courses from the arcade version plus any of the five hidden courses that have been opened), plus a Random option which chooses a track for you. Car Setting can be changed to affect appearance and performance. The edited Digest Replays are available for repeated viewing, regardless of where you finish. There is no timer as in Arcade. Ghosts of best laps can be saved under Save Driving Data. For information on Courses, Assists, Level (Transmission), Replays, Computer Cars, Ghosts, and Driving Advice, see those specific subjects as listed in second portion of this FAQ, Subjects. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. Versus Play Choose Course, Level, Competition Mode, and Car Setting Select from any available course (the original six courses from the arcade version plus any of the five hidden courses that have been opened), plus a Random option which chooses a track for you. Neither ghosts nor the saving of ghosts are available. To change settings (for Player 1 or 2), Player 1 selects Settings and makes any desired changes first, then Player 2 can change settings. Versus Play has two modes of competition. 'Vs. Race' is basic head-to-head racing for a set number of laps. 'Time Lag Race' is a competition to see who can be the first to gain a lead of the selected number of seconds (choose a 1-10 second differential). Times are compared at checkpoints on the selected course (Checkpoints appear to be the same used in Arcade). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5. Cable Versus Play (Hidden in North American version: hold X + Y to expose) Choose Course, Level, (Play Mode?), (and Car Setting?) By JVGFanatic Want some of the coolest head to head auto racing that you can possibly have at home with your Dreamcast? Find one of those elusive link cables, 2 DCs, 2 VGA monitors, and two copies of F355 Challenge. The game supports the link cable and when both players choose the link option a screen appears asking to confirm. The first player to confirm gets to choose the track, which was the source of a lot of pre-race angst (all in good fun, mind you) at our recent racing session. Interestingly enough, when you 'Race' against a bunch of other cars on the track there only seems to be two places: first and second (you and your human opponent). That's kind of a bummer because that placing doesn't tell you how well you're doing against the other cars (though you probably should be able to track that yourself). It would have been far more interesting to see one player come in first and another in third rather than the first/second that is already available in Drive mode anyway... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Network Race Elect track, choose Level (Current color and number settings used, but not parts settings) Sega has a subscription based gaming network in Japan, similar to SegaNet in North America, and apparently the Japanese version of the game only allows Network Race through this network. (Any information submitted on registration and access with the Japanese version outside of the Japanese network would be appreciated, and credited if included.) The following information is only known to apply to the North American version: After setting up your Dreamcast to access the net, go to Network Race. You will be prompted for your dial-up password, which you will need only once unless an interruption occurs or you turn off your Dreamcast. For advice on setting up your Dreamcast for dial-up access, see JBogumil's 'Internet Troubleshooting Guide', posted here under Dreamcast 'General/System'. Car color and number changes made in Car Setting before entering Network Race are used, but parts settings changes are not. Once you have contacted the game server, you elect a course from the 6 available in Arcade and select a level (Novice or Intermediate). As described in the manual, the eventual course selected for the race is chosen by the majority of players, but in practice often only 2-4 players are in a race and apparently whoever queues first chooses the course. Again, according to the manual, the qualifying field is drawn from entered players before a timer runs out and the network game is started. In practice, you may find yourself waiting three minutes to finally be entered in a 2 person race on a course you didn't ask for. (Why is this? Do not question the Sega game server.) Up to 16 players can enter qualifying, which is one lap alone on the course from a rolling start, the same rolling start that begins Driving mode in one player. The total number of players entering is listed prior to qualifying, but their names and details are not. After qualifying, the top 8 qualifiers are entered into the final race and are listed in order of their qualifying times, along with profile data: Position Name Country Time Level (Transmission) 1st G.Villeneuve CA 1'55".026 SA 2nd Speed Racer JP 1'55".587 AT In this case G.Villeneuve of Canada placed first in qualifying, using Intermediate Level (SA = Semi-Automatic), and Speed Racer of Japan was second, using Novice Level (AT = Automatic). Presumably, Intermediate is listed as SA, as opposed to MT (Manual Transmission) or something similar, because an actual Professional level would be the fully manual option, were it available. Players' usage of assists is not displayed. The final event is a Sprint length race (2-4 laps, depending on course) from a standing start at the grid position earned in qualifying. While racing, you are alone on the course, as in qualifying. When you have completed the required number of laps, the Dreamcast uploads your ghost and downloads the other players' ghosts. A replay automatically starts, showing all scenery and all players' ghosts simultaneously, and this replay can be reviewed repeatedly. Finally, players' times are listed, as follows qualifying. Players' usage of assists is not displayed, though with experience you may learn to spot it in replays. Network Race Replay controls: Start button - stop replay D-pad down - toggle music on/off A button - change selected car B button - toggle camera between third-person/in-car Network Race has a few differences from other play modes. Though color and number changes to the car are kept, other settings changes are not. No overhead radar is displayed while racing. The Start button toggles background music on and off. There is no way to pause during either qualifying or racing. Because realtime car information is not used, lag is not an issue while driving. Occasionally the server drops you, causing a half-second freeze in gameplay, but the driving experience is otherwise as smooth as one player. Each race you enter is a separate phone call, which means the phone can only ring during replay. The time the telephone line has been off-hook is displayed by a dancing, white telephone icon in the upper left corner. Race entry can take a while; 5 minutes is not unheard of. If many players will be in a race, they'll usually show fairly quickly. The times you choose to go online for Network Race affect who you're likely to see since it draws from worldwide entrants. The challenge offered by opponents can vary according to time since players in different parts of the world have varied skill. Weekends are usually the best time to find other racers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7. Car Setting Adjust ride height, springs, stabilizers, camber, and toe on front and rear; also adjust LSD lock rate and rear wing Car settings affecting both appearance and performance can changed, and up to 16 different configurations can be saved, all within the 14 block VMU file used for Options configuration. Settings changes apply to your car in Championship, Single Play, Versus Play, and Cable Versus Play; changes can also be made immediately before each event. The appearance settings of color and car number are applied for Network Race, but parts settings changes are ignored; settings changes may not be made once you've entered Network Race. Minor note: In the North American version, the Car Setting main menu option can be exited by pressing B and any settings changes are retained. This is not possible in the Japanese version, so the shortcut here is to press the Start button, which moves the cursor directly to Exit. Specific settings are not available in this FAQ, and are not necessary to achieve excellent times or beat the game. Settings can certainly make a difference in top times, however no settings will make up for lack of skill. Generally: Lower ride height decreases weight transfer, making changes in direction faster but at the cost of activities that rely on one set of wheels, such as starts. Stiffer springs add to responsiveness, but increase the chance of skidding. Camber changes trade off straight line performance against cornering. F355 endeavors to be as realistic as possible in single car handling and, while no simulation is a perfect recreation of reality, real world tuning information is a very useful guide to this 'game'. The following are useful resources for learning about tuning in general: Jet Jaguar's tuning guide (designed for Gran Turismo, but applicable to F355): http://home.att.net/~chmilnir/gt/ The Physics of Racing: http://members.home.net/rck/phor/ The West Texas SCCA tuning guide, with helpful troubleshooting tips: http://www.wtrscca.org/tech.htm Camber, Caster, and Toe: http://www.advancedracing.com/grmart1.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8. Driving Data View ghost telemetry and replays (once loaded), and records (Ghosts can also be viewed while driving on their respective courses by turning on Ghost Car in Game Settings) Load Load a ghost to view its replay and telemetry, or two ghosts for one track to compare them simultaneously. When loading a ghost you must select a VMU, then one of the ghosts saved on it, then Data Area 1 or 2 for where the ghost data will be loaded into. Ghosts are listed as Driving Data in the selection window, which displays the course and time of the ghost, plus which ghost is selected out of the total available number of ghosts on the VMU (example: "Driving Data 2/4" means the second ghost out of four saved on the VMU). Data Area 1 and Data Area 2 refer to locations in onboard memory. You can load one ghost into Data Area 1 and another into Data Area 2 for simultaneous viewing, but both ghosts must be for the same course, or else loading the second ghost will erase the first. NOTE: Only one ghost for a given track can be stored on a single VMU. Saving a second ghost for the same track will erase the first. Ghost files require 17 to 39 blocks per file (see 19. Ghosts for specific file sizes). Data Analysis (Unavailable until a ghost has been loaded) View speed, rpm, and gear telemetry data for ghosts. Data Area 1 telemetry is shown in red, Data Area 2 in yellow. Dark, thin, wavy line = rpm Lighter, thick, wavy line = speed Lightest, square line (at bottom) = gear The D-pad or analog stick move the map around, and pressing the A button will bring the green marking line on both the map and graph to the point centered in the screen. Alternatively, holding the A button while moving the D-pad or stick left or right will slide the green marking line along the course, and correspondingly through the graph. The L and R trigger buttons zoom the map in and out. Replay (Unavailable until a ghost has been loaded) View one or two ghosts for the same course, plus graphs of speed, with the following controls available: Start button - pause/play D-pad or stick down - toggle selected ghost D-pad or stick up - cycle view: front 3/4, overhead, driver, or chase D-pad or stick left/right - fast forward/reverse (including while paused) L and R trigger buttons - zoom in/out Cars are shown against a conceptual 'holo-deck' type background, without scenery or computer cars that may have been present. Record The top five times are recorded for Arcade and Single on Novice and Intermediate in Race and Free, for all courses except Fiorano. 'Free' times are lap times from Driving or Training (Minor note: 'mode' automatically switches from 'Race' to 'Free' when Fiorano is selected for course). The top five point totals in Championship are also recorded, regardless of level used. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9. Home Page Leaves game and accesses Dreamcast browser When Home Page is selected, the game is quit (Save your game before entering!) and after a few seconds the browser loads up, showing a page with a red rectangle overlaid by a partial car silhouette and the F355 Challenge logo. Click the link for the F355 Challenge website and enter your password for dial- up connection. (Internet access, proper dial-up settings, and password necessary: see JBogumil's 'Internet Troubleshooting Guide', posted here under Dreamcast 'General/System'). There are three official F355 Challenge sites, one for each region of release: www.sega-rd2.com/f355/jp/ (Japanese site, mostly in Japanese), www.sega- rd2.com/f355/us/ (North American site, in English), and http://www.sega- rd2.com/f355/eu/ (European site, available in English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish). The North American game connects automatically to the North American site, while the Japanese game connects to the Japanese site. Fortunately, the Dream Passport browser included with the Japanese game permits page jumping, allowing connection to the English pages of the North American site. (The included Japanese browser appears to be Dream Passport 3) To jump to the North American site using the Japanese game, hit the left trigger once to bring out a menu from the left side and select the option highlighted by default, the 'jump' command. Enter the North American site address, www.sega- rd2.com/f355/us/ (or http://www.sega-rd2.com/f355/us/, if you prefer), and hit Exit, then OK in the subsequent dialog box. For more information on the Dream Passport browser, see Haohmaru_'s Dream Passport 2 Guide (and others) listed here under Dreamcast 'General/System'.) On the site, times are listed for each course (oddly, only the original six courses are listed on the European site as of this writing). A table lists the courses and has links for times at each, with separate listings for times achieved using different Levels (Transmissions): 'AT' = Novice (Automatic Transmission), 'semi-AT' = Intermediate (Semi-Automatic Transmission). (Intermediate is presumably not listed as 'MT' because the fully manual Professional mode from the arcade version would deserve that label). Times appear with up to three icons next to them, indicating the conditions under which the times were achieved, for example Training mode with Assists on. Icon Meanings Wrench = custom settings were used (not including color and number changes) Green "ON" = one or more Assists were used at some point in the run Driving Mode Icon: indicates which driving mode was used Cyan "T" = Training Yellow "D" (North American & European sites) = Driving Yellow "F" (Japanese site) = Driving (Free) Red "R" = Race It's important to note that color and number changes do not put a wrench icon next to your times, while using any Assist at any point in the entire run that included your best lap will put the green "ON" icon next to that time. See '20. Registering Times' for information on adding your times to the rankings. You can also get a list that shows only particular kinds of times, such as times made by Japanese players in Race mode using no Assists. Toward the bottom of the page various options are listed, of which only the top one is unclear: "ranking form this rank" is presumably a typo and should read 'ranking FROM this rank'. Unfortunately, that too is a little unclear and what it in fact means is 'start the list at rank number:', allowing you to see a list of times starting with rank 37, for example. Overall, these options let you get a list of most times that you might want. Listed times with their rank appearing on a grey button (or in red lettering, on some browsers) have ghosts available. Click the button to download the ghost. You may need to change the country option for the listing, located towards the bottom, in order to see times with the button indicating downloadable ghosts (try listing "all countries"). If ghost download is requested, the data will first be loaded into the Dreamcast's main memory, then a VMU must be chosen onto which the ghost will finally be saved. These top time ghosts are invaluable for learning the best approaches to a given course, and the fastest ways to drive in general. See '8. Driving Data' above and '19. Ghosts' below for details on using downloaded ghosts. Movie There is now an animated "F355 Challenge Movie" video viewable when you visit any of the F355 Challenge sites with your game disc. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10. Options A. Game Settings i. Steering: Adjust steering responsiveness ii. Assist Function Settings (See '14. Assists' for explanation of assists) a. Button: Select on or off as default for each Assist b. Cursor: Select which Assist the cursor will default to iii. Time Difficulty (Arcade Only): Select Easy, Normal, Hard, and Hardest (Affects only the time limit in Arcade mode) iv. Magic Weather: Select Random or Fine (which limits sky to one option) v. Handicap: Select Heat (default), Aid, or Simulation Handicap appears to function only as a speed boost for the trailing player in Versus modes. Only Heat allows Professional mode (Pro./Intermediate in the Japanese version) in versus play. Heat - handicap boost for Novice and Intermediate Aid - handicap boost for Novice only Simulation - no handicap boost for trailing car vi. Ghost Car: On or Off (Displays the RD2 ghost when in Driving mode, or the fastest ghost saved on a VMU, if one is available for the selected course) vii. Lap Setting: Select Sprint (2-5 laps, depending on course), Grand Prix (7-30 laps), or Endurance (14-60 laps) (see '13. Courses' for specific laps on each course) viii. Driver Name: Select a name to appear in Network Race (Up to 12 characters including upper and lower case letters, numbers, and common symbols) ix. Country Code: (Unavailable in Japanese version) Select a country code from the listed options: US, CA, MX, or -- (predetermined as JP for Japanese version) B. Device Settings Choose from four preset button configurations or four customizable button configurations. Custom configuration includes the option to assign on/off toggling for a specific Assist to a specific button. C. Analog Calibration Press A to set Idle (minimum) and B to set Max (maximum) D. Sound & Screen i. Sound a. Audio: Stereo or Mono b. BGM Volume: Select background music volume from 0-100 (56 is default) c. BGM Test: (because you don't hear it enough in the game) d. Default (returns BGM Volume to 56) ii. Screen a. Wide: On or Off (not available in VGA mode) Select widescreen or regular display b. Adjust: (move game picture around screen) default: X = 000, Y = 000 E. Password (Hidden) This option is only available before logging 1,000km, and only then while holding the X + Y buttons while on the Options screen Passwords: DaysofThunder - opens Atlanta course LiebeFrauMilch - opens Nurburgring course Stars&Stripes - opens Laguna Seca course KualaLumpur - opens Sepang course CinqueValvole - opens Fiorano course -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11. Save Save game data to a VMU, requires 22 VMU blocks (not 39 as stated in North American documentation) Two files are created, an 8 block player data file and a 14 block options/settings data file. Player data includes your records, distance traveled, Network Race name and win ratio. System data includes Game Settings (at least most of them) and Car Setting configurations. Japanese Version Note: The Japanese version has unfortunately similar looking "Yes/No?" windows for both overwriting data and exiting the Save option, plus a noticeable delay in response to inputs. Go slowly with the buttons so you can keep track of what you've asked the game to do. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 12. Load Load game data from a VMU. Game data is also automatically loaded when the game starts. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ******************************************************************************** ________________________________________________________________________________ Menu Items: 1. Arcade 2. Championship 3. Single Play 4. Versus Play 5. Cable Versus Play (Hidden in North American version) 6. Network Race 7. Car Setting 8. Driving Data 9. Home Page 10. Options 11. Save 12. Load Subjects: 13. Courses 14. Distance 15. Level (Transmission) 16. Assists 17. Computer Cars 18. Replays 19. Ghosts 20. Registering Times 21. Driving Advice 22. Version Differences 23. Mixing Versions 24. Peripherals 25. Bugs 26. Car Specifications 27. Websites FAQ Information: 28. Revisions 29. Acknowledgements ________________________________________________________________________________ 13. Courses Ten full courses are included, plus the partial track Suzuka Short (Lap numbers are for Lap Settings of Sprint, Grand Prix, or Endurance): Track Length Difficulty Ghost File km/mi Location Laps Blocks _________________________________________________________ Motegi 2,414/1.50 Japan o 4, 28, 56 17 Suzuka Short 2,243/1.39 Japan oo 3, 20, 40 31 Monza 5,770/3.59 Italy oo 2, 9, 18 23 Sugo 3,704/2.30 Japan ooo 3, 12, 24 27 Suzuka (Full) 5,864/3.65 Japan ooo 2, 7, 14 37 Long Beach 2,558/1.59 U.S. oo 3, 16, 32 23 Atlanta 2,478/1.54 U.S. o 5, 30, 60 17 Nurburgring 4,555/2.83 Germany oo 2, 7, 14 31 Laguna Seca 3,602/2.24 U.S. ooo 3, 12, 24 29 Sepang 5,542/3.44 Malaysia ooo 2, 7, 14 39 Fiorano 2,976/1.85 Italy ooo N/A 25 The tracks initially available are the first six, the original courses from the arcade version. The last five tracks are initially hidden, and opened by one of three methods: success in races, traveling a minimum distance (see '14. Distance' below for details), or entering passwords. Finish 3rd or better Accrue Hidden Course in Arcade Race at Distance Password _______________________________________________________ Atlanta Motegi or Suzuka Short 500km DaysofThunder Nurburgring Monza or Sugo 600km LiebeFrauMilch Laguna Seca Suzuka or Long Beach 700km Stars&Stripes Sepang Championship 800km KualaLumpur The last track has a unique requirement to be awarded for race success: Fiorano Win every race in Championship 1000km CinqueValvole If the requirement for opening them has been met, formerly hidden courses are made available upon exiting a one player event, and an announcement is made. This means that, while all forms of driving add to the distance traveled (Save your progress!), if the distance requirement was met in Versus Play, Cable Versus Play, or Network Race, the course(s) will not be available. Simply entering and exiting a one player event is sufficient to expose any hidden courses you've earned through distance. Championship is treated as a single event, and new courses are made available when the series is completed (but not when aborted). If you exit a one player event and have met the requirements for opening multiple hidden courses, all courses earned are exposed. For example, if you log 1000km in Network Race then enter and exit one Single Play Driving event, all five hidden courses become available. The original six are the only courses ever available in Arcade mode and Network Race, and the only ones used in Championship. Single Play, Versus Play, and Cable Versus Play allow access to all available tracks, plus use of the Random track selection feature (which selects only amongst available tracks). All tracks are realworld courses. The Nurburgring course is the newer Grand Prix track, not the classic Nordschliefe course. Fiorano is Ferrari's private test track, and the game allows no racing on it. ________________________________________________________________________________ 14. Distance Distance is accumulated as you drive regardless of mode, e.g. Novice on Training or Professional (Pro./Intermediate in the Japanese version) on Versus Play. Distance is displayed when viewing game file data in the Dreamcast VMU screen, which is accessed from the regular Dreamcast startup screen (turn on your Dreamcast without a disc inside): Samples: F355 CHALLENGE PLAYER DATA DATA F355DATA.PLY 0,456km 35p:--- 09/09/2000 18:30 8 block F355 CHALLENGE PLAYER DATA DATA F355DATA.PLY 10,000km999p:ABC 10/10/2000 11:30 8 block The part after "F355DATA.PLY" shows distance, number of plays, and online "score name": "0,456km 35p:---" and "10,000km999p:ABC" in the samples. Distance is displayed in kilometers in both the North American and Japanese versions (456km and 10,000km in the samples). "p" indicates the number of plays, which is the total number of events started (35 and 999 [or more] in the samples). The three characters after the colon are the "score name", which can only be altered through online registration ("---" [the default] and "ABC" in the samples). ________________________________________________________________________________ 15. Level (Transmission) When you begin any event, you are prompted to select a Level: Novice, Intermediate, or Professional. Professional is only available in versus play and only then while Handicap is set to Heat. Novice shifts gears automatically and allows the use of all assists, including IBS (for details on Assists see '15. Assists' above). Intermediate requires manual shifting disallows the IBS Assist but allows the others. Professional ("Pro./Intermediate" in the Japanese version) requires manual shifting and, oddly, still allows use of the three Handicaps that does Intermediate. Level can also affect whether you experience a boost when trailing in versus play, depending on the Handicap setting, and is the only apparent relevance of Professional level. Novice provides a boost when Handicap is set to either Heat or Aid, Intermediate provides a boost only when Handicap is set to Heat, and Professional never provides a boost. NOTE: The true Professional mode from the arcade version requires use of a clutch (reportedly), and the absence of a clutch in the home version prevents Professional mode's full implementation. The consolation is the "Professional" mode in versus play which has no handicap boost when trailing and has manual shifting but, curiously, still allows use of the 3 main assists. Handicap must be set to Heat for the "Professional" option ("Pro./Intermediate" in the Japanese version) to appear in versus play. ________________________________________________________________________________ 16. Assists Three assists simulate real world driving features: SC - Stability Control: Helps keep the car pointed in the right direction. TC - Traction Control: Prevents engine induced wheelspin. ABS - Anti-lock Braking System: Modulates braking to eliminate lockup, and thus prevent skidding. The following assist is not a realworld feature: IBS - Intelligent Braking System: the game's automated braking feature. Using it you can actually drive around a course without doing anything but steering while holding down the gas. Assists are displayed while driving as small boxes in the lower left corner. With the default controller setup, the selected assist (marked with a red line above it) can be enabled or disabled in the race by pressing the Y button. The B button changes which assist is selected (moving the red line marker). When an assist is disabled, the box is dark grey. When an assist is enabled, the box is dimly lit. When an assist is activated while driving, which happens automatically as necessary if the assist is enabled, the box lights up brightly. All assists are enabled by default when first starting the game. You can customize which assists are enabled when you start a race by changing Assist Function Settings in Game Settings, avoiding the hassle of fiddling with them during the start of a race. Additionally, Device Settings allows custom controller setups that offer specific Assist on/off features, for example Traction Control on/off. ________________________________________________________________________________ 17. Computer Cars The rules governing the behavior of computer cars (drones) are very different from those governing your own car's. The game's system has the advantage of making exploitation of the drones difficult, but sometimes at the expense of your patience. A few of the odd ways drones act, and interact with your car: Accelerating absurdly quickly Slowing inexplicably or running into walls Spinning out your car if your front fender rides against their rear fender, even though the reverse situation doesn't spin out the drones Driving right off the road if you lead them slightly through a corner Braking absurdly quickly just behind you, but not other computer cars Sticking to your car if sides touch, despite a large difference in speed Going off the pavement and returning with minimal loss of speed Weaving unrealistically, particularly entering turns Speeding away when under acceleration and touched by your car - The final lesson is: Don't feel you should be able to do everything you see the drones doing. ________________________________________________________________________________ 18. Replays Three forms of replay are available, varying by event: 'Digest Replay': Displayed once and automatically for a 3rd or better finish in Arcade Race and for the final race of Championship, regardless of finish. Available for repeated viewing after Single Play Race or Versus Play. Shows the start, finish, and enough of the rest to make the replay last as long as the song that accompanies it. Shows other cars and scenery but not telemetry data. No camera adjustability. Driving Data 'Replay': Viewable after loading ghosts (driving data) from VMU under Driving Data menu option. Shows the entirety of one lap. Other cars and scenery are not shown but a graph of speed is. The camera can be cycled through 4 car-attached views. Also allows loading of a second ghost (for the same track) into Data Area 2 for simultaneous viewing (see section '8. Driving Data' for details). Replay controls: Start or A button - pause/play D-pad or stick down - toggle selected car D-pad or stick up - cycle view: 3/4, overhead, driver, or chase D-pad or stick left/right - fast forward/reverse (including while paused) L and R trigger buttons - zoom in/out Network Race 'Replay': The only replay that shows your race in its majestic entirety, from start to finish with cars and scenery. Unfortunately, you cannot save ghosts for reviewing. Choose from a directed third person camera angle or driver's view, for each car. Replay controls: Start button - stop replay D-pad down - toggle music on/off A button - cycle selected car (in weird order) B button - toggles camera between third-person/in-car ________________________________________________________________________________ 19. Ghosts Also referred to as 'driving data', ghosts can be very instructive. Turning Ghost Car on in Game Settings causes a ghost to appear on the track with you during Driving events, as well as during Test Run in Championship. The default ghost shown is the RD2 ghost, programmed into the game by the development team, RD2 (also known as AM2). Additionally, if a ghost for the track you're on has been saved on an inserted VMU, it automatically becomes the ghost displayed instead of the RD2 ghost. If multiple VMUs have a ghost saved on them, the fastest ghost will be used. Some of the fastest ghosts in the world can be downloaded from the game's website (see '9. Home Page' for details). Additionally, ghosts can be viewed in the Driving Data menu option, as described in '8. Driving Data' above. Ghosts can be saved either when prompted immediately after Arcade events or under 'Save Driving Data' after Single Play events. Only one ghost per track can be saved on a single VMU, and saving a second ghost on a single VMU will erase the first. Ghost file sizes vary according to the length of the track: VMU blocks Course used for ghost ________________________ Motegi 17 Monza 31 Suzuka Short 23 Sugo 27 Suzuka 37 Long Beach 23 Atlanta 17 Nurburgring 31 Laguna Seca 29 Sepang 39 Fiorano 25 Ghosts for fastest laps can be uploaded to the game's website for sharing if you register a lap time in the top 99 worldwide (see '20. Registering Times', below). ________________________________________________________________________________ 20. Registering Times To register times, you must access the web with your Dreamcast. Once registered, times are displayed in the rankings. See '9. Home Page' for information on web access and rankings. Websites are prone to changing, and registration procedures may have changed as well since this information was written Registering times is pretty straight forward with the North American game, the North American site's English directions being reasonably clear. Just follow them and you're off to the races, as they say. Using the Japanese game to register times is slightly more complicated. To make starting easier, jump to the North American site (hit the left trigger once and select the highlighted option (jump), enter http://www.sega-rd2.com/f355/us/ then hit Exit, and choose OK; for more information see Haohmaru_'s Dream Passport 2 Guide (and others) listed under Dreamcast 'General/System'). The only trick is that when you ask to register a time, you automatically get shunted into Japanese pages, starting with a page that has a deep blue background. After clicking the grey button to proceed, you are sent to the time registration page, which says "Your Personal DATA" toward the top and shows your player profile, top lap times, a section of Japanese text headed by a red title bar and trailed by a long grey button, and then another similarly formatted section of Japanese text. The long grey button in the first of these sections of Japanese text will post all your best times at once, whereas the buttons displaying each individual best time will post only that specific time shown on the button. The long grey button in the second section of Japanese text connects to the player data entry page. You will need to register your player data with the site and then download it to your VMU in order to register times on the ranking. Attempting to register times if you haven't already registered your player data results in your being automatically connected to the player data entry page (which the long grey button in the second section of Japanese text on the time registration page also connects to). The player data entry page has boxes for your player name (12 character maximum), country code, three letter 'score name', date of birth (year and month), and gender. If a player name has already been created under Driver Name in Game Settings, it will appear automatically in the player name box, but can be modified, too. Country code is automatically entered and cannot be changed. You may have trouble entering text on this page with a North American Dreamcast, but it's unclear what additional information is actually required beyond a player name and country code. Hitting the grey button registers the listed player data with the database and sends you to to the player data download page, which re-lists your player data and says in flashing red "!!! Caution !!!", alerting you to impending download. The first link says 'download' in pink Japanese text and initiates download of the displayed player data to your Dreamcast. The second link is normally colored and goes back to the time registration page. You must download the player data at this point so that the player data in the database and that on the VMU match. Requesting download brings up a dialog box that says a bunch of stuff, including "(title): F355 CHALLENGE", and asks whether you want to download the 8-block player data file. The left of the two yellow buttons is highlighted by a pink ellipse and has two Japanese characters which mean 'yes', while the right button has three characters which mean 'no'. Selecting 'yes' begins download to the Dreamcast, and after a few seconds displays available VMUs, one of which you must use in order to save the player data (pressing the B button twice aborts the download and save). Once you save the player data to a VMU you should be able to register times with the ranking. There have been reports of times with a JP country code registered from outside Japan being removed, but no details are available. Most of the Japanese pages look and work the same as the English pages, so you can get more comfortable with the Japanese site and its operation if you browse the English registration pages. If you can borrow or rent a North American version of the game, you can do some useful stuff with it. If you want to select a country code other than JP, you can do so in Game Settings of the North American game then save the change to your VMU, and later post your times with the new country code through your Japanese game. ________________________________________________________________________________ 21. Driving Advice This section addresses a subject complex enough in its own right that it is really outside the scope of this game FAQ. Some attempt has been made to provide at least an entree into the realm of performance driving in this nuanced driving "game". For brevity, advanced concepts may be referred to but not explained to the same level to which the rest of the FAQ aspires. General Suggestions Learn about realworld driving technique. Download ghosts of top times from the website rankings. You can scrutinize the their runs in Driving Data and learn a great deal about both a particular track and general driving technique. Turn on Ghost Car in Game Settings. Once you can match or beat the RD2 ghost, use ghosts from the website rankings. Practice. Practice. Practice. Winning in Race mode Try lengthening races in Game Settings, providing more opportunity for passing. Protect the inside line. Ignore the senselessness of the drones' driving. Learning From Ghosts Ghosts of best laps can be quite informative when either followed while driving (with the ghost feature turned on) or viewed in isolation in Driving Data. The biggest limitation to understanding the details of a given run is lack of tire noise, followed by the lack of visible steering input to the front wheels. Staying on Track Brake BEFORE entering a turn, because braking in the middle while driving at the edge of the envelope brings a strong risk of spinning out. Shifting See Richard Chaney's excellent web page on shifting: http://www.chaney.karoo.net/f355/gearshift.htm See also the engine's power curve: http://ferrarina.com/Automobili/Models/F355/img/PowerCurve.GIF Starts For starts with no assists, one method is to hold revs at about 6500 during the countdown then give a touch more gas at the 'go' beep to push the edge of the envelope. Hold throttle briefly at this new level, waiting until the first sign of stability, then smoothly increase fuel to maximum. It's difficult to describe accurately the subtleties necessary to execute this, but this provides a guide, anyway, for a method to master. For practice, try repeatedly starting a Race event; Monza has one of the fastest starts for drones. When practicing your starts, be aware that you car's behavior affects the drones, causing them to vary their own behavior enough to make this method of practice immediate but unscientific in its results. The biggest bugaboo is that contact with drones while accelerating from the line makes them surge forward, so it's best to avoid touching them if you're trying to gauge the success of your start. Braking With a manual transmission (Intermediate Level), it's critical to master timing on your down shifts. If revs are less than maximum, because you're downshifting too late, you're not slowing as quickly as possible. If you're not in gear, because you downshifted too early, your not slowing down as quickly as possible. Timing is crucial. If you are not using the ABS Assist, you _must_ listen for tire squeal, indicating skidding and thus a departure from maximal traction. You can try listening to maximum braking with ABS enabled to get an idea of how the game audibly indicates traction status, then seek to either hold that audible degree of braking or the better braking level just behind it. ________________________________________________________________________________ 22. Version Differences The differences between the Japanese and North American games are slight, beyond descriptive but not crucial Japanese text and speech in the Japanese version. Network Race in the Japanese version uses Sega's network for access, requiring a subscription and use of local (Japanese) dial up numbers, thus making it practically unusable outside Japan. The Cable Versus Play option is hidden in the North American version. Pressing the X + Y buttons inserts it into the main menu, making the menu appear as the Japanese one does normally. The title screen in the North American version says "Passione Rossa" in red script below "F355 Challenge", where the Japanese version has nothing. The opening movie is identical for both versions, as is all music. The Japanese version only allows JP as a country setting in Game Settings. Some menus must be 'Exited' in the Japanese version where they can be backed out of with the B button in the North American version. The Japanese game has a complete Dream Passport browser, which allows direct input of site addresses and thus proper websurfing, whereas the North American version has a hobbled browser. ________________________________________________________________________________ 23. Mixing Versions The game has uncommon file compatibility between the different versions. Player data, car setting, and ghost files work equally well in one version as in another. The odd thing is language and country designations relating to the websites: www.sega-rd2.com/f355/jp/ (Japanese site) and www.sega-rd2.com/f355/us/ (North American site). Even looking at the Game Settings screen then saving your game in a different version appears to overwrite country code information, at least as it appears in the registration pages. Additionally, the last version used to save your game appears to determine which blue data submission screen comes up when you first request registration of player or ranking data while using the North American version, the English or Japanese screen. The Japanese version appears to only bring up the Japanese screen. The version of the console appears to determine which website you'll need to use for entering additional profile information, such as the three letter "score name" which appears in brackets below your player name in the rankings. If you're using a Japanese Dreamcast and want to play the North American game, you will probably be unable to change profile data because you can't enter characters on the North American site and can't jump to the Japanese site. With a North American (and perhaps PAL) Dreamcast and Japanese game, you should be able to jump to the North American site and proceed without a problem. ________________________________________________________________________________ 24. Peripherals VMU (22 blocks for basic game file; 17-39 blocks per ghost file) Link Cable Tremor Pack 2 players supported VGA cable ________________________________________________________________________________ 25. Bugs An admirably short list, but even genius has its flaws: Occasionally, computer cars banging about your rear are teleported next to you Amusingly, the translation of the North American Manual apparently interpreted "m" to mean miles so Motegi, for instance, is listed as 2414 miles long. Now _that_ would make an endurance race. The North American manual and case erroneously indicate 39 VMU blocks are necessary for saving the game, instead of 22 blocks as actually required. Rarely, computer cars will show up in an alternate black and mint color scheme. ________________________________________________________________________________ 26. Car Specifications Power curve: http://ferrarina.com/Automobili/Models/F355/img/PowerCurve.GIF General specifications, from Ferrari North America (http://ferrarina.com/Eventi/Challenge/2001Specs355.asp): Dimension and Weights: Length 167.3 in Width 74.8 in Height 46.1 in Wheelbase 96.5 in Minimum Weight 2986 lb Light alloy tank 21.7 US gal. Engine: 8 cylinders in 90 V layout Total displacement 3496 cc Compression ratio 11.1:1 Maximum power @8250 375 HP Maximum Torque @6000 268 Ib.ft Engine Weight 370 lb Performance: Top Speed 300 Km/h 0-100 Km/h 4.7" 0-400 m 12.9" 0-1000 m 23.7" ________________________________________________________________________________ 27. Websites Official game sites http://www.sega-rd2.com/f355/jp/ (Japan) http://www.sega-rd2.com/f355/us/ (North America) http://www.sega-rd2.com/f355/eu/ (Europe) Official FAQs: http://www.sega-rd2.com/f355/jp/faq.html (Japanese) http://www.sega-rd2.com/f355/us/faq.html (North American) http://www.sega-rd2.com/f355/eu/faq.html (European) Game related sites Malice's site (has settings): f355.mclarenf1gt.com (http://www.angelfire.com/ma2/mmalice/challenge/index.html) Ian Walker's FAQ at www.dc-w.co.uk: http://www.dc-w.co.uk/gg_f355.htm Richard Chaney's excellent page on shifting methods: http://www.chaney.karoo.net/f355/gearshift.htm Country codes: http://stiwww.epfl.ch/utile/iso_3166.html Official Ferrari sites Ferrari S.p.A.: www.ferrari.it ferrari.com Ferrari North America (comprehensive regional site): ferrarina.com General specifications (from Ferrari North America): http://ferrarina.com/Eventi/Challenge/2001Specs355.asp Power curve (from Ferrari North America): http://ferrarina.com/Automobili/Models/F355/img/PowerCurve.GIF Ferrari related sites Ferrari Club of America: ferrariclub.org ferrariclubofamerica.org Ferrari Club of America Northwest Region (superior regional site): ferrariclub.com ________________________________________________________________________________ ******************************************************************************** -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Menu Items: 1. Arcade 2. Championship 3. Single Play 4. Versus Play 5. Cable Versus Play (Hidden in North American version) 6. Network Race 7. Car Setting 8. Driving Data 9. Home Page 10. Options 11. Save 12. Load Subjects: 13. Courses 14. Distance 15. Level (Transmission) 16. Assists 17. Computer Cars 18. Replays 19. Ghosts 20. Registering Times 21. Driving Advice 22. Version Differences 23. Mixing Versions 24. Peripherals 25. Bugs 26. Car Specifications 27. Websites FAQ Information: 28. Revisions 29. Acknowledgements -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 28. Revisions 0.9 (2000.10.04) Initial version 1.0 (2000.10.08) Major reworking including addition of Cable Versus Play, Registering Times, Driving Advice, Mixing Versions, and Peripherals plus expansion of Home Page. 1.1 (2001.05.2) General updating, correcting, and addition of Car Specifications and Websites sections. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 29. Acknowledgements Thanks to mjolnir for various information. Thanks to JVGFanatic for the Cable Versus Play section. Special thanks to rbryerton for his work in compiling information on every aspect of both the Japanese and North American versions. ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ Copyright 2000, 2001 FAQ Consortium (faq_consortium@yahoo.com) This FAQ is written for display only on GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com). This document may not be reproduced or retransmitted in whole or in part without express written permission. Unauthorized reproduction or retransmission of any portion of this document is a violation of criminal and civil law. 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