Need for Speed Underground; Am I really this bad?

gorham09 · Post by **gorham09** » Tue Nov 16, 2004 7:21 pm

I am currently playing need for speed underground and have have hit a brick wall (both literally and figuratively). I am playing through the underground mode and am at race 56 or so out of 110 or so. (more or less halfway). It seems as though the difficulty has ramped up exponentially. I get a lead and as soon as I slow down even slightly to take a turn, the other cars make up any lost time and go flying by me. It's as if I don't keep it floored through the entire race, which is just not possible, I can't even compete. And this is on the easy setting!! I also have catch-up mode enabled. I thought that was to allow me to catch up when I'm behind, but maybe it applies to the computer cars as well.

Am I just terrible at this game? I am trying to make it to number 7 in the standings for sprint mode and have replayed the race literally 20 times and just can't seem to win. I have tried changing cars, but the 3 opposing cars beat me off the line every single time and go flying down the road. I have all the upgrades maxed out, yet their cars are so much faster, they never slow down and never seem to lose control. (I on the other hand find it difficult to maneuver at 110mph in a windy tunnel with oncoming traffic and center posts, which, while they don't kill you, cause you to come to a dead stop- in some ways worse than death) It's insane. I am going so fast that I can't even see what's going on because of the blur effect, yet I still barely gain on them. If they so much as touch me I go spinning out of control. I've even tried ramming them to try and take them out of the race or at least give myself a fighting chance, but they never spin out. If this is easy mode, hard mode must involve rocket speeds and land mines.

Any tips or even cheats so that I can at least get past this race would be appreciated. It's really annoying.

gorham09 · Post by **gorham09** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 1:32 am

Wohoo!!! After close to 40 starts/restarts I finally did it! However, I say #@!%$#^ to the "catch up mode" that allows the other cars to catch up to you. I was going between 130 and 159 most of the way and the car that was in last place not only caught me but passed me at the end of the race. Fortunately I had nitrous and was able to catch up to him and "nudge" him into on oncoming car. Sometimes you take extreme measures to win. 8)

I have to say, despite my extreme frustration, when I actually manage to pull it off it was quite exhilarating.

Raven_13 · Post by **Raven_13** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 9:50 am

Are you talking about NFS:U 1 or 2? I've had the same experience with the first one (haven't played 2 yet). I actually put it down for a few months and last weekend beat the race I was stuck on after 1 try.

gorham09 · Post by **gorham09** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 12:04 pm

I am playing through the first one. It's the first time I ever went in with a strategy. I swtiched to a mitsubishi lancer because it had the highest acceleration of all the available cars. The trade off was poor handling, but the extra oomph off the line made all the difference and also allowed me a quick recovery from one or two 360's.

Looking back I think the track was a tough one. I hate the tracks that have the tunnel's highways and construction areas. They are too confining.

Raven_13 · Post by **Raven_13** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 12:22 pm

I'm at about race 90 right now, and I've been through that frustration/exhilaration cycle many times myself. Believe it or not, I'm still using the same Miata that I started the game with. None of the other cars are as good IMO, which bugs me because there wasn't any feeling of reward when unlocking new cars. YMMV of course, but I sincerely hope that they changed/fixed this in NFS:U2. I know what you mean about the ramped-up difficulty too; I played the first half of the game on medium and now I struggle (usually) to win on easy.

I hate hate hate that one tunnel with the center posts. Nothing will take you out of a race faster than being stopped dead against a crash barrier.

Check out GameWinners.com if you get really desperate again. There aren't any cheats per se (though there are links to trainers there), but there are a lot of tips.

Oh, and here's something I didn't know about until 3/4 of the way through the game: when you're on the line waiting to start, tap your nitrous button once. You'll get 150 style points right from the start.

gorham09 · Post by **gorham09** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 1:36 pm

Raven:

I've avoided the Miata, because it was too well balanced and at the top of the heap. It has always been the best overall car available (so far). I broke down and tried it for this race and still couldn't win. I tend to go with cars that have better handling and high top speeds. It suits my "I can't steer to save my life" driving style.

Here's a stupid question: what do style points do?

Raven_13 · Post by **Raven_13** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 2:24 pm

I'm not a very good...um...'steerer'...either, but I find the Miata's handling is the best for me. Better even than the Skyline, which is supposed to be the best car in the game.

Style points unlock accessories and tracks in addition to the stuff you unlock in underground mode. I admit it's a little confusing, but you want to maximize your style points by having the latest and greatest visual accessories on your car (hood, vinyls, paint, etc.) to bump up your prestige (the yellow stars when viewing the car). The number of stars act as a multiplier to the amount of style points you gain during a race. I think you need a certain amount of style points near the end of the campaign to unlock a certain car...not too sure about that though.

The biggest part of sprint racing is knowing how to take the turns, especially the 90 degree ones, and most of that is just learning by experience. I generally just powerslide through by maneuvering the car to the outside of an upcoming turn, then cutting to the inside and tapping the brakes (not the hand brake). Centrifugal (or centripetal) force pulls the car to the outside again, and I usually hit the wall, but if I did it right I can just accelerate away again cleanly. I'm not much of a finesse racer.

gorham09 · Post by **gorham09** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 2:51 pm

I am a big fan of using the wall to aid in those sharp turns although if I time my handbrake right and only tap it for a second I can powerslide my way through. The downside is that if timing is off I am guaranteed to spin out.

Good to know about the style points. I knew the rating acted as a multiplier but they never seemed to do anything for me. Half the unlocked decals and vinyls are more or les the same anyway.

Mr. Sparkle · Post by **Mr. Sparkle** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 3:03 pm

If you are any good at drifting, you can unlock all the style rewards pretty quickly... just do a custom 10 lap drift race on one of the shorter tracks... I can't remember exactly how long it took, but it was pretty quick... especially if you unlock on of the "5 star cars" to use... mad style points...

gorham09 · Post by **gorham09** » Wed Nov 17, 2004 7:02 pm

Hey that's good to know. Oddly enough, drifting is the only thing that I win consistently in the game. I have no idea why, well that's not true-- I'm at my best when my car is perpendicular to the road I'm driving on.