As the title says, this is merely an introduction to my experiences so far wetting my beak with this game. I am mostly just going to talk about the new tracks, but also the AI a bit, and the starting gate changes. I will also be showing only one race on each track, with no replays, and just one leg of triple crown races. I've also decided to have the Flow Aid on, which is a vertically arced blue line suggesting best takeoff and landing points of each rhythm section. My reason for this however is as much to demonstrate when it can be exceeded, as well as when it is best adhered to. By this I mean there are places where I get through quicker by different means, or more consistently without losing momentum, whether it be starting with a longer jump than suggested, or a shorter one.
These are all on Medium AI difficulty. I started out learning the tracks on Very Easy, then Easy. It wasn't until my 3rd play through on Medium that I started really getting the feel of what can and can't be done on these tracks. By the 3rd playthrough I also had all the Abilities maxed out, which is a new feature where you have to accrue points to buy them via your successes in career races, training, and training races. New as well to this game is an injury system, whereby crashes can injure you and affect how your acquired Abilities function. They made it very easy however to counter this via healing before the next event via 10,000 credits, and once you max the Resistance Ability, injuries no longer affect Abilities.
The tracks in this game are mostly harder to master than the last game, but some are relatively easy to pick up. This game is also made from the 2020 season, which was the first that was massively affected by COVID. The result was, the last 3 races in the 250 West career, and the last 5 in the 250 East career, are all in Salt Lake. The last 7 races in the 450 career are there as well. The starts are a bit harder to time than the last game, and it's more crucial to get a good one. Even if you time it perfectly, often times the AI will time it well too. This is exacerbated by some start surfaces being slippery, and the effects of contact with AI having more adverse results. You also have to land your jumps more precisely vs the last game, or you will crash.
Other differences are, weight back acceleration on jump takeoffs and landings doesn't give you quite the boost it did in the last game, though I'm sure that is partly due to the difficulty of the jumps, and at times, having to accelerate out of sand. There's also not quite as much difference between 250 and 450 bikes, though again, could be partly due to the tracks. There IS however more difference in how one bike brand feels to another vs the last game, and I am also now ALWAYS tuning the suspension settings, which help with handling more than in the last game.
At first I thought the heavy use of the Salt Lake venue would sour my impression of the game, making it feel too repetitive. It has been quite the opposite though. For one, Dirt Wurx did an incredible job of designing several different tracks for Salt Lake, all of which feel uniquely different. They also lean a bit more toward the fun side, and aren't quite as technically demanding as others. As far as I know they did this specifically to make the riders feel more at ease at the end of the season during the stressful lockdown year. So this game's careers start with a mix of technically challenging tracks, but end with good old fashioned fun.
My favorite two bikes so far are the Yamaha and Honda. The Yamaha tends to have a bit better speed, but the Honda a bit better handling. The following videos are all on the Honda. My fave way to get a bike anymore is to sign a contract with a sponsor on the secondary page for contracts. The reason being, they have MANY more offers from race teams, and show the performance rating. You can't get these contracts easy though. Winning one race season is not enough. You have to have built up a bit of a reputation.
The 250 West races are all done on the Phoenix Racing Honda team.
250 West
Round 1 Anaheim 1
I would describe this as a moderately difficult track. There's no extremely technical features or deep sand, but it has a couple sections that can trip you up if not careful. I kept missing the triple in the 1st rhythm section due to catching my rear tire on the jump after the tabletop. The section after that however is relatively easy to get a triple/triple combo on right off a 180 berm. The crash you see on the 2nd triple there with 2 Laps to Go was purely my not noticing my landing pitch was too steep. I also made the same mistake in the section after it earlier in the race. The only thing I can attest this to is the body positioning, unlike last game, must be done while NOT revving the throttle, something I'm having a hard time getting used to.
Having a best lap time by roughly .4 sec at the end was not bad considering the 2 crashes. You have to do roughly 2 sec better lap time to handle Realistic mode though, or about 1 sec faster per difficulty mode from Medium.
Round 2 St Louis
This one is hard to get a good start if you compete strait off the drop of the gate, I was getting pushed outside a lot even if I got a perfect start and others didn't. This is mostly due to my choosing to not go through all the lap time qualifying and choosing a better gate. Many say that only gets your hopes up, as AI do MUCH faster laps in the race than in qualifying. They also put you in the very outside gate by default if you don't go through qualifying, vs the 3rd spot from very outside in the last game. No worries though, I resulted to my old tactic of letting them go by, then making a bee line for the apex behind them, which is easy enough on this track to even get the holeshot.
It's also handy that the very 1st jump after the holeshot line is med vs the usual small, which makes it easy to hit a triple/triple/double/double combo to complete the first section with a lead (on Medium AI anyway). The only real challenging part of this track is nailing a triple to a tabletop out of a 180 berm on the section after the first whoop section. If you don't it really slows you down. I flubbed it the 1st two laps, but nailed it every lap after that.
A bit better results on this one due to no crashes, but still only a .7 sec faster lap. Clearly to ready yourself for Realistic, it's looking like no crashes are not enough. You also can't afford to miss rhythm section marks. I have a feeling this track will feel easy now that I have the technique down for that triple to tabletop jump though.
Round 3 Anaheim 2
Here we have the first track with some fairly technical features. They are not necessarily super hard features, they can just trip you up badly if you aren't careful how you take them. If you can manage a perfect start here, you can clear the field to the holeshot even from the outside gate, largely due to the first turn being a loose 90 left. A good lead is very helpful though, because after 2 easy and short rhythm sections, there's a 180 right to a short section with 2 tabletops. This is the 1st technical spot I was referring to. You are best off landing the 1st tabletop on it's right side with a subtle hop to the front of it, in order to use the small ramp that is only on the right side to easily jump to the other tabletop. Compounding the complexity of this section, particularly if AI are near, is it is best to hop to the LEFT side of the 2nd tabletop, in order to take the upcoming 90 right wide after hopping over a small jump. This gives you a MUCH better chance to get enough speed out of this turn to land a triple, which in turn allows for a fairly easy triple after that, into a big air triple.
Nailing that section consistently is a game changer, but it is also a section that starts with ONE good line through it, and I've seen how bad it gets when AI are crowding you. The only other tricky spot is a seemingly simple dragon's back climb to a drop off, then the finish line jump. It can produce VERY inconsistent results as to how well you come off that finish line jump, because there's a med jump you need to clear between the dragon's back drop and the finish line jump. It's basically like this, if you manage to bounce off the very last bump of the dragon's back, you'll be able to hit the finish line jump with enough speed to land a big air double. If not, you are considerably slowed down by the very big and steeply faced 2nd jump of that big air double. I'm still working out a line or speed to take this dragon's back drop consistently, and I've even tried both weighting back and forward. Calibrating speed is hard though, as you have to go by feel since the game has no speed indicator on the HUD like the last one did.
Though I went from miserable results to a just over 20 sec lead at last time check and a best lap time by 2.2 sec, even after going off track trying to land that triple off the 90 right once, I can't help but think what problems will arise if I don't nail that dragon's back drop better on Realistic.
Round 4 Glendale
This is a triple crown race that I will only show the 2nd leg of due to it representing the best lines to take. This is also the very first track I got a beat my chest feeling on due to managing a difficult triple out of a 180 berm, which is beyond what the Flow Aid suggests. It also helps immensely as it allows you to seamlessly connect to a double and big air triple after that. What's really odd, is the Flow Aid line shows a landing point in between the 2nd and 3rd large jumps of that big air triple, but the AI often clear the whole big air triple. This is why I knew I'd have to nail that triple off the 180 berm, which I can now do fairly consistently.
There's two other tricky sections of this track. One is a big jump to a large bend with deep sand. If you land this jump well on the very inside of the bend at just the right speed, you can coast through the tight part of the bend, then accelerate out of it with good momentum. This is because the very inside part of the bend has a very subtle, narrow platform you can roll well on, but too much speed will cause you to drop off it into a rut, then bog down and spin coming out of the bend.
The last tricky part is a particularly nasty rhythm section that has 2 tabletops. This section comes after a dogleg left out of a fast, flat strait. The trick is to stay left so you hit a small ramp on the left side of the first tabletop, which allows an easy transition to the next tabletop. If done just right at the proper speed, it also allows you to finish this section with a double/double/double combo. More often than not, I miss both the tabletop to table top connection, as well as the double/double/double combo. I just hope both aren't required consistently on Realistic. I'm thinking my results here might be good enough for Hard mode, but that's just this one leg, the other two I did worse on.
Round 5 Oakland
Here we are DEFINITELY stepping up to a technically hard track. It starts off all cute and enticing with an easy enough triple/triple/double combo, I mean I even managed it fighting through the pack. Then it surrenders with a double/triple/single combo, the triple of which is the 2nd beyond Flow Aid jump I've managed. Then it has you begging for more after an easy short rhythm section ending with a big air double off the finish line jump, then a loose left. The fun continues into a giggly fast section with a fast, flat strait into an AI defying dogleg left jump onto a deep sand section. Now we're slinging into 2 semi big air doubles after a 180 left and a 90 right, both with momentum facilitating berms.
Then you gasp as what you are looking at ahead is something you've never seen before. I don't even know what it's called, but it basically looks like a tabletop placed in a sharp right, with a subtle lip of a berm, and it has a small ramp on it's left side to make connecting to the tabletop just after it accessible. Upon first encounter, no SEVERAL encounters, it can be hard just to master how to land on it without falling off it, let alone make a jump to the next tabletop with fluid momentum.
If you accomplish that, you have an easy enough 180 left berm into a fast whoop section, which you can at times use to catch AI that pass you, then a big air triple into a 180 left berm, easy enough. What follows is perhaps even more perplexing than that crazy tabletop turn. It's basically a rhythm section from hell, with a set of steeply faced jumps, connected to another set of the same, via a dogleg right where there's a small pie shaped tabletop. The only saving grace here is the gaps between these jumps aren't too deep, especially near the tabletop. My main concern is the AI often catch and pass me here, and I always seem to have different, unpredictable results through it. I also often look like I'm about to crash, but I think the shallowness of the jump gaps prevents it mostly.
My only recourse was to catch the AI that had passed me on the strait just after, and give them a subtle nudge to the outside of the track in the left bend going into that 1st rhythm section again. Very surprisingly though, I got best lap time, but only by .3 sec. This track is going to continue to be a work in progress.
Round 6 San Diego
I call this track the sand monster. The start and first section are easy enough, even when battling AI, but there's a lot of sand that bogs you down on certain parts of the track ahead. The main problematic area comes right after 2 whoop sections connected by a 180 left. At the end of the 2nd whoop section, the track splits into an inner and outer lane in a very wide, flat 180 left turn. I found it hard to consistently get enough speed out of this turn due to the sandy soil, to adequately clear the triple/double the Flow Aid suggests in the short rhythm section after. Therefore this is the first place in the game I chose to handle a rhythm section with a shorter starting jump than the Flow Aid suggests, however it results in a single/double/double combo, which is usually a bit slower than a 2 jump sequence.
The other area that is a bit tricky comes just after a fairly easy sharp right, then double/single that follows the aforementioned tough section. You then cross the start chute, and go into a sharp left, immediately into a big air double off the big finish line jump. There's a pretty good berm to use on the sharp left to facilitate momentum going into the big air double, but the sandy soil can cause you to slip, and fall just short of the big air double, which slows you down. It's not nearly as bad as the prior tough section mentioned though.
On a positive note, there is much room for improvement, as I was making silly mistakes I should be able to avoid with more time on this track. I also managed to triple the 2nd to last jump in a section where the Flow Aid suggested a double there, although it doesn't lessen the number of jumps used. I also have to kind of face facts that the AI are pretty consistent and fast on this track. Despite my silly mistakes and inconsistency with that toughest section after the track splits into 2 lanes though, I had a 4.1 sec lead on the final lap just prior to that split track section. There were 2 AI that had faster laps than my best by 2-3 tenths though, so improve I must if I want to conquer Hard and Realistic.
Round 7 Salt Lake
Now for the fun tracks, and hopefully my best chance at beating Realistic. Honestly though, I made some errors here, which I know I can clean up, so the AI nearly beat me, and I didn't get fastest lap time. The only spots that come close to being tricky are a couple of long, fast rhythm sections. These sections have great flow when you hit them, but can slow you down and allow AI to catch up if you don't. The first is the very first rhythm section where you can triple into it off a 180 berm on subsequent laps. This section can also be tripled on it's 2nd to last jump, vs the double the Flow Aid suggests, but it doesn't lessen the number of jumps required to get through the section. The second comes after a whoop section and starts with a double and has 2 tabletops.
Even though I was behind by almost .1 sec at the final time check, and bested on fastest lap by .2 sec, I am looking at the potential here, not the mistakes. It's because tracks like these are much easier to ride with little to no mistakes.
Round 8 Salt Lake
I'm going to call this track Take The Long Way Home. Supertramp was one of my fave bands growing up, but I chose that name as a reminder not to try to shortcut an entry to one of the only two tricky sections on this track, as it doesn't go well I found. These sections come back to back just after a section with a big air triple after the prior section which starts with a big air double off the finish line jump. Following the big air triple, you have a very atypical 180 into a long rhythm section. By this I mean it is completely flat and sort of triangular shaped. This is because it's the bend of the start chute just before the holeshot line. The left side having the Tuff Blocks that line the edge of the start chute, the ride side being the line of Tuff Blocks that block off the first part of the start chute after the riders cross the holeshot line.
Since it feels odd and slow to go all the way into the tip of this triangular 180, in order to get enough run up speed to the next rhythm section to manage a triple/triple/single combo, I tried more than once to take the 180 at it's apex, to see if starting with a single or double would suffice as well, while saving a bit of time using the apex of the 180. I always failed to hit the double, and had a tendency as well of overshooting the single. I may make more attempts at a single jump entry to this section, but for now it feels like I have to Take the Long Way Home.
The section just after that one is the other tricky part, but only if you try to go beyond doubling all the way through it as the Flow Aid suggests. So I no doubt could have and should have had a better lead than the 1.1 sec I had at the final time check, and probably would have had fastest lap time by more than the mere .2 sec I managed to lead with, but at least now I know what works and what doesn't
Round 9 Salt Lake
This is a Salt Lake track that goes beyond fun and easy a bit, and adds a dash of spicy technical features. The start can be tough even with a good lead, as the first left is a tight bend that slows you down and can cause AI to catch up. The first 2 sections are best if taken precisely, but also allow some slop without losing a lot of speed. You're definitely best off hitting a wide entry into the 90 right going into the 3rd section though, as the left side of it's first jump has yet another one of those small ramps. This ramp helps you get adequate transition height and speed to connect 3 doubles on what feels like saddle jumps.
It's also helpful to take the 90 right after that section wide at it's berm, as it makes the start of the next section easier, which is a double to back to back on/offs on tabletops. The only other concern is not getting too overzealous with the end of this section, as you CAN triple vs the double the Flow Aid suggests on the 2nd to last jump, but it's best to come out of it with another controlled 90 right to avoid swinging wide and scraping Tuff Blocks, which can adversely affect the big air triple you need to hit.
The only other slightly tricky parts are the short section after railing a 180 right berm at the bottom of that big air triple, where you need to carefully temper speed while taking a double/double, the first double of which transitions from a small to med jump. Fortunately the 2nd double is two small jumps, making a subtle hop leaned into a 90 left with a downslope landing accessible. This benefits you because the next section is fast whoops if entered with speed.
The last but certainly least of the tracks tricky bits, is a steeply banked 180 left berm into a big air double off the finish line jump. What makes it tricky is there's a hairpin right turn at the bottom of the big air double's 2nd jump. So it's a combination of railing off the180 berm to maintain speed, but then tempering speed just before the big air double to avoid overshooting the hairpin turn.
Once again, I had a very small lead at the final time check, only a few tenths, and I barely got beat on fastest lap time. Sometimes I wonder if I'm delusional thinking these tracks will help me win on Realistic, because honestly, though they are relatively easy to ride, the AI ride them pretty fast.
These are all on Medium AI difficulty. I started out learning the tracks on Very Easy, then Easy. It wasn't until my 3rd play through on Medium that I started really getting the feel of what can and can't be done on these tracks. By the 3rd playthrough I also had all the Abilities maxed out, which is a new feature where you have to accrue points to buy them via your successes in career races, training, and training races. New as well to this game is an injury system, whereby crashes can injure you and affect how your acquired Abilities function. They made it very easy however to counter this via healing before the next event via 10,000 credits, and once you max the Resistance Ability, injuries no longer affect Abilities.
The tracks in this game are mostly harder to master than the last game, but some are relatively easy to pick up. This game is also made from the 2020 season, which was the first that was massively affected by COVID. The result was, the last 3 races in the 250 West career, and the last 5 in the 250 East career, are all in Salt Lake. The last 7 races in the 450 career are there as well. The starts are a bit harder to time than the last game, and it's more crucial to get a good one. Even if you time it perfectly, often times the AI will time it well too. This is exacerbated by some start surfaces being slippery, and the effects of contact with AI having more adverse results. You also have to land your jumps more precisely vs the last game, or you will crash.
Other differences are, weight back acceleration on jump takeoffs and landings doesn't give you quite the boost it did in the last game, though I'm sure that is partly due to the difficulty of the jumps, and at times, having to accelerate out of sand. There's also not quite as much difference between 250 and 450 bikes, though again, could be partly due to the tracks. There IS however more difference in how one bike brand feels to another vs the last game, and I am also now ALWAYS tuning the suspension settings, which help with handling more than in the last game.
At first I thought the heavy use of the Salt Lake venue would sour my impression of the game, making it feel too repetitive. It has been quite the opposite though. For one, Dirt Wurx did an incredible job of designing several different tracks for Salt Lake, all of which feel uniquely different. They also lean a bit more toward the fun side, and aren't quite as technically demanding as others. As far as I know they did this specifically to make the riders feel more at ease at the end of the season during the stressful lockdown year. So this game's careers start with a mix of technically challenging tracks, but end with good old fashioned fun.
My favorite two bikes so far are the Yamaha and Honda. The Yamaha tends to have a bit better speed, but the Honda a bit better handling. The following videos are all on the Honda. My fave way to get a bike anymore is to sign a contract with a sponsor on the secondary page for contracts. The reason being, they have MANY more offers from race teams, and show the performance rating. You can't get these contracts easy though. Winning one race season is not enough. You have to have built up a bit of a reputation.
The 250 West races are all done on the Phoenix Racing Honda team.
250 West
Round 1 Anaheim 1
I would describe this as a moderately difficult track. There's no extremely technical features or deep sand, but it has a couple sections that can trip you up if not careful. I kept missing the triple in the 1st rhythm section due to catching my rear tire on the jump after the tabletop. The section after that however is relatively easy to get a triple/triple combo on right off a 180 berm. The crash you see on the 2nd triple there with 2 Laps to Go was purely my not noticing my landing pitch was too steep. I also made the same mistake in the section after it earlier in the race. The only thing I can attest this to is the body positioning, unlike last game, must be done while NOT revving the throttle, something I'm having a hard time getting used to.
Having a best lap time by roughly .4 sec at the end was not bad considering the 2 crashes. You have to do roughly 2 sec better lap time to handle Realistic mode though, or about 1 sec faster per difficulty mode from Medium.
Round 2 St Louis
This one is hard to get a good start if you compete strait off the drop of the gate, I was getting pushed outside a lot even if I got a perfect start and others didn't. This is mostly due to my choosing to not go through all the lap time qualifying and choosing a better gate. Many say that only gets your hopes up, as AI do MUCH faster laps in the race than in qualifying. They also put you in the very outside gate by default if you don't go through qualifying, vs the 3rd spot from very outside in the last game. No worries though, I resulted to my old tactic of letting them go by, then making a bee line for the apex behind them, which is easy enough on this track to even get the holeshot.
It's also handy that the very 1st jump after the holeshot line is med vs the usual small, which makes it easy to hit a triple/triple/double/double combo to complete the first section with a lead (on Medium AI anyway). The only real challenging part of this track is nailing a triple to a tabletop out of a 180 berm on the section after the first whoop section. If you don't it really slows you down. I flubbed it the 1st two laps, but nailed it every lap after that.
A bit better results on this one due to no crashes, but still only a .7 sec faster lap. Clearly to ready yourself for Realistic, it's looking like no crashes are not enough. You also can't afford to miss rhythm section marks. I have a feeling this track will feel easy now that I have the technique down for that triple to tabletop jump though.
Round 3 Anaheim 2
Here we have the first track with some fairly technical features. They are not necessarily super hard features, they can just trip you up badly if you aren't careful how you take them. If you can manage a perfect start here, you can clear the field to the holeshot even from the outside gate, largely due to the first turn being a loose 90 left. A good lead is very helpful though, because after 2 easy and short rhythm sections, there's a 180 right to a short section with 2 tabletops. This is the 1st technical spot I was referring to. You are best off landing the 1st tabletop on it's right side with a subtle hop to the front of it, in order to use the small ramp that is only on the right side to easily jump to the other tabletop. Compounding the complexity of this section, particularly if AI are near, is it is best to hop to the LEFT side of the 2nd tabletop, in order to take the upcoming 90 right wide after hopping over a small jump. This gives you a MUCH better chance to get enough speed out of this turn to land a triple, which in turn allows for a fairly easy triple after that, into a big air triple.
Nailing that section consistently is a game changer, but it is also a section that starts with ONE good line through it, and I've seen how bad it gets when AI are crowding you. The only other tricky spot is a seemingly simple dragon's back climb to a drop off, then the finish line jump. It can produce VERY inconsistent results as to how well you come off that finish line jump, because there's a med jump you need to clear between the dragon's back drop and the finish line jump. It's basically like this, if you manage to bounce off the very last bump of the dragon's back, you'll be able to hit the finish line jump with enough speed to land a big air double. If not, you are considerably slowed down by the very big and steeply faced 2nd jump of that big air double. I'm still working out a line or speed to take this dragon's back drop consistently, and I've even tried both weighting back and forward. Calibrating speed is hard though, as you have to go by feel since the game has no speed indicator on the HUD like the last one did.
Though I went from miserable results to a just over 20 sec lead at last time check and a best lap time by 2.2 sec, even after going off track trying to land that triple off the 90 right once, I can't help but think what problems will arise if I don't nail that dragon's back drop better on Realistic.
Round 4 Glendale
This is a triple crown race that I will only show the 2nd leg of due to it representing the best lines to take. This is also the very first track I got a beat my chest feeling on due to managing a difficult triple out of a 180 berm, which is beyond what the Flow Aid suggests. It also helps immensely as it allows you to seamlessly connect to a double and big air triple after that. What's really odd, is the Flow Aid line shows a landing point in between the 2nd and 3rd large jumps of that big air triple, but the AI often clear the whole big air triple. This is why I knew I'd have to nail that triple off the 180 berm, which I can now do fairly consistently.
There's two other tricky sections of this track. One is a big jump to a large bend with deep sand. If you land this jump well on the very inside of the bend at just the right speed, you can coast through the tight part of the bend, then accelerate out of it with good momentum. This is because the very inside part of the bend has a very subtle, narrow platform you can roll well on, but too much speed will cause you to drop off it into a rut, then bog down and spin coming out of the bend.
The last tricky part is a particularly nasty rhythm section that has 2 tabletops. This section comes after a dogleg left out of a fast, flat strait. The trick is to stay left so you hit a small ramp on the left side of the first tabletop, which allows an easy transition to the next tabletop. If done just right at the proper speed, it also allows you to finish this section with a double/double/double combo. More often than not, I miss both the tabletop to table top connection, as well as the double/double/double combo. I just hope both aren't required consistently on Realistic. I'm thinking my results here might be good enough for Hard mode, but that's just this one leg, the other two I did worse on.
Round 5 Oakland
Here we are DEFINITELY stepping up to a technically hard track. It starts off all cute and enticing with an easy enough triple/triple/double combo, I mean I even managed it fighting through the pack. Then it surrenders with a double/triple/single combo, the triple of which is the 2nd beyond Flow Aid jump I've managed. Then it has you begging for more after an easy short rhythm section ending with a big air double off the finish line jump, then a loose left. The fun continues into a giggly fast section with a fast, flat strait into an AI defying dogleg left jump onto a deep sand section. Now we're slinging into 2 semi big air doubles after a 180 left and a 90 right, both with momentum facilitating berms.
Then you gasp as what you are looking at ahead is something you've never seen before. I don't even know what it's called, but it basically looks like a tabletop placed in a sharp right, with a subtle lip of a berm, and it has a small ramp on it's left side to make connecting to the tabletop just after it accessible. Upon first encounter, no SEVERAL encounters, it can be hard just to master how to land on it without falling off it, let alone make a jump to the next tabletop with fluid momentum.
If you accomplish that, you have an easy enough 180 left berm into a fast whoop section, which you can at times use to catch AI that pass you, then a big air triple into a 180 left berm, easy enough. What follows is perhaps even more perplexing than that crazy tabletop turn. It's basically a rhythm section from hell, with a set of steeply faced jumps, connected to another set of the same, via a dogleg right where there's a small pie shaped tabletop. The only saving grace here is the gaps between these jumps aren't too deep, especially near the tabletop. My main concern is the AI often catch and pass me here, and I always seem to have different, unpredictable results through it. I also often look like I'm about to crash, but I think the shallowness of the jump gaps prevents it mostly.
My only recourse was to catch the AI that had passed me on the strait just after, and give them a subtle nudge to the outside of the track in the left bend going into that 1st rhythm section again. Very surprisingly though, I got best lap time, but only by .3 sec. This track is going to continue to be a work in progress.
Round 6 San Diego
I call this track the sand monster. The start and first section are easy enough, even when battling AI, but there's a lot of sand that bogs you down on certain parts of the track ahead. The main problematic area comes right after 2 whoop sections connected by a 180 left. At the end of the 2nd whoop section, the track splits into an inner and outer lane in a very wide, flat 180 left turn. I found it hard to consistently get enough speed out of this turn due to the sandy soil, to adequately clear the triple/double the Flow Aid suggests in the short rhythm section after. Therefore this is the first place in the game I chose to handle a rhythm section with a shorter starting jump than the Flow Aid suggests, however it results in a single/double/double combo, which is usually a bit slower than a 2 jump sequence.
The other area that is a bit tricky comes just after a fairly easy sharp right, then double/single that follows the aforementioned tough section. You then cross the start chute, and go into a sharp left, immediately into a big air double off the big finish line jump. There's a pretty good berm to use on the sharp left to facilitate momentum going into the big air double, but the sandy soil can cause you to slip, and fall just short of the big air double, which slows you down. It's not nearly as bad as the prior tough section mentioned though.
On a positive note, there is much room for improvement, as I was making silly mistakes I should be able to avoid with more time on this track. I also managed to triple the 2nd to last jump in a section where the Flow Aid suggested a double there, although it doesn't lessen the number of jumps used. I also have to kind of face facts that the AI are pretty consistent and fast on this track. Despite my silly mistakes and inconsistency with that toughest section after the track splits into 2 lanes though, I had a 4.1 sec lead on the final lap just prior to that split track section. There were 2 AI that had faster laps than my best by 2-3 tenths though, so improve I must if I want to conquer Hard and Realistic.
Round 7 Salt Lake
Now for the fun tracks, and hopefully my best chance at beating Realistic. Honestly though, I made some errors here, which I know I can clean up, so the AI nearly beat me, and I didn't get fastest lap time. The only spots that come close to being tricky are a couple of long, fast rhythm sections. These sections have great flow when you hit them, but can slow you down and allow AI to catch up if you don't. The first is the very first rhythm section where you can triple into it off a 180 berm on subsequent laps. This section can also be tripled on it's 2nd to last jump, vs the double the Flow Aid suggests, but it doesn't lessen the number of jumps required to get through the section. The second comes after a whoop section and starts with a double and has 2 tabletops.
Even though I was behind by almost .1 sec at the final time check, and bested on fastest lap by .2 sec, I am looking at the potential here, not the mistakes. It's because tracks like these are much easier to ride with little to no mistakes.
Round 8 Salt Lake
I'm going to call this track Take The Long Way Home. Supertramp was one of my fave bands growing up, but I chose that name as a reminder not to try to shortcut an entry to one of the only two tricky sections on this track, as it doesn't go well I found. These sections come back to back just after a section with a big air triple after the prior section which starts with a big air double off the finish line jump. Following the big air triple, you have a very atypical 180 into a long rhythm section. By this I mean it is completely flat and sort of triangular shaped. This is because it's the bend of the start chute just before the holeshot line. The left side having the Tuff Blocks that line the edge of the start chute, the ride side being the line of Tuff Blocks that block off the first part of the start chute after the riders cross the holeshot line.
Since it feels odd and slow to go all the way into the tip of this triangular 180, in order to get enough run up speed to the next rhythm section to manage a triple/triple/single combo, I tried more than once to take the 180 at it's apex, to see if starting with a single or double would suffice as well, while saving a bit of time using the apex of the 180. I always failed to hit the double, and had a tendency as well of overshooting the single. I may make more attempts at a single jump entry to this section, but for now it feels like I have to Take the Long Way Home.
The section just after that one is the other tricky part, but only if you try to go beyond doubling all the way through it as the Flow Aid suggests. So I no doubt could have and should have had a better lead than the 1.1 sec I had at the final time check, and probably would have had fastest lap time by more than the mere .2 sec I managed to lead with, but at least now I know what works and what doesn't
Round 9 Salt Lake
This is a Salt Lake track that goes beyond fun and easy a bit, and adds a dash of spicy technical features. The start can be tough even with a good lead, as the first left is a tight bend that slows you down and can cause AI to catch up. The first 2 sections are best if taken precisely, but also allow some slop without losing a lot of speed. You're definitely best off hitting a wide entry into the 90 right going into the 3rd section though, as the left side of it's first jump has yet another one of those small ramps. This ramp helps you get adequate transition height and speed to connect 3 doubles on what feels like saddle jumps.
It's also helpful to take the 90 right after that section wide at it's berm, as it makes the start of the next section easier, which is a double to back to back on/offs on tabletops. The only other concern is not getting too overzealous with the end of this section, as you CAN triple vs the double the Flow Aid suggests on the 2nd to last jump, but it's best to come out of it with another controlled 90 right to avoid swinging wide and scraping Tuff Blocks, which can adversely affect the big air triple you need to hit.
The only other slightly tricky parts are the short section after railing a 180 right berm at the bottom of that big air triple, where you need to carefully temper speed while taking a double/double, the first double of which transitions from a small to med jump. Fortunately the 2nd double is two small jumps, making a subtle hop leaned into a 90 left with a downslope landing accessible. This benefits you because the next section is fast whoops if entered with speed.
The last but certainly least of the tracks tricky bits, is a steeply banked 180 left berm into a big air double off the finish line jump. What makes it tricky is there's a hairpin right turn at the bottom of the big air double's 2nd jump. So it's a combination of railing off the180 berm to maintain speed, but then tempering speed just before the big air double to avoid overshooting the hairpin turn.
Once again, I had a very small lead at the final time check, only a few tenths, and I barely got beat on fastest lap time. Sometimes I wonder if I'm delusional thinking these tracks will help me win on Realistic, because honestly, though they are relatively easy to ride, the AI ride them pretty fast.
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