Tipps, Tricks & Cheats

There's no doubting that No Second Prize is the best polygon motorbike game out. The trouble is, though, it can be a touch too hard when the season begins to hot up and the riders start jostling for the Number One spot. We reckon that it's about time someone helped you through the racing calendar and here, courtesy of Erik Simon, Thorsten Mutschall and Christian Jungen (the No Second Prize team), are some tip-top tips...

For Beginners

• The best driver for beginners is Rainer. He's an all-round guy who behaves well in curves and can take a few hits. You should use him until you are perfectly familiar with the steering and the way the other drivers behave.
• The forth track, Mallory Park, is ideal for training with the other drivers. They are a little faster there than on Track 1 but Mallory Park doesn't have a lot of tricky bends.
• If you're out to win the season and embarrass all the other riders then you should choose Michelle. She's the best driver of the six (and why not?) but you should be a trained player to race with her because it will only take one or two collisions to send her championship hopes up in flames.
• If you are racing through the whole season then you should only save the game after every three tracks or so because of the limited amount of times that you are allowed to record your position. Once your position is saved you should practise the next three tracks intensively so that they soon become second nature. Then return to the season and you should find the game easier because you'll know the locations of all the tricky curves.
• It's best to begin to use the manual gears as soon as possible. The automatic gear-shift doesn't rev the motor to its limits so you'll be able to use additional acceleration if you change gears yourself. Don't be afraid to accelerate until all the red lights of the rev meter are on (don't try this at home, kids!) as you can only seriously damage the motor if you change down several gears too quickly.

General Tips

• Clean your mouse and use a mouse pad. This may sound obvious but Thalion spent ages getting the steering just right and they don't want to be blamed for a piece of grime causing damage at a hairpin bend.
• The latter tracks feature higher hills. If you speed over them too quickly then you'll lose contact with the road and for a short time NSP will turn into a flight simulator (great program, isn't it?). If you do find yourself briefly in the air then try not to move the mouse around otherwise you'll veer off at a weird angle when you land.
• Also featured later on in the season are pitch black obstacles which slow you down dramatically. If you find a few of these in front of you, and the situation gets critical, then drive on the grass in preference to the black stuff as the grass doesn't slow you down as much.
• If you aren't racing as Ray (whose acceleration leaves all the others standing) then try to avoid overtaking the other racers immediately as it's likely to end in tears. Stay behind them for half a lap or so and wait until they've battled their own positions out, after which overtaking should become a lot easier because the field will be more drawn out.
• Activate the pause mode and cameras only when you're on a straight otherwise you'll find it difficult to get back into the race again.
• The motorbikes in NSP have much more precise collision detection than the other objects so don't be afraid to go quite near to the opponents when overtaking.
• Once a season is successfully completed the game won't be over. You'll be able to start a new season but the menu background colours will be different, indicating that you are now in Super Tough mode. All the other drivers will race around the tracks as quickly as they did in the 20th track of normal mode but they won't get any faster. By way of compensation (and to give you another fair go), you'll be allocated another eight savegame slots.

Cheats

• If you' re keen to break the existing lap records, then do the following: Wait at the start until the other drivers have nearly completed their first lap. When they're a good measure behind you should race the track as fast as you can. You'll obviously not encounter any opponents and there will be less black and brown amateurs cluttering up the course.
• There's a kind of cheat embedded in the game but it takes some time to use properly and should only be employed if you're desperate to win a race. What you need to do is nothing! Yes, just hang around at the start for 59 minutes and 59 seconds. When the hour is up and the clock wraps around to 0:00:00 once again you can drive a few metres to the finishing line and win the race in absolutly no time at all! An egg-timer can be very useful here.
• Type "human ate alien" at the main option screen to enable cheat mode with access to all tracks. A cycling colour bar will appear to confirm correct code entry. Press one of the following keys to activate the corresponding cheat function:
  • [F1]: Restart race
  • [F3]: Toggle collision detection
  • [F4]: 180° turn (Atari ST)
  • [F5]: 180° turn (Amiga)

Additional hints (by Hektik of Supremacy in Deviant Designers #10)

• Play on automatic gears and leave the mouse response level on 3 as this is the best in my opinion.
• When you get used to playing the game, don't use the brakes on the first few levels as you do not really need them.
• Use Michelle (the blonde woman) as she is very fast and is excellent on curves, but try not to crash as she is not very strong.
• Watch out for the signs on the track that tell you how big the next bend is and what direction it goes in. If the sign only shows one or two arrows, don't bother slowing down - but if the sign shows three arrows slow down to around 180 and you will make it.
• Watch out for obstacles on the track on the later levels - if your bike hits them you will be slowed down drastically.

Additional hints (by members of the Lemon Amiga Forum and English Amiga Board)

• In general, hold the power on and skid through all the corners as much as possible. At least 90 % of all corners can be driven flat if your rider is good at curves.
• You just stop accelerating as long as you skid. Hence as long as you're below maximum speed you should minimize skidding.
• Remember the Jackie Stewart method: Brake just before the corner, point, accelerate through the corner from the start.
• Cutting the grass corners will help slow you down and take corners sharper, but not too much or it's not worth it (grass is an instant time killer).
• Go through easy (one arrow) corners by taking the fastest line. There is no need to take off the power.
• Medium corners are shown by two chevrons/ arrows on the corner. Go wide or cut in, and throw the bike hard into the corner, aiming for the inside. When the bike begins to skid you'll lose some speed, which can be helpful. If you attempt the skid, don't bother releasing the power.
• Hard corners are often shown by red and yellow barriers on the corner, but this is by no means a sure indication. Either gear down, or tap the brake for two seconds by holding down the left mouse button, or go for the skid turn. Eight times out of ten you'll still make it with a skid turn, but once or twice on a hard circuit you may need to gear down or brake. Back on the power asap. As said above, even three arrow corners can be taken at 'full skid' sometimes.
• I find the tyres warm up after a few laps and so performance gets better. Try to survive until the 4th or 5th lap and then go for it.
• Anticipate other riders early. They won't crash into you intentionally or weave much, but if you run into the back of a guy on a corner that's just too bad.
• Playing Guide on YouTube

Hints for track #1 - Paul Ricard

Do you have any hints for the two corners I've highlighted on the right? I always break for them both. I was wondering whether it's possible to do them any other way, and also what kind of upside there is for using manual gears (in terms of seconds per lap). For the first one (top-right) you have to break a little, I usually get around it with a speed somewhere between 270-290 km/h. For the second one (bottom-left), start as far right on the track as possible and flat out. Start breaking a fraction after the sign appears (indicating the left turn), turn as sharp as possible (you'll have to learn the timing) and around the apex of the corner (halfway through the hairpin) floor it. If done right you should come out of the corner (by the time you straighten up) with a speed around 290 km/h or better. The main advantage of manual gears is better acceleration because you can rev each gear to maximum before shifting. So on tracks with corners that require shifting down gears you can maintain a higher speed and reach top speed faster on exit. (members of the Lemon Amiga Forum and English Amiga Board)

Hints for track #2 - Chiswick

• Select manual gears and Michelle. Start off and short shift into 5th and stay there. Take all the corners on the first lap flat in 5th to get used to the fact that all the corners must be done flat, but without risking crashing so much. When you see the black stand on the right, it's up to 6th gear and you're on for the lap. All you have to do is repeat the above in 6th, taking the finger off the power for a second only in an emergency. Go out before each corner and cut in. If you forget to go out and try to take the inside line you'll find bikers already there and you may not make the corner.
• I did a 51.50 using Michelle and automatic gears. Foot to the floor for the first lap making sure you cross the start/ finish line at maximum speed (329 km/h), never lift and keep it to the racing line hugging as tight to the inside corners as possible. It will take nothing less than a perfect run, so don't expect to get it right first time. (members of the Lemon Amiga Forum and English Amiga Board)

Hints for track #6 - Tetbury

• As above, but go into 6th as soon as you can after the final hairpin and before the pink road bumps. Aim for all the arrow signs, going to the inside of one arrow corners and swinging out to the three arrow sign before cutting into a hard corner. (members of the Lemon Amiga Forum and English Amiga Board)

Hints for track #7 - Cadwell Park

• The corner with the tall building, did you take that flat out? It's possible, but you have to get the timing perfect - too soon and you clip the building... too late and you ride straight into the trees!
  • I worked out that you could take it full throttle towards the end, but I became so used to breaking a little that I decided to stick with it, especially as you have to break at the next corner anyway.
    • What speed did you take through that corner you have to break on? I usually aim for 290 although I think I once took it at 300 and got away with it with some fancy mousework.
      • After the second hump, I break to about 300 km/h and do a sharp left turn. The windy bit that follows can also be done at around the same speed if (a very big if) there are no bikers in the way.
• What about the penultimate corner? When I'm around 310, I can take that full speed, but whenever I come to it at 329, I always seem to hit the grass at some point, which makes me want to break just a tiny bit whenever I'm on a really good lap.
  • I think I have taken it at full speed before. I seem to end up on the grass, so I think I lifted off the throttle (and no breaking) until I hit the apex (halfway through the corner) before flooring it again. You should exit that corner at 315 km/h or better. Actually, I tested that corner today. It is possible to take it at 329 km/h, but you have to start as far left as possible, turn into it as far as you can (and prey no bikers are on the inside) and you should just make it (you will come within a whisker of going onto the grass). (members of the Lemon Amiga Forum and English Amiga Board)