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F-Zero X (Nintendo 64) >> FZX Tips & Strategies >> looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
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looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by thesorehead on Apr 24th, 2003, 09:51am

hey all... just saw some times and man... I thought I was at least OK! I suck!

so that's why I came here... and encountered a wierd technique in the "silence" thread called "sliding" or "ralisliding"

is this what I think it is - somehow sliding along the outer fence without dying? Or something else? What the...??

also - I saw some of the tops speeds are like 50 000 or something ludicrous like that... how the hell....?
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by DavePhaneuf on Apr 24th, 2003, 2:29pm

Don't lose confidence. You can only get better right?

Yup. There is a technique called Railsliding in Silence. It's where you slide on the rail to increase your speed. It may take energe away but you can get it back at the refiller. It's only recommended for lap 1. You can do this in many other tracks as well. There are even a few where you can do that and give yourself enough speed to catch some air and do a dive. ^^

And as for the top speeds. Those are all the track maxspeeds combined. (You probably already knew that). In some tracks there are ways to get reall high speeds and even the highest possible which is 3000 NTSC and 2500 PAL.

Hope I was able to help out. ^^
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by FluddyFlea on Apr 24th, 2003, 3:59pm

hehe i know that feeling remember when i first tried sliding i thought how the hell am i ever going to get this working? hehe well i still suck but atleast beat all the staff ghosts and am ranken around 15 (!) on one track, makes me happy enough (mute city 2)

check the boards there are some recent posts on sliding, and railsliding is just taking it a step further.

Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by thesorehead on Apr 24th, 2003, 8:46pm

erm... thanks for the posts but at the risk of seeming an even worse noob:

how do you railslide? How do you actually get your car to jump up onto the rail @ the edge of the track??

thanks again
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by Webmaster on Apr 25th, 2003, 02:28am

You don't actually get on top of the rail, you just have the nose of your vehicle against the rail.
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by thesorehead on Apr 29th, 2003, 02:24am

sorry man but that makes no sense... I'll keep trying, but so far I'm just grinding myself away here...

is there like some angle or technique to use that will actually result in speed GAIN from this tactic??
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by Webmaster on Apr 29th, 2003, 06:50am

Hey, I feel your pain, man. I can't do it either. But it exists, cuz they all talk about it, and I've seen it on video. Someone will come along and explain the strat soon. Hang tight.
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by David Van Moer on Apr 29th, 2003, 09:05am

Are you sure you're using Night Thunder or Blood Hawk set at maximum acceleration ? ( or any E-grip car for that matter )
If so then it really isn't that hard to get your speed up to around 820 kph PAL ( 1040 NTSC) just driving with your nose at around a 60° angle against the rail without boosting.

Or you can do a little bounce like this against the rail in a light corner to gain more speed.

hmm.. looks like an FZX guide might still be handy as so many people still have questions about the strats.


DVM

Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by Webmaster on Apr 29th, 2003, 10:26am

An FZX guide would be INCREDIBLY handy! Popularity for this game is increasing, so there are just going to be more repeats of these questions in the future.
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by FluddyFlea on Apr 29th, 2003, 3:22pm

but DVM there is already the guide you wrote (part of Karl Jobst's guide) over at gamefaqs. why dont you have it here too? I thought there must be a reason for this more than the webmaster not knowing about it. well thats were I learned about sliding once upon a time

of course we would need an updated one with TDD and stuff. JKT GET WRITING NOW!!!
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by David Van Moer on Apr 29th, 2003, 5:27pm

Wouldn't hurt to update that faq and put it here I guess. It's so very outdated it's not even funny

But good thing that JKT's vids are back online. Shows it all much better than words can ever explain.

DVM
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by JordanS88 on Apr 30th, 2003, 3:03pm

My strats are pretty simple but I've beat all 24 staffs with them... *puts name forward*

Favourite "me" strats have to be on White Land 2 and Sector Beta. I'd be glad to post them here if wanted. They're actually pretty simple to execute. =)
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by JordanS88 on Apr 30th, 2003, 3:09pm

on Apr 29th, 2003, 02:24am, thesorehead wrote:
sorry man but that makes no sense... I'll keep trying, but so far I'm just grinding myself away here...

is there like some angle or technique to use that will actually result in speed GAIN from this tactic??


Like some people have said. Approximately 60 to 75 degrees against the wall will work.

It takes a little while, I have never gotten below 1:09 with it. However, until you do get to that point, try sliding:

- After the first booster on the lap, slide against the left rail.
- On laps 2 and 3, slide against the right rail as you go through the pits. You'll lift off as you exit and get a pretty nice maxspeed. (Make sure to hold down once you get in there, not as you lift off.)

It won't get you great times, but it will give you practice. I'm sure the masters will tell you where to slide to get REALLY good at it.
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by thesorehead on May 6th, 2003, 12:49am

OK so what I'm getting here is that there are only a few tracks where railsliding is actually useful... right?
Also it's pretty obvious now that you need to use an "E" grip car... OK I'll concentrate on them.



Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by DJF on May 29th, 2003, 07:42am

Me too.

I used to think I was at least ok until I found this site today. Man, I suck so damn much it's almost embarrasing.

At least I have a 1"04'676 time on Silence with the Twin Noritta without using any dodgy techniques. - That's something I'm still proud of due to the amount of practice it took. LOL.
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by DavePhaneuf on May 29th, 2003, 8:26pm

There are quite a few tracks where railsliding can be alot of help. I'll list some:

-Mute City
-Silence
-Devil's Forest
-Sector Alpha
-Mute City 2
-Big Blue 2
-Fire Field
-Red Canyon 2
-White Land 2
-Mute City 3
-Devil's Forest 3
-Space Plant
-Sand Ocean 2
-Port Town 2

Some of these tracks only have 1 unique place to do a railsliding, while others have lots. And some tracks railsliding doesn't make much difference while others can really help your time. It can also be useful for getting speed records. ^^
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by Swingat on Aug 20th, 2003, 5:24pm

Hang in there with the sliding practice fellow-beginners. Upto 48-hours ago, I couldn't do it at all. I was bouncing all over the place. Over the last 2 days, though, it's finally staring to happen. I knocked 4 seconds off my Port Town 1 LAP time!! Also, the thrill of boost-sliding around the first part of Silence 2, makes all the frustration of learning to slide worthwhile. Learning to slide has made the game seem fresh and new for me again, but there's still a lot of challenge. Once you learn to slide, you don't just destroy all your old times, you have to learn where to slide, just to get close to your non-sliding times. But catch a slide just right, and exit the corner straight, and you'll be knocking seconds of your times..

Best practice, for me, was on DF1 for right-handers, and DF3 for left-handers.

Once you get the hang of it, go to Port Town 1 (a track that I used to hate), and let it rip.

My next aim is to learn to railslide. My first-lap times are pathetic...
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by AlexP on Aug 25th, 2003, 08:40am

I can get railsliding to work but i cannot get times with it, that is probably why my times would be almost last on the tracks. And i practiced, i played this game more than any other F-Zero game and my times totally *** at the ranks, even now i am improving them a bit before submitting them to the ranking, go easy dude, the X ranks are probably the toughest to get a good rank at, i played a lot and i still can`t match these guys.
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by RP on Aug 25th, 2003, 09:14am

The X rankings are definitely the easiest to get a good rank.

The course totals at the top have huge differences, about 2 minutes from rank 1 to rank 15.

The key to gain positions is max speed.
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by mgblair on Aug 25th, 2003, 12:26pm

I'm no master but I can tell you that railsliding right at the beginning of almost every track (or maybe every single one??) will get your speed up higher than the top speed of any car on maxspeed settings. Railsliding is especially useful on Fire Field. I beat the staff ghost yesterday without even knowing it lol.
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by Swingat on Aug 25th, 2003, 3:12pm

Railsliding is very important in the first lap of Devil's Forest 1 as well. You loose so much time down that long straight without it.
As for Fire Field. You can take-off on the first lap coming down the ramp by railsliding at the beginning. Worth 2 seconds on the ghost..

I've beat nearly every staff ghost now. Devil Forest 2 looks totally beyond me, though....
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by RP on Aug 25th, 2003, 3:33pm

on Aug 25th, 2003, 12:26pm, mgblair wrote:
I'm no master but I can tell you that railsliding right at the beginning of almost every track (or maybe every single one??) will get your speed up higher than the top speed of any car on maxspeed settings. Railsliding is especially useful on Fire Field. I beat the staff ghost yesterday without even knowing it lol.


Are you talking to me?

With "max speed is the key to gain positions" I wanted to tell you novice guys, that it is important to improve the max speeds on each track, if you want to get into the master ranks.

I really know how useful the expert techniques are in F-Zero X, so you canīt tell me anything new.
Re: looks like I'm actually a total flunk!
Post by mgblair on Aug 25th, 2003, 8:08pm

RP, I was actually talking to Alexp. Another thing...what I meant by top speed of cars with maxspeed, I meant without boost (I think its around 915 NTSC?). I know that's obvious to most people, just trying to make a point that railsliding can get you speeds above that...and is essential for fast times on fire field