______________ ____________ \ __________ \ / ________ / \ \ \ \/ / / / \ \ \ / / / ______________\ \______ \/ / /______________________ / ________ ________ \ / ______________ \ / / ____ \ / ____ \ \ / / \ \ / / / /__/ / / /__/ | / / \ \ / / /_____ / /_____ / \ / __ \ \ / /_______ \ /_______ \ \ \ /______/ \ / / / ___ / /___ / / / \ / / / / / /____/ // /____/ / / _ \ ______/ / / \ \_________/ \_________/ / / \ \ \ \ \ \ _______/ / \ \ \____ \ \ \ / / _ \__________\ \ \ \ \ / / / \ __________ / / / \_________ /________/ / \ \ \_________/ / / /______________/ \ \ / / \ \ / / \ \_______________________/ / \___________________________/ ASCII ART by Viktor Nilsson SSX 3 Complete FAQ Version 1.0!!!!1!!oneoneone!!! (Final Version - 5.10.04) Compiled by gondee gondee6@yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------------------ | Advice by members of the Merqurycity.com Message Boards, | | the PS2 SSX 3 Gamefaqs.com boards and Internet | | contributors: gondee, Vix, ssxtitan, Viktor Nilsson, | | Dreaming Gamer, YoshiXL, countercycle, MrChaos, | | confessor, Silverstarfire, Gamer EX, DeathloksBear, | | UltimateApocalypse, Cody Ritchie, Krystony, Ghoti, | | happymachines, laidback0783, Jesster, Ravage, Gehodra, | | bonsai, irritatedlittleman, yuping00, FishEye, Rob, | | bryan haddon, Bad Karma, Wilson Tam, Cpd4224, vivi2000, | | Ru4Egames, WaPiTi, Mathochist, rikamaru, Gamingnerd | | Renato, Andrew, Dan Karies, Renato, AOSO, Frost | | michael-007, igloo, and other tip submittors. | ------------------------------------------------------------- If you are an author listed on this FAQ, and you want me to remove your submission, just e-mail me: gondee6@yahoo.com. Version Details --------------- ~ Version 1.0 - Added two great revamped racing guides from laidback0378. Added the great "Wired Gate 180" Trick from igloo. Finally added the Merqurycity.com scoreboard section to the guide so that you can compare your scores to the offline records that the best of the best get. Added Awesome 7.5 mil Style Mile guide from MrChaos. Added Happiness, Throne and Schizophrenia guides from michael-007. ~ Version 0.99a - Added a Peak 3 Jam guide of sorts from laidback0378 and the other great members of Merqurycity.com. - since the Peak Jam is so long, it features "High Scoring Locations" on the run. Added a few new Advanced Techniques from AOSO and Frost. Added an AMAZING 6 million+ guide from MrChaos. Added new Superpipe guides from yours truly since the old ones were so outdated. Added a Launch Time guide transcribed from a movie by MrChaos. Fixed the names of the rail ubers - big thanks to DDRKirby for the heads up. Added location of Snow Jam Wormhole. Requests: If you find any more High Scoring Locations on the Peak Jams, send me an e-mail describing where they are. Remember, these are areas where you can do jump after jump over and over by repeatedly turning around and doing them again and again. =============================================================================== TABLE OF CONTENTS =============================================================================== Note: To find a particular section, copy the bracketed words [these] into the "Find" command of your browser and you will jump directly to that section. Prelim: Introduction a. FAQ Introduction [PrelimIntro] b. Is this official [PrelimOfficial] c. Submission Policy [PrelimSubmit] d. About the different sections [PrelimAbout] 1. Gameplay System a. General Overview [GameplayOverview] b. Character Attributes [GameplayCharacter] c. Gameplay Controls [GameplayControls] d. Assorted Features [GameplayAssorted] e. Combo System [GameplayComboSys] f. Tricks - Uber/Monster [GameplayUber] g. In-Depth Uber Guide *NEW* [GameplayUberDepth] h. Monster Tricks [GameplayMonster] i. Handplants and Board Presses [GameplayHandplant] j. Advanced Techniques *NEW* [GameplayAdvanced] k. Frequently Asked Questions [GameplayFAQ] 2. Track Guides - Walkthroughs [TrackStart] Prelim: Mode Explanation [TrackModeExplain] PEAK 1 [TrackPeak1] a. Junction [TrackJunction] b. Metro-City Breakdown [TrackMetroCity] b-1: Finding the Subway Rail [TrackMetroSub] c. Crows Nest [TrackCrowsNest] d. Snow Jam [TrackSnowJam] d-1: The Snow Jam Wormhole [SnowJamWormhole] e. R&B [TrackR&B] f. Happiness [TrackHappiness] g. Peak 1 Race [TrackPeak1Race] h. Peak 1 Jam [TrackPeak1Jam] PEAK 2 [TrackPeak2] i. Intimidator [TrackIntimidator] j. Style Mile [TrackStyleMile] k. Schizophrenia [TrackSchizo] l. Ruthless Ridge [TrackRidge] m. Launch Time [TrackLaunchTime] n. Ruthless [TrackRuthless] o. Peak 2 Race [TrackPeak2Race] p. Peak 2 Jam [TrackPeak2Jam] PEAK 3 [TrackPeak3] q. Kick Doubt [TrackKickDoubt] r. Perpendiculous [TrackPerp] s. Gravitude [TrackGravitude] t. Much2Much [TrackMuch2Much] u. The Throne [TrackTheThrone] v. All-Peak Race [TrackAllPeakRace] w. All-Peak Jam [TrackAllPeakJam] 3. Challenges [ChallengeStart] a. BIG Challenges [ChallengeBIG] PEAK 1 [BIGPeak1] Crows Nest [BIGCrowsNest] Happiness [BIGHappiness] Snow Jam [BIGSnowJam] R&B [BIGR&B] Metro-City Breakdown [BIGMetroCity] Junction [BIGJunction] PEAK 2 [BIGPeak2] Ruthless Ridge [BIGRidge] Launch Time [BIGLaunchTime] Schizophrenia [BIGSchizo] Intimidator [BIGIntimidator] Style Mile [BIGStyleMile] Ruthless [BIGRuthless] PEAK 3 [BIGPeak3] Gravitude [BIGGravitude] Kick Doubt [BIGKickDoubt] The Throne [BIGTheThrone] Much2Much [BIGMuch2Much] Perpendiculous [BIGPerp] b. Career Highlights [ChallengeCareer] c. Platinum Medals [ChallengePlatinum] 4. Collection [CollectStart] a. Collectibles [CollectCollect] b. Rewards [CollectRewards] c. Hidden Characters [CollectHidden] 5. Characters [CharacterStart] a. Character Bio [CharacterBio] Allegra [BioAllegra] Elise [BioElise] Griff [BioGriff] Kaori [BioKaori] Mac [BioMac] Moby [BioMoby] Nate [BioNate] Psymon [BioPsymon] Viggo [BioViggo] Zoe [BioZoe] b. Bolt-Ons/Accessories [CharacterBoltOn] c. Frequently Asked Questions [CharacterFAQ] 6. Various Details [DetailsStart] a. Music [DetailsMusic] b. Cheats [DetailsCheats] c. SSX 3 Online [DetailsOnline] d. Frequently Asked Questions [DetailsFAQ] 7. Measuring Up [MeasureStart] a. Merqury City Scoreboard [MeasureBoard] b. Online Records [MeasureOnline] c. Frequently Asked Questions [MeasureFAQ] 8. Epilogue: Assorted Details [EpilogueStart] a. Legal [EpilogueLegal] b. Thanks and Credit [EpilogueThanks] c. Contributors Section [EpilogueContrib] =============================================================================== ONE MOUNTAIN, THREE PEAKS, INFINITE POSSIBILITIES =============================================================================== a. FAQ Introduction [PrelimIntro] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= SSX 3 is the latest installment in Electronic Arts Snowboarding Series. This FAQ will attempt to cover every aspect of this ginormous game and provide a single go-to source for help should you need it, (and you will probably need it, heheh.) Judging simply by the size of the game, you will be playing this game for tens, if not hundreds of hours if you want to get everything and bask in the glory of your 100% completion. It won't be easy, but I can guarantee you it will be a lot of fun. b. Is this guide official? [PrelimOfficial] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Nope. In the spirit of 7-Up (proud sponsor of SSX 3, lol): "Never has, never will be." This guide is nothing more than an attempt by fans of the game to help out others and provide a means of assistance to master SSX 3. The info in this guide comes from various sources across the internet, and I will wager, will often be much better than any official source you can buy. The collective SSX Community is one smart group, and players always find better methods of playing a game than a guide that was written before the game was even released. I will always attempt to validate any info here, but as with any FAQ, there can be errors. If you would like to report an error, please read the submission policy in the next section. c. Submission Policy [PrelimSubmit] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This guide is a huge undertaking, and is going to encompass, literally, hundreds of hours of work and dozens of people. If you want to be one of the people who help contribute to the Complete SSX 3 FAQ, please let me know: gondee6@yahoo.com. I will gladly take any submissions you can give me, but don't forget to take a look at the Table of Contents to get a good idea of what I'm looking for. All authors will recieve an author credit as well as a short bio in the "Contributors Section" at the end of this guide. Read my SSX Tricky FAQ to get a good idea of what this will entail. :) Please note that I reserve the right to edit any submissions for punctuation, grammar and spelling, in order to make the guide the best and most readable it can be. This doesn't entail altering the guides in any editorial way, however. As author, what you have written is yours. However, as compiler I also have the responsibility to keep this guide streamlined, and this includes the right to remove those parts of the guide that are obsolete or incorrect. For the most part, however, your work will remain in the guide "as is" and complete, for good. Again, send any submissions to gondee6@yahoo.com. Thanks! d. About the different sections [PrelimAbout] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= There are six main sections of this guide. All are organized (I think) relatively well and should be easy for readers to navigate. This guide is primarily written to be easy to read and printout (no useless ASCII stuff other than the pretty header, heheh) as well as detailed and complete. The GAMEPLAY section will explain all the various intricacies of the control system that you need to learn when playing SSX 3. This section also attempts to explain the trick system and cover it in detail. The trick system in SSX 3 has been given an overhaul, and is now more detailed than it has ever been. In years past, gamers have uncovered advanced techniques to get the most out of the trick system, and these techniques will be explored here. The TRACKS/WALKTHROUGHS section will have explanations of all the different modes in the game, as well as xtremely in-depth walkthoughs for EACH track. Pay attention to these, they can help you get over those rough spots and also set records. Each track should have multiple guides, and I will label the difficulty of each guide from "beginner" to "Master" in order so readers can pick the best one for their skill level. Each track will also have a time or score goal so you can know what the goal for each walkthrough was when it was written. The CHALLENGES section will list all 88 BIG Challenges in the game and offer a paragraph or two on how to pass them. Not to be taken lightly, the BIG Challenges are some of the most difficult parts of the game, and each Challenge will be rated in difficulty from "easy" to "insane". The reward for each Challenge will be listed as well, so you can pick those challenges you want to do to get the rewards you want the earliest. The COLLECTION section (hey, that rhymes) will list all the various things you need to collect in order to complete the game 100 percent. There are two basic modes to SSX 3: Competition and Collection/Adventure. The Collection portion of the game is enormous, with over 1000 Bolt-ons (accessories), dozens of tricks, hundreds of rewards and other things as well. The CHARACTERS section will list bios for the characters and initial information about them, as well as the specialized collectibles that only those characters can use. It will also contain information (with spoilers) about any returning or hidden characters that may (or may not) be in the game. The DETAILS section lists the various items that didn't really fit into any one category. I will cover the music section, the cheats and online play here, and explain anything else that may crop up that doesn't fit into any one category. The MEASURING UP section encompasses the various means of competition available to SSX 3 Players. It will cover both the Merqurycity.com SSX 3 Scoreboard and give an explanation of the Online Competition available. The EPILOGUE covers all the various legal, thanks and version updates. I've placed this at the end of the guide so readers can get directly to the meat of the SSX 3 FAQ. End of Explanation. In the words of DJ Atomica: "Enough talk...time to ride." =============================================================================== SECTION ONE: GAMEPLAY SYSTEM =============================================================================== a. General Overview [GameplayOverview] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The gameplay system in SSX 3 is very complicated, and this section will attempt to document all the various facets of gameplay. There are Four Basic selections to choose after you press Start at the title screen. Single Play, Conquer the Mountain, Multiplayer and Online Mode. Single Play mode is strictly an opportunity to play events. No freeriding or exploration is available here, and you can only play those tracks that you have unlocked in Conquer the Mountain. Conquer the Mountain is the main event. Here you power up your characters and do basically everything that is possible in the game. In order to unlock tracks in Single Play, you need to pass them here first. Multi-player is a chance to race your buddy. Two player, etc. Online is a game selection available for Playstation 2 only - see the Details section in section 6 in order to get the lowdown on how to play online. b. CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES [GameplayCharacter] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= All character attributes are rated from 1 to 11. 1. ACCELERATION is the rate at which your rider achieves top speed. The higher this attribute is, the faster they can reach 75MPH/120 KMH. 2. EDGING is the ability to turn. The higher this is, the sharper your boarder will be able to turn and navigate the twisty tracks of the mountain. Your boarder will take wider turns the lower this attribute is. 3. SPEED is ability to maintain top speed. All boarders top out at 75MPH/120KMH, eventually, but at lower levels you will not be able to achieve this until you have fully powered up your character. 4. SPIN is the ability of your character to spin and flip during jumps. The higher this attribute, the easier you will be able to perform 180s, 360s, flips, backflips and so forth. 5. STABILITY is the factor which affects how easily you land tricks and wipe out when you are turning sharply. At lower levels, you need to land perfectly to not get a stumbling animation, and you will also wipe out if you turn too sharply. 6. TOUGHNESS affects how easily you can be knocked down when someone punches you and how easily you wipe out when you collide with something. At low levels, a simple tap of a shoulder button can knock you down. At higher levels, the person will need to charge their punch before they will knock you down and simply tapping the shoulder buttons will only cause you to spin out if you are hit by a punch. 7. TRICKS is the factor that boosts the speed of your Ubers and Super Ubers. Your level 1 Ubers will be much slower to initiate and finish at lower levels. This affects all Ubers, but most noticeably the level 1 Ubers. PURCHASING ATTRIBUTE POINTS: +---------------------------+ Purchasing attribute points is essential to winning and conquering the mountain. You can buy attribute points at the Lodge at the different stations on each peak. Buying attribute points becomes more expensive as you get your character more powered up, so you'll need some serious cash before you can get them all the way finished. Each point, one through eleven, is made up of five "units" and these units are more expensive as you increase your characters skills. Each unit for the first point costs $250. At level 11, each unit costs a whopping $5000 points. At $82,000 dollars to power up one attribute, it will cost around $574,000 to fully power-up your character, so get crackin'! More info on this from Vix: This is the range of each level of the attributes....for example, say you bought all of the first block for each attribute, it would cost $8,750, then you go and buy all of the second block for each and that would cost $17,500... you get the idea: Level 2 - $8,750 Level 3 - $17,500 Level 4 - $26,250 Level 5 - $35,000 Level 6 - $43,750 Level 7 - $52,500 Level 8 - $61,250 Level 9 - $70,000 Level 10 - $87,500 Level 11 - $175,000 c. GAMEPLAY CONTROLS: [GameplayControls] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Below is a Table of Actions depending on where you are and what buttons you push. All systems are present. :) ON THE GROUND Action PS2 COMMAND +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Turn left/right Right or Left - Left Analog Stick or D-Pad Build Speed Up - Left Analog Stick or D-Pad Slow Down Down - Left Analog Stick or D-Pad Crouch/Jump X button - press and hold to crouch, release to jump Prewind Spins/Flips Press and hold D-Pad direction while holding Jump button Use Boost Square Button Board Press (Nose) Right Analog Stick Up Board Press (Tail) Right Analog Stick Down Push Opponent Any Shoulder Button (L1, L2, R1, R2) Block a Push L1+R1 IN THE AIR Action PS2 COMMAND +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Grab Board Any one or combination of shoulder buttons (L1,L2,R1,R2) Tweak a Grab Press and hold a grab, then push Square button Do late spins/flips Press D-Pad In-air Adjustment Left Analog Stick Handplant Press and immediately let go for a handspring, press and hold for a handstand. Push D-Button in any direction to lean. MISCELLANEOUS ACTIONS Action PS2 COMMAND +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Reset Boarder Select Button Pause Game Start Button Wipeout Recovery Square button (press until recovery bar is full) Grabs List - Each time you grab any combination of shoulder buttons in the air, you do a grab. Each grab has a name, though only 6 of them have Ubers attached to them once you get your boost meter charged up. Remember that if a grab has a secondary name like "Method MADNESS", that's the "tweaked" name of the trick and you need to first do the grab and THEN push the Tweak button to tweak out the grab. Here's the list of grabs based on the different game systems' shoulder buttons. Consult your instruction booklet if you still have questions. Gamecube has one less grab than the PS2 or X-box. BUTTON COMBINATION GRAB +---------------------------------------------+ L1 Method L2 Mute R1 Stalefish R2 Indy L1 + L2 Nosegrab R1 + R2 Tailgrab L1 + R1 Melancholy L2 + R2 Swiss Cheese L1 + R2 Stiffy R1 + L2 Lein L1 + L2 + R1 Stalemaskey L1 + L2 + R2 Seatbelt L1 + R1 + R2 Chicken Salad L2 + R1 + R2 Spaghetti L1 + L2 + R1 + R2 Shifty Tweaked Grabs List: Below is the list of every single grab in the game when tweaked, courtesy of Dan Karies. :) Regular Grab Tweaked Grabs - PS2 +-------------------------------------------------------------+ L1 (Method) Method MADNESS L2 (Mute) MUTATION R1 (Stalefish) FILET O' Stalefish R2 (Indy) SINFUL Indy L1 + L2 (Nosegrab) NOSEBLEED R1 + R2 (Tailgrab) Tail WAG L1 + R1 (Melancholy) GLEEFUL Melancholy L2 + R2 (Swiss Cheese) RIPE Swiss Cheese L1 + R2 (Stiffy) IFFY Stiffy R1 + L2 (Lein) MEAN Lein L1 + L2 + R1 (Stalemasky) FRESH Stalemasky L1 + L2 + R2 (Seatbelt) BUCKLED Seatbelt L1 + R1 + R2 (Chicken Salad) RUBBER Chicken Salad L2 + R1 + R2 (Spaghetti) MEATBALLED Spaghetti L1 + L2 + R1 + R2 (Shifty) NIFTY Shifty X-BOX GAMEPLAY CONTROLS +----------------------+ ON THE GROUND Action XBOX COMMAND +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Turn left/right Right or Left - Left Analog Stick or D-Pad Build Speed Up - Left Analog Stick or D-Pad Slow Down Down - Left Analog Stick or D-Pad Crouch/Jump A button - press and hold to crouch, release to jump Prewind Spins/Flips Press and hold D-Pad direction while holding Jump button Use Boost X Button Board Press (Nose) Right Analog Stick Up Board Press (Tail) Right Analog Stick Down Push Opponent Any Trigger (Left Trigger, Right Trigger) Block a Push Left Trigger + Right Trigger IN THE AIR Action XBOX COMMAND Grab Board Any one or combination of buttons (Right Trigger, X,Y,B) Tweak a Grab Press and hold a grab, then pull Left Trigger Do late spins/flips Press D-Pad In-air Adjustment Left Analog Stick Handplant Press and immediately let go for a handspring, press and hold the black button or white button for a handstand. Push D-Button in any direction to lean. MISCELLANEOUS ACTIONS Action XBOX COMMAND +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Reset Boarder Back Button Pause Game Start Button Wipeout Recovery X button (press until recovery bar is full) Grabs List - Each time you grab any combination of shoulder buttons in the air, you do a grab. Each grab has a name, though only 6 of them have Ubers attached to them once you get your boost meter charged up. Remember that if a grab has a secondary name like "Method MADNESS", that's the "tweaked" name of the trick and you need to first do the grab and THEN push the Tweak button to tweak out the grab. Here's the list of grabs based on the Xbox Controller. BUTTON COMBINATION GRAB +---------------------------------------------+ X Method Y Mute Right Trigger Stalefish B Indy Right Trigger + X Nosegrab Right Trigger + B Tailgrab X + Y Melancholy Y + B Swiss Cheese X + B Stiffy Right Trigger + Y Lein Right Trigger + X + Y Stalemaskey X + Y + B Seatbelt Right Trigger + X + B Chicken Salad Right Trigger + Y + B Spaghetti Right Trigger + X + Y + B Shifty Name of Grab Tweaked - X-BOX +--------------------------------------------------------+ X (Method) Method MADNESS Y (Mute) MUTATION Right Trigger (Stalefish) FILET O' Stalefish B (Indy) SINFUL Indy Right Trigger + X (Nosegrab) NOSEBLEED Right Trigger + B (Tailgrab) Tail WAG X + Y (Melancholy) GLEEFUL Melancholy Y + B (Swiss Cheese) RIPE Swiss Cheese X + B (Stiffy) IFFY Stiffy Right Trigger + Y (Lein) MEAN Lein Right Trigger + X + Y (Stalemasky) FRESH Stalemasky X + Y + B (Seatbelt) BUCKLED Seatbelt Right Trigger + X + B (Chicken Salad) RUBBER Chicken Salad Right Trigger + Y + B (Spaghetti) MEATBALLED Spaghetti Right Trigger + X + Y + B (Shifty) NIFTY Shifty GAMECUBE GAMEPLAY CONTROLS +--------------------------+ ON THE GROUND Action GC COMMAND +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Turn left/right Right or Left - Left Analog Stick or D-Pad Build Speed Up - Left Analog Stick or D-Pad Slow Down Down - Left Analog Stick or D-Pad Crouch/Jump A button - press and hold to crouch, release to jump Prewind Spins/Flips Press and hold D-Pad direction while holding Jump button Use Boost B (Red) Button Board Press (Nose) C-Stick Up (Yellow Stick) Board Press (Tail) C-Stick Down (Yellow Stick) Push Opponent Any Shoulder Button (L, R) Block a Push L+R IN THE AIR Action GC COMMAND +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Grab Board Any one or combination of shoulder buttons (L, R, Z) Tweak a Grab Press and hold a grab, then push B (Red) button Do late spins/flips Press D-Pad In-air Adjustment Left Analog Stick Handplant X-Button - Press and immediately let go for handspring, press and hold for a handstand. Push D-Button in any direction to lean. MISCELLANEOUS ACTIONS Action GAMECUBE COMMAND +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Reset Boarder Y-Button Pause Game Start Button Wipeout Recovery B (Red) button (press until recovery bar is full) Here is the list of grabs based on the Gamecube controller: BUTTON COMBINATION GRAB +----------------------------------------------+ R Method L Mute Z Stalefish R + L Indy L + Z Nosegrab R + Z Tailgrab L + R + Z Shifty Regular Grab Tweaked Grab - GC +----------------------------------------------------------+ R (Method) Method MADNESS L (Mute) MUTATION Z (Stalefish) FILET O' Stalefish R + L (Indy) SINFUL Indy L + Z (Nosegrab) NOSEBLEED R + Z (Tailgrab) Tail WAG L + R + Z (Shifty) NIFTY Shifty d. ASSORTED FEATURES [GameplayAssorted] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= BOOST BAR DETAILS: +----------------+ The Boost (or Adrenaline bar) shows the boost you've obtained from doing tricks on the mountain. You use boost to speed up when you are on the snow, boost down rails and to increase the heighth of your jumps. There are 3 boost levels, each signified by a different color. The speed boost for each level increases, with white causing the most increase in speed. You have a time limit in which to fill up the boost bar before it runs out, signified by a beeping reminder and a soft sound effect. CLEAR - You have no boost at all - do tricks! RED (NOT GLOWING) - This is the initial level of the boost bar that you must fill up. Once you have filled up this particular bar, you can do Uber Tricks. YELLOW (GLOWING) - You have reached level 1 of your boost bar and can now do Level 1 Ubers. It takes 4 Level One Uber tricks (spelling "Uber" in letters above the boost bar) before you can reach level two. WHITE (GLOWING) - You have filled up the second level of your boost bar and can now do Level Two Ubers. Once you do five Level Two Ubers (and fill up the world "Super" above the boost bar) you achieve the final step: RED (GLOWING) - You have now spelled out "SUPER UBER" above the Uber bar and are given unlimited boost for a limited amount of time (usually a minute or so.) During this time you can boost without running out, and if you manually reset you will not lose any boost at all. You will hear a small beeping and the red sphere above the boost bar will slow down as you near the end of your unlimited boost period. MANUAL RESET: (Select button for PS2) +-----------------------------------+ Pushing the manual reset button causes your character to immediately reset their position on the track. This feature is critical to get out of spots where you may be unable to move or are trapped in the terrain. The bad part of this is that using the manual reset button nearly drains you entire boost bar upon reappearing. CRASH RECOVERY +-------------+ During some crashes you will see a bar appear near the bottom of the screen. This is the crash recovery bar - tapping the boost button (square for PS2) will allow you fill this bar up and recover from crashes while still keeping your boost. It will also allow you to recover in midair and continue to do tricks if you fill it up before you land. If you do NOT fill the crash recovery bar, crashes can sometimes go on for 10 seconds or more! In some cases, filling the crash recovery bar will reset your character as though you had tapped the manual recovery button (Select for PS2). In most of these cases, using Crash Recovery allows you to keep your boost, whereas pushing the manual reset button uses nearly all your boost. BONUS ICONS/STYLE POINTS +-----------------------+ There are a new set of point and multiplier icons in the game and they may take some getting used to because many of them look the same. Here is the basic breakdown: =====[ RACING EVENTS ]===== Speed Boost - looks like a lightning bolt and causes your rider to hit max speed for a short time without using any boost. Trick Boost - looks like a purple set of arrows coming out from a single point. This icon greatly increases your trick ability enabling you to pull of some crazy tricks. I would say it easily quadruples your point stat for a short time. ===[ FREESTYLE EVENTS ]=== There are many more icons to identify in Freestyle events, but they fall into 2 basic categories - point bonuses and trick mulipliers. Thanks to FishEye for this info. Point Bonuses: Yellow er... "spikey ball" = 2000 points Blue Square = 3000 points Whitish (it's probably Platinum) colored Square/Diamond = 5000 points Black Square/Diamond = 10,000 points Trick Multipliers (multiplies the total of your trick by the number indicated): Yellow "X" = 2X multiplier (doubles your trick score) Blue "X" = 3X multiplier (triples your trick score) White (again, probably platinum) "X" = 5X multiplier (total times 5) Black "X" = 10X multiplier (trick total times ten) ===[ STYLE BONUSES: ]=== Style bonuses are bonuses given out when you do different techniques during a jumping trick. They vary and have different names depending on what you do when you are in the air: STALLS - Stalls are done by prewinding in one direction and beginning to flip/spin in that direction, and then pressing and holding the opposite direction. For example, I prewind down/left and jump, continuing to hold down/left and spinning that direction. Then, while I am still in the air, I press and hold UP/RIGHT (the direct opposite of down/left) and my character "stalls" out in the air, meaning their flips/spins stop. The word "STALL!" appears at the top of the screen and style points begin to accrue. The point bonuses get larger the longer you hold the stall, and you can now continue spinning/flipping in the original direction you held if you just resume holding it (like down/left in the above example.) LATE FLIP/SPINS: Late flips/spins are pretty much in the same boat, and acquire style points. You do them by switching over to only ONE direction if you jumped using a two-direction system. What do I mean? If I prewind and jump using UP/RIGHT, and then switch over to holding RIGHT only, I will get a "LATE SPIN!" Style bonus. Likewise, if I hold UP/RIGHT when jumping and then push UP, I will get a "LATE FLIP" bonus. Please note that Late Flips/Spins bonuses can only be done using one of the two directions you began flipping in. If I were to jump using UP/RIGHT and then press and hold LEFT, I would get either a "STALL!" or "OFF-AXIS!" bonus. OFF-AXIS: Off-axis bonuses are a little trickier to get, but are cool to look at. After a little research, and thanks to Ben Goldsmith for the tip, Off-Axis spins are almost any spin done in a direction other than the opposite of what you prewound. Basically, off-axis tricks are done when you push one of the other directions other than the one directly across from your prewind direction. For example, when you prewind DOWN/LEFT, and then once you are in mid-air, if you push either RIGHT or UP, you will begin spinning off axis. However, if you pushed both UP/RIGHT you would get a "STALL" bonus because it is exactly the opposite of the direction you prewound. You can also get off-axis spins if you push additional non-stall directions on the control pad, ie if you prewound DOWN/LEFT and push DOWN/RIGHT, you may get an off-axis bonus. Here is a quick reference guide from Gehodra until I figure out exactly how to get Off-Axis Tricks: off-axis is: forward/left to forward/right forward/right to forward/left backward/left to backward/right backward/right to backward/left INVERTED: Inverted bonuses are given when you do particular spins while your character is upside down (pushing directions in mid-air other than the one you prewound.) It can be tricky to get these, and it takes practice to get them purposefully. Don't count on them too much but enjoy the style points you get from inverted tricks. Here is a quick reference guide from Gehodra until I figure out exactly how to get Inverted Tricks: inverted is... ex: forward/left to backward/left forward/right to backward/right backward/left to forward/left backward/right to forward/right These "Style" bonuses are very cool to get, and add a lot of flavor and variety to your tricks. But remember that these style bonuses are always received INSTEAD of the points you would have received for your regular tricks and spins. Therefore you must decide if it is worth it to do a particular style tactic, because it may mean less points overall if your character is high enough in their stats. If I STALL out a trick, I will get STALL bonuses, but I am also losing the points I got if I would have just continued flipping/spinning. If in the case of STALLING out a trick, I may get 2500 points in STALL bonuses, but lose the 4000 points I would have gotten if I had continued to spin/flip normally. e. Combo System [GameplayComboSys] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The combo system in SSX 3 is a completely new feature that may take old SSX veterans some time to get used to. You will see within playing the game for a few hours, however, that the combo system is absolutely vital to master in order to achieve many of the game's point requirements for gold and platinum medals. The trick system works like this: once you engage in anything that scores points; rails, a jump, board press etc, a combo string begins. After you finish your current trick and begin another one, a counter will appear at the top of the screen that says "1x" - this means you have completed a combo of one move. The small circle above the 1x is the time limit that you must do another trick to continue the combo. The time limit between combo moves is around two seconds. With each successive move, the counter increases one ( 2x, 3x, 4x, etc.) and the combo bonus you get increases. In order to get the full bonus of the combo bonus, however, you must finish the combo. If you wipe out before finishing your combo, you will lose the ENTIRE combo bonus. That means the longer a combo goes on, the higher the score and more risk to you that you may crash and lose the entire bonus. The combo system may seem simple, but the scoring system behind it is actually very complex. To explain, we got an explanation straight from EA Big itself, in the form of SSX 3 Team Member Cody Ritchie: "When you do a trick, you points immediately get counted and add to your score. If you're doing a combo, a portion of the trick's score goes into the combo score, or 'pool'. The higher your combo is, the higher the portion that goes into the pool. So when the combo is low, only a small part of your trick goes into the pool, and when the combo gets higher & higher, a lot more of the trick goes into the pool. It even goes above just a portion, so that double your trick goes into the combo! So the least you get is trick x1.5 (trick score + half trick score) and as high as trick x 3 (trick score + 2x trick in combo score.) So if you do a huge monster trick worth 50,000 and your combo is high, then it would give you 0k into your score right away, and add 100k into the combo score. If you finish the combo (or cross the finish line) then the entire combo score gets added to the real score and that's your total. If you wipe out at any time, you always keep your regular score, but lose the entire combo pool. Now, as far as multipliers are concerned, they DON'T affect the trick combo score, just the regular score. So if you bust a huge 50,000 point trick through a 10x multiplier, and your combo score is high, you get 500,000 into the score (trick x10 mult) and the BASE trick x2 into the combo (100,000), for a total of 600,000 (if you land the combo) Some hints for high scores would be: * Do big scoring tricks after the combo is high, or you're missing out on points (you'll only get 1.5x instead of 3x, half as much!) * On big airs, it's more worth it to hold a single uber the entire time, than doing several in a row. The points accumulate faster for holding than when switching, plus you can get a long grab bonus. If you're trying to fill the uber meter, then do several small ones to get to the bigger scoring tricks. * Monster tricks are great for smaller jumps: it takes quite a big jump to do a 50k uber trick, but some monster tricks are quick and can be landed off a short jump. They can be tricky to pull off in a pinch though, find simple ones." Thanks Cody! :) f. UBERS - Rail/Air [GameplayUber] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= RAIL UBER TRICKS: New to SSX 3 are Rail Ubers. You do Rail Ubers by pushing one of the shoulder buttons (L1, L2, R1, R2) anytime when you are on a rail and your boost bar is at least at level 1. There are four Rail Ubers in the game, and they are the same for every character. Each is initially worth between 3-4000 points and are holdable, like all Ubers. Rail ubers, however, accumulate points much slower than Air Ubers. They still count towards your SUPER UBER total, however. A cool little trick with rail ubers is that you can get many more in a row if you go very slow on a rail instead of boosting past it. Just use the left analog stick to keep balanced on the rail and touch the boost if it looks like you may fall off. AIR UBER TRICKS: There are three levels of Uber tricks, but these "levels" mainly denote how long the animations are. The higher the level, the longer the animation and time needed to pull off the trick. Although the Ubers each character initially has are different, you can reassign any Ubers in the Lodge (except for Level 1 Ubers, those stay the same, and each character is given one particular set and it is unchangeable.) However, if you weren't given that Uber from the start, you must buy them using the money you have earned. The Cost column below shows the cost of each Uber that you can purchase from the Lodge. Trick Name Trick Level Cost +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ STALEFISH - R1 + Square buttons +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Springer Level 1 Cost: Default by Character Tricky Flicky Level 1 Cost: Default by Character G-Money Level 2 Cost: $10,000 Superman Level 2 Cost: $10,000 Smithereen Level 3 Cost: $15,000 Torpedo Level 3 Cost: $15,000 INDY - R2 + Square buttons +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Extended Play Level 1 Cost: Default by Character Can Opener Level 1 Cost: Default by Character Mattrickulater Level 2 Cost: $10,000 Karolicker Level 2 Cost: $10,000 Judo Level 3 Cost: $15,000 dnL Boost Level 3 Cost: $15,000 METHOD - L1 + Square buttons +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Reach Around Level 1 Cost: Default by Character Mahogany Level 1 Cost: Default by Character Jib-O Level 2 Cost: $10,000 Indian Level 2 Cost: $10,000 Hand in Hand Level 3 Cost: $15,000 Kort Martial Level 3 Cost: $15,000 MUTE - L2+Square buttons +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Clean Sweep Level 1 Cost: Default by Character Counter Point Level 1 Cost: Default by Character Bar Hop Level 2 Cost: $10,000 SSXorcist Level 2 Cost: $10,000 dnL Level 3 Cost: $15,000 Katana Level 3 Cost: $15,000 TAILGRAB - R1+R2+Square buttons +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Amazing Spenco Level 1 Cost: Default by Character Jay Tear Level 1 Cost: Default by Character Morgan Grinder Level 2 Cost: $10,000 Slinger Level 2 Cost: $10,000 Svelton Level 3 Cost: $15,000 Lukeloo Level 3 Cost: $15,000 Acrobat Level 3 Cost: $30,000 Superman Barspin Level 3 Cost: $30,000 Capo Level 3 Cost: $30,000 Banger Level 3 Cost: $30,000 Pommel Me Level 3 Cost: $30,000 NOSEGRAB - L1+L2+Square buttons +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Big Unit Level 1 Cost: Default by Character Kickin A' Level 1 Cost: Default by Character Madonna Level 2 Cost: $10,000 Vacation Level 2 Cost: $10,000 Footloose Level 3 Cost: $15,000 Trickitello Level 3 Cost: $15,000 Walking the Dog Level 3 Cost: $30,000 Sugar Rush Level 3 Cost: $30,000 LaLaLa Lock Step Level 3 Cost: $30,000 Pirouette Level 3 Cost: $30,000 Guillotine Level 3 Cost: $30,000 g. Uber Tricks Guide - by laidback0378 [GameplayUberDepth] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This section is intended as a Uber tricks guide for those truly wanting to know intricate details on each Uber trick, including the length of each uber - measured in "frames of animation" (60 frames = 1 second) and which characters have which Ubers. Many thanks to laidback0378 for this awesome piece of SSX 3 research. Without his diligence this stuff would have stayed unknown. LEVEL 1 UBERS: +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Level 1 Ubers are done as soon as you fill the first Level of your boost bar. * Mahogany * Counter Point * Springer * Can Opener * Clean Sweep * Reach Around * Extended Play * Tricky Flicky * Jay Tear * Big Unit * Kickin A * Amazing Spenco Each character shares a different assortment of Level 1 Ubers, although a few characters do have the same collection of Ubers. Here is a list of the Level 1 Ubers each character has: Character | L1 | L2 | R1 | R2 =============================================================================== Allegra | Mahogany | Counter Point | Springer | Extended Play =============================================================================== Elise | Reach Around | Clean Sweep | Tricky Flicky | Extended Play =============================================================================== Griff | Reach Around | Clean Sweep | Springer | Extended Play =============================================================================== Kaori | Reach Around | Clean Sweep | Tricky Flicky | Extended Play =============================================================================== Mac | Mahogany | Clean Sweep | Springer | Can Opener =============================================================================== Moby | Mahogany | Clean Sweep | Springer | Can Opener =============================================================================== Nate | Mahogany | Counter Point | Springer | Can Opener =============================================================================== Psymon | Mahogany | Counter Point | Springer | Can Opener =============================================================================== Viggo | Reach Around | Counter Point | Springer | Can Opener =============================================================================== Zoe | Mahogany | Counter Point | Springer | Can Opener LEVEL 1 & 2 UBERS: SPEED GUIDE +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ This section lists the "speed" of each of the Ubers in excruciating detail, found by counting the frames of animation. Since SSX 3 typically runs at 60 Frames Per Second, the speed of the uber can be found by counting the number of frames of animation of each Uber. The fastest Ubers have the lowest frame counts, and different Ubers are "fastest" in different areas. For example, if you are interested in knowing which Uber can be landed earliest, look for the lowest total number of frames in the "To Land" column. Many Ubers can be landed LONG before their entire animation has finished. If you are interested in knowing which Uber can be interrupted the earliest in mid-air, look for the lowest frame count in the "Interruption" column. This count is how soon you can interrupt one Uber with another. This will allow you to fit as many Ubers as possible into a jump, allowing you to reach UBER and SUPER UBER status much earlier. And finally, if you want to know which Uber you can hold the longest in mid-air before releasing it and still landing, look for the lowest frame count in the "landing animation" column. This allows you to rack up as many points as possible before letting go and still landing your Uber trick. You can use this information to tailor which Ubers you assign to your characters and form the best collection of Ubers for your particular taste. TECHNICAL EXPLANATION: +--------------------+ Frames of Animation: SSX 3 runs at 60 Frames per second - you can measure the "speed" of an uber by counting the frames of animation in replay mode using the slow motion button. Below is an average of the different speeds of animation for each of the Ubers. But first, read a definition of what each category means: Frames of FULL ANIMATION: This counts the entire animation of the Uber trick. This number is important only as an overview to how long an uber animates. The actual time it takes for an Uber to land is the LAND animation count. Frames of Animation for LANDING ANIMATION: This the exact number of frames it takes to land, found by holding an Uber in mid-air and then counting the number of frames until the board touches both the character's feet. This count is important because it allows you to know how fast an Uber lands and therefore how long you can hold it on jumps. Frames of Animation to INTERRUPTION: This counts the number of frames until an Uber can be interrupted by another Uber in mid-air. This is important because many times an Uber can be interrupted well before it is able to land, and allows you to know how soon you can begin a second Uber on a jump. Some of these counts are even bigger than the "full animation" counts b/c for that particular uber you have to do the "full" animation of the uber, and then regrab the board too. Obviously you would want to avoid these if you could. Frames of Animation to LAND: This counts the time from the very first frame of animation of the Uber until the both the character's feet are in the fastenings of the snowboard. Many times an Uber is able to be landed well before its entire animation has run its course. Taken separately, these categories may not mean very much, but as a whole they can tell you what is the fastest Uber in the group that you may be using. Remember, to find the "length" of an uber, divide the total number of frames by 60. That will give you the speed of the Uber. For example - the Jib-O takes 82 frames to land: 82 divided by 60 = 1.37 seconds from the time you start until you can land. I would like to thank laidback0378 for doing such phenomenal work on this animation guide. I had intentions to do something like this for SSX Tricky, but never got around to it. It is a very lengthy (and tedious) thing to count frames of animation over and over to get an accurate assessment of the speed of the Ubers, and it is much more complicated in SSX 3 than it ever was for Tricky. So mad props to go laidback0378 for accomplishing this amazing feat. +-----------------------------------------------------+ | LEVEL 1 UBERS: (PS2: L1, L2, R1, R2, L1+L2, R1+R2) | +-----------------------------------------------------+ NOTE: Buttons for these Ubers are different for each character. Uber Names | Full Animation | Landing Animation | Interruption | To Land =============================================================================== 1. Reach Around 70 frames | 28 frames | 54 frames | 58 frames =============================================================================== 2. Clean Sweep 62 frames | 28 frames | 69 frames | 54 frames =============================================================================== 3. Extended Play 60 frames | 20 frames | 54 frames | 56 frames =============================================================================== 4. Tricky Flicky 68 frames | 25 frames | 66 frames | 61 frames =============================================================================== 5. Mahogany 55 frames | 18 frames | 57 frames | 47 frames =============================================================================== 6. Counter Point 67 frames | 20 frames | 55 frames | 54 frames =============================================================================== 7. Springer 75 frames | 37 frames | 74 frames | 75 frames =============================================================================== 8. Can Opener 52 frames | 16 frames | 52 frames | 49 frames =============================================================================== 9. Jay Tear 57 frames | 15 frames | 81 frames | 54 frames =============================================================================== 10. Big Unit 80 frames | 38 frames | 58 frames | 73 frames =============================================================================== 11. Kickin A 58 frames | 28 frames | 60 frames | 58 frames =============================================================================== 12. Amazing Spenco 56 frames | 43 frames | 56 frames | 55 frames =============================================================================== LEVEL 2 & 3 UBERS: +-----------------------------------------------------+ | LEVEL 2 & 3 UBERS | | METHOD UBERS - (PS2: L1) (X-BOX: X) (GC: R) | +-----------------------------------------------------+ Uber Names | Full Animation | Landing Animation | Interruption | To Land =============================================================================== 1. Jib O 123 frames | 24 frames | 78 frames | 82 frames =============================================================================== 2. Indian 74 frames | 28 frames | 68 frames | 66 frames =============================================================================== 3. Hand in Hand 90 frames | 39 frames | 91 frames | 90 frames =============================================================================== 4. Kort Martial 118 frames | 70 frames | 80 frames | 113 frames =============================================================================== +-----------------------------------------------------+ MUTE UBERS - (PS2: L2) (X-BOX: Y) (GC: L) +-----------------------------------------------------+ Uber Names | Full Animation | Landing Animation | Interruption | To Land =============================================================================== 1. Bar Hop 89 frames | 33 frames | 81 frames | 85 frames =============================================================================== 2. SSXorcist 95 frames | 45 frames | 81 frames | 85 frames =============================================================================== 3. dnL Flipit 98 frames | 33 frames | 77 frames | 87 frames =============================================================================== 4. Katana 121 frames | 29 frames | 106 frames | 101 frames =============================================================================== +---------------------------------------------------------+ STALEFISH UBERS - (PS2: R1) (X-BOX: Right Trigger) (GC: Z) +---------------------------------------------------------+ Uber Names | Full Animation | Landing Animation | Interruption | To Land =============================================================================== 1. G-Money 113 frames | 43 frames | 109 frames | 95 frames =============================================================================== 2. Superman 85 frames | 27 frames | 77 frames | 77 frames =============================================================================== 3. Smithereen 106 frames | 18 frames | 77 frames | 90 frames =============================================================================== 4. Katana 121 frames | 29 frames | 101 frames | 106 frames =============================================================================== +-----------------------------------------------------+ INDY UBERS - (PS2: R2) (X-BOX: B) (GC: R + L) +-----------------------------------------------------+ Uber Names | Full Animation | Landing Animation | Interruption | To Land =============================================================================== 1. Mattrickulater 84 frames | 23 frames | 57 frames | 72 frames =============================================================================== 2. Karolicker 76 frames | 22 frames | 80 frames | 68 frames =============================================================================== 3. Judo 125 frames | 54 frames | 100 frames | 108 frames =============================================================================== 4. dnL Boost 132 frames | 26 frames | 106 frames | 106 frames =============================================================================== +------------------------------------------------------------------+ NOSEGRAB UBERS - (PS2: L1+L2) (X-BOX: Right Trigger + X) (GC: L + Z) +------------------------------------------------------------------+ Uber Names | Full Animation | Landing Animation | Interruption | To Land =============================================================================== 1. Madonna 75 frames | 34 frames | 53 frames | 63 frames =============================================================================== 2. Vacation 110 frames | 38 frames | 105 frames | 102 frames =============================================================================== 3. Footloose 80 frames | 25 frames | 101 frames | 77 frames =============================================================================== 4. Trickitello 137 frames | 50 frames | 118 frames | 127 frames =============================================================================== 5. Acrobat 155 frames | 51 frames | 109 frames | 153 frames =============================================================================== 6. Superman Bspin 147 frames | 64 frames | 140 frames | 137 frames =============================================================================== 7. Capo 135 frames | 57 frames | 104 frames | 130 frames =============================================================================== 8. Banger 168 frames | 41 frames | 178 frames | 160 frames =============================================================================== 9. Pommel Me 160 frames | 29 frames | 156 frames | 160 frames =============================================================================== +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ TAILGRAB UBERS - (PS2: R1+R2) (X-BOX: Right Trigger + B) (GC: R + Z) +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ Uber Names | Full Animation | Landing Animation | Interruption | To Land =============================================================================== 1. Morgan Grinder 66 frames | 16 frames | 56 frames | 56 frames =============================================================================== 2. Svelton 160 frames | 68 frames | 140 frames | 133 frames =============================================================================== 3. Footloose 80 frames | 25 frames | 101 frames | 77 frames =============================================================================== 4. Lukeloo 125 frames | 15 frames | 110 frames | 112 frames =============================================================================== 5. Walking The Dog 139 frames | 17 frames | 119 frames | 115 frames =============================================================================== 6. Sugar Rush 135 frames | 55 frames | 130 frames | 135 frames =============================================================================== 7. LaLaLa Lockstep 156 frames | 51 frames | 161 frames | 135 frames =============================================================================== 8. Pirouette Grind 142 frames | 42 frames | 131 frames | 113 frames =============================================================================== 9. Guillotine 140 frames | 64 frames | 93 frames | 133 frames =============================================================================== +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ RAIL UBERS - (PS2: L1, L2, R1, R2) (X-BOX: X, Y, R Triggr, B)(GC: R, L, Z, R+L) +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Note: Rails ubers cannot be interrupted. Full Animation Landing Animation ==================================================== 1. Rail Handstand 90 frames | 34 frames | ==================================================== 2. Rail Edge Grind 83 frames | 37 frames | ==================================================== 3. Rail Butt Stand 95 frames | 34 frames | ==================================================== 4. Rail Foot Surf 75 frames | 30 frames | ==================================================== ***** SPOILER WARNING ***** Do not read ahead if you do not want to be spoiled. +--------------------------------------+ SPECIAL SECTION: HIDDEN CHARACTER UBERS +--------------------------------------+ These Ubers can only be done if you are using a particular hidden character. Uber Names | Full Animation | Landing Animation | Interruption | To Land =============================================================================== 1. SNOWBALLS Ball O Fun 115 frames | 45 frames | 135 frames | 115 frames =============================================================================== 2. STRETCH Old School Funk 135 frames | 55 frames | 157 frames | 129 frames =============================================================================== 3. CANHUCK Nibbler 128 frames | 56 frames | 125 frames | 128 frames =============================================================================== 4. GUTLESS Dirt Nap 108 frames | 46 frames | 131 frames | 107 frames =============================================================================== Once more, a huge thanks to laidback0387 for this phenomenal guide. h. MONSTER TRICKS: [GameplayMonster] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Monster Tricks are tricks that are an added feature to the trick system in SSX 3. They seem, initially, like a sort of trick book, but they are in fact specialized tricks that are named after different bands whose songs are featured in the game. You discover the names of these tricks by doing the Career Highlights in the game. (See section 4 for Career Highlights.) Why should you use these particular tricks as opposed to just flipping like crazy and using your own ubers? Well, there are added bonuses for using these tricks, depending on the difficulty, though my earlier theory that the bonuses were based on the level of the individual monster trick was incorrect. In most cases, this bonus will help offset the points lost by doing these tricks, many of which are simpler compared to what you can pull off with a fully powered character. Remember that Monster Tricks only have their full bonuses the first time you do them. Like every trick in the game, the value of the trick decreases by half or more if you do them more than once back to back. However, this is not an issue if you use the Smurphy Trick (see section 1-J for details.) Additionally, according to PD CofC, after you do a few tricks, the "trick recorder" resets and you can do another Monster Trick for the full bonus. Thanks to ArcaneJMS for corrections to many of the bonuses for this section. Additionally, the total of the Monster Trick (including the bonus) is what is calculated when you hit a multiplier doing a Monster Trick. In other words, if you do a 50K monster trick through a 10x, that's half a million points right there! Remember also that there are ways of increasing the score for your Monster Trick if you don't want to use the Smurphy Trick. PD CofC recommends stalling out your Monster Trick in addition to just doing the respective flip/spins. For example, if you stall out the Aphrodite (Triple Back Flip Superman), you can gain several thousand points in bonuses additional to what you would have gotten had you done 3 backflips and then sat motionless in mid-air. One more tidbit from Mathochist: Monster Tricks automatically fill your boost bar! MONSTER TRICK TRICK NAME BONUS =============================================================================== * FS 540 G-Money Da Housecat 10,000 * Triple Backflip Superman Aphrodite 10,000 * FS Rodeo 720 Smithereen Thrice 10,000 * BS 720 Torpedo Swollen Member 10,000 * BS 900 Mattrickulater Yellowcard 10,000 * FS Double Backflip 540 Karolicker Alpine Star 20,000 * Backflip Nosegrab to Judo MxPx 10,000 * FS Rodeo 720 dnL Boost Ultimate dnL Boost 20,000 * BS 900 Jib-O Black Eyed Peas 10,000 * FS 900 Indian to Late Method Deepsky 10,000 * BS Misty 900 Hand in Hand Basement Jaxx 20,000 * BS Backflip 360 Kort Martial to Late Stalefish Fischerspooner 20,000 * Double Backflip Bar Hop to Late Mute Chemical Brother 20,000 * FS Triple Backflip 180 SSXorcist X-Ecutioner 30,000 * FS Double Frontflip 360 dnL Flipit to Late Indy Ultimate dnL FlipIt 20,000 * BS 720 Indy to Late Katana Juana's Addiction 20,000 * FS 1080 Morgan Grinder Audio Bully 10,000 * BS Backflip 360 Slinger Finger 11 20,000 * FS Misty 720 Svelton to Late Nosegrab N.E.R.D Fly or Die 30,000 * Triple Backflip Nosegrab to Late Lukeloo Overseer 30,000 * BS Double Back Flip 180 Madonna Stoneage 20,000 * Double Backflip Vacation to Late NIFTY Shifty Autopilot Off 20,000 * BS 360 NIFTY Shifty to Late Footloose The Automator 20,000 * BS 540 Indy to Late Trickitello Placebo 20,000 i. Handplants and Board Presses [GameplayHandplant] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The trick system is rounded out with two moves that are essential in making the most of the courses in SSX 3. These moves are the Handplant and Board Press. ===[ BOARD PRESSES ]=== The board press is the new move in the SSX 3 Trick arsenal that is absolutely vital to continuing combos when there are no jumps or rails to take advantage of. A board press causes your character to lean their weight on the board and ride it on either the front (Up) or back (Down) . This allows characters to continue a combo string on flat ground, basically indefinitely if you are good enough. Once you start a board press your character will begin tilting their board and riding it on its lip. It's important to pay attention to the visual cues your character is giving to see how your board press is coming along. If your character is waving their arms and looks to be off-balance, you are in danger of falling and should either stop the board press by letting go of the right analog stick, or rotate the right analog stick to the opposite direction you were holding. This causes your character to spin on the boardpress and renews their balance. If you do not you will tumble and lose whatever combo you were trying to achieve. ===[ Advanced Techniques - Author: YuPing ]=== If you do a full rotation while board pressing (eg, start with a tailpress, rotate clockwise to a nosepress, then continue rotating clockwise into a tailpress again), it's a trick called "Butter". If you do this multiple times (I'm not sure exactly how many, I think it's 3 or 4), it becomes "Like Butter". If you do this MANY times (I spent 10 straight seconds rotating around), then it becomes "Sweet Butter". I'm not sure if there's better versions of this, but, as you can guess, these upgraded versions of boardpressing will net you more points, so if you need to board press to link tricks, start rotating the press. You won't lose speed, and you gain more points. Just be careful when, say, you're flying downhill, since the rotations will make it harder than normal to control your direction. Don't forget that holding a board press for long periods of time will net you style points. Boardpresses must be maintained for LONG periods of time for any style points. If you've done the grinding challenges in R&B, then you already know that you can do board presses on rails, which become Nose grinds and Tail grinds. On particularly long rails the Butter, Like Butter, and Sweet Butter tricks will still work, giving you a nice bonus for grinding if you have no uber power for uber rails. It's also a much safer grind trick to pull if you don't have enough time to pull and uber grind, since if you land, you'll just go into a board press. Advance Technique - Author: rikamaru Besides the 360 "Butter" tricks, there are also Nose and Tail Butters. You get these tricks if you hold a 180 Nose or Tail Press. The longer you hold the press, the more points you get (obviously) and the trick name changes. Here they are: 180 Nose or Tail Press Hold a bit longer: Nose/Tail Butter After a +1000 hold: Nose/Tail Butter the Muffin After a +3000 hold: Nose/Tail Butter Pressident After a +7000 hold: Nose/Tail Butter Buddha If you're having trouble holding the press, do the 180 as *slowly* as you can. The best place to practice is the bottom of the pipe in Perpendiculous. Advance Technique - Author: Zenith R3 (push the analog stick like a button during a boardpress) is an ollie. You do a little jump. ===[ HANDPLANT ]=== The handplant might at first seem odd when you do it in the game, as it completely kills your speed and momentum down the track. But the handplant serves a very useful purpose - it can be used to gain access to those parts of the track you wouldn't normally be able to get to and also can be used to continue your combo in places where you may not otherwise have been able to. For example, if you launch off a jump and are approaching a billboard or tree branch, pushing circle will cause you to handplant onto it. While you are planted, you can affect your balance by using the left analog stick, and the longer you hold the handplant the more points the trick is worth. Why should you use this move? There are several instances where it is vital: 1) If you are approaching a rail from the side in slopestyle, you can handplant off of it to continue your combo. 2) If you are approaching a rock or similar obstacle in the Backcountry that it looks like you may crash into, try to handplant on it, it may save you from wiping out. 3) In Superpipe events, there are certain areas of the track you can only get to if you use the handplant to get up there. For example, in the Peak 3 Superpipe, Perpendiculous, there are pipes well above the track you can only get to if you handplant onto the thin red bars located at the very end of the pipe. Similarly, in Schizophrenia, there are alternate pipes on either side that you must get to by handplanting at the top of the middle pipe and then letting go and dropping down into the alternate pipe. 4) To do a HANDSPRING (not a handplant) - just quickly handplant onto an object and then handplant off WITHOUT HOLDING THE HANDPLANT. It must be done very quickly - no "staying in place" with the handplant. Basically it's just handplanting on and then off an object very quickly. Advanced Techniques - Author: YuPing If you need to grind a rail and, for some reason, you didn't make it on, handplant and make sure you hold it just long enough for the character to steady him/herself. Once the character is straight up and motionless, let go and hold forward, you should spring forward and land on the rail, grinding it. Don't hold the plant for too long, because the moment the character starts to sway the character will jump either right or left (depending which direction they're swaying in). If the rail is too high to jump on, this trick will work wonders. Sometimes the rail is very high up, to which you may need to jump first, then handplant. Don't forget that holding a handplant for long periods of time will net you style points. Handplants, I'm pretty sure, max out at 22,000 style points. j. Advanced Techniques - Gameplay [GameplayAdvanced] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= This section will detail the different "tricks" and advanced techniques that the SSX 3 players have discovered to boost your scores. Often times they take advantage of little known information that very few people know about. If you read this section and use all these techniques, you will probably see your scores skyrocket or your times lowered. TECHNIQUE # 1 - "The 180 Trick" +------------------------------+ Events: Slopestyle, Big Air, Superpipe Importance for High Scores: Critical HOW to do "The 180 Trick": At the beginning of the freestyle event, stop as soon as you leave the gate and do 180's (hold LEFT or RIGHT and push the jump button) until your combo meter reaches anywhere from 20x to 30x, THEN continue the event normally. Why do "The 180 Trick"? Because it's absolutely critical to get high scores with. You can get platinum on all freestyle events without it, but if you want to compete with the top scorers, you need to do this. WHY does "The 180 Trick" work? The trick system in SSX 3 rewards a high combo (10x or above) by adding a higher percentage of your score into the combo bonus. At 30x, the maximum double the amount of points for each trick is added into the combo bonus (for example, if you do a 15K trick, 30K is added into the combo bonus.) So if you do a Big Air Run on Much2Much and get 200K, if you do 20-30 180's at the very start, and THEN go do that exact same run, you will get at least twice the points depending on where you stopped your combo bonus at. If you stopped it at 30x, you will essentially triple the score you would have gotten (your regular score, plus each double the trick total in the combo bonus.) That is how you see people getting monstrous scores on superpipe and Big Air. Notes: Remember, you MUST complete your combo in order to get the monstrous scores - if you crash, you lose the entire combo bonus. Also, remember that STYLE points (Inverted, Stall, Off-Axis, Late Spin and Grab Bonuses), are NOT added into the combo bonus. However, flips, grabs, Ubers, and the bonus points accumulated by Monster Tricks ARE added. TECHNIQUE # 2 - "The Gate (180) Trick" +-------------------------------------+ Event: Superpipe, Big Air Importance for High Scores: Very Important What to do: In the beginning of a race, look for a fence to handplant onto, then once you have handplanted onto it, drop onto it and do 180's exactly like the trick above. Why do "The Gate Trick"? Because it gets you a much higher combo bonus much faster than the regular 180's trick would, plus it gives you full Level 1 Boost as well. Then you continue with the rest of the track the same way you would with the 180 Trick. Why does the "Gate Trick" work? The game registers 180's on a fence as TWO different tricks for the same one - a regular "180" and also a "180 to rail" trick, and that doubles the amount of 180's you can do and also builds up your boost bar much faster. Consequently, if you do a nosepress while doing the Gate Trick, each 180 will net you 3x! Notes: It's not possible on every track, and there are also places where fences are not handplantable, but try it on the Big Air and Superpipe courses and experiment whether it would be worth it to do. In most cases, it is absolutely the best starting technique you can use. Remember that after 30x, your combo bonus cannot get any larger (double the amount of each trick) so you don't need to do more than that before you continue your event. TECHNIQUE # 3 - "The Select Trick" +--------------------------------+ Events: Racing Importance for High Scores: Very important How to do "The Select Trick": Look for certain areas of the track that you can push manual reset on ('Select' on the PS2 controller, hence the name) and in certain areas you will be warped ahead almost instantly. Why do "The Select Trick": Because in advanced racing, people will use any advantage they can get, and you might be left behind if you don't use them. Why does "The Select Trick" work? Because of the necessity to have ways to escape from certain areas of the track where you may otherwise get stuck. For example, if the game didn't reset you past a large jump that you just don't have enough speed to jump over, you would never be able to get past it. Notes: There are not "Select Tricks" on every track - and they only work on certain spots. It may also be beneficial NOT to use them as you lose almost all your boost if you push the manual reset button. The only completely safe time to use them is if you have SUPER UBER spelled out and then you won't lose any boost if you use the Select Trick. Also note that this trick has been around since SSX, and is rarely spoken about and is usually understood that you use them if you can. However, it is VERY important to remember that the "Select Trick" is banned in official World Record racing attempts (see http://www.twingalaxies.com for more info.) Using the "Select Trick" also means that your run was not "clean" as you used a glitch to get a better time than you could have gotten racing normally. TECHNIQUE # 4 - "Tap Boosting" +----------------------------+ Events: Racing Importance for High Scores: Medium How to do "Tap Boosting": Tap the boost button instead of holding it down. The faster the better. Why do "Tap Boosting": Because it makes your boost last much longer if you don't have unlimited SUPER UBER boost. Why does "Tap Boosting" work: Because it parcels out your boost over a longer period of time and therefore maintains a higher average speed than you would get if you held the boost bar down. Notes: Tap Boosting is not as good as getting unlimited SUPER UBER boost, but it's a way to make your boost last longer if you are on a track where you may have a hard time getting boost. Tapping the boost button is an old school trick - it's been around since the very first SSX. TECHNIQUE # 5 - "Monsters Through Multipliers" +--------------------------------------------+ Events: Slopestyle Importance for High Scores - Very Important, almost critical. How to do "Monsters Through Multipliers": Umm...do a Monster Trick through a trick multiplier, heheh. Why do "Monsters Through Multipliers": Because it's essential for getting the very top scores, and because it can make difficult slopestyle tracks MUCH easier by increasing the points you get on a single trick. Why do "Monsters Through Multipliers" work? Because the game adds the Monster Trick point bonus into the score that gets multiplied, meaning that you can sometimes score more than 500,000 points on a single trick! For example, if you do an Overseer Monster Trick through a 10x Multiplier on a jump, you will probably get at least 40K total on the trick. While the actual flip+spin +Uber point total is not that high (maybe 10K), the 30,000 point trick bonus is added into the total and multiplied, making the total worth of the trick once you hit the multiplier and land a whopping 400,000 points! Notes: Note that the multiplied bonus is NOT added into your combo bonus, so you wouldn't get 400,000 added into your combo bonus if you did the trick above. But on difficult courses like Kick Doubt, you can sometimes have a very crappy run, then pull of a Monster Trick through a multiplier and manage to get gold where you would have never had a chance without it. Also, think about the possibilities of the using both Monsters through Multipliers and The Smurphy Trick for the huge airtime Slopestyle jumps. :) TECHNIQUE # 6 - "AI Boost" +-------------------------+ Events: Racing Importance for High Scores: Not very important, but every little bit counts. How to do "AI Boost": Spend the first few attempts at a race hitting the same character over and over. Then, when they are raging mad (they have a red exclamation point over their head), try to time a punch for the same time they hit you. If you do this trick right, you will both knock down the other rider to get full boost and get a burst of speed when the enemy tried to knock you over but failed. You'll know it when you see it. Why do "AI Boost"? Because, like I said, every little bit counts. This may save you half a second on a track where the top scores are all separated by a second or two. Why does AI Boost work? Because of the near-crash animations that you get when you are at your highest level of Toughness. I'm not 100% sure why you get a boost of speed when you are hit but not knocked down, but it occurs. Notes: This trick was discovered by Cpd4224, and while it's not mandatory it can give you that little extra edge that might help. It is rather difficult to get, however. TECHNIQUE # 7 - "Glitch Shortcuts" +--------------------------------+ Events: Racing Importance for High Scores: Not very, as there are very few of them. But on tracks where there is an established one, it is absolutely critical. How to do "Glitch Shortcuts": If you played SSX Tricky, you know all about these glitches. What this entails is finding "holes" in the reset perimeter in a track, jumping through this hole and falling "off the edge of the world" and into infinite falling space. After a certain amount of time (varies with each glitch shortcut), manual reset out of falling. You will re-appear much further ahead in the track than you would have had you tried to race there normally in the same amount of time. Why do "Glitch Shortcuts"? Because someone else may attempt to use them to beat a time you achieved fairly. These are another technique banned for World Record attempts, and using this in a run means the run isn't "clean." Why do "Glitch Shortcuts" work? I have no real idea, but they're some weird by-product of the way the game resets you. Notes: These are not nearly as big of a plague as they were in SSX Tricky, and there is code in the game that keeps you from falling forever in general. However, there are certain parts in a track where this code appears to be bypassed, and when it is you can use Glitch Shortcuts to your advantage. Also note that Glitch Shortcuts are very dangerous to use if you don't know exactly when to manual-reset out of them. If you fall too far, you will reset in some other portion of the mountain and then your game will freeze! For example, if you found a glitch shortcut on Snow Jam, if you waited to long and reset out of it too late, you could re-spawn in the backcountry between Snow Jam and Metro City! Then, once the game realizes you are no longer on Snow Jam, it doesn't know how to relate that to the event you were in and locks up. Use these at your own risk! Additionally, these techniques are banned by Twin Galaxies the same way that Select shortcuts are banned. TECHNIQUE # 8 - "The Smurphy Trick" +---------------------------------+ Events: Superpipe (especially), Big Air, Slopestyle Importance for High Scores: Critical for the very, very top, upper eschelon scores. Not important if you are just looking for gold. How to do "The Smurphy Trick": In order to do the "Smurphy Trick" you must do a Monster Trick in mid-air, give it a second to register (stop briefly for a moment), then do at least another 180 (or another Monster Trick) to have it register again and you can get full points for your MT's on each jump. What will happen is that you will hear the announcer say "Monster Trick" while still in mid-air, and then you will get the FULL bonus for the Monster Trick even if you've done it before! At it's basest level, the scientific explanation of the Smurphy Trick is this: "Any late flip or spin trick done after a Monster Trick will allow you to do that same trick again after you have landed." Why do "The Smurphy Trick"? Because it allows you to do the same Monster Trick over and over and over for every single jump and still get the same bonus you did the very first time. Why does "The Smurphy Trick" work? I've been told by different sources that I trust that this is a bug of some sort, and it makes sense, since it completely bypasses the "trick recorder" that halves the scores of any duplicated tricks. In the logistics of the game, however, I have no real idea why it works, only that it does. Notes: While I'm in wonder of this trick, it takes a serious amount of fun out of doing freestyle events because it makes each jump a matter of "How can I score the most points in each jump", rather than rewarding variety of tricks like in previous games. This trick was discovered simultaneously by L12 SmURphY and NDogg6. It's called the Smurphy trick since Smurphy was the first one to tell me it and I promised him I would name it after him, heheh. TECHNIQUE # 9 - "The Tapping Trick" +---------------------------------+ Events: Superpipe, Big Air, Slopestyle Importance for High Scores: Critical for all top scores. How to do "The Tapping Trick": When you prewind a jump, instead of holding the direction you want to flip/spin, TAP the direction quickly. This will cause your boarder to spin/flip MUCH faster than they would if you simply held the direction. Why do "The Tapping Trick"? It increases your flip/spin speed significantly, such as if you would have only done an 1800 spin, you can now do a 2300 or above simply by tapping. If you want to be able to pull off two Monster Tricks per jump on Perpendiculous, you need to tap the direction you are spinning instead of just holding it down. Why does "The Smurphy Trick" work? Because SSX 3's trick "auto-correct" feature is faster than the regular spin/flip speed. When you tap the direction, the game thinks you have finished the trick you are attempting and finishes it for you, speeding it up. Notes: The tapping trick is essential for getting the most out of every jump, and also for getting those high scores on pipes and Big Air events. TECHNIQUE # 10 - "The AOSO Lander" +---------------------------------+ Events: Racing Importance for High Scores: Very important. How to do "The AOSO Lander": It sounds very simple, but timing is very important in this technique. Simply do a tail or nosepress as you land off a jump, then immediately let go so that the animation as you land is smooth. It's tricky to describe, but you'll know it when you see it. Why do "The AOSO Lander": It can save you a few tenths of a second on each jump, especially if you are on a track with several small and hard-landing jumps, like Snow Jam. Why does "The AOSO Lander" work? Have you ever noticed when you go off a jump and you land hard, that your boarder leans backwards a bit while recovering from the hard landing? That's a "crash animation" that slows you down a few tenths of a second each time it happens. Doing the tail or nose press as you land prevents that animation from happening, saving you the time you would have lost had it happened. Notes: This trick was discovered by AOSO, a member of the forums at Merqurycity.com. TECHNIQUE # 11 - "The Frost Lander" +---------------------------------+ Events: Racing Importance for High Scores: Very important. How to do "The Frost Lander": This trick is very similar to the AOSO lander, but is both easier and more difficult in turn. To do the Frost Lander, push and hold the jump button as you land. This eliminates any and all rough landings right off the bat. After you land, you can still steer if you need to as long as you continue holding X. The problem is of course, that in SSX 3 there is no way to cancel a prewind, which means you will have to continue holding X until you come to a place you can do a jump. However, you can boost much easier right off the bat from the Frost Lander, something that may be tricky to do with the AOSO Lander. Why do the "Frost Lander": Because it's tons easier to implement into racing, but it's also harder to keep going. It saves you seconds if you do it right, though. Why does "The Frost Lander" work? For the same reason the AOSO Lander works - it eliminates the rough landing animation that costs you time. Notes: This trick was discovered by Frost, a member of the forums at Merqurycity.com. TECHNIQUE # 12 - "The Wired 180 Trick" +-------------------------------------+ Events: Freestyle Important for High Scores: For the records? Not critical, but important if you want to compete. How to do "The Wired 180 Trick": It's very similar doing a nose press 180 trick on the fence. You quickly tap jump and right d-pad together in a rhythm with the the stick used to do the nosepress forward the entire time while you are on a fence or rail. Time it right and it's 5x or more each time you land on the rail. Why do "The Wired 180 Trick": Because it's by far the fastest way to get 30x. The faster you can get 30x, the more time you can have to do tricks and get higher scores. Why does "The Wired 180 Trick" work? I don't really know - I assume it's some by product of the way the game reads 180's on rails. But technically, you don't even have to do 180's to get this to work. Notes: This trick was discovered by igloo, another member of the forums at Merqurycity.com. :) He gave the trick it's "Wired" name, though he originally called it the "Wired Smurphy" trick. Technically it has nothing to do with the Smurphy Trick so I renamed it to correctly describe it's intention and purpose. +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Well, that's all the Advanced Techniques known at this time. Use these techniques to your advantage and try them if you ever have questions about how people may have gotten those outrageous scores online or on the Merqurycity.com scoreboard. :) k. Frequently Asked Questions [GameplayFAQ] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Q. Why can I not spin or flip as fast during jumps as I see other people spinning? A. Most likely you're not prewinding. When you come to a jump, holding down a DIRECTION on the D-Pad in addition to holding down the jump button allows you to "prewind" a flip, allowing you to flip/spin much faster than you could if you pressed the jump button alone. Learning how to prewind is absolutely vital, and the first skill you should learn if you are new to SSX 3. If you are prewinding, you must tap the direction per Advanced Technique #9 above. Q. What's the difference between Frontside (FS) and Backside (BS) and how do I do them? A. Here's my experience on how to do FS and BS Spins. I believe it works for everyone. However, if it does not, be sure to e-mail and let me know. BS and FS denote backside and frontside - the direction you spin. It took me a while to figure this out - doing so is key to doing Monster Tricks believe me. The direction you push to spin backside or frontside depends on two things: 1) Whether your character's default riding style is Goofy or Regular 2) Whether your character is in Switch Stance (S at the bottom of boost bar) I had previously thought that all characters spun a certain way to get BS/FS spins, but I based this on Elise, who is a goofy-footed rider. It turns out that each character's ways to spin are different based on their riding style. (Thanks to Razorfever for help on this section.) REGULAR Stance Riders: Griff, Kaori, Mac, Nate, Viggo and Zoe --------------------------------------- FS Spin: push LEFT BS Spin: push RIGHT Switch FS Spin: push RIGHT Switch BS Spin: push LEFT GOOFY Stance Riders: Allegra, Elise, Moby, Psymon ------------------------------ FS Spin: push RIGHT BS Spin: push LEFT Switch FS Spin: push LEFT Switch BS Spin: push RIGHT Gorf also has a suggestion to figure out the difference between FS and BS Spins: "There is a VERY simple explanation, and that is when you turn, which side of your rider faces outside on the turn? His back or his front. If he's regular he'll be left foot forward... when he spins left his FRONT will be on the outside of the spin, when he spins right his BACK will be on the outside of the spin. If he's regular and riding switch (same stance as goofy) turning right his FRONT will be on the outside of the spin and turning left his BACK will be on the outside of the spin. It's even easier to remember, that if you're left foot forward, turning left is frontside, if you're right foot forward turning right is frontside... turning the opposite way to whatever foot is forward is backside..." One VERY LAST EXPLANATION for BS/FS from Andrew: "If you just standing there about to do a jump, front side spinning will turn you so you face front first. i.e. if you're facing right, spinning to the left will make you face front so that's front side. Back side will make you face backwards first. Switch and stance are irrelevant if you keep this in mind. Once you jump, the sides are locked in until you land. Thus, if you hit huge air and do a X-ecutioner you'll be facing the opposite direction from where you were when you took off when the monster trick registers. Now if you want to do another X-ecutioner, you have to spin in the SAME direction as you were originally spinning, which would appear to be backside, but is still actually frontside." If you can't figure out BS/FS from ALL those tips, there's just no hope for ya. ;) No more submissions on BS and FS spins, 'kay? Q. HOW DO I DO THE MONSTER TRICKS? A. Calm down - I'm assuming you're new to the SSX series? Because if you weren't you should know how to do the Monster Tricks just by reading the name. Well, here is my brief guide to how to do Monster Tricks for those new to the SSX Series. I will show you how to do two Monster Tricks and I'm assuming you can figure out how to do the rest. :) I thought most Monster Tricks should be self explanatory if you have any previous experience with the SSX Series. I usually write my guides for those who have at least a smattering of familiarity with the series. Here's what a step by step explanation of each Monster Trick would look like: For example - Aphrodite - Triple Back Flip Superman You know how to do a backflip, right? (Hint: Prewind down on the control pad then hold down while in the air). Do three and do a Superman Uber while you dothose three back flips. If you don't have the Superman Uber, you need to buy it. You can see from my Uber table that you buy the Superman uber for $10K and that the button used to do it is R1 (+ Square, in case you don't know that you need to tweak a grab while in Uber level of your boost bar to do an Uber). So, do three backflips in mid-air while doing the R1 Uber. Then, let go and land. You should hear the Announcer go "MONSTER TRICK" and the name of the trick should appear at the bottom (it will be the name of one of the musical artists in the game.) BS 900 Jib-O The "900" in the name means 900 degrees of spin - 2 1/2 times around. BS depends on whether you are in switch or not - refer to my BS/FS guide above to figure out the difference. So, buy the Jib-O (again, use my Ubers table) and if you are in SWITCH Stance, and prewind RIGHT, then, do 2 1/2 spins and let go of both the control pad and uber (or hold the uber if you have lots of air time.) Bang! Monster Trick. For more information, just read my Monster Trick FAQ. That spells everything in such detail, even your grandma could do Monster Tricks. :) Q. What's the difference between Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 Ubers? A. Level 1 are can only be done when you fill your first level of your boost bar, and are only "leg-release" grabs, meaning you only release on leg from the board during the animation. Level 2 and Level 3 Ubers are done after you've filled up the second level of your boost bar (spelling out UBER), and are almost the same. The difference between them is that Level 2 Ubers cost $10,000 to buy, and Level 3 Ubers cost either $15,000 (regular Level 3) or $30,000 (character-specific Uber) to buy. Level 3 Ubers have a much longer starting and stopping animation and also accrue points faster the longer you hold them than level 2 Ubers do. Monster Tricks are just specialized tricks with extra bonuses - they are NOT Level 3 Ubers, though you may have to do a Level 3 Uber to do a Monster Trick. =============================================================================== SECTION TWO: TRACK GUIDES [TrackStart] =============================================================================== The TRACKS section will have explanations of all the different modes in the game, as well as a SHORTCUTS section, and extremely in-depth WALKTHROUGHS for EACH track. Pay attention to these, they can help you get over those rough spots and also set records. Each track should have multiple guides, and I will label the difficulty of each guide from "beginner" to "Master" in order so readers can pick the best one for their skill level. Each track will also have a time or score goal so you can know what the goal for each walkthrough was when it was written. Tracks are listed from the bottom of the Peak up, so if you are looking for a typical event towards the top of the mountain, scroll down. This section is constantly filling up with new walkthroughs, so feel free to check back frequently until all the tracks are filled up. Once the tracks are completely filled up, I will update this guide to version 1.0. Basic Mode Explanation and Tips: [TrackModeExplain] Race +--+ Race is racing, as always. Look for the best shortcuts and link them all together to get the fastest time. There is no "special boost" out of the gate in SSX 3, so just hold up until you jump out of the gate to get the best time. Additionally, some of the shortcuts on certain tracks can only be done by fully-powered characters. Big Air: +------+ Big Air tracks are short and sweet. You must reach a certain point total on a very short tracks. 2 heats and then the finals, though if you score high enough on the first heat, you do not need to do a second and will go straight to the finals. This is the same with all Freestyle events. Superpipe +--------+ Superpipe may seem easy, but it is actually pretty challenging to get high scores. There are a few basic things to remember on all Superpipes: 1) Holding ONE single Uber per jump ALWAYS scores more than doing several. Holding it allows the Uber to build up its score and you also will get a 4000 point "Style" bonus for holding a single Uber the entire time. 2) You should ALWAYS boost when you prewind your jumps - boosting makes your jumps so much better than not that it's not even an issue not to boost. 3) Change spin/flip directions often to avoid duplicating tricks. Throw a stall or late flip/spin in there to differentiate each trick. 4) To reach monumental scores, you MUST keep a single combo going from start until you cross the finish line. This huge combo bonus is what makes the scores for Platinum medals possible. Slopestyle +--------+ Slopestyle is to SSX 3 what Showoff was to SSX and SSX Tricky - it features a huge track where you must find the best "line" or path on the course to both get the ever-important multipliers and get enough chances to increase your combo. Comboing is the single biggest thing to get huge scores in Slopestyle, and a lot of the later scores would be next to impossible if you did not string together combos that give you huge bonuses. Special Walkthrough Terminology Section: +--------------------------------------+ This section will describe the terminology you may read in the guide. Although I will attempt to simplify these things as much as possible, you must familiarize yourself with the terms the top players use if you wish to follow their guides. With that said, here is the index of terms in guides: "SA" - Do a Stoneage Monster Trick "X" - Do an X-Ecutioner Monster Trick. Do NOT confuse this with the combo muliplier, which always has a number in front of it like 3x or 30x. "X to X" - (or SA to SA, etc.) Do an X-cutioner to X-cutioner Monster Trick. A SA to SA would be two Stoneages back to back. "Nifty Shifty" - do a quick Misty/Rodeo Trick with a Nifty Shifty grab. You usually do these on flat ground to fill your boost bar. =============================================================================== PEAK ONE [TrackPeak1] =============================================================================== +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ JUNCTION [TrackJunction] Superpipe +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Qualifying: 160,000 Final: 180,000 Platinum: 700,000 +--------------------------------+ | Walkthrough Author: gondee | | Walkthrough Goal - 3 million+ | | Skill Level - Master | +--------------------------------+ Junction is your typical superpipe, in that it's a relatively straightforward track with no real frills. It's a good "medium" track - it doesn't have the craziness of Schizo coupled with the sheer length of Perpendiculous. Remember that to get a score of 3 million plus, you must have a fully powered up character with the ability to do the X-cutioner Monster Trick. 1. The start is the single most important part of playing Junction. Since each jump is essentially the same, a good start can mean a great high score. What you want to do is coming out of the gate, immediately handplant onto the fence on the right. Going DOWN the fence (not backwards/up) do 180's while holding a nosepress. Each 180 you do should net you 3x. 2. The kicker for the beginning is at the bottom of the fence on the right. You must hit the wall WITHOUT resetting, and then "bounce" back up the fence, doing nosepress 180's back up the fence. Try to go up about 2/3 of the distance from where you started. If you go to far up the fence, (past the starting gates), this technique is worthless since it will take too long to get back into the pipe. 3. When you begin to go back DOWN the fence, use the left analog stick and lean to the left. Boost off the rail and you should miss the overpass and hit the pipe with at least 20x, taking no more than 15 seconds. It's a great start to the track. This method, to the best of my knowledge, was discovered by C.P. 4. Once you are into the pipe, you must get enough air to do two X-cutioner Monster Tricks per jump. If you don't, just do an X-cutioner to a Stoneage. Do this continuously until your time hits 10 seconds, then look to exit the halfpipe at the very end of it. 5. The last jump can be your best one, and you can get 2 X's fairly easily off of it, so try to land directly next to the finish line and finish with only a few seconds left. Doing this, you can easily hit 3.5+ million on Junction. Good luck! +--------------------------------+ | Walkthrough Author: Mathochist | | Walkthrough Goal - 700,000+ | | Skill Level - Easy | +--------------------------------+ Many people emphasize maxing out stats before attempting platinum medals. At least for superpipes, this is really unnecessary given the right rhythm. The same technique should work for Schizophrenia and Perpendiculous as well. Also, while helpful, starting with some boost is not necessary. Phase 1: Each pipe starts with a lip out of the gate. Do at least a rodeo/misty NIFTY shifty off this lip and hold forward the right stick to land in a nose press, just enough for it to register. Either you will have filled your boost meter or not by now. If not, boost to the edge of the pipe and pull another NIFTY shifty, spinning diagonally as much as possible in the process to fill your meter. Remember to land on your nose press again. Phase 2: The rest of the course is just back and forth across the pipe. The next four jumps (that's the firxt four out of the pipe if you started with enough boost, or the second through fifth if you needed a bit more on the first jump) should all be Jay Tears or Amazing Spencos with as much diagonal spin as possible in each of the four diagonal directions. These must be released in time to get your foot back on the board, but should be held as long as possible otherwise. The gold standard (platinum standard?) is to get a "long grab" bonus on every single jump. Each jump in this phase should end gain back on your nose press. Phase 3: Now, know your boarder's fastest-releasing ubertricks. This will help hold until the very last second, as you don't need as much time to get your feet back on the board. Fast starts are also good, which is why I *never* use level 3 ubers here. For the next four jumps, pull the fastest uber while spinning diagonally as much as possible, holding as long as possible, and landing in another nose press. Then do the same with the next fastest uber. Keep an eye on the end of the pipe to shoot yourself a little upstream if you need to. Better to have a trick not hold as long as possible than to run out of pipe. Phase 4: Now, if all has gone smoothly you have a combo of 26 to 28 built up. Pull another diagonal-spinning, long-held, fast-releasing, nose-landing ubertrick or two and have a list of available monster tricks handy. You should be moving fast enough not to need the press anymore since your combo multiplier has maxed out. Boost hard, jump high, and pull the biggest monster trick you can, stalling or such if you want. Land and pull the next biggest and so on. Keep an eye on the timer to make sure you can land and board press your way through the finish line in time with your combo string intact. This technique, as long as you have the basics down well, is next to foolproof. I'll set a goal of 700,000 on it (for platinum on The Junction), but I've used it to break a million points with an unimproved Allegra. +--------------------------------+ | Walkthrough Author: ssxtitan | | Walkthrough Goal - 700,000 | | Skill Level - Medium | +--------------------------------+ 3 Steps to the Junction Halfpipe 1. Dropping into half pipe 2. Route and technique inside half pipe 3. Exiting the half pipe 1. Right out of the gate there is little lip in front of you, do a double flip (combined with whatever trick you like), and then land with the board press! Landing with the board press will enable to begin your combo string! Once you have landed you will want to turn slightly to your right and go up the side of the half pipe. (Don’t hit the two triangular barricades though.) It is important to angle yourself a little bit off this first half pipe jump, because when you come back down you want to hit the other side of the half pipe, and not end up shooting back up the hill towards the starting gates. When you take this first jump if you don’t see a 3X or 4X COMBO at the top middle part of your screen, then you have failed to start your combo string in which case you may want to restart as this will cost you some points, since you will end up with a smaller combo string total (by 3 to 4 obviously)! 2. O.K. you're now in the pipe and you have a combo string going of at least 3X or 4X! Now is when the real fun begins! Strap on your oxygen tank cause we’re going for crazy altitude! This part is pretty straight forward, you will see that along the course there are 6 yellow spheres, and above those there are 8 shiny diamonds! You want to get all these! The trick to big air is jumping right at that last second, you also want to pre-wind the second you land as to maximize your spin in the air. While in the air, try to be creative use monster tricks, and ubers, you can hold ubers too and watch your score go higher the longer you hold it. Style points certainly help too and u can get these by combining different ubers in a single jump. Be creative though, and try not to use the same ones over and over as they are worth less each time you do them in an event! You can see your style points when you are jumping, they should appear next to the score you are getting for that particular jump! I have found that if you manage to hit one of the diamonds, that you are more than likely on a good line to hit them all! So if you do hit one, when you come back down and land, do not turn the board at all! Fly up again, and if you hit the jump on the other side of the half pipe you should fly up to the next shiny diamond, and then just repeat this process! If you manage to pick up all the shiny diamonds, then go back and try to get the yellow spheres! You can shoot yourself back up the half pipe by landing a jump and then angling your board towards the beginning of the half pipe. I suggest not going at an angle more than 45 degrees, because you want to be able to get some air, so that you can land in the first part of the half pipe, and still have momentum to continue jumping. 3. Time to go! When you're down to about 10-15 seconds left you will want to think about getting to that finish line pronto! There are a couple of ways to get there. The first which is little risky, but certainly yields more points (and is my personal favorite) is to make sure that you are at the very end of the half pipe, and pull the same kind of 45 degree angle jump that you would use to make your way back up the half pipe, but only this time, instead of angling your jump so that it faces the beginning of the half pipe, you’ll want to angle so that you're shooting towards the finish line. The camera angle is a little weird off this jump, so be forewarned, but I can tell you that if hit it well you should be able to do at least 3 ubers before you land! With any luck you should land in front of the finish line and cruise in for a score of anywhere between 700,000- 1,000,000+ !!! The other way is to simply land that last jump, and right when you land make a hard turn for the finish line, sometimes I have trouble stopping my momentum, and instead of turning sharply and cruising towards the finish line on the ground, I will fly up and take another jump, in which case I run out of time. But if you can get your character to turn sharply enough so that they don’t jump and just head for the finish on the ground, then this method works just fine!! Have fun and good luck!! TIP: Author - Ghoti Do a few tricks as you approach the start gate, and you'll come off the starting line with some gas in your boost meter already. If you're not Uber by the time you hit the first jump in the pipe, you can be so easily by mixing up each of the Uber grabs; I can usually get UBER spelled out and can usually get 'SUP' or so of the next level of tricks. Once you're Super-Uber, nail those SuperUbertricks with style (go for Stalls, Off-Axes, and Inverts for max style points). Always land with a tail or nose press for a freebie Combo link in your chain. If you get 10 jumps, that's 10 more tricks in the Combo! +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ METRO CITY BREAKDOWN [TrackMetroCity] Racing +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Heat 1: Beat 3:07 Heat 2: Beat 3:02 Heat 3: Beat 2:48-2:54 Platinum: 2:30 +-----------------------------------+ | Walkthrough Author: happymachines | | Walkthrough Goal - 1:40 | | Skill Level - Master | +-----------------------------------+ 1) Coming out of the gate, I suppose you could punch someone if you felt like it. I don't because after restarting the course fifty times that person gets really pissed off at you. I find it much easier just to do lots of mistys on the first drop. You want to spend as little time in the air as possible, so jump so that you just barely clear the little bump before the drop. 2) Ahead of you and just to the left will be a break in the fence and a SSX sign. Break through the sign! Whooosh! If you manage to get on the rail immediately after the sign, even better. Boost down the rail, keep going straight, then onto the next rail, which you will also boost on. 3) There are two ways to take this next section, the easy way or the slightly faster way. The easy way is that directly ahead of you there is a ramp that you can use to jump clear over the building ahead of you. The slightly faster way involves going around the building. For this, I recommend getting on the rising, curving pipe that will be ahead of you and to the right. Boost while on the pipe, and make sure you are in a FS or BS grind, as this will make it easier for you to catch the next pipe. This is a short length of pipe which if you follow to the end will shoot you back onto the normal path. Instead, as soon as you hit this second pipe do a tap-jump. If Shiva is with you then you'll be able to jump between a small gap between a fence and the building. 4) Directly ahead there should be two ramps of slightly different heights and a path that leads through a tunnel to the right. You want the ramps. You want them so badly. It burns you in your deepest places, you want the ramps so badly. But if you hit them while going to fast it will shoot you back onto the normal course, SO SLOW DOWN! You should drop down into an area underneath where the normal path is doing its elevated zig-zaggy back-and-forth thing. Ahead and slightly to the right there are going to be some wooden poles, maybe a wrecked car or two, and a pay phone. Head straight towards the pay phone, and smash into it as fast as you can. The pay phone is actually a teleport, and the more speed you have going in, the more speed you have after you're teleported. 5) This pay-phone teleport will deposit you in one of two places. The more uncommon place is about the same distance on the track as you just were, but much farther on the right hand side. Ahead of you will be a very short yellow pipe coming out of the ground which lets you gring onto a billboard, or maybe another pipe or something. Regardless, this path sucks. Restart if you get it. The much better teleport place is on the left side of the course, but farther down. 6) Almost immediately you should see a balcony/fire escape thing coming out of the building on your left. You can grind on the right edge of this, but will fall right through (and possibly crash) if you go through the middle. I find the easiest way to get on it (especially since you have very little time to reorient yourself properly) is to jump onto it, twisting into a BS or FS grinding position midair. Once you're on this, boost to the end of the rail, and you might end up catching one or two more balconies (and hopefully avoid hitting a poorly-placed streetlight). 7) After those grinds end you will see the normal path on your right, and a ssx sign directly ahead of you. Right before this sign, just to the right of it is a short yellow pipe leading from the ground to a fence. Get on the pipe, then fence, and boost. Quickly turn into a FS/BS grind so that you don't fall off the fence, and start leaning towards the left. Once you're off the fence there is going to be a quarterpipe directly ahead of you with two billboards at different heights above it. To the left and above the quarterpipe is a water silo thing with a teleporter coming out of the bottom of it. You want that teleporter. There are three ways to get up to it. The first is to jump on the quarterpipe, handplant on the billboard, handspring off to land on the billboard, and boost along the rail into the teleporter. Second, if when you jump you have enough of a leftward angle and position yourself correctly, you can go straight into a grind on the billboard rail. The third method is to go even more to the left and just jump straight into the teleporter beam from the quarterpipe, although this can be tricky. 8) So, there are also two places this teleporter can take you. One is rare and good, the other is common and not as good. I have no idea how to get the rare one. I really wish I did. I *think* it might have something to do with handplanting on the higher billboard, since out of the four times I have recieved this teleport destination, two of them were preceded by that. But honestly, I don't know. Okay, imagine you're just taking the normal path down this course. You know those weird pagoda roof looking things that are just hanging above the course and you can break through them if you do the jump before them correctly? And further down the course on the left hand side is a rail you can get on to skip a lame hairpin turn section? So, the not as good teleport location will take you to an otherwise pretty much innaccessible part of the course to the right of the pagoda. There will be a rail that you will hopefully fall upon, and use to boost through this sneaky little section. This will rejoin the normal path at the bend in the hairpin turn. Cut the turn a little sharp to the left to make your path through her a bit more straight. Once you get to the bottom of that sharp drop and continue heading in the direction that the course is usually heading in, that's where the good teleport would poop you out. So you see now why that teleport is good, because its pooping location is signifigantly farther down the track. 9) Ahead is a little bump with some red paint on it, take the jump early to spend less time in the air, and get some boost back in the process. Then the course drops, and if you fall correctly you land on a pipe that you can ride to make this annoying twisty section much faster. Once you exit this pipe, fairly quickly there will be another to the right which will allow you to get some speed and cut out a turn or two. 10) Ahead of you on the right will be a large bank with some purple flares. Usually the purple flares signify a shortcut, but I feel like you lose too much speed going up the bank and being in the air, so just sort of skirt the snowbank instead. You will now be entering some sort of weird park area, I guess. You should cut through the park towards you left, hopefully jumping onto one of the two rail systems, preferably the lefter, higher rail. This will allow you to skip more of the park, and set you up nicely for the jump ahead. 11) After the park there is a big jump that can go one of several ways. However most of those ways suck and are lame. The non-sucky and non-lame way is to angle to the right. Not so much that you crash into the glass section of the building on the right, but so that you land in the alley nestled seductively between the building ahead of you and the building on the right. If you are still confused, it's the place with the phone booth that has the last teleporter in it. Yeah, that's the one, straight into the phone booth. 12) You will teleport in towards the end of this whole final factory place. Ahead of you will be a pipe which you can boost on with the annoying alley thing that I always screw up on, or you can just go down the moguls to the left. 13) That's it. The fastest time I've managed on Metro City is 1:53, and that is with many accidents and I got the not-as-good exit location on the second teleport. So a time of 1:40ish should easily be possible if everything goes perfectly. +----------------------------------------+ | Walkthrough Author: UltimateApocalypse | | Walkthrough Goal - Platinum under 2:20 | | Skill Level - Medium | +----------------------------------------+ NOTE: When I say do uber off a jump, I mean if your boost is not full. As you all know, big jump sometimes take more time because you *stay* in the air for quite a bit. So only jump and do uber if you need the boost. If the following procedures are done correctly, you should be able to use boost all the time and finish the race with 2:20 or less. Good Luck! 1. Out of the gate punch someone then do 2 ubers of the jump. If you cannot do it, then just do a trick + spin + flip of the first jump and your boost meter should be full when you land. 2. Right after you land, go to the left where you see a SSX sign. Grind the rail and do an uber on rail. After you land, you should see two rails ahead, one straight ahead, the other to your right. Go to the one on your right, grind a rail and do an uber on rail. 3. Now there is a big jump ahead, aim for the center of the building where you will break the glass. Be careful do not jump too high or you will hit the building. You should be able to do 3 ubers from this jump. 4. After you land, aim for the center of the track where a narrow pathway goes between the buildings. There is a jump and a Trick Boost at end of the pathway, do 3 ubers. You should fly over the main track and the billboard, land on a narrow track between the buildings. 5. Keep going b