My Diaries

A Lurid Tale of Obsession, Depravity, Wits and Attempted Wit

Thu Feb 18, 1999

Corrections to former misinformation about Used Car Stock.

If all you do is license tests, the stock only changes every 10 days right from the start of the game. Now previously when experimenting with early games I was sure the stock changed around 5 days. Perhaps I was hallucinating, or perhaps if you purchase a car the stock changes sooner. Which means in the early game they might play sort of mean tricks on you. I thought I saw a Supra MA70 before for <$6000, but it never appeared in the first 25 days when I played last night. So perhaps if you purchase a car, they change the stock, and you end up thinking "darn I should have waited", whereas really it would not have helped.

But then again, it is easy to misread a "6" as a "5" on my TV screen, and that might be what happened. More experiments some other day.

Last night I created a 17-day B license in about 45 minutes, and went on on another copy to create a 25-day card which has upto and including A-3. On my "real" game I improved my A-3 time (twice), using manual this time, and also got gold on A-7 . I did some racing, but didn't buy any cars, and the stock seemed to track the schedule I had written down last night.

I tried the World Cup last night, and got trounced. Well, I did win at Grand Valley, progressing nicely from a 6th place qualifying. I came fourth in the series, finishing ahead of Slowpoke and Maniac. On SSR11 I was mildly in contention until maniac goes flying past me into the final chicane on the second, I think, lap. So I don't panic, but then as I come out of the chicane, there he is across the road in front of me!!!! Things went mostly downhill from there on, as I lost more time than the AI cars did because of that pile-up, though I did manage to claw my way back from 6th to 5th.

(Slowpoke = Lantis Type R) (Maniac = Lancer EvolV GSR)

This was in a Racing Cerbera, not the LM. Not much to choose, but I think I'll try choosing it another time. In time trials after that, although I demolished my Grand Valley I record, the Racing Cerbera could not beat any of the other records I tried, SSR5 and SSR11, I think, which were held by the Cerbera LM.

And, of course, I may break down and play their game and choose a 4WD model.