[R]GARAGE does GeneRally Touring Car World Cup! A Season Review...

4 Races...


7 Login Sessions...


Lots of Drivers...


Tons of Teams...

Touring Cars and Kit Cars all season long! Welcome to Lukeno94's GeneRally Touring Car World Cup where GeneRally drivers around the world battle it out in their touring or kit cars in a chase for a coveted title of "GRTCWC Champion" plus the trophy! Throughout four races at four different circuits in four countries with each race has qualifying and race sessions but Race of Taiwan.

There are lots of teams competing in the Team's Championship and drivers who hunt for Driver's Championship, and one of the team is none other than Team [R]GARAGE, a team led by yours truly, consisting of three drivers: Myself, resir014 (which we had previously teamed up in GRC seasons), and Bird (The German Garuda, he joined the team so that's why :lol:). Throughout four races and three qualifying sessions, I and Bird strive to produce best results for the team, while resir014 just did one qualifying and no race.

Here I will recap the full season as well as Team [R]G's progresion throughout four races.

Race of Germany - Street Circuit of Aach

The first race took place in the city course of Aach (aka Race of Germany), the qualifying session took place with all drivers try to set their best time within three laps. The #27 red Alfa Romeo driver Alonso slayed all racers with a time of 29.20", and his teammate scaramanga finished a place within Hedo from Panthers Kart Racing team with 0.77" behind him. It seems Croatia Racing Team is out for rampage there...

Bird became the front man in my team even though he qualified 10th out of 20, while resir014 is five places ahead. And guess who forgot to took his savegame that he decided to DNQ himself to avoid BOP???

Well, either not saving results or BOP doesn't make difference anyway, sans the +5s penalty...

Well... The first race goes with a bang and everyone tried to tackle this street circuit. Many drivers crashed at one section or two while they were trying to find their best line. The race is attended by 17 drivers out of 20 qualified, and resir014 is one of the absent drivers... Though I managed to drive the race and this time didn't forgot how to save the game :v

In the end Alonso and Scaramanga snatched 1-2 while Krisu from Scarlet Devil Raceworks completing the podium. I, however, finished 11th just more than eight seconds behind Haruna from the Scarlet Devil, and if I did go fast enough I'd complete Top 10 by now but well, just consider it a running joke where I either flopped the top 10 or worse, though there are times where I could get it, though most probably because another driver is penalised for something...

Bird completed the race behind the likes of Lukeno94 and Marcinho, myself included, yet his best lap was better than mine. Then again, it's all about consistency...  In the end, it wasn't a sweet result for the [R]Gs as none of the drivers were in the top 10, and resir014 didn't race, but it wasn't the most bitter either...

Qualifying results

Click for full resolution. Listen to this round's commentaries for both qualifying and race. (Props to Lukeno94! :D)

Race of USA - Deserted Heat of Diamond Valley

The second round travels west to the States where drivers are challenged in the heat of the Race of USA. Though it was hot temperature-wise, I managed to score eighth in the qualifying, and the same place at the race. This gotta be the best result throughout my racing career in GR; I've never been on Top 10 before in the past, but when I did it was because one messed up his submission/settings... Ahh, GRC days...

Sadly though I am the only one driving for my team as Bird didn't race in this round despite he qualified tenth just 0,01 seconds ahead Lukeno94 and behind Marcinho. Top runners on the qualification were Hedo, Alonso, Senna, kuba, and scaramanga, with all of them scored 26,xx lap time. At this point, it's a romance of four teams between the privateer Senna, Panthers Kart, Destiny Racing*, and Croatia Racing Team.

* = Destiny Racing is NEITHER. FREAKING. WAY affiliated with ZAFT or Shinn Asuka nor is funded by them so to say :lol:.

But it was a deadly duet of Alonso and scaramanga who finished first and second respectively, cashing in big points for Croatia Racing Team while Hedo dropped to third after all the jostles between these three for the P1, though Hedo didn't lose with nothing as his time of 27,78 made him the man with the fastest lap, followed by Alonso's 27,85 and my 28,08 mark. Meanwhile it was another big gap finish as ahead me was Jim451 who was to finish fifth but got a penalty for starting from pole; he actually qualified in ..., and the rule stated that you have to start from P1-P5 grid if you're qualified in that position, and the rest is P6. This can be done via SaveGameMerger or a "Points, reversed" Starting grid setting in-game.

A little moment for my race though; it was actually done when I was home from my grandparents' house, and that I don't bring my laptop. It was very staggering for me as I had to do college matters at the time the race's login is still in effect. After I got home at evening (exactly as evening as 19:00 Jakarta Time), more bad lucks happen as I had to login using my Nokia C7-00 smartphone. With all the remaining quota I have, I went straight to the login page, but accidentally logged in for Round 3 qualifying, and didn't realize that there was a login for the second race for those who requested the Extra Time. Though using 3G connection, it was slow as hell, and I forgot my strategy of opening my mail client first for sending my files.

That being done, my race occurs and seconds later my connection (which was switched to GSM shortly after the race finishes) is unbearable, it can't open the mail client and upload my submission as fast as I could hoped. So, I was forced to send my submission by my smartphone and turns out that this IS the first case of late-submit, though Lukeno94 understood my connection thus no penalty is given to me. Good result, bad connection. Hate the connection, not the race...

Qualifying session. Click for full res

Click for full res. Commentaries for this race's qualifying and race sessions are available

Race of Spain - Bumps, Jumps, and Tricky Elevations at El Huracan

Third race of the season returned to Europe with the race taking place in Spain for a race at a track with crazy elevation changes that's El Huracan. At one glace, this race isn't my strong point because I wasn't good enough at negotiating corners here, especially that between turn seven and turn eight where there's a bump between them. Most drivers marked times between 25,xx-26,xx , and I was the one in the 26,xx, scoring 26,71 at qualifying. At training, I had 28,xx ++ which could boot me to the last of the grid if I posted this time without proper training. I just am grateful that I qualified ninth, while Bird had difficulties on the course and unfortunately started last. There are no penalties seen...

For the race, I took fought my hardest for eighth place. This leads into a battle for P8 as I fought Lukeno94 Sports's new driver NathanW. We've got into battles and we've had mistakes due to AIs' aggressiveness. For most of the time, P8 was mine, until the last lap mistake that costed me a fight against NathanW. So, Nathan wins the P8 joust and I was an "Okay" rage face. But the crash... It should be a "FFFFFFUUUU" face...

Alonso won, Hedo on podium, and boblopette scores Croatia RT another podium. No surprises.... As for the [R]Gs, our performance is subpar but it's enough to complete Top 10. I and Bird did a great job in completing the top 10 puzzle, and P8 SHOULD BE MINE IF I DIDN'T CRASH AYAYAYAYEEEE!!!!

Qualifying session. Click for full res.

Click for full res.
Commentaries for this race's qualifying and race sessions are available

Race of Taiwan - The Rage Face-imminent Final Race of Doom!!!

The final round of the season took the racers to the one and only Eastern race held in Taiwan Motorsports Park, a race course with crazy elevations, even crazier than El Huracan, and was so crazy one raged due to bad racing lines that costs him very much. And THAT was from my team, though the person in question wasn't yours truly. I was optimistic that I would score 6'22.xx" or better but due to me drifting too wide at the fourth lap that I was forced to get in the pits, thus making a pit that not only costed me my race but also my strategy.

Taiwan, to be honest, is THAT one round where, while you're jostling with the AIs, you have to tackle all those elevations in correct speeds and lines. This fourth and final race was also the only one that got the special treatment in which there was no qualifying session, but in turn everyone had to start from pole, which means perfect start and a good speed and line in the first lap are one of the main keys here. In the middle of the race, consistency and correct pit strategy would affect one's run, and lapping the AIs isn't an exception.

Had I got a run that's better than my training runs, maybe 6'21.xx" or a second slower, I could be around Lukeno94 Sports drivers (sixth or seventh, ahead of Lukeno94), yet once again my run was screwed thanks to the early accidental forced pit stop. Once again Croatia Racing Team slayed with both Alonso and scaramanga scored the same fastest laps, but Alonso has it all; consistency, speed, and whatnot. Meanwhile my teammate Bird was dumped at the last position and once again resir014 didn't make his race, but that was because he had college stuffs to be done.

Bird, No~!!!!

Click for full res. Commentary is currently not available.

In the end, everything was crystal clear, it doesn't need a description...

Even though it was already predictable due to the top runners' oft-repeating best results, my result in this competition was no thumbs-down; a ninth place finish in the standings sure gave me lemon teas with two Lukeno94 drivers tailed me just a point. Bird ended up 14th while resir014 was one of those four who don't race at all. :(

This makes a clearer picture for the Team's Championship as well; Team [R]G was the last place dweller in the standings, while we already know CRT would slay. The problem was we weren't good enough, we finished in subpar positions. Though since the competition ended, for what we are crying for?

That doesn't describe us well enough...

So there you are, a great coverage of Lukeno94's competition GeneRally Touring Car World Cup! Hopefully I could start a competition of my own. But not only that because this is just one of the series I'm in right now as I am competing in two other GR compos. I just hope I could snatch Top 10 positions again... :)

~[R]

Another Update Before the Dawn of Mid-Semester Test Comes!

After a long time without an update, here's a series of quick round-up of what I am/was doing. The problem here is I can't let my blog dead... :p

TURBO SLIDERS: NEW TSE-STYLE TRACKS ARE UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

While plans of testing the new Tsukuba Course with the SCARTS course is still under discussion, I've made two new tracks: Two of them are of TSE's quality, two of them are set in Asia, and two of them have a variety of layouts.

Monsoon International Raceway

A course that passes the coastal beach's lighthouse, something TSE has never been done before...

Monsoon International is a race course situated in a tropical beach of Indonesia, located near the lighthouse. The course features a series of turns and a chance to drive past the coast's lighthouse at the hairpin. The course would have three or four configurations however I see fit. The idea to make this track comes as I wanted to make a TSE-style track and try to make something different. Furthermore, the lighthouse IS the track's mascot like some TSE tracks have like in Roaring for example with its "Lion" mascot.


Nippon Highlands 

 

East and West!

While the name already hints the Japanese race course theme, the course is anything but finished. There are lots of things to do to the track like kerbs, objects, terrains, runoffs, etc. Other than that, the course is heavily inspired by numerous Japanese tracks like Suzuka and Tsukuba,

MAXIMUM TUNE: FINALLY ABLE TO TRANSFER IT TO MT4!

With yesterday being a bitch due to no lecturers present at my university, it turned out to be a luck of my answer of some of mainstream, mostly rename with SSS, rally cars SF-RL as it underwent 10 more stories in the chase of the Full Tune. This also marks the end of my 3DX+ days as I move on to MT4.

So long 3DX+! Vielen Danke for everything!

That means due to the nature of the mall's location being TOO FAR from my home, and Pondok Indah Mall, my nearest place for MT-ing, would get MT4 in a couple of months, I decided to stop playing MT for awhile and focus on several projects. Though if you (Indonesian readers only!) are reading this, my ghosts are available for revenges. And no, by "Revenge", I say no relation to Emily Thorne, not even the Graysons. VICTORIA GRAYSON CAN'T SPEED FOR GOD'S SAKE~!!!

For your information, I got lost when I went to Puri Indah from PIM. Yeah, seriously, I'm not lying. I relied on GPS until I found out that, while there IS a faster way to get there from PIM to Puri Indah, the GPS kept picking routes that are... false. Sometimes it leads to unexpected locations, but no matter how fishy the ride there, I finally managed to get my both cars to MT4. Both are Nissans, and probably those who read this might suggest me to do R35. :lol:

Compared to how it looks on 3DX+, the red color is noticeably fitter for S30. Looks like it IS truly a Safari Rally Car jejeje

Available Ghost Search Codes: MAAB8E (R34) and MKXF4J (this car, S30)

And now the only thing that would keep me away from this blog is the upcoming mid-semester test. Hopefully I could slay the mid-term without flaws.

~[R]

My History of Maximum Tune, Throughout the Years

After giving spotlights to GeneRally and Turbo Sliders in most of my posts, let's twist the topic and take things differently this time, which you can tell by this post's title (YOU DONT SAY???)

Remember the Wangan Midnight Maximum Tune 4 cabs pic I posted in the previous blog post? Almost a month ago, these cabs stepped its feet at one of the farthest mall I've ever been weeks after its release; Puri Indah Mall. This place is totally new for me, and that I visited the mall in not only a sole purpose of looking at the shiny yet wasn't-turned-on cabs but also the mall itself.

Source: Matthew N @ an Indonesian WMMT Group

Weeks later, at an Indonesian Maximum Tune group, people who have waited for the cabs to be turned on stormed the now-activated cabs, and there were enthusiastic people who want to get their hands on the MT4, whose release unfortunately is delayed and that every Indonesian player speculated about how will one game cost considering its profit sharing system that most game centers here don't accept at first, which mall will get this cab set first, why it's delayed in release, bla bla bla. Countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, and Philippines, to name a few, had already have MT4 cabs way before we do.

YES, even the dev himself DON'T WANT to forget "funs" for Indonesian players!

As it is activated, we've got a catch: Our server is different than theirs; we have a localized server of our own, the same case with the Chinese MT4. That means you know we won't be able to race other ghosts from other countries unless Namco will integrate our server with the international one. However, this leads to an interesting fact:

3DX+ TRANSFER DEADLINE IS NOT IN EFFECT FOR INDONESIAN PLAYERS! Rejoice! Just because we got MT4 later than the other countries, it doesn't mean the 24 October of doom is applied to our server! :p

This means more time for the loyal Maximum Tune players in Jakarta (sadly for now...) to have their 3DX+ cards be transferred into a Banapassport which can support up to 100 cars! And this transfer is FREE OF CHARGE! Sans the Bana of course... :v . Currently MT4 is available at XXI Puri Indah Mall, which then Timezone's Mall Kelapa Gading branch follows after. Both cost up to IDR 10,000 (roughly a dollar) a play, and that's still promo price...

But what about me? I, who has raced MT4 cab ONCE, has a very long unique history of this game in general, from just casual plays at Cilandak Town Square in the first MaxTune, to starting out with a Bayside Blue Nissan Skyline GT-R V-Spec II (R34) at Supermall Karawaci with MT2, to reaching 825HP within the days of MT3 and its subsequent sequels up to 3DX+, travelling at various malls where my parents took me, and eventually full tuned and full Dress-up it in my college years. But how I live through six years from my start? You sure know the story of how I play it the first time at Citos and how I start my own R34 at Karawaci from my previous blog posts, but how about the MT3 timeline chunk?

From 3, through 3DX, and finally 3DX+

(My memory is a bit fuzzy btw :shh:)

As MT3 replaced MT2, I, in the same ground as where I created my R34, transferred my card over, and played stories. Sadly I don't play much and had to lose with those who have more outrun stars and maxi coins than my car did. Furthermore, I can only play only on the circumstances where my parents took me to a mall with MT3 cabs, on weekends. You know that MT3 cabs are always awfully occupied and there are people standing behind the racing racers who are ignoring the "3 plays and you're done" rule in the game centers that they play more than three times. It's a standard in every game center, not just one. Furthermore, people just can't get enough in completing stories and battles...

To make things worse, most racers, if not all, who possess cards with lots of battle stars and coins are kids. Yes, KIDS, as in boys in their elementary age. Talk about the kiasu and sisu of those elementary kids, not just in mainstream Korean online games... Take note that Kiasu and Sisu, while they are both Singlish and Finnish respectively, mean almost, if not, the same; hate to lose.



In 3DX years, where you can Enjoy the Process in Hanshin Speed Ring of Osaka and Nagoya (!), I spent most of the time playing in Depok area. Plaza Depok is the nearby place in Depok that has MaxTune, with Depok Town Square and Margo City had a fair share of 3DX cabs before the latter has to be replaced by another arcade racer named Dead Heat. Again, I do ghost battles and stories as I reap on Dress-up parts and the full tune HP level of 825HP at a slow pace. Given the fact that every MT cab is occupied like hell that one can play more than three times and there are people waiting and there aren't nearby arcades in my home, I gave up. Not to mention there are times everytime when I'm in the middle of the game my parents phoned me to call quits on my session.

This also goes to my 3DX+ years. No nearby arcades, playing by shopping with parents or alone with transportation fares, cabs crowded by kids. Almost the same story, until there's, fortunately, a near place from my home which I posted a year ago as the reviver of my MaxTune career. In the same place, a year later, a tournament is held and I found out that it is a preliminary for a grand final which I cannot attend thanks to the staff's misinformation there. :(

As I go to the college, three places with 3DX+ cabs are present: Cilandak Town Square, Pondok Indah Mall, and Bintaro Plaza. One is pretty near from my college just by going straight and follow the road until Citos, one has so many 3DX+ cabs in different game centers, and one is... well, pretty near too despite it isn't as near as the first. Sadly, as the time progresses, the elimination game occurs and Cilandak has to be its victim, with most of its machines are transferred to Pondok Indah Mall. Bintaro Plaza is a pretty place where I could get battle mates to race with, but sadly my skills aren't a match for their RX-8s. As for ghost battles, I'm thankful I've got to revenge Bintaro ghosts despite sometimes I couldn't take them out at the first try.

This footage of full-tuned blue Skyline R34 is brought to you by the reflections that'll make you shit bricks :p

Finally, after years of playing, I've Fully-tuned my car to 825HP at Bintaro and Fully Dressed-up to Lv. 63 Dress-up at Karawaci. The last run has to be meaningful...

Boys and Their Rename Evo IXs and RX-8s

Seeing elementary-age kids racing here is a common sightseeing here...

And it turns out the majority of rank toppers in every MaxTune cab, not just 3DX+, are RENAMES. Yup, they are the ones with lots of stars, both big and small, and coins too. They come in with either tribal or flame stickers and inspection color finishes, sometimes works stickers also work, same thing for those with Namco and Pac Racing Club Man stickers. They've got more than 100k mileage, SSS Rank... they ARE EVERYWHERE!!!

I know that feel about the Pac-Man sticker...

You can nearly spot them in any 3DX+ arcade as they are common. YES, VERY COMMON! At first when I didn't aware them, I envy them having so many stars and coins. But now that I aware them, well... I tell you: stars and coins aren't everything, even the SSS Rank (albeit the traffic density difference). Sure you can buy them for a price as reasonable as IDR 100k+ and immediately hit the streets of Wangan up to IDR 5000 one run, alone, against a ghost, taking a store crown of a course, or against either Akio's Devil Z or the all-Skyline R200 Club for another loop, but you can't feel the same excitement and experience at the same time when you start from zero. Yes, you won't like it at first but hey, it'll give you a good run for your money!

There are also people with so much money who are willing to start from zero all the way to FT and FDU using all their hard-earned money and effort. This usually applies to workers whose hobby is THIS very game. :p

Back to Rename Kids thingy, there are, unfortunately, people who have so much ego as if they have played the game for a long time while in reality they just bought renames. Not just in Indonesia, but this kind of people are very common overseas, especially in places like Singapore where there are kids who go like "ME AM THE BEST LA!", "AM FASTEST LA!", "OH LA LA LA LA"... (expect some Reirom-speak said by them...)  Fortunately, this kind of rename kids are uncommon in Indonesia. In fact, I remember the time when I battle at Bintaro, a rename RX-8 kid shook my hand after a race.

Okay then, I don't mind having a grid of rename RX-8 and Evo IX kids but always remember that gentlemen's way of racing needs to be etched in their... no, every Indonesian... NO, EVERY MT RACER'S HEARTS!

What's Next for Me?

What's next for me as a Maximum Tune racer? With MT4 came and I have acquired my Banapassport, it's time to take my car(s) to the next level. Maybe the server is still localized Indonesian server, but who knows at the time MT4 is widespread in Indonesia and our server is integrated internationally, we can fight against international ghosts!

The fight continues in MT4: New Aero Parts, endless swarms of Dress-up Parts, 830HP of Full Tune, Japan Challenge (race against Japanese MT Players), Online Ghost Battles, New Ramming Physics, etc. It's the challenge to the world!

Active Cards:

- RENDY - Bayside Blue Nissan Skyline GT-R VSpec II (R34) - from MT2, FT (825HP), Full DressUp Lv. 63, Transferred to MT4

My main car for years. From MT2 to its FT at 3DX+ and later FDU, the car underwent hard times; there were times it won a tournament nearby my mall which turned out to be a preliminary for the grand final I missed thanks to a misinformation, and there were times I won and lost battles against rename Evo IXs and RX-8s. Its journey before transferred to MT4 was colorful, even though it's still B6 and has stars and Ghost Battle coins no higher than those of the renames. It is now transferred to MT4, but since the server is still local to avoid the transfer deadline, I won't give you this car's Ghost code yet.

- SF-RL - Red Nissan Fairlady Z S30 - from 3DX+, 10 Stories, DressUp Lv 1x

I created this car to replicate the same car that ran Safari Rally, which is why it took its name from that. It was created in Citos way before its closing. Ghost Battles were the first in priority since the Dress Up parts to replicate the car visually are simple sans the wheels with lots of spokes and black color. Its main purpose is to create a "Rally" car that isn't mainstream (e.g., Lancer Evolution models) btw.

Defunct Cards:
- McKey - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII - from MT3
- *RDX* - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X (CZ4A) - from MT3

Both of these cars were made without a serious intention, and were not very active at all as I used my main car all the time.

~[R]