Beginner's Racing Guide For Forza-Clone, Project Torque MMO
Handling The Torque
There aren’t many free-to-play racing games out there that replicate new-age street racing titles such as Need for Speed or Forza Motorsport. Despite the fact that the genre is extremely popular within the PC and console market and has established its very own niche among gamers and car enthusiasts alike, the MMO market just doesn’t have many street racing games available. In fact, there’s only one pure racing game that features modern cars, street racing, circuit racing and car tuning and it’s called Project Torque. This one-of-kind online racing title has managed to stay low on the press radar but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a strong following of gamers or its a title worth avoiding. In fact, Aeria Games’ multi-racing MMO is a fun game but can be tricky getting into and winning regularly. If you came here to find out how to win and win often then you came to the right place.
These Wheels Were Built For Racing
The real highlight of Project Torque is the ability to customize your ride and modify the parts to your liking – yes, just like the tuning in Forza Motorsport. You will have the option of picking from a handful of newbie cars at the start of the game with the option of upgrading the selected vehicle to your heart’s content. It doesn’t really matter which vehicle you pick at the start because road racing with it isn’t something you’re going to want to do at the start of the game.
Before going anywhere near the racing modes it’s best to use your newbie money to upgrade your ride with basic acceleration and power upgrades. Even though you won’t be racing with it right now, it’s important to get it tuned for when the time comes to take it to the streets.
What you don’t want to spend your money on at he beginning of the game is decals, body kits or any physical mods for the car. It’s a complete waste because you’ll need every dime and dollar to trick out your car with the necessary under-the-hood upgrades to keep up with the competition. After outfitting your car with the basic power upgrades to boost acceleration and horsepower it’s still not time to race.
Practice Marks The Key To Success
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Project Torque uses a neat car-key system for unlocking new missions, which can ultimately gain you more experience and money to upgrade your ride or buy a new one. Be sure to head to the Mission area where a number of newbie missions and practice tutorials are available, which offer up some quick cash, experience and a way to familiarize oneself with the game physics.
There are a limited number of keys available at the start, so only try unlocking the first mission in each section. The yellow key practice missions are probably the best place to start given that they help players get acquainted with the tracks.
After completing a few of the tutorial missions be sure to unlock two red key tasks that include reaching a specific speed limit on a Tokyo track and jumping a specific distance in any game mode. These two beginner missions are easy to accomplish and can be completed outside the Mission area. But before leaving, try activating a red key mission or two against the NPC, which works as a great precursor for what to expect from players in the main game.
The Battle At Thunder Alley Pt. 1
Your first in-game race should take place in the Thunder Alley after clicking on the Race button in the main menu. While it might seem more logical to start in the Vs Arcade race, you’ll more than likely spend a great deal of time losing and earning very little cash or experience in the process. The reason for that spawns from the fact that even if new players join Class 1 car channels many of those Class 1 cars are heavily modified and upgraded. Don’t assume that just because the strongest car in a room is Class 1 that it’s a push over. This is why it’s important to avoid the Arcade races for now and head on over to Thunder Alley.
The highlight of Thunder Alley is that players cannot modify the performance attributes of the cars, thus, all players start off equally and this makes it especially inviting to newbies. All Thunder Alley tracks are oval-shaped like NASCAR, so the skill factors are not burdening on new players.
The Battle At Thunder Alley Pt. 2
Keep in mind that players should not take the Thunder Alley experience for granted as a free pass to go in and race any kind of way and expect to win. It’s still a race type that requires a sharp eye and keen finger work. The trick to winning Thunder Alley is to draft opponents at all times. Pros know that it’s unclassy and disruptive to the race to bump and grind opponents. So if you want to make it to the winner’s circle make sure you avoid crashing and messing up others during the race, otherwise they might unleash a torrent of curses that would make the foul-mouthed commentator on Operation 7 blush.
In addition to drafting, the unspoken race procedure is to pass on the left and draft on the right. On turns, if someone is drafting you from behind be sure to move slightly to the right so they can make the pass. Once they pass you then it’s time to draft them and repeat the process. On the final lap it’s all right to block opponents and prevent them from winning. Colliding with opponents is still a heavily frowned upon last resort, even if it’s the last lap.
Capture The Flag And Explorers
Think it’s time to head to the Arcade race? Well, even if you think it’s time, it’s not. Maintaining wins (or coming close to winning) is the only way to properly upgrade one’s vehicle in order to effectively race competitively in the Arcade mode. So the next stop after Thunder Alley is either Explorer or Capture the Flag.
The Explorer mode is competitive only in how many items a player retrieves. The only downside is that players with a really fast car will be able to gather up items far faster and it can ultimately limit the experience or money you earn. However, if you can manage to join a room where the player cars (or the players themselves) aren’t all that high in level, then it’s possible to gain quite a bit of experience, money and sometimes even rare items and parts in the Explorer mode.
Capture the Flag is exactly what it sounds like: players will race around in their vehicles trying to hold onto a flag for as long as possible, gaining experience based on how many gates are passed through and the length of time the flag is held. Much like Explorer, players with a fast car will have an advantage in the race. However, CTF in Project Torque is more about exercising racing tactics than just relying on pure speed. Of course, the smart thing to do is simply avoid facing off against opponents who have anything higher than a Class 1 car.
Modding For The Win, And Beyond…
Following the tips in this beginner guide might help land you enough victories to upgrade your car and finally make a go for the win in the Arcade mode. Just remember that cosmetic upgrades for your car should be the last thing to take up your money, simply because they won’t help you win a race but they’ll sure make your car look good on the track.
One last thing to remember is to equip relevant gift mods to your car’s trunk before a race. Simply by playing the game, winning races or completing missions, the game will reward players with the X2 money or experience gift items. Applying them before a race can significantly increase your earnings and rep.
Hopefully beginners can apply this info and walk away from the finish line with a few wins under their belt. Of course, if you need more information on Project Torque be sure to visit the Official Website.
