SSX (2012) Catch-All

Aaron D. wrote:

Yup. I'm a big failure at tricking.

I guess "get air and mash the buttons like a madman" isn't a viable strategy in this game.

Thank god there's so much race content.

One trick for a long time > button mashing

R2/RT is your friend to tweak things. Tweak = more points

Avoid repeating tricks.

Holding a button/direction is a different trick than just tapping button/direction.

I've also found that after some adjustment the right stick is a lot easier to use to avoid repeating tricks. For me.

garion333 wrote:
Coldstream wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Yeah, I'm horrid at races. If I don't get Tricky early on I'm done for.

While I'm doing pretty well at speed runs, I absolutely suck at the Trick competitions. Hell, I failed the very first trick run in the SP about five times before I got it. Now the second one wants me to get 1.5 million. Ain't happening.

We need to trade tips or something. Then again, I don't really have tips other than point towards things and spin. ;)

My racing tip: stay out of the air. You'll still get Tricky if you grind, but try to avoid big air, as it slows you down considerably.

My problem with racing continues to be the looseness of the PS3 stick. I'll continue to adjust.

Zoe looks an awful lot like my character in Kingdoms of Amalur.
Now if I could just wield a sword and take out the competition...

garion333 wrote:

One trick for a long time > button mashing

R2/RT is your friend to tweak things. Tweak = more points

This is the key that I learned in SSX 3. While the music is techno in the background, perform your tricks as if it was freeform jazz: Do one trick and hold it for a little longer than you think you should, tweak it just for a bit, then if you have the free time switch to a trick that is pretty much the opposite of what you are currently doing.

Don't act like you need to do all kinds of crazy sh*t at once, act like you know you're already a badass snowboarder and don't need to impress anyone.

DAAAAAAAYUM.

I just set a >41,000,000 point run on the serenity global event. That should hold on to platinum through the European weekend. I don't know if there's a way to see someone's ghost on a global event, but if you can, you should watch it, 'cause it was awesome. Popped a ton of badges, too: stay in tricky for 180 seconds, 10 million point combo, even tricky for 3 hours total (though obviously that's cumulative). I did miss out on the 100-move combo, though -- mine was only 78 moves when I hit the heli.

Here are a few things I've learned about this game's trick system, and some hints:

  • Obviously, getting the trickin'-est board you can (which requires leveling up somebody) helps a ton.
  • The timer is gone SSX trick events (thank heavens), but it's been replaced with the combo multiplier in the center of the screen, which compels you down the hill. The multi is crucial to any sort of success tricking. Basically, it rewards you for tricking with "flow", i.e. continuing to move down the hill in a logical fashion. Trying to ride too much sideways or even up the hill to grab a side-wall will drop the multi, even if you successfully complete the trick. Obviously wrecking completely decimates it. Anyway, this multiplier seems to apply both to the trick values themselves and the combo (upon cash-in), so it's absolutely vital to success -- tiny tricks at x20 are worth more than huge ones at x1. It's okay to hit it for a point or two if you need to run sideways to catch a huge gap, but otherwise avoid such things.
  • Speaking of combos, those chevrons that close in on your score in the bottom-middle of the screen notate when it's going to end (which is something you don't want, obviously). They reset every time you perform a trick. While not tricking, the speed at which they close in is based on both the speed you're traveling (faster is better in this case) and what your last trick was (possibly multiple tricks -- not sure). If you repeat tricks, those things rocket towards each other. So don't!
  • Of course, you have to do something in-between burms and jumps. If it's relatively flat I'll do short jumps and tricks to keep the combo going, but if the terrain is a bit more dangerous, or if I'm approaching a big jump I need a good line for, I'll "butter", or board press (X or B on the 360). These are great in-between tricks, but they'll kill your combo crazy-fast, so what I've discovered is that you should hold them (while boosting, if necessary) until right before you trick off a jump to avoid them killing the combo.
  • Don't use classic controls. I know, the new ones take a bit of getting used to, but trust me, they're better for this system. Personally I use the RS, but the A button to jump; holding the RS down and then hitting it up is too finicky. Know the different ways you can do tricks to avoid repeating. To my knowledge (and someone please let me know if there are more), they are as follows (all RS actions): Up, down, left, right, up-roll-left, up-roll-right, right-then-left, and left-then-right. That's eight tricks total. In addition, tweaking a trick (RT or R2) counts as a different trick, so you have 16 at your disposal. Also also, you have a special move that can be activated by holding both triggers then hitting the RS any direction, but this only works in orange tricky mode, for 17 total. Tweaking is, of course, worth more points, so you should do it as much as you can. The way I do it is always tweak my tricks off of actual burms and jumps, but don't tweak them for the little intermediary combo-savers. Seems to work well enough.
  • Pre-wind is king. If you aren't doing this, you simply won't post high scores. Pre-winding is when you hold down A (or RS down, if you're crazy) and press the LS the direction you want to spin before you actually jump (either by letting go of A or hitting RS up). You spin significantly faster when you do this, and as far as I can tell, the longer you pre-wind the better -- just don't let it actually veer you off-course. You can still steer when pre-winding, it's just greatly diminished, so be aware of that.
  • Always spin diagonally, with rare exception. The direction you spin tricks with the LS has no bearing on trick repeats at all, so spin the way that's comfy for you and gets you the most points. Flips (vertical) are worth far more than spins (horizontal), but you know what's worth even more? That's right, both at the same time. So always spin a diagonal. The lone exception being little intermediary jumps, for which you may want to go horizontal-only to lessen the possibility of wiping out.
  • Keeping up the combo is more important than those extra few points. If you're jumping off into a forest or wall, or even are falling faster than the camera can keep up, it's better to release the trick (let go of both sticks) than to try to eke out a few extra points. SSX riders are surprisingly resilient, and can bounce off of many objects without bailing, as long as they hit board-first. Better to keep the combo up than bail and lose all those combo points and your multi. Remember, actual trick points are counted immediately, but combo points aren't counted until they're cashed in, and that can be a massive pile of points. At the end of my serenity run I only had 26 mil, and cashed in a 15 mil combo.

I think that's a good start; I may addend this later. Now someone who's good at downhill write a racing version so I can use that.

Minarchist wrote:

My biggest complaint about this game so far has been the lack of the game's ability to compensate for when your toon gets stuck in the geometry. I've had this happen 5-6 times now, usually from accidentally jumping into trees or something similar. If you have rewind available it's not a big deal (except for the whole wrecking your trick run or speed), but if you don't it's infuriating. I had one survival run on an ice stage last night on which I had tripled the gold score -- probably took 20 minutes -- then I got stuck in between a tree and the cliff-side with no rewinds left. No way to escape, no way to keep the score that I had so painstakingly built up. RAAAAAAAAAGE

I also lost an amazing run on the Serendipity global trick event (no rewinds possible) for the same reason. They need a fix for this, like if the game detects LS movement but the toon isn't moving.

True, but MUCH less common than SSX 3. But the again, it is more infuriating here because of the focus on metrics of speed or trick score.

DAAAAAAAYUM indeed.

Thank you for all the trick knowledge. Those are very helpful, especially for a noob like me.

I'm decent at downhill, but during an event I'm fueled by raw instinct and sheer terror ("OHGODITSATREEOHGODITSAROCKAIEEEEEEE"). So I'm not sure what I can come up with as far as a guide, other than "go fast and don't slow down or rewind".

Minarchist wrote:

The multi is crucial to any sort of success tricking. Basically, it rewards you for tricking with "flow", i.e. continuing to move down the hill in a logical fashion. Trying to ride too much sideways or even up the hill to grab a side-wall will drop the multi, even if you successfully complete the trick.

It's worse than that: you can actually earn negative points. I was near the finish line and boosted back up hill to attempt to get more points and actually earned a significant deficit before I realized what was going on. Once I stopped and my trick combo resolved I had a lower score than when I tried to "cheat".

Coldstream wrote:
garion333 wrote:
Coldstream wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Yeah, I'm horrid at races. If I don't get Tricky early on I'm done for.

While I'm doing pretty well at speed runs, I absolutely suck at the Trick competitions. Hell, I failed the very first trick run in the SP about five times before I got it. Now the second one wants me to get 1.5 million. Ain't happening.

We need to trade tips or something. Then again, I don't really have tips other than point towards things and spin. ;)

My racing tip: stay out of the air. You'll still get Tricky if you grind, but try to avoid big air, as it slows you down considerably.

Low, ground based tricks, such as a simple 360 spin, or rotations to keep your boost up.

Avoid the air, UNLESS your helicopter coach says something like "big air coming up".

If there is a drop, trick away. You'd be falling anyway, may as well make it pretty and gain some boost.

Pre-wind jump approaches. You will do a lot of tricks, a lot faster. This will build your Tricky meter.

Always keep that boost trigger pulled when on the ground.

Load up as many speed or boost mods as you can. As you level up your character, you get two slots, use them.

Stay on the run you want to beat until you do. You will learn the track, you will build up exp points and credits, and you will keep those mods until you leave that race. May as well get the most bang for your SSX credits.

Hope that helps.

LiquidMantis wrote:
Minarchist wrote:

The multi is crucial to any sort of success tricking. Basically, it rewards you for tricking with "flow", i.e. continuing to move down the hill in a logical fashion. Trying to ride too much sideways or even up the hill to grab a side-wall will drop the multi, even if you successfully complete the trick.

It's worse than that: you can actually earn negative points. I was near the finish line and boosted back up hill to attempt to get more points and actually earned a significant deficit before I realized what was going on. Once I stopped and my trick combo resolved I had a lower score than when I tried to "cheat".

Wait, can the multi go negative? I think the lowest it can go is zero. What I know for a fact can earn you negative points is rewinding. Your combo can suddenly become -11,000, and if you land that with a 20x multi...yeah, it's gonna hit you for -220,000 points. I've had that happen several times.

You guys are making it REALLY hard for me to stick to my "Get SSX after ME3" resolution.

I think you missed double tapping the stick or button for a double grab. Works for all 4. Also, did you mention rear grabs.

I plan to be on for a while tonight. I'll start a party in a few and invite who I see on. If you want to play and chat (or smack talk) accept the invite. I know rickyyo is in.

I'll try to get on. But it may be late, as in after 10 or 11pm CST. Depends on the wife and all.

But after reading Minarchist's awesome post of tips, I'm anxious to jump on and play tonight.

Shoal07 wrote:

I think you missed double tapping the stick or button for a double grab. Works for all 4. Also, did you mention rear grabs.

Negative, good sir. Double-taps don't have different tricks associated with them. I did miss the two back grabs, though: right to down, left to down. So thanks.

I have to say, being able to add friends from RiderNet was inspired. All the gamertags in the OP? No need to enter them manually; just add friends of friends via RiderNet. Really, really slick.

Oh, and Min, you're apparently my rival (so the game tells me). You're much better than me, but then, rivals that are worse than you aren't very interesting.

Chumpy_McChump wrote:

I have to say, being able to add friends from RiderNet was inspired. All the gamertags in the OP? No need to enter them manually; just add friends of friends via RiderNet. Really, really slick.

Oh, and Min, you're apparently my rival (so the game tells me). You're much better than me, but then, rivals that are worse than you aren't very interesting. :)

He shows up as mine too!

m0nk3yboy wrote:
Chumpy_McChump wrote:

I have to say, being able to add friends from RiderNet was inspired. All the gamertags in the OP? No need to enter them manually; just add friends of friends via RiderNet. Really, really slick.

Oh, and Min, you're apparently my rival (so the game tells me). You're much better than me, but then, rivals that are worse than you aren't very interesting. :)

He shows up as mine too!

Ditto!

It was fun beating some of the people I know from here, though I suck at tricks - I do tricks like I play Mortal Kombat - button mash!!!

There should be some sort of massive speed bonus for going naked. If only this were on PC and people could mod it ...

garion333 wrote:

There should be some sort of massive speed bonus for going naked. If only this were on PC and people could mod it ...

Frostbite!

MadcapLaugher wrote:

You guys are making it REALLY hard for me to stick to my "Get SSX after ME3" resolution.

Yeah. It sort of hurts seeing this thread pop up over and over again, but I threw the money I'd planned for this at Syndicate when that came out. Hoping for a good sale.

Thin_J wrote:
MadcapLaugher wrote:

You guys are making it REALLY hard for me to stick to my "Get SSX after ME3" resolution.

Yeah. It sort of hurts seeing this thread pop up over and over again, but I threw the money I'd planned for this at Syndicate when that came out. Hoping for a good sale.

Whne you get done with Syndicate's MP, trade it in and but a new copy of SSX. I just solved your entire life.

I wanted to point out that my sons love the look of this game and they have played several tracks. So if you see a bad score or time, then it must be one of them. Oh, they've played a lot. Yeah. Really.

Why is Live's voice chat such a pain? First of all, even if I minimize the game's volume, I can barely hear most people. Secondly, did I get a bad Xbox mic? My voice doesn't carry unless I'm literally shouting. Where are the advanced sound options on Xbox? Finally, it's such a hassle to get my better mic to work because Microsoft decided to support 2.5 mm audio jacks on the controller, which is not the standard for headsets. Also doesn't help that I misplaced my adapter.

Really wanted to chat tonight, but I had no voice, and could hardly hear yours. I did beat some people's times though; I'm steadily getting better.

IMAGE(http://i.imgur.com/pAM1R.png)

cyrax wrote:

Secondly, did I get a bad Xbox mic? My voice doesn't carry unless I'm literally shouting. Where are the advanced sound options on Xbox? Finally, it's such a hassle to get my better mic to work because Microsoft decided to support 2.5 mm audio jacks on the controller, which is not the standard for headsets.

It's possible. When mine went bad it was a similar situation: I could barely hear anyone and no one could hear me. I got an off-brand one on Amazon for cheap, but an adapter would probably be even better.

Hanging in the chat room was fun. Except for Jekl's belching into the mic; that's not very fun.

Oh, and M0nk3yboy, check some of those times you were so proud of. Like maybe the global race on Serenity.

Coldstream had a sick serenity score on explore, took me a while to beat it. Still don't have gold.

Anyone with Xbox stock mics, get a set of turtle beaches. I love mine for clarity and the ability to adjust game. Volume and chat volume seperately. Also, the mic pics up lower volume voice much better.

Aristophan wrote:

I wanted to point out that my sons love the look of this game and they have played several tracks. So if you see a bad score or time, then it must be one of them. Oh, they've played a lot. Yeah. Really.

Oh, so that's what we're going with now? Then I hope I gave your kids some friendly competition.