A Guide To DT Racer

DT Racer requires skill to be able to break into, that much is obvious when you look at how detailed the game is with statistics and spend a bit of time driving. This guide will cover various tactics and strategies you can use to your advantage across every possible mode. Be mindful not everything here may be 100% efficient or accurate, as this game has very little detailed documentation and zero internal insight (Any information that can be acquired through game files and debug info).

Starting a New Game
Now of course choosing a name and a player picture is nothing you should need help with, but getting started, you are presented with lots of game modes and options including Free Run, Arcade, Grand Prix, Time Attack to choose from in regards to single player options. You're given to start 4 cars for all modes but Grand Prix which has everything unlocked to start, only held back by price tags that you have to race to afford... Or if you insist, just punch in cheat codes.

 Assists 

When playing with assists, it's important to know what each one does; The Drift Assist is the game's biggest double edged sword. Its purpose is to automatically steer your vehicle the opposite direction to avoid losing control and to help you drift... Except 9 out of 10, it just shoves you in the wall or into scenery. Turning this off is highly suggested, however, BE WARNED! Taking turns in secondary modes is highly risky due to the player's inability to fine tune the vehicle. Losing control is very likely, and you're unable to successfully drift a vehicle going above around 70 MPH(about 112 KMH). Once the vehicle's control is lost, you cannot regain it; To combat this if you're driving manual, immediately hit the reverse button to cut yourself down back to first and be ready to take off once your vehicle has settled. Next up is the Steering Speed Assist. This assist is in place to automatically adjust the player's steering based on their speed; This makes it so that the faster you go, the less input your steering has to avoid creating too much friction or steering too far, causing yourself to wipe out. This I would suggest keeping on unless you know you're going to be able to learn to use the stick very lightly. If you're playing on wheel I would suggest disabling this assist. The final assist is Steering Angle Assist, and its purpose overall is to limit the angle of your steering to avoid too much of a strong input, similar to Steering Speed Assist but it always stays fixed to a certain limit that never changes. If you disable both of these assists, you will regain the ability to drift at high speeds. Like Steering Speed Assist, I would suggest keeping it on unless you're playing the game on a wheel or you are able to control the vehicle efficiently without it.

Taking On Grand Prix
If you wish not to brave the Grand Prix or would rather just make use of the pick-up-and-play functionality of the game, then you can skip this segment. Grand Prix Mode is really where the game's cutthroat action begins to set in; Fuel and repairs are now out of your own pocket cash, as well as cars too.

Picking Cars
Picking a car that suits your driving style is important to getting your career rolling. For starters, you are given enough money to afford the same 4 starters that the game gives you in the secondary modes. Choosing Vixen or PSY would be for if your end goal is to get the best performance, as they are very nimble and responsive. Choosing Rex or DDI would be better suited towards if your driving style is more aggressive and rugged, but be mindful; Your mistakes will cost you. For now, you should be able to get away with some bumps and scrapes or maybe a couple bad accidents but don't push it.

The Tournaments
Of course, this is where the fun begins. Before I detail anything else I would like to leave you a solid warning; YOU CANNOT RESTART EVENTS! Tournaments can be replayed but if you botch a race badly, you will have to either forfeit the entire tournament or suck up your loss and hope you don't lose 1st. The game's Grand Prix mode spans across 14 different cups, each with varying event counts and increasing lengths. It forces you to take on strategizing your racing tactics to not burn out of fuel, while ensuring you keep the other drivers at bay as the stakes climb with every tournament. The minimum class requirement and entry fees get higher as you move forwards. AI in this mode are not bound by the difficulty settings, so they will only progress as you do; Take that as you will. If you do not wish to battle to the front of the pack at every race, consider qualifying before every event to put yourself anywhere above last and keep down your repair costs. Throughout races, if you happen to wipe out with AI near, be sure to take as much space up as possible recovering, as generally they will stop for you as you're getting back on track. When using the pits during events, pick spots further up to make sure that the other drivers don't bump you trying to get to a spot for themselves. Ensure that when you're refueling, hold R3 (Press down the right stick) to decrease the time your vehicle takes to refuel. It may feel like cheating, but don't feel bad; The AI refuel at about the same speed as this 'cheat' and trying to maintain first while everyone is in and out way faster than you can feel almost impossible on some tracks. It doesn't help this case either that sometimes the AI will quite literally cheat, and never refuel, running from start to finish without ever pitting. This isn't always the case but it happens on some occasions. Oddly enough the AI in this mode never use the boost, so if you don't want to be making extra mandatory trips to the pits, I would suggest laying off of it too. Most drivers won't give you trouble out in front but every tournament features a car that is classed above yours so be weary, and if you have to, bite a little. It won't hurt you to get into some skirmishes and duels but don't get comfortable. If you happen to jeopardize your entire career or just want to give it another run from the beginning, there's a really simple and easy button to just reset your GP back to a fresh start whenever you please.

Arcade & Free Run
If you're like me and enjoy a flexible experience on the fly, or you just don't have the time to sit down and endure the lengths of the Grand Prix, look no further than Arcade and Free Run; These two modes are here to satisfy all of your quick fixes and curious questions. In these modes you have the ability to give every track and every car a spin, allowing you to make future choices for Grand Prix, or simply adjusting to the handling model on each individual track. The car on car action here is at its height, the only thing holding this mode below your racing career being the lack of stakes. No buying cars, no entry fees, no repair fees, no paying for fuel.

Arcade
In this mode, the game's description of being "no holds barred" really shines, and racing goes from a battle of staying in one piece to a vicious brawl to hold the lead. The opponents here will use the boost and are a lot less forgiving, usually barging the player if they happen to be in the way. Arcade is comprised of 6 events back to back, one for each track that are in a randomized order and can be rerolled for a different order if you so please. Completing a full run of arcade in a street vehicle will unlock its racing version for use in these extra side modes, so if you really want a taste of DT Racer's finest competition and some new cars to go with it, hit Continue Arcade and get ready to throw hands. Unlike Grand Prix, you can restart individual events and if you're bored of playing you can always return to arcade the way you found it, on the last event you played. Ignore the big fancy "Game Over" when you back out; It means nothing, I promise. Your progress is always saved as long as you remember to manually save your data.

Free Run
Want to run around with no goal, and no means of making some kind of progression? Perfect! Free Run has no end goal and no time or lap limit, it puts you on the track with other drivers if you so choose, and sets you off to cause absolute mayhem until you piss away your fuel, flip your car, render yourself immovable, or just get bored enough to back out. Wanna turn around on San Christo and send some supercars to space? Go ahead! Your miles here are also still accumulated so you'll be pleasantly surprised after playing awhile to find yourself with some new cars or eventually the reverse tracks. It's a great way of rewarding you for playing how you like, only requesting you to drive at all in order to get more vehicles. Here the action may not be quite as vicious as Arcade, but the other drivers are still able to put up somewhat of a fight.

Progressing Side Modes
It's quite literally as easy as booting up the game and driving around for awhile. Crazy, right? Racing vehicles as previously stated are acquired through a full run of arcade in the respective street car. Obtaining more street cars is as easy as clocking 130 Miles (209 Kilometers) until you need to do the same thing in the Race-spec Nebura to acquire the game's bonus cars. The reverse tracks are unlocked at about 650 Miles (1046 Kilometers), clocked on the player's save, so don't forget to be manually saving your profile after every event you play to be sure that you leave no Miles unlogged.

General Tips
The game itself at times can be difficult or frustrating, but with the right strategies and maneuvers it can be much less stressful. Being that it's a simcade racer, you can't really take from the books of other games like Gran Turismo or Forza, but instead have to go off of what suits the game best since obviously, it's quite literally a one of a kind. Now of course any tip that should apply at any time in this game: Unless you have a death wish, do NOT punch the boost when your car is idling. You will regret it, 99.9% of the time.

General Driving
In a game like this, being one step ahead is important unless you're playing modes like arcade where your mistakes aren't crucial to your success. For starters, it is important to note: Protect your front windshield! It may not seem like a crucial part of your car but it is, and taking it out can easily lose you about 20MPH (32KMH) in your overall gearing and top-end which means that your car may begin to struggle or other cars may end up being much faster than you. Unfortunately hit detection can be janky and light hits can take it out but generally the best way to avoid blowing it out is to avoid sideswipes or crushing your roof. When taking turns, especially sharp ones, avoid steering too much, keep it lighter or use your brakes more to minimize the chance of your car wiping out. Turning while keeping off the brakes helps a lot as well, as you can lose your traction even with light taps that can be really high risk, especially the faster you're going. If you are to get into fights with the AI, let it be known that nothing is stopping you from just throwing a nice punch and putting them out of commission for a good 10 seconds or so, but that's not as fun. If you're in skirmishes with the AI, it's important to note that blocking may not always save your ass; Some drivers do care, some don't and you don't want to find out who doesn't because it could ruin your entire race, no matter the mode. It's better to let them pass by and chase them down because mostly any possibility you could get out of brawling or blocking them will 9 out of 10 end up with both of you in the wall, of course if you're driving fast. At lower speeds blocking is fair game but the same rule still applies, you'd be better off slamming or grinding with them as they approach as a way to hold them back. If you happen to end up on your roof or side, don't expect to make it out alive, but steering your car may be the extra nudge you need to get back on your wheels. Otherwise you just have to hope that your car will slide in the road and you'll be rescued by a passing driver. If it's San Christo and you're not already glued to the inner wall your chances are pretty high but mostly any other track, don't count on it.

Grand Prix Assistance
When you put it into perspective, Grand Prix can be very intimidating. No restarts, pocket cash goes to repairs and fuel not done in-race, and one Cup could easily be ripped from your hands from botching a single race pretty hard. Now of course this doesn't always happen, but the domino effect can really hit in some Cups and leave you empty-handed. Qualifying for every race is a very important suggestion, it stops you from fighting for the lead and saves you money if you happen to have to brawl with some drivers, obviously as some are not very clean. Also make it a habit to in every car you buy, crank downforce, bring your suspension down a bit if you so wish. Playing without the drift assist isn't problematic when you bring up your downforce, so if you're used to the grip model, you're in for a treat. When in races, using your boost will increase your gas consumption and the opponents will not use it themselves either, so it would be better to not use it at all or only use it in emergencies, i.e you need to catch up, or you run out of fuel and you need something to keep pushing you along. If you have a sizeable gap between you and the AI, on the transition to the final lap you can drop into the pits to refuel to save yourself some extra cash if you so wish. Don't try it on the last lap, believe me; I tried and on most tracks you just finish out the race as soon as you enter the pit lane.

Final Say
Congratulations! You've learned a bunch of important tricks and trades that will benefit you greatly in your Grand Prix adventure or waging war against other drivers at breakneck speeds. The game has little to no documentation internally, so until then this tutorial will be the best you'll get and of course this game will still have its usual issues; Too low gravity and mediocre grip physics. A gem in disguise, if you're sick of track racers being a battle against drivers on rails then here's one experience you wouldn't want to miss. Hope this guide helps, and enjoy your time playing the game! I hope to see more people in the future drawing towards it.