Courses from MSR that appear in Project Gotham Racing 1 [Corrections likely]

I've stated before that the only thing Metropolis Street Racer and Project Gotham Racing 1 (PGR1) really have in common is sharing some of the same courses.  Therefore I've compiled a list of said shared courses that can be viewed in the pictures below.  Some courses have the same name over both games but most of them have been renamed in PGR1.  Corrections to this post are likely, particularly for the very small tracks as they are more a 'best guess' at this point in time.

I should state that I was wrong about PGR1 having all its London, San Francisco and Tokyo tracks from MSR.  There are some unique variations in PGR1 although they still use the same basic city layouts (no new areas/roads).

 LONDON

TOKYO

SAN FRANCISCO

Time Trial Misty/Foggy bugs (trying to fix via Hexedit)

Metropolis Street Racer has a known bug in Time Trial mode where ghosts saved under 'misty' or 'foggy' weather revert the VMU file (MSRCHALL) to clear weather when you try to replay it.  The ghost itself will also be missing even though the file states it's present.

My workaround is as follows:

1. Create a empty Time Trial file (MSRCHALL) on your required course with either misty or foggy weather.
  
2. Select the Time Trial file in question to play but once you get to the screen where the weather is displayed (final screen before the race), back out all the way to the main menu screen using the B button.  

3. Go into Time Attack from the main menu, choose Time Attack again on the next menu (not Ghost Attack) and select the exact same course.  The weather should come as misty or foggy on the info screen just before the race.

4. Set a ghost, then exit and save.  

When you replay the same ghost (MSRGHOST) via Ghost Attack, the weather will be misty or foggy accordingly.

Unfortunately the drawback of this workaround is that you can only have one ghost for each course per VMU unlike Time Trials where you can save multiple ghosts for the same course if desired. This is because the MSRGHOST file's '3-number extension' corresponds to a particular course.

I attempted to fix the problem by using the Hexeditor in Dream Explorer.  I created an empty Time Trial and figured out that address 0x00308 controls the weather (00-07, 00 being clear, 01-05 are wet conditions, and 06 and 07 are misty and foggy respectively).  I then took a Time Trial ghost that reverted back to clear weather (and missing ghost) and adjusted the hex address 0x00308 to 07 in order to activate foggy weather.  

However while the weather was indeed foggy again on my replay, the saved ghost car was still nowhere to be seen.  I then hex adjusted the whole of line 0300 to '00' with the exception of the 0312 and 0313 numbers that were left alone.  On replay, the saved ghost reappeared but naturally the weather was clear.

I then took a look at the MSRGHOST file created via my workaround and noticed its line 00308 did not have a value at address 0x00308 but did have one at at 0x00304 and sometimes 0x00300.  I hexedited the Time Trial's 00300 line with the exact same values found in the MSRGHOST file equivalent.  However on replay, the weather was again clear and no ghost was present.  The Time Trial programming seems to expect a value at 0x00308

After playing around with hex values for quite a while, I decided to delete my original MSRGHOST file and rename my MSRCHALL file to MSRGHOST with the relevant course extension.  Before doing this I reverted the hex values on line 0300 back to their original values.  Low and behold, when replaying said file via Ghost Attack the weather was foggy and the ghost was present.  It seems that MSRGHOST and MSRCHALL (Ghost saved inside) files are exactly the same minus the names.  

Unfortunately I think this means the fault lies within the Time Trial programming itself and therefore it is impossible to replay ghosts with foggy/misty weather via that option, regardless of how much you mess around with the VMU save file. 

Par For Car

A post about MSR's 'Par For Car' times on Hotlap and Timed Run events (Street Racing mode).   These are supposedly the best lap/overall time that can be achieved with your selected vehicle .  However most of those par times were calculated with 'maths' as opposed to extensive play testing.  As a result, the game thinks vehicles with the same CPF can achieve the exact same par times (they can't), high CPF cars can have unrealistic par times (particularly the 5.0 Nissan Skyline and 4.7 TVR Chimaera) and on a couple of occasions, show faster/equal par times for wet weather compared to clear conditions on the same course. 

At the bottom is a video demonstrating the Par For Car error on the first event in the game (Chapter 1, Event 1: Hotlap/Buchanan South).  It shows the Skyline par lap time as 29.4 seconds.  I could only manage just under 30 seconds with said car (29.929).  However the lower CPF cars Jensen SV-8 (4.3), Celica GT-Four (4.2) , Fairlady Z Convertible (4.0) & Toyota Supra (3.8) were all capable of going under 29.4.  Best clean lap was with the Supra (just over 29 seconds).  Best lap with wall bashes was 28.910 in the Celica GT-Four.  The Evo 6 & RX-7 only managed around 29.6.  The TVR Chimaera with a CPF of 4.7 was the slowest of the lot with a 30 second time.

CPF            GAME'S PAR TIMES

5.0              29.4 secs (Skyline)

4.7              30.1 secs (Chimaera)
4.6              30.4 secs (Evo 6/ RX-7)
4.3              31.1 secs (Jensen SV-8)
4.2              31.3 secs (Celica GT-Four/Vauxhall VX220)
4.0              31.8 secs (Fairlady Z Convertible & many others)
3.8              32.3 secs (Toyota Supra)
3.6              32.8 secs
3.5              33.0 secs
3.4              33.2 secs
3.3              33.5 secs
3.2              33.7 secs
3.1              34.0 secs
3.0              34.2 secs
2.8              34.7 secs
2.7              34.9 secs
2.5              35.4 secs
2.4              35.6 secs
2.2              36.1 secs
2.1              36.3 secs
1.9              36.8 secs
1.2              38.5 secs
1.0              39.0 secs

MY BEST

Celica GT-Four                         28.910 (side bash) / 29.346 (clean)   
Toyota Supra                            29.046 (clean)
Jensen SV-8                             29.391 (side bash)
Mazda RX-7                             29.602 (clean)
Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 6          29.694 (clean)
Nissan Skyline GTR                 29.929 (side bash)
TVR Chimaera                         30.291 (side bash)

Fairlady Z Convertible              29.384 (clean)

Please note, I am not saying the Skyline isn't capable of 29.4; it's just that I wasn't able to do it. My point is that high CPF does not automatically equal the fastest vehicle.

All Overtake Events

Videos showing all my best overtake runs from MSR.  All runs were done between June - August 2025 except the final event on Chapter 24 which was done way back in August 2011.

• On some events, it is possible to overtake more than the maximum number of selectable cars.  However you do not get any additional Skill kudos for doing so.

• The lower the CPF, the higher the Skill Kudos awarded.

 

• The lower the CPF, the lower the Style Kudos and No Penalty bonus.

  

• The No Penalty bonus is very low when compared to Skill & Style points, and does not make a big difference to your overall score. 

• Style Kudos 'exploits' are still possible on some overtake events.

Thanks for the support VR! :)

Kudos Records Video (Total and Individual Event)

 

A stats video showing Kudos records from the various MSR saves I downloaded online.  I used the 'Merge Records' function within the game to combine their records with my own.  It shows records for total Kudos (held by NoName) and individual Event records.  All 250 event records are displayed.

As you can see, the best scores are obtained by exploiting Style Kudos.  While the developers always intended the game to be about "how you drive fast", the problem is that MSR's Style Kudos rewarded reckless power sliding/bad driving or driving up and down while powersliding ad infinitum.  Any penalties you may receive from hitting the walls/other cars are more than made up by the excess Style Kudos awarded. See my previous post https://msrdreamcast.blogspot.com/2023/07/bad-driving-more-kudos.html for more information.  

I believe these issues was fixed in PGR1 and PGR2 with their more intricate and redesigned Kudos systems.  While exploits still existed (spinning your car in a circle/skidding side to side), you still had to practice and be skillful to obtain the best results.  You do not need to be a skillful driver to get the highest Kudos scores on MSR.  However if I was able to 'patch' MSR's kudos system, I would cap the number of Style Kudos awarded unless you obtain a high Skill Kudos score and little/no penalties.  I would also have severe penalties if you drove backwards or hit the walls.   

When you view the individual Street Race event scores, you will notice that my records generally have a higher Skill Kudos award.  The only notable exception is the final Championship race on Chapter 25 (where no Skill Kudos get awarded at all).

I totalled up all the individual Kudos records for each event and came up with a potential Kudos total of around 541,600.  If you added Jokers to all the records that were obtained without one, the potential then becomes around 934,200.  So I can see how the 1 million+ Dreamarena record was obtained.  However I would never recommend trying to achieve this as you would have to play MSR in such a repetative and boring way that you'll end up hating the game very quicky.  It best to forget the excess Style Kudos records and just concentrate on Skill, minimal penalties and Style in that order.  You will enjoy the game much more!   

These player saves originate from the early 00s and I downloaded them from various sites including Blueswirl/Dream Explorer, GameFAQS and archive.org back in the early 2010s.  The other players shown are NoName, Shambl3r, Larry Lar, BabyGangsta, '2' & Cichy.  I have no info on these players other than one of the saves belonged to a 'John Peat' who posted an early MSR car guide on GameFAQS.  He also commented on the old Usenet group archived here: https://groups.google.com/g/uk.games.video.dreamcast and hosted his save on his now defunct website that can be accessed at: https://web.archive.org/web/20020607060911/http://www.fury161.com:80/msr/

MSR at Sports Reviewer (February 2001)

This is an interesting MSR review from the old 'Sports Reviewer' website.  While they gave the game 'top marks', they did raise some valid criticisms about the Kudos system and lack of night lighting.  It was written in February 2001. 

"While the Kudos system is innovative, it is slightly flawed, but not to the point of hampering the game. MSR heavily favors Style points (i.e. power sliding) over skill points. You can cheat and open up all the chapters, but I do not really see the point in cheating. Just because you cheat does not mean that MSR is any easier. Sure, you can prematurely open up all the chapters, but you will not be able to win very many races unless you complete each chapter and open up better cars.

In short, MSR’s developers made an excellent first attempt with the Kudos system. It is not perfect, but I really enjoy the concept. I hope that MSR’s sequel or another developer carries the promise to fruition. An easy adjustment would be to require Skill or Style in certain races. Another adjustment would allow players to tailor their driving style towards Skill or Style. This would allow simulation style players to rack up plenty of Skill points without relying on and abusing powerslides."

"If MSR has a real negative it is the lack of ample lighting during some of the night races. The races in Tokyo usually have enough light to navigate successfully. I found San Francisco hit or miss, but London is usually a total pain in the rump for me during night sessions.

I do not really know how to put my finger on the problem, but night races seem to have poor lighting and actual view distance is just not long enough to provide adequate reaction time for turns. London seems to be the worst offender, especially tracks that make use of parks and other low light areas.

The problem is not crippling, instead the "night light" issue is really just another opportunity (manager speak for a challenge). I have spoken to other MSR owners about this issue and the camp seems to be evenly divided between poor night lighting effects and sucky, whiny players. It should be obvious to Sports Reviewers’ readers that I actually fan into both camps!"

You can read the full review at the following archived weblink: Sports Reviewer's MSR Review (Archived Website)

My Speed Challenge quest

I have always been fascinated by this mode, mainly because Dreamarena players managed such fast times while being forced to use automatic gears with ABS on.  It is very easy to assume that cheating must have been involved, especially as it was quite easy to hack an MSR gamesave or use a Action Replay/Xploder DC device.  

I managed to beat the Dreamarena competition times just over 12 years ago, however I used manual gears and switched ABS off.  I did this by creating Time Trial VMU files for each Speed Challenge course.  However this year, I decided to try and beat those times under the same conditions - automatic gears and ABS on.  After a lot of time and effort, I finally managed to beat them (just)!  It's not all good news though; the London course involved hitting the railings so that could have been the strategy used during the competition.  While I try to race as cleanly as possible, 'playing dirty' is sometimes the only way.  I'll keep trying for a faster, cleaner London time.

Here are the original Dreamarena competition winning times:

Here are my results:

...and here are the videos for each course, including a bonus 'best corner' collection.  All runs were done in 60hz mode; 50hz mode has not been optimised and runs significantly slower.  It took a while getting used to the automatic gears and the 'unwanted downshifts' when you lose speed during certain turns.

It's a shame that the best Dreamcast racing players (who competed in the Ferrari F355 Challenge and Sega Rally 2 internet rankings) were not involved.  If they were, I believe we would have seen some genuine unbeatable lap times!

For more information on the Speed Challenge mode & its Dreamarena competition, please see my blogpost at:  https://msrdreamcast.blogspot.com/2013/04/speed-challenge-competition_3.html