Game installation on modern systems

For ressources and informations on how to install the game on your modern gaming system, Pod's Discord server "IO" is certainly the place to go.

You will find a Platinum version of the game there with all tracks and cars installed. Allowing you to compete right away on all the listed tracks on this page. This version has been prepared  with love by Ray Koopa. Other ressources are available on that server, like
technical informations, ghosts files, various discussions.

Here's an invitation link the the server : https://discord.gg/zJ9bWGkDvT

Once installed, make sure to set up the game so it's synched to real time. Using vertical synchronisation and 60hz refresh rate or 60fps limiter will be required to do so. As said in the rules, any run where in-game timer (IGT) is not synched on real time (RT) will be refused.

General tips

THE CARS
The game includes 16 cars, but only 8 can be enabled at a time.
As far as I've seen so far, the only thing that's affected by your choice of car is the hitbox: on some tracks like Roc, where there's a jump into a tunnel, certain cars can clip through the ceiling while others will bump. Everything else appears to be purely cosmetic. I'm comfortable playing with either the Arc or the Jaero, but haven't tried with many others.
The selection of what cars are enabled in game affects what the AI will be allowed to use: in races the player picks one and the AI must choose the other 7. This might have effects on their behaviour but I haven't done enough research about it for now.
Car setup is where things get serious. Every car has its own settings, but they're all freely adjustable: 300 points can be distributed within 5 attributes.
Top speed, brakes, grip, handling and acceleration.
Top speed and acceleration are self-explanatory and are usually best kept at 100.
Brakes is self-explanatory as well and, since braking is rarely done in this game, can be safely kept at 0.
This leaves us with 100 points to be distributed between grip and handling. Grip determines how much the car will slide around when cornering, and how likely it will be to oversteer. Handling determines how responsive it will be to steering.
I found that my favourite setting is 80 grip and 20 handling. The increased grip means that very little speed is lost in fast corners, and makes it easier to control the car's unpredictability on bumps. Low handling, however, requires some getting used to, and especially good knowledge of the tracks. Because the car will take a while to start turning, all the corners must be anticipated.
I've tried distributions that are more balanced between the two, but never ended up being faster. This might just be due to my not being used to the different settings. If you feel that there's a different configuration that is consistently faster, please let me know.

MIDAIR STEERING
Whenever you're jumping you will be able to steer your car in a weird way. You won't be able to turn, but shift left or right, depending on which direction you're holding. This can be very useful in some tracks that have corners after a jump, since it allows you to point your car in the direction of the apex and then recenter yourself to avoid the walls.
It takes some practice to understand how it works, but once you've figured it out it will become second nature.

THE TRACKS
== Beltane ==
A boring, straight track. There are alternative paths here and there but nothing that I've found is faster than just driving as straight as possible. Avoid the jumps.

In Championship mode, it's very easy to end up bumping front-to-front with an AI car, killing the run.

== Roc ==
In Time Attack mode, there's an unintended shortcut that can be taken. However, you can't just jump down the hole and get to the S/F line because the game wants you to hit all the sector lines. It just happens that the second sector line is located just after the hole, at the bottom of the jump. You can therefore slow down so you come to a stop right after hitting the line, then reverse down the hole and get back in gear to finish the lap. This saves a ridiculously small amount of time compared to finishing the lap the intended way.

In Championship mode I don't consider the shortcut worth taking, as stopping too early or too late would end up costing time.
The repair area is free to use each lap, so damage isn't a major issue. For this reason, it's worth it to try to power through the AI cars and overtake as many as possible right at the start.

== Nuke ==
The only challenging part of this track is the jump through the tunnel towards the S/F line. I found it's better to hold the right as much as possible and use midair steering to correct the position.

In Championship mode I try to avoid repairing: you should start the race fully repaired anyway, there's a lot of space to overtake without taking damage and bonking on the walls isn't likely.

== Bank ==
The section with the broken bridge is faster if taken on the left side, as that reduces airtime.

In Championship mode, keeping left on the broken bridge is dangerous on Easy difficulty because your speed might not be enough to clear the gap. Keep center.
Overtaking isn't as easy as on Nuke, especially on the first lap. It's better to avoid the mayhem at the start and go wide, then overtake when the field has spread out a little.

== Pompeii ==
The first technical track, with many bumps and tricky corners. You'll need to learn where each bump is and how your car reacts to it to succeed.

In Championship mode, this will probably be the first time you'll need to detour for repairs: bonking on the walls will probably happen, overtaking is very difficult and you'll soon find yourself having to lap the backmarkers who are only there to grief you. Unfortunately it's a long detour so at least try to avoid doing it twice.

== Canyon ==
Right after the start I suggest you hold the right, as the climb is much smoother there, while very bumpy on the left side.

In Championship mode, the shortcut and repair area are mutually exclusive, so taking damage here is very costly and should be avoided.
Taking the shortcut can be tricky the first time because the boxes that partially block it have a considerable mass. This is especially true on Easy difficulty where you'll barely have enough speed to clear the jump.
Overtaking after the first lap mayhem is pretty easy.

== Downtown ==
The only advice I would give for this track is to hold the right on the climb towards the first chicane since, like in Canyon, that side is way less bumpy.

In Championship mode, repairing costs way less time than it appears to do.
Overtaking isn't as challenging either once you figure out the lines that the AI likes to take: at the several hairpins along the track you can either go wide if they're going tight, or the opposite, then overpower them after the apex.

== Veitland ==
In my opinion the hardest track in the base 16. It's like a Pompeii on steroids. Bumpy, tight unforgiving corners and a main straight that's downhill and ends up in a wall.

In Time Attack, you cannot do two fast laps one after the other, because the S/F line is immediately before a tight corner: if you're going for a fast lap you should floor it and inevitably end up slamming on the wall, but that will ruin your next lap.

In Championship mode, you will cry. First of all, instead of starting the race on the track, all the cars are packed in a small area to the side: as soon as you get a green light they will form a huge pile-up blocking the exit. Overtaking is extremely difficult and they will be weaving all around, constantly slamming into you. As if that weren't enough, just like in Pompeii, repairing involves taking a huge detour. You'll have to be extra careful.

== Plant 21 ==
After Veitland, this track is a breeze. The shortcut is really the only part that requires a bit of understanding. I found that the best way to go through it smoothly is by having the right speed and angle combination and aim for the left side, while still keeping clear from the wall so that the 180 in the confined space can be achieved without touching the walls inside.

In Time Attack, you won't be able to perform two fast laps one after the other: the shortcut exits right before the S/F line, but you won't be carrying much speed, while if you're coming through the normal way you should be nearly at full speed.

In Championship mode, at the start, if you don't need to repair do not overtake on the right: the pitlane entrance is just off to the side and many of the AI cars will want to go there, so you're pretty much guaranteed to be slammed into. If you carry damage from Veitland this is not a problem as you'll want to immediately steer right as well.
Overtaking shouldn't be an issue since the track is mostly wide, but occasionally you might find an AI car stuck in the shortcut roundabout.
At the end of the race if you're carrying enough speed you can get a free repair by heading to the pits after hitting the finish line.

== City ==
A tight and ugly track, with challenging blind corners but quite manageable once you've learned it properly.

In Championship mode you will have a lot of trouble overtaking: the AI rarely leaves you any room and will happily suddenly slow down when in front, and ram you when in the back. Add to that the fact that it's so short you'll quickly find yourself having to lap backmarkers, keeping out of trouble won't be easy.

== Galleria ==
Bumpy but wide. The only challenging part are the high speed downhill section that ends at the repair area (marked by a floating reversed red pyramid) and the shortcut. When attempting to take the shortcut you need to have the right amount of speed: too slow, you won't clear the gap and slam into the wall, losing a huge amount of time; too fast, you will end up on the upper level, forced to navigate through a maze, losing a huge amount of time. Aim for the tunnel and lift the throttle to lose just the right amount of speed.

In Championship mode, overtaking is pretty easy. The AI occasionally gets lost, so be wary of stray cars. Repairing isn't too costly.

== Burrow ==
Easier than it looks.

In Championship mode, the spike pit can be cleared at full speed even on Easy difficulty. Repairing requires a long detour so it's better to avoid damage. Overtaking isn't a problem after the first chicane, where usually cars bunch up on the starting lap.

== Alderon ==
A fast and technical track. The hardest part is the jump under the collapsed highway. The best way I found to do it is to keep on the center of the road while climbing, then as soon as you hit the peak steer left. Keep midair steering to adjust your position and land at the next corner, then immediately turn right to avoid slamming in the wall.

In Championship mode, the AI will often slow down in unexpected places, so don't follow them too closely. This is especially true at the chicane after the long tunnel, and in the shortcut tunnel. Thankfully, repairing is fast.

== Sewer ==
You need to have a good understanding of every part of this track, or you'll end up flying into obstacles or getting stuck in dead ends. When climbing towards the area with the big spinning fan, to avoid losing control on the bumps and hit the left wall, first hold the left side then cut across to the right on the apex.
The shortcut can be tricky to get if the boxes are still there. Just like in Canyon, they have a considerable mass and will act as a wall. Once you've cleared them once, however, it's very easy to pass through.
The hairpin requires you to brake hard. This can be done even with 0 brakes and 20 handling.

In Championship mode, don't try to go through the center when the race starts: avoid all the traffic by taking the right side and going up the bridge, where the repair area is located.
Like in Plant 21, you can get a free repair at the end of the race if you can make it up there in time.

== Cocoon ==
Cocoon appears to be a difficult track, but once you've figured it out there will only be two corners left that are unpredictable. The first is the one that runs next to the spider's head: if you take this full speed you'll probably end up hitting the wall to the left, because there's a bump that sends you flying. Ease off the throttle a bit and try to keep a straight line, aiming for the left, then right before the bump turn right and aim for the tunnel.
The second difficult corner is the chicane surrounded by grasshoppers. In this case if you take the wrong line or carry too much speed you'll be sent flying, usually out of bounds.
The S/F line is not actually the white line, but the brown one shortly after.

In Championship mode, overtaking is very easy. Repairing is costly, but if you've learned the track well you probably won't need it.

== HQ ==
The roughness of the surface might look daunting at first, but there really aren't any impredictable corners in this track.

In Time Attack mode, when going for fast laps you can clear out the broken cars so that you can take a better line. In 3-lap mode, you'll have to learn where they are and drive around them.

In Championship mode, be careful because the AI will probably move the broken cars each lap and you might find them right on your path.

Ghost info

Following text has "Copyright © 1997 QBall". I find rather funny and appropriate to stick that here. Some infos about game versions are obsolete, but it's kinda obvious : 

# How do I make a Ghost? **(obsolete)**

Do you have a Ghost that you would like featured in QBall's Knarly Ghost Gallery? Would you like to be a CHAPION OF IO? If so, follow the following steps.

* 1. Make sure that the ghost was recorded WITH A PATCHED VERSION OF POD (Game Service patch 1.8 or later) Pod Gold or the Graphics/32+ track patches also count as patched POD. If you don't have the patch installed then don't bother going any further. All ghosts RECORDED with unpatched POD are automatically rejected and will NOT SHOW UP IN THE GALLERY!
* 2. All ghosts made with a patched version of POD are accepted. There is NO LIMIT to the number of ghosts per track. The only limit is one ghost per track per driver.
* 3. *IMPORTANT* Generate a .ght AND a .seq file representing your ghost (See below for how to do this).
* 4. Go to the Post-A-Ghost and follow the instructions there to directly upload the file onto the server.
* 5. You don't have to send me the stats for the ghost anymore. The ghost gallery generation program automatically extracts them out of the file.
* 6. *IMPORTANT* Zip up the .ght and .seq files into a zip file called trackname-yourname.zip (example ekal-qball.zip) and attach it to the email. If you don't know how to zip files I would recommend downloading winzip and figuring it out. Its really quite easy.

# What the heck is a Ghost?

A POD Ghost is a recording of a race session that you can make playing pod. These are not normal races with other cars. Only your car will be on the track so you can concentrate on obtaining the fastest time possible and not have to worry about smucking into other cars along the way. Look on my Ghost Gallery page for a whole wack of excellent ghosts from famous POD players from around the world.

# How do I make a Ghost?

It's easy! Just follow the following steps.

* 1. Start up Pod.
* 2. Select One Player on the Main menu.
* 3. Select Time Attack
* 4. Select which track you want to record the ghost on. Reverse track selection may be available if you have reverse mode enabled (See Hints Page)
* 5. Select Ghost Mode (The Ghost Mode button will turn Green)
* 6. Select Top 5 (A list with 5 boxes will appear, currently empty)
* 7. Proceed to the Race by hitting the Race button.
* 8. Select the Car and Settings as per usual.
* 9. Run the race normally. All ghost races consist of 3 laps.
* 10. After you are done return to the Time Attack menu and you will see your Lap time and Race time with your Name along side it.
* 11. If your name says "Player1" then you will have to set it in the Options Menu accessable from the Main Menu.
* 12. To race against your own ghost click the number next to the Ghost. The number will turn green. Then when you race you will see another car on the track except that it will be all translucent and stuff like a ghost. You don't have to worry about running into them, because you will pass right through them. That is why they call these things ghosts (spooky huh?). You can also select all 5 ghosts on the ghost table and you can race against all of them at the same time. A GHOSTY PARTY!!

# How do I send a ghost to somebody else?

* 1. Click on the ghost on the selection menu.
* 2. Click the Export button
* 3. A file will appear in your C:\UBISOFT\Pod2_0\Scope\Export directory with the name Trackname.ght (reverse track ghosts will be named TracknameM.ght)
* 4. The actual files that your computer uses are stored in the C:\UBISOFT\Pod2_0\Scope\fantome directory with the name Trackname___#.seq. Seq files are more portable than .ght files. Some people have problems loading other people's ghosts. This might be attributable to people having add on tracks loaded into different "slots" in the track selection menu.
* 5. Get the .ght and .seq files associated with your ghost (the number in the seq file is the same as the slot number in your ghost selection table), zip them up, attach them to an email note and hit send!

# How do I load another person's ghost?

* 1. If you obtain a .zip file with another person's ghost you will need to unzip it first. Use WinZip or PKunzip to do this.
* 2. If they have given you a .ght file then copy this to your C:\UBISOFT\Pod2_0\Scope\Load directory.
* 3. Go to the Time Attack Menu.
* 4. Select Ghost mode
* 5. Select Top 5
* 6. Hit Import.
* 7. If the ghost does not appear in the list there could be many reasons why you don't see it. It could not be fast enough if all 5 slots are already full. It could be made on a system with different tracks in different slots. Or some other gods-only-know reason.
If this happens your best bet is to obtain a .seq file for the ghost.
* 8. Put the .seq file in your C:\UBISOFT\Pod2_0\Scope\fantome directory but besure you don't overwrite your own ghosts. Typically people send each other their best ghost (Trackname__1.seq). Your best ghost will also be called this. Renumber the ghost to Trackname__5 before putting it in the directory. The underscores in the name are used to "pad out" the filename so that it is exactly 8 characters before the number (e.g. Roc ghosts have 5 underscores following the name, track names that are 8 characters long have no underscores in them.)
* 10. When you fire up Pod the game will automatically renumber the ghosts so the fastest one is number 1, next fastest number 2, etc.

# How do people go so fast? ... WAAAA CHEATERS WAAAAA

Pod is not a game in which you can sleep through (except Beltane, that is an exception). There are MANY tricks and tips some of which are not common knowledge. Some of the tricks are mastered only through discipline and practice. Knowing the tricks and tips will help you obtain the best Pod times. Here are a few tricks specifically for Ghost Mode:

* Ghost mode does not start you at the Start Line. This is because designers of the game wanted you to have 3 laps on a course that were roughly the same. Typcially you will start the race in the 8th Pole Position which lets you get up to speed BEFORE you cross the start line and have the clock running. Unfortunatley the 8th position is not FAR ENOUGH BACK to get up to FULL speed before you trip the clock. Therefore in order to squeeze the last few seconds off a ghost time some people back up from the starting position and take a run at the start line. What the designers really should have done is provide a Ghost Starting Position for every track that would elminate having to do this. Oh well. I guess they were just being efficient reusing $Position(Start,8) as $Position(Ghost,0). Backing up from the starting line is NOT A CHEAT! IT IS A TRICK/TIP/HINT. The purpose and goal of ghosting is to have 3 laps as consistent as possible.
* Learn how to drive. Minimize turning the wheel when going around corners. Plan your approach into corners. It is steering around corners that slows you down. Plan your approach, execute, plan your next approach.
Use a Manual Transmission. Learn it. Use it. Love it. Automatic gears down prematurely. It also waits too long to gear up. That sucks!
If there is a lot of crap on the track like bricks and stuff use the CRASH code to make them transparent. The point of ghosting is to perfect driving the course. Not driving through bricks like the Dukes of Hazard .... YEEEEEEEHAAWWWWWWWWW.
Learn all the shortcuts. Know them, Use them, Love them. Recognize which ones actually save you time.
* When you mess up hit Ctrl-Y and it will set you back at the start. Try not to smash your Keyboard and/or Monitor. Computer equipment is expensive and most often quite delicate. Keep your temper in check and take some valium or meditate or something. If I get email from you with several letters of the alphabet missing then I will send the nice men in white lab coats to come get you. They will even give you a free POD tee-shirt with long arms that go all the way around back. Heh heh heh heh.
* Go to the QBall Ghost Gallery and download the ghost that are posted there. Start with the worst one and load it up. Race against it. Don't expect to beat it right away. Just use it to learn. Take note of the car and settings used for the ghost. Experiment with different cars and settings. What works for the Pro's might not work well for you.
* Most of all! HAVE FUN!

Hints and Tips

Once again an original text sourced from Qball Gnarly Pod page. What is referred here as "cheat codes" are mostly in-game keyboard shortcuts for hidden function. As said in the rules, taking advantage of some of these codes is forbidden for all SRC Pod entries. But for the "crash" code in some categories. 

Original text :  

# Cheat Codes: (a.k.a. What should have been in the manual. Manual? What manual?)

## crash
Type this when you are in a race. You become transparent to the computer cars and pass right through them. Makes racing single player way easier.
## valay
Type this in the options menu. You will gain access to Medium/Off, Hard/Off and Hard/Global settings.
## map
Show the track map in place of the tacometer.
## map+F9
Enhanced map, show cars as numbers 1 to 8.
## retro
Rear view mirror, neat but radar is better
## label
Show the players name above the car, name is even visible if the car isn't.
## garag
Fixes your car as well as your opponents, hard to type when going 200mph!
## holigan
Damages car! Great for figuring out how efficient the repair pits are at top speed. Also damages all the computer cars so type this in just before you hit the pits :).
## dural
Type this on the car settings window. It give your car 150/100/100/100/200 but you can't record ghosts or play on podnet with this (of course). It also overlays a chrome texture on your car so that you know that you are cheating.
rocket - Type this on the car settings window. It gives you 400 points to distribute instead of the usual 300.
## mirror
Enables REVERSE button on Track selection, type this on main menu.
## scrshots
Then hit Alt-F12 to take a screenshot. Files in raw format appear in your Pod directory C:\UBISOFT\Pod2_0. You can then read these raw format files using Adobe Photoshop with Raw settings 640x480, 4channels, Interlaced, 8bits, 0 byte header. Paintshop Pro does not convert these files properly.
## CRTL-m
Toggle Sound On/Off. Some people say that this toggles the music off or on but for me it toggles the engine and other sounds instead of the music.
## night
Turn on Headlights for the PowerVR Version of POD. Fog effect (like on Downtown) is always on.
## raster (prepatch) bonzai (after patch)
Is the FRAMERATE/BUILD code
* Hit SHIFT+CRTL+R This will show you "Images/second = XX.X" means that there are XX.X different pictures that are calculated in one second. When you see 60.0, it means that 60 different images are calculated and displayed in one second.
* Then hit SHIFT+CRTL+R again. This will show you "Frames = XX.X" which is the ratio of the refresh rate of your monitor versus how many images/second you are getting. 1.0 = you are getting one image for every refresh of your screen display (good). > 1.0 means that your graphics card isn't fast enough to give you a unique image for every refresh of your screen (bad). < 1.0 means that your graphics cars is fast enough that some of the images that it makes are actually wasted because it is faster than your screen refresh rate.
* Then hit + and - on your numeric keypad. To make your 3DFX display bigger and smaller. You should see the Frames and Image/second change.
* Then hit SHIFT+CRTL+S. This will show you "Version = x yyy", where x is the POD version number and yyy the build.
* Type shift-ctrl + R or S for the 3rd/2nd time to make the respective info disappear. Unlike "map" or "retro", "raster" stays active, once you have typed it, until you quit POD.
___________________________________________________________________

# Hints and Tips:

## Go TURBO!
Floor it just as the nice announcer man has finished saying "ONE" and you get a great turbo boost a the start.

## Customize your car!
Use the settings button and go to the car customization screen. Set BRAKES to 0, Set ACCELERATION and SPEED to 100. You want to go fast as you can. HANDLING and GRIP are the two things you can play around with. Maximize your GRIP with enough HANDLING to be able to make it around the corners comfortably. Try 70 for GRIP and 30 for handling on really windy tracks with tight corners. I use 80 GRIP and 20 HANDLING for most tracks. You may even be able to do 100 GRIP and 0 HANDLING for fast tracks with gentle corners. Which car you use is also a factor.

## All cars are NOT created equal!
WHY NOT? Because that would be BOOOORRRING! If you doubt that they differ try all of them out on a single track. Try out each of the cars and set the attributes to 100/0/60/40/100. Burn around the track a few times and note the relative speed. Also notice what happens with the car starts to Skid. Does it fishtail out? Do all four wheels lock up at the same time? Do you maintain control in a skid? My favorite is the Shivian 100/0/60/40/100 to 100/0/25/75/100 depending on the track. By that's just me with my battered up joystick.

## Remove all obstacles
Some people have reported that if they Hit CTRL-Y and restart the movable objects on the track don't always get put back to where they should be. Maybe the track maintenance doroids have gone on strike!. This bug is not reproducable on demand by everyone but I include it in case you want to experiment. Might be useful if you are recording ghost times and ya want to get those nasty crates, barrels, cars and busses out of the way like on HQ, Sewer and many other tracks.

## How to take a Pith
When ya really gotta go wee wee and yer car needs some fixin, keep this in mind. Its not how many pit squares you go under but how long you stay under them. I know some of you are saying "DUH, I knew that!" but I thought I would mention it. If you have noticed that sometimes you don't get fully fixed racing through the pits at 200mph try slowing down a bit. Give those greasy monkeys time to play with the wrenches. When you first enter the pits you will hear a whooshing sound which tells you the monkeys are working and part of your car is already fixed. When you get fully fixed you will hear a second whoshing sound with is the noise of the Monkeys stealing money out of your pocket for doing the fixit work. Those monkeys gotta eat ya know! Oh yeah, garage code does not work under multiplayer/podnet in case yer wondering.

## Ride in Rumble Seat 
Try setting your view so that you are just behind your car. Also raise your view up a bit to be able to see over your car even when going down hills. Now you is in da RUMBLE SEAT! I used to use the helicopter chase view but I find it easier to get a feel of what is happening to my car without taking my eyes off the action in front. Use the CTRL-F/V (view forward/backward) CTRL-G/B (view up/down) to set your view while you are waiting to race. Give it a try you might like it. Then again you might not. Whatever.

## Ghost Runs 
If you are recording ghosts try this trick. Backup on the track and take a run at the start line. The clock doesn't start ticking until you cross the starting line. This is not a cheat. It was made this way so your first ghost lap can be as fast as the rest. If you were not meant to do this they would make you start right at the line like they do with the regular races.

## Harder is Faster 
I am shocked to hear that some people don't know that Harder is Faster. Can't make the jump on Easy? Try Medium or Hard difficulty setting. The harder the setting the faster you go and the further you jump. When recording a ghost/free run you are always running at the highest difficulty level and damage is turned off.

## Steer when you Fly! 
Some of you may also not know that you can steer your car when you are flying through the air! This is also know as "Doing the Zoz". The steering is not as good as when your wheels are on the ground but it can help you out if you mess up a jump little. Maybe what is happening is that your wheels are acting like rudders on a plane. Maybe it is just a computer game and the programmers just put that in there.

## How to Kill the Computer 
Albert sent in the following info on how to beat those nasty stupid computer cars. Everyone say "Thanks Albert!!"
* Stay infront, and use your back to ram their font.
* If they start to pass, and you have a heavy car, keep running into them.
* If you run them into a wall, the comp will FishTail (in the radar) and fall back)
* Ram The AI during turns they will FishTail, or what ever, but you should be able to pass.
* Don't get ramed, while turning, you will FishTail.
* In Straight aways, don't ram the AI at Barraling Speed, You will just Push them ahead.
* If you are not at Barreling Speed (Barreling Speed=You are going VERY fast, and you have alot of momentum, such as after going down a hill) but are going at Full, or just closing on them, Run down their back (only works in heavy cars (Best I know are Scorp, Saber, Fuego)

## Learn the Track from the Computer 
If you are having a hard time learning a track (like Megapol or Babelweb), snap open a cool one (Psssssst), sit back, put the game into single player mode, start up a race and hit any key from 1-8. The view will switches to the perspective of the driver in that position (example, press 1 to see the 1st place driver's view). After watching for a while feel free to restart the game by hitting CTRL-Y and GO FOR IT DUDE!!!

___________________________________________________________________

# Are you having DIFFICULTY?

**REMARKS ABOUT COMPUTER AI ON THE 3 DIFFICULTIES:**

## EASY
Computer cars pretty much are nice to you. Aside from being slower than the other difficulties, they are not too smart to the shortcuts, even if you take them yourself.

## Medium
Computer cars are faster. They seem to take the shortcuts ONLY if you take them. They are even more likely to take them if you take the shortcuts while you're in their view. So someone on the other side of the track won't necessarily magically learn that you found a shortcut.

## Hard
Computer cars much more aggressive. Tactics primarily include either bumping you from the side if you are in even line with them or trying to "draft" you from behind. Drafting, a popular racing term, means trailing close behind someone to get less resistance. But in POD's case, I think it is so that in case you screw up, they're ready to dust you at the opportunity. Finally, they'll ALWAYS take the shortcuts.

-OCF


___________________________________________________________________

# Get access to over another 20 tracks! Go in REVERSE

Get easy access to tracks such as *Enatleb*, *Cor*, *Laiceps* and my favorite *Citengam*. Normally this button becomes active only after you win the Championship for the different levels of difficulty. So when you win the easy Championship you are allowed to race all of the tracks in reverse on Easy mode. Same thing applies for the Medium and Hard difficulty levels.
If you are having problems winning the championship just type mirror on the main menu screen. When you go to the track selection window the plain red button will now say REVERSE which allows you to race each track backwards.

PLEASE NOTE that it is possible to type mirror on the track selection window and the red button will change to say REVERSE instantly but the button will not be active unless you go to another window and come back.

This code has to typed in whenever you fire up the game. If you are TOTALLY LAZY and want a permanent reverse button that works on all difficulty levels put the following in your C:\windows\ubisoft\ubi.ini. It has to go in the [Pod2_0] section for it to work. Credit goes to Stephano for winning all 3 championships! and to Snakeeyes for the data compilation and beta testing.

[big]Tonneau=167 132 18 130 195 61 13 119 226 125[/big]

___________________________________________________________________

# Wisdom from the Masters:

## LEADBEST Says:

Memorizing the track is part of racing. Go to a motocross race someday, you will see the racers WALKING the track before they actually race it. I usually go into free run mode on a new track until I feel I can complete a ghost run. Then afterwards I race against that ghost, and so on and so on until I cant beat my fastest ghost. When you have gotten to the point where you are knowing exactly whats up ahead, and how to attack it, then work on your settings.

You cant possibly know what the settings need to be if you dont know the track. I usually try the track with a generic setting, such as 100, 0, 85, 15, 100. This is a saved setting I have for every car I use. Sometimes it becomes very apparent right away that I need to change something. Most of the time this setting will be close. Sometimes a particular car just wont do it. You have to try them all, but pick a generic setting to start with.

Make sure the controller you use works smoothly also. Can you do gradual turns, or does your car seem to swerve around? You MUST be able to point your car exactly where you want it. None of that side to side shit. I use a steering wheel and pedal combo. Some people prefer a joystick. Some sticks work better than others. If you still use the keyboard, well Im sorry!

Do you drive in a straight line whenever possible? Turning, however slightly, scrubs off speed. A little wiggle can take as much as .25 seconds away from you. Exit the corners pointed right at the inside of the next one, drive straight to it and you will find your ghost trailing you farther and farther behind. If you bump the walls at all, forget beating that ghost. A lot of top ghosts these days have very few flaws, especially not hitting walls. Use the mirror code 'retro', this helps you to watch that ghost when its behind you. If your tires slip just a little, you will see the ghost come tearing up on you. Ghost mode is the best way to improve your racing, bar none. The ghost can show you where you made mistakes, and how to do the little tricks you will discover. Ever come off of a jump a little funny, only to find you blew the doors off of the ghost? I have! Little tricks go a long way! Sometimes a track will have one section that is critical to the course. The bridge jump in Lake, the shortcut in Plant21, or the double 90's in Pipeline all are critical to the completion of a fast run. This may be old news to some of you, but believe me when I say its important.

Smooth out your driving, and learn that track. Then remember it, dream about it, tell all your friends about it, draw the tracks on paper when you are at work, move the refrigerator next to the computer, the microwave too and add a trash can and then you just might not have a reason to complain about that top ten.

___________________________________________________________________

RocketToMars

Podrob

POD: Planet of Death

Canyon

laicepS

nipS

Valiss

Easy

Normal

Hard

Crash%

Skips

Full Track

Original 8 cars

Any cars

Left to die

Bikes

Gamma

Saber

Scorp

Shivan

Dopple

Bakar

Frazer

HL.Razor

Adeo

Crow

Arakn

Deuch

Buffo

Twin

Fuego

Shane

Shark

Truck

Loris

Jaero

Stinger

Catamax

Stealth

Dalton

Locust

Atlas

Alien

Akura

Mirage

Onyx

Razor

Nocte

Akir7

RM667

Xira

Eagle

Baboss

Breton

Kaizer

Pirate

Witch

Darksmil

Ghost

No Ghost

Difficulty

Your run can be :
- Full Track : Following the track as intended by the original level design. No clipping/flying exploit.
- Skips : Any method is authorized.

Drive style

Car roster

Vehicle

Has Ghost

# One of those years 

2024/2025 has been quite the year for Pod's small community. The slack in this news feed isn't reflecting that at all unfortunately. There's much to tell about the last twelve months but let's stick to the speedrunning related stuff :

# New tools : 

## Ghost and records mana

İsim	Yazar
Game installation on modern systems	Podrob 2 years ago
General tips	RocketToMars 5 years ago
Ghost info	Podrob 2 years ago
Hints and Tips	Podrob 2 years ago