~B
Big Score FAQ v1.0
By Greg Dawson
gdawson@angelfire.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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1. Introduction
2. Button Commands
3. Character Specific Specials
4. What You NEED To Know
5. Where To Score Big Points
6. The End
1. INTRODUCTION
///////////////
So by now you must have played Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.. And realized that
it is one of the best PSX games ever. If you are fan of skatboarding in any
way you will LOVE this game. So you play.. get a few tricks. Then you
start doing special moves in your run and end up with a score of 70,000 or
so. So you say "Holy shit!" to yourself when you look at your score. Then
you read on the net that people are getting scores over 500,000.
"Holy Shit!" you say again while wondering how they do it. That's where I
come in..
I have written this FAQ to help all of you out there to score some FAT ASS
combos in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater (THPS). First off I should tell you what
my best scores are.. My best score for one combo is 320,000 and overall in
one level is 1,050,012. I'll tell you right now that the _KEY_ to huge points
are grinds.. and more grinds. Once you get the hang of grinding in combos
you'll never use halfpipes again (except to grind the lip of them :).
Special grinds are the maker or breakers in this game.. Nothing compares to
the point potential of a huge special grind combo. I can't stress this
enough.. Learn how to special grind well in combos.
2. BUTTON COMMANDS
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This is not a complete moveslist.. I suggest you go read Blitzkrieg's THPS
FAQ if you need to know that stuff. Actually, if you haven't read it, close
this and go read his FAQ first. It has practically EVERYTHING about the
game in it.. Then come back when you get the hang of the game and read this
to bust out some huge ass combos and never lose in Horse. :)
*The Basics*
Hold X - To go fast. Your character will duck down and gain more speed.
This only applies when your character is grounded and not
performing a trick.
Release X - To jump.
Tap UP, Then Release X - To do a Nollie. It's basically a jump that is
also a trick.
Tap UP UP, Then Release X - To do a Fastplant. It's a higher jump that is
also a trick
Hold R1 or L1 - To spin your character.
Tap R2 or L2 - To spin your character 180 degrees.
Hold TRIANGLE - To grind an edge.
Direction + SQUARE - To do a flip trick
Direction + CIRCLE - To do a grab trick
3. CHARACTER SPECIFIC SPECIALS
//////////////////////////////
Note: The following moves can only be done when your special meter is
flashing yellow.
Bob Burnquist
-------------
UP, DOWN, CIRCLE - To do a Backflip
LEFT, UP + TRIANGLE - To do a Burntwist
RIGHT, RIGHT while holding TRIANGLE - To do a One Footed Smith Grind
Kareem Campbell
---------------
DOWN, UP, CIRCLE - To do a Frontflip
LEFT, RIGHT, SQUARE - To do a Kickflip Underflip
UP, DOWN while holding TRIANGLE - To do a Casper Slide
Rune Glifberg
-------------
RIGHT, RIGHT, CIRCLE - To do a Kickflip McTwist
LEFT, RIGHT, CIRCLE - To do a Christ Air
UP, DOWN, SQUARE - To do a Front-Back Kickflip
Tony Hawk
---------
LEFT, LEFT, SQUARE - To do a 540 Varial
DOWN, RIGHT, SQUARE - To do a 360 Flip to Mute Grab
RIGHT, RIGHT, CIRCLE - To do a Kickflip McTwist
RIGHT, DOWN, CIRCLE - To do The 900
Bucky Lasek
-----------
LEFT, RIGHT, SQUARE - To do a Fingerflip Airwalk
RIGHT, RIGHT, CIRCLE - To do a Kickflip McTwist
DOWN, LEFT, SQUARE - To do a Varial Heelflip Judo
Chad Muska
----------
DOWN, UP, CIRCLE - To do a Frontflip
RIGHT, RIGHT, SQUARE - To do a 360 Shove-It Rewind
RIGHT, DOWN while holding TRIANGLE - To do a One Footed 5-0 Thumpin Grind
Andrew Reynolds
---------------
UP, DOWN, CIRCLE - To do a Frontflip
LEFT, LEFT, SQUARE To do a Triple Kickflip
DOWN, DOWN while holding TRIANGLE - To do a Heelflip To Bluntslide
Geoff Rowley
------------
UP, DOWN, CIRCLE - To do a Backflip
DOWN, LEFT, SQUARE - To do a Double Hardflip
LEFT, RIGHT while holding TRIANGLE - To do a Darkslide
Elissa Steamer
--------------
UP, DOWN, CIRCLE - To do a Backflip
LEFT, DOWN, CIRCLE - To do a Judo Madonna
LEFT, LEFT while holding TRIANGLE - To do a Primo Grind (WTF?!)
Jamie Thomas
------------
LEFT, DOWN, SQUARE - To do a 540 Flip
UP, UP while holding TRIANGLE - To do a One Footed Nosegrind
DOWN, UP, CIRCLE - To do a Frontflip
Officer Dick
------------
DOWN, UP, CIRCLE - To do a Yeehaw! Frontflip
LEFT, LEFT, SQUARE - To do an Assume The Position
LEFT, RIGHT while holding TRIANGLE - To do a Neckbreak Grind
4. WHAT YOU *NEED* TO KNOW
//////////////////////////
This section is basically EVERYTHING you need to learn in order to get big
points in THPS. Read one step, then go into the game and do it until you
you get it down pat. Then come back and go to the next step, etc..
1 - First of all, you need to know the moves. Know how long each move takes
to animate, how many points per move, etc.. Here's a basic rundown
Quickest flips - kickflip, heelflip, 360 flip
Slowest flips - kickflip to indy
Oh yeah, Pick a street character with a special grind.. Trust me.
2 - Get the Nollie and Fastplant down. ALWAYS do them before you jump.
ALWAYS.
3 - It's a good idea to always hold down the X button whenever you can.
You'll go faster, and always have a jump ready.
4 - Learn how to grind... Be aware that practically ANYTHING with an edge
can be grinded. And HOLD TRIANGLE to grind, screw that tap tap shit.
Trust me. Try taping your triangle button down with some tape, now go
into a level and try to NOT grind something. Good luck. BTW: Once you
start to grind you can let go of triangle.
5 - Learn how to balance you character during a grind. This is VERY
important!!! Here's a good way to practice: Ride up a halfpipe while
holding triangle (You WILL grind). Now just wait.. your charcter will
grind and eventually start to slowly tip to the left or right. As soon
as you see them start to tip, tap the oppoisite direction (TAP not HOLD).
They should start to tip back, if not tap the direction again. Now wait,
they'll tip again (usually the opposite direction now), repeat.
Eventually you'll keep going back and forth, getting quicker and quicker.
There's a point where your character has NO balance whatsoever and it's
just YOU trying to keep him up. (You'll know what I mean.. ) Get used
to recognizing this because this is where you JUMP OFF. If you don't,
you will most likely fall.
6 - Now learn how to trick/spin. You should already know that tapping R2 or
L2 makes your character do an automatic 180 spin. So you should get into
the habit of pressing R2 whenever you do a flip trick. Basically,
whenever you press square or circle, press R2 at the same time. ALWAYS.
You can even press it more than once for multple spins.. Ex: Whenever I
do a Kickflip to Indy (up-left+square) I tap the R2 button two or three
times. Try a Sex Change while tapping R2 twice.. Sweet. :)
7 - Now learn how to do multiple grinds in one combo. Try this: Ride up
a halfpipe and do a nollie before you reach the top. As soon as you
Nollie, hold traingle to grind the lip of the halfpipe. When you start
grinding hold X for a sec.. Now let it go (with your other thumb OFF
the direction pad) and quickly perform a trick/spin (ex: just tap
left+square+R2 all together). As soon as you do that hold triangle and
a direction (ex: press and hold up+triangle). You will land back on the
edge with a grind.. Now just balance yourself as long as you can, then
jump off with a trick/spin. It's not that hard once you get used to it.
Now, you can try this: Ride up a halfpipe, Nollie, hold triangle to grind
the edge, now jump, perform a trick/spin, land into grind, jump, perform
a trick/spin, land into grind, balance as long as you can, jump off the
grind, perform a trick/spin before you land, end of combo..
A good halfpipe to try this on is the big long dark one in the school
level.
Remember that when jumping out of a grind, you can control the direction
of your jump by pressing a direction when you jump.
Note also that not all tricks can be used when jumping from grind to
grind while on the same edge. Most of the flips tricks will work, with
the exception of the Kickflip to Indy, and about half of the grabs will
work (Benihana, Madonna, etc..). This is of course if your character is
a Street Skater (Hopefully so, since they are the best in the game).
Vert Characters have different tricks that take MUCH longer to animate,
therefore useless during grind combos. Just make sure you know your
distances and animations, and combo accordingly.
8 - Another thing to remember about grind combos is to get your trick/spins
early on. The more tricks you do during a grind combo, the less balance
you will have.
Basically: - Don't do more than 3 grinds on one edge during a combo.
- Do all jumps/tricks/spins at the start of the grind combo,
then ride the last grind out.
- Once you get to the 2nd edge in a combo, STOP doing
trick/spins and just grind (unless it is required to jump
to a different edge). The same goes for every consectutive
edge thereafter.
FOLLOW THESE RULES!! Have you ever been grinding, jumped, did a
trick/spin, and then INSTANTLY fell when you tried to grind again?
Most likely it was because you broke on of the rules above. They are not
etched in stone however, and can be bent/broken by a seasoned player
(someone who is good at balancing).
9 - Now you have to make sure to do your highest point tricks during your
trick/spins. Always keep in mind what tricks you've used, and what ones
you haven't. Try to save your Sex Changes, Hardflips, Impossibles, and
360 shove-its for big combos.
10 - Now, you learn how to do a charcter's special grind and your set.
If you can do all the above, except replace those grinds with special
grinds (ESPECIALLY the last grind in a combo, the one you ride out),
you should have NO problem getting 200,000 points in a level once you
master this. Do the grind combo mentioned above with special grinds,
and you should get at LEAST 20, or 30,000. Repeat, repeat, repeat.
11 - Now you keep practicing until you get REALLY damn good at balancing,
and jumping from edge to edge.. Also, I STRONGLY recommend that you
play in 2-player Trick Attack. In this mode you have the most balance.
Even if you don't have someone to play against, play in 2-player anyhow.
Trust me, you can balance twice as long in 2-player mode. I have no
idea why, but that's how it seems to me..
TIP: I suggest you use Jamie, Kareem, Muska, Geoff, or Elissa.
TIP: DON'T FALL!!!! Falling is one of the worst things you can do.. You
lose about 7 seconds plus the time spent doing the combo you fell off of.
(which can be about 30 seconds or more). AND you lose your special
meter. Not a good thing.. If you're grinding ALWAYS be ready to jump
off. Don't get too greedy during combos and jump off when you have no
balance left.
5. WHERE TO SCORE BIG POINTS
////////////////////////////
This section will be devided into levels, and places where you can score
BIG combos..
** The Warehouse **
The warehouse might seem a bit boring at first, but it has some nice grind
combos, and because it's so small they can be repeated over and over again
for mad points.
Ok, first of all.. don't laugh. :) This is to help YOU remember.
The trick goes like this.. You start at the Start Point. Go down the ramp
on the right and go towards the place marked "a" on the diagram. Do a
Fasplant and quickly do a Frontflip or Backflip. If your aim is right you
should go over the halfpipe and through the secret room above the halfpipe.
Now you have to land on the rail next to the right wall. (It's marked "b"
on the diagram). Land on the rail with a grind, and then jump and do a
trick/spin to land on the quarterpipe that lines the back wall. It's marked
"c" on the diagram. Now grind the lip with a SPECIAL grind, and stabalize
your balance. You then come around the turn and reach point "d" on the
diagram. This is where you jump again, perform a trick/spin, then land back
on the edge with a SPECIAL grind.
Now quickly stabalize your balance again, and you'll reach the part where it
comes out from the wall.. It's marked with an "*" on the diagram. This is
what I call "the point of no return". Now if you don't trust your balance,
you jump off here and perform a trick/spin (preferably a Kickflip to Indy
with 2 180 spins, OR 2 kickflip/180 trick/spins). If you DO want to go all
the way you have to balance yourself around the turn, which can be VERY
difficult. Once you get around the turn your character should have almost
ZERO balance left which is why it gets very difficult at this point.
Anyhow, if you do manage to go all the way hold down the TRIANGLE button when
you're about to reach the wall at the end of the grind (marked "e"). This
will make you do a wall ride on the wall. Now as soon as you start to wall
ride, jump off the wall and perform a trick/spin (or 2 trick/spins if your
quick).
Then you land.. Congrats, you just got 200,000+ points for one combo. :)
Ok, This is another big combo, but it's a lot easier than the previous
one. First off, head towards the halfpipe.. Get in it, and ride up the
left side (marked "a"). Do a Nollie, then hold triangle to grind the edge.
You should be grinding towards the right wall now. Jump, perform a
trick/spin and land back on the same edge with a SPECIAL grind. Now you'll
reach point "b" on the diagram. Jump LEFT and perform a trick/spin (it HAS
to be a quick trick like a kickflip) and land on the rail marked "c" with
a SPECIAL grind. Now you jump again, perform a trick/spin, and land on the
edge of the quarterpipe that lines the back wall (marked with a "d"). Grind
the edge with a SPECIAL grind and balance yourself.
Now once you reach point "e" on the diagram you COULD try another trick/spin
into grind, but you're asking to fall if you do. Anyhow, keep your balance
until you reach point "f", jump off and perform a trick/spin or 2. You
COULD go all the way to to wall like in the first combo I mentioned, but it's
really freaking hard because you don't have a lot of speed during this combo.
Anyhow, once you land, you should get about 70-100,000 points for that one
combo. Oh yeah, to make it easier you can leave out a special grind or 2,
but MAKE SURE the last grind is a SPECIAL grind.
This is my favorite combo in this level, because once you do it you can just
turn left and do it again, and again, and again. Not bad eh? :)
Here's another sweet looking combo.. Head towards the back wall, (point "a")
and make sure you have a lot of speed. Angle yourself slightly towards the
right and Fastplant up the quarterpipe and perform a trick/spin. Now QUICKLY
perform the motion for your SPECIAL grind to grind the high rail on the wall,
and wait.. You'll grind the whole thing, now jump off and perform a couple
trick/spins (or even a special flip). Now land on the edge of the quarter
pipe with a SPECIAL grind (marked "b"). Balance yourself, and once you reach
the end jump again, trick/spin, and land on the metal rail (marked "c") with
yet another SPECIAL grind. Now you can jump into the halfpipe ("d") and do
some trick/spins, or grabs, whatever.. OR you can try jumping to the right
to grind the edge of the halfpipe (marked "e") with yet ANOTHER SPECIAL grind,
jump off, trick/spin, land.
This should net you about 50-80,000 points..
*The School*
Aah.. Easily the BEST level in the game.
1. The big long ass rail..
|
i |
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h_________|
/~ |
___________ / ________|
| / /
| | /
| | |
| l| |
| o| |
| n| |
| g| |
| | |
| a| |
| <- halfpipe -> s| |
| s| |
| | |
| g| |
| r| |
| i| |
_____| n| |
d| |
| |
| |
\ \
\ \____________________
\_____| |_____ |
g f e \ |
\ |
|| \ |
|| ______|__|
|| d| | |
|| | | / |
|| | | / |
w || | | / |
a || __ | | / |
l || | | c| |
l || |__| | |
|| | |
|
|| | | \a |
|| a| | b\i |
|| | | \l |
|| |______|_|
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
|
|
First of all, since this level is so massive I can't map it all out on the
diagram.. But I'll explain it A LOT more.
First you have to find the wall. You know, the wall that's not connected to
anything and has graffiti all over it. Behind it is a little grey building
with a ramp box and 2 little ground rails in front of it. Ramp off the little
ground rail on the right (marked "a"), perform a trick/spin and land on the
rail on TOP on the building (marked "b"). Land on it with a special grind,
and you'll eventually start to slide to the left. Jump, perform a trick/spin
and land back on the same rail with a special grind. You will slide down the
rail (or upwards according to to diagram). When you're about to reach the
end, jump, perform a trick/double spin while nabbing the point bonus and land
on the edge of the building with a special grind (marked "c"). Stabalize
your balance and ride to the end of the building.. Jump straight off,
(marked "d") do a trick/spin, and land with a special grind on the edge
(marked "e"). Balance quickly and then jump from point "f", perform a
trick/spin, and land on point "g" with a special grind.
Whew! But we're still not done yet.. BALANCE this last special grind well.
It shouldn't be too hard, because you should have a lot of speed now. Keep
balancing until you reach point "h" and then jump left and perform a
trick/spin or 2.
Whammo.. 200,000+ points. You can make this much easier or harder by
doing less tricks or adding more at the beginning. Just make sure you land
it.
First, go to the end off the level where the two pools are. Now ride up the
side of the halfpipe on the left of the diagram (the yellow colored one).
The Key here is to ride almost STRAIGHT UP the halfpipe almost totally
vertical.. but slightly angled towards the left. Do a Nollie before you
reach the top and hold triangle to grind the lip. (marked "a"). As soon as
you start to grind, jump, perform a trick/spin, and then land back on the
same edge with a special grind (marked "b"). Now if you rode up the halfpipe
correctly you should be grinding pretty slowly now, which is good. Balance
yourself until you reach the end of the halfpipe.
Now once you reach the end of the halfpipe (marked "c"), jump LEFT, perform
a trick/spin or 2, and then land on the edge marked "d" on the diagram.
If you don't make it, you were grinding too slow. If you jump over it, you
were grinding too fast. Go back and try again.
Anyhow, land on the edge marked "d" with a special grind and balance yourself.
You'll come to the part where it turns right (marked "e"). Once you make it
around the turn, jump LEFT, perform a trick/spin, and land on the other edge
marked "f" with a special grind. Now quickly balance yourself. The timing
for the jump is tricky as well. Practice makes perfect.
This is where it gets hard.. If you want you can grind until you reach the
end of the edge, then jump left, perform a trick/spin or two and land in the
gap with 70-100,000+ points. Turn around, and repeat. If you want to go
all out however, read on..
Ok, so you've reached point "f" and want to go all the way. As soon as you
land on point "f", balance, jump, perform a trick/spin, land back on the
same edge with a special grind. Now as soon as you land into the special
grind (marked "g") jump RIGHT while holding RIGHT and hold triangle to wall
ride the wall. (It's marked WALL on the diagram). The key here is to jump
RIGHT *before* you reach the end on the edge you're on. Look at the diagram
closely (point "g") to see what I mean.
Now you're riding the wall.. You'll almost quite make it across the gap.
When you're as close as possible to the rail on the other side (marked "h"),
jump and then quickly do the motion for the special grind. If you make it,
(marked "i") QUICKLY balance yourself! By now your balance is pretty much
gone so it's hard. Anyhow, grind untill you get to the end (marked "j") and
then jump off, trick/spin, and land on the little ground rail with a special
grind (marked "k"). Jump RIGHT, trick/spin, and you're done.. with at
LEAST 150,000 points.. I've even gotten 250,000 with this trick.
This is for 2-player mode.. In 1-player you could go even further by jumping
right at the end and grind the metal rail. But there's also no wall for you
to ride across the gap.
This is only 1 variation of this combo.. Experiment yourself to see what
suits you best.
Here's a crazy one that is always pleases onlookers.. :)
You should know where this is because of the combo described above. Anyhow,
ramp off the ground rail marked "a" with a Fastplant/Nollie, the do a
Frontflip or Backflip. If your aim is right you then land on point "b" with
a special grind... If you find all this hard to do, you can just ride up
to point "b" and jump onto it. No big deal.. you're still gonna get
100,000+ points. :)
Ok, as soon as you start grinding you jump, trick/spin, and land back on the
same edge with a special grind (marked "c"). This is to get some speed.
Now you should be coming up to the gap you wall-rode across in the previous
combo. Now we're just gonna jump the bastard because we have lots of speed.
So you jump the gap, perform a trick/spin, and land on the other edge
(marked "d") with a special grind.
Now this part's pretty tricky (marked "e"). You have to jump RIGHT, perform
a trick/spin, and land on the other edge (marked "f") with a special grind.
It's tricky because you're going so damn fast this time..
You could now (point "g") jump, perform a trick/spin, and land back on the
same edge with a special grind.. but that's up to you. I suggest you leave
it out until you get more experience with this combo.
Anyhow, once you get near the end of the edge you're on (point "h"), jump
LEFT, perform a quick trick/spin, and then grind the lip of the halfpipe
with a special grind (marked "i"). You should have enough speed by now to
make it.
Ok, now you balance yourself (like always right?). And get ready for the
hard part. When you get near the end of the halfpipe (point "j") you have
to jump Left, perform a trick/spin, and then land on the edge marked "k"
with a special grind. It's hard because of the camera angle.. It's pretty
much a blind jump. You're going damn fast and sorta can't see where you're
going to land until it's too late. The only tip I can give you is to wait
until the halfpipe starts to straighten out, then jump left. Other than
that, all I can say is practice.
When you do make it onto the edge with a special grind, BALANCE yourself.
You will be extremely slowed down now, and have very little balance left.
But stay on as long as you can. Jump off when you feel right, perform a
trick/spin or 2 and then exhale.. :) (point "l").
If you're REALLY bad-ass, you could even keep going.. jump to the picnic
table, onto the edge to the left, wall-ride the wall, grind the other edge,
etc..
Also, for those of you who have great difficulty going from point "j" to "k"
you could just jump straight off the edge of the halfpipe, trick/spin, and
special grind the edge of the pool. Jump, trick/spin off. Either way, you
just netted yourself an ASS-load of points and one sweet replay. :)
150,000-250,000
** Other Levels to follow soon.. **
8. SCORES!
//////////
So you think you're one bad motha' when it comes to THPS now right? Well
send in your high scores and we'll see who's the baddest of them all..
First, It's just me.. (Hey! it's the 1st vers.. give me a break).
Greg Dawson
gdawson@angelfire.com
COMBO - 320,000
level - School
note! - Look at the first combo in the school section of this FAQ.. It was
a variation of that combo.
SCORE - 969,101
level - School
note! - Look at the whole school section of this FAQ.. Do it, and repeat. :)
So SEND your scores in!! They have to be pretty high though.. at least
100,000 for a combo, and 250,000 overall.
7. THE END
//////////
Sorry for the small amount of combos but that's all I can do for now..
Besides, the other levels sorta suck for big points anyhow. (they only have
1 or 2 big tricks that can't easily be repeated). But I will have more in
the next version of the FAQ.
Feel free to email me with questions, comments, death threats, and what-not.
at gdawson@angelfire.com
Thanks to Blitzkrieg@playstationfan.com for his kick-ass FAQ
and to all my buds for the countless-hours of 2-player action.
