# Sega Rally 2 The second game in the Sega Rally franchise, released the year 1999 on Windows. # Acknowledgements [Brionac](https://www.speedrun.com/users/Brionac): for making a small guide on the most important information about speedruns [chmcl](https://www.youtube.com/@chmcl6574): porting the Ford Escort WRC car to Windows [Gσиzαlσ](https://oldnewpixel.blogspot.com): discovering all of the cheats the game has to offer [Sega Retro](https://segaretro.org/): for providing the renders for the cars when inside the car selection screen tombstonej: unlocking alternate paint jobs for some of the cars # Cheats & Modifications It might be a short game with its identity deeply rooted in the arcades, but that doesn't deprive it from having a ton of secrets, and some modifications along with it that will definitely help you out on making your experience that much better! #### Cheats --- ##### Alternate variants for some cars --- **Steps to follow:** 1. Go into the car selection process 2. Highlight your car of choice 3. Before pressing *Enter* to select the car, **hold down** the *Page Up* button until the gear select screen shows up **Notes:** The following table describes which cars do have an alternate variant and which ones are:
**Original** **Unlock**
Subaru Impreza (GD) (WRC - 1999) Subaru Impreza (GD) (WRC - 1998)
Toyota Corolla (E110) (WRC - 1998) Toyota Corolla (E110) (APRC - 1998)
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI (CP9A) (WRC - 1999) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V (CP9A) (WRC - 1998)
Toyota Celica GT-Four (ST-185) (WRC - 1993) Toyota Celica GT-Four (ST-185) (WRC - 1992)
Lancia Stratos HF Stradale (*Tipo* 829) (WRC - 1977) Lancia Stratos HF Stradale (*Tipo* 829) (WRC - 1975)
##### ##### Unlock all cars (except Kerolla WRC) --- **Steps to follow:** 1. Go to the "Press Enter to Start" screen 2. Type in the following code: *iwanttodriveallcars* **Notes:** You will hear a sound when the code has been entered correctly. ##### Unlock all years in the 10 Year Championship --- **Steps to follow:** 1. Go to the "Press Enter to Start" screen 2. Type in the following code: *iwanttoplayallyears* **Notes:** You will hear a sound when the code has been entered correctly. ##### Unlock everything (minus the Kerolla WRC) and mark as completed all years in the 10 Year Championship --- **Steps to follow:** 1. Go to the "Press Enter to Start" screen 2. Type in the following code: *ilovesegarally2andsega* **Notes:** You will hear a sound when the code has been entered correctly. ##### Unlock Kerolla WRC --- **Steps to follow:** 1. Go to the "Press Enter to Start" screen 2. Type in the following code: *kerokerokerokerokero* **Notes:** You will hear a sound when the code has been entered correctly. #### Modifications --- ##### Play with Ford Escort --- Like the Windows version, the Dreamcast port of the arcade game offers some exclusive cars, like the Ford Escort (and this one in particular is only present in the *japanese* version, making it more rare). Well now, it is possible to play with the car in its glory on the best version of the game! **Download:** [Link](https://files.r21.li/Sega%20Rally%202/Ford%20Escort%20WRC%20-%201.2.7z) **Steps to follow:** 1. Copy the mod's contents inside the root folder of the game **Notes:** The mod at the moment only covers the model, reflections, and car's logo and manufacturer during the car selection screen. Since it is implemented in-game by replacing the Kerolla WRC car, the car's shadow is the one given for the Kerolla WRC, alongside the car name during races and replays. ##### Remove SafeDisc protection --- Disc swaps are pretty much gone by today's standards. But Sega Rally 2 wasn't released when that was the case, and sadly the original crack done by *CiFE* is considered lost media (pretty wild considering that it is a scene crack!). So, in order to avoid having to deal with mounting the second CD, here is what you have to do. **Prerequisites:** - Any hex editor **Steps to follow:** 1. Open with the hex editor the file called *SEGA RALLY 2.exe* 2. Change the following bytes in the offset **000269C0**:
**Byte** **Old value** **New value**
06 0F 90
07 8C 90
08 3C 90
09 FF 90
0A FF 90
0B FF 90
3. Change the following bytes in the offset **00026B60**:
**Byte** **Old value** **New value**
08 E8 90
09 55 90
0A 11 90
0B 06 90
0C 00 90
**Notes:** This patch only works for the original European and American releases of the game, so it will not work for the Spanish release (the Japanese one is not confirmed to include SafeDisc as DRM). ##### Restore the music --- Again, we are dealing with another issue caused by this being a really old game. Now we are talking about restoring the capabilities of playing the music, which was done by streaming the audio from the second CD. Nowadays, the API that supports said feature has been made incompatible since the **NT kernel** was released by Microsoft (*Windows XP* if we look only into their consumer line of products). Luckily, there are several programs that can help us out in solving this issue. **Prerequisites:** - An audio rip of the second CD of the game, where all files must follow the naming structure of ***TrackXX***, where *XX* stands for the **track number** - [DxWnd](https://sourceforge.net/projects/dxwnd/) **Steps to follow:** 1. Create a folder called *Music* at the root path of your game's installation folder 2. Put the CD rip inside said folder 3. Open **DxWnd**, and select the menu called *Options*, and then *Extended mode* 4. Once that's done, now add the executable called *SEGA RALLY 2.exe* onto the list of games for the program 5. Now open the menu that configures its options, and modify the *Path:* option to the file called *LAUNCH.exe* from the game 6. From the same menu, select the submenu called *CDAudio* 7. After that, select the option *Use audio files* 8. Save the configuration **Notes:** While it is true that exists a program called [\_inmm.dll](https://cryo.jp/_inmm/_inmm/), which it is definitely easier to use, its latest build doesn't work for Sega Rally 2, not to mention that it latest version it is dated from 2006, while DxWnd is a much more capable program that is actively maintained. There is also a program called [ogg-winmm](https://github.com/ayuanx/ogg-winmm), but sadly only supports ogg files, which is a lossy codec. # Tips on how to be faster While it is true that this game is as simple as an arcade racer can get, it does NOT mess around, and expects a higher level of proficiency than one might initially expect from this kind of games. Although practice and memorizing the track layouts will be the most important factor on getting better times, there are also some nice tricks that one can apply in order to get better times. ##### Avoid air time --- Contrary to popular belief, going through a jump in this game doesn't mean that you are going fast. While it is technically true, since you need to go fast in order to leave off the ground, the car loses speed while on the air, so make sure to **avoid jumping as much as possible**. ##### Avoid sliding whenever possible --- Yes, sliding can make taking turns more easily, but try to avoid doing that if possible. As you can imagine why, doing that will make you go overall slower, since the car is no longer gaining speed. Thus, always try to keep as much momentum as possible by forcing yourself to play this game as if it featured more grippy physics. Obviously, if you have to deal with sharp corner, to full steer is the only option, since otherwise you would be breaking way too much to make that possible. ##### Getting a perfect start --- While this game doesn't feature a proper "perfect start" like most arcade racers, the game will make your car take a while to let you upshift to second gear, and having really poor acceleration too. So, the best way to proceed is to just **press the gas pedal when the race actually starts**. Then, accelerate up to 30km/h and immediately shift to 3rd gear, since shift times make your car slow down a tiny bit. Once that's done, the general rule of thumb of proceeding with shifting is to just go to 4th gear once the car reaches a speed of around 190 km/h. ##### ##### Hit the walls if they can help you turn faster --- Sometimes, some turns can be done faster if you happen to hit the wall around the turn's apex or outside of the turn, since you will be slowing down faster than by using the brakes. The best place to practice this is in Riviera, because its two hairpins allow you to slightly clip through the apex if done correctly. ##### Keep a proper throttle control --- While it is true that most arcade games will let you get away with just pressing the accelerator as if it was a digital input, Sega Rally 2 is a game that offers analog inputs for accelerating and braking, and thus, most basic tricks like tapping the accelerator will be something that can be used in order to make turns without fully stopping to accelerate. ##### Learn the characteristics of each type of terrain --- The game features 6 different types of terrain, all of them feature different characteristics, and they make the cars behave in very different ways, which will inevitably change how you proceed in each stage, specially with the chosen tunes if you are playing the 10 Year Championship mode. Here's the list of all the terrains that Sega Rally 2 can throw at you, while using the tarmac as the base point of comparison:
**Name** **Grip** **Acceleration** **Notes**
Tarmac 5/5 5/5 -
Gravel 4/5 5/5 -
Grass 3/5 4/5It should be avoided at all costs, except for some corner cutting
Water 1.5/5 1.5/5 It should be avoided at all costs, no exceptions
Snow 2.5/5 4/5 Steering takes more time than usual, because the lower the grip, the longer it takes to fully steer
Mud 4/5 5/5 -
All of these terrains can be affected by rain, which makes it really easy to slide while turning, thus making small corrections pretty hard to do. Keep in mind that this is only present during the 10 Year Championship mode and on some Time Attack tracks. ##### Picking a 5 gear manual transmission --- Anybody who plays any racing game should know by now that picking manual transmission is the only way to play these games properly, and this game is no exception. Like most games, picking automatic transmission will make your car go slower, because the game doesn't really follow the power band efficiently, it just shifts whenever the RPM needle reaches the point of maximum power, which is not always the best choice. Regarding the number of gears, some cars offer a 6th gear long transmission. For some reason, it is recommended to pick the shortest amount of gears possible, probably due to the time lost during shift times does make the longer gears the more optimal choice. ##### ##### Utilize the breaks properly --- As we said earlier during the slides tip, braking is not a thing that you want to do at all, except when dealing with tight hairpins. While braking it is a valid strategy when used correctly, a more involved but also better way to proceed in this cases is the following one: 1. When entering the corner, **stop accelerating, and start steering and braking** towards the direction of the corner 2. Slightly after starting to break, **use the handbrake** to make the car turn even more 3. Once you reach the turn's apex, **stop braking but not handbraking** 4. **Let go of the handbrake and start accelerating** once you have reach the turn's exit