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| - | ====== Interview | + | ======Interview |
| - | === Interview | + | We had the opportunity to talk with ScorpioNNN, |
| + | currently ranked as the #1 NFS Underground | ||
| + | about his background, driving style, and view on the game and community... | ||
| - | Today we bring you an interview with Carter, the last still active competitive German NFS Underground player from the old days.\\ | + | **General** |
| - | Back in 2003/2004 he was part of one of the strongest German clans, competed in the Giga Liga, and later returned to the game\\ | + | |
| - | with his own YouTube channel and detailed guides that helped a new generation of Underground players. | + | |
| - | **Interview with Carter** | + | //1. Please introduce yourself. How did you get into NFS Underground?// |
| + | >I got myself into the game since I was 5 and played it as a kid on my father' | ||
| + | > | ||
| - | //1. When did you first start playing | + | //2. Since when have you been active in NFS Underground scene?// |
| - | > I think I got the game for X-Mas 2003. I don't remember if I bought it myself or if it was a present. | + | >I've been active since September 2023. |
| - | >I played through the career mode first and then I started to play online. | + | |
| - | >Back then NBC had their own gaming TV show in Germany called "Giga Games" | + | |
| - | >So I started to compete in that league and this was also the first eSports experience I got (I was 16 years old at the time). | + | |
| - | >I still remember my first game, which was against Flipmode from pro-Gaming (one of the most successful German clans back then). | + | |
| - | >I drove a Golf, while he drove an RX-7, and he destroyed me. :D | + | |
| - | >But what left a big impression on me was that this " | + | |
| - | >was super friendly, helpful and gave me tips (like don't drive a Golf). | + | |
| - | >I guess this motivated me to practice and play more the following months. | + | |
| - | //2. You were part of one of the strongest German clans at the time.// \\ | + | //3. How often do you play NFS Underground these days?// |
| - | //How did you join them, and what memories | + | >Depends. Nowadays my time schedule is full but whenever |
| - | > I first was playing for a clan called " | + | >you will find me in the game for 1, maybe 2 hours. |
| - | >But over time I got better in NFSU and I climbed | + | |
| - | >I guess this aroused some interest for other teams, because I was contacted by the team " | + | |
| - | >(kinda cheezy name looking back on it :D) and joined them in early 2004. | + | |
| - | >This team was more professional and participated in leagues, tournaments and events. | + | |
| - | >I think back then we were the 3rd strongest team in Germany behind pro-Gaming and DkH. | + | |
| - | >Platzda was also a big German clan, but if I remember correctly they didn't really participate a lot in tournaments, | + | |
| - | >mostly they drove Ranked online. | + | |
| - | //3. Back in 2004, what did competition feel like? Was the atmosphere different compared to today' | + | **Driving Style and Setup** |
| - | >What I remember from that time was that everyone I knew was playing NFSU, everyone in my school was talking about it, | + | |
| - | >and showing off which kind of car tuning they had, etc. You always had people online. It felt like a huge community. | + | |
| - | >German sites like nfs-players.de and nfs-planet.de helped to promote the game even more; | + | |
| - | >e.g. when nfs-players.de was organizing a clan tournament, 22 clans participated. | + | |
| - | >With 22 clans having at least 4 drivers, there were at least 88 people in a tournament run by a small German NFS fan site. | + | |
| - | >I mean, that felt huge. Here the old tournament tree for anyone interested: | + | |
| - | > | + | |
| - | //4. What motivated | + | //4. You are currently the top Free Run player on NFS.onl. What do you think makes a great hot lap run?// |
| - | > I actually also stopped for some time. I stopped playing Underground as soon as Underground 2 came out at the end of 2004. | + | >A good hot lap run needs to have 3 essential things: Racing Lines, |
| - | >Most of the competitive scene moved onto the next title, since tournaments and leagues always promoted the newest, latest title. | + | >fine technique usage (DT/DS) and/or good understanding |
| - | >There was still a big community playing NFSU online, but the players who played in clans and participated in online leagues moved on. | + | >Depends |
| - | >So did my clan. We started playing NFSU2, and had some success. But for me it never felt as good as NFSU. | + | |
| - | >Playing with a wheel just didn't work well for me in NFSU2, and I didn't really like playing with Gamepad. | + | |
| - | >Our clan then switched | + | |
| - | >So some people stopped playing altogether, and a few others from my team started to move away from an arcade racer to sim racing. | + | |
| - | >We started playing Live for Speed (LFS), and during that time actually a few other NFS players from other teams were also switching to that sim. | + | |
| - | >I played LFS from like 2005 to like 2008, participated in leagues like the ESL and other smaller ones. | + | |
| - | >After that I switched to playing Race07 in another German League (called " | + | |
| - | >In 2011 I switched to playing iRacing and stayed there for a while until 2018 | + | |
| - | > | + | |
| - | >Now to answer your question, why did I start playing NFSU again? In 2020 I was surfing around on speedrun.com and noticed the NFSU section. | + | |
| - | >I noticed that some of the "world records" | + | |
| - | >I was comparing the listed times to my old written notes from way back then. I thought that I should be able to beat the times on there. | + | |
| - | >So I started to practice again and posted my times, just to make sure the times on speedrun.com were kinda competitive. | + | |
| - | >I also went down another rabbit hole researching the fastest times for each track. | + | |
| - | >My ultimate goal was to beat all old NFSU records--the " | + | |
| - | //5. You are still hotlapping today. How has your driving style changed compared to the early years?// | + | //5. You play both with keyboard and a gamepad that the game detects as a wheel. Which one do you prefer, and why?// |
| - | > When I played 2003-2004, I was already using a wheel. But I wasn' | + | >I don' |
| - | >I remember DS was talked about in the scene back then (maybe around mid to end of 2004), | + | >For sure, DT feels closer |
| - | >but there were not really any tutorials on how to do it, and after a while most people moved on to play NFSU2 anyway. | + | >but I will choose keyboard because that's how I first started playing NFSU when I was little. |
| - | > So, of course, nowadays even though | + | |
| - | >Double Steering makes hotlapping both easier and harder at the same time. :P | + | |
| - | //6. You run a YouTube channel where you post your runs and also guides.//\\ | + | //6. Does your driving style change depending on the input device?// |
| - | //What made you decide to share knowledge and not just keep it to yourself?// | + | >Of course, |
| - | > I think sharing hotlaps and guides helps create | + | >On Keyboard |
| - | >It shows people what is possible and hopefully motivates people | + | >because you don't need to concentrate on the angle |
| + | >of your joystick | ||
| - | //7. Your guides on Double Steering | + | **Cars |
| - | //Do you remember how you first discovered these techniques yourself?// | + | |
| - | > When I came back to the game in 2020, I didn't know how Double Steering worked. I did some research on the topic first. | + | |
| - | >There was not a lot of information about it out there, nothing to explain these techniques in detail. | + | |
| - | >People had the wildest ideas about DS, and a lot of people called it " | + | |
| - | >From my research, I validated that DS and Double Tapping all happen within the parameters of the game. | + | |
| - | >No extra code or hack to make it work; you use just what the game offers. So for me that is not cheating. | + | |
| - | >I created the tutorials mostly to show people how it works and to take that mystery away. | + | |
| - | > What also really helped me figure DS out was actually watching old videos of JuAnChOcNarg, | + | |
| - | >with his pixelated 240p videos from 11 years ago (haha). I watched him drive and would try to imitate his driving. | + | |
| - | //8. Do you think the skill ceiling in Underground is fully reached, or are there still tricks and improvements left to be found?// | + | //7. You often pick cars that others avoid. Why do you like using unpopular cars?// |
| - | > I still think the full potential is not yet fully reached. I think the gains will not be as high as what we saw in 2024 anymore. | + | >I never liked driving |
| - | >That year, new records were broken nearly everyday; and the community figured out how to use Double Steering with front-wheel drive cars, | + | >With stability off I love to drive it but with Stab On I don't really. |
| - | > | + | |
| - | > However, | + | |
| - | >We are still a small community, and there is always a chance someone new will come and show us what is possible. | + | |
| - | //9. What's your favorite track for hotlapping, and why?// | + | //8. Do you believe some cars are underrated in NFS Underground?// |
| - | > To be honest, it always switches. After I practice a track for too long, I get annoyed by it. :D | + | >Probably yeah. But most of them are way slower than the RX-7/ |
| - | >But in general I like tracks which are not too luck based. What do I mean by luck? | + | >Peugeot 206 lacks power but has Integra handling, |
| - | >There are just some tracks where you can't consistently be fast all of the time, | + | >240SX likes to oversteer too much but it has better high-end power than RX-7 etc. |
| - | >since you're not always getting that perfect bounce or a perfect drift. | + | >In the car ranking, everything above the Focus can be underdogs in online. |
| - | >This can become quite frustrating for hotlapping. | + | >The rest have some sort of defect to them (jumps too bad, scrapes the sidewalk, bad gearing, no handling) |
| - | //10. How did you feel seeing players from all over the world compete in a game that is over two decades old?// | + | //9. How much time do you spend testing different cars and setups?// |
| - | >It is nice to see that players all over the world are still interested | + | >Depends from track to track, but I have an idea of what I should try in about 5-10 laps. |
| - | >and it is great to see that the community is still so active and can exchange easily via Discord. | + | |
| - | //11. Back in the old days, how strong do you think the German scene really was compared to other countries?// | + | **Motivation |
| - | > It is really hard to tell. In 2004, most of the competitions were still local/ | + | |
| - | >You didn't really play against a lot of people outside of your country. | + | |
| - | >I think the German scene was one of the most active, besides Russia, Brazil | + | |
| - | >In the biggest international tournament from that time, the World Cyber Games, | + | |
| - | >the German player Sliver from " | + | |
| - | > | + | |
| - | >It was a big deal. So I think based on Sliver' | + | |
| - | //12. Are there any old multiplayer teammates or rivals | + | //10. What keeps you motivated to keep pushing your limits |
| - | > Of course, it would be cool to see some other old players coming back to play the game. | + | >Mostly for fun and the competition with Marchiii |
| - | >It is still nice to see people like Juan and Skeich active in the community. They' | + | >across |
| - | > | + | |
| - | >But yeah, it would be great to see German legends like BusterOne, BATM0bile, Sliver; | + | |
| - | >other known players like MasterrRX7, Merdok, Malaasoy, Newbiewheel, | + | |
| - | >(the list can go on); or some of my old team-mates back online. | + | |
| - | >P.S. Bullet4one and McDeath, if you read this, come back and play some rounds with me! :D | + | |
| - | //13. What was the most memorable moment you've had in NFS Underground over the years?// | + | //11. What's your personal favorite track or car in the game?// |
| - | > I guess a great moment for me was qualifying for the Giga Liga Grand Slam 3, which were the playoffs for the Giga Liga league. | + | >My favorite track is Terminal because it feels like a rally stage and my favorite car is the Skyline on keyboard. |
| - | >During this, I was mentioned on Live TV as a participant. You can actually still see the footage in low quality here: | + | |
| - | > | + | |
| - | >During that same Grand Slam, I was also super proud of beating [pG]BusterOne, | + | |
| - | > | + | |
| - | >By the way, the footage of the final can still be seen here: | + | |
| - | > | + | |
| - | >If you watch that video now, you can already see how much faster the community currently | + | |
| - | > | + | |
| - | //14. With NFS.onl it is now possible to upload and compare runs worldwide.// | + | //12. Have you played other NFS titles? You mentioned liking NFS Porsche - what do you enjoy about it?// |
| - | //How important | + | >I used to play Underground 2 online a lot from 2014 to 2016 and I have played all the NFS games. |
| - | >NFS.onl, Redhair' | + | >I enjoy NFS Porsche because |
| - | >and also your work, Ravage, are extremely important for keeping | + | >EA knew the best how to catch the vibes of a location and implement them in their game. |
| - | >Without | + | >Races are in cool places, you have to drive fast in fast cars and it' |
| - | >When I started | + | |
| - | >Now with kickStart and nfs.onl, it is super easy for newcomers | + | |
| - | >There' | + | |
| - | //15. Do you believe Underground could still attract new players in the future if the scene continues to stay active?// | + | **NFS.onl and Community** |
| - | >Yes, I think so. I actually see a higher chance of attracting newer players rather than old players. | + | |
| - | >What makes the game so special is that it is easy to learn but hard to master. And with all the different techniques, | + | |
| - | >you always have the feeling that you can go just a little bit faster, if you practice just a little bit more… | + | |
| - | //16. If you could bring one thing from the old NFSU scene back today, what would it be?// | + | //13. What's your opinion on NFS.onl as a platform for rankings and hot laps?// |
| - | >It is hard to say. The NFSU scene back then was just huge. | + | >I think it is pretty good. UI is simple |
| - | > | + | |
| - | >Also, a lot of people don't know how to " | + | |
| - | >You could go on eBay and find old copies, but this is already a lot of work. | + | |
| - | >It would be great if NFSU could be sold and downloaded again via Steam or any other platform. | + | |
| - | > | + | |
| - | >would be a way to host without having specific router ports open. | + | |
| - | >So maybe instead of P2P connection, if the game would use a client-server model, that could help. | + | |
| - | >But besides that, I think in large part due to Redhair' | + | |
| - | >than were ever available in 2004. I mean collision disabler, automatic time tracking, a leaderboard, | + | |
| - | >Seeing all of the options available now, I think we're at a much better place than in 2003/04. | + | |
| - | > | + | |
| - | Big thanks | + | //14. Is there anything you'd like to see added or improved on NFS.onl?// |
| - | We wish him the best of luck for his future hotlap runs and hope to see more strong | + | >I would like if we had drag/drift races in there. Anything else I don't know, the site overall is complete in my eyes. |
| + | >Maybe clan wars or a seasonal leaderboard | ||
| + | >Who gets the best times across a month wins some type of points/ | ||
| + | //15. Any advice for players who want to get better at NFS underground?// | ||
| + | >Most of the time results come with time. You won't get a good time in your first 15 minutes. | ||
| + | >You need to practice and understand the things I mentioned (at Q4). | ||
| + | >Racing online or watching hot laps will help you with that a lot but personally I would try to discover things I don't know myself. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Many thanks to ScorpioNNN for this exclusive interview.\\ | ||
| + | We're grateful for your time and wish you all the best in your future runs. | ||