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-====== Interview with Carter - German NFS Underground veteran still competing today ======+======Interview with ScorpioNNN - Top NFS Underground Player on NFS.onl======
  
-Today we bring you an interview with Carter, the last still active competitive German NFS Underground player from the old days.\\  +We had the opportunity to talk with ScorpioNNN,\\ 
-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\\ +currently ranked as the #1 NFS Underground Free Run player on NFS.onl\\ 
-with his own YouTube channel and detailed guides that helped a new generation of Underground players.+about his background, driving style, and view on the game and community...
  
-**Interview with Carter**+**General**
  
-//1. When did you first start playing NFS Underground and how did you get into the German scene back then?// +//1. Please introduce yourself. How did you get into NFS Underground?// 
-> 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 got myself into the game since I was 5 and played it as a kid on my father's desktop. 
->I played through the career mode first and then I started to play online.  +>Recently, in 2023, I searched randomly on Google "nfs underground online" and I found Redhair's mod on a site.
->Back then NBC had their own gaming TV show in Germany called "Giga Games". They also had their own eSports league called "Giga Liga".  +
->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 "pro" player didn't make fun of me,  +
->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.// \\ +//2. Since when have you been active in NFS Underground scene?// 
-//How did you join them, and what memories do you have from the clan wars or league competitions?// +>I've been active since September 2023.
-> I first was playing for a clan called "Supersonix". It was mostly playing for fun there.  +
->But over time I got better in NFSU and I climbed the ladders in Giga Liga and ESL.  +
->I guess this aroused some interest for other teams, because I was contacted by the team "noChance!"  +
->(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's scene?// +//3. How often do you play NFS Underground these days?// 
->What I remember from that time was that everyone I knew was playing NFSU, everyone in my school was talking about it,  +>Depends. Nowadays my time schedule is full but whenever I have the motivation or reason to play, 
->and showing off which kind of car tuning they had, etc. You always had people online. It felt like a huge community.  +>you will find me in the game for 1, maybe 2 hours.
->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:  +
->https://web.archive.org/web/20040810091503/http://nfs-players.gamesurf.tiscali.de/turnierbaum.htm+
  
-//4. What motivated you to keep playing Underground for over 20 years while so many others stopped?// +**Driving Style and Setup**
-> I actually also stopped for some time. I stopped playing Underground as soon as Underground 2 came out at the end of 2004.  +
->Most of the competitive scene moved onto the next title, since tournaments and leagues always promoted the newest, latest title.  +
->There was still a big community playing NFSU online, but the players who played in clans and participated in online leagues moved on.  +
->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 to playing NFS Most Wanted, but most people got tired of it.  +
->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 "Virtual Racing") from 2009 to 2010.  +
->In 2011 I switched to playing iRacing and stayed there for a while until 2018  +
->(playing everything from Road to Oval). After that I took a simracing break for a few years. +
->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" on that site were not so fast actually and not so close to the times players achieved from 2003-2007.  +
->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 "real" ones from back in the day :D+
  
-//5. You are still hotlapping today. How has your driving style changed compared to the early years?// +//4. You are currently the top Free Run player on NFS.onl. What do you think makes a great hot lap run?// 
-> When I played 2003-2004, I was already using a wheel. But I wasn't using the Double Steering (DS) technique.  +>A good hot lap run needs to have 3 essential things: Racing Lines, 
->I remember DS was talked about in the scene back then (maybe around mid to end of 2004),  +>fine technique usage (DT/DS) and/or good understanding of the car. 
->but there were not really any tutorials on how to do it, and after a while most people moved on to play NFSU2 anyway. +>Depends on each driver what he is good in more or less but knowing all 3 will always bring a great lap.
-> So, of course, nowadays even though I use a wheel, my driving style is completely different with the use of Double Steering.  +
->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.//\\  +//5. You play both with keyboard and a gamepad that the game detects as a wheel. Which one do you prefer, and why?// 
-//What made you decide to share knowledge and not just keep it to yourself?// +>I don't like one specifically because both of them use game breaking glitches in the first place. 
-> I think sharing hotlaps and guides helps create a community and bring in newcomers.  +>For sure, DT feels closer to how the game is intended to be played and DS gives you more freedom than on DT to your driving, 
->It shows people what is possible and hopefully motivates people to practice and try out things.+>but I will choose keyboard because that's how I first started playing NFSU when I was little.
  
-//7. Your guides on Double Steering and Double Tapping have helped many players in the scene.//\\ +//6. Does your driving style change depending on the input device?// 
-//Do you remember how you first discovered these techniques yourself?// +>Of course, not just from the input device, from the TJs/Cars I am driving with too. 
-> 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.  +>On Keyboard I feel more "connected" to the game; I have more of a grip on my actions 
->There was not a lot of information about it out there, nothing to explain these techniques in detail.  +>because you don't need to concentrate on the angle 
->People had the wildest ideas about DS, and a lot of people called it "cheating".  +>of your joystick and usually when your car drifts they don't do as hard as on Wheel.
->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?// +**Cars and Strategy**
-> 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.  +
->That year, new records were broken nearly everyday; and the community figured out how to use Double Steering with front-wheel drive cars,  +
->like the Integra and Neon. (Shoutouts to Marchiii, ScorpioNNN and GTB for pushing these). +
-> However, I still think we can still push certain cars and tracks even more.  +
->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?// +//7. You often pick cars that others avoid. Why do you like using unpopular cars?// 
-> To be honest, it always switches. After I practice a track for too long, I get annoyed by it. :D  +>I never liked driving the RX-7. For me, it feels like the car is using you, not you using the car. 
->But in general I like tracks which are not too luck based. What do I mean by luck?  +>With stability off I love to drive it but with Stab On I don't really.
->There are just some tracks where you can't consistently be fast all of the time,  +
->since you're not always getting that perfect bounce or a perfect drift.  +
->This can become quite frustrating for hotlapping.+
  
-//10. How did you feel seeing players from all over the world compete in a game that is over two decades old?// +//8. Do you believe some cars are underrated in NFS Underground?// 
->It is nice to see that players all over the world are still interested in NFSU,  +>Probably yeah. But most of them are way slower than the RX-7/Integra/Neon/Miata group. 
->and it is great to see that the community is still so active and can exchange easily via Discord.+>Peugeot 206 lacks power but has Integra handling, 
 +>240SX likes to oversteer too much but it has better high-end power than RX-7 etc. 
 +>In the car ranking, everything above the Focus can be underdogs in online. 
 +>The rest have some sort of defect to them (jumps too bad, scrapes the sidewalk, bad gearing, no handling)
  
-//11. Back in the old days, how strong do you think the German scene really was compared to other countries?// +//9. How much time do you spend testing different cars and setups?// 
-> It is really hard to tell. In 2004, most of the competitions were still local/country-based.  +>Depends from track to track, but I have an idea of what I should try in about 5-10 laps.
->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 and Argentina.  +
->In the biggest international tournament from that time, the World Cyber Games,  +
->the German player Sliver from "pro-Gaming" won https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Cyber_Games_2004 +
->Basically, you can think of the World Cyber Games as like a type of Olympics for video games at the time.  +
->It was a big deal. So I think based on Sliver's win alone, you can say that the German scene was strong in retrospect.+
  
-//12. Are there any old multiplayer teammates or rivals you wish were still active in the scene?// +**Motivation and Experience**
-> Of course, it would be cool to see some other old players coming back to play the game.  +
->It is still nice to see people like Juan and Skeich active in the community. They've also been playing for ages. But to be realistic,  +
->the game is over 20 years old and most players who played the game back then probably have a different life now (haha).  +
->But yeah, it would be great to see German legends like BusterOne, BATM0bile, Sliver;  +
->other known players like MasterrRX7, Merdok, Malaasoy, Newbiewheel, DDVPablo…  +
->(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?// +//10. What keeps you motivated to keep pushing your limits in Free Run?// 
-> 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.  +>Mostly for fun and the competition with Marchiii and GTB over the overall no.1 
->During this, I was mentioned on Live TV as a participant. You can actually still see the footage in low quality here: +>across the last year were a good enough reason to push myself.
->https://youtu.be/4uIIMAxMEyE?si=fshWVZtfVXMCbHUP&t=4691 +
->During that same Grand Slam, I was also super proud of beating [pG]BusterOne, one of the best players, who played later in the final.  +
->(Let's just ignore the fact that I lost every other race in the Playoffs and didn't make it to the next round).  +
->By the way, the footage of the final can still be seen here:  +
->https://youtu.be/aypX4jWmL68?si=kkWCiwkYO2xklADz&t=409.  +
->If you watch that video now, you can already see how much faster the community currently is,  +
->compared to 2004. And the netcode and collision model was already shitty back then. :D+
  
-//14. With NFS.onl it is now possible to upload and compare runs worldwide.//\\ +//11. What's your personal favorite track or car in the game?// 
-//How important do you think this platform is for keeping Underground alive today?// +>My favorite track is Terminal because it feels like a rally stage and my favorite car is the Skyline on keyboard.
->NFS.onl, Redhair's work, as well as Jericho's work with his "collision off" patch,  +
->and also your work, Ravage, are extremely important for keeping the game and the scene alive.  +
->Without it, I doubt we would still see so many players playing and competing.  +
->When I started in around 2020 there were basically just a handful of people still playing the game competitively. +
->Now with kickStart and nfs.onl, it is super easy for newcomers to get into the game and compete.  +
->There's a foundation that's already been laid.+
  
-//15. Do you believe Underground could still attract new players in the future if the scene continues to stay active?// +//12. Have you played other NFS titles? You mentioned liking NFS Porsche - what do you enjoy about it?// 
->Yes, I think so. I actually see a higher chance of attracting newer players rather than old players.  +>I used to play Underground 2 online a lot from 2014 to 2016 and I have played all the NFS games. 
->What makes the game so special is that it is easy to learn but hard to master. And with all the different techniques,  +>I enjoy NFS Porsche because it has a good vibe/atmosphere; 
->you always have the feeling that you can go just a little bit faster, if you practice just a little bit more…+>EA knew the best how to catch the vibes of a location and implement them in their game. 
 +>Races are in cool places, you have to drive fast in fast cars and it's my first game ever. Also love the soundtrack.
  
-//16. If you could bring one thing from the old NFSU scene back today, what would it be?// +**NFS.onl and Community**
->It is hard to say. The NFSU scene back then was just huge.  +
->So it would be great if so many players would play the game again, but this is not realistic. +
->Also, a lot of people don't know how to "acquire" this game anymore so easily.  +
->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. +
->Something else, which I think would help to have more people play online,  +
->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's work, we have a lot of better tools these days,  +
->than were ever available in 2004. I mean collision disabler, automatic time tracking, a leaderboard, soon Delta.  +
->Seeing all of the options available now, I think we're at a much better place than in 2003/04.  +
->We've come a long way from when I started playing. :)+
  
-Big thanks to Carter for sharing his journey with us.\\ +//13. What's your opinion on NFS.onl as a platform for rankings and hot laps?// 
-We wish him the best of luck for his future hotlap runs and hope to see more strong times from him on NFS.onl.+>I think it is pretty good. UI is simple and the site overall looks good.
  
 +//14. Is there anything you'd like to see added or improved on NFS.onl?//
 +>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 for hot laps.
 +>Who gets the best times across a month wins some type of points/currency on the platform and can buy things.
 +
 +//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.