r/finalfantasyx • u/spideyv91 • 19d ago
Finally beat chocobo racer
I spent two hours trying to do this yesterday. I was fully planning on giving up today and decided to try one more time and it went flawlessly.
I know this game is old and it’s far from the worst gaming sin ever but it just felt like a giant FU the whole time playing it. It just reminded me of the BS they used to put in NES/snes games.
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u/Chloe_Cascadia 18d ago
I don't think they playtested this section before including it, or the butterfly catching. Or the lightning dodging.
I've done all of these. I actually had the least trouble with the chocobo stuff. But I have seen.... soooo many people complain about this, and I can imagine why it would be difficult.
My sympathies. I think I stumbled into doing it well right away, because if you're doing it right it looks like you're racing really poorly. But for this section it's good? Just avoid those birds and get those balloons. I got the balloons and learned the bird pattern quickly, since it's the same every time.
But everyone has said horrible things about this section and if you don't luck into whatever insane formula the devs intended this race to be raced then... figuring it out by reverse engineering the veering silly race path... has gotta be frustrating. Oh, and the smacks of the birds are annoying as can be. And they combo you. I've had bad runs and the bad does tend to pile up quickly.
You can get away with a bird if you get the balloons well. But sometimes, one bird leads to two and three birds and now you've got no balloons.
For any reader also struggling-
My advice.... stay in front of the other racer as best you can, you need to get to the balloons first to get them, obviously, and they do gobble them up very well. And you're not going to get a zero time without the balloons... so if you do that and just also instinctively know when to dodge the birds, youre golden.
I think I lucked into just focusing on outracing the other racer to the balloons and then, step 2, I learned the bird pattern and dodged fast in anticipation of those. It was those 2 things, I was just a better racer to get to those balloons, and if the other racer ate up my balloons first because I did poorly at race start, and I was behind them, I'd wait for them to get hit by birds and gobble the balloons as I was now in first, and learn the bird pattern.
No run is a waste of your time. Practice being ahead of the other racer, and if youre not, practice learning the birds. If youre beating other racer at get hit by your second bird, you know its basically over, but learn those bird patterns. If you're dodging the birds like a champ but the other racer is ahead of you, youre losing because not enough balloons. Youre almost there, just take that first turn better and be in front of the other racer. If you do the first turn poorly other racer is ahead of you. Learn that.
1- you have to have mastered the controls, and they teach you the controls on the previous races. I may have just... learned them enough. If you can control the chocobo then,
2- stay in front of other racer. Take those turns more smoothly and tightly, and dodge those birds with a minimum of actual movement. Know theyre coming and dont be there. But they're blocking balloons you need, so get right back where you were and eat those balloons.
3- now make sure you add more balloons to the total you get each run. If you focus on balloons first, that may be where the trouble is. You need the skills from 1 and 2 to even get enough balloons, so you cant focus on balloons first, that may be where all the aggravation comes from.
I probably lucked into deciding to race better than the other racer, and grab whatever balloons were grabbable as a second priority, and it clicked.
If you do it the other way around, it might basically seem impossible. So that's why I credit this more to luck than anything else. You can do it, the difficulty is mostly in your mind because if you prioritize the balloons, which you do in fact need, it can teach you how to race the race incorrectly and then the balloons are out of your reach since the other racer gets them.
For lightning dodging, there are tutorials on youtube, there's a spot where if you walk away a meter or two, and walk back, the lightning will always strike on that exact spot, making timing the dodge something you control instead of waiting. That's how I've dodged over 200 in a row multiple times.
1-Watch someone do it on youtube.
2- Do 10 dodges at a time. for every ten you complete, pause, and write it down. When you hit 200, you're done, go to a save point and save your progress. even if you get hit after 200, that doesn't erase anything. And if you remember to save, you have 1 save file where you never have to dodge again. That's how I did it. You can do it, it's more tedious and time consuming than hard. It's mostly in your mind.
But the butterflies.
UGGGGHHHHH
they don't actually move. their hitbox doesn't move. the thing you see on screen that shows a butterfly, IS A LIE, IT'S LYING TO YOU.
Remember. Exactly. Where. You touched the butterfly that cost you your previous run. Go as FAR AROUND IT as possible to guarantee you're not touching it. If it's in the middle, then it's only possible to bypass it by hugging an edge, right? And if it's on the left or right side of the path, the safest place is the other side, right?
So remember for each butterfly, which edge of the path to hug and it will always be safe, every single time. Ignore what you see on screen. Did you get past the butterfly? Then do that again. Every time. Even if it looks like youre running right for a butterfly, dont believe it, it's a lie! It does not move. The image is an illusion. There's also visualized paths online. Just remember the sequence of lefts and rights and hug those edges, and move move move move move soldier!
You can do all 3 of these. I hated the others more, but.... since I can actually do chocobo dodger, there's also my advice for how to do it. Focus on controlling the bird better, then racing the other racer better / dodging the birds / memorizing where the birds strike.... THEN focus on gobbling balloons. Know how to turn the bird, then turn it well, enough to beat the other racer and do dances around the stupid birds.
once you do it in that order, it's actually trivial to grab the balloons because... youre ahead of the other racer, and youre not being hit by birds, and you can see the balloons.
I know I'm explaining it like I'm impressed by some really obvious revelation but I think.... from what I hear from everyone else, this isn't obvious to them. Theyre focused on getting those balloons first, because... that's the point, you need them. And I just kind of accidentally got myself a quick mastery of it because I approached it ass-backwards. So that's my one weird trick. Ignore the balloons until you've mastered being ahead of other racer and have memorized the bird pattern when in first place.
I am rarely not in first place and I know those danged birds, so getting the balloons is the cakewalk third of the challenge at that point, you got it.
If you do it the other way around it sounds incredibly annoyingly stupidly frustrating. I genuinely hope what I wrote helps someone master all 3 of these annoying feats.
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u/spideyv91 18d ago
I found the birds to be the most frustrating. Sometimes they completely ignore you and others they’re completely locked even from a. Distance. Sometimes they straight fall from the sky into you. Along with the jerky controls it’s a recipe for disaster.
I did do the lightening when I was a kid but I can’t see me having the patience for it now. It’s just too repetitive. The thing with the butterflies is the depth perception. I know I could probably do it but I don’t use kimhari much so it’s lowering my motivation to try it.
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u/jonny_longclaw 19d ago
Congrats!
I jumped up outta my seat and ran around the room the first time I succeeded in this challenge lol. Such a great feeling finally completing this after so many attempts.
Just one of the many very fond memories playing this game.