[zmoonchild]

I don’t know if it’ll help you any, but I did create several videos that demonstrate how to do all of the Unique Stunt Jumps that are in areas that’ll trigger a 4-Star Wanted Level.
Each jump has it’s own video:

GTA San Andreas - Unique Stunt Jumps 35 thru 53 (http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=76DA78F0369F14B4)

GTA San Andreas - Unique Stunt Jumps 54 thru 70 (http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=05BA1DDDDDC13162)

All jumps were done on a PCJ-600 on an un-modded game with no cheats. The numbers are based on the Bradygames Guide.

[rubregg]

Hey Zoom, good to see you, it's been a while

QUOTE (OrionSR @ Aug 26 2008, 21:19)

Yeah, but learning the routes is much of the challenge of the rallies. I spent a bit of time practicing without the wanted level to increase my chances that I could hit the jumps and score the bonus the first time, and to see if was possible to complete the route within 6 minutes.

Yup, getting the routes sorted out *is* a big part of the challenges - that's why so far I was reluctant to post too many screenshots. Now we're talking even videos... Then again, not too many players have seriously tried out the rallies so far so maybe a video would help spiking some interest?

So I've spent my day with Katie, capturing. Failed a lot, sometimes on very promising runs (once I had 4 triple insanes within the 6 first jumps), but after countless tries I managed to home in a solid gold medal run with 12 jumps. The video is finished & currently encoding, I'll shout when it's up.

Turns out I'm having heavy frame rate droppage during capturing, including some lags (will be visible in the vid). Due to these there was no way I could capture a High Noon achievment, I lost at least 5 seconds on the way from Doherty to Katie's. So I guess in my run I lost a bit of time to this lag. Also I goofed up a bit here and there, but still it's clear that it takes a pretty perfect run to get 13 or 14 jumps.

[OrionSR]

That hospital jump is still giving me trouble but I'm only a few seconds short of 14 again. Katie bailed behind the Beagle on my last run. What's the deal on proof for these rallies? I forget. Did we decide to take peoples word for the medals or do I need some sort of screenshot? And if I need a screenshot for Katie Jumps what am I supposed to show?

I don't have much hope of recording anything the way my computer is running lately. I get a bunch of time wasted right at the start as the game decides whether or not it's going to open the garage door before CJ's armor is completely shot away. No luck on the high noon achievement but I haven't really been trying.

Zoom. Thanks for the videos, those were very helpful. I appreciate knowing how much I can short jump the stunts as it helps me cut time and avoid crashes.

[rubregg]

QUOTE (OrionSR @ Aug 27 2008, 07:01)

Zoom. Thanks for the videos, those were very helpful. I appreciate knowing how much I can short jump the stunts as it helps me cut time and avoid crashes.

I second that Also thanks for promoting and explaining the hq code on youtube (adding &fmt=18 to a video link), this is brilliant!!

QUOTE (OrionSR @ cont.)

That hospital jump is still giving me trouble but I'm only a few seconds short of 14 again. Katie bailed behind the Beagle on my last run.

Well done on your 13 jumps !! ...the jumps that give me most trouble are the ones at the windy road & at Michelle's (distance - when exactly to lift the front wheel?) and at the stadium overpass (tricky to time the lean-forward trick right). The hospital jump seems to work best a bit left of the right end of the lip/ramp but I'm still sometimes missing it.

QUOTE (OrionSR @ cont.)

What's the deal on proof for these rallies? I forget. Did we decide to take peoples word for the medals or do I need some sort of screenshot? And if I need a screenshot for Katie Jumps what am I supposed to show?

We decided not to be too strict on the proof issue. I guess the only real proof would be videos and you can't ask everyone to post video proof. If someone just claims a smashing record without any screenshot or discussion (especially) or anything, this might be considered dodgy. Since cheating with screenshots is relatively easy too I guess we'll have to take the players' word for it.

As for what to take screenshots of - I'd just say 'something appropriate', depending on the rally and on how much strategy one wants to give away.
When I did my 14 jumps with Katie, I took screenshots of every single jump (missed one). So far I only posted one of the last jump (and one of the High Noon message), because I didn't want to give away the route. Now with the video finished I might as well... (see below)

QUOTE (OrionSR @ cont.)

I don't have much hope of recording anything the way my computer is running lately. I get a bunch of time wasted right at the start as the game decides whether or not it's going to open the garage door before CJ's armor is completely shot away. No luck on the high noon achievement but I haven't really been trying.

I made the High Noon achievment a couple of times in all my tries yesterday, but like I said I'm having too much lag when capturing so I can't make a video of it...

Anyway, the upload has finally finished, so here are the goodies:


Katie Jumps

video - gold medal - 12 jumps (1 triple insane)
youtube (standard): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX4k-lbTNsA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX4k-lbTNsA)
youtube (high quality): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX4k-lbTNsA&fmt=18 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hX4k-lbTNsA&fmt=18)
download hq version: http://rubregg.p2partesans.com/sa/v/katie.jumps.12.avi (http://rubregg.p2partesans.com/sa/v/katie.jumps.12.avi)

screenshots
platinum medal - 14 jumps: http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/6527/kj14routern6.jpg (http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/6527/kj14routern6.jpg)
High Noon achievment (11:57): http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/8889/kjhighnoon1157rs8.jpg (http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/8889/kjhighnoon1157rs8.jpg)


Enjoy

This post has been edited by rubregg on Wednesday, Aug 27 2008, 22:52

[OrionSR]

Cool vid rubregg. Is that your best route or just something for the video so you don't give away your platinum strategy? I suspect there are several successful strategies for this event.

[rubregg]

QUOTE (OrionSR @ Aug 28 2008, 04:13)

Cool vid rubregg. Is that your best route or just something for the video so you don't give away your platinum strategy? I suspect there are several successful strategies for this event.

Thanks, OrionSR

...I think that was basically the route I used on my platinum run. Well, apart from the detours to avoid road blocks. After the hospital jump I normally go E one block and then cut SE across the park/lawn patch.

But the tricky bit of the route is the early part - I'm not sure if I have the best route across northern SF, but whatever I tried, there always seems to be one or two jumps out of the way... How do you do it?

And have you got any tips on how to avoid the collission course cop car that always spawns at one of the downtown jumps (the one not at Michelle's)? I sometimes manage by first aiming to the right and at the last moment cutting sharply left to the stairs. It won't always work though...

[cacarla]

How did you do that Rubregg?? Absolutely speechless .. I might take years to get this.. .

[OrionSR]

QUOTE

there always seems to be one or two jumps out of the way...

And that's what makes Katie Jumps and interesting challenge. I should probably get my 14 jumps in before trying to offer you advice.

I still need to work on my route. The primary concern is to avoid spawning roadblocks. I suspect that if I get the route just right I will encounter fewer random problems. For now I'm hitting up the 3 jumps near Katie's first because that's were roadblocks are the most dense and then getting to the hospital jump right away. I don't think this is the most efficient route but I need the practice on this jump and want to know if I should restart before completing a lot of other jumps. I'm finishing the northern jumps with the pair near Michelle's so I can use the high speed route along the docks to get down to the southern jumps.

Police Trigger Map (http://pdescobar.home.comcast.net/~pdescobar/tmp/trigger_mapper.png)

The Police Trigger guarding the eastward jump by Michelle's will be difficult to avoid completely as the trigger zone seems to cover the entire road. I've been trying beat it through the intersection with speed and usually succeed. The other option would be to trigger that car before heading down to the northern jump and then crossing that trigger zone again before the 40 second timer resets.

One trick I've been using that is missing from your video is to ride over the rails in order to get off the freeway. It only saves a few second but if I actually make it that far south I'm trying to shave every second possible.

I've been having good success with the Windy Road jump even though I'm no longer taking the high road route I used to land that jump with a Freeway in the Hippy Shocker video. I suspect lifting the wheel before hitting the stairs object will allow you to maintain the most speed. This was definitely true for Michelle's Garage jump. The first couple of times I tried it I couldn't even trigger the remote camera for the jump.

This post has been edited by OrionSR on Thursday, Aug 28 2008, 20:27

[GTA Phreak]

Cool vid Rubregg (and tnx for the honorary mention)

[rubregg]

QUOTE (OrionSR @ Aug 28 2008, 20:12)

QUOTE there always seems to be one or two jumps out of the way... And that's what makes Katie Jumps and interesting challenge.

I completely agree.

QUOTE (OrionSR @ cont.)

I should probably get my 14 jumps in before trying to offer you advice.

Yer what? I'll take advice from you any day, mate
Also I'm sure that your 14 jumps are only a matter of time.

QUOTE (OrionSR @ cont.)

I'm finishing the northern jumps with the pair near Michelle's so I can use the high speed route along the docks to get down to the southern jumps.

I remember trying that out but somehow I didn't find a satisfactory approach for the Pay'n'Spray jump so I gave up on it.

QUOTE (OrionSR @ cont.)

The Police Trigger guarding the eastward jump by Michelle's will be difficult to avoid completely as the trigger zone seems to cover the entire road. I've been trying beat it through the intersection with speed and usually succeed. The other option would be to trigger that car before heading down to the northern jump and then crossing that trigger zone again before the 40 second timer resets.

I tried the speed method and indeed, mostly successful. Another way I found is to speed towards the jump and trigger the cop car, then brake almost to a stop to let the cop car pass and then hit the stairs behind the cop car. Apparently this jump doesn't need too much speed. On the down side, a little bit of time will be lost this way.


Lifting the front wheel

I'm getting the impression the exact timing when to lift the front wheel on approach of a jump ramp is quite important, that's why I asked with respect to Windy Road and Michelle's. The Hospital jump seems to work best for me if I lift the front wheel rather late, *just* before hitting the ramp/lip. At Windy Road and Michelle's it has to be sooner, but I haven't figured out the details yet, I'm still missing these far too often.

QUOTE (OrionSR @ cont.)

One trick I've been using that is missing from your video is to ride over the rails in order to get off the freeway. It only saves a few second but if I actually make it that far south I'm trying to shave every second possible.

That's missing from the video because I can't do it. I've tried but never made it, so..... how??


Thanks a lot, cacarla and Phreak!
Phreak, that was the least I could do after your hospital visit video


Update:
Forgot to mention that I'm fine-tuning my route. It's still basically as in the video, but I'm cutting a few corners here and there, thanks to Zoom's videos. Very helpful.

...I just had a run where a tire got shot out during the first jump. I still made 12 jumps - 10 complete and 2 close misses on the unique bonus.

This post has been edited by rubregg on Friday, Aug 29 2008, 13:19

[OrionSR]

QUOTE (rubregg)

Also I'm sure that your 14 jumps are only a matter of time.

Got it finally. 14 jumps! I learned a new trick during that run that has solidified my route - screenshot is provided below. It's really dark but I think you'll figure it out.

Katie Jump (http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/4317/gtasa2008082914082790rp0.jpg)

I also managed to record a 14 jump video. The main problem is I messed up and had CJ shoot a cop - something I prefer not to show in my videos. Hopefully I'll get another good run together to replace it.

Update: I accidentally deleted that other run, but I managed to get another, this time with the High Noon achievement and no shot cops. Still had one fall. I'm not sure how much of a production I want to make if this vid. Got any tips for rendering for HQ YouTube?

This post has been edited by OrionSR on Saturday, Aug 30 2008, 05:15

[rubregg]

QUOTE (OrionSR @ Aug 30 2008, 02:22)

Got it finally. 14 jumps! I learned a new trick during that run that has solidified my route - screenshot is provided below. It's really dark but I think you'll figure it out.

Woo-Hoooo, congrats on the Platinum medal!!
I'll put it in the front-page as soon as bbcode is fully back, your posting is already bookmarked. At the moment, with clickable links still disabled, I'm afraid editing the frontpage will just mess it up and make it illegible.

...does your screenshot mean you can take the supermarket jump eastbound too? That would open up new possibilities, route-wise...

QUOTE (OrionSR @ cont.)

I also managed to record a 14 jump video. The main problem is I messed up and had CJ shoot a cop - something I prefer not to show in my videos. Hopefully I'll get another good run together to replace it. Update: I accidentally deleted that other run, but I managed to get another, this time with the High Noon achievement and no shot cops. Still had one fall. I'm not sure how much of a production I want to make if this vid. Got any tips for rendering for HQ YouTube?

That sounds cool, looking forward to the video. I tried capturing a better run too, but without success. Got to 13 but had missed one unique bonus and had quite a few promising runs cut short by either the hospital jump or some very silly blunders like not triggering the slomo camera on the P'n'S jump and the crack factory jump. I think that was the 1st time ever I missed the crack factory jump ...one time Katie bailed in mid-jump during the slomo cam...

I don't know too many details about that hq stuff. Zoom has a little info on his youtube page. Normally youtube shows re-encoded flash versions of the uploaded videos. Maybe adding that "hq switch" (just add &fmt=18 to any video link) plays the originally uploaded file? It works for my older videos too so you won't have to do anything special on upload.

All my videos are captured with Fraps (half screen size - 512x384) and encoded with xvid (2pass encoding, vbr, avg. bitrate 1000-ish kbps) and mp3 (96 - 128 kbps).

To make them I'm using:
- capturing: Fraps
- editing: Premiere
- compression: VirtualDubMod

This post has been edited by rubregg on Saturday, Aug 30 2008, 07:05

[OrionSR]

QUOTE

...does your screenshot mean you can take the supermarket jump eastbound too? That would open up new possibilities, route-wise...

Yes, it certainly does. I discovered this by accident while trying to avoid a roadblock.

I need more practice with the southern jumps, I don't often get that far. I finally got the hang of the hospital jump. My problem was trying to get the height by leaning into the bump instead of pulling back at the last second. The Yay-Stadium jump is still a concern. I'm never sure why I get it right sometimes but I certainly hit the sweet spot in the video. The other problem I'm having is getting clean landing for the jumps onto the freeway. I crash far too often on these easy jumps.

When I got to the end of my run I wasn't sure what to do with Katie's extra time. The only thing I could think of was to try the NRG Challenge. I was partially motivated to repair the smoking bike. Anyway, Katie got back on the bike when CJ triggered the mission but then she faded - like a ghost. She didn't bail and run off, she just disappeared. CJ still lost progress with her.

[rubregg]

That's way cool with the supermarket jump, opens up new route possibilities. Speaking of which, did I hear right, you had time left? I may have to work on my route after all... Look, if you've got too much time to spare you can always go for 14 + chinese jumper jump - or with the chain game save even 14 + Foster Mall + chinese jumper....

You're right, the Yay -> Stadium jump is a problem. I think I fail that more often than I complete it ...and it's so far south too so an otherwise perfect run can always be murdered by it... It's probably my least favourite SF jump...

[OrionSR]

Damn. The China Jump has never been in line with a good route before, but yeah... I just might be able to squeeze it in. Perhaps I'll drop my High Noon expectations and go for a full combo with stunts.

Time Left: Let's see. I triggered Katie at 12:04, cut-scene ended at 12:11. The timer just ticked over to 17:53 when the 14th unique bonus displays. Also, I had one fall and several minor errors that waste time near the end of the run. I'm not sure I want to try to add non-standard jumps to the challenge and the other possible jumps are a bit out of range. Yeah, extra stunts seems like the best use of time, but I'm still looking for a good ending freeze-frame.

That and perhaps a better video quality. I've got everything running as low as possible in order to maintain a frame rate as close to 25 FPS as possible while recording. It's not easy in downtown SF. I think you'll notice the crappy detail and weird colors. I need to play in 16 bit color because Fraps records in psychedelic colors in 32 bit mode.

Premiere takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r to render and compress. I resorted to no compression output and then compressed that huge file with Movie Maker. Phreak gave me a good template for 25 FPS Windows Media files that works fairly well. Currently uploading, btw. I might need to try my analog monitor again. 1/2 size video for me is 640x512, and that throws things off if I'm shooting for a 640x480 product.

[OrionSR]

Katie Jumps Conspiracy

14 Unique Jumps completed on the Katie Jumps Rally

Katie Jump Conspiracy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGCU6-SDYbc)

Hopefully a HQ version will be available with more processing.

The soundtrack is Conspiracy from the new Trapezoid Monks CD, Third Martini from the Sun. I'm particularly happy with how the music synced with the jumps.

[rubregg]

Excellent video, OrionSR!!

16 colours? Welcome to my world ...I always play in 16 colours, the game runs far too laggy here in 32 colours. Your route looks fine, I'll have to try it out and see how things go that way. I'm still not sure how much time I'm missing on capturing due to frame rate droppage - I haven't done Katie Jumps without capturing in quite a while. When I'm capturing I'm losing close to 10 seconds on the way from the garage to Katie's house alone. Getting the yay -> stadium jump fully over the freeway seems to be a big time saver too, too bad I'm rarely making it. Also cool to see you get over the freeway rails, I'll have to try that out. ...You even set your details to low medium, right? I'm not usually doing that - the blacked out road confuses me quite a bit - but might try it out framerate-wise.

Yup, premiere takes quite long to render, but I'm using a lot of its editing functions. I don't compress with premiere, I'm doing that with Virtual Dub. (The uncompressed premiere output of my 7ish minute Katie Jumps video was 4.5 gigs; yes, video editing makes insanely huge files.)

Your video works in hq on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGCU6-SDYbc&fmt=18 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGCU6-SDYbc&fmt=18)


Update:
Just did a little check on frame rates - setting my visual details to medium (rather than high) didn't help a lot. When I'm capturing, my frame rate is mostly between 18 and 23 with occasional drops to below 10. So basically it sometimes feels a bit as if Katie were carrying slabs of lead in her pockets....

another update:
Just tried out your route and I think it might be quicker than mine. One thing though, have you tried taking the two downtown jumps near Michelle's in the opposite order? Jumping off that 'sniper roof' gives you quite a good lead into the highspeed dock route and I think this order might shave off yet another few seconds.

yet another update:
Just did 14 jumps. Didn't capture and used your route with my order of the downtown jumps. Made it even though I fell off twice and landed on the freeway on the stadium jump and lost a bit of time trying to get over the freeway rails. I'll have to practice that freeway exit a lot more, I guess.

This post has been edited by rubregg on Sunday, Aug 31 2008, 09:26

[OrionSR]

I'm not sure, I may have had the detail set to low, but I'm not sure how much it helps. I also set the draw distance to about 25%, and make sure you don't have a draw distance mod installed. One thing that really seems to help frame rates while recording is a fresh reboot. The other drastic measure I've taken is disabling my second monitor. Again, I'm not sure how much it helps but I'm trying to milk every frame possible. I keep trying to set Windows to 16 bit color to match the game but for some reason it always seems to revert back to 32 bit color. Anything you can do to increase the performance of Windows should help increase frame rate while recording. Consider using something like the Startup Control Panel to remove unnecessary processes.

http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml (http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml)

Uncompressed video ripped from a DV tape is huge. I think that's the worst I've had to deal with. I noticed the HQ version is now available. The standard version came online first.

I need to practice the rails as well. Once you asked I started thinking about it and now it is more difficult. I had a lot of practice riding over the Mako Span rail so anything that isn't tall and vertical I figure I can climb. I'm not sure it helps after the PnS jump however. I really liked your exit strategy and jump angle for that one.

The main reason I take the jumps near Michelle's in the order I do is cop control. I want to beat the police trigger through the intersection for the eastward jump and this requires a pretty good run. Also, this order allows me to peek at the northern jump, navigate the trigger zones, and then come around at the jump without a lot of obstructions. IIRC, if I do the northern jump first then it is much more likely I'll need to fight some cops for the good line into the ramp. There are lots of adjustments to the route designed specifically to reduce dangerous spawns. The route is fast enough; I'm hoping increased consistency with be more helpful than saving a few seconds.

[aFinn]

Excellent videos guys, thanks. While I am not ready to participate in Katie jumps at this stage, these videos did give me inspiration to start to complete the Unique Jumps I had never done before. I had done some LS jumps before, then never bothered with the rest until now. Got some good tips here. It's quite fun. But frustrating at times, there are at least 2 jumps in LS that I just can't seem to make, the one by Unity Station and the one just above it next to the railway by Ganton. There are some other jumps I haven't completed yet either, but for those I so far have hope I'll make them some day.
Anyways, what I noticed when I was looking at videos on the net, one guy also did the SupaSave jump "backwards". I triggered a brief slo mo cam on 2 other jumps I was at, going the 'wrong' way, (Doherty Pay'n'Spray and Angel Pine beach dune jump). Didn't explore it further though with speed, but could it be that more jumps can be done backwards as well? Naturally most of the jumps can only be done 1 way, due to their nature, but maybe we could find even more that are possible to do the other way too?

This post has been edited by aFinn on Monday, Sep 1 2008, 16:24

[cacarla]

I might have got into a slightly confusing situation here.. The thing is that i re-performed the Katie Jumps today and got almost 7, but some of the jumps didnt trigger the Slo- Mo camera?? I had it done quite good- good speed, good distance and the right direction but no camera.. What might have benn the prob guys??

Also, Rubregg and Orion: Is it necessary to post videos or are we good with pics . The thing is that even if i post a video never will you be able to trace the route because my PC lags terribly and posting pics might be a better opinion in my case.