F-Zero GX Custom Machine Guide Version 1.3 updated November 3, 2003 Version 1.0 released September 1, 2003 (C) 2003 Mike Yi (Mr. Blarney) yism@purdue.edu This is a free document, not to be used for profit... ===================== Sections: 1. Introduction 2. Parts List 3. Machine Name Encoding 4. Special Machine Names 5. Machine Name Decoding 6. Tips for Building Custom Machines 7. Sample Custom Machines 8. Miscellaneous and Credits ===================== 1. Introduction and Version History *Introduction In F-Zero GX, there's a lot of parts to use for your custom machines, and a lot of different combinations and names. But when you post your machine to a messageboard, it's hard to tell what kind of parts were used. This FAQ is designed to outline the parts obtainable in the game, their unlock method, and the naming method of the machines. *Version History 1.0: First edition. Included sections 1-5, and 8. (September 1, 2003) 1.1: Updated parts of the original, added sections 6 and 7. (September 8, 2003) 1.2: Made some corrections, added to sections 7 and 8. (October 8, 2003) 1.3: Updated section 8 a little. (November 3, 2003) ===================== 2. Parts List The parts are separated into type and sorted by strength and weight. Thanks to help from various peoples' email, I think I've got the scheme right this time, except for the AX exclusive parts. As far as my knowledge goes, the 'Special F-Zero AX Link' parts can only be obtained in Japan, with a special licence card that came with the game. No news yet on the US unlock method. If any thing's still wrong, tell me. All the story parts can also be unlocked by playing AX. The numbers in parentheses is the unlock order. Beating EXPERT and MASTER difficulties will also unlock parts that can be unlocked in NOVICE and STANDARD. *Body Parts Name | Unlock Method | Weight | Body | Cost | | | | Speedy Dragon | Ruby Sapphire Emerald EXPERT | 240kg | E | 10 Splash Whale | Story Chap. 9 HARD / F-Zero AX | 280kg | E | 8 Liberty Manta | Grand Prix STANDARD (1) | 380kg | D | 7 Optical Wing | Story Chap. 2 HARD / F-Zero AX | 420kg | D | 8 Brave Eagle | Diamond Cup EXPERT / F-Zero AX | 460kg | D | 8 Funny Swallow | Free Starting Part | 490kg | D | 0 Holy Spider | Story Chap. 5 HARD / F-Zero AX | 540kg | C | 8 Rapid Barrel | Grand Prix NOVICE (1) | 580kg | C | 5 Silver Sword | Story Chap. 1 HARD / F-Zero AX | 620kg | C | 8 Sky Horse | Available from Start | 640kg | C | 4 Space Cancer | Story Chap. 6 HARD / F-Zero AX | 680kg | C | 8 Aqua Goose | Available from Start | 700kg | C | 4 Wild Chariot | Story Chap. 7 HARD / F-Zero AX | 800kg | B | 8 Fire Wolf | Available from Start | 840kg | B | 3 Mad Bull | Special F-Zero AX Link | 900kg | B | 8? Valiant Jaguar | Grand Prix NOVICE (4) | 1000kg | B | 4 Giant Planet | Story Chap. 4 HARD / F-Zero AX | 1020kg | B | 8 Grand Base | Available from Start | 1380kg | A | 5 Dread Hammer | Story Chap. 8 HARD / F-Zero AX | 1440kg | A | 8 Big Tyrant | Grand Prix STANDARD (4) | 1500kg | A | 5 Megalo Cruiser | Story Chap. 3 HARD / F-Zero AX | 1600kg | A | 8 *Cockpit Parts Name | Unlock Method | Weight | Grip | Cost | | | | Windy Shark | Grand Prix STANDARD (5) | 220kg | E | 5 Rave Drifter | Story Chap. 1 HARD / F-Zero AX | 230kg | E | 8 Aerial Bullet | Available from Start | 240kg | E | 3 Dark Chaser | Story Chap. 4 HARD / F-Zero AX | 250kg | E | 8 Moon Snail | Available from Start | 260kg | D | 4 Crystal Egg | Story Chap. 8 HARD / F-Zero AX | 270kg | D | 8 Blast Camel | Free Starting Part | 280kg | D | 0 Wonder Worm | Diamond Cup EXPERT / F-Zero AX | 290kg | D | 8 Sonic Soldier | Story Chap. 9 HARD / F-Zero AX | 310kg | C | 8 Scud Viper | Grand Prix STANDARD (2) | 320kg | C | 7 Bright Spear | Available from Start | 330kg | C | 4 Red Rex | Story Chap. 5 HARD / F-Zero AX | 350kg | C | 8 Muscle Gorilla | Grand Prix NOVICE (5) | 360kg | C | 4 Cyber Fox | Story Chap. 2 HARD / F-Zero AX | 370kg | C | 8 Super Lynx | Grand Prix NOVICE (2) | 460kg | B | 5 Heat Snake | Story Chap. 3 HARD / F-Zero AX | 480kg | B | 8 Energy Crest | Available from Start | 500kg | B | 5 Spark Bird | Story Chap. 6 HARD / F-Zero AX | 530kg | B | 8 Crazy Buffalo | Special F-Zero AX Link | 600kg | A | 8? Combat Cannon | Story Chap. 7 HARD / F-Zero AX | 620kg | A | 8 Garnet Phantom | Ruby Sapphire Emerald EXPERT | 640kg | A | 10 *Booster Parts Name | Unlock Method | Weight | Boost | Cost | | | | Sunrise 140 | Free Starting Part | 140kg | E | 0 Euros -01 | Diamond Cup EXPERT / F-Zero AX | 160kg | E | 8 Impulse 220 | Story Chap. 3 HARD / F-Zero AX | 220kg | D | 8 Jupiter -Q | Story Chap. 1 HARD / F-Zero AX | 230kg | D | 8 Saturn -SG | Grand Prix NOVICE (6) | 240kg | D | 4 Bazooka -YS | Available from Start | 250kg | D | 3 Mars -EX | Special F-Zero AX Link | 270kg | D | 8? Comet -V | Story Chap. 2 HARD / F-Zero AX | 330kg | C | 8 Triangle -GT | Story Chap. 7 HARD / F-Zero AX | 340kg | C | 8 Boxer -2C | Available from Start | 350kg | C | 5 Bluster -X | Story Chap. 5 HARD / F-Zero AX | 360kg | C | 8 Tiger -RZ | Available from Start | 380kg | C | 4 Scorpion -R | Available from Start | 400kg | C | 4 Extreme -ZZ | Story Chap. 4 HARD / F-Zero AX | 480kg | B | 8 Meteor -RR | Story Chap. 8 HARD / F-Zero AX | 500kg | B | 8 Raiden -88 | Grand Prix STANDARD (6) | 530kg | B | 5 Titan -G4 | Grand Prix NOVICE (3) | 540kg | B | 5 Punisher -4X | Story Chap. 6 HARD / F-Zero AX | 580kg | B | 8 Triple -Z | Grand Prix STANDARD (3) | 660kg | A | 7 Devilfish -RX | Story Chap. 9 HARD / F-Zero AX | 800kg | A | 8 Thunderbolt -V2| Ruby Sapphire Emerald EXPERT | 860kg | A | 10 ==================== 3. Machine Name Encoding Every Body and Cockpit part has an alternate name in addition to their original name. The Booster part determines how the machine is named by choosing the adjective and noun from Body and Cockpit (one each) and possibly adding a suffix. Charts of the names and methods follow, along with an example at the end. Charts are in alphabetical order. *Body Names Body Name A | Body Name B | Aqua Goose | Frost Drake Big Tyrant | Jumbo Emperor Brave Eagle | Strike Condor Dread Hammer | Gallant Gauntlet Fire Wolf | Burning Coyote Funny Swallow | Pretty Pigeon Giant Planet | Cosmic Circle Grand Base | Great General Holy Spider | Sacred Glider Liberty Manta | Flying Squid Mad Bull | Rowdy Beetle Megalo Cruiser | Heavy Bruiser Optical Wing | Photon Blade Rapid Barrel | Shock Magnum Silver Sword | Arch Javelin Sky Horse | Acro Mustang Space Cancer | Astro Crab Speedy Dragon | Quick Wyvern Splash Whale | Flash Grampus Valiant Jaguar | Berserk Panther Wild Chariot | Strong Tank *Cockpit Names Cockpit Name A | Cockpit Name B | Aerial Bullet | Air Shot Blast Camel | Blaze Giraffe Bright Spear | Shining Lancer Crazy Buffalo | Mighty Bison Crystal Egg | Royal Rider Combat Cannon | Tornado Master Cyber Fox | Jet Vixen Dark Chaser | Shadow Sniper Energy Crest | Fever Unicorn Heat Snake | Flame Lizard Garnet Phantom | Jewel Mirage Moon Snail | Lunar Lobster Muscle Gorilla | Spicy Tusk Rave Drifter | Active Gambler Red Rex | Crimson King Scud Viper | Misty Serpent Sonic Soldier | Highway Fighter Spark Bird | Plasma Kite Super Lynx | Ultra Legion Windy Shark | Slash Typhoon Wonder Worm | Miracle Insect *Booster Schemes Booster | Adjective | Noun | Suffix | | | Bazooka -YS | Body A | Cockpit A | Bluster -X | Body B | Cockpit A | -X Boxer -2C | Body A | Cockpit B | Comet -V | Body A | Cockpit B | -V Devilfish -RX | Body A | Cockpit A | -RX Euros -01 | Cockpit A | Body B | Extreme -ZZ | Cockpit A | Body B | -ZZ Impulse 220 | Cockpit B | Body B | Jupiter -Q | Body B | Cockpit A | Mars -EX | Cockpit A | Body A | -EX Meteor -RR | Cockpit B | Body B | -RR Punisher -4X | Cockpit B | Body A | -4X Raiden -88 | Cockpit A | Body B | -88 Saturn -SG | Body B | Cockpit B | Sunrise 140 | Cockpit A | Body A | Scorpion -R | Body B | Cockpit A | -R Thunderbolt -V2| Cockpit B | Body B | -V2 Tiger -RZ | Cockpit B | Body A | Titan -G4 | Body B | Cockpit A | -G4 Triangle -GT | Body B | Cockpit B | -GT Triple -Z | Cockpit A | Body A | -Z Example: Aqua Goose + Super Lynx + Titan -G4: Titan -G4 designates Body B + Cockpit A + -G4. The adjective for Aqua Goose's alternate name is Frost. The noun for the Super Lynx is Lynx. So the Machine's name is: Frost Lynx-G4. If you understand Japanese, then you can go to http://okayama.cool.ne.jp/megatazo/, and at the bottom there is a Javascript program that names machines according to selected parts. And now, thanks to Leo Dillon, there's an English naming program at http://www.snorland.com/scripts/fzero/. Now there's no more wondering what the machine name will be with a set of parts... so don't ask me! ==================== 4. Special Machine Names Actually, that's not the whole story. There's actually quite a few special cases where the name does not follow the regular scheme, but rather has a special name. These machines are not necessarily better than average, but their unique name makes them special. I haven't tested all the names, so if you find something wrong or something new, tell me! The machines are sorted by weight, and part names are abbreviated for space reasons. Stats are in order of Body, Boost, and Grip. Name | Stats | Weight | Body | Cockpit | Booster Queen Sapphire | E C D | 880kg | Splash Wh. | Crystal E. | Comet -V Bird Of Paradise | D D D | 900kg | Optical W. | Moon Snail | Impulse Ground Wave | D D C | 920kg | Liberty M. | Sonic So. | Jupiter Out Rider | D D E | 960kg | Funny Sw. | Windy Sh. | Bazooka Icarus Wing | D D E | 980kg | Funny Sw. | Dark Ch. | Saturn Fortissimo | D D C | 1000kg | Optical W. | Red Rex | Jupiter Trickster | D D C | 1010kg | Optical W. | Cyber Fox | Impulse Paper Craft | E E A | 1040kg | Speedy Dr. | Garnet Ph. | Euros -01 Savanna Buggy | D E B | 1060kg | Optical W. | Heat Snake | Euros -01 Dragoon | E B C | 1100kg | Speedy Dr. | Bright Sp. | Raiden Red Salamander | E C B | 1100kg | Splash Wh. | Heat Snake | Triangle Gargoyle | D C C | 1170kg | Funny Sw. | Bright Sp. | Boxer -2C Liberator | D C C | 1170kg | Funny Sw. | Scud Viper | Bluster Blue Streak | C C D | 1170kg | Holy Sp. | Wonder Wo. | Triangle Carbunkle | C E B | 1180kg | Holy Sp. | Heat Snake | Euros -01 Long Shot | C C E | 1220kg | Rapid Bar. | Aerial Bu. | Scorpion Enigma | C C D | 1250kg | Silver Sw. | Wonder Wo. | Triangle Valkyrie | D D A | 1290kg | Optical W. | Garnet Ph. | Jupiter Splash Mermaid | C D C | 1290kg | Aqua Goose | Cyber Fox | Impulse Astro Scorpion | C C E | 1330kg | Space Can. | Dark Ch. | Scorpion Fantasista | D A C | 1360kg | Liberty M. | Scud Viper | Triple -Z Salvation | C B D | 1390kg | Rapid Bar. | Blast Cam. | Raiden Emerald Pegasus | C D B | 1390kg | Sky Horse | Spark Bird | Impulse Hermit Crab | C B E | 1410kg | Space Can. | Rave Dr. | Meteor Master Work | C B D | 1440kg | Sky Horse | Moon Snail | Titan -G4 Centaurus | B E B | 1490kg | Wild Char. | Spark Bird | Euros -01 Alexander | C B C | 1530kg | Silver Sw. | Bright Sp. | Punisher Liberty Triton | B D B | 1540kg | Fire Wolf | Heat Snake | Impulse Super Nova | B C E | 1610kg | Giant Pl. | Rave Dr. | Bluster Triumph | B E B | 1690kg | Valiant J. | Spark Bird | Euros -01 Grand Elephant | B B E | 1710kg | Valiant J. | Rave Dr. | Extreme Beat The Beast | B B C | 1740kg | Fire Wolf | Muscle Go. | Titan -G4 Bahamut | B D A | 1770kg | Mad Bull | Crazy Bu. | Mars -EX Scorcher | B E A | 1780kg | Valiant J. | Garnet Ph. | Sunrise Aqua Griffin | C A C | 1810kg | Aqua Goose | Sonic So. | Devilfish Fire Ball | B C A | 1830kg | Fire Wolf | Garnet Ph. | Boxer -2C Leviathan | A E E | 1830kg | Dread Ha. | Dark Ch. | Sunrise High Roller | A D E | 1980kg | Big Tyrant | Rave Dr. | Bazooka Eliminator | C A A | 2000kg | Rapid Bar. | Combat Ca. | Devilfish Desert Camel | A D D | 2030kg | Big Tyrant | Blast Cam. | Bazooka Trailblazer | A E B | 2080kg | Dread Ha. | Energy Cr. | Sunrise Hippopotamus | A D D | 2110kg | Megalo Cr. | Crystal E. | Saturn Poseidon | A B E | 2170kg | Dread Ha. | Rave Dr. | Meteor Van Guard | C A A | 2180kg | Aqua Goose | Combat Ca. | Thunder. Bandersnatch | A B C | 2190kg | Grand Base | Sonic So. | Meteor Sockdolager | A C C | 2210kg | Big Tyrant | Muscle Go. | Boxer -2C Notorious Gear | A D A | 2260kg | Dread Ha. | Crazy Bu. | Impulse Big Ace | A B E | 2330kg | Megalo Cr. | Rave Dr. | Meteor Don Quixote | A D B | 2330kg | Megalo Cr. | Energy Cr. | Jupiter King Neptune | A B B | 2380kg | Grand Base | Super Lynx | Titan -G4 Almagest | A B B | 2390kg | Grand Base | Spark Bird | Extreme Nightmare | A A E | 2480kg | Grand Base | Aerial Bu. | Thunder. Final Revolution | A B A | 2620kg | Dread Ha. | Crazy Bu. | Punisher Hard Banger | A A A | 3080kg | Megalo Cr. | Combat Ca. | Thunder. Big thanks to http://okayama.cool.ne.jp/megatazo/ for the list. ==================== 5. Machine Name Decoding So you've got a machine name, but you don't know what pieces will make it up? To find out, you've basically just got to do the encoding steps backward: 1. Check if it's a special name or not. 2. If not, then check the suffix. 3a. If there is a suffix, then you've got the Booster. The Body and Cockpit should easily be derivable from there by matching the adjective and noun as appropriate to the charts in section 3. 3b. If there is no suffix, then the job is a little tougher. You'll need to find the adjective and noun in the Body and Cockpit lists to find the Booster. To help, I've ordered the lists alphabetically here. *Adjective List Body Adj. A | Body Adj. B | CPit Adj. A | CPit Adj. B | | | Aqua | Arco | Aerial | Active Big | Arch | Blast | Air Brave | Astro | Bright | Blaze Dread | Berserk | Crazy | Crimson Fire | Burning | Crystal | Fever Funny | Cosmic | Combat | Flame Giant | Flash | Cyber | Highway Grand | Flying | Dark | Jet Holy | Frost | Energy | Jewel Liberty | Gallant | Heat | Lunar Mad | Great | Garnet | Mighty Megalo | Heavy | Moon | Miracle Optical | Jumbo | Muscle | Misty Rapid | Photon | Rave | Plasma Silver | Pretty | Red | Royal Sky | Quick | Scud | Shadow Space | Rowdy | Sonic | Shining Speedy | Sacred | Spark | Slash Splash | Shock | Super | Spicy Valiant | Strike | Windy | Tornado Wild | Strong | Wonder | Ultra *Noun List Body Noun A | Body Noun B | CPit Noun A | CPit Noun B | | | Barrel | Beetle | Bird | Bison Base | Blade | Buffalo | Fighter Bull | Bruiser | Bullet | Gambler Cancer | Circle | Camel | Giraffe Chariot | Condor | Cannon | Insect Cruiser | Coyote | Chaser | King Dragon | Crab | Crest | Kite Eagle | Drake | Drifter | Lancer Goose | Emperor | Egg | Legion Hammer | Gauntlet | Fox | Lizard Horse | General | Gorilla | Lobster Jaguar | Glider | Lynx | Master Manta | Grampus | Phantom | Mirage Planet | Javelin | Rex | Rider Spider | Magnum | Shark | Serpent Swallow | Mustang | Snail | Shot Sword | Panther | Snake | Sniper Tyrant | Pigeon | Soldier | Tusk Whale | Squid | Spear | Typhoon Wing | Tank | Viper | Unicorn Wolf | Wyvern | Worm | Vixen Okay, there's actually an easier way. Leo Dillon's program mentioned above also converts names back to parts. Even special names. Big props to him. ==================== 6. Tips for Building Custom Machines Here's a few general tips for building machines. Supplemented by xDark_Knightx's tips. 1. The letter grades aren't everything. A machine with letter grades of A A A won't do well since it won't have any steering ability. 2. This leads to the second tip: Look at the graph in the lower- left of the design screen. The up line tells body (energy?), down tells cornering. Left is acceleration and right is top speed. 3. Experiment with graph and stat types until you find a balance that is good for you. Some people will prefer machines that turn quickly or slip, and others will like cars that turn slower but smooth. 4. If you're in Time Attack or Versus, don't be afraid to have multiple cars to use for different tracks. Different tracks call for a different style of play. Also, in Grand Prix, you might want a machine with higher body than usual to account for the interference from other competitors. *Weight Class of Machines As described in the manual, lighter cars turn better, have better acceleration and grip, but lower top speeds than heavier cars. In general, for most racing purposes, a Medium or low Heavy class machine will work best. Light machines don't seem to have the top speed necessary for competition, and Very Heavy machines don't have the cornering ability for most tracks. Class | Weight Range Very Light | ~ 790kg Light | 800kg ~ 1190kg Medium | 1200kg ~ 1790kg Heavy | 1800kg ~ 2790kg Very Heavy | 2800kg ~ *General Effects of Part Choice Besides the weight and stat, parts have certain effects on the machine graph. After some experimentation, I haven't really found much of a pattern in how switching one part for another will change the graph. In general, though, Max Speed is highly dependent on booster choice, Body and Cornering are affected greatly by body and cockpit choice, and Acceleration is based in all three parts. ==================== 7. Sample Custom Machines *Frost Lynx-G4: Aqua Goose + Super Lynx + Titan -G4 Medium Class | C B B | 1700kg Ah, the Frost Lynx-G4. A very solid car for use in the Grand Prix races. It has incredible speed and reasonable cornering. It's narrow for more room for error. It's got reasonable body to stand up to other cars. It's also buyable very early in the game, with the Super Lynx and Titan -G4 unlockable on the second and third NOVICE wins, and for only 13 tickets. The Frost Lynx-G4 is a solid machine that is a basis for comparing other ships. The Super Lynx and Titan-G4 are also nice parts for many machines. Derivatives include the Acro Lynx-G4 and King Neptune. *Energy Wing-Z: Optical Wing + Energy Crest + Triple -Z Medium Class | D A B | 1580kg The Energy Wing-Z is actually quite similar to the Frost Lynx-G4, but it has a few advantages to the Frost Lynx-G4. While its top speed is just slightly lower than the Frost Lynx-G4, on straight courses, it can maintain higher speeds with boost. It has slightly better cornering but it slides more than the Frost Lynx-G4. ==================== 8. Miscellaneous and Credits *Number of Custom Machines There are 63 parts, 21 in each category. So, there are 21^3 = 9261 different ways of making a machine. *Best Parts and Machines I still don't have much in the way of how individual parts work, and I don't have a lot of machines here. Send me some machine designs, and if I get around to updating the FAQ, maybe yours will appear here. *Parts not yet listed Apparently, there's a few more sets of parts, like the Bahamut, that are only available in Japan. Details are a little shaky, but apparently there are demo locations where you can download the Gladiator (Galaxy Falcon + Rush Cyclone + Hornet-FX, stats E D A) to your memory card. Also, there seems to have been a special event in Akihabara where two cars Thunder Storm (Rage Knight + Hyper Stream + Velocity-J, stats D C B) and El Dorado (Hard Shell + Round Disk + Shuttle-M2, stats B B C) could be downloaded. There also appears to be a fifth set of special parts composing the Chrono Symphony (Blood Raven + Maximum Star + Crown-77, stats C D A), with official unlock method unknown. Rumor is that this may be a prize for the official Time Attack contest. We know this information thanks to an Action Replay code found by Avis, unlocking all the parts. With the 25 parts in each category, there are now 15625 different machines. Let's hope that there's a way to legitamately get all of these parts to the US... *Comments and Corrections In fact, just send me any comments or questions you have about my FAQ. Also, if you see anything wrong, tell me! I'd love to improve this to the best it can be. Just don't send me questions asking what parts make up a certain machine. I've written that part already! My e-mail's at the very bottom of the document. *Credits It's tradition to put thanks at the end of the FAQ, right? GameFAQs: A great database of information in its FAQs and community... You'd never find this guide if it weren't for GameFAQs. Nintendo and SEGA: Making great games for people around the world for many years. F-Zero GX is just one of the many many brilliant titles out of these two companies. http://okayama.cool.ne.jp/megatazo/ : I don't remember which post I found this link in (sorry!), but this greatly sped up the creation of this FAQ, especially in the Special machines section. Leo Dillon: Making that awesome name encoder/decoder program. Definitely very useful. *End of the FAQ There's nothing more to be said... Print this out, and have fun! Send me feedback! Mike Yi (Mr. Blarney) yism@purdue.edu