=============================================================================== DENSHA DE GO! FINAL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- General FAQ =============================================================================== Version: 0.5 Date: 25/01/2005 Author: PkerUNO Email: pkeruno@sblorgh.org AIM/iChat: pkeruno@mac.com (Please specify you got the address from this FAQ) MSN Messenger: richard@kcmultimedia.co.uk (Please send me a message instantly explaining you got the address from this FAQ) This is not only the first draft of the FAQ, but my first ever FAQ, so I am sure it will contain inaccuracies and glaring omissions. If you find any errors or would like to contribute/comment, please do not hesitate to contact me via the addresses above. Thanks! =============================================================================== INDEX =============================================================================== 01) Introduction 02) Controls 03) Rules and Signs 04) Driver's Work 05) Conductor's Work 06) Museum 07) Option 08) Routes 09) Rolling Stock 10) Version History 11) Legal Info & Credits =============================================================================== 01 - INTRODUCTION =============================================================================== Hello and welcome to this FAQ about Taito's train driving simulator, "Densha de GO! Final". As the name implies, this will be the last version of the rather popular series since its first arcade incarnation in 1997. Densha de GO! Final is Taito's way of saying "farewell" to the series and its fans, and is available in Normal and Limited Edition versions, for PlayStation 2. The games are identical, but the Limited Edition comes with an N-Gauge model of a Yamanote Line E231 train. Unlike other train simulators, such as Microsoft Train Simulator or Trainz, Densha de GO! is still an arcade game at heart, and as such the emphasis is on gameplay and not realism. Final has greatly improved graphics in comparison with the older versions, but still retains a points system, and will not let you explore the route without restrictions. Densha de GO! also inspired the freeware train simulator BVE, which is situated in-between the "arcade" and "realism" simulators. Densha de GO! Final presents four routes: Yamanote Line, Chuo Line, Osaka Loop Line and Tokaido Line. Each line has several "diagrams", or sections of line to complete with a specific train and at a specific time of day. Many are locked and need to be unlocked or bought with credits obtained from completing diagrams. One of the biggest new features of Final is the "Chain" system. By passing checkpoints, completing certain actions and stopping correctly without committing errors, your chain grows ever longer. The longer the chain, the more points are multiplied by. Right, with that out of the way, let's start with the FAQ! =============================================================================== 02 - CONTROLS =============================================================================== The default controller used for Densha de GO! is the humble Dual Shock 2. There are several configurations you can choose, but this is the default one: D-PAD: - Up = Decrease traction. - Down = Increase traction. BUTTONS: - Square = Increase brake. - Cross = Decrease brake / Cancel. - Triangle = Full brakes (press Square once to then apply emergency brakes). - Circle = Sound horn / Confirm. - Start = Start game (from title screen). - Select = Remove/Restore driving aids from screen. - L1 = Zero traction / Operate left doors. - L2 = Use left item. - R1 = Release brakes / Operate right doors. - R2 = Use right item. The left analogue stick is used to change the camera angle in stations. The right analogue stick can be pressed (R3) to move the camera to outside the train. The controls for the official controllers should be self-explanatory. I'll write more when mine arrives, but for now know that: - The left lever is traction. - The right lever is brake. - The pedal is the horn. The Pause Menu comes up if you press Start when the train is on the move. The items, from top to bottom are: - Unpause: You can also press Start again. - Quit Diagram: Yes/No. - Restart Diagram: Yes/No. - In-Game Sound: See "OPTION". - Display Option: See "OPTION". - Display Adjust: See "OPTION". - Save. =============================================================================== 03 - Rules and Signs =============================================================================== Since the game is almost completely in Japanese (and kanji at that, not at all easy to translate!), you must know the rules and regulations of the Japanese Railway system before you play. You'll probably pick them up as you go along anyway, but here are all the rules I have been able to find so far. The list in the manual is much longer, and I'll try to provide a literal translation soon. LIGHTS ------ The standard Japanese signal is made of 4 lights: Red, Green, and two Ambers. Green means go, Red stop. So far so good. A green-amber light precedes a single amber, and carries with it a 65km/h speed restriction. This restriction is enforced until the next signal. A single amber precedes a double amber, and restricts you to 45km/h. Again, you must not go over this until you reach the next signal. A double amber light restricts you to 25km/h and means that a red is next. Failure to respect any signal will lead to ATS kicking in and an immediate penalty brake application. This will set you back severely, so make sure it doesn't happen! Advance signals are round and present the state of the next signal. These are usually placed on curves, or other places where a signal would usually not be very visible. A vertical line indicates green, a diagonal line warns of an upcoming amber, and a horizontal line represents an impending red light. LINESIDE MARKERS ---------------- Speed restrictions are announced by white rectangular signs next to the rails, with the speed restriction written on them. ATC restrictions are on small coloured circular markers mounted on poles. Two black-and-white triangles facing each other cancel any former speed restriction. Grade changes are indicated by a T-shaped marker on the side of the tracks. A downward-sloping T indicates a fall, upward-sloping is a rise, and a straight board is... well, a flat section, believe it or not! The standard stop marker is an orange diamond mounted on a pole. At some stations it may be mounted on the platform roof. Watch out though, most large stations have several of these markers, each one with a carriage number printed inside them. You have to stop at the one which matches your train length - not too easy, considering the game doesn't tell you how long your train is! It's easy to work out if you have the distance meter showing, though. ATC --- ATC is Automatic Train Control, and is a system installed on most of the modern JR trains. It does not automatically drive the train (it wouldn't be much of a game if it did), but it does act as a "nanny", making sure you don't break the speed limit. The current speed limit will show both in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen (it's the orange one), and will also display in your speedometer. The way it manifests itself depends on the train you are driving, but the speed limit will usually be shown by an arrow on the rim of the speedometer, with the "forbidden zone" shaded red. ATC will penalise you for breaking the ATC speed limit, which is often different to the actual line speed limit. Remember: if your train has ATC active, ATC speed restrictions take priority over line speed restrictions! The only sound ATC will make is a "ding" when you pass a new speed restriction, although I am aware that on some new trains, ATC actually speaks to the driver! ATS --- ATS is the Automatic Train Supervision system, and will make sure you respect signals. All trains have ATS, unlike ATC. With ATS, no action will be take if you pass the speed limit (indicated by the white figures in the bottom right), but the game will take away points every 5 seconds you stay over the limit. ATS will activate if you pass a restrictive signal over the allowed speed. When ATS activates, you will hear a warning bell. You have about 2 seconds to act or ATS will activate the emergency brakes and lock out your controls. If this happens, all you can do is wait for the train to come to a stop (and for the passengers to fall over). Once stopped, you can release the brakes and carry on. If you pass a red light, you will receive no warning, just an emergency brake application. RULES ----- - Drivers must respect the speed limit. Passing a speed limit counts as a minor fault, passing a restrictive signal's speed limit is a major fault. - Drivers must not leave the station before the doors have closed. In the game, you will be penalised if you try to accelerate before the door lamp lights. - Drivers must not sound the horn unless absolutely necessary. Use it sparingly or you will be penalised. - Drivers should sound the horn if they encounter trackside workers. You will gain bonus points for doing this, you will not be penalised if you don't. - Drivers must arrive on time. Being early is just as bad as being late. - Drivers should treat passengers with respect. They don't like to be jolted so go easy on the brakes! =============================================================================== 04 - DRIVER'S WORK =============================================================================== The first option on the main menu is the one you will be spending most (if not all) your time in. This is the "driving" aspect of the game, and is the easiest mode to play if you don't understand Japanese. Once you enter this mode, you will be presented with a list of diagrams for the Yamanote line. Press up and down to select a different diagram, or left and right to change the line. Each diagram shows you the name of the service, the train used, difficulty, time of day, weather, and stations covered. If locked, it will show you how much you need to pay to buy it, and if you've completed it, a grade star will be shown. Some diagrams are blank, and need to be unlocked by playing others. Once you have selected your diagram, you will be presented with a model of the train, and a graphical representation of the stations served. Some diagrams are divided into sections, shown at the bottom of the screen. You might take a few stations at a time in each section, and once you have completed them, the entire section will be selectable to play in one go. Sections in green have yet to be played, the blue ones have been completed, and the grey ones are still locked. It is now that you must chose Normal or the new Enjoy Mode. Normal Mode is... the normal mode, whereas Enjoy Mode (selectable by pressing Triangle) is more lenient. For a start, you get to choose two items from a list of five. From top to bottom: Speed Up (improved traction), Quick Brake (improved braking), Time Stop (Halts the timer for a limited time), Double Score (multiplies new score points by two), Restore Health (tops your life bar back up). The left item is activated with L2, the right item with R2, and you get five of each. Enjoy mode also doesn't deduct any life points until you arrive at the station, allowing you to at least stop before the game fails you (if you lose too many life points). Normal Mode is Densha de GO!'s original arcade mode, and is not as lenient as Enjoy Mode. After a brief loading screen, you get to see all of the stations you will stop at. Make sure you notice if you're operating an express service and will be skipping stations! Wait or press Circle to start. You have some time before you need to leave, so familiarise yourself with the interface. Starting from the top right and going clockwise: - Points = Your current amount of points. - Chains = The size of your chain, resets to zero after an error. - Lifebar = You have 100 lifepoints, represented by 10 silhouettes. Lose all 10 and it's Game Over. When I say "you will be penalised", this is what you will lose. - Scheduled Arrival Time = In yellow. Aim to arrive at precisely this time. - Current Time = In turquoise. It will turn a lighter shade when you're within 10 seconds of the Scheduled Arrival Time, yellow when you're over by 20 seconds, and red if you're over 30. You will also start losing points. - Navi = Show you the state of upcoming signals, and more importantly, shows you where stations, checkpoints and speed restrictions are. - Camera Icon = Will only show up when you enter a station. It means you can use the left analogue stick to change your viewpoint. Press it in (L3) to return to the default in-cabin view. - ATC Restriction = Upcoming restrictions flash, current restriction stays lit. - Station Name = Normally useless unless you can read Japanese, but it does have an important function. If the text on the left is yellow, you will be stopping at the next station. If it's green, you're not stopping. If the text becomes larger, the distance meter shows you the next checkpoint. - Distance Meter = Shows you how far away the next stop marker is. Needless to say, aim for zero! It turns light green when you can stop, yellow if you overrun, and red if you've overshot by more than the acceptable amount. Again, prepare to lose points. Once you're 10m away, the display switches from metres to centimetres to aid your stop. - G-Sensor Meter = Shows the forces acting upon your passengers. Watch it increase as you brake and accelerate, but don't let it go red - this means that your passengers are falling over and won't hesitate to complain! Like most things in this game, red equals penalty. - Speedometer = Shows your current speed, as well as current and upcoming speed restrictions. On either side of the speedometer are your traction and brake levels. Traction is on the left, and ranges from 0 to 5, top to bottom. Brake is on the left, from 0 to 8. Pressing brake over 8 engages the Emergency brake. There's quite a lot to keep an eye on, and you can disable any single element by going to Options, or press Select to get rid of them all. You can't do this inside stations, though - only once you're on the move. Now, back to the game. You will hear a melody coming from the platform, and a voice announcing the train's departure. Once you hear the door closing chimes (or the hiss of the doors closing), release the brakes by pressing Cross repeatedly, or R1. Now WAIT. If you accelerate before the door lamp lights (to the left of your screen), you will be penalised. As soon as the lamp lights, you're free to accelerate. A percentage will appear on the screen (I assume this is how full your train is), and your conductor will acknowledge departure. Departing from the station is easy. Travelling is slightly harder. The main thing to look out for is speed restrictions. Watch your Navi, watch your speedometer, and make sure you don't go over the limit. Keeping traction at 2-3 is usually fine to keep the train at a constant speed. Make sure you brake in time for lower restrictions, accelerate when the level is lifted, but make sure you know where the next station is! You should only start thinking of braking at around 400m from the station. The actual amount of braking depends your current speed, but a good application of 5-6 with about 250-200m to go will usually do the trick. Don't brake too late (if you're doing over 40km/h with 40m to go you WILL overrun) or too early (chugging along at 20km/h with 150m to go will take a LONG time). It's bad practice to accelerate inside a station, and if you have to (you've guessed it), you will be penalised. Keep an eye on the time, too. If you're early, brake earlier and take the extra time to try and get as close to 0cm as possible. It is possible, and getting within 10cm either way is considered excellent. My current best is -6cm, right on time. Now watch the G-Sensor Meter. If it goes red, you're braking too hard. Ideally, you should be going at about 10km/h with 15m to go. Apply 2-3 brake now and you should glide to a halt without jolting anyone. Don't forget though: the performance of every train is different, and you will need to adopt different strategies for rain and stations on gradients. Also, some lines have narrower stop margins. The default is 5m either way, but may be reduced to 2m either way! In any case, stop within the stop margin and the game will cut to a replay of your stop, presenting a list of penalties applied. Once all penalties have been tallied, you can wait or press Circle to continue. The screen will go dark and then the map will come up and you can prepare to depart again! Sometimes, you will get a bonus round instead! I'm not sure what the conditions are yet, but it helps to get a lot of excellent stops in a row. The bonus round sees you trying to couple two trains together. You drive the locomotive on the right. When the timer starts counting down, release brakes and accelerate. Don't go over 5km/h or you will automatically fail. As you approach the other locomotive, brake to about 3km/h. Don't slow down too much or you will simply bounce off the other locomotive. While you're travelling, you might notice a long oval approaching in your Navi. This is a Checkpoint. A yellow checkpoint is a Time Trap, a blue one is a Speed Trap. For the Time checkpoint, it will show you the time you should pass the point on top, with the time you will pass it on the bottom. Aim to pass the point at exactly the scheduled time to earn maximum points. Plus or Minus 3 seconds is fine, any more and you will not get bonus points. The same principle applies to the Speed checkpoint. Target speed is on top, your speed under it. 3km/h either way is acceptable. On harder diagrams, watch out for extended checkpoint sections, where you will have to keep at a constant speed. Going under is fine, going over will not get you any points. On express routes, don't forget that you might be skipping stations. Check the Next Station text. If it's got some yellow text on the left, you're stopping. If the text on the left is green, you're passing through. A station you're stopping at appears as a yellow circle on your navi, a station you're passing through is a green circle. That is basically it. There is, of course, more - for example, sounding your horn at certain places (near trackside workers, before level crossings, when passing trains) will also net you bonus points. Apart from the trackside workers, I have not worked out exactly when and where you get extra bonus points for sounding your horn. Don't sound it too much though, or you will be penalised. =============================================================================== 05 - CONDUCTOR'S WORK =============================================================================== A brand-new gameplay mode in Densha de GO!, this lets you take the place of the conductor. Wile it's certainly a novel idea, unless you can read Japanese (specifically: place-names in kanji) it is impossible to play well. You can probably blag your way through it, but don't expect to get a great score! Route selection works in the same way as Driver's Work does, only that this time you're asked if you want to play 1-player or 2-player mode. I haven't tried 2-player mode yet, but I'm guessing it lets you play as either the conductor or driver. You start in the station, believe it or not, and the train is preparing to depart. Your first job is to close the doors. The key is closing the doors right after the "doors closing" announcement. Make sure that the station announcer has FINISHED saying "Doa ga shimarimasu, gochuii kudasai" before pressing L1 or R1 (depending on the side the platform is on) to close the doors. The driver trundles off, and you now have to announce the next station. This is where it gets hard. If you studied the route map beforehand and recognise the kanji for the next station, press the D-Pad direction next to the station name and press Circle to confirm. If you got it right, congratulations! If you guessed and got it right, I hope you remember what the kanji looks like! If you got it wrong, you still have a few seconds to find the right one. When the driver nears the station, you will have to re-announce the next station. Select the same kanji as before and you should get bonus points. A word of warning - the correct kanji won't be in the same place as before, so remember the shape! Again, you have several tries in case you get it wrong. When the train comes to a stop, press L1 or R1 (again, depending on the side the platform is) to open the doors. There doesn't appear to be any particular "good timing" aspect to this - just press once the train has stopped. =============================================================================== 06 - MUSEUM =============================================================================== The museum section is the train enthusiast's haven. It's divided into two parts - Train Introduction and Movie Show. Movie Show contains the two videos seen before the Start screen, and videos showing individual train stock, which are unlocked by completing a diagram with that train. Train Introduction is an image gallery with a twist. By pressing Square when viewing a train, you get to play around with the actual 3D model used by the game. Use the left analogue stick to rotate around the model, and the right analogue stick to zoom in and out. Triangle moves the camera to the next carriage, and Square to go back to the image. Select toggles the text on the screen, and Circle moves you to the next train. =============================================================================== 07 - OPTION =============================================================================== This is where you change the game's settings. From top to bottom: DISPLAY OPTION -------------- - Speedometer: Analogue/Digital/Off. - Distance Meter: On/Off. - G-Sensor Meter: On/Off. Shows what forces your passengers are going through. - Navigation Meter: On/Off. Shows upcoming stations and signals. - Next Signal Preview: On/Off. Shows you the state of the next signal. - Checkpoints: On/Off. - Display Adjust: Move the screen so it's centred on your TV. SOUND VOLUME ------------ - Background Music Select: For the menus. - In-Game Sound: Announcer Only/Background Music. You can choose to only hear your conductor or have music playing too. - Background Music Volume: If it's on at all. - Sound Effect Volume: These include the "bonus point" sounds. - Announcer Volume: Your conductor. - Station Volume: Station announcements. - Train Volume: This controls the sounds your train makes. CONTROLLER ---------- - Vibration: Off/Soft/Normal/Strong. Determines how much the Dual Shock will vibrate. - Control Type: 2 Handle A/2 Handle B/1 Handle. Different train control configurations. SAVE/LOAD --------- - Data Load: Loads a save from the Memory Card. - Data Save: Saves your current state to the Memory Card. - Auto-Save: On/Off. Will automatically save when something changes (like your credit balance or settings). DEFAULT INITIALIZE ------------------ Will reset all options and diagram cleared states to their original condition. This effectively erases your save. =============================================================================== 08 - ROUTES =============================================================================== Coming soon... =============================================================================== 09 - ROLLING STOCK =============================================================================== Coming soon... =============================================================================== 10 - VERSION HISTORY =============================================================================== - Version 0.5 (25/01/2005) First draft. Most information present, but details on rules, signalling and ATC are probably inaccurate. Routes and Rolling Stock still missing. =============================================================================== 11 - LEGAL INFO & CREDITS =============================================================================== Thanks to: - Greng (http://www.greng.net/) for the original Densha de GO! FAQ. - NTSC UK (http://www.ntsc-uk.com/review.php?platform=ps2&game=DenshaDeGoFinal) for some facts. This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. The only websites permitted to use this document are: - http://www.sblorgh.org/ - http://www.gamefaqs.com/ - http://www.gamespot.com/ Please do not ask to host this document, only the sites above are guaranteed to contain the most up-to-date version. All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their respective trademark and copyright holders. "Densha de GO!" is a registered trademark by Taito Corporation, Japan. Copyright 2005 Richard Whittaker (PkerUNO) ===============================================================================