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Skate 2 – FAQ/Walkthrough
Xbox 360
FAQ/Walkthrough by cmbf
Version: 1.0 | Updated: 05/20/09
Skate 2 FAQ/Walkthrough - Version 1.0 - 21 May 2009 ___________ __ ________ / _____/ | _______ _/ |_ ____ \_____ \ \_____ \| |/ /\__ \\ __\/ __ \ / ____/ / \ < / __ \| | \ ___/ / \ /_______ /__|_ \(____ /__| \___ > \_______ \ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ _ __ |_ |_ /\ /__ _.._ _ _ _ |_)\/ |_/--\ \_|(_|| | |(/__> / ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION (INT0) A WORD OR TWO ON PUSHES (PUSH) CAREER (CAR0) SKATEBOARD MAG (SKM00) (SKM01) Braydon's Ball Blaster (SKM02) Car Enthusiast (SKM03) High and Dry (SKM04) Ice Frosty (SKM05) Just Get Up There (SKM06) Lens Flare (SKM07) No Mugshots Please (SKM08) Shoot the View (SKM09) The Bank Job (SKM10) The Bowels of MongoCorp (SKM11) The Clampdown (SKM12) We Roll Large (SKM13) Who Lives Here? S.K.A.T.E. (SK800) Alphabet Yard Back of the Library Dueling Snakes Lighthouse Park The Boneyard THRASHER (THR00) (THR01) 3rd Set's a Charm (THR02) A Little Help Here (THR03) Dunk Slam (THR04) Gold Medal Air (THR05) The Deep End (THR06) It's On! (THR07) Like Skate – Whatever (THR08) Loser Gets Hyphy (THR09) Oi! Let's Skate (THR10) Remember this Pool? (THR11) SOTY Off (THR12) Technically Hip (THR13) The Poop Deck Pool (THR14) The Scene of the Crime (THR15) The Think Pink Pool (THR16) They Call it Art (THR17) Train Hopping DEMO (DEM00) (DEM01) Your Sponsor (DEM02) Raising Coin (DEM03) Pick a Pro FILM (FIL00) (FIL01) Closing the Circuit (FIL02) Double the Grinds (FIL03) Drop Your Skills (FIL04) Playing Hooky (FIL05) School of Hard Knocks (FIL06) School's In (FIL07) School's Out (FIL08) Skipping School TEAM FILM CHALLENGES (FIL09) Air Blaow! (FIL10) Air Kills (FIL11) Dumpster Hacker (FIL12) Flipping 1 Footers (FIL13) Grab Blaster (FIL14) Grindy McGrindage (FIL15) Head Hunter (FIL16) Inversion Conversion (FIL17) Line 'Em Up (FIL18) Skating's About Cars (FIL19) Streety McStreet Skater RACES (RAC00) -Cougar Mountain Massacre -Da' Finals -Fabio Memorial Race -Jackknife Pass -K.O.T.M. Qualifier 1 -K.O.T.M. Qualifier 2 -Strafing Run -Thunderbord Ridge -Traffic King -Urban Warfare -Wheel Burner CONTESTS (CON00) STREET CONTESTS (CON01) Boneyard Blast (CON02) Downtown Disorder (CON03) Foundation Flickfest (CON04) Goofy Vs. Regular (CON05) Mountain Mayhem (CON06) Projects Picnic (CON07) Sidekick Showdown TRANNY CONTESTS (CON08) Bushman Bowl Jam (CON09) Harsh Barge Blowout (CON10) Lighthouse Shootout (CON11) San Van-A-Slamma (CON12) Sewerside Jam (CON13) Snakestyle Shootout (CON14) The Bonefest SPOTS (SPOT00) Alphabet Books Bus Stop By the Bridge Getting Technical Glass Awning Lily pads Manny Hip Set Mini-Mega Redux No Need for Speed Off Street Poop Deck Pool Razor's Edge Rock the Gap Stink Pit Swiss Cheese Moon The Statue The Wall Thrice in the Hubba Urban Curves Welcome Hut Winged Bench BONUS CONTENT (BON00) CONTESTS (BON01) Monster Open PHOTO (BON02) Bonus Team Photo RACES (BON03) Bonus Dueling Snake Race ATIBA (BON04) SBM Man Minute 1 (BON05) SBM Mag Minute 2 DANNY WAY (BON06) Bone Drop (BON07) E is for Everyone (BON08) Going Down? (BON09) Pump it Up (BON10) Thread 'Em ROB DRYDEK – BOBBY D (BON11) Hold the Line (BON12) Keep it Flarey (BON13) Rail Hopping (BON14) Still Flaring It (BON15) Wild Grinding PRO CHALLENGES (PRO00) (PRO01) Alien Manual Shop (PRO02) Applebutter, Eh? (PRO03) BLAOW! (PRO04) BS Roll (PRO05) Busenitz Blitz (PRO06) Can you spell GIRL? (PRO07) Creativity Rules (PRO08) Creature Style (PRO09) Duffy's Rail Termination (PRO10) Get Blind with Jake (PRO11) Hit and Bounce (PRO12) Jam with Danny Way (PRO13) Lucas' Translation (PRO14) Over the Rainbow (PRO15) PJ's Stair Session (PRO16) Shave your Tongue (PRO17) Stressing with the SOTY (PRO18) The Spice of Life (PRO19) The Streets are Calling (PRO20) Vert with the Vampire PHONE SERVICES (PHO00) (PHO01) Big Black - Bodyguard/Masher (PHO02) Mike - Unlocker (PHO03) Sammy – Pool Chick ACHIEVEMENTS (BLING) FAQ'S (FAQS) ABOUT ME (ABOUT) LEGAL STUFF (REDTAPE) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (INT0) INTRODUCTION I have limited experience with walkthroughs – the one I did for Godfather 2 was my first – and I did that one in a flowing style that was appropriate to the game. That is not the case here, so what I am going to do is break the game down by events and sections, and put in jump-keys in the Table of Con- tents so you can go directly to the part you need since the odds are you are not going to complete the game in the same way I did. Parts of this game are very challenging, and parts are very frustrating and tedious – but all in all it is a pretty good Skate game. I had a lot of help writing this walkthrough – from my son Peter, and from friends online: RUPufnstuf who kept me from going insane on the races, Kim Hon who really stomped the Spots, and KleinBoffer, who really is a wizard at the game. I also had the help of folks who posted videos to YouTube – and where I used that I place a link in the challenge section – and credit for that strategy is clearly theirs. Thanks guys! Now to you Reader; remember, the Table of Contents is your friend! Use the find function to go to the jump-key you need. Having said that, and with no further verbiage, here is the proper guide! (PUSH) A WORD OR TWO ON PUSHES There is something important that I need to tell you about pushing: there are two types of pushes in Skate 2 – regular and Mongo. What constitutes a regular push is really up to you – whether you use your front foot or back – though purists believe that you should only use your back foot to push... YMMV. Mongo Pushes are where you rotate first the front then the back foot or vice-versa. There is an achievement for doing 5000 Mongo pushes, though trying to get that achievement while in career play could easily drive you crazy :) What I did was use the Mongo Pushes as a sort of safety valve whever I got really frustrated with the game – and you will get frustrated too so consider doing a few hundred Mongos just to let of steam – but that is not the important thing I need to underscore here; doing full pushes is. When you push from a standing stop you need to allow the push to complete fully before starting another – meaning hold down the button and let the push complete. If you hit the button fast your pushes are not full or as strong – you do not gain as much speed, and depending upon the trick you are trying to set up, you may fail – especially in events like the Danny Way Pro challenge. Another trick to remember is that when a challenge starts you out with one foot on the board and one foot off – ALWAYS wait until BOTH feet are on the board to push, because pushing when you have one foot off the board often gives you a half rather than a full push. When there is limited distance between where you need to kick flip, Ollie or Nollie to set up a move, a half push is worse than no push at all! Nuff said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (CAR0) CAREER The guard appears to let you out of your cell – it is your last day as a number! A nice series of visuals as you are taken out of the jail might half-convince you that you somehow put in a DVD and not Skate 2 but no worries – it really is a video game! The cinematic treatment ends as you close the door on your bud's ride, and you get a short tour of the new San Van – and a chance to customize your character – so let's do that now. You can stick with the guy toon and just mod him – or go for your first achievement and change him to a girl for the Gender Bender (5GP). Either way, when you are finished with customizing your toon and wardrobe, hit continue. - New to Skate? Basic Training Assuming that you are new to the game, take this opportunity to do the tutorial – it only makes sense for you to get the basics down cold before you enter the game world, right? Basic moves – the tutorial will teach you just the basics so after the initial review try to do each of these moves before you go under the barrier. After you master grabbing your board and make it under the barrier without head knots, you will be prompted to get off of your board and – surprise! Earn your next achievement: Skater Evolved (5GP). That's two down. The next learning move after you walk up the stairs is to do an Ollie to jump a gap – that is to pull the right stick back then flick it forward. The gap is in the direction of the arrows, so three-push in that direction and jump the gap! On the other side you will see arrows by a dumpster – a dumpster that is blocking your path – so get off your board and move the dumpster for your next achievement: I Like to Move It (5GP). Place a session marker and then 3-push forward and Ollie the ramp in front of you, leaning to the right on the landing and you meet Slappy for another achievement (didn't see that coming right?): Meet Slappy (5GP). After you meet Slappy you are prompted to go to your previous marker – do that then 3-push and do an air-grab over the same ramp we used to meet Slappy then kick over to the orange lightbulb for Flipping Wood 101. You can press X once you have started it to have him repeat the instructions for the flips. You will be prompted to do each move, after which you get a Redo award. After you meet a few notable skaters and do a CS you can do the next challenge – a Grinding Photo Shoot. Grinding is basics – so view the tutorial if you do not know how – then grind that rail! I did a tail grind myself but there is no reason why you can't center grind it. Next tut is the Manuals – Two on the Floor. Hit X for the 411 and then give it a shot! Just get it Up There – your next photo challenge – look for the orange camera icon – is to get up on the fun box and grind. What you need to do is move the ramp that is next to the fun box in front of it but slightly at an angle so that the right edge is more or less lined up with the rail. That way you can use the edge to guide you right on to the rail for a nice Ollie grind. You do not have to do it flawlessly and you will get to pick the photo that is used from a selection of five or six – so pick the one that makes you look good, right? You get a CS of the guys from Skateboard Mag saying they need to split, and during the conversation you are reminded that skating in town is not as free as it was in the original game. Next stop is to get started on your Sponsor Me tape, so follow Slappy to the school! - Follow Slappy Your primary objective is to stay within 150 feet of Slappy – not so hard right? When you arrive at the school you will notice that there are some unique and even challenging surfaces to skate and thrash. And as you do that, you will very likely get your first introduction to the Hall of Meat! (When you read Hall of Meat do it with the announcer's voice from WWF). What the Hall of Meat is – to be kind – is pay-off for bailing, derfing, and crashing – wouldn't it be nice if that happened in real life too? If you do it right – err... wrong? Whatever! You should notice several types of bonus items in your first HoM entry – like for instance speed and different types of breakage. Just derf a bunch and you will see what I mean. You should be well grounded in the basic moves now, so it is time to jump into the story line and the side quests – which as I said before I have laid out by section. Just look at your radar map, pick an icon and go for it. Once you flag the challenge if you need help, hit the ToC and jump to that section! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (SKM00) SKATEBOARD MAG (SKM01) Braydon's Ball Blaster This one is fairly easy – when the challenge starts get two or three pushes in, Ollie the stairs, another push and get into your pre-Ollie crouch fully before you hit the statue. Time it right and you will clear it with no problems. Land and another push, than Ollie the next set of stairs and exit the building for the win! (SKM02) Car Enthusiast The object here is to slide over the car and land beyond it successfully. Just be sure that you grind all the way between the arrows, and land gracefully. You do not need to land on the ramp to complete this challenge. (SKM03) High and Dry You should be able to get this in your first run, but just in case place a marker at the start. Take three good and fast pushes and then Ollie/Nollie just before you reach the raised lip of the edge of the top of the waterfall, and grab your board as soon as you are in the air. You will sail over the gap and as long as you remember to release your grab, you should land on the ledge or the floor below – which you land on determines whether you stomp or kill this. Get the photog action CS, your reward, and a look at the Skateboard Mag Blog featuring your most recent exploits. Cowabunga Dood! Be sure you clear the area quick when you resume play as the rent-a-cops are now actively on you. (SKM04) Ice Frosty You need to beat Koston's grind for this challenge, and you can expect him to score reasonably well (between 500 and 800), so bare that in mind while you are planning your tricks. The easiest way to score well on this challenge is to get a few good pushes in and trick across the gap (play to your strengths and use whatever tricks you are good at or have down cold). Koston uses the simpler grinds on the rail (BS/FS) and then tricks-out at the dismount, and you should too. Just play to your strengths on tricks and you will do fine! Landing over the gap on your trucks for a center grind will also help boost your score. (SKM05) Just Get Up There In theory you could try to just do this one – I did that, and failed it a lot. To make it easier grab the nearby ramp and set it up in front of the funbox. Now try and succeed! Isn't that much better than failing? Yeah I thought so too. (SKM06) Lens Flare This challenge can be a little frustrating because it is such a high jump to begin it. Your best tactic is to get a few really strong pushes, then be sure you are fully crouched before you Nollie/Ollie up on to the edge of the ledge. Once you are on the ledge the object is to grind and slide (in that order is best but it can be reversed). What I found worked best was to land on my trucks, and then use the right stick to rotate off of them and onto the board, rather than trying to hop and turn in the air, which more often than not caused me to bail off the hubba. Stomp this and then choose your favorite photo! (SKM07) No Mugshots Please Basic grind challenge. Just get a few good pushes in and time your Nollie/ Ollie to put you right and you cannot bail this one. Your first photo session for SM and some easy money – it just gets funner from here! (SKM08) Shoot the View This is a straight-forward challenge but it can be a bit daunting if you are not used to doing quick transitions. Lucky for you you get do-overs! Just Nollie/Ollie on and grind – at the gap kickflip over, grind down, and then kickflip off and land properly (without derfing) and you are done! (SKM09) The Bank Job If security is after you lose them before you start this challenge – and it would be an idea to call Big Black in too once you have lost the rent-a-cop magnate before starting the challenge. Once Big Black is doing his thing, go ahead and take the challenge. Depending on your style choose your approach angle to the bar and Nollie/ Ollie onto it, and grind down. You should have started and ended on the ramp – otherwise I think you fail. (SKM10) The Bowels of MongoCorp This one is a little frustrating but with Big Black's help you can do it. Let me repeat that – the host calls Big Black before you start this - there is no timer, you can take all the time you need, BB is nto leaving. There is a rail nearby that you can drag to the edge, so get it as close as you can with the upturned part facing the statue (obviously),and then start your run. Ollie/Nollie onto the rail and grind to the end, then Ollie/Nollie up and through the wings of the statue just before the end of the rail. Make sure if you did a grab for distance that you release it so you can land properly, and bang! This one is killed. You may have noticed that this challenge was heavily griefed? Yeah, the guards move the rail, one of them can actually climb up onto the statue and stand in the opening, it is pretty gnarly. But you can get this done if you keep trying. (SKM11) The Clampdown The object is to grind the rail without getting busted by security, sounds simple enough, right? Just do a few pushes, Ollie or Nollie onto the rail and grind down to the bottom. When you hit bottom you get an action CS from the photographer's point of view and your reward, at which point the rent-a-cop (remember him? What a doofus) goes into Cop Mode. You may be tempted to use this challenge to try for the escape from a cop on foot achievement, and you might get it, but probably not. You could wait for the next event where Big Black is introduced to you and unlocked, and then red-flag the cop and call in Big Black, who will run interference while you hoof it away and, once safe, get that achievement easy-peasy! (SKM12) We Roll Large You get a CS with Atibo who explains that he called in some backup – and he did! You get your introduction to Big Black, who for a price will run interference for you while you skate in high security zones. This time it is free, but next time you gotta pay! This is probably one of the challenges that will be right up there in your top-ten list of frustrating events, because let's be honest here, nobody likes to fail over and over again, right? Frustration is your enemy here, so if you just cannot get it, bail on the challenge and go do a few hundred mongo pushes to relax, and then come back and try again, d'accord? Ready now? When the challenge starts, place a marker so you can quickly restart. The thing to remember here is to follow the arrows and expect to get messed with – in fact sometimes Big Black himself gets in your way! It doesn't appear to matter whether you go left or right at the start, there seems to be an equal chance of getting blocked, so if you do get an obstruction go around or restart your marker, but hopefully you will have more good runs than bad. As you approach the jump-point – you will be grinding up the side of the statue – remember that it is all about timing for this one. Try not to over-push – three good pushes is all you need and in fact three gets you as fast as you can go pushing anyway – so start your final three pushes just before you hit the ramp going down to the statue, and resist the urge to make that fourth push. Instead use the extra distance to begin your Ollie/Nollie so that you have more time to get the timing right. When you reach the top of the grind, immediately do a board-grab – that will get you over the fountain and, with a little in-air maneuvering you should be able to easily angle to the left or the right of the other side. You are NOT going to try to grind down the other side – you could do it if you hit the first grind perfectly but it is more likely that you will end up derfing and bailing if you do try, so angle to the left or right and be sure to release your grab before you land on the other side of the fountain. Pick your photo and get your rewards – which includes unlocking Big Black – who will come in handy later for sure. (SKM13) Who Lives Here? The challenge here is to gap from lot to lot, which is simple enough, right? Despite the fact that the gap does not seem to be that hard, landing on the other side is a problem without derfing, so look for a ramp on the other side and pull it into position so that you can land on it. With that done, you will notice a remarkable ceasing of failure. How cool is that? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (SK800) S.K.A.T.E. -Alphabet Yard -Back of the Library -Dueling Snakes -Lighthouse Park -The Boneyard This may seem a bit confusing at first, but basically you are playing yourself and your competition. The object is to either lead or follow doing the same move. If you are setting the move and your competition matches it, you move on. If you set the move and they fail it, they get a letter. The first to spell SKATE loses. Nuff said. Once you beat Shingo (the Competition in Alphabet Yard) you unlock additio- nal challengers with whom you can throw down, by using your cell/PDA with the left bumper. Be aware that these guys gamble, so you will need cash for the rest of the S.K.A.T.E. Challenges. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (THR00) THRASHER (THR01) 3rd Set's a Charm This challenge was something of a challenge for me, in fact it was really frustrating, and I ended up needing to be shown how to do it – which is why I have a 13-year old son :) With both feet on the board get in a few strong pushes and then Ollie/Nollie the first set of stairs. As you approach the second set, angle slightly to the right so that when you Ollie/Nollie you end up landing on the ledge so you avoid touching the bottom threshold of the stairs, which will cause you to bail (and is why I kept failing). Come off the ledge and head for the last set of stairs and get going as fast as you can to clear them. If you want to nail this you need to get a 3x multiplier – I did that by board switches on the first two and a double-grab and 360 on the last. It may take you a few tries to get this one but it is doable! (THR02) A Little Help Here When you go to the 'T' on the map you will find yourself at the gate to a swimming pool – and yourself D-Listed from the party. Let's face it, we are not cool enough yet to be included. The guy at the gate had a dis or two for us, but tells us that if we find him some more pools we can come in. Three pool icons appear on your radar, so skate on over to each to 'discover' them. After you discover the third pool you can warp back to the first pool – do that. When you enter the gate you discover it as the fourth (out of a total of seven) pools, and you can now take this challenge – A Little Help Here. "Burnett is shooting an article for Thrasher on the pools in New San Van. He is looking for a photo of a huge tweaked air. Give it to him." This is one of those situations where you can make the challenge harder on yourself than it really needs to be... Basically all you need to do is get high enough air to go above the level of the deck above, and do a grab that you tweak with the right joystick. That is not really all that complicated, but if you are new to the game, you may not know how to get that sort of air momentum built up. Here is your chance to learn how! The easiest approach to this challenge is to skate back and forth between the side of the pool with the diving board and the side opposite it, doing a simple grab at the apex to boost your speed. Just go back and forth – avoiding derfing into the diving board obviously – and you will see your speed and height start to build. Keep doing that until you feel that you are high enough / fast enough, then do your grab and tweak it. You will know you succeeded when you get a CS from the photographers POV as he is shooting the pic's – and then you are asked to choose the one you like. Choose the one that makes you look best of course. After you choose the photo you get another CS – and meet Sammy – the chick who drains the water out of pools and who you can call (see Phone section) to do that for you – for a fee. (THR03) Dunk Slam Grab the nearby pipe and drag it over to the board, back up to the other end of the court and place a session marker, and then with both feet on the board get in three good strong pushes and hit the pipe, at the top go into a handplant on the board and bang! Easy-peasey! (THR04) Gold Medal Air The challenge is to bust some air over one of the pool's diving boards, and I rate this challenge a little less than medium. You should be able to nail it on one or two tries. Start out at the far (shallow) end of the pool, make three good pushes and angle in so that you almost hit the board. Do a grab and let inertia do its thing to carry you up and over the board. Remember to release your grab on the way down the other side, so that you land instead of derf. Choose your picture and head for the next event! (THR05) The Deep End On your radar you will see the three pool icons (full pools) that you discovered for the first Thrash challenge – go to this one and call Sammy to drain it – costing you $200 but what can you do? Once the pool is drained, hop on your board and take the challenge. Again this is not as difficult as it may seem – all you need to do is get up some speed and pop-up to grind the edge of the pool in the deep end. As you are grinding, do two different grabs, and there you go mate! Photo session! Pick the pic you like best, and move on to the next mission. Note you may want to do some missions that get you money without costing you money – that is what I ended up doing to build up a nest egg for the ones that I needed to pay to prep, but as always YMMV. (THR06) It's On! What you need to do is score better here than the competition – and all your points do not necessarily have to come from the grind. But anyway you must grind down the designated rail, and beat his score. Try to time it so you grind the entire rail, and do a nice Ollie/Nollie spin or kickflip board move off the end of the rail for extra points. It took me a few tries, so don't get frustrated if it takes you a few too. (THR07) Like Skate – Whatever First things first – this is one of the places where you absolutely need Big Black to run interference for you. You could be a doofus like me and try to do it without his help – did not work out so well for me – or you can learn from my stupidity and just spend the money. If you are short on money, do some of the deathraces and bet everything you have to maximize the payout, then come back to this. To begin, grab the curved rail and the two ramps – set them up so that the rail is in between the two ramps, and you have enough of a gap so you can comfortably make the transitions from ramp to rail to ramp. Obviously if you prefer to Ollie/Nollie that would be a slightly bigger gap than if you kickflip, but by now you know what works best for you. Now get pushing, hit the first ramp transition to the rail, grind it, then transition to the second ramp, and despite the tude shown by the rent-a-cops you have stomped (maybe killed) another challenge! (THR08) Loser Gets Hyphy This is a best score challenge against one of the pro's – and in theory all that you need to do is grind the full rail, then dismount with a trick move to beat his score. What I found was that going too fast caused me to lose. Two pushes is enough speed to let you time it so you land right on the start of the rail with more than enough momentum to do it. To get a better score what I did was Nollie up and land on my trucks for a center grind. At the middle of the rail, I used the right stick to rotate into a slide, and then kickflipped off the end for a 180 FtW. (THR09) Oi! Let's Skate Remember the pumping tutorial challenge? Well then remember it, because you need air and pumping is the way to go here. Once you have enough air do a handplant on the railing – not on the edge of the halfpipe – and gently move the right stick to maintain your balance for the dismount. Land it without derfing and you have done it again! Challenge surmounted! (THR10) Remember this Pool? This is a really simple challenge – just drop in get some speed going between the sides and when you are in the air, kick loose first your front foot, and then on the next air, your back foot. That is all that there is to it! Pick your photo and move on :) (THR11) SOTY Off This is one of the handful of challenges that will probably end up on your ten most frustrating list. I am not certain if this has been grief-coded or not, but the rail that you can land on seems to have an invisible cap on it, which means you think you have done a perfect land and grind, and about halfway along the rail it knocks you off for the fail. After many retries I ended up realizing that the best way to do this was to go for some hanging air points – as much as you can get – and then land just beyond the rail FtW. (THR12) Technically Hip There are three launch positions you can use, and you do not need to air (jump) them sideways, you only need to get in the air and do your finger- flips while in the air. This one is not all that hard because there are button-stick prompts on-screen as you are doing it. Stomp this, then pick your photo and head for the next event! (THR13) The Poop Deck Pool All that you need to do is a single trick that scores at least 750 points. The easy way is to get your multiplier up with some basic moves and then, when you have the speed, do your big trick – something that hangs for some nice air points works best. That really is all that there is to it! (THR14) The Scene of the Crime This is another one that can frustrate... The easy way is to make sure that you have both feet on the board, and then do one strong push. As long as it was a strong push, go straight forward into your Ollie/Nollie crouch – be fully in the crouch before you launch at the edge, then do a 540 spin and land on the other side FtW. (THR15) The Think Pink Pool All you need to do is two different handplants on the edge of the pool. Easy is just to drop in, get some air, and do a front and then a back handplant on the first two airs. To nail this get your bonus multiplier up before you do the plants, which is easy enough considering the fact that you can get easy air in this pool. Choose your photo and move on! (THR16) They Call it Art Ollie/Nollie off of the ramp ahead of you, do a footplant on the box, and then land on the ramp on the other side. Easy? No. In fact I rate this one hard, and not just because it is hard. This one is almost completely timing and speed – if your footplant is to early on the box, you lose enough momentum to reach the ramp. As far as I know there is no finesse or trick that will make this easier – you either have good timing or really good luck... So try and try again until you get it, and then be glad it is behind you, right? (THR17) Train Hopping For this challenge you need to cross the first gap, land on the platform, and then cross the second gap. I have watched friends do this with fancy moves and flare, and I have tried to do it that way too and failed it. Sometimes easy is better than fancy, so just get really good speed (make sure both feet are on the board for the first push) Ollie/Nollie the gap, then Ollie/Nollie off the platform to clear the second gap. It might be ugly but it works. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (DEM00) DEMO (DEM01) Your Sponsor Score 7,500 points in two-and-a-half minutes. There is plenty of pointage here, just be sure not to repeat tricks too close together. You can get the multiplier up by doing rail grinds and kick flips and Olle/Nollie. It should not be that big a challenge for you to work up a routine – 360's in combination work well here, bare that in mind. (DEM02) Raising Coin Score 12,500 points in two-and-a-half minutes. This is basically the same as the Your Sponsor Demo – it just requires more points in the same amount of time. Just do better than you did on the first Demo, d'accord? :) (DEM03) Pick a Pro This is a follow-the-leader challenge you unlock after you successfully shop your demo tape. Once you have done that use your phone to start this challenge. Which Pro you call determines who your Sponsor ends up being. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (FIL00) FILM (FIL01) Closing the Circuit Get in three good pushes and then Nollie/Ollie the first gap to the loading dock. Nollie/Ollie the next gap. Walk over and grab the ramp and drag it over to the container and position it for your best approach – how you Nollie/Ollie and your preferred angle are what matters. Hit the ramp and grind the container FtW. There is no timer, so no rush, just take your time and nail it. (FIL02) Double the Grinds Get up on to the first rail and grind it, kick flip off and try to land straight so you don't lose too much speed. You want to be heading at the arrow as you land, and if you lost too much speed do a full push immediately. Ollie/Nollie over the ledge and you should be perfectly lined up with the rail – which you grind. If you are not confident just turn your board sideways in the air to be sure you hit the rail and then adjust your grind with the right stick. (FIL03) Drop Your Skills This one can be a bit frustrating – I had to have it demonstrated for me – but what you need to do is a Late Flip over the rail, One Foot over a rail, Hippy Jump over a rail, and clear all five drops. If you find you are having trouble with this and you do know the moves, check out some of the videos on YouTube to see how others do it. (FIL04) Playing Hooky The easiest way to stomp this challenge is to back up ten or twenty feet at the start, do a single push and then pop into a smooth manual before you reach the ledge. Now hold it and cruise the ledge for an easy finish. Now head for the next camera challenge. (FIL05) School of Hard Knocks There is a temptation on this challenge to not see the obvious – so you probably tried to just do the jump and failed. There are two points to this challenge; the first is to underscore that you can manipulate your environment by moving and repositioning objects, the second is that often it is the basic moves that can get you past a hurdle. To beat this challenge first drag the low ramp to your left in front of the dumpster to create your launch point. You can try the jump now but you won't make it! The next step is to turn both dumpsters sideways, snug them up together, and there you are! If you tried to Nollie or Olly this and failed, well... That is mostly due to Lack-O-Air ™ Try grabbing your board instead. Easy, right? (FIL06) School's In Time to work on your grinding skills. A short CS shows you the targets, and this is a dead easy challenge really. Just do a few pushes and then Nollie or Olly onto the first rail, grind down, then rinse and repeat for the second. You should get this on the first try, but if not, try again! (FIL07) School's Out If you have trouble with this challenge don't sweat it – you can redo it as long as it takes to get it right. Just remember that the objective is to completely clear both sets of stairs. If you touch any of the yellow painted parts you fail, so time it right and no worries mate! (FIL08) Skipping School The object here is to do four grabs off of the flagged banks. If you are unsure of how to do this view the tutorial (X) for hints and then, as the man says, let her rip! Like before, try not to over complicate this; just do four grab moves without bailing or derfing, simple as that. You can even use the same ramp to do all four. Now head for the next orange camera icon on your radar. TEAM FILM CHALLENGES You activate these with your phone, after you get your sponsor. Some of these are easy, but some require you to set the conditions for the challenge, so bare that in mind! When you get frustrated with a challenge, either find an alternate location or go do some Mongo Pushes for a while – don't let it get to you in other words. (FIL09) Air Blaow! This is another challenge that seems to be high on the frustration list – though that may have less to do with the code and more to do with the challenge... If you have put a lot of time into the game and are good with the moves and board control this is not going to be as hard as it will be if you have not put in the time to get good – yeah that is obvious but I say it because, to be blunt, this challenge requires you to either be really lucky or really good. What you need to do here is a 540 Tweaked Grab, a 360 Flip Trick, and a 720 any trick. This challenge takes place at the Mega Compound in the section we first got introduced to in the Danny Way challenge. There are two ways to begin this – the left ramp or the right – but you will not get the speed and air you need from the left one, so it has to be the right. The right ramp is straight ahead of you but there is a gap you have to Ollie/Nollie or jump and grab to clear – and you need to get in three good pushes to do that, so that you land straight on the ramp and not on the threshold of the dirt in the middle of the gap. The idea is to hit that ramp cleanly so that you get really good air off of the end. Set your marker before you begin – and you should probably do the move that is hardest for you first, since that way it gets easier as you progress. (FIL10) Air Kills For this challenge you need to do three things: a Body Flip, a Quad Kick Flip, and then a Late Flip and Finger Flip in the same move, not necessarily in that order. Obviously if you are not comfortable with any of these moves, you need to practice it. The big ramp at the Mongo Compound is a good place to both practice and do these, because you get really good hang-time in the air. There is no substitute for practice here – get the moves cold and you will not have a problem killing this. (FIL11) Dumpster Hucker The big problem with this one seems to be where to do it – you need three dumpsters in one area unless you really feel like hunting down dumpsters and dragging them all over town! The first place you can do this is the G.E.D. Plaza, where you can find plenty of dumpsters. Another place you can find the required objects is the Boneyard. You can also just find a good natural launch spot and then hunt down the three dumpsters that you need and set them up there. The object is to get good air and clear all three dumpsters – and then not derf on landing. Simple enough! By the way if you are curious, a Hucker is a person who jumps objects or uses objects to jump objects. The term was first widely used to describe using objects as launch points in mountain biking and dirt biking in the early 1990's, and has since been co-opted by skaters. (FIL12) Flipping 1 Footers To complete this challenge you need to do a One-Foot Body Flip, and to do that easily you need a ramp that will give you major air. The best place to do this is the big ramp at the Mongo Compound in my opinion, but YMMV. It will help you to practice this move a bit before trying it so that you know what you are supposed to do – which is get air, do a grab, and flip. If this one causes you more grief than you like, you can see good examples of how others have done it on YouTube... But there is no substitute for confidence, so practice this until you have it cold. (FIL13) Grab Blaster This challenge requires you to do 5 different Tweaked Grabs. You will find it easiest to do this either at the Mongo Compound or the Boneyard. By now you should be pretty well-versed with tweaking grabs so work out the routine you want to do and then do it! (FIL14) Grindy McGrindage For this challenge you need to do a minimum 75 foot grind. The Boneyard skate park has a long rail that runs downhill, and that is probably the best place to do this but it is not the only place. There are some long rails in town and ledges that you can do this on – look for long tiers of stairs. There is nothing complex about this one – just find a rail/edge that is long enough, get some speed, and grind it. (FIL15) Head Hunter To do this challenge all that you need to do is get air over a pedestrian. There are a couple of ways that you can do this – you can set a ramp uphill on a sidewalk and then drop a session marker above and try to time it so you launch over a ped, or you can do it the way that I did and jump a ped off of a set of stairs. Either way with a little effort in finding a spot you should be able to get this easily. (FIL16) Inversion Conversion For this challenge you need to do 4 different Hand Plants. Just find a pool that you can do side-to-sides in and get going. Once you have enough height to do plants, do four different ones and you nail it. To kill it, build your multiplier before you enter the pool and try to enter with enough speed so that you can immediately begin the plants. (FIL17) Line 'Em Up For this challenge all that you need to do is grind three picnic tables within the time limit. There are several places that you can do this – the park and G.E.D. Come to mind. (FIL18) Skating's About Cars For this challenge you need to do a Flip Trick over an occupied car. The easy way to do this is to drag an object into the road to block traffic, and then Flip Trick over the first car. You can use a ramp for that or the lay of the land (depending on where you decide to do it). Since there is no timer for this challenge, you can take your time, so do that. (FIL19) Streety McStreet Skater For this challenge you need to do a Flip to Grind to Flip, a Nose Manual to Flip Trick to Nose Manual, and a Grind to Slide. These are basics and you should have them down cold by now, but even if you don't there is no timer on this challenge, so as long as you don't derf and bail, you can nail this at your leisure. To decide where you want to do this, bare in mind that you will need a rail or a ledge that is low enough so that you can flip to it, grind, and flip off without derfing. The manuals you can do anywhere, and the Grind to Slide is simply kicking onto a rail in a grind and then using the right stick to rotate into a slide – something you have done on several other challenges before and should not be a problem now. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ RACES (RAC00) -Cougar Mountain Massacre -Da' Finals -Fabio Memorial Race -Jackknife Pass -K.O.T.M. Qualifier 1 -K.O.T.M. Qualifier 2 -Strafing Run -Thunderbord Ridge -Traffic King -Urban Warfare -Wheel Burner There really is not anything in particular one can say about the Races other than bring money and resist frustration. Seriously this is all about board control and knowing when to use a move. Practice your downhill and speed skills, pay attention to obstructions, and just Skate brah! After you complete your first race – the Fabio Memorial Race – you will get the Still Alive achievement (5GP), and a sense of the action. Just stick with it and improve your skill in board handling and she'll be right. Fair Warning: There is grief code in the race sections of Skate2. If you don't know what grief code is, it is simply the practice of adding in code to cheat in favor of the game – this is usually done when the programmer thinks that the activity is either not challenging enough for the reward you get for doing it, or because the programmer lacked the skills to make the section interesting or naturally a challenge and had to resort to grief code as a result. Either way, be aware that during the races you can expect every now and then to have a pedestrian appear as if they just beamed down from the Enterprise right in front of you, or for your board controls to suddenly go wonky or lock you into a 1 second rail. I have heard from other players that every now and then the game throws you into a landscape obstruction but that has not happened to me yet. It has been suggested that the grief code appears more often the higher you make the bet on the race, so that is something to think about if you find yourself having problems with a race. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTESTS (CON00) STREET CONTESTS (CON01) Boneyard Blast Another three rounds of fun! First round is a best trick off of the Fun Box – this is one of those challenges where it really helps to play to your strengths, so if there is a set of tricks you happen to be really good at obviously here is the place to do it. There is no sure-move here, and most of the trouble you may have has to do with derfing at the end of your routine, so if you are going for an air move, try to land on the flat section of the Fun Box. Round two is a best grind on a pretty good sized rail. You can boost your score by doing kick flips or transition grinds – i.e. use the right stick to change from grind type to grind type – and you should have no trouble with this. Round Three is a best trick off of the arrowed surfaces. Plan your routine and remember if you get frustrated and decide to re-do this, you have to re-do all three rounds not just the third :( (CON02) Downtown Disorder For Round One, use the stair rail, and either Ollie/Nollie up for points on the mount, then grind, then kick flip or Ollie/Nollie off for some easy air points. A 180 or 360 if you can manage it will help take your points over the edge. Round Two is a longest grind challenge – let me repeat that: Longest Grind. Score and fancy moves do not matter, distance of grind does. Pick what you are going to grind and then move off to a distance that will allow you to get in three strong pushes. Time it so that you can mount the grinding surface as soon as you can, and then ride the grind down. Avoid using tail or nose grinds as they can slow you down, and remember to grind grind grind! Grind until you literally fall off the rail. Round Three is best trick, and you may want to stick with the grind on this with a trick on and a trick off as that seems to be the easy route FtW. Remember to play to your strengths and this should be the easier of the three rounds! (CON03) Foundation Flickfest A three-round elimination contest, so just don't be in last place at the end of each round, right? The first round is a best grind – this should not be a problem for you at this point in the game! The second is a best trick over a gap, and obviously an in-air combo should get you some nice pointage. The final is another best trick this time over a car. If you have trouble with this challenge it will likely be with the third round, not the first two, and concentrating on maximizing your score is the only way to go here. (CON04) Goofy Vs. Regular Round One is best trick – there are several surfaces you can use, so you will want to play to your strengths – I say that a lot don't I? Seriously though, using the tables you should be able to trick on, and trick off, with some grind or kick flips in between. You need to carry the bulk of the score here, so seize the initiative and get some air score at the end. Round Two features the Fun Box – and it would be an idea to take a look at the features to best plan your routine – did I say routine? Yeah I did! You need to combine some tricks here to make this work, so again, play to your strengths, make sure you have good speed going in, trick onto and along the box, get some air, and if you can, try for a landing grind or maybe a good spin for hang-time pointage. Round Three is a best trick round and you can use any surface in the park. If you did really well on the Fun Box that is the logical place to attack, since you already know what to do. (CON05) Mountain Mayhem Round One requires you to trick off/on to the dome in the center of the park. This does not have to be frustrating, just figure out a move that will get you the points you need and do it. Since this is the first round, restarting has little penalty so experiment until you find the right trick for you. Round Two is best trick on the ledges or surfaces along the side of the road by the dam. Transition tricks are probably what will work best for you here – kick/Ollie/Nollie from level to level, get in some spin time in the air, you know what works for you. Round Three is a best trick at the Hut Spot. Just do whatever you did to nail that spot the first time and you are golden. If you have not nailed it, work that out before you do this challenge so you don't bail and have to repeat. (CON06) Projects Picnic There are three rounds – the first is best trick, the second best grind, and the third is a trick off of this pyramid thingy. Obviously you should play to your strengths in Round One, while Round Two should not be a problem. The Third Round is not as hard as it seems – just get in some good pushes and get air off of the Pyramid, then try for a 360 or 540 (if you can) – with good air hang you should easily rack up the points you need. There are videos on YouTube if you need an example. (CON07) Sidekick Showdown Round One is best grind – there is a set of ledges that you can alternate by kick flipping from one to the other but the trick here is to begin with max speed. Just grind as long as you can FtW. Round Two is best trick – look for grindage on the ledge and do some trick mounts and a spin dismount and you should get this easily. Round Three is a best grab contest. It really does not matter how well you do if you fail to do the grab, so plan your routine with that in mind. You will find it easier to start from uphill so that inertia helps you with speed. TRANNY CONTESTS (CON08) Bushman Bowl Jam Round One is anything goes – I found that getting air points in the hang was the way to go but YMMV. Round Two is grabs – but as long as you combine other tricks with the grab I am pretty sure that they count too. Round Three is a repeat of Round One so just do that again :) (CON09) Harsh Barge Blowout Round One is grinds – just grind the edge of the pool for easy pointage. It might help if you build up the multiplier before doing the grind too. Round Two is tricks only – so flex your pumping muscles (seriously by now you should be really good at that) – and get pumping. Once you have decent air built up start tricking. Try to land straight if you are doing spins so you don't derf or eat into your speed. Round Three is an anything goes round – grinds or tricks – and you will want to build your multiplier as soon as you can because you need to get some good points here quickly. (CON10) Lighthouse Shootout Round One is air tricks only – but this is not a problem considering you are in a pool with some good potential after you get pumping. Spins, combos, play to your strengths here. A word of warning – this is one of the challenges that has grief code in it – you will not skate as perfectly as the competition in this and they often pull off some amazing points, so you likely will be re-doing this one. Round Two is anything goes, but there are some invisible obstacles that can derf you – and I don't know where all of them are. The best tactics here seems to be to stick to the pipes and maximize your air score. Round Three is all grinds and inverts, and is in the pool from Round One. You know what to do here – I had better luck with grind-trick-grind but YMMV. (CON11) San Van-A-Slamma You worked your way here, the Big Prize is within your grasp – a cool $100K woohoo! First Round: You do three separate runs through he park, and anything goes trick wise. Basically you need to develop a routine that works for you, to max out your score. There is nothing I can say that is going to help you other than to play to your strengths here! A word of caution – like with Danny's Pro Challenge, if you fail to complete the run, your score does not count, so be sure you complete it, right? Second Round: Again anything goes – there are four ramps in total that you will be running but there will also be other contestants present, and there is a bit of active grief code here. Well, that makes sense considering the prize includes money, unlocking the park, and getting you an achievement, but still don't let it frustrate you if it does not go your way. I know I say play to your strengths a lot – but in this sort of challenge it really helps to do so! Pick surfaces that give you the boost you need for your best type of trick – whether that is air (like me) or grind, or whatever. Try not to get too fancy – now is not the time to work in moves you don't have cold! (CON12) Sewerside Jam Round One: All I can say that will really help is run the course once to see its layout and plan your routine accordingly. You need to get really good air score on this – and getting the multiplier up quickly early on will help a lot. Round Two: Same as Round One but only Air Tricks count here – so if Air is your Friend (it sure is mine) this should be a breeze (pun intended). If not, well then it is time to work on your Ninja Air Skills mate! (CON13) Snakestyle Shootout This is a three-round elimination competition and there really is no trick to it, just play to your strengths. The first two rounds are easy, just do Nollies and Ollies and combos and have fun with it. The third round is in a steep-sided pool and it can be a challenge. If you are good with moves, you will have no trouble – especially pumping – though to be honest I took one look at it and decided to just go on one side and do handstands on the edge over and over. I won first try... Go figure. (CON14) The Bonefest Round One: Air Tricks ONLY. Get in the half-pipe and get pumping, and do lots of combos in the air and spins for the pointage. Round Two: All Spins, All Day! Seriously this is one of those times when other tricks – and score – do not factor in. The object is to get in a lot of spin, so do that. Good air control and good board placement in the transitions makes a big different here – but by now you have that down cold, right? Round Three: You are doing three runs through a half-pipe, and any trick you can think of will count here, so go crazy with your best stuff. Whatever you have cold for routines is what you should use. Air is your friend, as is speed, and the timer is your enemy! Mind the timer because you MUST reach the end of the run for your score to count – and it will suck to get a good score and get forced to bail because you never reached the line, eh? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SPOTS (SPOT00) -Alphabet -Books -Bus Stop -By the Bridge -Getting Technical -Glass Awning -Lillypads -Manny Hip Set -Mini-Mega Redux -No Need for Speed -Off Street -Poop Deck Pool -Razor's Edge -Rock the Gap -Stink Pit -Swiss Cheese Moon -The Statue -The Wall -Thrice in the Hubba -Urban Curves -Welcome Hut -Winged Bench I consider Owning Spots to be part of the End Game personally, but YMMV. Before you can own them though, you have to find them. I did that by skating all over the city but if you do not want to do that, there are plenty of sites with maps that will lead you to the spots. There is a challenge that has you own six spots, so you will actually being doing the spots in the course of completing them game, but chances are you will not have completely finished them until the end. As for owning them, each spot is its own unique challenge, and each has many different ways that it can be owned, so there is no definitive how-to for this. Creativity is really what these are all about – you should approach them with your eyes, scout the spot, and decide for yourself the best way for YOU to own it. Once you have mastered the Spots, you may want to go on Live and check out the Spots that other Skaters have created – and download some so you can continue your Spot Ownage. You can even build your own Spot using the Spot Editor! This is sort of the Game-within-the-Game for Skate 2 that allows the players to extend the challenge of play. Yeah, it does not replace expansion packs, but still it is pretty cool. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ BONUS CONTENT (BON00) CONTESTS (BON01) Monster Open This is a little different than the other contests in that your goal is not the best trick, but rather your cumulative score, so try to plan out your routine to maximize the multiplier and air time. There are three rounds in total, and the prize for this event is $50,000. There really is nothing I can say to you other than work out a good routine for each round, and then nail it! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PHOTO (BON02) Bonus Team Photo The challenge here is to trick over your hand-planting sponsor. This one can be really frustrating, but with a few tries you should be able to figure out the timing. If you watch the other skater you will see that he repeats the same basic pattern, so the trick here is to get your timing right so that you begin pushing before he does. It would probably be an idea to lay down a marker before you do your first try, so you can warp back to the start as needed. I know that this is frustrating, but if you look at it like trial-and-error, you will find it is a lot easier! Just keep trying until you get the timing right – the challenge here is really knowing when to start, and getting in the three good pushes to bring you up to max speed so that you can trick over the big pipe while he is hand planting the little one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ RACES (BON03) Bonus Dueling Snake Race This one is not like the others because the gates do not add time to the timer here – only tricks do that. Still you have to hit each gate, because it is required – so make sure you do. As far as adding time to the timer, you should not have to work at that – just take the opportunity whenever you get air to combo and do not derf and you will be fine. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ATIBA (BON04) SBM Man Minute 1 Six Spots Tricked is required, and the first spot is in a rent-a-cop rich environment so call in Big Black. As far as I know other than the first one, there is no requirement for specific spots so do the ones you like or that are easier for you. (BON05) SBM Mag Minute 2 When the challenge starts set your marker, and then begin your grinds – the order does not matter. I did the two stair rail grinds first because they were easier for me, and then the windowsill grind. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ DANNY WAY (BON06) Bone Drop This one is the easiest of Danny's challenges. Just get in one really good push, pop kick up and do a 180 spin on the way down. Land without derfing FtW. (BON07) E is for Everyone Gap through the tower – sounds a lot easier than it is... First thing first – if you teleport to this it places you nowhere near where you need to be – so get off your board and run down the path past the orange pylon to the foot bridge. Run up the stairs to the footbridge and another set of stairs, then turn right and follow the walkway turning left to start the challenge. You will get a short CS that sort of shows you where you need to go – ignore it. What you need to do is get in a good push directly at the arrows and kick flip at the edge so that you drop at a nice angle, landing on the spillway between the two arched pipes. Alternatively you can just push off the edge and land just in front of the two arched pipes, but either way you want to land so that you are heading straight along a line that will take you through the center of the arches. Crouch if you have not lost speed or get in a kick if you have – see the bank/ramp approaching fast? You want to get good air off of that and then tuck into a single or double grab and sail right through the gap in the lower part of the power pylon tower. Be sure to release your grab so you do not bail on landing, and badaboom! Another challenge down! (BON08) Going Down? Obviously get in three or four really good pushes and then get fully crouched as you approach the edge of the drop off. Nollie/Ollie hard and do a single or double grab to sail towards the bowl. You can hit the incline on the bowl and still nail it, so no worries there. This is a combination though, so as soon as you hit the incline tuck into your next Nollie/Ollie and get some air to the pool ahead of you. Once you land in the pool that should be it, you should see the second task highlight, and you have nailed another challenge! (BON09) Pump it Up This one is a little misleading by name, but a pump at the bottom is necessary. What you need to do is get three really strong pushes in, then air into the pool below using whatever works best for you – I prefer to Ollie and Double Grab, landing on the shoulder of the pool, and then push, pump on the threshold, and Nollie up, going over the balcony rail and landing FtW! My son likes to Ollie or Kick up and grind the balcony rail before kick flipping down onto the deck FtW – either way will work! (BON10) Thread 'Em The object here is really good control in the air so you thread the vert hole and smoothly hit the horizontal one. I have seen this done in one go, but for some reason when I try I always derf on landing. What worked for me was to grab the small ramp below and drag it into position on the landing marker below, so that when I thread the horizontal hole I land on the ramp FtW! That is my advise to you too. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ROB DRYDEK – BOBBY D (BON11) Hold the Line Drop onto the ledge, gap over the stairs, then grind the rail. The only advice I can give is for you to be sure to get in three good full pushes. When you are grinding the rail you need to kick flip off early and be sure you land right – there is a small amount of grief code in this challenge and if you do not leave the rail soon enough, you get derfed from an invisibly obstruction. (BON12) Keep it Flarey A short CS sees your camera man heading off for coffee, while the pro takes control and directs you in this challenge, so gird your loins and get going! Okay, let's be honest here... This is another one of the events that is going to be in the top-ten frustrating ones. The problem with it is that you only have 30 seconds to complete it, and you cannot even graze the stairs at either end. There are people on benches who will jump in front of you at the round ledge knocking you off your board and causing you to bail, and the process of grinding and gesturing can be a challenge all on its own. Completing this means getting a good jump up and a good grind on each of the three and completing any gesture while you do it. A lot harder than it sounds. The frustration factor is high, and as frustration is your enemy – it will only make it seem harder – if you do have problems with this event, bail out of it and go do a few hundred mongo pushes to cool down, or do a different event. Come back when you are steady and calm and ready to give it another try. Eventually you will succeed – I promise you. (BON13) Rail Hopping Do 4 unique tricks over the rails – just plan your tricks as a routine and you should have this down cold. (BON14) Still Flaring It Gesture and drop on to each bank. This can be a pain because the first two drops make it seem easy. The third is the problem, because it looks like you did it perfectly but you end up derfing at the bottom! The problem is a small ledge below that you will hit – and bail – especially if you are moving too fast. Just take it easy on the last one and try to land and kick flip over the ledge. (BON15) Wild Grinding Do 5 different grinds and then grind all the planters. There is nothing to say about this one, you should nail it in one go. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PRO CHALLENGES (PRO00) (PRO01) Alien Manual Shop Another potential top-ten frustration challenge: what you need to do is to manual along the ledge and then hop up to a higher ledge, staying in the manual as you land on the platform, which you manual along to the gap, where you hop across and – again – land still in manual, and roll on FtW. The only thing that I can tell you is that nose manuals seem to work best, and you need to begin this with as much speed as you can manage. I failed times ten this thing and went away more than once in disgust. What I finally ended up doing was going to the skatepark from the pump tutorial and spent a half hour just doing nose manuals to sharpen my kills in gapping and hopping while landing in the manual, and I really think that helped a lot because when I went back to this I nailed it in one try, YMMV. (PRO02) Applebutter, Eh? Another follow-the-leader run – just be sure you stay within 90 feet of him till the end FtW. (PRO03) BLAOW! This is just nasty, gnarly, plain hard. I don't know about you but it scored numero uno on my most frustrating list of challenges. You must transfer between two hips of the pool, and then do a minimum 24 foot grind on the coping. I ended up having to go look this up on Wikicheats – it was that frustrating for me – and discovered that the mistake I was making was not doing the grind first! My failures happened on the grind stage, not the hips, and though I am not saying that I nailed it in the first try – I did not – once I started the grind before the transition, it really does help a lot to have that out of the way. I am not going to repeat what the author at Wikicheats posted – that would not be fair to him – so I will just say that if you have trouble doing this one grind first then transition, go read his in-depth assessment of this challenge and do what he says at the end, as that worked well for me. Just look up the Skate 2 FAQ/Walkthrough on Wikicheats.gametrailers.com (PRO04) BS Roll Another follow-the-leader challenge – just stay within 150 feet till the end FtW. (PRO05) Busenitz Blitz This is a simple follow-the-leader challenge. Stay within 150 feet at all times FtW. (PRO06) Can you spell GIRL? This would be number two on my list of dreaded frustration generators. This challenge is a game of S.K.A.T.E. Between you and two Pro's who are way better than you, even if you are way better than me. Trust me on this. I am not a big fan of shortcuts (a nice way of saying cheating) but this challenge is so frustrating that I am going to give you two ways to finish it (and I strongly suggest you go with option two because games are supposed to be fun, not frustrating, and it is better to just get this out of the way and forget about it). 1st Way: Play it like it was designed – play S.K.A.T.E. Then play again. And again. And again. And maybe, eventually, possibly, you might win. If you are REALLY good at S.K.A.T.E. 2nd Way: go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzz4KZVh_EY and watch this video. Do what they do, and this will be one more bad memory that you can quickly forget. (PRO07) Creativity Rules This one requires some preparation and skill as well as timing, so you will want to get the No Comply move down cold BEFORE you try it. No Comply: Do a Mongo Push and Ollie in the middle. Look at the tutorial in game as your guide. Go to one of the skate parks and practice practice practice! When you are sure you have this down cold, head for the challenge and start it up! To complete this challenge you need to do a No Comply over the rack, then a combination of Revert and Pop Shuvit, and finally foot plant the dumpster. No it is not an easy challenge, but with practice you can do it. There is a visual aid on Youtube that you can refer to if you need to better understand this challenge: - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZj6_Ek0p84 (PRO08) Creature Style Another follow-the-leader, so stay within 150 feet. Pay attention to the route, you are about to learn a secret and unlock other content here! (PRO09) Duffy's Rail Termination All Duffy wants is three different grinds – which by now should not be a problem for you, right? This can be a little frustrating because bailing fails it, so what you should do is back up to the wall and drop a marker, then give it your best shot. Landing on the stairs between the arrows does not end the challenge, and you can still get credit for the grind – as long as you do not derf. While this may take you a few tries, it is not one of the really frustrating ones, so have fun with it. And in the interest of full disclosure here, I did not kill this, I was only able to stomp it. (PRO10) Get Blind with Jake Your mission is to 540 over the gap and then get halfway up the Vertical Stick. This is pretty straight forward – with both feet on the board kick hard three or four times, get fully into the Ollie/Nollie and 540 over the gap. You really need to try to land in a controlled fashion (duh) and as straight as you can so that you are heading for the quarter pipe. Ollie off the top of that and, if you landed right you will have the speed you need to get the air you need to nail this. I admit this one was a challenge and a half, and required more than one attempt. The landing/speed is key. (PRO11) Hit and Bounce There are three rails marked with arrows that you need to grind here while avoiding/evading the rent-a-cops. The order in which you grind them does not seem to matter, so do them as it suits you. As far as I could tell how much of each you actually grind also does not matter, but to kill this you are going to have to get the multiplier up – I did not kill it, just getting it done was satisfying enough. (PRO12) Jam with Danny Way The objective appears simple in theory – beat Danny Way's score. Of course your score does not count if you don't finish the course, so knowing the course layout is paramount. On your first run do not try for score, just follow Danny so you can learn the layout. You are not trying to win, in fact what you are doing is looking for the big air launch points so you can plan out your moves when you do it for real. Now restart the challenge, and give it a real try. Starting out be sure to wait until BOTH of your feet are actually on the board, otherwise your first kick will be a weak one. Three good pushes and a double grab will land you perfectly on the first ramp, so be ready to Nollie/Ollie and then do some combo moves or manipulations for long hanging score. It is really important that you nail this first ramp, that you get really good points in the air, and that you land it right. There is small air ahead, so keep it simple but get some points, then back down and hit the hump ramp to get you over the water with a good combo. Bank to reverse and head for the pool – get big air off of the bank just before the pool and take some air score. At this point you should be ahead of Danny so immediately exit to the right at the bottom. Do NOT delay, do NOT try for extra points. Doing that will just get you a big fat FAIL because Danny is a LOT better than you are. When ahead in points, end the challenge. So you might be thinking you won, right? You wish! This is a best out of three challenge, so even though you did win the first run, he has two more chances to beat you, and if he does – you lose brah. You know what grief code is, right? Well it is blatant in this challenge. You will derf on perfect landings that should not derf you. Invisible obstructions will knock you off your board. The controls will get sloppy for a fraction of a second and send you to derfville. Why did they go so way-over-the-top with grief code on this challenge? I suspect that it was simply that they wanted to add time to the game here. If it takes you three hours to nail this, that adds three hours to the "quality" of the game, right? Well, not so much, really. Unless when they say quality they mean tedious... It is too bad that the programmers felt the need to be so blatant with grief code here, because otherwise this is a great game! I can see how some players might get frustrated and walk away, and it is this and a handful of other really blatant griefed challenges that has people badmouthing this game, but don't let it ruin it for you. Almost all of the rest of it really is a great game! (PRO13) Lucas' Translation This one is fairly simple in theory but can be frustrating if you do not have good board control and a grasp of transition. What you need to do is either tail or nose slide a ledge, jump a gap, then tail or nose slide on landing. You will need to have some good speed to do this, because you want to be able to slide the whole thing... (PRO14) Over the Rainbow You will need to do three grinds off of the designated rail – and it is a bit high so if you are not good at mounting it you will need to use the nearby ramp – set it up against the near end of the rail so you can almost ride on to it. The grinds need to be three different ones, but by now that should not be a problem for you. (PRO15) PJ's Stair Session Meet PJ Ladd and show him three different fliptricks! This is easy mate, but if you do not remember the stick for the different tricks, take a look at the trick guide by hitting start. Once you have decided which ones you want to do, do them! Remember to go back to the marker instead of trying to hoof it up the stairs on this – there is a timer remember. You should have no trouble getting this done, so head for the next star! (PRO16) Shave your Tongue Here is another one that might make your top ten frustration list – get in three good pushes and you need to do a Hippy Jump over the barrier, Finger Flip over the stairs, and then do a Late Flip off the wall. About the frustration – it will only be really bad if you are not comfortable with or do not know the moves well. If that is the case, hold off doing this one, head over to a skate park, and practice the moves until you have them down cold. There is no substitute for skill in this one – if when we say skill we mean pushing sticks and hitting buttons, but still... (PRO17) Stressing with the SOTY Don't expect to nail this the fist few tries... You need to grind two ledges – but they are pretty high and require you to transition well. All you need to do is get good pushes in, Ollie/Nollie over the small ledge on to the other side, lining yourself up with the table ramp ahead as you land. After you hit the ramp and Ollie/Nollie or kick up onto the ledge, land in a grind and then as soon as you can Kick Flip down and aim for the next table ramp down the slope. Air off of that onto the second ledge and grind. Be aware of and avoid the obstructions and you should do this pretty well. (PRO18) The Spice of Life This is basic skateboard 101 – do four different Flip Tricks up the stairs. To nail this make sure you get good pushes and get fully crouched before you trick – easy peasy. (PRO19) The Streets are Calling This one will be easy for some and really hard for others – it requires some good board control and familiarity with in-air manipulation. You need to Flip Trick onto a ledge and grind, then Nollie onto a table – and grind – and finally do a 360 Flip over the Hubba. When you start make sure you get good full pushes – three should be enough if you do them well, as you need full speed. If you have problems with higher hops you should go to a skate park and practice them, but at this point that should not be a problem for you. (PRO20) Vert with the Vampire Tweak a Hand Plant, do a One Foot Grab, and get air up to the windows, simple enough? Well it is because you do not have to do them in any particular order, so pick whatever you are really good at and get it done first. Ride up the quarterpipe and do a hand plant – and while in the plant tweak it. A one foot grab should be easy enough for you at this stage. Getting air to the window just means remembering to pump – you did do the pumping challenge right? So you already know how to do this! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PHONE SERVICES (PHO00) (PHO01) Big Black – Bodyguard/Masher For $500 Big Black will put the cool on the rent-a-cops that make life difficult for Skaters. Use your phone and select Services to call in Big Black. (PHO02) Mike – Unlocker When you get busted by security, they will install caps on any rails in the area. To uncap these blocked rails and get back to your grindage, call Mike! (PHO03) Sammy – Pool Chick Sammy has a van. Sammy has a water pump. Sammy will drain any pool/fountain you find. Call Sammy! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ACHIEVEMENTS (BLING) - A Budding Star (25GP) Complete all film challenges at Rob's Fantasy Factory - Active Skater (20GP) Successfully complete all online freeskate activi- ties with your created skater - Amateur Skater (15GP) Achieve Amateur Rank Online - Anyone Else? (20GP) Beat all the pros at Throwdown challenges - Best in Class (25GP) Win the Best Trick Contest at Oliver Elementary - Best Trick Valet (25GP) Win the Best Trick Contest at the Parkade - Big Air Champ (50GP) Win the San Van-a-Slamma - Center of Attention (25GP) Complete all film challenges at the Community Center - Community Jammer (25GP) Win the Jam Contest at the Community Center - Cooperation is key (10GP) Complete 50 online freeskate activities with your created skater - Dethrowned (20GP) Download and own a community-created spot - DIY (35GP) Spend 30 minutes moving objects in career mode - Film School Dropout (25GP) Complete all film and photo challenges at Oliver Elementary - Fully Sponsored (50GP) Obtain all sponsorships - Gender Bender (5GP) Change your skater's gender - Good Samaritan (20GP) Knock down a security guard chasing another skater in career mode - Graphically Extreme (5GP) Add a custom graphic to your skater - Grasshopper (20GP) Perform one grass gap of at least 10 meters or 30 feet in career mode - GVR Champ (20GP) Win the GVR Contest - How you like them apples? (20GP) Acquire all phone numbers for the pros - I Like To Move It (5GP) Move your first object in career mode - Jam Fantasy (25GP) Win the Jam Contest at Rob's Fantasy Factory - Juggling Chainsaws (20GP) Wipeout at high speed in career mode - Make it Big! (15GP) Use Big Black's service 10 times in Career Mode - Meet Slappy (5GP) Meet Slappy - Need for Speed (50GP) Maintain maximum speed for 5 seconds in career mode - New San Van Hero (20GP) Call Mikey 10 times - Online Legend (50GP) Achieve Legend Rank Online - Online Pro (25GP) Achieve Pro Rank Online - On Top Of The World (20GP) Perform an invert on one of the highest points in the city in career mode - Parking Lot Attendant (25GP) Complete all film and photo challenges at the Parkade - Perfectionist (50GP) Complete all paths in career mode - Playing Nice Together (5GP) Complete your first online freeskate activity with your created skater - Pown some noobs (15GP) Win an online ranked match - Pull the Plug (15GP) Drain every pool and fountain in career mode - Race Hero (20GP) Win all races in career mode - Real Estate Mogul (50GP) Purchase all property in career mode - Running Man (5GP) Escape a chase off board in career mode - Sandbag (20GP) Break at least 15 bones in a single wipeout in career mode - SBM Cover (30GP) Get the cover of The Skateboard Mag - Skater Evolved (5GP) Get off your board in career mode - Skater's Choice (20GP) Win the Skater's choice award in an online ranked match - Skitched Up (5GP) Skitch for 1000 meters or 3000 feet in career mode - Spare Parts (50GP) All Hall Of Meat paths complete - Stairmaster (20GP) Perform one stair gap of at least 12 meters or 36 feet in career mode - Still Alive? (5GP) Win a Deathrace in career mode - That's the Way (20GP) Beat all of Danny Way's film challenges - The Architect (5GP) Upload a created spot - The Critic (10GP) Rate 10 community videos and photos - Thrasher Cover (30GP) Get the cover of Thrasher - Uninsurable (20GP) Break 100 bones in career mode - Urban Legend Too (40GP) Own all spots in career mode - Where's my TV show? (20GP) Beat all Rob Dyrdek challenges Secret Achievements - No Hard Hat Required (25GP) Touch the top of the construction full-pipe - Skylight Superstar (25GP) Drop into Rob's plaza through the skylight - Taste The Mongo (20GP) Mongo Push 5000 times in career mode ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FAQ'S (FAQS) Q1. How do you play as Dem Bones? A1. First you have to beat all of the Hall of Meat Challenges, after which you set it in the Options Menu for Online Play. Q2. How do I ask you a Question? A2. You send me an Email at the address below with Skate2 as the start of the Subject. If you did not put Skate2 as the first word of the subject and you are not in my address book, your question never got past my Spam Filter. Q3. Where do you play Skate2? A3. On the Big Comfy Couch of course. Where do YOU play Skate2? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ABOUT ME (ABOUT) I have been gaming on console since before most of you were born, starting with Pong in the early 1970's. I quickly moved on to the Intellivision and then the Atari 2600 and never looked back. In real life I write a column for the Cape Cod Times Business Section called Digital Grind, covering the Internet, technology, and every now and then, games. I can be reached via email at firstname.lastname@example.com My personal web pages are at chris.boots-faubert.com If you are writing me about this walkthrough, please be sure to begin the subject line with Skate2 as my spam filter can be weird. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ LEGAL STUFF (REDTAPE) This guide Copyright © 2009 CM Boots-Faubert. This document is licensed for use exclusively on www.GameFaqs.com and My360.com.au. Unauthorized use or republication of this guide will result in my releasing a hoard of angry ninja hamsters on you, and my nana being very disappointed in you... It is not pretty, so do not do it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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The Karnataka Jnana Aayoga has identified a few stakeholders who would be prominently impacted by its working and recommendations. The Commission has adopted an inclusive approach by involving the stakeholders and considering their views in its efforts towards the set mandate.
Educational Institutions - Schools, Colleges, Universities, R&D Centres.
Students, Teachers & Youth.
NGOs/Civil Society Organisations.
Click here to know more about the Report on Stakeholder's Consultations - Higher Education

subset: commoncrawl


text:
It's a terrible thing, the public eye.
Once you have its attention, your life is no longer your own. It scrutinizes you with its x-ray vision, digging into your past, affecting your future, poring over your very soul—and invariably, it finds you wanting.
The mainstream media or MSM* is always looking for a narrative to catch the interest of the reader, viewer or (more likely these days) the half-listener. And if your life doesn't live up to those expectations, you're a disappointment to society. So what were we supposed to do? After all that happened to us; after the rescue efforts and the TV coverage, we didn't really have a choice. I think we both knew it wasn't the best decision, but at the end of the day, we knew we had to get married.
I don't know ... does anyone ever feel like things are all right? I used to imagine that other people did. Now I'm not so sure. Maybe I'm not so different from other people. After all, in our own minds, well ... as the old expression goes, we're all the protagonists in our own life stories ... or something like that. (My memory's not what it used to be, and I'm too lazy to look it up.)
I guess that makes my story a tragic comedy, because the protagonist is a hapless fool. In order to really explain what happened, I guess I should introduce myself first:
My name's Celia Wright, and I was a loser.
Now, if when you first hear the word "loser" you immediately think of someone who's failed out of school, lives with her mother, and never helped anyone or did anything worthwhile, you're on the wrong track. I guess I'm what you'd call a "successful loser" in that I graduated college with honors, excelled in my field, made decent money, got married to a nice and attractive guy, had a really great kid—all the things that are supposed to mean success in our society. But it wasn't enough. Or rather, it wasn't right.
Lewis and I met in College. I was in graduate school—earning my Ph.D. in Education, while he was still working on his undergraduate degree with an eye towards an MBA at Haas.
The details of our meeting aren't important, nor are they remarkable. We met at a party, both of us a little tipsy on cheap White Zinfandel (everybody was drinking that crap at the time), and just got to talking the way people do when they find themselves together in social situations. He walked me home and promised to call me the next day, which he did. Next thing I knew, we were a couple.
We'd been dating a few months, when we decided to move in together. I'm not sure whose decision that really was. It just seemed like the thing to do at the time, since he was spending most nights at my place anyway. And then, a year or so after that, I think we were both starting to get a little tired of each other. It wasn't anyone's fault or anything, but you know how relationships just sometimes get stale? It was like that. If things had continued on, we would probably have gone our separate ways before too much longer.
But that was before the Big Earthquake.
Lewis and I were in the mall when it hit. As anyone who's spent any time in California knows, no matter how many times you experience it, it's still a gut-wrenching feeling when the ground starts to shake. We immediately ran for the exit, but got separated in the rushing crowd.
Most buildings in California are built to withstand some pretty major quakes, so it came as a surprise when one section of the mall actually collapsed. Apparently there was a small problem that somehow slipped past the building inspectors. I managed to get outside, but couldn't find Lewis anywhere.
If you lived anywhere near the Bay Area in 1994, you might even remember me. My fifteen minutes lasted just under two days, and were spent agonizing over Lewis and talking to community papers and local TV news:
Do you think he could be alive and trapped in there?
Have you given up hope?
The community is praying for you!
If you could talk to him now, what would you say?
For two days they searched the rubble—and I must have been interviewed twenty times in that same span. The big story was all about the "young couple who were torn apart too soon." People held vigils. Vigils! They sent me flowers and gifts. Donations came in. The whole thing grew out of anyone's control.
Then, when the emergency workers found Lewis it was quite the spectacle. Once they got him on a stretcher and pulled him out—before he'd even had more than a sip of water—some reporter was in his face with a microphone and a camera, and television lights. She told him how the whole community had been waiting with me, and how everyone was so happy for us, and then asked him what his plans were for the future and how glad he was to see me.
So the big dummy just up and asked me to marry him right then and there. He could barely speak, but there he was on live TV proposing. So what was I supposed to say? No?
We were married in February the next year. And in the end, it turned out to be almost as big a disaster as the construction on that mall.
Now, Lewis wasn't a bad person, per se. Nor was he inattentive—if anything, he was too clingy. At first, the renewed attention was kind of nice. I'd had a few bad relationships before him—you know the kind: the guy's all about you when nothing else is going on, but as soon as some of his buddies want to come over to play video games, or go out and do "guy" things, he acts like your very existence is somehow more inconvenience than he can handle. Yet, as soon as you want to have some time with your friends, he's asking, Why would you want to go out without me? Don't you love me? Are you seeing someone else?
My first hint of trouble with Lewis, though, came during the planning for our wedding. Most guys just want to know where to get their tux and when and where to show up and say, "I do." They leave the bulk of the planning up to the bride—and/or her mother—or so I've been told. Not Lewis, though; he insisted on being involved in every aspect. The biggest problem was that even though he wanted to help make decisions, he could never make up his mind! He very nearly drove my poor mother into an asylum. Ultimately, I got my own way in just about everything. I think he mostly just wanted to feel like he was part of it.
The first couple of years were actually rather nice. We had each finished our respective studies and started careers. We had a daughter, Isabella, the November of our second year married. The third year was a bit difficult—we were first-time parents, after all—but we struggled through it. Things were a bit easier the next two years; Lewis was always a caring, loving man. He made a good father, too, and he really doted on Izzy.
My career took off. I was on a team which published a very important and acclaimed academic study on early childhood learning disorders. We moved north when I was hired at the University of Washington as a research professor. Lewis got a job in Marketing at a local publisher—nothing terribly exciting, but he brought home about as much money as I did. We bought a nice, older house in Lynnwood and worked to fix the place up. We lived quite well, in terms of physical comforts.
It was after we'd been married about five or six years that things started to change. I don't know if it was a case of Is this all there is? setting in, or if it was simply a realization that we didn't really quite fit together, or what—but we started doing more and more things apart. We spent more time at our jobs or hanging out with our respective work friends. I know Lewis didn't really enjoy his job. He also started drinking noticeably more.
Lewis had always displayed a tendency to over-think everything he did, but it started getting worse. It got so he spent a half hour every morning just lying in bed and agonizing over whether he even wanted to get up and go to the office. He always did go, of course, but by the time he'd make up his mind, he was always running late.
Then, one Saturday morning when Lewis was sleeping in, I went to check on Izzy. She would have been about five or six years old at this point. I listened to her play-acting with some of her toys. Her teddy bear, Mr. Snoofles, was having an argument with Stinky the Skunk over what they wanted to do that day. The dialogue that Izzy came up with really shook me up. Stinky was berating Mr. Snoofles for changing his opinions to match whatever the skunk wanted. I knew right then that our relationship in general, and Lewis's neuroses in particular, were having a negative effect on Izzy's development.
I talked to Lewis about it, but the whole thing just seemed to make him worse. It was like he suddenly worried that every minor decision he made was going to hurt his daughter, too. He couldn't handle it. Within a couple of months he would suffer a mental break-down … but, more on that in a moment.
Lewis started disappearing for days at a time. He just needed, Time away to get my head straight, or so he said. I never thought he was cheating on me, or anything like that. Hell, that would have been easier to handle! He said he liked the freedom of the open road. I think he mostly just liked the idea of making simple decisions like which way to turn at an intersection. It wasn't until later that I found out he was heading far into the Eastern countryside—into places with long stretches of road where intersections were rare.
Then one day I received a phone call from the police. Lewis had stopped the car right in the middle of the intersection of 45th and Eleventh—one of the busier intersections in town—and wouldn't budge. Every time an officer approached the vehicle, he started screaming nonsense about how "What's done can't be undone," and how did they expect him to decide where to go, when any direction could cause a breakdown in his life stream, or some such nonsense. He'd also blow on the horn and shout threats on occasion. He had something in his hand, and they weren't sure if it was a gun or some other sort of weapon. (Lewis was driving my X3 that day, so it had my plates and my U-Dub parking permit, so they contacted me quickly.)
By the time I arrived, the police were routing traffic around the area, but it was a mess. Lewis was sitting in the car—the ignition was off and the windows were down, and he was crying. As I approached him, I saw that he had a calculator in his hand, as well as a small notepad and a thick black Sharpie.
And, of course, there were the news cameras, and they wanted their story.
"Lewis," I said. "Honey? Is everything all right?"
"Probably not," came the response, in between sobs. "It's hard to know, though." He fumbled at a couple of the buttons on the calculator with a finger. I remember noticing then, for the first time, that his fingers were kind of short and stubby for a grown man.
He continued; "It's assigning meanings to the values that's so hard."
"OK, well, maybe I could help you with that. Would you like that?" He looked up at me, confused.
"You could do that?" He didn't seem to notice anything of the chaos around him.
"Of course, honey," I replied. "You know, we could just go to the coffee shop over there, and—"
"No!" He interrupted me. "Don't want to go to any shops … too many possibilities … options … menus."
"All right, then. How about we just go home? I'll order a pizza and we'll sit down together and … and assign meanings?"
"Yeah, that would be nice."
"Great — that's all settled, then. Why don't you just scoot over, there, and let me drive?"
Not that the Seattle PD had any intention of letting us just drive away, obviously. Not after what he'd pulled.
The minute I had him distracted and he'd held his hands up into view long enough for them to see it wasn't a weapon in his hand, an officer had eased up to the passenger side of the car. As soon as Lewis unlocked the car and began to scoot over she pulled the door open and hit him with the taser. Two more officers ran up to assist her, and a third came up behind me and pulled me away. Clearly Lewis wan't a threat to anyone, but they were all very frustrated, and weren't about to take any chances.
Once we were all on our feet again, the news crews rushed the scene, yelling out questions. I just repeated "No comment" until I found myself in the back of a squad car. I could hear Lewis trying to answer their questions, though, and even asking some of his own. He was pushed into another car and we were driven downtown.
After hours of questioning, they finally let me call Gina—Izzy's sitter—and explain to her what had been going on. Of course, she'd already seen the whole thing on the evening news.
Once it was all over, and we were released, I got Lewis in to see a really good therapist, but he resisted. Even when he did go—and he was under a Court Mandate, he didn't seem to want to work with the doctor. After a year he finally managed to do the bare minimum required to get himself released. And then, he started taking his long trips again.
I just couldn't take it any more. After ten years of marriage, I finally filed for divorce.
Sometimes, I feel guilty about the whole thing. I ask myself whether I could have done something differently, or why I hadn't really noticed the warning signs. I wonder to myself whether our lives would have been different if I'd paid more attention. What if I hadn't taken the job at U-Dub? Would he have found work that better suited him? What if we hadn't gone to the mall that day? What if I hadn't gone to that party, and we'd just never met? Would he have married someone else? Would he still have had his breakdown?
It's then that I realize I'm starting to think like Lewis: over-analyzing the past and worrying about every decision I've ever made. That way lies madness, and I have been witness to it.
Since then, I've re-married. William is a really wonderful, level-headed man. I'm much better off and, I think, so is Isabella. She is almost old enough to drive herself, now. She hasn't shown any signs of her father's neurosis, but I'm keeping a close eye on her just the same.
As for Lewis … Well, the last I heard he met some woman on one of his long drives through the desert. They moved out east somewhere—Indiana or Ohio, I think. I tried to keep track of him for a while, but eventually, I just gave up. For a man who has a problem making decisions, he sure has moved around a lot.
*The acronym MSM is also frequently used to refer to Mechanically-Separated Meat. This product bears an uncanny allegorical resemblance to the product produced by the other MSM.