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                GUIDE TO ZONE MODE

AUTHOR   - Charlie Emery - Hellfire X
VERSION  - 0.9
E-MAIL   - ce_hellfire@yahoo.co.uk

My e-mail is open to anyone who has any questions that are not answered in the
guide. I'll also welcome any constructive criticism. If it's significant, it
may even warrant a mention in the credits. Flames and anything else unsavoury
will simply be deleted and the offending e-mail address blocked.

\\-\/-//                           **CONTENTS**                       \\-\/-//

- Version History

- Introduction to Zone

- Zone Techniques

- Zone Scoring

  * In General
  * Speed-Up Pads (SP)
  * Increasing The Multiplier
  * Zone Bonus (ZB)
  * Lap Bonuses

- Racing Tips

- Track Guides

  * Florion Height 1
  * Mandrashee 3 Reverse
  * Cubiss Float 1
  * Florion Height 1 Reverse
  * Mandrashee 1 Reverse
  * Florion Height 3
  * Mandrashee 3
  * Cubiss Float 3
  * Florion Height 3 Reverse
  * Mandrashee 1

- Thanks

- Legal

\\-\/-//                      **VERSION HISTORY**                     \\-\/-//

V 0.9 - Rearranged part of the Zone scoring section and added a few extra 
tips. Added guides for Mandrashee 1 Forward and Reverse, and Cubiss Float 3.
V 0.7 - First public release. Scoring section updated and lap bonus section
revised. Brief introduction to each track added to the track guide section.

V 0.65- Cubiss Float 1 guide complete. Scoring section added.

V 0.6 - Zone Techniques section completed. Introduction revised.

V 0.5 - Mandrashee 1 guide completed. Fixed several formatting issues.

V 0.4 - First version record. Introduction and Florion Height 1 guide complete.

\\-\/-//                   **INTRODUCTION TO ZONE**                   \\-\/-//

Zone racing is an interesting addition to the world of AG racing. The object
of Zone is simply to survive. You need to navigate the track as many times as
possible before your craft blows up from hitting the walls too many times. No
opponents, no weapons, sounds almost too easy. And it would be. So let's say
your thruster is jammed on, and you can't slow the craft down, and every 10
seconds it gets a little bit faster, and 35 shield points is all you get. Now
does it sound too easy?

There are two simple objectives to Zone. Reach Zone 30 (that's survive for 300
seconds) to obtain the Zone medal, and obtain the highest score you possibly
can. Any serious zone racer will attempt the latter. Your score goes up at a
steady rate depending on your speed. At first it is pretty small, but this can
be improved by increasing your score multiplier, displayed in the top right-
hand corner. This displays the rate at which your score increases, and what
base score values are multiplied by. There are two methods to improve your
score multiplier. These are running over 10 speed pads and running perfect
laps. The multiplier bonus increases each time you achieve these objectives.
For example, your multiplier increases by 1 for your first perfect lap, 2 for
the second, 10 for the tenth, etc. This is the same case for the speed pads.
Both increase independently of each other. The scoring system is explaines in
detail later on. Also, as zone level increases, the handling of the craft
becomes a little more sensitive to compensate for the mass of the craft. If
turning at zone 1 were the same as at zone 100, it literally would not be
possible to turn.


Unfortunately, the designers of the game decided to cap the maximum possible
score at 4,294,967,296. This will become obvious when you first gain a score
of greater than 2,147,483,648. Your score for this track on the main Zone menu
will be listed as a negative value instead of its true value. Adding the
positive equivalent of this value to your true score will add to
4,294,967,296. During the race, the score counter will reset once this limit
has been passed. If you wish to know your true score, add 4,294,967,296 to
your final score for each time the counter resets. Because of this, racers on
the official Wipeout Fusion leagues prefer to compare highest zone level
reached rather than scores, or express their true scores in terms of resets
rather than scores listed on the leagues that do not take this into account.
The cap also means that speed stops increasing at Zone 60, but the handling
variations continue to build up. This gives you a craft travelling at the same
speed but with lightning reactions compared to zone 60. While this may make it
easier temporarily, the handling will soon become too sensitive, be careful of


\\-\/-//                     **ZONE TECHNIQUES**                      \\-\/-//

Zone racing varies tremendously from normal AG racing. Firstly, and obviously,
you have absolutely no control over the speed of the craft. This means that as
your zone level increases, you will need to adjust your racing line to suit
the speed of the craft. Also, the zone craft handles very sharply. There's
little or no need to worry about the craft sliding into the opposite wall when
taking a corner like the heavier craft in a normal race, it's pretty much just
point-and-turn. However, the turning circle will not be sufficient at higher
zones, so don't rely on this too much. Don't bother tilting the nose either,
it has no effect other than to block your line of sight.

When racing a zone track, the single most important thing to remember is to
use the airbrakes almost constantly. Unlike normal AG racing, the airbrakes
will not slow you down. Even right at the start when the craft is still
travelling relatively slowly, use the airbrakes to turn so you can get the
hang of using them as the speed increases. Using the airbrake will tilt the
nose over to the direction of whichever brake you use, making turning in the
direction of the brake much sharper while swinging the end out slightly. A
more important use for the brakes is to stabilise the craft when exiting a
turn. On lower zones, this can be done with the d-pad/analogue stick, but
later on, these will be far too clumsy and will likely result in you ploughing
into the wall. Tapping the airbrakes will cause sharp and slight corrections
in trajectory while keeping full control in your hands. When zone levels start
getting high, airbrakes can be used on their own to navigate shallow corners,
and it may become necessary to use them while going down straight sections. It
will become almost impossible to line the craft up perfectly when exiting a
corner, so using them to keep the craft away from the edges will be vital. You
can use this technique to set yourself up for the next corner too.

When turning, you should NEVER hold down either the airbrake or the
d-pad/analogue stick together for more than a fraction of a second. The zone
craft handles sharply enough to navigate the majority of corners with a series
of taps. Holding the pad/stick as you would to turn in a normal AG race will
likely unbalance the craft. While this will not be evident on zones prior to
20 or so, later on it will not be possible to turn in this way. Tapping the
pad/stick and the brake together as you navigate the corner will produce much
more responsive turning, but takes a while to get the hang of.

A useful technique on later zones will be to swing the craft around sharper
corners rather than simply trying to navigate them by turning alone. It will
become impossible to turn the craft normally once zone levels get really high.
To achieve this, approach the corner on the outside and turn the nose so that
it will just miss the edge of the apex. As you approach this section, tap the
airbrake on the side of the direction of turning while turning the nose
further towards the corner. Each press of the airbrake will swing the craft
outwards slightly, increasing the turning circle. This will allow you to take
even hairpins with relative ease, but takes quite a long time to get used to.
Remember to use the opposite airbrake to pull the nose away from the corner
egde if you overdo it. Remember to tap the pad/stick with the brake as
described in the paragraph above when turning, and don't forget to pull the
nose back into the racing line as you exit the corner.

Looking to increase your score a little bit quicker? Once your score
multiplier hits x99, you may think there is no longer any need to hit the
speed pads. Wrong. It may not be very obvious, but you do get a small number
of points for hitting them, and the tiny speed boost will help you to navigate
the track that little bit faster. Lower lap times means more laps in a shorter
time, which means in turn that you can pick up more points before the zone
level gets insanely high.

A couple of other general pointers. Firstly, NEVER take your eyes away from
the track. Looking up at your score or zone level could be the last thing you
do before ploughing into a nearby rock and losing nearly half your shield.
Worry about actually achieving your score before looking at it. Secondly,
start with the intent to finish. What I mean by this is NEVER pause the game
to carry on later. Even pausing for a few seconds will cause you to lose your
frame of mind, and suddenly being hurled back onto the track at high zones
will likely end in tears. It may also help to turn the music off when racing,
as it can take your mind off of the track. Finally, even if you do suffer an
absolute disaster and wreck your craft down to the last few shield points,
don't give up. You'll be surprised how long one shield point can last when you
try to drag it out. I once lost five shield points in quick succession on one
lap, and the lasted another 10 zones on my final point before finally
crashing. In the same way, you should try not to panic if you smash into
something and fling the craft all over the place. The craft will slow down in
this case, giving you a split second to redirect the craft before it sets off

\\-\/-//                       **ZONE SCORING**                       \\-\/-//

This section was written and submitted by Brett "Oggob" Holland. All
calculations and tables were his own work and are his property. However, any
requests for permission to use this data must go through me. Many thanks to
Brett for submitting this section, and for obviously having far too much time
on his hands... ;)


The following won't be able to tell you exactly how everything works, but it's
a guide to show you the main points of the scoring system of Zone Mode, thus
providing you with a better understanding which you can use to help improve
your scores.

\\//   :IN GENERAL:   \\//

Straight up, your score counts up from the very start, ticking over and over
until you die. It is also influenced by Speed-Up Pads (SP), every SP that you
hit the rate at which the score counts up gets a little faster, so aside from
the actual speed, it can only increase your score to higher levels.

\\//   :SPEED-UP PADS (SP):   \\//

As said before, these give little boosts of speed in any other mode. The speed
boost remains in Zone, however another added feature of them are Score
Bonuses. The Score Bonus is based on your current Zone Level.


ZONE 1  - Every SP is worth a Bonus of  1,000
ZONE 2  - Every SP is worth a Bonus of  2,000
ZONE 3  - Every SP is worth a Bonus of  3,000
ZONE 4  - Every SP is worth a Bonus of  4,000
ZONE 5  - Every SP is worth a Bonus of  5,000
ZONE 10 - Every SP is worth a Bonus of 10,000

NOTE - While this is proven up to a certain point, we are unable to gather
whether or not this feature is capped, the reason being it's generally
impossible to tell at Zone Levels higher than 30 or so, the score at these
Levels are ticking over too fast to notice any addition of a modest 30,000.


The Multiplier (M) can only go as high as 99. The (M) starts at 1 and can be
increased in 2 ways:

A) Hit 10 Speed-Up Pads, every 10 pads, will see the M go up:

Pads   1-10 =  +1
Pads  11-20 =  +2
Pads  21-30 =  +3
Pads  31-40 =  +4
Pads  41-50 =  +5
Pads 91-100 = +10
and so on...

B) Get a Perfect Lap (PL), every PL will see the M go up:

PL Number  1 =  +1
PL Number  2 =  +2
PL Number  3 =  +3
PL Number  4 =  +4
PL Number  5 =  +5
PL Number 10 = +10
and so on...

Depending on the length of the track, the number of SP on it and your ability
in getting constistant Perfect Laps, reaching x99 shouldn't take no longer
than zone 36 on Florian Height 3-Forward, to even less for all others.

\\//   :ZONE BONUS (ZB):   \\//

These are your biggest friend on the longer tracks, not so much on the shorter
ones. Generally very simple to understand, these are the Bonuses given to you
at the end of each Zone (10secs). The calculations are as follows -

FORMULA --> Zone Level (ZL) x Multipier (M) x 10,000 = Zone Bonus (ZB)


2  (ZL) x 1  (M) x 10,000 =     20,000 (ZB)
4  (ZL) x 3  (M) x 10,000 =    120,000 (ZB)
30 (ZL) x 99 (M) x 10,000 = 29,700,000 (ZB)
45 (ZL) x 99 (M) x 10,000 = 44,550,000 (ZB)

However, there is one other varible that influences these Bonuses, which is
your shield. The above examples that are stated are based on a Shield value of
35 (or 100%), as long as your Shield stays at 35 (or 100%) then you're given
the maximum possible Bonus.

Once you drop a shield point, then you start getting lower values, we've
done no real research into what kind of percentage of the Possible Maximum you
end up getting over the various Shield Levels, but there isn't a huge
difference. While at multiplier x99 when your Shield is at it's lowest at 1,
you're still achieving a Bonus of well over 60% of the Possible Maximum. So
the longer you can keep your shield at perfect the better your score will be.

The below percentages are very close to the real thing, at some stages they
can differ only sightly, however these are very close to being 100% correct.

*********************    SHIELD LEVEL PERCENTAGES    **********************

SL35 = 100.0% | SL26 =  88.4% | SL17 =  75.8% | SL08 =  62.6%
SL34 =  98.6% | SL25 =  86.5% | SL16 =  74.3% | SL07 =  61.1%
SL33 =  97.5% | SL24 =  84.4% | SL15 =  72.0% | SL06 =  59.7%
SL32 =  96.1% | SL23 =  83.0% | SL14 =  70.7% | SL05 =  57.6%
SL31 =  95.0% | SL22 =  81.7% | SL13 =  69.3% | SL04 =  56.3%
SL30 =  93.8% | SL21 =  80.4% | SL12 =  68.1% | SL03 =  55.0%
SL29 =  91.5% | SL20 =  79.5% | SL11 =  66.9% | SL02 =  53.7%
SL28 =  90.0% | SL19 =  78.5% | SL10 =  65.4% | SL01 =  52.4%
SL27 =  89.2% | SL18 =  77.0% | SL09 =  64.0% | SL00 =  52.4%

Also note that a SL of '00' has been included, it is possible to still be
playing at this level, personally I believe it's just a minor glitch to
which you really have '01' as your shield, however it's not been tested if
the percentage drops once again.

So the reality of the situation is to keep the shield as high as possible for
as long as you can.

\\//   :LAP BONUSES (LB):   \\//

At the end of every lap you will also recieve a Lap Bonus, at first we thought
these were all preset to based on certain leps over all 10 courses, however,
we've since found out that it's rather quite a simple formula.

FORMULA --> Lap Number (LN) x Multipier (M) x 25,000 = Lap Bonus (LB)


Lap  1 (LN) x  2 (M) x 25,000 =     25,000 (LB)
Lap  2 (LN) x  5 (M) x 25,000 =    250,000 (LB)
Lap  3 (LN) x 10 (M) x 25,000 =    750,000 (LB)
Lap  4 (LN) x 17 (M) x 25,000 =  1,700,000 (LB)
Lap  5 (LN) x 26 (M) x 25,000 =  3,250,000 (LB)
Lap 10 (LN) x 99 (M) x 25,000 = 24,750,000 (LB)

Those figures are based on a Perfect Race on Area 1 (Florian Heights : C1-F)

NOTE - Lap Bonuses before reaching their maximum through a Multipier of 99,
are NOT Perfect Lap inclusive, meaning by finishing a Perfect Lap, the added
value to the Multiplier at the end of that PL isn't included until the end of
the next lap, since you finished the Lap in question at the same time.

examples: Area 1 (Florian Heights : C1-F) remembering your (M) starts at 1.

Lap 1 - 10 Pads (M +1; upto '2') and Perfect (M +1; upto '3') equals...
    1 (LN) x 2 (M) x 25,000 =  50,000 (LB)

Lap 2 -  9 Pads (no bonus; still '3') and Perfect (M +2; upto '5') equals...
    2 (LN) x 3 (M) x 25,000 = 150,000 (LB)

 Lap 1 - 10 Pads (M +1; upto '2') and No Perfect Lap (still '2') equals...

Lap 2 - 10 Pads (M +2; upto '4') and Perfect (M +2; upto '6') equals...
    2 (LN) x 4 (M) x 25,000 = 200,000 (LB)


Lap 2 - 10 Pads (M +2; upto '5') and Perfect (M +2; upto '7') equals...

So as you can see, the Perfect Lap benefit is seen in the following lap.

\\-\/-//                        **RACING TIPS**                       \\-\/-//

Here are a few extra tips that may help you get a little further each time...

SITTING POSITION - A lot of people will have their own way of sitting down to
play the game, and a good position can be surprisingly effective in obtaining
a good score. Try and get into a position that you can sit in for an hour
without moving, this includes finding something that won't give you a dead
leg or arm.

Furthermore, try to find a position that also minimises all possible movement
of your body, leaving pretty much only your fingers being able to move easily.
It's too easy to get distracted by a moving foot (tapping to music), altered
head movement, etc... Never move your head closer or farther away from the
screen when playing, it's doesn't seem like much, but it causes you to
re-focus for a different perspective and at higher levels, you aren't quick
enough to re-adjust.

It will also make a difference in some cases whether you are using the stick 
or d-pad. This is entirely a matter of preference, try and figure out which 
one suits you best. The stick will allow more sensitive control of the craft,
but is difficult to get used to on higher zones. However, once you do, it is
(supposedly) superior to the pad. The pad is less sensitive than the stick, 
but is far more forgiving if you overdo it slightly. Try both and see which 
one serves you best.

DISTANCE FROM SCREEN - This is another tricky one, you should base it on the
screen size, smaller screens sit closer so you don't strain yourself on
focus. Get into a position where if you look through the center of the TV,
the outline of the Zone Level and Multiplier can be assumed but not read.

GAMING SESSIONS - While it's encouraged to have breaks between gaming
sessions, for Zone it's advised that you go up to and over an hour per
session. This way you are always in contact with the speed it brings. If you
go away after a couple of turns, have a 20min break then return, chances are
you will once again have to get used to the speed once more. This becomes a
pain trying to advance to higher levels. Plus, if you keep playing and
staying in the higher levels, you will start to notice how slow the lower
levels actually are and will begin to get more Perfect Laps earlier, thus
keeping your shield for where it matter.

MENTAL STATE - A lot of Zone is mental, you have to be very strong in this
department, there are a few things that you have to implant in your head to
make it easier. The most noteable is:

No matter what, you will die.

It's a very simple concept but you've got to use it to your advantage, if
you get to a point in Zone where you've finally made it to Zone 15 without
hitting a wall, it's becomes your best start ever and you start getting all
worked up about how this could be a new record. That's when you know it
won't, you end up losing your first Shield point, while thinking you're
invincible, then it all falls apart. It's good to go as far as you can
without losing any shield, but remember you have 35 points, not 01. Losing
your first can be your best friend; once it's done, you stop worrying about
getting to a new highest level without losing any and return to
concentrating on what really matters.

Another is the 1 Shield Point for every Zone... straight up that would give
you a final level of 35, but from there, let's just say you go the first 5
Zone's perfect, thus bring your total to Zone 40. Once you get your ability
up, you can set your own goals, 1 Shield point for every Lap or 1 Shield point
for every 2 Zones, etc... It actually does work to get your mind thinking
what is needed if something out of the ordinary does happen and what you
need to achieve to combat it.

When learning the tracks, get into the habit of staying in the middle of the 
track. You will notice from the walls, where the zebra like siding is, 
that next to these are 2 like lines... the first is a inch wide and is 
the normal colour of the track, the next is a little thinner and it's 
as if they are tire marks following the whole track around. Try and keep 
the ship between these 'darker' lines, even on the slowest levels. That 
way, you get used to the idea of the track being that thin, and if you 
do stumble outside of this area, chances are that you still won't hit 
the wall.

\\-\/-//                       **TRACK GUIDES**                       \\-\/-//

The track guides here are only a guideline for the ideal techniques to employ.
Because the balance and turning circle of the craft will need to be altered as
zone level increases, it would be impossible to write an absolute walkthrough
for the tracks. It is left up to you to practice recognising how the handling
of the craft varies at higher zones. They are also written with higher zones
in mind, so in some cases it may not be necessary to go as far as the guide
suggests. Try out various things and see what suits you best.

I have also supplied both mine and Brett's personal scores if you want to
compare your own to ours. Due to the spoiler mentioned in the first section
of this guide, I have only supplied our zone levels. Scores will probably be
put up at a later date (and if we can remember what they were!).

\\//   :FLORION HEIGHT 1:   \\//


Without doubt the easiest of the zone tracks. There is a generous spread of
speed pads, and easy perfect laps at the start should net you a high score
multiplier in a short amount of time. The real danger on this track is the
freeform section shortly after the loop, causing the craft to slide a little
and making it slightly more difficult to keep control.

The first corner is thankfully quite wide, and shouldn't pose a problem until
about zone 45-50. Use this as a practice point to swing the craft around,
which should set you up nicely. Next follows a straight section with a loop.
Again, the tricky part of this section becomes apparent on later zones. To
maintain the continuity of the track, there is a tiny right turn at the base
of the loop. As the craft speeds up, it will be necessary to make quick use of
the airbrakes to put yourself back on track. A shallow left turn awaits at the
end of the straight before the drop into the freeform section.

The drop becomes a real hazard at around zone 50, as the speed of the craft
will cause you to simply fly over the edge rather than follow the track. This
means that from the top of the slope to the bottom, you cannot change
direction, meaning that if you're pointing too far over to the left, there's a
huge lump of rock waiting to pound you. General advice for this section, no
matter what zone you are on, is to begin by aiming slightly to the right of
the racing line to avoid the rock, and then using it as you would the apex of
a corner to slide round it. You'll need to begin the slide slightly earlier
here to compensate for the reduced "traction". The next part shows a chicane
around a pair of rock pillars. This is plain suicide. An easier method is to
use the gap between the pillar on the right and the right wall. You'll need to
use the airbrakes to line up, but it will be much easier than trying to swing
around a chicane in the freeform, especially when there is another rock
waiting for you on the other side on the left. There are also a pair of speed
pads under the pillar for added incentive. The rock on the other side
shouldn't be much of a hazard if you try to keep slightly over to the right,
but make sure you can still line yourself up for the next track section.

Once you are out of the freeform, the track gently bends round to the left,
with a slightly sharper left turn soon afterwards. This double-turn can throw
the craft off balance, so once the first turn is complete, make sure you are
set up well enough to take the next one. The track begins to thin out slightly
ahead, so the final shallow right onto the home straight requires deft use of
the airbrakes alone to guide the craft into the optimum position. One last
thing is to make sure you don't take the corner too wide. There's only one
thing worse than hitting a wall, and that's hitting a laser barrier. There's
one just over the other side of the corner. Hit this, and you'll not only lose
a lot of shield, you'll be spun all over the place as well.

\\//   :MANDRASHEE 3 REVERSE:   \\//


Another relatively simple track, but it certainly has its moments. Much longer
than Florion Height 1 and with several tricky corners, this is the ideal track
to try out a few advanced techniques. To get your score multiplier up here,
you will need to make use of the large numbers of speed pads, as perfect laps
on this track will be few and far between. This is not only due to the length
of the track, but the layout tends to try to throw you off balance, with
corners that swing one way and then the other, and those that like to sharpen
without warning as the corner progresses. Double corners will also be an
obstacle here.

The course starts out with a right-left chicane. The corners themselves are
quite wide to allow for error, but it may be tricky to regain your balance
when exiting the right turn. Try to swing the craft round the first bend and
begin turning for the next the instant you exit.

The next corner is a sharp left following a series of central speed pads. Try
to follow the speed pads closely, they provide the ideal entrance to the
corner. Swing the craft round the outside, making full use of the width of the
track. The next section is actually quite tricky. The twisting of the track
gives it a very slight right curve, and the width makes it difficult to turn
very accurately, especially on later zones. This is one to be taken almost
exclusively with the airbrakes. If the turn is too sharp for the brakes alone,
tap the pad/stick to knock the craft back on track. You can always use the
opposite airbrake to correct if you overdo it. This is one of the areas that
will claim the majority of your shield. A shallow left turn follows that
should be taken in the same way.

Following this is a long straight section with plenty of speed pads. To hit
the majority of them, they are laid out in a left-middle-right-middle pattern.
This precedes quite an evil corner. This right turn begins shallow and quickly
sharpens. The key to this corner is to slightly overdo it once you enter the
corner. In other words, enter the corner as you would a normal corner, but aim
to turn slightly more than normal, the apex of the corner will recede. Another
long straight with plenty of speed pads follows before opening out into a
cave. At around zone 55, this will become a serious hazard. Like the drop into
the freeform section in Florion Height 1, you will leave the track if you
approach the large hump in the middle head-on. This will likely end up
respawning you in the next tunnel, and unlike normal racing, respawning does
not slow you down, meaning an uncontrolled ploughing into the nearest wall. To
avoid this, you will need to use something called the "slingshot" technique.
As it sounds, this involves sharply turning the craft either left or right
(using the airbrakes as well) as you approach the jump, and then sharply
swerving back the other way right as you are about to jump. This will remove
some of the momentum and will make sure you stay on the track. This can also
be used in Florion 1.

Following the cave is another tricky chicane. The first part is a long, quite
sharp right followed very quickly by a shallow left. You will need to swing
the craft around this one, but try to stay as close to the middle of the track
as possible, as you will need to quickly swing the craft in the opposite
direction when you reach the end of the corner. Try to aim as close to the
left apex as possible without actually touching it. Another rather bumpy
straight section lies ahead (Beware at zone 60+, these bumps will throw you
off the track, use the slingshot) before the mother of all corkscrew turns.
This is a VERY sharp left turn, and is another place that could sap your
shield pretty quickly. This is one of the only places that justifies holding
down the pad and airbrake together, it's simply too sharp to do it by tapping.
Remember to keep the nose pointing as far over to the apex as you can.

The exit to this corner is even more evil. A short straight section that
narrows out as you exit. You'll need to straighten yourself out pretty
sharpish after tacking the corkscrew. If that wasn't bad enough, the last
three corners will more than likely be the most common place to lose shield.
The first corner seems quite easy, a shallow right. This serves to throw you
off balance for the evilness of a sharp double left. Try to stay over to the
right when taking the shallow corner and swing right over to the left as you
take the first left. This needs to be perfect. If you exit too far over to the
left, you'll never get round the final corner; too far to the right, and
you'll hit the wall.

\\//   :CUBISS FLOAT 1:   \\//


Short and tricky. The occasional blizzards will make it hard to see where
you're going, but this is the least of your worries compared to some of the
corners you'll be tackling.

The course begins with a straight section followed by a dip into a quite sharp
left turn. This starts out pretty easy, but a good approach from the dip is
required later on, and if you're good enough to reach zone 50, you'll begin to
fly off of the top of the slope. It will become necessary to use the
slingshot, but it will be extremely difficult to recover from it in such a
short space of time. The next corner is a slow right followed by a very sharp
left. The right turn will make it difficult to get a good approach to swing
the craft round. The best way to do this is to move as far over to the right
as possible when taking the corner, and as you enter the left corner, turn
hard into the apex and swing it round with the airbrake.

The next section is one of the hardest on the course. It is similar to the
previous section, but this time is is a shallow left followed by a sharp
right, and there is a quick dip to block your field of view. You won't see
this coming until the last minute. Try to hit the speed pads and then move
over to the right. As you enter the first corner, lightly swing the craft
round and then almost immediately swing it back the other way. This is similar
to the slingshot in that it will throw the craft even further out to the left
than if you had simply tried to swing it round as normal, altering the
momentum. The effect of this will be to throw the craft around the outside of
the corner, but with the nose facing further inwards. This technique becomes
absolutely necessary on high zones, and will need to be executed precisely.
Expect to lose a few shield points here, it's very tricky.

A straight section follows with a jump in the middle. Around zone 35, the
speed of the craft will cause the craft to leave the track. The slingshot may
work here, but it is recommended that you simply ignore this effect and try to
take the next left as you would if you were still on the track. Normally, you
would be over to the right and you would swing the craft round, as it's quite
a sharp one. If you start this manoeuvre while you are still in the air, you
will still follow the same racing line when you land as though you were on the
track all the time.

The remainder of the track is quite fast. The straight section that follows
this corner is interrupted by a quick right turn onto the cliff section, which
can be taken with a simple tap of the pad/stick and the corresponding
airbrake. The cliff itself can be tricky to navigate if there is a blizzard
blowing, but if you keep the craft as close to the middle of the track as
possible, you should be fine. The only real danger here is losing control on
the left hand side of the track and shooting off of the cliff. The shallow
chicane at the bottom of this section can actually be rather tricky,
especially as it is difficult to see inside the tunnel at the end. Take the
right turn as you did when you entered the cliff section, but try to swing the
craft into the tunnel and quickly line up with the speed pads to stop yourself
hitting the wall.

The last turn is equally as bad. The bad light in the tunnel means you only
have the sign at the end of the section to tell you when to turn, and it
doesn't tell you where the inside of the corner is. You'll need to judge this
one as best you can. Turn too soon, and you'll catch the inside of the corner;
too late and you'll skim along the back wall. Try to start this corner as far
over to the right as possible, so you can make very quick adjustments if you
do turn slightly too soon. Following this is a right turn in the open that
will take you back onto the home straight.

\\//   :FLORION HEIGHT 1 REVERSE:   \\//


Not quite as easy as Florion Height 1, but still relatively simple. The most
difficult parts of this track are the laser barrier at the end of the first
straight, and the fact that you now have to go through the freeform section

Coming soon...

\\//   :MANDRASHEE 1 REVERSE:   \\//


The reverse form of Mandrashee 1 isn't as user friendly as the normal
version, where it basically comes down to the forward's first five corners
again, but a lot more turns are needed this time.

Starting off you hit the long sweeping right and left, after experience from
Area 2 it shouldn't be too bad, getting through the right you come back into
the left straight away from the ideal line out of them. Follow the pads to
the tough left, although coming the forward way it thins. Going backwards
you'd expect it to widen, however this really isn't the case, simply 
because it widens on the inside and not the outside. it's a standard 90*
turn, but you could easily make it into an almost hairpin, caution is still
required though, going in too tight can see you riding up the inside of the 
left hand wall.

The corkscrew again raises it's head, early on you may forget that you're
doing Course 1 and actually turn for Course 3 (Area 2), this is something
that can happen, anyway. Moving on, the corkscrew annoyingly sways, first to
the left, just brakes work well here for the time being, then a very 
noticable right. Air brakes themselves won't get you in the ideal position,
you've got to turn into the corner before you start the famous 5. Reverse
air brake in case you over do it, but if anything, try to understeer. That
way you can do a quick right-left around the hard left, better to get
the hard corner intact than take the wrong angle and plough straight into
one of it's walls.

You still can hold these corners like the forward tactic. Somehow the
dynamics of the corners are reversed, the medium ones are now tight and
vice versa. The first one is probably the one you've got to take the 
most care on, as you've got to set yourself up for the 2nd. Cut into it and
try to drift as far to the right as possible, it's made harder as the right
side wall does narrow into the track. Holding it once again, you've got to 
hit the 2nd early and hard, it's very tight, but the walls continue to 
slide in regardless of the corner being over.

From here it can become a slingshot special, brake turn to the right to
straighten, this will probably see you lining yourself up to hit a wall. No
worries because you brake turn back to the left straight after, this will 
see you follow the track once more. A tiny bit further on, there is a 
slight kink in the track which will force another brake turn to the right,
keeping you either parallel to the track or gently moving to the right side 
wall. Again this is fine because by now you should be right on top of the 
final 2 corners.

The first corner is taken the hardest, but only for a short time, you hit
the brakes so you get the ships nose pointing at the final corner. Hold it
there and you should slightly drift out, by the time you reach center of the
track or just over center, the final corner is upon you again and you just
have to turn into it a alittle harder with some light braking and you're on
the main straight. Get yourself sorted on here ready to start another lap.
\\//   :FLORION HEIGHT 3:   \\//


This one can be fun. It's a long one, and speed pads are few and far between,
but the majority of the corners are surprisingly forgiving. All, that is,
except the right turn in the freeform. Overdo that one and you'll slaughter
your craft. This is also the only track that I've knowingly matched Brett!

Coming soon...

\\//   :MANDRASHEE 3:   \\//


Definitely harder than the reverse variant. There are a lot more speed pads,
and rightly so, because perfect laps will be difficult here. The corkscrew is
a little more forgiving, but the left-right into the cave is evil. Even more
evil is the jump into the tunnel a short while after exiting the underwater

Coming soon...

\\//   :CUBISS FLOAT 3:   \\//


Let's face it. The world would be a better place quite frankly if they left
this course out of Zone Mode; matter of fact, the entire game as well. It's an
absolute bastard, making it truely unfair to have to reach Zone 30 on this 
course while seemingly making it equal in difficultly to all other tracks, you
will realise after a while how much of a breeze Florian Heights is after 
tackling this one. The ONLY good thing this course has going for it, is that 
it's really long, allowing you to only have to do certain horror corners a few 
times to reach Zone 30. The main tip for survival on this course is to not 
worry about your score, use the first 3 laps to get all the speed pads as you
can and reach 99x, then try to avoid them as much as possible, as the majority
are before tough corners and are a nuisance.

The start is pretty straight forward, simple downhill section before a nice
long left hander. Getting to know this section is also very important for when
the ship starts to fly off at the top of the hill at around Zone 40, spotting
the track from the top is the only way to survive and trying to land smack
right in the center. Failing to do so can see either 2 things, hitting a wall,
thus pretty much ending your race, or falling through the track, which will
pretty much end your race too since you don't know where you will re-spawn. A
way that seems to work is by crusing down the left wall of the start/finish
straight. When you get to the drop, hard break turn to the right and back to
the left to straighten up down the center of the track, this will hopefully
drop your speed enough (not often though) to stop flying off the track. 

A touch after this you will have a easy right before a tight left, try and hug
the right and turn into the left early. Watching your exit will see you go
past a few pads to a very tricky section, the track flows to the right whilst
not being a true corner, you've still got to follow the right wall, before an
ever so quick easy left, which comes right before a hard right that you
couldn't believe could tighten, yet somehow it does. The way through this is
to follow the right wall, do a quick left brake turn across the track to
follow the left wall and pretty much straight after cut back early into the
hard right with hard quick-pumping brakes.

Since the developers found it necessary to keep the pressure up, the jump in
the track is just as trecherous, slower speeds it's fine, however, you will
start to notice that the ship starts to float alot more, taking it's time to
rejoin the curcuit, as the higher speeds are reached floating is actually ok,
just imagine that the ship was following the track normally, find your
turning point before the 90* left and brake into it like normal. The left
brake will help drop the ship down and it will join the track halfway through
the corner.

However, once again those Zone 40 speeds come back to haunt you, flying off
this jump happens, more-so worse than the troubles on Mandrashee 3 into the 
tunnel. There are 2 unavoidable speed pads before the jump, coming out of the
previous corner makes it impossible to get some decent slingshot action 
happening before the jump, so you've just got to try your best to get what 
you can in. The problem with this flying off is that you go high and it 
becomes a blind corner, you've got to use your instincts like above to know
when your turning point before the corner is. Get it right, you'll come back
down to the track nicely again, get it wrong, you've got a great chance of 
hitting some invisible walls. It's hard to tell where they start or end, but
if the ship goes too high or too wide you will probably hit them and end up 
facing a wall where your shield will just drain to 00.

Getting past this section leads to where Course 3 actually breaks off, the
first uphill ascent is filled with a nice 90* right, try to take this corner
as wide as possible hugging the opposite wall, where from here, you MISS the
2 pads that preceed the tracks worst corner (but not worst section!), once
you pass the pads via the left side, instantly set yourself up for the
corner by either drifting across to the right side of the track, or a quick
right brake turn. Once this is done, cut back hard, this corner is another
exception where holding down the break for its full length is needed. From
memory after Zone 45, no-one has ever made it around without losing part of
their shield.

Once around you may have to right brake to straighten up, as oversteering 
around the corner could see you plowing into the left side. Making your
ascent to the top of the mountain is reasonably simple enough, although
difficult. Try to avoid the pads, as you don't need anymore excess speed
that you get from your descent. The shortcut would be divine in this mode, 
you wouldn't have to worry about the tracks worst section and bypass it
with a friendly wave.

Hitting the slope of the mountain will see you build up way too much speed, 
the problem here is that it's a chicane-like descent, where the track banks
up the mountain sides. Not sticking to the middle of the track will see you 
slide up these walls, and if you go from side to side, the screen will tilt
as if you're in a halfpipe. Not so good when you've got corners coming. The
bottom comes to a left-right-left movement in the ship, which has to be done
almost just as fast as the highest speeds, which is mainly due to the amount
of speed you get in the descent. At the lowest point you start it off, going
a slight left, from there you come back to the right under breaks, and again
go hard into the left (full braking around corner again can prove handy).
You've got to get your nose as close to the apex as possible otherwise 
you're just going to slide out and scrape the walls as you exit.

Not to be outdown, just as you recover from that you hit a straight section
with more pads before a tricky right into the tunnel, the pads can make the
corner sneak up on you and scrape all the way into the tunnel, do in early
and break hard, with minor break touches if needed.

Once inside, there is no real correct line or method to take through the
uphill corkscrew, it's too long to go in one go, so you've just got to start
yourself off and as you start to slide out you just continually correct the
ships heading. It can be done in fewer long break bursts or more quicker
short brake bursts, it's up to to what makes you more comfortable.

Straightening up to exit the tunnel, comes a section that you wish the ship
flew off the track and over the trees to the loop entrance, sadly the loss
of speed from the tunnel just won't allow it. So you've got to go the hard
way, into the freeform section with the lovely tree filled forest. Straight
up, the easiest way through is by going around to the left. Get over to the
side early, and bypass all the trees, once you spot the final one before the
loop the track turns into a invisible chicane, you brake in right once you
get infront of the loop you straighten up with a swift left and hit the track
smack bang in the center.

Sadly the trouble doesn't end there, as the loop is also a huge nuisance, 
first off, exiting at the bottom, the small gap between tracks doesn't help,
if you aren't completely straight it can shift your ships course and can see
you grind the walls the rest of the way down. Not only that, but even if you
line it up straight, but aren't in the center of the track, the walls seem to
cut into the track a little bit and more grinding can be had. Worst still is
again, too much speed, gaining all the speed from the loop, over the finish
line to the huge drop. The more speed you have the harder it's going to be
to keep the ship on the track, so if your game, you've got to try and
slingshot as much as you can on the loop and before the start/finish line.

If you manage anything in the mid to high 40's you are doing very well!

\\//   :FLORION HEIGHT 3 REVERSE:   \\//


Like it's forward counterpart, this is a fun track. It is mostly straight with
the odd shallow turn, but once you reach the freeform, it gets hard. Also
beware of the large slope at the start once you reach high zones, it has a
nasty surprise.

Coming soon...

\\//   :MANDRASHEE 1:   \\//


This course isn't as bad as it first claims to be. Sure it's tricky at high
speeds because it seems very narrow from the start until the corkscrew. It's
a course that shows the true potential of the Analogue Stick.

Heading into the first corner, you take an easy line through the center of 
the track, holding the ships turning angle throughout the entire corner, 
even as it opens right up. Then as you approach the next right, you tighten
the steering fully with braking to glide right around the rest of the 
corner. This 2nd corner is another where you try to keep to the right of 
the track, thus allowing to get a nice line into turn 3. It's only a minor
left, but you again drift across the track to the left side, in a way where
your ship is parallel to the left wall after the turn.

This lines you up to an almost identical version of the first 2 corners. By
taking the center line through the 1st right, hold your ship in the same
turning position throughout the entire corner, even as it opens up. Then as
you approach the final right, again turn fully with braking to get around
it. The only difference with these last 2 is that corner 4 there is lower
margin for error, the track isn't as wide as the wall cuts into the track
slightly, so you have to be on your game from the start.

Heading into the corkscrew also plays with your mind, just braking through
the slight drift in the track isn't always enough, so you've got to have a
gentle turn throughout it. While this always produces some oversteer,
that's easily combatted with the use of reverse air braking. If used well
it makes the ship seem like it's strafing like in any good FPS.

Getting out of the subtle turns of the corkscrew is not always easy, and
heading into a deceptive right handed is not a good exit, especially with
a bunch of pads lining the way. The turn must be taken early, the impression
of a wide track is given by the left hand side of the track before the turn,
the 'zebra' like lines get wider in width. However this width doesn't last
through the entire corner, the track thins to normal width midway through
the turn, so being lazy and thinking you'll be ok cause you've got room to
move is not going to work. Use the tracks 'tire marks' as your guide around
the corner, that way, you also don't have to worry about where the center of
the track is when exiting the corner.

Down the hill brings you to another not so friendly jump, however 99% of the
time this one is the friendly version of the Cubiss Float 3 jump. The ship
will just float very slowly back to the track, so as the speed gets higher
find the turning point before the corner and turn into it hard with a steady
amount of first up braking. This will drop the ship down quite a bit and 
from there if you need to re-adjust any minor braking or decrease in the 
turning angle. Get the ship into any place other than the left side wall and 
it's a simple left onto the main straight as the track for the final corner 
really widens out and is certainly managable with normal braking. Just make 
sure you don't take it too wide and end up sliding into the pits, it can 
happen and let's just say that it makes the first couple of corners into 

\\-\/-//                            **THANKS**                        \\-\/-//

Sony/Good Technology - For creating and introducing me to this complete
lunacy. I thought Wipeout was fast, but Zone takes the biscuit.

Brett "Oggob" Holland - For just being a complete lunatic! ;) Quite possibly
the single person that got me into Zone so badly. Also provided a lot of help
with this guide (especially the scoring section) and STILL holds the current
top zone record of 151. Without doubt the best zone racer in the world.

All zone racers at Wipeoutfusion.com and Wipeoutzone.com - For being such a
great bunch to race with, and for helping me reach the insane zone levels I
was able to achieve.

GameFAQs - For hosting this guide.

And finally, my PS2, for not conking out on me!

If you want to see how you rank on the official zone leagues, head over to

\\-\/-//                             **LEGAL**                        \\-\/-//

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Copyright 2003 Charlie Emery