what can I say. Hovis sucks big time. There is a workaround where you edit the .ini files wich resembles cheating a lot, but is not that bad as the race stinks.
If you wanna beat him the fair way, here's what to do and what not to do.

Hovis do's and don'ts:

Do:
- Buy a light fighter, it's more agile. One is for sale at BS The Hood. (Cavalier)
- Go to cruise speed. Default key is Shift + W
- Use Mouseflight. Default key is space-bar.
- Aim for the next gate while you are flying through a gate.
- Use thrusters before hitting cruise. This puts you in front of Hovis before the first gate, after wich you can engage cruise speed and lead the whole way.

Don't:
- Use the Go-To command. When you reach your target with the Go-To command, the ship will stop. And you don't want that
- Use speed mods. Default cruise speed (300) is an excellent speed to beat the race. If you go faster, it will be harder to get to the next gate.
- Use heavy fighters. Although some have done it in a heavy fighter or even a freighter, it's reccomanded for unexperienced racers to use a light fighter.
- Freak out when Hovis starts shooting at you. Just stay in cruise and aim for the next gate. When you reach the finnish, the shooting stops.
- Pay to much attention to Hovis. Just do your own race and all will turn out well.

I hope this helps.

If anyone got more tips, go ahead

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The Titan Flies Like A Cow
The Earth isn't flat, It's round... like a pancake.
TLR: You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave.
If at first you don't succeed, call in an airstrike. - Murphy

i stillcant beat this guy......seem to b going to fast just after middle point....unless im i badddddd racer............can i bring the cruise speed to 250 or sumthing and how do i do this????????????????????

dont ever use the defender for this race...

buy the light fighter on the battleship....use the cruise engine and dont ever use "GO TO"

he will always be ahead of u at the half way mark, concentrate on being clean thru the hoops, even if u have to make big loops in order to line up the next few hoops...hovis misses the last gate and if u are close enuff u always win, so be clean

if u fail the fisrt race , just forget the second try, it s harder second time around. reload the auto save

I had a terrible time at first, had me practically swearing at the ##### game. But now it seems ridiculously easy. The trick is to hit your cruise engines IMMEDIATELY. Once Hovis gets a lead on you, it's over. Also, be looking at the next gate as you go through the one in front of you. Try to take the shortest distance. Also be planning for the next gate, since if you miss a gate you are finished.

Kicking in your cruise engines is probably the hardest part because that idiotic sign board pops up telling you what to do every time. Clicking that off wastes a second or two.

I still hate the stupid race, since it seems so out of place in a story set nearly 1000 years in the future. It helps if you played some of the old Star Wars games. The race course is virtually lifted out of one of them.








Jose Chavez: "Trent! It's good to see my kind of scum."

If you mod the cruise speed, as in using the constants, then hovis has the same increments to his speed too.

It needs good reflexes at the start, if you press Shift-W fast enough to begin, you'll get a half-second head start - absolutely vital. Also, try and cut as many corners as possible and skirt on the very edge of the ring. If you get this right, it's possible to get ahead at the first quarter which definitely helps.

Another thing, though I never tried a freighter, I managed in a heavy fighter no problem, i guess if you can judge turns right, then poor maneuverablility doesn't matter much.


Eeek! I'm acting like I actually know what I'm talking about.

Nah, check your ship. If the descritpion says something like HF or heavy fighter, you're in the wrong ship. You need to get a light fighter (LF) because it turns a lot better.

Next you have to make sure you stay in the track.
The first part is the easy part. All you have to do is aim for the next gate to make it through.
After the halfway point the course gets more dificult and you need to "Oversteer" to get through the gate. What I meen is, when the next gate is on the right side of the gate you are passing, then you must aim to the right side of the next gate so that you would pass it if you'd stay on that course.
This will put you in front of the gate and give you a bit extra space (room) to turn.

The best advice would be to do your own race. Don't pay attention to Hovis. As long as you make every corner at cruise speed, you will be allright, (can't tell you too much ) even if he takes the leed after the first few rings.

Edited by - Nickless: Daft Remarks on 22-11-2003 19:00:13

Press cruise immediatly and hug the corners. Works every time.

Nah. I've beat him in a very heavy fighter before (while staying ahead from the very beginning too. And using a speed mod >:> ) the trick is; as soon as you click off that dumb menu, hit shift+w IMEDIATLY and you'll be ahead the whole thing

The first time I got to the race I aced it, never looked back and continued on, doing this in a HF, now when I replay the game It's really hard, and I have to use a LF, my advice Hit cruise speed as soon as possible, if u cant try raming him,
I did that on my 4 try when I replayed the game and it seemed to work, try and ram him right before a gate so he misses it. some times however this doesn't work either then I just resort to the cheapest way, buy as many missles as posible, prefferable all cruise and when he fires at u nail him, this for me had a high succsess rate.

If life is unfair, how come I haven't won yet?

This can be wom in any fighter. I've done it in an Anubis and a Centurion. There is only one bad spot. A little past the halfway mark, one gate is a sharp turn to the left and then back to the right and down a little. Just take note if where it is and be ready for it.

old time gamer from the days of pong on.

First, I agree with all the above advice given, but I did the race in a Bretonian VHF (Very Heavy Fighter) and I found it easy. It kinda depends on your flying skills rather than the ship you fly.

I did in a Light Fighter and I couldn't see any difference except faster turning rate. I also did it in a Freighter and even though the turning was lousy I *just* got to the finish line before Hovis.

And for all those people who couldn't win no matter what, I *think* there is a mod which allows you to skip the race. Look in the downloads section on the main page.

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"Snake ,we are not tools of the government or anyone else", "Fighting was the only thing I was good at , but at least I always fought for what I believed in" - Grey Fox
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Best bit of advice anyone can give you is to persist, and don't get too annoyed. You will have no chance when you're annoyed (or at least I never won when annoyed). Just stay focussed, it took me about 20 attempts to pass it.

BTW: I used a Cavalier, I tried first with a Defender though.



As a freelancer one encounters some strange stuff - in the the end, however, you always remain the strangest thing you are ware of.

thanx u all....................perseverance didnt pay off!!.....maybe i dont have the co-ords......so i moded the thruster 2 200000 and just thrust all the way thru.....so i could slow down at the hard corners......cheaters always prosper!!!!!!!!