Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why do I need to register on the site?

In order to track your personal progress on the True Dedication achievement, the system must know who you are. If you are not logged in, the races you completed can not be saved to your personal records in the database. This is the only reason for using a user registration system on this site.

How is my e-mail address used?

your e-mail address is only used to send you a confirmation email upon registration. In the future I might build a Password Recovery System, which will also need your e-mail address. Your e-mail is not shared, nor sold to others. Period.

How can I filter the complete list of races?

Use one of the filtering options (Radio Buttons) in the My Races page. For instance, if you select the Ordered Races option, you'll only see the ordered races, and so on. Select Show All Races (the last option) to show the complete list again.

Why are the races also divided in areas?

In the original game the races are only devided in race types (Ordered races, Circuit races, etc.). I found it handy to also have a list of all races in a particular area. For instance, you might want to complete all Downtown races in one session. Since you are used then to anticipate the sharp turns and short distances between corners. This requires a different type of handling your vehicle or bike compared to racing in the Hills, or on the Santa Monica Beach.

How did you organize the race into areas?

Some races are within the borders of one area (Promenade, California Incline Loop). Others span multiple area's (Hollywood and Downtown) or even the entire map (like Central LA Showdown). In such cases, I used the starting location of the race to determine the race area. For example, Central LA Showdown starts and finishes in Santa Monica, so it's listed as a Santa Monica race. I admit this is a bit arbitrary, because for instance Ventura Loop also starts in Santa Monica, but heads straight to the hills after the start. This means it's main character is that of a Hills race, so it's listed in the Hills races section. Feel free to comment on this!

How can I look up my time in MCLA?

Once you have completed a race in MCLA and want to register it with the site, you can look up your time in case you have forgotten it. To do so, go to the Goal Attack menu and select the desired race. Then press the X button to go to the Leaderboards. In the next screen, you'll see your ranking and your time.

I've completed all races - Achievement doesn't unlock!

The achievement might be glitched after the South Central Update on March 27. See this thread for details. It might help. It might not.

What vehicle is best used for the Goal Attack races?

People generally use the 2007 Ninja ZX14 bike. Some acclaimed that the races can be completed by using a car, but personally I was not able to meet all the requirements for even one race by using a car. Most of the time, the cars are just to slow in turns, and in the end you fall 10-15 seconds short of the time to beat. So it looks like the best tactics are getting used to handle the bike and avoid hitting other stuff while driving. In most races you don't have to go full throttle all the time. Just avoid other cars and buildings on your way. But this sounds easier than it is. If you have managed to complete Goal Attack races by using a car, please let me know!

How was this site built?

For the tech savvy: this site was hand coded and built with Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edtion, using ASP.NET 3.5 and C# 3.0 with LINQ technology and the ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit. The application is hosted on Internet Information Server 7.0 on Windows Server 2008. The data is stored in a SQL Server 2008 database. The total build time was around 16hrs. This excluded the visual design. I used a pre-made template, called 'Harvest', kindly provided by Free CSS Templates. I adapted the style sheet to my needs (for instance, I switched the left and right column and redefined some CSS-classes).

The site doesn't look good in Internet Explorer 7.

Yes, I am aware of that. This is due to the fact that IE 7 doesn't fully comply to the current CSS-standards. But I don't want to spend time hacking my CSS just to get around this. I'd rather use my spare time to add new functionality or remove existing bugs. Please use Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome if you want to look at this application the way it is meant. However, the site is fully functional in IE! It just doesn't look that good :-).

I have another question.

Please use the Contact Form. If your question is interesting enough, I might include it on this page. Thank you.