Tournaments[edit]
Well, besides the expected differences of more cash and more races as you go up the tournament scale, there are also certain cars and tracks that won't be accessible in Practice or Single Race mode until you "unlock" them by winning specific tournaments. In order for you to easily choose which tournament you need to compete in, I have compiled all of the relevant information for each tourney. First, the races that make up the tournament are listed in the order in which they are raced, then the minimum and maximum wager amounts for each race in the tournament are shown. "Max Tournament Winnings" is how much you'd make if you entered the tourney, bet the maximum amount each race, and finished first in each race. The figure is simply: (tournament pot) + (winnings from all individual races) - (cumulative amount that was wagered on all races). So, for example, if you had $10,000 going into the Class 1 Tournament 1, and if you won every race after having wagered the maximum amount, you'd finish up with $32,500. The final three categories show you what cars and/or tracks you will unlock by winning the specific tournament. It's pretty self-explanatory... "Practice Car Unlocks" lists the cars you'll be able to race with in Practice mode after beating the tournament. "Practice Track Unlocks" shows the new tracks you'll be able to race on in Practice mode. And finally, "Single Race Track Unlocks" tells you which new tracks you can use in Single Race mode.
Cop Chase/Challenge mode[edit]
Cop Chase doesn't unlock anything, unless you count being able to play Stop the Bomber after completing all 5 tracks in Stop the Racers. Not even completing all 5 tracks in Stop the Bomber has any effect. You don't get to play on any new tracks, nor do you get to use any new cop cars.
Challenge mode doesn't have any purpose other than to net you easy money. Completing all the challenges, even doing so repeatedly and with phenomenal times, doesn't open up any new challenges.
The purpose of both of these modes is to let you get ahold of some money if you're low. You have to spend money (on upgrades as well as in the form of wagering) in order to make money in this game, and if you are stuck at around zero cash, you can't even enter a race to make some dough. Cop Chase and the Challenges provide the only ways to make money without risking anything. This is their only purpose... well, ok, another purpose is to add a twist to the game and give it more playability, but to answer the initial question: no, these two play modes don't accomplish anything besides helping you get by financially.
Miscellaneous Info[edit]
Here are a few facts about Test Drive 6 that probably won't be frequently asked questions, but nevertheless may prove useful to some players.
- In Tournaments, you start out in last place for the first race. For every other race, your starting position is the position in which you finished the previous race.
- During the stats screen when your selected car is spinning around, hold the L and R triggers in to stop the car from rotating. Then use left and right on the directional pad to rotate the car manually.
- Cars will always sell for exactly half the amount you have put into them, even if you spent money on multiple upgrades for the same part. For instance, if you bought a $10,000 engine upgrade and then later bought a $30,000 engine upgrade for the same car, you'll still get back half the car's initial price plus $20,000 (half of the combined upgrade cost).
Do the tracks exist in real life?[edit]
No. The programmers did, however, take actual famous sites and include them in their appropriate locations. But these are just pieces of scenery and have been transplanted for the sake of giving each track a bit of a regional identity. I mean, think about it... if you weren't questioning the existence of a road that links Big Ben to New Scotland Yard a mile or two away, then surely you had to notice something was wrong when you were driving under the Eiffel tower at 200 miler per hour...