Civic Center Race

Civic Center Race
Event	Ordered
Start	E. Olympic Blvd. & Georgia St.
Finish	Pico Blvd. (between both walk bridges)
Checkpoints	18 (Hard/Hardest) 24 (Easiest/Medium)
Location	Downtown

Civic Center Race is an ordered race that appears in Midnight Club: Los Angeles and is located in the Downtown Area.

Route

The race starts at the East Olympic Boulevard & Georgia Street intersection, near the Sports Center, and continues east along Olympic Boulevard until reaching the Broadway intersection. In the "Easiest" and "Medium" difficulties, racers tend to stay on the road and follow the corner, however the player can cut across Pershing Square to reach the Broadway & 6th St. checkpoint. The route goes left and continues northeast along Broadway until reaching the 1st Street intersection; the route then turns left to go east until reaching North Figueroa Street. Racers turn right and go north until the Hollywood Boulevard/Temple Street intersection and then turn left to go east on Hollywood Blvd until reaching North La Brea Avenue. The race will proceed to loop around and bring the racers back to Hollywood Blvd; first by turning left and going south on N. La Brea Ave. to Sunset Boulevard, then turning left again and going east on Sunset Blvd. until reaching the Hollywood Blvd. intersection.

Racers go right and east on Hollywood Blvd. into Temple St. and drive all the way to the end until reaching the old train tracks by the Los Angeles River. Racers will turn right around the corner of a building, and go south along the train tracks through a parking garage located north of the 2nd Street bridge. In the last section of the race, racers will drive into the L.A. River and pass the checkpoint just north of the 4th Street bridge. Typically, opponents will continue straight and launch themselves off a ramp, catapulting them towards the checkpoint. However, their landing nearly always fails and their vehicles will either spin around or flip upside down, which can buy the player time to catch up if lagging behind. The player can either stay on the tracks and smash through the fence to go down into the river, or use the ramp like everybody else. However, slowing down and/or aerial control is highly recommended to ensure a successful landing and little to no time lost.

The track continues southwest along the L.A. River until reaching an exit towards Pico Boulevard. Usually, racers will take the ramp under the electricity pylon located just south of the 6th Street bridge to gain air. However, unlike the previous ramp, the landing has a higher success rate, unless opponents are on a bike. In Easiest/Medium, the bikers will usually spin around and lose time, allowing the player to catch up if behind. However, in Hard/Hardest, the bikes tend to land successfully as well. The player can also use the ramp without having to slow down like the last, but aerial control is recommended. However, it is better to stay on the ground as speed can be gained or maintained better, allowing for better control or drift into the next turn. Racers will then turn right to pass through the arches and tunnel, leading to the Pico Blvd. and Broadway/East 16th Street intersection. Finally, the route will continue west along Pico Blvd. to the finish line that sits between two walking bridges south of the Sports Center.

Extra Notes - Hollywood Blvd Loop

• The player can use the pavement on Hollywood to get a tighter turn and save time, and can also use the 7-Eleven parking lot on La Brea/Sunset to save even more time.
• When reaching the Hollywood/Sunset intersection, there are rare instances where racers may turn left and go north on Vine Street and then go right and northeast at Vine St. & Selma Ave. to cut through the L.A. transit station shortcut. This is NOT an ideal route when carrying speed and it is recommended to stay on Sunset until reaching Hollywood.
• However, if the racer has lost speed via a crash or some reason and is around Vine St., this route is a good route to take in order to catch up and build speed. The racer may have to make a tight turn to access the shortcut but does not need as much steering when approaching the checkpoint as opposed to staying on Sunset Blvd.

Alternate Routes

In the "Hard" and "Hardest" difficulties, there are 6 less checkpoints 3 certain locations, allowing more possible routes for racers to take. However, while these alternate route exist, they aren't necessarily always better than the main route.

Alternate Route 1

During the Broadway section of the race, the checkpoint at Broadway & 6th St. is removed which allows a much faster and more direct path to the 3rd St./Alameda St. checkpoint. The opponents will now cut through Pershing Square as well, instead of staying on the road at Broadway. However, some of the opponents may choose to stay on the road and go the long way around the Olympic/Broadway corner.

Alternate Route 2

When reaching the 1st St. section of the race, the Grand Ave. and N. Figueroa St. checkpoints are removed, allowing racers to skip 1st St. entirely and use alternate routes. One possible route is continuing along Broadway until reaching Temple St., turning left to go east and drive straight towards Hollywood Blvd. This route is very effective as the racer can build up much more speed by cornering less. Another route is to turn left into the plaza/parking lot shortcut and travel west all the way to the end until reaching the split paths. The racer will turn right to go northwest towards the checkpoint and then continue west along Hollywood Blvd. This route is also effective and can allow the player to get ahead of opponents much better, whether on 1st St. or Temple St.

Alternate Route 3

When reaching the old train tracks after Temple St., the three checkpoints near the building and parking garage have been removed, allowing racers to drive into the L.A. River earlier if they choose to. Typically, opponents will still continue along the train tracks and use the ramp to jump to the L.A. River/4th St. bridge checkpoint. However, the player can choose to smash the fence and get into the river early and then drive to the checkpoint without using the ramps. This allows much better control of their vehicle and less risk of crashing/losing speed like the opponents jumping the ramp. It is recommended to enter the river right before the parking garage and after the electricity pylon so that the player does not crash into any walls and maintain the most speed.

Goal Attack Mode

Time Limit	Damage Limit	Position
02:12.00	25%	1st

Power-Up Locations

All power-ups in Arcade Mode are located near all the checkpoints in the Easiest/Medium difficulties. When playing in "Hard" and "Hardest" difficulties, the power-ups will still be located at the missing checkpoints. This can provide an incentive to stick to the main route instead of deviating but it is not necessary to do so.

Checkpoints

Start

• E. Olympic Blvd. & Georgia St.

Checkpoints

*Underlines denote checkpoints only in easiest-medium mode

• Checkpoint 1 - Olympic Blvd. & Flower St./S. Figueroa St.
• Checkpoint 2 - just before Olympic Blvd. & Broadway
• Checkpoint 3 - Broadway & 6th St.
• Checkpoint 3 / 4 - just after Broadway & 3rd St./Alameda St.
• Checkpoint 4 / 5 - Broadway & 1st St.
• Checkpoint 6 - just after 1st St. & Grand Ave.
• Checkpoint 7 - just before 1st St. & N. Figueroa St.
• Checkpoint 5 / 8 - just after N. Figueroa St. & Hollywood Blvd.
• Checkpoint 6 / 9 - Hollywood Blvd. & Sunset Blvd.
• Checkpoint 7 / 10 - just after Hollywood Blvd. & Vine St.
• Checkpoint 8 / 11 - just after Hollywood Blvd. & Wilcox Ave.
• Checkpoint 9 / 12 - just before Hollywood Blvd. & Highland Ave.
• Checkpoint 10 / 13 - just after Hollywood Blvd. & N. La Brea Ave.
• Checkpoint 11 / 14 - just after N. La Brea Ave. & Sunset Blvd.
• Checkpoint 12 / 15 - just after Sunset Blvd. & Wilcox Ave.
• Checkpoint 13 / 16 - Sunset Blvd. & Vine St.
• Checkpoint 14 / 17 - just after Sunset Blvd. & Hollywood Blvd.
• Checkpoint 15 / 18 - Temple St. @ the Parking Entrance
• Checkpoint 16 / 19 - Tempe St. & Broadway
• Checkpoint 20 - around corner of building
• Checkpoint 21 - before parking garage
• Checkpoint 22 - after parking garage (before 2nd St. bridge)
• Checkpoint 17 / 23 - The L.A. River (before 4th St. bridge)
• Checkpoint 18 / 24 - The L.A. River (before exit to Pico Blvd. & Broadway/E. 16th St.)

Finish

• Pico Blvd. (between both walk bridges)

Trivia

• This race is the first of three races in the Downtown Tournament.