CRAZY TAXI TECHNIQUES

Church/Heliport area — map and notes about customer selection

ASCII Map

    |     |
    |     |
    |16   '-.
    |     17 \
    |     .   '-.
    |     .      \        heliport
    |13   . 14    '---------------------.
    |     .        .                    |
    |     .        .                    |
    |     .     ...                     |
    |     . 15 .                        |
    /     .    .                        |
   / .    .    .     ...............   .'-.
  /  .    .     .....              .   .   \
 /    .    .                       .   .    '-.
/   12 .     . . . . . . . . . . . .   .       \
|        .                             .        |
|          . . . . . . . . . . . . .    .       |
|                                   .    .      |
|                              11    .   .      |
|                                    .   .      |
|                     9             .   .       |
|                                 .    .        |
|                               .     .         |
|                           . .      .          |
|                       . .      . .            |
|                8  . .      . .                |
|               . .      . .                    |
|           . .      . .            10          |
|         .      . .                            |
|        .   . .                                |
|       .   .                                   |
|      .   .                                    |
|      .   .                                    |
|       .   .    6                              |
|        .    . .                               |
|         .       . .                           |
|           . .       . .                       |
|               . .       . .                   |
|                   . .       .  7              |
|                       . .     . .             |
|                           . .    .            |
|    .--------.                 .   .           |
|    |        |   2              .    .         |
|    |        |       3            .   .        |
|    | church |                     .   .       |
|    '--------'           4         .   .       |
|                                  .   .        |
|                                .    .         |
|                               .    .         /
|                 1         . .     .         /
|                       . .      . .         /
|                   . .      . .         .--'
|               . .      . .            /
|             .      . .     5      .--'
\           .      .               /
 '--.      .     .             .--'
     \    .     .             /
      '---.     .------------'
          |     |

Customer Notes

Nearly all of the customers in this area will send you backwards if you choose them when they're the wrong colors.

  • Church drop-offs
    Choose Customer 1 when it's orange to go to the RB Station. Light-green Customer 5 always goes to the Baseball Stadium. When yellow, Customers 6 and 7 will also go to the Baseball Stadium. Customers 2, 3, and 4 should only be taken under the following conditions:
  • When 4 is orange, 3 is red, and 2 does not appear, choose 3 to the Heliport.
  • When 4 is red, 3 does not appear, and 2 is red, choose 2 to the Heliport.
  • Only after 2 and 3 have been chosen should you choose 4 when it's orange to the RB Station.
  • Heliport drop-offs
    Customers 8, 9, and 10 should only be taken when they are orange to go to the RB Station. Complicating matters is the fact that 9 and 10 do not turn orange very often (an orange 9 is especially rare). Orange Customer 11 is the only one in this area that is always present and always wants to go forward (also to the RB Station). Only take Customer 17 when it is dark-green to go to the Police Station. Choose Customer 16 when it is red for a trip to the RB Station. Customers 13, 14, and 15 are always orange when they appear; you have to look at which ones appear to know who to choose for the best chance of going to the Baseball Stadium. First, imagine that these three customers form a triangle:
    • In the rare occurrence that all three customers appear, 14 has the best chance of going forward to the Baseball Stadium.
    • When two of these three customers appear, select the one at the most clockwise point of the triangle (or the one counterclockwise from the missing customer, if you'd rather visualize it that way) for the best chance of a trip to the Baseball Stadium.
    • Unfortunately, once you've chosen two of them the remaining customer is left completely up to chance. My theory is that the best way to optimize the number of forward trips is to take 13 first, then 15, and 14 as the last one. Since 14 should go forward in two of the scenarios — once when it is paired with 13 and again when all three customers appear — making it your last customer may increase the chances for a final forward trip. Since the last of these three customers is such a gamble anyway, you may opt to ignore it as long as you're not desperate for time.
    • If either two or all three of these customers have not been picked up yet but only one customer appears, do not take it. Even if it means driving to the R.B. Station area passengerless, it's still better than not tilting the odds in your favor and getting sent backwards because of it.
  • backwards customers
    With the exceptions of 5, 11, and 12, every customer here may send you backwards if they are not chosen according to the colors listed above. If an orange or red customer sends you backwards, you'll go to the Tower Records/KFC area. Yellow "backwards" customers will send you to the Levi's Store and light-green "backwards" customers send you to either Popcorn Mania or FILA. Furthermore, even if you follow the instructions for Customers 13, 14, and 15 perfectly, you still can't be 100% certain any of these customers will send you to the Baseball Stadium (if all three do, you're very lucky). BTW, avoid Customer 12 as it always sends you backwards whether it's orange or yellow.

Additional Notes...

  • It should be obvious that you do not want to follow the winding road in this area. In addition to the fact that it would take longer, you'd also have to deal with a lot more traffic. Alas, all too often people new to Crazy Taxi who've been "brainwashed" with racing game experience do just that; and it's still a sad thing to see. ("You want to drive on the grass here! Really! Just follow the arrow...")
  • Cross the street to take an available yellow 6 or 7 before taking 1, 2, 3, or 4. Customers 6 and 7 tend not to be yellow later on in the game when you're hoping they will be. Also, when driving here passengerless from the Tower Records/KFC area, you (hopefully) won't have to drive as far to find someone that wants to go forward.
  • If you haven't taken Customer 10 yet and are about to pick up yellow Customer 7, don't come to a complete stop! By driving at a slow speed over Customer 7's pick-up circle, Customer 10 will come into view. If 10 is not orange, just hit the Brake and take 7, but if it is floor the Gas Pedal and get 7 later on.
  • When you're driving at Limiter Cut speeds, you can use the hills as ramps to launch your cab into the air for very long distances. If the Heliport is your passenger's destination, execute your last Limiter Cut just before you reach the top of the Customer 10's hill and you won't hit the ground again until you're within the drop-off zone. Just make sure that you're not aimed to the right of the heliport ramp, or you won't make it.

    When your destination is beyond the Heliport, drive between Customers 6 and 7 towards the "exit" between Customers 16 and 17 at LC1 or LC2 speed to jump over the first stretch of road (make sure your cab won't hit any trees when it lands). While you're in the air during this jump, quickly Limiter Cut once (or twice, if you can do it correctly and quickly enough) so that you hit the Gas Pedal just before you land. Your cab will rocket into the air as it uses this hill for a ramp. If you were able to get two good Limiter Cuts in, your aim was true, and you avoided all the trees, your cab may fly over Customer 16 before landing again! An alternate way to make a huge jump is to constantly Limiter Cut, driving between Customers 6 and 7 and using their hill as the ramp that launches you into the air (do this when you pick up a Levi's Store, Tower Records, or KFC customer with a destination beyond the Heliport.)
  • When dropping off a passenger at the Heliport, drive close enough to check the color of Customer 8 or 10 (or both). Hopefully, at least one of these two won't be orange. Why? Because when you drop off your passenger and return to them, their colors will have "shifted." The ones that weren't orange before might be now! (This is a much better plan than driving up "blind" from the Church; but keep in mind that it helps to know which customers want trips to the Heliport, and the game has to offer them in the right colors...)
  • I like to save Customer 11 as a backup in case I'm forced to drive up from the Church later in the game because none of the other customers in the area want to go forward.
  • Unlike the little posts you can drive through without consequence in the Square Park area, the slightly taller posts surrounding the Heliport's landing pad will halt your cab. Avoid them like you would trees or you'll be sorry.
  • The process introduced at the Levi's Store location of repeatedly driving into, then backwards out of and forward back into, the visual range of customers to force them to shift colors works here, too (as it does anywhere in the game). You can do this to Customers 6 and 7 from the Church area, and also to 9 and 10. Just be careful not to get too close to any other pick-up circles when you switch gears to Reverse or your cab may stop on a customer you don't want. Also, you can't use it to manipulate the "orange triangle" of Customers 13, 14, and 15. For instance, seeing only one customer there, then forcing another to appear, will not make the most clockwise of the two more likely to go forward. You have to give all of them the chance to shift for the patterns outlined above to retain their validity.