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Today, we're LPin' The Tube. Well, okay, sort of: It's an event in Steep, a winter sports game that's often unfairly maligned for not being SSX3. That's neither here nor there because I'm about to give you, the friendly and supportive group in LP, a taste of what it is to play Steep. We're gonna do The Tube in its entirety, from start to finish.
The Tube is a wingsuit checkpoint challenge. It's not complicated, really. You pass through the checkpoints to the goal. How hard can it be?
It's roughly medium difficulty, as you can see. Derby just means it's a checkpoint race. One of the neat things about Steep is the multiplayer is asychronous but simultaneous, so you can see my friend demonyaj attempting this run just ahead of me. Her score will update on my leaderboard, on the off chance she ever comes near mine. Not real sure what that category up there means, though.
Here we have an overview of the course. Just dive. I mean, you can't see the first checkpoint, so that first step might be a bit of a doozy.
Oh, there it is.
If it looks a little like you can't see where to go, imagine it at what is esentially freefall.
Hey, that wasn't so hard! It looks so much tougher than it is, I guess.
Oh, skimmed the wall. That's, uh, gonna sting.
Ragdolling down the tube. My buddy keyboard_vomit seems to have missed the wall on this run. Good for him.
Let's try again. Restarting is nearly instant in Steep. This is good.
Not sure where I'm headed here. A lower angle of approach would be ideal, but not so low I find those rocks on the mountainside.
That might be cuttin' it a bit close there, buddy!
Must have overcorrected after a weak jump-off. Pulling up to avoid the mountain would have left me too high to avoid the top of the tube. Should have known it was lost when I jumped wrong.
Not a great angle. Start of the race is too left.
Here we try to salvage it. Not out of the question, with a couple of deft jukes. Left, then right, the dive, and we should be in business.
Yeah...yeah! Not bad. Any approach where you can see the mouth of the tube is probably going to at least get you the first checkpoint.
Uh, unless of course you dive too late. It is here I feel I should point out the outcroppings in the tube itself. This is an excellent view of what's coming at you at near terminal velocity.
Oh, no, that's not amazing at all. Came in too high and missed the tube entirely. Always wear your helmet!
Alright, back on the horse.
This looks like a much stronger approach than the last two. Angle's good, height is great, and a turn to dive right about here should put us straight on through to the first checkpoint.
Oh, yeah. Look at how much room we've got to work. Steep has a neat daredevil system, where you accrue points based on how close you are to the mountain while wingsuiting, and you can really rack up some gaudy numbers if you've got a steady hand and can drag one foot in the powder without crashing. There are, of course, score-attack challenges as well as these time-attack events.
Checkpoint validated! Nice! We're getting there. Now to navigate the tube itself.
Aha, a clear path, right? You see it, don't you? Lookin' strong, lookin' invincible! Let's just, y'know, eaaaassssse left-ish and dive straight down. Whattya say?
Oh, guess not. Well, you do you, past me. I mean, if it were me you'd never let up on the dive and make slight course corrections to keep yourself away from the walls, but what do I know, really?
Here we have a nice view of the HUD element for your last line. The color of the dot represents what discipline you're currently accruing points toward on the line, and it's often useful to have an idea of what worked and what didn't during any particular run.
This looks like a decent approach. We're lined up to the left of the outcropping on the right and should nail the tube dead center.
Look at that! First checkpoint's all but in the bag! Just drift up a teensy bit maybe and we'll just miss the rock that's, you know, right, uh, right there.
Oh, oh, nicely done. That gentle left will take us right down into the tube proper, good thinking.
Ooooooooor...well, okay. That's pretty hard to see, to be fair. But now you know, right? Too high on the checkpoint and you'll scrape yourself off the roof of the tube.
keyboard_vomit, as you can see, has successfully navigated The Tube. I'm not going to say I was annoyed that he did it first, because that would be uncool of me and this game is as chill as can be.
That first checkpoint is feeling pretty solid, now.
Dammit.
I don't think he's gonna make it, Jim.
You already know.
Curses.
A scenic interlude. I could fly all over the mountain all day, and frequently have.
Dammit.
Ouch.
My pride.
Nope.
uh unh.
No.
Let's fast-forward a bit.
roughly fifty attempts, ten minutes, and one outfit change to orange later
Astute readers will notice a few changes here. I just really like this shot.
This is a strong approach. I mean, of course, right? I'd better be able to master the approach by now.
The slight list to the right is important as you don't want to make sudden movements when your margin for error is as tight as it is here.
See? Just kind of drift right and if you're lined up correctly you've already missed the rocks.
Now we drift left. You can't be too sudden but you have to be decisive. Pick your moment and go.
Leveling off, should just barely clear the rocks directly ahead.
If you think you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, it's only because you haven't actually seen this part of the course yet.
Oh, wait, no. There it is. Just a little leftward course correction and we should be on our way, right?
Okay, a lot of leftward course correction. That's daylight up ahead. I can almost taste it.
That orange line is the checkpoint. Number 2.
Oh, wait, no. It's the finish line. Gonna be a hell of a dive to hit it, though.
Oh yes. I mean, yeah you gotta thread yet another needle to get there but really, I mean, after the last few seconds this one is just showin' off.
Uh, leans left in his chair
Whew.
Holy moley we did it! Gold medal and everything! Hooray!
Well, this has been your LP of The Tube, a medium difficulty event in Steep. Hope it's been as fun a ride for you as it was for me.
