Checkpoint 2 - The Beach

## Presskit picture

### New drivers

A group of ornithologists, Jennifer Womack, Mr. Price, Irene Spencer, Mr. Wilson, Ms. Nelson, Mr. Hall, Mr. Satelle, Robert 'Crazy Bob' Foley, Mia Chaney

### Recurring drivers

Clark Jensen, Mrs. Mayfield, Hernandez, Ben Womack, Mr. Baker

## Description

**The Beach** is the third level of Does Not Commute. It comes after The City, along with a higher difficulty and some expansion on the game play. This is the only level that features boats. They function the same as cars, except they can only move on water, and if you get stuck on land, you are forced to rewind, like how cars force you to rewind when you sink in water. The things you might find on a beach are all here; several storefronts, a pier, two bridges, a ramp, some residential buildings, some road-side palm trees and a few umbrellas. The time of day in this stage slowly transitions from Mid-Afternoon to near Evening.

Grass isn’t visible in the Level SelectCrazy Bob on land
## Drivers

The stage features 15 drivers, like The City. The new drivers introduced are; A group of ornithologists (no specific name given), Jennifer Womack, Mr. Price, Irene Spencer, the Wilson family (no names given, but Mr. Wilson is shown), Ms. Nelson, Mr. Hall, Mr. Satelle and his children, Robert 'Crazy Bob' Foley and Mia Chaney. The returning drivers are; Clark Jensen, Mrs. Mayfield, Ice cream man Hernandez, Ben Womack and Mr. Baker. The previous level is The City. The next level is The Amusement Park.

In tonight's spectacular installation of the Does Not Commute wiki, we are introduced to more residents of this zany town and have a few familiar faces.

## Summary

* Clark Jensen is back! He is still succeeding in tricking everyone into believing that spirits can possess cars, as he plans to hold a lecture, wonder how many attended?
* Hernandez is back for one last appearance! The last time we saw him, he had just bought rodenticide from the local general store, but judging at how the Wilsons and Satelles feel sick, and how the Satelle's came from Hernandez's destination. I think Hernandez had some more "sinister" motives for that rodenticide.
* Ben Womack is back as well, and going to investigate some strange activity at Glower Boulevard, maybe it's the ornithologists taking pictures of the rumored dodos over there for their studies, but my question is how dodos exist, as they're extinct! Ben Womack may be having fun, but his sister, Jennifer, thinks otherwise, as she wishes he was "normal" (Yeah right, good luck with that).
* Irene Spencer is out and about in her favorite vehicle, the boat, though it's strange that being six years of age, she's able to control a boat, she must smarter than she looks!
* She may be smart, but Mr. Baker may be smarter. He seems lonely, as he observes the happy couples on the beach, but as always "A man alone, is a man on the throne!"
* Ms. Nelson is also looking forward to the beach. She plans to spend a lazy day there, but wonders about the peculiar X-ray machine at the dentist, sounds like Schneider did something to her I think (Assuming he's the only dentist in this town).
* Mrs. Mayfield is here too! She's worked very hard today and hoping that her husband won't chatter about the Yorkshire Terriers, well unfortunately for you, he's just bought a adult-sized Yorkshire Terrier suit, so that hope is in the toilet.
* Hobby philosopher Mr. Price is also out and about, after realizing that his vehicle is indeed non-specific (It's called an ATV or All-Terrain Vehicle and indeed not a four-wheeler). Mr. Hall has just as good imagination as Ben Womack, as he imagines being a stuntman for some sort of movie involving explosions and a jump over the pier on a boat.
* Robert 'Crazy Bob' Foley, a businessman, loves the ocean (Well the ocean is filled with plastic nowadays) and has provided many of this game's power-ups. He seems to prefer boats rather than cars, considering most of his products seem to compute only with cars, but it works on boats too luckily.
* Finally, we have Mia Chaney, a *real* federal investigator on Ben Womack's case. Wonder if she'll be able to apprehend him in time. Read on to see for yourself!

### The story goes as follows:

1. Spiritual advisor Clark Jensen is on his way to hold an open-air lecture called "The Great Beyond and The Spirits of Vehicles". There will be a short seance after the lecture.[1]
2. Mrs. Mayfield makes her way back home after a busy day at work. She's tired, and wishes to have one night without conversations about Yorkshire Terriers.[2]
3. A group of ornithologists leaves the beach in haste, after hearing strange rumors of dodo sightings on Glower Boulevard.[3]
4. Jennifer Womack was enjoying a day in the sun, when she got a call. Her brother has gone missing. His ferris wheel obsession is difficult enough, but she wishes he could accept that he's a simple cleaner, and stop going off on fantasy adventures.[4]
5. Ice cream man Hernandez can't wait for all the customers to enjoy his ice cream at the beach.[5]
6. Hobby-philosopher Mr. Price had an epiphany on his way to the beach. 'A four-wheeler is a strangely unspecific name for a vehicle like this!' he shouts happily to no one in particular.[6]
7. Irene Spencer has loved boats ever since she was three. She's now six.[7]
8. Federal Investigator Ben Womack is on his way to check some strange activity involving blinking lights and loud noises on Glower Boulevard.[8]
9. The Wilson family suddenly felt very ill and is now heading home from the beach. What a shame![9]
10. Ms. Nelson is looking forward to a lazy day at the beach after her dental check up. It's all a bit fuzzy still. That didn't look like a regular x-ray machine.[10]
11. Accountant Mr. Hall imagines having all kinds of exciting jobs. Mr. Hall takes his imagination very seriously. Today he's a stunt man, and there's a big scene involving explosions and a complicated jump over the pier.[11]
12. Mr. Satelle and his children are on their way back home from the beach, earlier than expected. They're all feeling sick.[12]
13. Businessman Robert 'Crazy Bob' Foley is enjoying the waves today. How could anyone want to drive a car when there's an ocean as beautiful as this, he wonders.[13]
14. Advertiser Mr. Baker heads out to the pier for some inspiration. From his own boat, he observes the happy couples on the beach. 'A man alone, is a man on the throne!' Mr. Baker whispers to himself.[14]
15. One of the vans from the bureau has gone missing, and federal investigator Mia Chaney is on the case. She has a hunch about the whereabouts of the suspect.[15]

## Unlocks

After the eighth car [on the ninth car, Mr. Wilson] of The Beach, you unlock the third of three power-ups (Four, if "Practice Mode" counts), ARMOR. When you equip ARMOR, you gain complete invincibility from all crashes. Nothing can hurt you. The downside is that your car is significantly slower than usual and you accelerate much slower as well. And no, not the same speed decrease as TRACTION CONTROL, this one is much bigger. You car is slowed down to a crawl with ARMOR on. Use this only if you're sure you're going to crash otherwise. Or if you just want to mess around and fly off the map (yes, cars no longer crash. Instead, when hit, they might bounce off objects such as buildings and other cars. It will cause a lot of glitches...).

## Example Uses

Non-smoky cars are assumed to be using armor in the pictures.

Mr. Satelle bumping Mr. HallMr. Price wore the armor to prevent crashing. (Clark Jensen also. He is buried under several other crashed cars.)Dr. Brown, being very fast in a sports car, would break Ni-Ko Bim-Zawang's antique car unless it wore ARMOR.Surrounded by cars, Charles Schneider would most definitely break if not for the armor.The same here. (Ni-Ko Bim-Zawang would have been crashed around by the sedans and sports cars a lot, and would be emitting smoke right now, if it also weren't for the armor.)The cars wore the armor (except Ms. Donnahue with TRACTION CONTROL). (Mr. Sculley is drifting professionally with TURBO instead.)The golf carts wore the armor to prevent being crashed by Clark Jensen.Non-smoky cars obviously wore the armor, especially the Charles Schneiders, golf carts, and Clark Jensen.Dr. Brown can bump two (very shaky and smoky) Future Cars with the armor, without breaking.Bumping into the Future Cars is no problem - Dr. Brown can just push past them and reach 88, and time travel!Mrs. Stewart can also bump two (very shaky and smoky) Future Cars, with the armor.Ms. Donnahue wearing the armor to slow down and crash Julia and three Future Cars.Dr. Brown's pileup.jpgWith the armor, the sedans and sports cars can be protected from crashing into a damaged Mr. Sculley, Mr. Lee, Duncan or Mr. Ferssel.Mrs. Clemons pushing Lord Ridley.jspgBeing subject to so many bumps, the cars here would have to wear the armor to not crash and fill the air with smoke like Ms. Reid.With the armor on, Dr. Brown can bump into Mrs. Stewart and Mr. Ferssel without breaking (all the better for time travel!)For Mr. Kirby and Charles Schneider not to crash and break, they obviously wore the armor.On the way to the Metropolis/Future, a huge car pileup ensued after Ms. Donnahue ran a campaign to lead everyone into the future. (Luckily, most wore ARMOR.)The Charles Schneiders, Ben Womack, and police officer Johnsson are investgating why Mr. Shepard came here, before the laser road joined.Ms. Donnahue is chasing after Mrs. Smith for her apples, and Ben Womack and two Charles Schneiders are surrounding Mr. Shepard, crashing him to extract information from him about the Metropolis/Future. ([[Police officer Johnsson and retired Dentist Charles Schneider are watching from behind.)Mr. Ruiz is very confused about that voice, and is going with Ms. Donnahue to see the Lee twins.Mrs. Smith wants to give some apples to Ms. Donnahue! (Wearing the armor, Mrs. Smith can stop drifting as much, continuing on a straight path to avoid falling into the pit or crashing into the Checkpoint sign, or the buildings.)To avoid crashing into the kerb or the tunnels' walls of the City (Night), Mrs. Clemons used the armor to carefully bump into them instead, and slowly turn out to reverse from the tunnel, and continue to follow Mr. Clemons.Ni-Ko Bim-Zawang, wearing ARMOR, crashed Charles Schneider, and then Mrs. More.The cars, with ARMOR on, are crashing Mrs. More.Ni-Ko Bim-Zawang, wearing ARMOR, crashed Mrs. More into the huge pileup of Future Cars.</noinclude>

## Radio commercial

**"Ladies and gentlemen, what if you could do whatever you want and to do it without any consequences!"
What if that was the case!?
Well, guess what, now it is.
You could be the maniac you truly are inside of your heart!
I know, I know what you got going up on in there!
And that your heart of yours, YOUR DARN MANIA!!"
(Maniacal laughter)
So listen up, come on down to Crazy Bob's!
We got probiotic armor for your car that'll make you drive like a rock star!
That's my motto at Crazy Bob's, Downtown, come on down, QUIT SCREWING AROUND!
Purchase of Armor avoids all collision and liability insurance."**

As you can clearly see, "ARMOR" might fail on you. Maybe if you crashed really hard (like this accident: ), the "probiotic armor" will fail, unfortunately, "Crazy Bob" has foreseen such a situation as this and has made sure the product avoids insurance for the client's car. So if you buy "ARMOR" and you crash and it doesn't work, well, you just wasted your money on something that avoids your insurance claims. Tough luck for you then!
</gallery></noinclude>

## TRACTION VS. TURBO VS. ARMOR

Now that we have all three major power-ups, it's easier for me to compare them.

1. TRACTION comes out on top, as being the most efficient power-up. It gives you extreme traction, but at reduced speed, but that is actually not a big problem, as reduced can prevent you from crashing. It also comes with hidden perks like driving through grass, rocks or water without it slowing you down.
2. TURBO stacks up at second, as it gives you more speed with the downside of reduced traction. Sure, speed is good, but traction is more important, so speed is not always key. TURBO is a rather useful power-up, but can also screw you over, as you might rewind a lot before you get it.
3. ARMOR is at the bottom of the ranks as it comes with two disadvantages, not one, i.e. reduced speed and acceleration. The only upside is invincibility, but in most cases, it's not seen to be used all that often.

So, TRACTION wins first on the podium, but as previously mentioned before, no power-up can "boost" you chances of winning, it can only give you help but won't guarantee a win in the end.

## Hidden Time Bonuses

From what I know, there are no hidden time bonuses in The Beach.

## Secret Radio Commercial

### Robert 'Crazy Bob' Foley radio commercial for "TRACTION CONTROL"

If you slide the red line on your screen over the Crazy Bob's gas station, it will start playing the radio commercial for "TRACTION CONTROL". This is yet another radio commercial for one of Crazy Bob's products. I think Mr. Baker is really talented in his radio ad layouts, personally. The dialogue for the commercial goes as follows:

**"Ladies and gentlemen, let me ask you something.
Is your car slipping all over the gosh darn road?
Do you wish you had more control?
Well, come on down to "Crazy Bob's"!
We got tires, we got wheels and we even got hubcaps, but most importantly ladies and gentlemen, we got TRACTION CONTROLLL!
You see, when you get your hands on some TRACTION CONTROLLL!
You control the car like it's your best friend, the car becomes your best buddy on the road.
Y-Y-You together and your driving, y-y-your going in a straight line, for ONCE, a straight line!
So kids, come on down to "Crazy Bob's" upgrade emporium!
Learn to drive like a champ!
With TRACTION CONTROLLL!
Traction control is intended for entertaining purposes only and is not affected to treatment or care of any disease or ailment."**

In general, TRACTION CONTROL somehow works, but you might contract a terrible disease from what I understand. So watch out! "Crazy Bob" seems to have amazing products that come with terrible prices.

We wish you all a great day and see you next time for the next level: THE AMUSEMENT PARK.