Played it a few times last night. AM Night with a basic car is a nightmare!!!
I have found the following guide which contains spoilers but might help.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/pc/581...uel/faqs/67794
To be honest I had a copy that came with a computer I bought second hand that might have been a bootleg. If nothing else I can now play it legally.
I suspect I'll be cheating and backing up the save game and maybe hex-editing it to make the early game a bit less "grindy". Not everyone wants a Rags to Riches campaign with the many deaths on the way.
EDIT:
Joy. Just looked at the save game and you don't even need a hex editor, it is all in text. No need to grind Atlantic City!!! Plus it looks like you can edit the AM Night car and put your own design in directly, edit your progress in championships etc. This is very cool as you can skip the bits you find less enjoyable.
This is going to be good :)
EDIT:
Well you can definitely edit stuff, but it doesn't prevent the arena events from being too hard. I am not even convinced the opponents can be killed, they seem to have infinite ammunition and whilst AM Night is supposed to be just Killer Karts they can apparently take dozens of hits from an MG. Not sure the Mine Dropper is working either.
Maybe all the AM night cars use the save game profile ones. I'll test by setting the "Installed Armour" to zero but the Current Armour to higher (which should only affect my vehicle). Not sure if there is any error trapping in there.
I don't see this as cheating since all the opponents only target you and not each other.
We really need a MOD community for this :)