The Computer Edition of: SCALEXTRIC® INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE SPECTRUM 48/128. A Loading SCALEXTRIC B Introduction C Set-up Procedure D Design Circuit E The Race F Appendix A LOADing SCALEXTRIC LOADIng from Cassete:- 1. Insert the Scalextric® cassette in the cassette unit and make sure it is completely rewound to the beginning. 2. Type the word LOAD "" and press the ENTER key on the keyboard. You must press the PLAY key on the cassette unit. 3. Once the SCALEXTHIC® program is loaded, the titles display and the game starts. When the first prompt appears, press the STOP key on the cassette unit. Remove the cassette and keep it safe for next time. B INTRODUCTION The SCALEXTRIC® program is an exciting two-part game for 1 or 2 players combining both circuit design and race simulation features. The program provides the players with the thrill and challenge of racing on 17 pre-set simulated Formula 1 tracks - both against each other or against the lap timer. Circuits are easily designed using an icon-driven design utility and original circuits may be preserved for future games by saving to cassette. Each player has a "heads-up" 3D view of the approaching race track and a plan view showing the car's position relative to the whole circuit. An appendix at the back of the booklet shows the relative sizes and shapes of different types of track sections, together with a list of the Formula 1 tracks included in the program. C THE SET-UP PROCEDURE After the title screens, the set-up prompts appear and can be dealt with as shown below: PLEASE ENTER NAME PLAYER 1: Type a name up to 7 letters long followed by ENTER. PLEASE ENTER NAME PLAYER 2: If the 2nd player is to be a computer-generated racer, simply press ENTER. The program will provide a name for this player. If the 2nd player is a human opponent - then type a name followed by ENTER. DO YOU HAVE A JOYSTICK PLAYER 1? Press Y If you are using a joystick then select joystick (Sinclair, Kempston, Cursor), if not then press N and define keys. DO YOU HAVE A JOYSTICK PLAYER 2? Press Y or N (this question only comes up if there are 2 human participants). DESIGN CIRCUIT? If you wish to design your own circuit press Y, otherwise press N (See the section on Design Circuit if you pressed Y). LOAD TRACK? Press Y if you wish to load a circuit saved previously. Once the circuit has been loaded, you will be ready to race (See the section on The Race) CHOOSE A CIRCUIT - ACCEPT? If you pressed N for the prior prompt, the program will draw one of the 17 Formula 1 tracks included In the program. If you do not accept a track, the next one is drawn in order as listed in the appendix. If you accept and select a track by typing Y, you will be ready to race. D DESIGN CIRCUIT The first operation in the design stage is to position the start/finish straight. An arrow in the centre of the screen marks the current position of the start. Move the arrow to the desired position by using the keyboard or selected joystick. The start/finish can be either Horizontal or Vertical - just press the letter H or V as appropriate. The track piece will be drawn on the screen. You may now use either the cursor control keys or a joystick to select the next piece to be added onto the track. The available pieces are shown at the top of the screen, and the arrow will move to any desired piece. To select a particular piece, position the arrow and press ENTER or FIRE on the joystick. The piece chosen will be added to the track on the screen and also highlighted at the top of the screen. If you wish to use the same piece again, simply press ENTER or FIRE on the joystick. To close a circuit, you must link up with the start/finish straight. This is achieved by adding track pieces until the last piece in the circuit is facing the start/finish straight and in the same direction (it may slightly overlap or be off-centre). At this point you can point the arrow to CLOSE and the program will close the circuit. If you are close enough, the program can actually fill in the gaps for you. It is easy to correct any errors - point the arrow to LIFT and the last piece placed on the track will be lifted. You have an unlimited number of pieces to play around with - subject only to the space available on the screen and a few simple rules :- 1. Banked curves should be used in groups of three. 2. Although you may criss-cross in the design, you cannot make a full circle without any straights. 3. Chicanes can only be added to other chicane pieces - and only the in/out chicane piece can start and end a chicane. At any time, you may cancel the design by pointing the arrow to ABORT- and this will return you to the start of the prompts. Once the circuit is closed, you are able to save it for future games. The program prompts with SAVE TRACK? and you may keep it on cassette. Point the arrow to start after the circuit has been successfully closed to go on to the race section. The ABORT and START options are flashed to let you know that it is now time to race! E THE RACE You must now select the length of the race in laps - type in a number between 1 and 99 and press ENTER. If player 2 is a computer driver you will be asked for the OPPOSITION QUALITY -enter a number between 1 (least skilled) and 3 (most skilled). The race-track appears with both cars positioned on the grid and waiting for the flag to drop. Player 1 controls the red car with the track ahead in 3D in the centre screen window and the bottom left plan view. This player's name, speed and lap time are shown in the bottom left screen area. Similarly, player 2 controls the yellow car with the track ahead in 3D in the top screen window and the bottom right plan view. If the cars are close enough, they can appear in one or both screens. The position of each car in the track is shown on the appropriate plan view of the circuit as a small square. Once the flag drops the race is on! To start moving, accelerate and press FIRE on Joystick or LEFT and RIGHT on the keyboard. You control your vehicle using the joystick or keys as shown below:- PLAYER 1 PLAYER 2 Joystick Joystick Forward - accelerate Forward - accelerate Back - brake Back - brake Left - move left Left - move left Right - move right Right - move right Keyboard left-hand side Keyboard right-hand side As set by user. As set by user. CURVES AND SKIDDING There are 4 types of curve - OUTER, STANDARD, INNER and BANKED. These present different pictures to the driver and the car acts differently on each type. The sharper the curve the greater the centrifugal force exerted on the car - the tower the maximum speed at which you may go round without skidding. The banked curve allows a higher speed than a normal curve! Once you start skidding, there is a pronounced "skid" sound and the car will drift outwards on the curve. You may stop the skid by braking sufficiently. IF YOU ALLOW THE SKID TO PERSIST SO THAT YOU RUN ONTO THE GRASS VERGE, THE CAR WILL SLOW DOWN DRASTICALLY AND YOU CANNOT GET BACK ONTO THE TRACK UNTIL YOUR SPEED IS DOWN TO APPROXIMATELY 50 MILES PER HOUR!!! CRASHING In a crash, the car approaching from behind is always destroyed and that player loses the race immediately! However, if the relative speed of the 2 vehicles is less than 20 miles per hour, the car in front will be pushed along by the car behind. If the vehicles have drawn level, one car may shove the other sideways in order to pass or simply distract the other driver. This does not cause a crash! CHICANES The chicane is only wide enough to accept one car - you must enter the chicane with your car approximately centred on the white lines or suffer a partial skid on the grass verge. This may slow you down considerably! If both cars try to enter a chicane simultaneously, then one or both may suffer! LAP TIMES These are highlighted after each lap and held on the screen for a short while before resetting - it is useful to check the other player's time as well as your own. At any time, you may abort the race by pressing A (or the ABORT key you have set) and restart or change the circuit. F APPENDIX LENGTH EQUIVALENCE 4.49 x STRAIGHT A 4 x STRAIGHT B 2 x STRAIGHT C 1 x STRAIGHT D 1 x IN/OUT CHICANE 1 x SKID CHICANE 2 x SHORT CHICANE 180 DEGREE CURVE 8 x OUTER 4 x STANDARD 8 x HALF STANDARD 2 x DOUBLE INNER 4 x INNER 8 x HALF INNER 4 x CURVED CHICANE 3 x BANKED FORMULA 1 CIRCUITS RIO BRAZIL ESTORIL IMOLA MONACO BELGIUM VILLENEUVE DETROIT ZANDVOORT MONZA BRANDS HATCH ROME ADELAIDE KYALAMI SILVERSTONE PAUL RICARD NURBURGRING AUSTRIA