
Rally Driver (Amstrad version)

INSTRUCTIONS:

To compete succesfully in a car rally requires more than just fast driving.
You must plan your route carefully taking many things into consideration:
the weather, longest or shortest routes, which are "fast" roads, which are
"slow" roads.

Drive quickly, but drive carefully. You must always be on the look out in case
spectators or farm animals have strayed on to the road!

The rally takes place in three stages over three gruelling days or nights. To
win a cup you have to come in the top three after the third and final stage.

The competition is tough. Only the top seven competitors can proceed from
Stage I to II, and just the top five go through to Stage III from Stage II.

Each stage contains a number of Time Controls (these are marked on the map
which accompanies the program). You must drive through each Time Control in
order to complete the stage. There are a number of different routes you could
take to go through each Time Control. It is up to you to use your navigation
skills to choose the best course.


Choosing a Course

Before you start to race study the map carefully and decide which will be your
quickest route. You are not allowed to drive along all the roads shown on the
map. The roads which you can use are clearly marked. Several of these roads
are not always open: for example the Marquis of Harker Hall only occasionally
allows rally drivers to take a shortcut along his private road through the
Harker Hall estate.

Sometimes the weather conditions will cause roads to be closed. For instance
after heavy rain some roads may become flooded. To find out which roads are
closed and which are open you must stop at the Time Controls. Here the
marshals will inform you of any changes to road conditions.

When you have completed a stage you are given a score. This consists of the
time it took you to complete the stage in minutes and seconds (from the start
of the last Time Control in the stage) plus any time penalties you have
incurred. The lower your score, the better you have done. Time penalties are
recorded on the navigator's clip board at the left of the dashboard.

Between the Time Controls are Passage Controls. These are simply boards with
some letters written on them. When you reach a Time Control the marshal will
ask you what the letters on the last board were. If you do not enter the
correct letters, you will incur a 20 second time penalty.

Note: sometimes it may be to your advantage not to stop at a Time Control.
      Although you incur a 50 second time penalty you may save yourself
      valuable time by not stopping. However you may also miss important
      information about road conditions.

You can also incur penalties for:

1. crashing your car (30 seconds, or 5 minutes if you were travelling too fast)
2. going off the allowed roads (30 seconds)
3. trying to go in the wrong direction (15 seconds)
4. hitting animals or spectators (5 minutes)


RUNNING THE PROGRAM

Competing in the first stage.


Step 1: The Leaderboard

The Leaderboard appears. This lists the names and positions of the previous
ten competitors. To qualify for Stage II you must gain a high enough score
to get amongst the top 7 on the Leaderboard.

If you are playing on your own you can race the same course as many times as
you like. If you are playing against other people each person can take a turn
at competing in the stage.

Enter the name of your first competitor. If you make a mistake press DEL.
When you have entered the name correctly, press ENTER to continue.

It is not possible to enter the same name twice.


Step 2: Weather Reports

The next screen displays a weather report for the first stage of the rally.
The weather conditions will affect the roads as follows:

Dry        Conditions good for rallying, roads firm, few pools of water or
           patches of mud.
Damp       Roads wet and greasy, some pools of water or patches of mud may
           cause skidding.
Very wet   Danger of flooding on some roads.

Press ENTER to begin the rally.


Step 3: Driving your car

The screen shows the view of your car's windscreen and your dashboard.


Passage Controls and Time Controls

As you drive along the roads you will see notice boards. These are either
Passage Controls or Time Controls.

A Passage Control is simply a notice board with two letters written on it.
You do not have to stop in order to find out what the letters on the board
are, but you must be driving at a speed less than 45 m.p.h. You should make
a note of these letters to avoid incurring time penalties at the next Time
Control. If you drive past a Passage Control at faster than 45 m.p.h. your
navigator will not be able to read the letters and you will not be told which
letters they were.

Time Controls are where the marshals wait to check that each competitor has
followed the proper course.

a. To stop at the Time Control, you must bring your car to a halt within the
   two lines marked on the road by the Time Control board.

b. If you stop too soon, you must drive forward. If you stop too late, you
   will incur a 50 second time penalty. You cannot reverse or turn round and
   so you must continue with the stage.

c. When you stop at a Time Control the marshal asks you to enter the letters
   on the last Passage Control board.

d. Type in the letters. Then press ENTER.

e. If you have entered the wrong letters, you will incur a 20 second time
   penalty.

f. The marshal may now give you information on road conditions. When he or
   she has told you that you can go, press 9 to start your car and continue
   with the stage.


What happens if you crash

When you drive your car to the edge of the road, the border of the screen will
flash. If your car goes too far off the road then you will crash. If you are
going too fast, then your car will be wrecked and you will uincur a severe
time penalty. At slower speeds you will incur a less severe penalty. After a
crash your car will then be placed back on the road. Accelerate to drive off.


How to avoid crashing your car

You will soon learn how to control your car but here are a few hints:

- Corners should be safe taken at about 30 m.p.h. until you are competent at
  steering.

- Sometimes you can use the handbrake to get you round a corner more quickly.
  Accelerate into the corner then press 3 to apply the handbrake. As the car
  rapidly decelerates steer yourself round the corner. Remember to press 3 to
  release the handbrake as soon as possible after the corner.

- Mud and water on the road can cause you to skid - so drive to suit the
  conditions.


Step 4: The end of the stage

When you have completed the stage, the Leaderboard appears again. If your
competitor has qualified, you will see this name appear on the Leaderboard.
Otherwise your competitor will be eleminated from the rally.

a. Enter the name of your next competitor as before.

   Note: you will not be allowed to enter a name which is the same as your
         last competitor.

b. If you do not wish to enter another competitor, press ENTER and the program
   will proceed to the final results.


Step 5: Final results of the stage

When all of your competitors have raced, the top seven competitors on the
Leaderboard go through to Stage II. If none of your competitors has qualified
for Stage II, you must start the rally again from Step 1 of Stage I.

If some of your competitors have qualified, then a new Leaderboard is
displayed showing the top seven previous competitors and their times.
You must race each of your surviving competitors in turn.

a. The competitor who must first start first is highlighted.

b. Press ENTER to get the weather report before you continue your rally.

The same procedure applies for racing in Stage III (but only the top five
competitors qualify). Good luck and good rallying!


Starting again

If you wish to abandon the rally at any stage press ESC.


Use of a joystick

You can use a joystick only when driving your car. On the Leaderboard and
weather conditions screens you must use the keyboard as described in the
preceding pages.

Note: You can steer and accelerate or brake at the same time. For example, to
      steer left and accelerate, push your joystick diagonally up to the left.


Keys:

SPACE   Cycle through choices
ENTER   Confirm choice
1       Steer left (will not work at junctions)
0       Steer right (will not work at junctions)
Q       Turn left in to junction (will not work above 25 m.p.h.)
O       Turn right in to junction (will not work above 25 m.p.h.)
9       Accelerate
2       Brake
3       Handbrake on/off
S-K     (any key) Sound horn


Joystick Controls

Up      accelerate (same as 9)
Down    brake (same as 2)
Left    turn left (same as 1)
Right   turn right (same as 0)
Fire    apply/release handbrake (same as 3)
ESC


Loading instructions

Press CTRL & Enter then press PLAY.


Originally released by Five Ways Software.

Originally published by Hill MacGibbon Ltd.

(c) Alternative Software Limited 1988


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