Games Database Commodore 64 The Great American Cross-Country Road Race Instructions
- June 4, 2024
- Games Database
Table of Contents
Games Database Commodore 64 The Great American Cross-Country Road Race
INSTRUCTIONS
From sea to shining sea, the race is on! Rally across the nation in high gear in any of four cross-country challenges. Mind you, it’ll take a lot more than just good driving. You’ll need to select the race, map out the best route, check road and weather conditions, look out for speed traps, watch your gas level, go easy on the clutch, and, above all, beat the clock. Because when that clock stops, so do you.
THE OBJECT IS to race from a city on the West Coast to a city on the East Coast in a time that will place you among the top contenders.
SETTING UP
- Turn on the disk drive.
- Insert diskette, label side up, slot first, into the disk drive
- Turn on the computer.
- Plug joystick into port one.
For Commodore Users:
- Type: LOAD “”, 8,1 and press RETURN.
- When loading is complete, a Highway (demonstration) Screen will appear. To move to the Field/Route Select Screen (see next section),. press F3.
For Atari Users:
- The disk automatically loads when the computer is turned on.
- When loading is complete, a highway screen will appear with the note, “SELECT FIELD”. To move to the Field/Route Select Screen, press SELECT.
THE TASK BEFORE You
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The first screen you’ll work with is the Field/Route Select Screen. You will be asked to select a field of race results to compete against. A “held refers to a line-up of ten drivers whose already-established times you will attempt to beat. There are eight fields to choose from (1-8) plus a field of computer scores marked “0” (zero) which appears when the disk is first booted. (See “Getting Underway”)
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You will then be asked to select one of four possible cross-country routes(races).
Here are the choices:- Los Angeles to New York
- Seattle to Miami
- San Francisco to Washington
- U.s.Tour
Each race is from the West Coast to the East. The U.S. Tour also begins on the West Coast but requires you to drive through every city on the map.
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After selecting a race, the Map Screen appears. Here you will select your next destination city, check road and weather conditions and set your time of departure.
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Once the race begins, watch out for police speed traps, poor road conditions, night driving, bad weather, collisions, and gas levels. Also, don’t forget to shift gears, or you’ll blow your engine. (See “On the Road”.)
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When you arrive at a destination, a “welcome” is followed by the Map Screen Then, it’s time to select the next stop on your cross-country route. Previous stops will become red (Commodore) or blink (Atari) on the map. Continue in this manner until you reach your final destination, at which time you will receive your final results and the final ranking.
GETTING UNDERWAY
The Field/Route Select Screen
- Selecting a Field. The first note you will see asks if you wish to “Load opposing field from disk?” If you wish to compete against a field other than the one displayed, press Y. Then press a numbered key from 1-8 to select the desired field. If you wish to compete against the field already displayed. press N. Fields 1 to 8 can be changed as you enter newer and better scores to their ranks. Field O (zero), however, is a fixed field of computer scores. So, as fields I to 8 get filled with high-level scores, the average player can always compete in field O and still have a chance of placing in the top ten.
- Selecting a Route. The next note asks, “Do you want to race this route?, referring to the race displayed near the top of the screen. Remember, there are four races to choose from. If you wish to race along a route other than the one displayed, press N. Commodore users will see the Map Screen. Atari users will see the Highway Screen and must press START to move to the Map Screen.
The Map Screen
- Destination. The flashing circle marks your point of departure; the flashing arrow points to a possible next stop on your route. Use the joystick to move the arrow to another destination city, if you like. Only cities connected to your point of departure by a major highway are eligible choices.
- Road Conditions. A bulletin moving across the top of the map describes the road conditions on the route you are considering. Poor conditions can slow you down.
- Weather Conditions. Check the weather symbols on the map. Snowflakes indicate snow, rainclouds indicate rain. On the Atari version, clouds without rain indicate fog.
- Time of Departure. The clock to the lower left of the map displays the time you wish to begin the race. Plan carefully! Try to project all of your arrival times to avoid things like rush hours and night driving in hazardous areas. Commodore users must press F5 to set the clock: Atari users must press OPTION.
THE RACE IS ON!
Now that you’ve made the above settings, you may begin the race. To do so,
press the joystick button. Idle at the start for a moment to take a look at
your instrument panel:
- The fuel gauge shows your gas level. You begin with a full tank.
- The timerat the center displays the amount of time you have to complete that leg of the race. If time runs out before you reach your destination, you’ll be disqualified. Reach your destination with time to spare, and you’ll have that much more time to finish the next leg of the race.
- The mileage indicator (odometer) below the timer cisplays the distance to your Current destination. This counts down as you go.
- The radar detector will flash when a police speed trap lies ahead.
- The RPM’clock’ (tachometer) works with the MPH ‘clock’ (speedometer) to show you how fast you’re going.
- E.T. represents your elapsed time so far. It appears on the instrument panel in the Commodore version and on the Map Screen in the Atari version. When you’re ready to go, press the joystick button.
ON THE ROAD
- Controls. Press the joystick button to accelerate. Pull back on the joystick to brake. Move the joystick left or right to steer.
- Shifting Gears. Your car has four gears; it always starts out in first gear. The faster you drive, the faster your wheels revolve. RPM stands for revolutions per minute, and as the RPM rises, your car’s whine will raise in pitch and it will be necessary to shift gears. When the engine whine gets really high-pitched and the hand on the tachometer (RPM clock) reaches the nine o’clock position, you must slow down and shift to a higher gear. Otherwise, you’ll blow the engine! If this should happen, you must push the car to the next gas station. Do so by pressing the joystick button repeatedly.
You can also shift too soon. If you are not driving fast enough to warrant being in a high gear, acceleration will be sluggish and slow. It’s time to downshift
To shift gears:
- Release the joystick button. This puts in the clutch.
- Tap the joystick forward to shift to a higher gear. Pull it back to shift to a lower gear (downshift).
- Press the joystick button to accelerate.
- Gas is available every 100 miles. Upcoming pumps are announced on screen. To refuel, stop just in front of the pump. You’ll hear the gas pumping as your gauge moves to the right. NOTE: A gas pump will appear sooner than the 100 mile interval whenevera blown engine or empty gas tank forces you to push your car.
- Radar. The radar detector flashes to warn of an approaching speed trap. You’ll soon see a police car. Pass politely, unless you think you can leave him in the dust. Can you?
- Collisions throw you into a skid and put you back into first gear. When the skid ends, accelerate, start shifting and get back into the race!
REACHINGA DESTINATION
“WELCOME” will flash over the skyline as you enter each city enroute to your
ultimate goal. Then, the Map Screen appears.
- It will display your current elapsed time (E.T) and average miles per hour (MPH).
- The flashing circle shows your current location.
- Your previous stops will be shown on the map in red (Commodore) or as blinking dots (Atari).
- The flashing arrow points to a city suggested as your next destination. You can change this destination by moving the arrow with the joystick.
- Your current ranking among your chosen field of drivers will be shown above the map.
Resuming The Race. Once you’ve set your next destination on the map, press the joystick button to begin that leg of the race.
THE END OF THE RACE
The race can end in one of three ways:
- Disqualification. This occurs as soon as you run out of time at any point in the race.
- Finish, but not in top ten. You may finish the race but not rank high enough to be placed with the top ten contenders in your field. In that case, you will still be con- gratulated on screen, and your rank will be displayed aboye the top ten. You can see how close (or far) you were from a place on the board.
- Finish in the top ten. You’ve earned a place in the rankings, determined by the computer. Look for the cursor and type your name or nickname in the space provided.
SAVING YOUR SCORES
- Saving to the Road Race disk. If you’ve finished in the top ten, the computer will ask if you want to save the results. Type Y for yes, N for no. If you have been racing against field O, you can only save the results by shifting them to a different field, since field O is fixed and cannot change In this case, the computer will ask, “Save to Road Race disk? Yor N?”. Press Y to save. The next note instructs you to “Save to an expandable field. Press 1-8”. Be careful to pick a field that does not contain your prior high scores they could be inadver tantly erased! To prevent this, you could always elect to race in, say, field seven, your neighbor could race in field four, your sister in field two, etc. That way, you’d always be able to track your scores and still have an expandable field or two.
- Saving toa blank disk is also possible. Atari users must use Atari-formatted disks; Commodore users must use Commodore-formatted disks. In either case, only thee field that you have saved will appear on the disk. This is a good way to save those personal best scores.
MISCELLANEOUS CONTROL KEYS
Commodore
- To begin a new race at any time, press F3 (for the Field/Route Select Screen) or FI (for the Map Screen).
- To freeze the action, simultaneously press the joystick button and the SPACE BAR. To resume the action, press the joystick button.
- When left unattended, the screen will eventually black out. To resume the action, press the joystick button.
Atari
- To restart the same race at any time, press START.
- To return to the Field/Route Select Screen at any time, press SELECT.
- To reboot the disk and return to the title screen at any time, press RESET.
- To freeze the action, press the SPACE BAR. To resume the action, press it again.
NOTE: Whenever you return to the Field/Route Select Screen during a race,
that race will be discarded.
The Great American Cross Country Road Race was designed by Alex DeMeo. The
Commodore version was designed by Alex DeMeo and Kevin Kalkut. Graphics
assistance by Action Graphics. These instructions were written by Susan
Monteleone.
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