* the game - and how to play it *

ford capri challenge is a multi-player top-view racing game.

the game takes place over a championship of up to 24 races,
each having a qualifying period to determine the race grid
positions. 

up to 6 cars can be selected for a championship, being
either human or computer-controlled. the cars are selected
from 6 different models - each having different driving
characteristics.

setting up a game

from the main menu, there are many options to choose from.

* number of players       - click on + or - icons
* driver names & initials - click on name or initials
* driver vehicle          - cycle through using left button
* driver control method   - cycle through using left button
  amiga #10 = damon hill, amiga #1 = old granny driver!

+note+

* if a player requires keyboard control, keys can be defined
  from the 'set-up' screen (see later).
* 'alt key' control allows the use of the ctrl, left shift, 
  left alt and left amiga key to control a car.
* if 2 joysticks are wanted, the cursor keys and return can be
  used to move the mouse pointer instead.
^
* the set-up screen. *

the set-up screen allows control of more options:

use mouse to select options or follow instructions on screen!

set date              - click on date to set to todays date.

number of laps        - number of laps on each track.

qualifying time       - approximate qualifying period 
                        (in seconds)

start on track        - track to start championship on.

finish on track       - track to finish championship on.

game speed            - toggle between standard a500/600
                        and a1200.

cpu nitroboost        - gives computer drivers a boost!
                        (for real experts or masochists)

keyboard control      - click on keys to be changed and
                        follow displayed instructions.

save lap records      - select whether you want to save
                        lap records to disk automatically.

save configuration    - this saves configuration setup to 
                        disk. ensure boot disk is in df0:
^
* rules of the game - 1: how to drive *

basically in ford capri challenge there is one rule -

                 -rubbing is racing!-

in other words collisions are not penalised by the game,
however your fellow players may penalise you by beating the
**** out of you for a particularly blatant ram off the road!

all that is required is that each player crosses the 3
checkpoints per lap - these are the coloured areas on the
road. the centre of each vehicle must pass over this area
for a lap to register! note that computer cars are affected
by this too so you may see a cpu controlled car apparently
miss a lap! don't worry - they will just go round and perform
a legal lap again!

fortunately for the crowds that turn up to watch, players
can't be rammed into the spectators! they are just replaced
on the track where they left it! cpu drivers are reset to 
a convenient position then restarted after a short pause.

this reduces insurance claims from spectators!

the checkpoints must be passed in order- red, green, blue
* failure to do this results in the lap being void *
there are no other rules - just beat the other vehicles!
^
* rules of the game  2: how the championship is decided *

each track is played twice - firstly to determine the grid
positions of each driver for the race. 
this is done on the basis of fastest lap times for each
driver - the driver with the fastest lap time will be
rewarded with pole position for the subsequent race.
those drivers out for a sunday trundle will be at the back!
if a driver performs the feat of beating the best-ever 
lap-time for his car model on that particular track it can
be recorded for posterity, so make sure your track disk
(disk 2) is write-enabled, and that `save lap records` on
the setup screen is set to `yes`.

all the greatest ever lap times can be viewed from the main
menu.

after qualifying, each driver's time is displayed -
a flashing time means a lap record has been broken. the time
in brackets indicates the time difference between the
driver's time and the current track record for that vehicle.
(i.e. how far the driver was from the existing record)
drivers with identical times are decided by whoever got the
time first during qualification!
note on the first qualifying lap that the timer starts the
moment the vehicles start so a lap record on the first lap
is unlikely to remain, so use the first lap as a practice!
during qualification, the driver with the fastest lap time
has his initials and lap time highlighted on the status panel.
^
* the race itself *

after the tussle for grid position, the real race can begin.
do not be lured into a false sense of security by pole 
position - you can lose it easily (often on the first
corner!) so give it your best shot from the start always!
during the race, icons appear randomly on the track. these
can be collected by driving your vehicle over them. these
icons enhance your vehicle. vehicles which have enhancements
are revealed by their flashing colour. enhancements
unfortunately only last a short while so make the most of them
while you can! you can only have one enhancement at once, and
you must wait until the current enhancement wears off before
another can be collected

the enhancements are:


A steering  - makes your car grip the track like glue!


B injection - increases vehicle acceleration


C ram power - increases ramming effectiveness


D dirt grips- allow driving on verges without slowing


E rocket    - increases top speed of vehicle
^

during the race, the number of laps remaining for each driver
are shown. when a driver passes the finish to start his final
lap, this is shown on-screen, and 'final lap' is sounded.
as each player finishes the race he is teleported to the
trackside bar where he can watch the rest of the race on
television, and relax with a pint of beer before the next
race!
once all the drivers have finished, the finishing order and
points awarded are displayed for all to see, then the current 
state of the championship table is shown (if more races are
to come). if the competition is over the final championship 
table is shown, along with a display of each driver's race 
positions, and points earned.

in addition to the championship table, two other tables are
shown after each race:

1: worst driver table
   this shows which drivers have been involved in the most
   collisions, as a percentage of all accidents so far!

2: overall rating table
   this shows the game's assessment of all player's driving
   ability. it is based on qualification position, race
   position, and also accident rate. fewer accidents will
   give a higher rating!
^

* miscellaneous *

oil patches (green) appear on races only! handling is
adversely affected so beware. oil is produced during
collisions.

during the game, use the escape key to pause and resume
press q while paused to quit (championship is not recorded!)

after a race, the championship can be ended by pressing the
right mouse button or q as indicated. the championship can be
saved from the main menu, and shows that the championship
was not complete.

championships can be saved and loaded from the race info
section on the main menu. printing is also possible if a
printer is attached and online. championships are saved as
ordinary ascii files so they can be examined and printed from
dos.

save championships to any dos disk. the game will not allow
saving to a game disk! ensure save disk is formatted.
ensure sufficient space exists on your disk!

n o w  p l a y  t h e  g a m e ! ! !
^
|