GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT ================== The ultimate fusion of car and driver. Experience the power. The passion. The performance. Grand Prix Circuit whisks you to the exclusive world of Formula One racing. Slither and slide through the curves of glamorous Monaco. Blast down the straightaways of Germany. Snarl through the tunnels of Japan. You’ll compete against a diverse corps of international rivals who seek the same prize — the title of World Driving Champion. - Climb behind the wheel of an authentic Formula One race car. Feel the engine’s responsiveness. Sense the awesome acceleration and precise handling. - Race on the legendary Grand Prix courses including Monaco, Germany, Brazil, Japan and Detroit. - Compete against a variety of world-class drivers, each with his own individual driving characteristics. - Drive for the world-renowned teams of McLaren, Ferrari and Williams. - Time each pit stop perfectly. Seconds mean the difference between first or fifth place. Uninhibited speed. Unchained exhilaration. It can only be found on The Grand Prix Circuit. The Circuit The grandaddy of Formula One racing. A world of high speed, high tech, and big bucks. Where the action is fast, the glamour incomparable. Now you’re part of the excitement, with a chance to earn the coveted title of World Driving Champion. Take the ultimate junket around the free world. Select from three champion cars. Then test yourself against the world’s best. Many try; one succeeds. And the risk is eclipsed only by the thrill of victory. Getting Started To boot up the game, use one of the following system instructions. To exit the game to the Main Menu at any time on either system, press X. Spectrum 128 Disk System: 1. Connect your joystick to Port 1 (if you want to use one). 2. Turn on your computer. 3. Insert Grand Prix Circuit disk into the drive, label side up. 4. When the LOADER option appears on screen, press Enter. Spectrum 128 Tape System: 1. Connect your joystick to Port 1 (if you want to use one). 2. Turn on your computer. 3. Insert Grand Prix Circuit cassette into the cassette recorder, label side up. 4. Press Play on the cassette recorder. Amstrad Disk System: 1. Connect your joystick if you want to use one. 2. Turn on your computer. 3. At the ready prompt, insert Grand Prix Circuit disk into the drive, label side up. 4. Type RUN"DISK then Return. Amstrad Tape System: 1. Connect your joystick if you want to use one. 2. Turn on your computer, and at the ready prompt, insert Grand Prix Circuit cassette into the cassette player. 3. If you are playing both a cassette and disk machine, first type :TAPE and press Return. 4. Type RUN” and follow the on-screen instructions. Controls - To accelerate or brake, move the joystick forward or back. - To steer the car to the left and right, move the joystick to the left or right. - To upshift, press the fire button while accelerating; to downshift, press the fire button while braking. Alternate Keyboard Controls Q = Left W = Right K = Brake L = Accelerate P = Pause Accelerate | | | Turn left ---*--- Turn right | | | Brake To upshift, press space bar or Enter while accelerating; to downshift, press space bar or Enter while braking. On the Amstrad the cursor up/down can be used to accelerate/decelerate and cursor left/right can be used to steer. Additional Controls Joystick ACCELERATE ACCELER. ACCELER. /LEFT \ | / /RIGHT \ | / \|/ TURN ---*--- TURN LEFT /|\ RIGHT / | \ / | \ BRAKE BRAKE BRAKE /LEFT /RIGHT Choose your Race Setting up a race is easy as shaking a magnum of champagne. Use the joystick (or keypad) to make your choices. When you’ve made all your selections, press Enter to continue. Type of Race 1. Practice Choose this option to shave seconds off your lap times, and to decide which handles the best on the track. The number of practice laps you are given equals the number of laps you choose in the Laps per Race option. 2. Single Race Choose one of the eight Circuit tracks, and head for the races. First you run a solo qualifying lap (see Qualifying section), then you go on to the actual race. Your qualifying time determines your starting position against the other nine car drivers. 3. Championship Circuit Eight tracks, eight different races. Your cumulative record on all eight tracks determines your place in the World Driving Championship. (See Circuit Results for more information). Difficulty Lever Bar Difficulty — how much skill is needed to corner, shift, avoid damage etc. — increases from a Beginner level on the left side of the bar to the Pro level on the right. Level 1: Beginner Very forgiving: automatic shifting, you can’t blow your engine, minimal damage to the car if it goes off the road, and you can’t spin out. Opponents treat you with kid driving gloves — you can even bump them sometimes without crashing. Level 2 A little tougher; still has automatic shifting and you can’t blow an engine, greater damage to your car if you go cross country. Spin outs are possible from this point on. Opponents are a little less forgiving. Level 3 Real driving: from now on you shift yourself. (To shift see How to Drive Your Car.) It’s getting easier to damage your ride, and your engine can blow. Watch for spin-outs, and don’t let Sakamoto get too close. Level 4 Your opponents take off their gloves. Engine destruction is quite possible. Watch your gauges and don’t go over the red line. Level 5: Pro Race against the best - and everything goes. Good luck. Your Name Press Enter type in your name, press Enter when done. Laps Per Race (and practice runs) Press Enter choose from 1 to 99 laps per race, press Enter when done. Notice that qualifying is always one lap. Choose Your Car Move your joystick up or down, or use arrow keys on keyboard to view each of these three cars. When the car of your dreams appears on screen, press the fire button to select it. (After the selection, wait a moment for the information to load or press Enter.) Ferrari A V12, 3.5-litre, 5-speed road hugger that features the best handling of the three. Not as likely to spin out as the others, but it’s a little slower. A good car for a beginner. Williams A 3.5-litre, V8 Renault, 6-speed. Ranks in the middle of the Circuit in terms of speed, handling, and braking ability. McLaren A Honda Turbo 6-speed bullet with tremendous horse power - the fastest of the three. But that speed comes at the price of braking handling, and gripping power. Beginners beware. Choose Your Track If you select Practice or the Single Race, now you choose a track. (For the Circuit, you race each of the eight tracks in succession.) Use the joystick, or keyboard to highlight one of the eight track illustrations, then press fire button, or Enter to select it. Brazil Autodromo da Cidace de Rio de Janeiro Circuit Length: 3.126 miles 1987 Race Distance: 61 laps, 190.693 miles Monaco Circuit de Monaco Circuit Length: 2.068 miles 1987 Race Distance: 78 laps, 161.298 miles Canada Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal Circuit Length: 2.740 miles 1986 Race Distance: 69 laps, 189.007 miles Detroit Detroit Grand Prix Circuit Circuit Length: 2.500 miles Race Distance: 63 laps, 157.500 miles Britain Silverstone Circuit Circuit Length: 2.969 miles 1987 Race Distance: 65 laps, 192.985 miles Germany Hockenheim-Ring Circuit Length: 4.223 miles 1987 Race Distance: 44 laps, 185,832 miles Italy Autodromo Nazionale di Monza Circuit Length: 3.604 miles 1987 Race Distance: 50 laps, 180.197 miles Japan Suzuka International Race Course Circuit Length: 3.499 miles 1987 Race Distance: 51 laps, 185.560 miles Note: To view the Clip Board, which records the best average lap times for a track, highlight a track and press C. Loading the Main Game (Amstrad only) Once you have chosen your selections (on the Amstrad version) the tape will start and the main game will be loaded. Qualifying Whether you’re entering a Single or Circuit race, you first have to qualify. It’s one lap: you against the clock. So make it good. Your time on this lap determines your position in the 10-car starting grid: five rows, two cars to a row. Your performance and position in the starting grid is automatically displayed after the lap. If you don’t finish (or it takes you longer than three minutes to complete the lap), you are towed to the pits and a DNQ (Did Not Qualify) is posted beside your name. If you DNQ, you can’t race. The Competition The nine drivers who want to keep you in the back of the pack differ in ability and temperament: some are aggressive, some more conservative; some race a highly-strategic race, others are more spontaneous; some are masters of their cars, others still need a little work. This driver roster ranks your opponents from the best in ability to the novice: Car Number Name and Nationality Car Number Name and Nationality 88 Travis Daye — Canadian 2 Peter Kurtz - German 27 Bruno Gourdo - French 66 Cal Tyrone — American 01 Don Matrelli - Italian 05 Tse Sakamoto - Japanese 12 ToniBorlini - Italian 09 Nigel Levins — English 4 Vito Giuffre - Italian After the Race (Amstrad only) When you have completed a race, you will be presented with a menu. Using this menu, you can choose either to replay the game with the same options, alter the track, car, difficulty or the number of laps per race, or you can reload the main selection screens. To change an option, use up and down to select the item you wish to change. When selected, use left and right to change the selection. Pressing right will increase a numeric selection whilst pressing left will decrease it. To exit from this menu, press the fire button when either of the Play Race or Main Selections options are highlighted. If you select the main selection pages, and are using a tape recorder, you will be asked to rewind the tape then press Play. The main selection screens will then be loaded. The Cockpit Tachometer The large gauge in the centre. A device that registers in thousands the revolutions per minute (RPM’s) of your drive shaft. The bigger the number, the harder your engine is working. If it works too hard - the tach needle climbs into the red area, or red lines — you can blow it up. So keep an eye peeled when your shifting around 11,000 RPMs. Steering Wheel The joystick or keyboard turns the wheel left and right. Damage Indicator Damage to your car - tire wear, chassis abuse - affects your braking and handling ability. How much damage you’re suffering is indicated by a rectangular colour bar above the steering wheel. Starting at zero, the bar changes colour two times as it moves from left to right. The first colour represents the normal wear and tear of racing. But if you wait long to make a pit stop, or drive off the road one too many times, the indicator climbs into the second colour. If it reaches the end you’re out of the race and must be towed into the pits. (See Pit Stops for information on repairing your car.) Speedometer Located to the left of the damage indicator. It is a digital readout in miles per hour. If you want to maintain your speed, keep the joystick in the centre position. If you want to increase speed — accelerate — push up on the joystick or keyboard. To put on the brakes, pull back. Map Box On the upper left of the screen. This track diagram indicates the finish line (the short line across the track), and your current location - you’re the large white dot — in relation to the other racers (the small dots). Also lets you anticipate what type of road looms ahead — curves or straightaways. Taking the Turns Hard-core driving is done in the turn, or on the approaches to the turns. That’s where you’re most likely to overtake another racer - or be overtaken yourself. The basic tactic is to out-brake the other guy. If you can wait just a second longer to brake, you win that turn. All turns have striped borders. Yardage markers of 150, 100 and 50 yards are placed on the outside approach to every turn. Pit Stops When your Damage Indicator climbs too high, it’s time to hit the pits and change those tires. The Pits are on the outside lane of every track. When you’re ready, pull into the pits and stop between the two horizontal white lines — your cockpit automatically dissolves to the Pit Stop screen. - In all but two of the tracks - Canada and Italy - the pits are located right after the starting line. For these two, they’re located right before the finish line. Move the joystick to select one of these three options and press the fire button. - Change Left (Change the two tires on your left side) - Change Right (Change the two tires on your right side) - Change All (Change all four tires) Note: it takes more time to change both sides, but all damage is fixed and your indicator resets to zero. If you only change two tires, only some damage is repaired. Watch your pit clock in the corner. As soon as your crew is finished, press the fire button to accelerate out of the pits and rejoin the race. Race Results After Every Race A screen appears that shows you how well you performed against the competition. It gives you some individual information for that race - your overall time and average speed - as well as Best Lap Statistics: which lap was your best, how fast you ran it, and how long it took you. If your best average lap time is among the Top 10 ever for that track, it is automatically recorded on the Clip Board. If you’re running the Circuit, press the fire button to see your point earnings. Circuit Results A screen appears after every Circuit race that posts point totals, tells you the winner of the race, and shows you where the next race takes place. Your name appears in white. The first six finishers receive points (see below), the last three are out of the money. If you don’t finish at all, a DNF (Did Not Finish) appears beside your name. Place 1 2 3 4 5 6 Points 9 6 4 3 2 1 Race points are accumulated for each race throughout the Circuit. The racer with the highest cumulative score after the eight races wins the Grand Prix and the title of World Driving Champion. Designed by: Distinctive Software Inc. Producer: Chris Bankston Testing: Randy Oyler & Chris Bankston Manual by: Patricia Wright Spectrum & Amstrad versions written by The Sales Curve Ltd © 1988 Accolade, Inc. All rights reserved. The best in entertainment software.™ 550 S. Winchester Blvd., San Jose, CA 95128