WATCH THE SKIES! GEEBEE AIR RALLY TAKES FLIGHT Gee Bee Air Rally - joystick gripping, pylon-shaving racing action. Speed in spades. Trick turns. A swarm of other planes to outfly and outmanoeuver - or collide with. All in three dimensions. Because in Gee Bee Air Rally, you race not just next to or around the competition, but over and under them as well. With 16 great race courses, each with vivid fast scrolling graphics and 256 levels of difficulty, the challenge never ends. Plus authentic sights, sounds and music that recall the days when speed kings were the heroes of the skies. Gee Bee Air Rally. Strap yourself in, grab your joystick and open the throttle. You're in for a whale or a ride. PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFING OK, so you're the lunatic who wants to fly the GeeBee? Right, sit down and we'll run through a few pre-flight details. Fliers of all ages and nationalities are flocking to Buckeye, Ohio, for the air racing competition of the century - the GeeBee Air Rally. Racing against the clock, contestants strive to complete four courses over eight game levels, accumulating points as they go. Each level is more difficult than the last and the fourth course in each level is a special low flying balloon popping or slalom event. Pilots get two chances to complete each course in the time allotted. To score the most points, pilots must stay on course and avoid any midair collisions with other planes. The clock ticks faster if you stray off course so watch how you fly. It is possible to survive a midair mishap and resume racing but most collisions eat up so much time that completing the course within the limit becomes extremely difficult. Pilots normally advance from one course to another and from one level to the next only if they successfully complete the last course or level. TAKEOFF WITH GEEBEE! Yaeehaa! It's time for those daring young men and their flying machines to take to the air again! Yup, the famous Cartwright Cup is up for grabs and the world's fastest pilots all want to make sure this coveted piece of silverware gets a place in their trophy cupboard. And the winner might just be YOU! OK, so the Cartwright Cup Classic was never held for real - but this exciting computer simulation is based on the genuine air race epics held in the USA during the 1930s. And the fearsome aircraft you get to fly is based on the real GeeBee, a purpose built air racer described by one pilot as an airborne coffin! The GeeBee was the leading speed plane of the 1930's - but it wasn't a pretty aircraft. Some people said it looked like an apple-barrel with wings. It handled like an apple-barrel too - but the GeeBee was lightning fast and pilots with the Right Stuff found they could win races in it. Others were less fortunate, and the most dangerous plane ever to take to the air claimed many lives. GeeBee puts YOU in the hot seat of this 250mph aircraft. Have you got the guts to win the Cartwright Cup? Can you control the beast over 100 miles of airborne action? This air race isn't for the squeamish. But if you want to experience the most exciting flight of your life, read on! WARMING UP THE ENGINE Set up your computer system as detailed in your user manual. Ensure that all non-essential peripherals - such as cartridges, printers, etc - are disconnected. Failure to do so may cause loading difficulties. If you are using your Commodore 64/128 with the cassette version of GeeBee Air Rally ... a) Connect your datacassette and switch your TV/monitor and computer ON. C128 owners should now select C64 mode by typing G064, pressing RETURN, they Y, then RETURN again. b) Insert the GeeBee cassette into your datacassette, ensuring that it is fully rewound. c) Hold down the SHIFT and RUN/STOP keys together. Then press the PLAY button on the datacassette. The game should now load. If you are using your Commodore 64/128 with the disk version of GeeBee Air Rally ... a) Connect your disk drive to your computer and switch the disk drive on. b) Insert the GeeBee Air Rally diskette, label side up, into the disk drive and turn on your computer and monitor. If you have a Commodore 128, the game will load automatically. c) If you have a Commodore 64, type LOAD"*",8,1 and press return. If at any time after loading the game you don't race for 5 minutes, the game will automatically go into a demo mode. To resume competition, press Return. LOADING DIFFICULTIES We are always seeking to improve the quality of our product range, and have developed high standards of quality control to bring you this product. If you experience any difficulties loading GeeBee Air Rally it is unlikely to be a fault with the product itself. We therefore suggest that you switch your computer off and repeat the loading instructions carefully, checking you have read the correct section for your computer and software. If you still have problems, consult the user manual for your computer; or consult your dealer for advice. In the case of continued difficulty after you have checked your hardware for all possible faults, may we suggest you contact our Customer Advice Department, in writing, for assistance. The address is: Activision Customer Advice GeeBee Air Rally Units 3 & 4 Lloyds Close Finedon Road Industrial Estate Wellingborough Northampton NN8 4FR Your letter should include the following details: - your name and address - a daytime telephone number (if available) - the title of the product you are having trouble with - whether it is on cassette or diskette - the computer system and any peripherals (joysticks etc) you are using - where and when you purchased the product - a detailed description of the difficulties you are having Please do not send the product to us unless we specifically request it for testing. MULTI-LOAD INSTRUCTIONS GeeBee Air Rally includes so many exciting features that we had to make it a multi-load game just to squeeze all the action onto one tape or disk. If you want to enjoy continuous play please ensure that you keep your GeeBee Air Rally tape or disk in the datacassette or disk drive at all times during a session with the game. Follow the on-screen prompts when you complete a level successfully. OFF TO THE RACES - PLAYING HINTS Your altimeter, compass and speedometer appear, left to right, on your control panel. The allotted time for each race appears at the start of the race and starts to tick down when the race begins. Your points total appears in the upper right hand side of the screen - except during the special balloon-popping events. (See scoring.) To start racing, press and release the fire button. As you begin to pick up speed, pull back on the joystick or use the pull-back key on the keyboard. (See controls.) To turn, move the joystick in the appropriate direction or use the correct control keys. To dive, push forward on the joystick, or use the appropriate control keys. Stay on course between pylons - you score points only while you stay on course. Every time you stray off course the time clock runs at four times normal speed. As you steer between the pylons, you may find it useful to speed up for wide turns and slow down for tight turns. Do this by climbing or diving. When you drift off course, it's a good idea to slow down. You'll be able to manoeuvre your GeeBee back on course more easily at slower speeds. To avoid midair collisions, you can fly under; around and over other aircraft. If you crack-up in midair, you parachute safely to the ground. To resume the race simply press the fire button, then take off again. You'll start roughly from the point on the course where you left off. If you fail to complete a course within the set time, you'll get a second chance. If you fail a second time you'll have a chance to record your cumulative score on the Top Finishers board (not on Amstrad cassette version). SCORING Except during the special balloon-popping events you score points as you cover the distance over each course. The more advanced the level at which you're competing the more points you score per unit of distance. At the end of each race you complete, you also receive bonus points in proportion to the amount of time left on the clock. In addition, a time bonus is added to the allotted time on your next course - but only if you succeed on your first attempt During the balloon-popping events, you have to pop a certain number of balloons before you start accumulating points. The number of balloons you must pop appears in place of your score until you have popped the required number. Then your score appears on screen and you start earning extra points for every additional balloon popped. When you fail to complete a course in the allotted time, the Top Finishers screen appears, and you can add your name to the 15 all- time top scorers. CREDITS GeeBee Air Rally was created by Steve Cartwright Commodore 64 version designed by Steve Cartwright Graphics by Mike Nowak Music and Commodore 64 sound by Russell Lieblich Special thanks to Kelly Zmak and Keith Orr Produced by Terry Ishida Spectrum/Amstrad versions by Keith Burkhill Software Produced by Software Studios (c) 1987/88 Activision Inc. All rights reserved.