THE CIRCUIT: The grandaddy of Formula One racing. A world of high speed, high tech, and big bucks. The action here is fast, the glamour incomparable. And 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 championship cars. Then test yourself against the world's best. Many try, but only one succeeds. And the risk is eclipsed only by the thrill of victory. European Rush Hour Accolade's Grand Prix Circuit is the Formula One racing simulator that whisks you to an exclusive world of power, passion and performance. You'll race for the world-renowned teams of McLaren, Ferrari, and Williams on the greatest Grand Prix courses. Sliter through the curves of glamorous Monaco. Blast down the straightways of Germany. Snarl through the tunnels of Japan. Compete against a diverse corps of international rivals who seek the same prize - the title of World Driving Champion. Uninhibited speed. Unchained exhilaration. It can only be found on the Grand Prix Circuit. GETTING STARTED: 1 After the initial title and credit screens appear, the game automatically goes into a demonstration run. 2 Press the FIRE BUTTON whenever you want to exit the demo, and you're whisked to the first Selection screen to set up your race. HOW TO DRIVE YOUR CAR: You use the joystick to control GRAND PRIX CIRCUIT. Here's a diagram which shows you how each position of the joystick moves your car. To upshift, you move the joystick to one of the three acceleration positions, then press the FIRE BUTTON. To downshift, move the joystick to one of the braking positions, then press the FIRE BUTTON. As you see in the diagram, you can accelerate or brake while going straight ahead or turning. [UP] - Accelerate [UP + RIGHT] - Accelerate/Right [RIGHT] - Turn Right [RIGHT + DOWN] - Brake/Right [DOWN] - Brake [DOWN + LEFT] - Brake/Left [LEFT] - Turn Left [LEFT + UP] - Accelerate/Left ADDITIONAL CONTROLS: F1 - From any selection screen, sends you to the race course with the last race's settings. Ctrl P - Pauses the action - press any key to continue. Ctrl S - Toggles game sounds off and on. I - Toggles on & off the Race Information box (position, lap, time) M - Toggles the Map box on and off. D - Makes the Gear Shift appear on screen. Esc - Takes you to the Game Setup Screen. Note: During the game, if you don't touch the keyboard for a prolonged period, the computer automatically returns you to the Demonstration Run. Press any key to restart the action. CHOOSE YOUR RACE: Setting up a race is easy as shaking a magnum of champagne. Use the joystick to make your choices on the Race Selection screen. After all selections are made, press ENTER or the FIRE BUTTON to continue the pre-race preparations. TYPE OF RACE: 1 Practice Choose this option to shave seconds off your lap times, and to decide which car 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 BELOW), then you go to the actual race. Your qualifying time determines your starting position against the other nine cars and 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 LEVEL BAR: Difficulty - how much skill is needed to corner, shift, avoid damage etc. - increases from thr Rookie level on the left side of the bar to the Pro level on the right. Level 1: Rookie Very forgining: automatic shifting, you can't blow your engine, you can't damage 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, but you can damage 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. LAPS PER RACE (AND PRACTICE RUNS) Choose from 1 to 99 laps per race. Notice that qualifying is always one lap. CHOOSE YOUR TRACK: If you select Practice or the Single Race, the Track Selection screen appears. (For the Circuit, you race each of the eight tracks in succession.) 1 Use the joystick to highlight one of the eight track illustrations, then press the FIRE BUTTON. Brazil Autodromo da Cicade do Rio de Janeiro Circuit Length: 3.126 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 Villenueve, 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 Note: You can view the Clip Board, which records best times, for Practice runs, Races and the circuit. To see the best average lap time for a Practice run, select PRACTICE on the Race Selection screen. When you go to the Track Selection screen, highlight a track, and press C. For Race times, highlight SINGLE RACE on the Race Selection screen. When you go to the Track Selection screen, highlight a track and press C. To view the Clip Board of the entire Circuit (which shows the total number of points achieved in the circuit), highlight CHAMPIONSHIP CIRCUIT on the Race Selection screen and press C. CHOOSE YOUR CAR: Move your joystick up or down 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.) 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 breaking 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. 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 COMPETION: 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 ability to the novice: Car Number - Name and Nationality 88 Travis Daye - Canadian 27 Bruno Guordo - French 01 Don Matrelli - Italian 12 Enrico Danza - Italian 04 Vito Giuffre - Italian 02 Peter Kurtz - German 66 Cal Tyrone - American 05 Tse Sakamoto - Japanese 09 Nigel Levinis - English 34 This is your car THE COCKPIT TACHOMETER The large gauge in the center. 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 you're shifting around 11,000 RPMs. STEERING WHEEL The joystick 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 color bar above the steering wheel. Starting at zero, the bar changes color three times as it moves from left to right. The color green represents the normal wear and tear of racing. But if you wait too long to make a pit stop, or drive off the road one too many times, the indicator turns yellow to indicate caution. When it turns red, you're in serious trouble. If it reaches the end of the red zone, 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 oer hour. If you want to maintain your speed, keep the joystick in the center position. If you want to increase speed - accelerate - push up on the joystick. To put on the brakes, pull back. REAR VIEW MIRROR Dual mirrors attached to both sides of the cockpit show you what's coming up - fast - behind you. 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, straightaways, even tunnels. Tunnels are marked by a broken line on the circuit. RACE INFORMATION BOX On the upper right. It gives you your current race position (P) and the current lap (L) you're on, as well as your elapsed time for the race (the top clock) and your time for the current lap (lower clock). TAKING THE TURNS: Hard-core driving is done in the turns, 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 male of every track. 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. 1 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. 2 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 change just two tires, some damage remains. 3 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 how well you performed against the competition. The first six finishers recieve 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. These points are all-important when racing the Circuit. PLACE : 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 POINTS: 9 - 6 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1 It also 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, average speed, and how long it took you. If your best average lap time is among the Top 10 ever for that track, it is automatically recoorded 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. Race points 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. HOW TO SAVE AND LOAD A GAME: When you're racing the circuit, you probably won't finish in one sitting. So you can save the current game at the end (not in the middle)of any race: 1 When you get to the Circuit Results screen, press F2 to save the game. * To load a previously saved game (one with the same race settings), press F1 2 Type a number from 0-9 (you can save up to 9 games) and press the FIRE BUTTON (Choosing a previously chosen number will overwrite that saved game) 3 Press the FIRE BUTTON to continue.