Feel the heat! You've played it in the arcades... Now play it at home! Settle into the cock- pit of one of the world's most powerful racing machines. Listen to the engine roar as you accelerate to breakneck speeds in a matter of seconds. An engine fire or fuel loss may slow you down, but you can count on the split-second performance of your expert pit crew to get you back on the track for your winning lap. It won't be easy... After all, you're racing against Danny Sullivan! But use your winnings to hone your car's performance to a razor's edge, and the championship may be within your grasp. You'll work your way up through eight grueling tracks to the ultimate challenge: the Tradewest Speed Bowl. If you're ready to race with the big boys, Indycar competition doesn't get any hotter than this! Your Controls [LEFT] - to turn your car left. [RIGHT] - to turn your car right. Move up or down to scroll through the alphabet during name input screen. Move right to next letter or END and press fire when finished. To scroll through drivers during driver select, move joystick up or down and press fire to choose a driver. Move joystick up, right, down or left to scroll through upgrades in the upgrade screen. Press fire to choose an upgrade. Press fire to accelerate your car. Press space to use a Turbo (if available). Game Basics One or two players can race against each other in Indy Heat. There are always four cars competing in each race. Computer-controlled cars will enter the race to maintain a total of four. There are nine tracks in Indy Heat, with varying numbers of laps to complete: Western Canada (5 laps) New Jersey (5 laps) Southern California (5 laps) Michigan (5 laps) Illinois (8 laps) Ohio (5 laps) Eastern Canada (5 laps) Colorado (5 laps) Tradewest Speed Bowl (12 laps) When the winner crosses the finish line, the race is stopped, and your final position is calculated from your current position. Lives and Continues You start off the game with 3 items. If you finish the race in less than first position, a life will be deducted. If you lost all of your lives then you get a chance to continue, which resets your lives back to 3. There are a total of 3 continues. Status Panel On the racing track screen, a status panel displays important information. The color-coded number represents the lap you are on; its position shows your current placing. Underneath this is the total number of laps to be completed in this race. Under this is a timer, showing how long the race has been going on. Pit Stops If your car runs out of fuel (it will slow down to a crawl), or is on fire from damage (smoke will be pouring out of it), you should steer your car into the color-coded pit, so that your pit crew can repair it. You will also have to make a pit stop if you run out of Turbo's, as your car can only hold 25 at a time (regardless of how many you have bought). Your Winnings When you complete a race, you will receive a cash prize and driver's champ- ionship points, depending on your placing: 1st Place - $100,000 and 20 points. 2nd Place - $90,000 and 16 points. 3rd Place - $85,000 and 14 points. 4th Place - $80,000 and 12 points. Upgrading Your Car You can use your cash winnings to buy improvements for your car, to increase your chances of winning the next race. The following improvements are avail- able: Turbo's These give your car a boost in acceleration for a short time. Use several in a row for maximum effect. Cost: $30,000 for 10 Turbo's. Brakes These slow your car down when you release the accelerator. The better your brakes, the quicker you'll stop. Cost: $30,000 for 1 unit. Tires Better-quality tires will reduce skidding and increase your car's turning speed. Cost: $40,000 for 1 unit. Crew The better your pit crew, the faster they'll repair, refuel and replace Turbos for your car, enabling you to get back on the track sooner. Cost: $40,000 for 1 unit. MPG This improves your car's fuel consumption, allowing you to make pit stops for fuel less frequently. Cost: $50,000 for 1 unit. Engine This improves the acceleration of your car. Cost: $50,000 for 1 unit Simon's Choice If you'd like to let an expert do the choosing, Simon will use your available finances to buy what he considers to be the best improvements, evening out the parts on your car. Cost: All the money you currently have. Tradewest Speed Bowl The ninth and final track is the Tradewest Speed Bowl. This race is worth double prize money and double championship points (for example, the winner receives $200,000 and 40 points). After the Tradewest Speed Bowl has been raced, the final driver's championship table will be shown, and a cash bonus will be awarded to all racers, depending on their championship placing. Then, it's on to the next racing season!