INTRODUCTION Race against King Richard anf eighteen other top pro drivers in this 3D super speedway spectacular! OVERVIEW Take to the super speedway as you race against KING RICHARD PETTY and 18 top pro drivers. Test your skill in qualifying for a pole position and then let'er rip in the real life 3-D main event, where you lock horns with some of the good "good ole boys!" Use strategy to plan your pit stops, draft leading cars to pick up time and save fuel, and be prepared for yellow caution flags. Make the right decisions, keep the pedal to the metal, have a little "racing luck" and you might beat Richard to the checkered flag. Remember, your opponents aren't just obstacles, the're "smart" drivers, each with his own strategy designed to beat you. After some experience you should learn to anticipate what many of the other drivers have planned, but watch out for Richard Petty...after 200 Grand National wins, he's not going to be easy and the KING doesn't like to lose! SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS 1.) The Talladega Cassette or Diskette. 2.) Commodore 64 Computer. 3.) Commodore Datasette Recorder or Commodore VIC-1541 or VIC-1540 single drive floppy disk. LOADING THE PROGRAM TALLADEGA is a machine language game program whicl will load into any standard Commodore 64 Computer by following the instructions below exactly. IMPORTANT NOTE: The joystick controller must be plugged into CONTROL PORT NO.2. (It will not function in CONTROL PORT NO.19). CASSETTE VERSION 1.) Attach the Datasette Recorder to the computer according to the recorder's Instruction Manual. Turn on the computer and wait for the flashing cursor to appear. See that all buttons on the Datasette are not depressed and that the recorder is as far removed from the TV as possible. 2.) Insert the Cassette Program Tape in the recorder with the label side 1 facing up. Press the rewind key on the recorder to make certain the tape is fully rewound to the beginning. Now type on the computer: LOAD"RP" and press the RETURN KEY. (The computer will respond with the message: PRESS PLAY ON TAPE.) 3.) Press the PLAY key on the Datasette. Immediately, the TV screen will go blank and the cassette will start moving. After a moment, the screen will return with the message, FOUND RP. 4.) At this point, press the Commodore key (the key with the Commodore logo next to the shift key on the lower left of the keyboard). The screen will again go blank and the cassette will start turning again. After a moment, the screen will return with the READY message, and flashing cursor. 5.) Now type: RUN and press the RETURN key. The screen will blank once more and the cassette will start again. When the program is loaded, the cassette will stop, the screen will return and the program will begin automatically. Note: It is good idea to press the stop key on the Datasette and then rewind the tape to the beginning. DISKETTE VERSION 1.) Attach the Commodore VIC-1540 or VIC-1541 Disk Drive to the computer according the the Disk Drive's Instruction Manual. 2.) Turn on the computer and wait for the flashing cursor and the READY message. Now turn on the Disk Drive. Wait for the red light on the drive to go out. 3.) Insert the program Diskette with the label side 1 facing up and close the drive latch. Type on the computer: LOAD"RP",8 and press the RETURN key: The computer will respond with the message, SEARCJING FOR RP. 4.) After a moment, it will read, FOUND RP-LOADING. When the READY message returns, type: RUN and press RETURN. The program title card will appear and the program will start loading automatically. When the program is loaded, the game will begin immediately. Note: It is a good idea to remove the diskette and replace it in its evelope. Playing Richard Petty's Talladega For The First Time First you must choose on which type of track you would like to race. In the center of the screen will appear: Tri-Oval 30 laps Random 30 laps Random Repeat The Tri-Oval track choice is the easiest track level. The Random track level is a track that the computer randomly creates that will have combinations of short and long runs. The Random repeat is used to race on the last random track you have just played. To choose the track level, follow the instructions on the screen. Qualifying Mow you are ready to qualify for your starting position; 1st (Pole position) through 20th (last). Car Controls are as follows: Presssing and holding the fire button down increases your speed. The speed will increase until you reach top speed (250 mph). If you run into any obstacles, your car will slow down. Pushing Joystick #2 Left or Right moves your car left and right. Pulling back on the joystick (Away from screen) will slow your car until it stops. NOTE: Braking has precedence over accelerating. The Turbo-Boost The Boost allows you to immediately increase your car's speed dramatically. This is very important if you need to pass other cars quickly. The Boost can only be activated when your car is at top-speed (250 mph). When you bring your car up to 250 mph, press and hold the fire button down, at the same time push the joystick forward and hold if forward; the car will immediately speed up and the sound of the Boost being activated will be heard. If at any time you let go of the fire button or move the stick in any other direction, the Boost will disengage. If you run out of fuel, drive on the shoulder of the road, bump into a car or do anything else that may cause your car to slow down, the Boost will disengage. Using the Boost has certain disadvantages: Using the Boost causes large amounts of fuel to be consumed. Using the Boost is dangerous because it causes the car to go faster than the speed at which it can be controlled around turns. Therefire, using the Boost on a turn will make your car slide out dangerously, perhaps into another car or flag. Because of the previously mentioned disadvantages, the Boost should only be used on straight sections of track and only if the amount of fuel lost makes up for the positions gained. This is usually on the last one or two laps of the race when you won't have to make any more pit stops. NOTE: Using the Turbo-Boost during qualifying will NOT improve your qualifying time. The computer will now notify you that it is time to qualify by displaying "Prepare to Qualify" and then telling you when to go. When you are ready, press down and hold the fire button until you reach top speed. You will pass the Start/Finish flags on the right side of the screen and your qualifying lap will begin. Cutting The Turns To be able to go around the whole track at top speed, you must cut the turns. Before a turn comes up, position your car near the right shoulder of the track (taking care that you don't hit the red and white shoulder for this will slow you down) and just BEFORE you actually get into the turn, move your car to the LEFT and hold the joystick to the left. Your car should be going at least over 200 mph. When the car reaches the Left red and white shoulder, it will not slow down, instead your car will then begin to slide back to the right side of the track. Once you are out of the turn, you can resume normal control of your car. NOTE: If at any time while you are cutting a turn, you move the joystick in any direction but Left, the car will automatically disengage the cutting turn routine and you will have normal control again. This is important for control of your car while going through traffic. ALSO, you must be moving to the left BEFORE the turn pulls your car to the right or you won't be able to cut the turn. Also note that travelling on the longest line on a turn or spending most of the time on the right-most part of the track will result in a higher lap-time than if you stayed more to the inside part of the turn (left side). This is very important if you want to have a good qualifying time. There will be a few cars on the qualifying run so watch out! Qualifying Continued After you have finished the qualifying lap, the computer will either tell you that you qualified or that you did not. If you have qualified, then in the top left corner of the screen will be your Lap Time and your Place on the starting grid. In the top center of the screen will be displayed your Place and your Qualifying Bonus Points (the better Place, the better Bonus Points). If you do not qualify, then you are not allowed to compete in the race and the results of the race you were not in are displayed. You will then be given a chance to qualify for the next race. The Race If you did Qualify, you can now begin the race. Your car will be set up on the starting grid in your Qualified position and the screen will tell you when to begin. The First Lap The first lap (from the starting place to the Start/Finish flags) is very important. You can gain many positions or lose many positions. Since not all of the racers have the same car, some may have difficulty starting up or some just might miss the starting indicators. Whatever the case, make sure you start on time and drive carefully since some cars may have stalled on the track ahead of you. Also watch behind your car for any cars that may try to sneak by you. The Race Continued Despite the level at which you are racing, many variables should be considered. All races can have accidents at any time. Your car can have problems at any time, although most problems are caused by rough driving. Depending on whether or not you draft the cars ahead of you or if you drive on the shoulders of the road determines how fast you will consume gasoline. Also, tire wear is greatly increased by driving on the shoulders. A sudden stop or a complete stop on the track is almost always asking for trouble. If you have to stop, do it in the pits. Always keep one eye on the indicators on the top of the screen, and make a pit stop if something is amiss. Racing Strategies Unlike most racing games, each driver on the track has his own racing strategies and styles. Some cars will be harder to pass than others. Many cars will attempt to block you from passing them and many times you will have to either trick them at the right point on a turn or slow down. Remember! It is better to remain in your position until the right opportunity comes, otherwise you could lose five or more positions by making a mistake. The Pit Stop The best time to make a pit stop is during a yellow flag. You will not lose your position and you will have ample time to fix whatever needs repair. However, some races will have few accidents and so you must take only as much time as necessary to get the job done. The Racing Screen This is the screen with your car on the track and the other cars you are racing against. Your Position Information In the top left part of the screen is everything you need to know about your current position on the track. Your last lap's Lap Time, the current lap that you are running and your current Place on the track. Track Condition The track condition is indicated by a small flag inside the position information area. The flag descriptions are as follows: Green - Everything is ok. Yellow - Caution, there is an accident. White - One more lap for you to go for the race. Checkered - Need this be explained? Car Performance This is the small square of information, in the center of the screen. Your tire's condition (0-99). Number of gallons left in your tank, and Current speed of your car is displayed here. Next Car For You To Overcome At the top right corner of the screen there is a number followed by a dash. This number is the position of the car one place ahead of you in the race. Next are two lines, giving the name of this driver, his car name or number. If you are in first place, "PLAYERS CAR" will be visible here. Your Score Your Score is displayed under the next car you have to overcome and is calculated by how fast you are going, what bonus you received upon qualifying, how many laps you have led the race and what position you finished the race. Pit Stops Explained The pit area is a section of extra pavement on the left side of the track just after turn 3 and before the start-finish line. To make a pit stop, you must move your car all the way to the left until your car is in the pit area and slow your car until it stops completely. It is adviseable to slow down a bit before entering the pits or you might miss them. Once you have stopped completely, the screen will change to an over-view of your car in the pit area. At the bottom of the screen is a list of things that you can do, plus ant vital information about the other cars on the track and your position. By moving the joystick, you can position the cursor under various functions and by pressing the button, you will have chosen that which is to be done. These functions include: Add Fuel Change Tires Check and Fix Engine Leave Pits Choose what you would like to have done by moving the flashing cursor on the function you would like to have performed and press the fire button. To move the cursor, push the joystick in any direction once, the cursor will then move down one position on the list of jobs. By manipulating the cursor, choose what you would like to have done. An asterisk will appear next to the job being worked on. When a 'D' appears next to the job, then that means that the job is done. Depending on what you have chosen to be performed determines how long your pit stop requires. Some jobs take longer than others. When you have done all that is needed, move the cursor under LEAVE PITS and press the button. You will then go back into the race. Also note that you can leave the pits at any time by moving the cursor to LEAVE PITS and pressing the button. If the jobs you have asked to be done are not yet finished you will cause everything to be dropped and you will be able to leave the pit area immediately. This is desirable in case you have very little time. The YELLOW FLAG Condition When the yellow flag comes out, you must race all the way to the START/FINISH flags whether or not you decide to go into the pits. This is to establish your restarting position once the green comes back out. Once the screen in the top center displays your restarting position, then you can travel around the track until you reach the pit area again. If you want to make a pit stop, do it now. If you don't want to, the continue until you reach the START/FINISH flags again. You will be repositioned in your restarting grid position and you will resume the race. If you enter the pits, you can take as much as neede, or until a warning message is issued at the bottom of the Pit Stop screen, in which case you will have to leave the pits rapidly. Note that since yellow flag conditions result in the repacking of cars in new grid positions, you can in effect have been almost 1 lap behind a car and be repositioned right next to it. This is of course only possible if you were on the same lap as the other car. This can also work against you if you had a hard time passing another car and then it is repositioned right next to you. Drafting Drafting is following the other car in front of you closely so as to take advantage of the reduction of air resistance against your car thus reducing your gas consumption. To take advantage of drafting, just move your car behind another car travelling at relatively the same speed that you are. When you are truly drafting, your car's color will turn a lighter shade of blue and the sound of the air rushing by will be heard. Drafting is very important if you end up with just a few gallons of gasoline left near the end of a race. Tire Wear Your tire's tread number is always set to 99 when you first start out. Whenever you drive on the shoulders of the road, the tire tread number will decrease. If the tread number gets below a safe level, it will start flashing. Should the tread number reach 0, you will be out of the race and many times you will crash. The tire tread number can be increased to 99 by making a pit stop and replacing the tires. Fuel Consumption Fuel consumption is based on how fast you are going, whether or not you are drafting, if you are driving on the shoulder of the road or if you are currently using the Turbo-Boost. You start out with 22 gallons and you can increase the amount during pit stops. Remember that you can choose to get only a few gallons of gas in the pits if time is of the essence. The fuel number will flash if you are running low on fuel. Car Collisions And Leaning On Cars A car collision can be caused by running into a car that has stopped on the track, by stopping on the track and being run into from behind, or by sliding out of a turn so quickly that you seriously hit another car. You can also run into the flags on the right shoulder of the road which will cause you to crash. The other cars will usually try to get out of your way and of each other, but sometimes a car may be boxed in by other cars and will usually crash into you. Cars will slow down to a point, but they will nenver dangerously stop completely. During the course of the race, it is possible to bump lightly into other cars to influence them to move over or to lean on them during a turn. Note that to lean on a car, you must be on the left side of it and have your joystick pushed to the left while your car tends to slide to the right on a turn. Too much leaning and you could crash. Leaning on another car is important because it allows you to retain your position while going top speed. Blocking other cars is possible by going in front of them and slowing down slightly. This is essential to keep your position. The car being blocked will either slow down if you have boxed it in or it will pass by you. Just remember not to slow down too much. Some cars on the track tend to try to block you at whatever cost. These cars can be tricked into boxing themselves in by making them follow behind another slower car. Engine Trouble For some unknown reason, your car's engine may have trouble. This trouble is recognized by the car's inability to remain at a certain speed when you let go of the fire button. When this happens, it is advisable to make a pit stop and select the Check and Fix Engine job. If you don't, you run the risk of having the engine suddenly break down and then you usually cannot go faster than a certain speed which could result in an accident. Note that this can be completely prevented by running the Check and Fix engine job whenever you can. Checking the engine is much quicker than if it has already broken down and the pit crew has to fix it. GAME OVER The game is over if you crash, run out of gas, blow a tire or complete the race. In any case, the computer will return to the starting screen which is the Track level choice. IF YOU CANNOT LOAD THE PROGRAM 1.) Checj you equipment carefully to be sure that all cables and connections are correct. 2.) Re-read the section in the manual about loading machine code programs from cassette tape and diskette. Try to load again. 3.) If you can adjust the volume and tone settings on your recorder, try different settings. 4.) If possible, load another program from a tape or diskette you know works on your computer. This will prove that your equipments works. Try once more to load your game. 5.) The normal reason cassette tapes will not load is tape recorder head misalignment. Your computer may be able to save and load programs on its own recorder, but be unable to load tapes made on a different recorder for this reason. Be sure that your tape recorder heads are properly aligned. Your local computer store or dealer can help with this. 6.) If the program still cannot be loaded, send the cassette or diskette, with a description of the problem (what the computer displays on the screen, if anyting, when you try to load the cassette or diskette or play the game) and what you did to try to correct the problem. Defective cassettes or diskettes will be replaced at no charge.