MacWorld 1998 March/Macworld (1998-03) (Disk 1).dmg/Games World/Hot New Demos/Racing Days/Read Me 1st!

Text File | 1998-01-21 | 16KB | 416 lines

Welcome to the Racing Days R Demo

This demo is intended to give you a taste of Racing Days R - the
best-selling Macintosh racing simulation from Japan.

About Racing Days R

Racing Days R was conceived and developed by Takumi Abe - (the coder
responsible  for creating SimTower),  it is the most sophisticated and
exciting racing simulation ever available on the Mac.  The racing is
similar in character  to International Touring Car.

What we've given you

This demo contains a save-disabled version of Racing Days R. It's designed
to give you a feel of  the scope of the game,  and it  will let you race
one lap on the easiest circuit -  the Devil's Playground - at the amateur
level .

If you want more information about Racing Days R you can download
screenshots, the whole Racing Days R manual and learn more about the
internet racing elements of Racing Days R from the Feral website:
www.feral.co.uk.

If you have an internet connection you can access this website directly by
clicking on the home button in the demo.


Installing the demo

You can either copy the Racing Days R demo folder to your hard drive or run
it directly from the disk. Generally, the demo will run faster if it is
installed on your hard drive.

QuickTime 2.5 and QuickTime VR 2.0 must be installed on your hard drive.

To install QuickTime VR 2.0 drag it from the System Utilities folder and drop
it onto your system folder.

To install QuickTime 2.5 double-click on the QuickTime installer icon in
the System Utilities folder  and follow the screen prompts. Once it has been
successfully installed you will be asked to restart your machine.

You will then  be ready to play the demo.

Important:  Do not move the Racing Days R application icon (the chequered
flag with an "R" on it) out of the Racing Days folder.


Playing the demo

To get the full screen version of Racing Days R set you monitor resolution
to 640x480 pixels.

Whether you have installed the Racing Days R folder on your hard drive or
whether your run it directly from the disc,   click on the Racing Days R
icon  - the demo will launch and after a brief tour of the virtual garage,
the main screen will appear.

In the main screen click on  the "Options" button. In the panel that
appears click on the "Visual Display" icon. The "Visual Display" panel will
appear. In this panel open the pull-down menu "example settings" and select
the machine configuration which most closely resembles your computer. It's
important to do this because if you try to run on a spec. that is
significantly higher than your machine's the car will become very hard to
control.

However,  feel free to experiment with different settings - through the
options panels you can change a number of different settings, effecting the
visual display, sound effects, etc. In particular you may wish to set the
game to full screen picture, which is also done in the "visual display"
panel through a pull-down menu entitled "initial screen size".


The main window within the main screen can show either the Virtual Garage
or the Car Selection screen.

Selecting a Car

Along the bottom of the car selection window you will see three oblong
panels.  From left to right,  these show the class (engine size),  the type
of car and  the name of the livery design of the car being displayed. You
use these panels to select the car and livery design you want to race in.

The demo is restricted to one car for each engine size class - but you have
a choice of several different liveries.

Navigating in the Virtual Garage

You can look around in the Virtual Garage simply by holding the mouse
button down and moving your mouse in the direction you want to look.
To zoom in - hold the cursor over the area you wish to enlarge and click
the mouse while pressing the "Option" key.
To zoom out - Click the mouse while pressing the "Control" key.

To move wait for the cursor to change to a broad arrow and then click on
the mouse. You will move forward in the direction of the arrow. If the
cursor changes to a hand while over an object this means that you can click
the mouse to pick up the object to use in your car set-up.

The Virtual Garage is the workshop where you set-up your car to suit a
particular circuit, the other elements of the car set-up and your own
driving style. When you pick up an object that can be adjusted,  the main
Set-Up Panel will appear. This contains several different panels each of
which lets you adjust a separate element of your car.The adjustments that
you make to a car's set up can be saved as a set-up file. You can create
different set-ups to be used for different circuits, levels and cars.

This demo allows you to adjust  the gears and the rear wing - the other
elements cannot be changed.


Gears

In this panel you select your transmission, the number of gears and most
importantly set the gear ratios.

Selecting the Transmission

Start by choosing either a manual (MT) or an automatic (AT) transmission
from the pull-down menu in the top left-hand corner of the panel. To begin
with we suggest you use an automatic transmission.

Setting the number of gears

You can add or subtract gears using the + and - cursors. An automatic
transmission can have either 4 or 5 gears, a manual transmission can have
betwwen 4 to 7 gears.

Setting the Gear ratios

In the chart the red lines plot torque against car speed and the blue lines
plot engine speed (revs) against car speed.  Each pair of blue and red
lines represent the performance characteristics of a gear. Ist gear is at
the left of the chart and top gear is at the right.

You may change the angle of each of the blue lines by dragging and dropping
with the arrow cursor.  Making the blue line steeper shortens the gear
ratio:  the car will accelerate faster but it's top speed in that gear will
be lower, i.e. you will have to change up at a lower speed. Making  the
blue lines less steep has the opposite effect.

Setting the gear ratios is critical to your car's performance as it has a
large influence on the car's acceleration, cornering and top speed. The
challenge is to find the best gear ratios for the length and
characteristics of the circuit. Start by finding the ratio which allows you
to reach maximum revs in top gear along the main straight. Then set the
ratio for the lowest gear for the slowest corner.  Then set the rest of the
gears so that you can corner around every bend without having to change
gear in the bend.

Twisty circuits with few long straights and plenty of bends need "short"
gearing for quick acceleration while circuits with long straights will
require longer gearing for a higher top speed.

The horizontal yellow line plots the engine speed at which the car changes
gear  in  automatic. It can be set anywhere between 4,500 to 7,000 rpm.
Move the yellow line with the arrow cursor as you do the blue lines .



Rear Wing

The rear wing creates additional downforce on the car. This allows it move
more quickly around corners, because it increases traction.

Angle of Attack

The angle of attack of the rear wing determines how much downforce it can
create.The steeper the angle the more downforce - this is maximised when it
is vertical i.e. perpendicular to the ground. However,creating an
aerodynamic race car requires tradeoffs. As the angle of attack increases
so does drag - the air resistance a car encounters. A car  with a vertical
rear wing can corner quickly, but will suffer in the straights where drag
reduces the top speed it can achieve.

Moving the wing to a horizontal position minimises both drag and downforce.
This allows a higher top speed to be reach on straights, but means that the
car cannot corner so quickly.

Set the angle of the rear wing according to the characteristics of the
circuit and your driving style.

Balance

The rear wing can be positioned to change its relative effect on the front
and back tires. Moving the rear wing forward increases the down force on
the front tires - this maximises the cornering ability of the  car. Moving
it backwards increases the  downforce on the back tires and increases the
car's stability - making it less prone to spinning out.

Again, set the balance according to the car, circuit, other elements of the
set-up and your own driving style and skills.



The Paintshop - Designing your own livery

Racing Days R contains a paintshop where you can create original liveries
for your cars. You access this screen by clicking on the paint shelves in
the virtual garage.

The paintshop has three separate windows: the design window, the decals
window and the viewing window


Design window

The design window shows the current livery design and it is in this window
that you can create your own livery designs. To the left of this window
there is a suite of  tools which you can use to create your own original
livery designs. For a description of what each tool does see the help text
within the program.


Decals window

The decals window contains a number of decals which you can paste onto your
livery design. You can also import pict files from the clipboard as decals
into the decal window. Simply click the paste button to do this

To incorporate the decal into your livery design simply drag and drop it
onto the design in the design window in the position you want it.

To remove a decal from the list simply hit the clear button while the decal
is showing in the decal window.


Viewing window

The viewing window lets you see your design from different angles and
distances. The buttons to the left of the window let you move the design ,
and turn it on its horizontal and vertical axes. To perform any of these
operations simply click on the appropriate button and then drag your mouse
in the direction you wish the car to move.


When you are ready to race

Car Handling tips

1. In the Finder - set  your mouse speed to slow.

2. We recommend steering with the mouse or a joystick.

3. The steering radius for the mouse is only 2-3cms. You need to be
delicate with its movements.

4. From the start and after you crash  - accelerate gently.

This is done by pressing the normal acceleration key (command) while
holding the mouse button down. This will prevent your rear wheels from
spinning and your car from fishtailing. Once the car has accelerated a
little way - you can accelerate hard.

5. Follow the advice of the brake tutor - this appears frequently in the
bottom left-hand corner and will tell you when to brake (usually before
corners) and when to accelerate.

If you are going too fast - the best driving in the world will not stop you
from spinning out. The best approach is to brake before the corner and then
once you have slowed a little accelerate out of the corner. If you sense
understeer or oversteer while in the corner simply touch the  brakes again.
In this way you may alternately brake and accelerate through corners.

6. Make sure your mouse ball is clean! Seriously - this can have a big
effect on the game  - if you mouse ball is clogged up the car won't respond
as you wish.




Key Features of Racing Days R

Here's a quick run down of some of the great features of Racing Days R

* Superb graphics
We think you'll agree that the graphics are beautifully rendered. You also
get a choice of five different viewpoints, which you can switch between
while  racing.

* Ultra-realistic handling
Racing Days R is a subtle game. The car performs in a very similar way to
the real thing. If you simply "press the pedal to the metal"  you will
crash and burn. This is a game where well timed use of the brake and axle
and gear shifting (in manual mode) is crucial. To win you need self-control
as well as aggression.

* Cool use of Quicktime VR
Racing Days R includes the virtual garage, a 3-D workshop where you set up
the car to your own specifications, navigating with Quicktime VR.   In all
there are six key elements of the car you can set up to suit the circuit
and your driving skills. In this demo you can access the transmission and
the wings, by clicking on these items in the virtual garage,  but you
cannot save any changes you make.

* Great game progression - 5 different levels for each Track
The basic race mode is a 3-lap race called Sprint. For each circuit there
are three different levels from Amateur through Ace. The levels are
increasingly challenging as the circuit layout becomes increasingly more
complex. To progress to the next level you must win at the prior level.
Once you have become an  Ace you can access Endurance mode - a ten lap race
on the toughest circuit.

If you win in Endurance you may access the fifth and final level "Shooting
Days" - where your car is armed with an unlimited supply of missiles and
rockets!! Your job is to destroy the track side targets in the shortest
time possible - just aim your car and shoot!

* Cars.
Four cars each with different drive arrangements: Nissan GT-R Skyline,
Honda NSX, Nissan Silvia and Honda Prelude (to get an idea of the
performance of the GT-R and the NSX, check out this month's AutoCar
magazine's October 8th issue). In this demo we've given you the GT-R.

* 9 Great Circuits
There are three basic tracks( Devil's Playground, USA; Northern Peaks,
Switzerland and Mystic Cliffs, India) .
Each track has three different layouts of increasing complexity (and need
we say it difficulty.) adding up to a total of 9 different circuits.

* Ability to play with up to 8 players over a local network
Racing Days R  can take advantage of AppleTalk networks to allow up to 8
players to play simultaneously against one another. This is not a
productivity tool!

* Ability to play real time over the internet with up to eight players
You can also access the Racing Days R servers to race with up to 8 people
in real time over the internet.

*  Customisability
The four cars included are heavily customisable  both in terms of the way
they are set up and in terms of their designs:

* Design
RDR includes a full suite of painting and design tools;  you can design and
create your own unique car liveries. In the demo, check this out by
clicking on the paint shelves in the virtual garage.

* Set Up
Adjusting a car's specification, such as its gear ratios, suspension,
braking characteristics, etc is a key element of the game  - cars must be
set-up to take advantage of the circuit conditions and your driving style.
This is a key determinant of how well a car performs on any given circuit.

* Ultra-realistic simulations
With the cooperation of the car manufacturers, Nissan and Honda,  Abe-san
has modelled a large number of parameters effecting the handling and
control of the car,  offering an unparalleled degree of realistic handling.

* Choice of Racing modes
Racing Days R allows you to choose between 4 different racing modes:
Sprint - 3 lap, 8 car  race
Endurance - 10 lap, 8 car  race
Time Attack - I lap time trail, I car against the clock
Simulation - create a fantasy car free of engineering constraints.

In this demo you only have access to 1 lap in Sprint mode


System Requirements

To run Racing Days R you need:

Any Macintosh or Macintosh-compatible computer with a PowerPC processor
running at  100 Mhz or faster.
Apple system 7.1.2 or higher.
A minimum of 8MB of application RAM and 10 MB of free hard disk space.
A CD-ROM drive and a monitor capable of displaying 256 colours or more.

QuickTime version 2.5 or above.
QuickTime  VR version 2.0 or above.
(these are included with the program).

For online racing the system requirements are higher:
Apple system 7.5.3 or higher.
Open Transport version 1.1 or above.
An internet connection.


What else?

Racing Days R is published by Feral Entertainment Limited and is available
now. Suggested Retail price around £40.

For more information about Racing Days R contact:

David Stephen
Feral Entertainment Limited
P.O. Box 2214
Bath
BA2 6YU

tel: [phone]
fax:[phone]
e-mail: [e-mail]
www.feral.co.uk

or

Softline Distribution Limited
Mill House Business Center,
40-48 Mill Lane,
Carshalton,
Surrey,
SM5 2WZ

tel: [phone]
fax: [phone]
e-mail: [e-mail]