THE SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE



BATTLECARS



PUBLISHER

Games Workshop



AUTHOR

Slug



YEAR

1984



DESCRIPTION

A one- or two-player top-down driving game - with big guns!  Not

great in one-player mode, but absolutely brilliant playing

against a friend!



KEYS

See the main instructions.  The original game came with two

keyboard overlays which made finding the right keys a _lot_

easier...



INSTRUCTIONS (Manual text)



Background



By the year 2080 automobile accidents were non-existent.  One-way

traffic on the revolutionary Autoslot roads in electric cars

built with computerised destination control, automatic pilot and

speed regulators had long since put an end to collisions.  Car

travel had become totally safe, but there were those who longed

for the thrill and danger of high-speed driving; freedom behind

the steering wheel.



It was later that year that a few individuals started to search

old barns and garages for 20th century sports cars.  They would

then spend months restoring these machines to their former power

and beauty.  At secret places in the dead of night, the silence

would be broken by the roar of '57 Chevy or a '77 Corvette coming

back to life.  But just listening to the noise of a V8 engine was

not enough for their owners - they wanted to drive their cars.

Searches were started across the country for disused roads that

had not been fitted with Autoslot.  A few were found and meetings

were quickly arranged.  The first meetings were attended by only

the drivers and a few friends, and cars were run up and down

small strips of road.  But that soon became boring.  In early

2081 the first race between cars was organised, and this

attracted some spectators who yelled and cheered with excitement.



More races were organised, but it wasn't until 9:23pm on the 23rd

September 2081 that something terrible happened for the first

time that century.  Jerry Tomasko died in a car crash.  The news

spread, and the attendance at the next race doubled.  A safe and

passive society thrilled at the prospect of seeing a real car

crash, and over the next few months they weren't disappointed. 

Cars were now built with machine guns, crash bars, and other

defensive and offensive modifications.  The crowd loved it, and

by 2083 the cars were more prepared for war than for racing.  The

Battlecar had been born, and brave were those who drove them. 

By now the object had become the destruction of the other

drivers' cars rather than racing against them.



The sport became known as Battlecars...



Introduction



Battlecars is a game of arcade skill and strategic cunning that

can be played in a many different ways.  There are three

different arenas for battle:  a racing circuit, a town centre,

and the Autodrome - an empty stadium where your skills will be

tested to the full.  As a solo player, you can build up your

manoeuvering skills by racing against the computer-controlled car

on the circuit, and test yourself in combat against the computer

in the Autodrome.  But the ultimate test of your skill as a

Battlecar driver comes when you engage another real player in a

fight to the death on any of the battlegrounds.  In Battlecars

you can design your own cars and fill them with the weapons of

your choice.  First, though, you get straight into a game by

loading up side 1 and selecting CIRCUIT when the menu comes up. 

You will still need some basic information about the game, so

read section 1of this handbook before you start!





Contents



1. The Basics

  A. The Keyboard Layout

  B. Speed and Cornering

  C. Weapons and Damage

  D. Repairs and Fuel

2. Playing Solo

  A. Racing

  B. Combat

  C. Winning

3. The 2-Player Game

4. Designing Your Own Cars



1. THE BASICS



A. The Keyboard Layout



Each Battlecar has six steering functions, four 'fire' functions,

throttle and brakes; so we've included a pair of keyboard

overlays.  These fit the two ends of the keyboard - so the top

row of keys of each overlay is (left) 1 2 3 4 and (right) 7 8 9

0 respectively.  You will see from the overlay that the steering

keys are (L) Q 1 2 3 4 R and (R) U 7 8 9 0 P.



The Steering keys work this way:



Q and U - 90 degrees turn to the left

1 and 7 - 45 degrees turn to the left

2 and 8 - drift to the left

3 and 9 - drift to the right

4 and 0 - 45 degrees turn to the right

R and P - 90 degrees turn to the right



Each car has four 'fire' buttons - one for 'missile' weapons -

submachine guns, shells, missiles, flames and lasers, and three

for the 'passive' weapons - oil, spikes, mines and smoke.  The

three 'passive' weapon buttons control the left, right and rear

pods:



A and J - left weapon pod

S and K - right weapon pod

Z and M - rear weapon pod



The 'missile' weapon button is marked 'FIRE' and controls the

forward-firing pods in all cars, and the rear-firing pods in

large-chassis cars:



W and I - missile pods



'Missile' weapons will fire towards the enemy car providing it

is in 'front' of your own - you will find that 'in front' means

anywhere in a 180 degree field in front of the driver.  If the

enemy car is behind you, you will not be able to fire at it

unless you have rear missile pods (only large-chassis cars have

them) in which case the missile weapons will fire backwards

towards the enemy car.



Each car has a throttle and a brake:



E and O - throttle

D and L - brake



These are the main control keys.



In addition, each time you start a game you will be given a

'READY' signal.  To indicate that you are 'STEADY', press C for

the left hand car and B for the right hand car.  You will then

be given a GO signal.  If you press your throttle before the GO

signal comes up, you will have to start again, by pressing your

'STEADY' key.



In the bottom corners of the screen are the DAMAGE DISPLAYS

(DDs).  When you are playing the game, the DD will change to a

WEAPON DISPLAY (WD) and back again, each time you fire or are

hit.  You can manually change it to the other display by pressing

X (left car) or N (right car).



CAPS SHIFT and 6 (together) stops a game.  C restarts it with the

same cars. Any other key takes you back to the menu.



B. Speed and Cornering



Driving is just like driving in life.  Next to your DD you have

a fuel gauge, stopwatch, and speedometer.  The speedometer reads

from 0-80mph, and as you travel faster your screen display will

change colour as a general indication of your speed.  These

colours are: Yellow (0-50mph), White (50-80mph) and Blue (80mph

and over).



As you race you will find it harder to manoeuvre at speed.  Safe

corneering speeds are:



45 degree turns: on roads - 60 mph

                 on grass - 50 mph



90 degree turns: on roads - 40 mph

                 on grass - 30 mph



Every tyre damaged reduces your safe cornering speed by 10 mph

(and your max speed by 20 mph).  You can drift to either side at

any speed.  Oil will make you skid!



If your car has auto-steer its safe cornering speed is increased

by 10 mph.



C. Weapons and Damage



Each weapon pod can only take one type of weapon, but can carry

a certain number of rounds.



'Missile' weapon pods carrying machine guns (MGs) can take up to

16 rounds.

Shells can take up to 8 rounds.

Missiles can take up to 4 rounds.

Flame throwers can take up to 4 rounds.

Lasers can take up to 4 rounds.



Passive weapon pods can take up to 8 rounds of any weapon.



Although the more powerful weapons have fewer shots, they have

a greater range and inflict much more damage - the choice is up

to you!



Accuracy of shots:

Although each shot is automatically aimed at the enemy car, it

does not always hit - the target is at the centre of a 15 degree

field of fire, and the shot can go anywhere within that angle. 

This means that the longer the range, the more likely you are to

miss.  If you have a GUNNERY COMPUTER in your car, the field of

fire is reduced to about 10 degrees - greatly increasing your

chance of hitting the target, particularly at long range.  Lasers

cannot fire through smoke.



Taking Damage:

Your Battlecar is made up of a grid of 35 sections with your

driver in the middle.  Each section of the car has a strength

value, which depends on the size and strength of the components

in that section: for example, large wheels are stronger than

small wheels.  As you are hit, or you crash, damage works its way

in from the outside of the car.



A powerful weapon such as a laser might its way through to your

engine with a single shot if it got a direct hit.  Your Damage

Display shows the state of your car - as damage increases, it is

shown first as a white area, then solid red, then flashing red

and yellow.



Weapon Display:

The WD tells you how many shots and passive weapons you have

left, and how much damage both cars have taken.



Missile     ---------->  M42

Weapon:  _ /        31         42   )   Passive weapons; type and

Type &     \             P32        )   number left.

number of   \--------->  M53

shots left               L042   <------  Left car's damage points

                         R014   <------  Right car's damage

points



Weapon types are indicated on the WD by these numbers:



Missile weapons          Passive weapons

1 = SMG                  1 = Oil

2 = Shells               2 = Spikes

3 = Missiles             3 = Mines

4 = Flamethrowers        4 = Smoke

5 = Lasers



The car above, for example, has, in its right-hand passive weapon

pod, 2 smoke bombs; and in its rear missile pod, 3 laser shots.



Damage points are incurred each time you are hit or crash, and

take away strength points; although each car has over 100

strength points, by the time you have taken about 50 damage

points you will probably be immobilised - because all your tyres

are blown.



D. Repairs and Fuel



In the Circuit and the Town, there are pitstops where you can get

your car repaired and refuelled.  All you have to do is pull up

alongside the gas tanks or mechanics and they will do the work

for you.  But you will have to find the pitstops first!





2. PLAYING SOLO



A. Racing



Load side 1 of the tape.



When loaded, the main menu will appear:



1 CIRCUIT

2 AUTODROME

3 TOWN

4 DESIGNER

5 CAR DATA



Press 1.  You will then be given another menu:



1 TIME TRIAL

2 RACE



* Press 1 for Time Trial:  

The computer will display the existing lap record.  Then it will

display a grid of cars and ask you to select one.  They are

numbered 1 to 8 like this:



          1 2 3 4

          5 6 7 8



For the Time Trials, you will probably want a big engine and a 

Turbocharger - cars 4 and 5 are best.  Select your car.



     You will be asked:

     CRASH DAMAGE?

     (Answer Yes or No)



Then press a key to go to the circuit, press B and C when you are

ready, and your throttle when GO is displayed.





* Press 2 for Race:



You will then be shown a grid of cars and asked to SELECT LEFT

CAR.  As you are racing against the computer, there are no

weapons involved, so the most important factor in the cars is the

engine size.  The engine is two squares in front of the driver,

and comes in 3 sizes: cars3,6 and 8 (Magahey, Armenia, and

Ryallity) have a small engine, 2,4,and 7 (Guy Lopp, Spyder, and

Ferraro) have medium engines; cars 1 and 5 (The Nuke and

Silkwood) have large engines.  When you start playing, give the

computer a car with a small engine!  (The bigger the engine the

faster it goes).  Immediately in front of the driver is the

controls compartment.  The number here indicates how many

controls the car has and the lettes on the right of the car tell

you what the controls are:



     A = Autosteer

     P = Power Brakes

     T = Turbocharger

     G = Gunnery Computer



When you start playing do not give the computer a car with any

controls - it is a very good driver even without them!  Also,

watch the size of the fuel tank - that is immediately behind the

driver.



The best startign combination is to give the computer car no. 8

and take no.1 yourself.



So: press 8



You will be asked - COMPUTER CAR?



Press Y (for Yes)



SELECT RIGHT CAR



Press 1

COMPUTER CAR?

Press N (for No)

(If you ask for both to be computer cars, you will get a

demonstration

race).

CRASH DAMAGE?

(Y or N)



NUMBER OF LAPS?

(Enter desired number.  1 will be enough when you are starting).



The race is now ready to start; you are the right hand car, so

remember to use the right hand set of keyboard controls.  Your

car appears in the centre of the right hand window; in the centre

of the lower part of the screen is an overall map of the circuit.



Press B and C when you are ready, and your throttle when you get

the GO signal.  If you get badly stuck, remember you can end the

game with CAPS SHIFT/5, and retart with the same cars by pressing

C.





B. Solo Combat



When you've mastered driving your battlecar, you will want to try

some combat - select from the main menu:



2. AUTODROME

Then fast forward the tape to the end of side 1, turn it over,

and press play.  The AUTODROME data files are in the middle of

side 2, so the first section of the tape will not load.  If your

cassette player has a counter on it make a note of the location

of the Autodrome data on the tape, as you can save a lot of time

by starting the tape in the right place.  When the Autodrome data

has loaded, stop the tape; if you want to play the Circuit after

the Autodrome, you will have to reload the Circuit data, which

is on side 2 of the tape immediately after the Autodrome data

(the Circuit is also contained in the main program).  The

Autodrome data is contained in the same code block as the Town,

so when it is loading you will be given the message LOADING SLUG

CITY.



As in the Circuit, you will be shown a grid of cars and asked to

select the ones you want.  This time, though, your decision must

be made on the basis of the cars' strength, and their weapons. 

You can tell the cars' strengths by the size of their armour,

wheels, and chassis (only large chassis cars have rear missile

pods).  Their weapons are given by the numbers underneath each

car.  For example, Car 1 (The Nuke) has these numbers:



14  34  22

  24  18



These represent:



Passive Weapon Pods

left | back | right

   

   Missile Pods

   front | back



Each pod shows the weapon type and the number left, as detailed

in section 1C.  Select the cars, press a key, and press B and C

when you are ready.





C. Winning



All th games of Battlecars end when you press CAPS SHIFT/6.  The

winner will be whoever has suffered the least damage points.  If,

in the course of a game, a driver is killed, or a car's engine

or tyres are destroyed, then that car will stop moving and will

usually have lost, although you will still need to officially end

the game.  You can tell when a part of the car (including the

driver) is destroyed because it will be flashing red and yellow.





3. The 2-Player Game



When you have mastered the basic skills of Battlecars, you can

move on to playing against a real opponent!  You each take one

side of the keyboard (see section 1A) and the loading and

selection procedures are exactly the same, except that when the

computer asks 'COMPUTER CAR?' you press 'N'.  You can also play

in full combat on the Circuit, and you can now play on the TOWN

(select 3 on the main menu, and load from side 2 of the tape).





4. Designing Your Own Cars



In Battlecars you can design and drive your own car!  The

DESIGNER PROGRAM is at the start of side 2 of the tape; if you

have been playing, and are at the main menu, you can select 4,

rewind the tape to the start of side 2, start the tape, and it

will load automatically.  Otherwise, load the Designer program

first (LOAD "DESIGNER"), as you will have to reload the main

program afterwards anyway.  When designing cars, you have a

certain amount of money (displayed in the top left hand corner

of the screen) either which to buy your parts and weapons - but

remember the weapons come last, so save some money for them!  You

can design all 8 cars; when you load the main program, these will

take the place of the computer's cars.  You also have the option

to save the cars you have designed; you can load these into the

main program by selecting option 5 from the main menu.



Broken Programs:

To restart programs if broken RUN the main program or GOTO 1 in

the Designer program.







CHEATS

It's written in BASIC - just change whatever you like...

(A good one is the amount of money you're allowed when designing

your car).



RE-RELEASES

Not that I know of.



URLS



NOTABLE FEATURES

Written entirely in BASIC - and still quite an impressive game

(in two-player mode, anyway).















































