Copyright: ® 1995 Todd L. Stevens.


Contents
Table of Contents

Introduction

Opening Screen

Main Screen

Menu Items

Command Buttons

Miscellaneous Rules

Additional Information


Public Domain

This game is provided to you as Public Domain software, which means that it costs you nothing!  However, if you really enjoy the game, a $5 or $10 donation really would be greatly appreciated.  This would make it possible for me to be able to afford to create any improved versions of Fascar.  Enjoy!


Introduction

Fascar is a strategically based auto racing game that calls for patience and rewards (or punishes) aggressiveness.  Other racing games require dexterity, whereas Fascar expects decisiveness.  This especially comes into play when players have to decide:

•	When to make their necessary pit stops

•	When to move six spaces to get into the draft

•	When to break the draft

•	When to spin

•	Which lane to get in

Goals

Current Bugs

Disclaimer


Hints

If there were any hints that I would offer:  DON'T get out of the draft unless you are SURE that you can pass everyone else in the draft or that you can get back into it.  If you have ever seen a race at Talladega or Daytona, you know that the draft can help you or hurt you.  If someone is out of the draft, they could be leading by 10 spaces and still fall to last place within a half a lap.  If you get bold and start spinning a lot, you may blow an engine (causing a caution) and be out of the race.  Also, move the six spaces now and then to get into the draft.  There are other hints that I could offer, but then I would be giving away secrets!


Goals

Sometime down the road (if enough people play this version), I can foresee some possible additional features in the next version of Fascar.  Some of these possibilities are:

•	Formula One type road courses located at UNA-USA BBS

•	Saving races and restoring them later

•	Different levels of difficulty

•	Run a whole season by accumulating points

In the very distant future, I foresee:

•	Multiple tracks which make up a whole season

•	Competition between registered players (possibly for prizes)

•	Installation on a BBS or Internet site for multiplayer use


Current Known Bugs

No bugs that I know of.  I haven't tested it a lot myself, especially with the pit stops and various combinations of options, so there may be some errors. Please let me know if you find any, and if I can, I will correct them.


Disclaimer

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY

THIS SOFTWARE IS SOLD "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE  OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.  BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS INTO WHICH THIS PROGRAM MAY BE PUT, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED.  GOOD DATA PROCESSING PROCEDURE DICTATES THAT ANY PROGRAM BE THOROUGHLY TESTED WITH DATA BEFORE RELYING ON IT.  THE USER MUST ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE PROGRAM.

I OWN ALL THE COPYRIGHT IN THIS SOFTWARE, AND FULLY ABANDON IT TO PUBLIC DOMAIN FOREVER.

Internet:  strider@nr.infi.net

Todd L. Stevens

P.O. Box 1204

Walkertown, NC 27051-1204

February 06, 1995


Opening Screen

The opening screen is a dialog box on top of the main screen's track.  At the bottom of the box is a dropdown list box under the heading of "Pick Your Drivers".  Push the down arrow to see the list of available drivers.  Pick a driver by highlighting the name and multiple drivers by repeating the process if you want to run more than one car.  However, if you run more than one car in the race, the game will be over if ANY of your cars are knocked out of the race.  Press "OK" to select options and start the race or "Quit" to exit the program.


Main Screen

The main screen consists of an oval track that is 37 spaces in length and three lanes wide.  In the center is the leader board, which is updated after each car moves.  At the bottom of the track, various command buttons pop up as they become needed.  To the right of these buttons, other messages display the number of completed laps and which driver goes next.  The menu options on top allow you to do many additional things.  You should be able to save some wear and tear on your mouse by using the <Tab> and <Enter> keys most of the time.


Menu Items

Race Options

View

Start Race

Restart Race


Command Buttons

Draft Button

Spin Button

Move Six Button

Change Lanes Button

Same Lane Button

Inside Button

Middle Button

Outside Button


Miscellaneous Rules

Pit Stops

Cautions

Order of Cars

Two Laps Down

Landing On Another Car

Status Bar

Qualifying

Hints


Additional Information

Where to get updates and the latest info

Acknowledgements

Who really is Todd Stevens?


Race Options

New Race

Caution Frequency

Number of Laps

Pitstops Active

Change Names

End Race


View

Show Car Numbers

Show Last Spins

Show Back Pits

Show Front Pits

Hide Back Pits

Hide Front Pits


Start Race

This option appears on the menu bar after you select your drivers and close the opening dialog box.  When you select this option, the race will begin with the settings that you have selected being activated.


Restart Race

This option appears on the menu bar after a caution has occurred and the surviving cars have been lined up again, awaiting the green flag.  Selecting this option will throw the green flag and restart the race again.


Draft Button

When you are not in the pits and are not starting or restarting a race, this button may appear on the bottom of the screen if you were directly behind another car before they spun.  To the left of the button, a message will appear that shows the amount that that car spun.  When you select this button, your car's spin becomes the same as the other car's.

You will then be presented with two options, a Change Lanes Button and a Same Lane Button.  After the selection of one of these, your car will then move forward the amount of spaces of the draft.  If you do not change lanes, this will put your car directly behind theirs, assuming no other car has jumped in line behind them to take your space.  Sometimes this happens, as you are "bumped" from the draft.  Also, drafting eliminates the chance of blowing an engine or crashing, which would bring out a caution and knock you out of the race.  You cannot draft into the pits.


Spin Button

When you are not in the pits, this button appears on the bottom of the screen.  You can press it to allow your car to move.  When pressed, two hidden "wheels", labelled 1-6, are spun and the totals added together to produce your actual "spin" (range 2-12).  You will then be presented with two options, a Change Lanes Button and a Same Lane Button.  After the selection of one of these, your car will then move forward the amount of spaces that you spun.


Move Six Button

When you are not in the pits and are not starting or restarting a race, this button appears on the bottom of the screen.  If selected, your car's spin will be exactly 6 spaces.  This is sometimes helpful when you need to get into the draft.  You will then be presented with two options, a Change Lanes Button and a Same Lane Button.  After the selection of one of these, your car will then move forward the 6 spaces.  You cannot Move Six into the pits.


Change Lanes Button

If you are not on pit road, this button appears on the bottom of the screen after you spin, draft, or Move Six.  Selecting this button offers two other buttons of the two lanes which you are not presently in.  Selecting one of these will place your car in that lane, if a space is available.


Same Lane Button

If you are not on pit road, this button appears on the bottom of the screen after you spin, draft, or take an Move Six.  Selecting this button allows you to stay in the same lane, if the space is available.


Inside Button

After selecting the Change Lanes Button, this button appears if you are changing from the middle or outside lane.  Selecting it will place your car in the inside lane, if the space is available.


Middle Button

After selecting the Change Lanes Button, this button appears if you are changing from the inside or outside lane.  Selecting it will place your car in the middle lane, if the space is available.


Outside Button

After selecting the Change Lanes Button, this button appears if you are changing from the inside or middle lane.  Selecting it will place your car in the outside lane, if the space is available.


Leader Board

After the race has started, a leader board is shown in the center of the track.  The names of your drivers' are shown in red, computer cars are shown in black, and any lapped cars are shown in green.  To the right of the driver names are either their car number or the amount of their last spin.   You can toggle between the two, by selecting either Show Car Numbers or Show Last Spins under the View menu.


Order of Cars

The order of the cars in the race is determined as follows:

•	When cars are in the same row, a car in the outside lane is considered to be ahead of one in the middle lane, which is assumed to be in front of one in the inside lane.

•	Cars that are past the red pit entry line are ahead of those cars that are on pit road.  Those that are on pit road in the outside lane are ahead of the ones in the inside lane, which are ahead of the cars in their pit stalls.  The cars in the pits are ahead of those that are behind the red pit entry line.  This comes into play when cautions come out.


Two Laps Down

If a computer car falls two laps down, they are out of the race.  If your car goes two laps down, you are out of the race and the game is over.


Landing On Another Car

If your car lands on another car, what happens will depend on what lane you are in.  If you are in the outside lane, your car will be moved towards the inside until it is placed or moved the row behind starting on the outside.  If you are in the middle or inside lane, first your car will try the next position towards the outside first, then go towards the inside and the row behind on the outside.  Simple, huh? :-)


Completed Laps Info

This label in the bottom right hand corner of the main screen, shows how many laps have been completed by the leader.


Next Driver Info

This label in the bottom right hand corner of the main screen, shows which driver is supposed to go next.


New Race

This option under the Race Options menu, ends the current race and begins a new one.  The default settings for the new race will be no cautions with pitstops activated.


Caution Frequency

This option under the Race Options menu, allows you to set how often cautions should occur during the race, if any at all.  After too many cars have been knocked out of the race, no more cautions occur.

Cautions


Number of Laps

This option under the Race Options menu, allows you to set the number of laps you want the race to last.  The range must be from 1 to 10.  If not set, the default is a 10 lap race.  You must select as least 3 laps to make the pitstops available.


Pitstops Active

When this option under the Race Options menu is selected, a check mark will appear or be removed beside the option.  If the option is checked, every driver will have to make at least one pit stop during the race.  You have to run at least a 3 lap race for the pitstops to be included in the game.  The pit stops are not available until after a car's first lap has been completed.  If pit stops are activated, several seconds will be needed when Start Race is selected to load the pitstalls into memory.  The default setting for each new race is "ON".  If pit stops are active and you do not pit during the entire race, you will probably win (if there are no cautions), however that would be cheating! :-(

Suggestion: Running Fascar under 16 colors instead of 256 or more, dramatically speeds up the loading of the pits, the movement of the cars, and any other drawing of windows, etc.

Pit Stops


End Race

This option under the Race Options menu, exits the program completely.


Show Car Numbers

When this option under the View menu is selected, each driver's car number is shown to the right of their name.


Show Last Spins

When this option under the View menu is selected, the amount of the spin from each driver's last turn is shown to the right of their name.


Show Back pits

Selecting this option under View will display the back pits over the bottom half of the leader board.  This option is available only if pit stops are activated.


Show Front Pits

Selecting this option under View will display the front pits over the bottom half of the leader board.  This option is available only if pit stops are activated.


Hide Back Pits

Selecting this option under View will hide the back pits, revealing the top half of the leader board.  This option is available only if pit stops are activated.


Hide Front Pits

Selecting this option under View will hide the front pits, revealing the bottom half of the leader board.  This option is available only if pit stops are activated.


Change Names

This feature, which is only available before a race begins, allows you to rename any of the drivers you want, rather than using their default names.  Each car is shown, one at a time, with their current name.  The name shown in the text box when the "Next" button is pressed will be written to the file.  If you leave a name alone, it will stay the same.  Pressing "Cancel" ends the process early.  Otherwise, a "Done" button will appear at the end, where you will get a chance to save and/or backup the file.

An alternate way to change the names is to directly edit the "names dat" or "names bak" files with a text editor.

Suggestions: Your name, famous race car drivers, names of friends, family, co-workers, etc.


Pit Stops

When pit stops are activated, each car in the race will have to make at least one pit stop.  The front and back pit roads are not open until after the 1st lap has been completed.  After that, eight of the cars must pit in the back pits, while the other eight pit in the front pits.  At any time you can show or hide either pit road from under the View menu.

When you are behind the red pit entry line in front of your pit road and you spin past the line, you are offered the chance to go down pit road.  If you go down pit road and your total spin puts you even with or past your pitstall, then you will be put into it.  Otherwise, you will end up in one of the pit entrance lanes in the first open space.

While on pit road, you only spin one hidden "wheel", numbered from 1-5.  After you have gotten past the end of pit road, you can go back onto the track.  You will automatically be placed in the outside lane, if it is available.


Cautions

Cautions may occur throughout the race multiple times, if the Caution Frequency is set on anything higher than "None".  When a driver blows an engine or crashes, a window with flashing stoplights will appear over the leader board.  This window will identify the driver, their car number and what happened to them.  Upon closing the window, all of the cars behind that driver must still take their turn and hope to avoid the accident.  Usually any car that finishes their turn one space behind, one space ahead, or in the same row as the car that brought out the caution, is knocked out of the race.  If it is one of your cars, the race is over.  The default setting for each new race is "None".  Sometimes though, in certain areas of the track, the car may squeeze by.  There is a limit to the amount of cars that can be knocked out of the race.

Suggestion: Move Six to get past a wreck.


pitstall (def.)
This is the square on pit road that has each car's number in it.


Qualifying

The data from the file "QUALIFY.DAT" determines what positions the cars start the race at.  This is an ASCII file that you could possibly modify for more random results.


Status Bar

A gray status bar appears from time to time at the bottom of the screen to let you know that the pitstalls are being loaded into memory or when the green flag comes out to start or restart the race.


Acknowledgements

Thanks goes out to Greg Sizemore, Wayne Hall, Clark Harper and Wayne Stevens for their beta testing and their suggestions for Fascar improvements, because I sure didn't have time to do it much myself.

Also, special thanks to Clark Harper for allowing the use of his UNA-USA BBS as the home site of Fascar.


Where to get updates and the latest info

To gain extra copies or updates of Fascar v1.0 contact:

The Triad Chapter United Nations Association-USA 24 hour BBS

300 - 14,400 baud

910-722-5164

Winston-Salem NC, USA

(sysop: Clark Harper, INTERNET: harperc@nr.infi.net)

What is the UNA-USA?

The United Nations Association-USA is a non-profit, non-partisan public foreign policy study organization which supports the goals promoted by the United Nations.  There are 175 UNA-USA chapters across the United States.

About the BBS...

In December, 1993, the Triad Chapter of UNA-USA began operating a computer bulletin board system which is free, accessible by dial in, and available around the clock.  It offers the latest news from the United Nations Dept. of Public Information, discussion on current events and electronic communications and other diversions (such as Fascar!).

For more information about the UNA-USA or the BBS, contact the sysop at the above e-mail address, or write to:

                Triad UNA-USA

                P.O. Box 24911

                Winston-Salem NC  27114


Who really is Todd Stevens?

A self-taught computer student enrolled at a local college who will be graduating in the summer 1995 and seeking programming employment.  I would like a job possibly at a software house producing games, however any programming job is open for discussion.  If anyone out there is interested in contacting me for an employment opportunity, you can reach me with email to Strider at UNA-USA BBS or:

Internet:  strider@nr.infi.net

Todd L. Stevens

P.O. Box 1204

Walkertown, NC 27051-1204