Games PC GRAND PRIX LEGENDS User Manual

Grand Prix Legends

from

Papyrus Design Group, Inc.

©1998 Sierra On-Line, Inc. ® and/or ™ designate trademarks of, or
licensed to Sierra On-Line, Inc., Bellevue, WA 98007.
All Rights Reserved. Papyrus™ and the Papyrus logo are trademarks of
Papyrus Design Group, Inc.

This software is licensed for personal use, but may not be used,
performed, or distributed for commercial purposes without the consent
of Sierra On-Line, Inc

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Introduction

Grand Prix Legends is the most realistic automobile simulator outside of the major

automakers’ labs. (It is probably more realistic than what is inside many of them.)
Unfortunately, you will not be feeling the forces that are acting on your virtual car. It
is unfortunate because those forces give your brain many cues that make controlling a
race car easier-you can more easil y tell how much the car is sliding, or how heavily you
are braking and accelerating. Fortunately, you will not be feeling the forces that are
acting on your virtual car. It is fortunate because the first time you take one of these
cars out on the track, you will spin and crash-and those forces could kill you.

You will spin and crash because everyone who tries the simulation spins and crashes
the first time out. And the second time out. And the third. People who ha v e raced real
cars spin and crash in the simulator-mainly because they aren’t feeling the forces they
are used to feeling while driving. Everyone else spins and crashes for that same reason,
and for one additional reason: driving a race car at high speed isn’ t easy. Don’t despair,
how e ver. Like anything in life which requires skill, it takes some time to learn the
basics. Once learned, though, applying your skill can be tremendously rewarding. If
you take the time to learn the skills required to drive a virtual race car, you will find
Grand Prix Legends to be one of the most exciting and rew arding acti vities availab le on
a computer. You will also learn a g reat deal about driving a real race car.

I have tried to come up with some tips that will shorten the learning curve, and get
you up to speed with as little frustration as possible. Look these over, and come back
to them from time to time. You should find that if you do these few things, you will be
able to lap consistently after some practice. Going really fast is something to pursue
only after you are comfortable in the car.

1) Don’t go too fast. Even the slowest car in the game-the novice training car-is
considerably faster than most road cars. You can get up to prodigious speeds in a ver y
short period of time. At most of the corners on all the circuits, you will need to begin
slowing even before you can clearly see the corner. If your computer is capable of
drawing the groove (rubber laid down by other cars on the track), you will get a visual
indication of the ultimate braking point-the groove gets visibly darker on approaching
a corner that requires braking. You will probably want to start braking considerably
earlier than that when you start out. Another thing: it’s a very good idea to start out in
the slower training cars. In the real world, nobody puts a beginner behind the wheel of
an extremely powerful race car. If you jump right into the GP car and start driving,
you’ll find out why.

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2) Learn the circuits. There is no shortcut here. Before it is possible to go very fast
at a circuit, one must first know which way to turn, when braking is necessary, and
where to place the car on the track. There is no substitute for a lot of laps at a track.
You will pick up a lot of visual cues that help you find your way around-the groove is
helpful in showing you the right line. I find it helpful to learn the names of the corners
(even if they are just numbers)-this helps to organize information that you learn about
the different sections. Of course, there is no need to learn all the circuits at once-start
with the easier ones: Monza, Watkins Glen.

3) The thr ottle and br ake ar e steering controls. In a road car, on the street, y ou steer
with the steering wheel and control speed with the throttle and brake. All this changes
once the tires start approaching the limit of adhesion. At that point, the steering wheel
is no longer the primary steering control. Instead, the w eight of the car on the front and
rear wheels will more directly control the car’s rotation. Applying the brake will put
more weight on the front, which will make the car want to turn more, up to a point.
Conversely, applying the throttle will put more weight on the rear, which will make the
car want to straighten up, again up to a point. An added complication: too much
throttle, or too much brake, and the opposite will happen. You can try an experiment
in a long corner (Curva Grande at Monza, for example): go through the corner fairly
fast, using about half throttle. Without moving the steering, let up on the throttle. The
car should turn more to the inside (or it might spin). To master the simulation, you must
learn to anticipate these steering effects and compensate for them with the steering
wheel. One important note: since the throttle and brake are steering controls, be very
smooth applying them. Jumping on and off the throttle and brake will give the same
results as jerking violently on the steering wheel. At racing speeds, that is not good.
Squeeze the throttle and brake gently.

4) Don’t lift off the throttle in fast corners. This follows directly from the previous
experiment. These cars are designed to be driven through corners on the power, so
when you lift they will get very nervous and twitchy-which will likely lead to a spin.

In fast corners (3rdgear or higher), slow down before the corner, then get back on the
power as or before you turn into it. Stay on the power (not necessarily full power) all
through the corner. If you still can’t make the corner, slow down more before turning.
If you are using too little throttle through the turn, the car will be hard to control-it’s
better to go in slower and use more throttle through the corner.

5) Look well ahead. Try not to focus your attention on the road just in front of the
car. Look down the track and visualize where you’d like to go in the next four to eight
seconds. You will more quickly notice when things are going wrong-when only a small
correction is required.

Each of these five tips is good advice in a real race car (although number one is

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usually taken care of by a healthy dose of fear .) Dri ving a 1967 GP car is more dif ficult
than driving just about anything else, and the simulation is more difficult than driving
a real car. The above tips will help you come to terms with the ’67 GP car, but getting
used to the simulation will just take time. Many people think that it feels like driving
on ice. That is an apt description; in a real car, there is so little grip on ice that the G­forces acting on the driver are very small-which is just lik e the simulator. Once you get
used to the maximum grip level in the game (which is considerab le, compared to a road
car), you will find that the visual and audio cues provided by the simulation will start
to make you “feel” these forces, in a way. The only thing that can’t be duplicated-yet­is the force feeding back through the steering wheel. This is perhaps the most difficult
thing to compensate for. You will need to learn just how much steering input is required
to catch a slide-you can’t feel the grip at the front tires. We have yet to see a force­feedback input device available for PC’s that can communicate these subtleties. Most
of them are only adequate to let you know when you have hit a wall or are driving on
the grass. You’ll have no problem figuring that out.

There’s no substitute for seat time-so strap in, and have fun!

-David Kaemmer

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Table of Contents

1.0 Getting Started ………………………………………6

1.1 Hardware Info..................................................6

1.2 Installation ......................................................7

1.3 Joystick/Wheel Setup ......................................8

1.4 Drive now, read later........................................9

2.0 Main Menu ……………………………………………11

2.1 Race Selection ..............................................12

2.2 Menu Selections ............................................13

2.3 Player Info......................................................13

2.4 Team Info ......................................................14

2.5 Options Menu................................................15

2.5a Joystick/Wheel Setup ....................................15

2.5b Graphics ........................................................17

2.5c Frame Rate ....................................................20

2.5d Sound & Gameplay ......................................21

3.0 Getting To The Track …………………………………23

3.1 Race Setup Menu ..........................................26

3.2 Race Weekend Menu ....................................27

3.2a Race Session Control ....................................28

3.2b Event Info......................................................28

3.3 In-Car Options ..............................................30

3.3a Resetting The Car..........................................31

3.3b Instant Replays ..............................................32

3.3c The VCR Control Panel ................................33

3.3d Camera Controls............................................34

3.3e Driving Views................................................36

3.4 Car Setup Menu ............................................37

4.0 Multiplayer Racing ……………………………………40

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1.0 Getting Started

1.1 Hardware Requirements

Minimum requirements:

- Pentium 166 or better

- 32MB of RAM

- Windows-compliant video card with 2MB or more of video memory

- 2X or better CD-ROM drive

- Mouse

Recommended:

- Pentium II-266 or better

- 64MB of RAM

- 3Dfx Voodoo 1 or Voodoo 2, or Rendition v2x00 series video card

- Joystick or steering wheel and foot pedals

- Windows-compliant sound card

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1.2 Installing Grand Prix Legends

It is important to make sure all other programs are closed prior to instal­ling Grand Prix Legends. Place the CD ROM disk in your drive. The
installation process should begin immediately. If it does not, click on the
Start button and choose Run. Type D:\Setup (substitute D: with the drive
letter of your CD ROM drive) and choose OK. The installation wizard
will now begin.

Choose the drive, directory (fol­der) and path where GPL will
reside on your system.

Select which GPL installation
you’d prefer. The Full install
requires more hard drive space
but will provide you with the
best performance. The mini­mum install requires the least
amount of hard drive space but
may sacrifice performance.

If your system is equipped with
a 3Dfx Voodoo 1 or Voodoo 2
board, or any graphics accelera­tor card featuring a Rendition
Verite chipset, choose it here
first. Choose ‘Software’ if you
do not own a supported graphics
accelerator board.

Upon first execution, GPL will take you to the Player Info Screen which requires a name
entry. From there, it will start the Controls Calibration process described on the next page.

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1.3 Using Your Joystick/Wheel Controller

This page is aimed at getting your controller quickly configured to go
racing. For more information on controller setup, see section 2.5a in this
manual. Before you drive a GPL car for the f irst time, you must first
conf igure your joystick/wheel controller or keyboard. The game will
guide you through the calibration process. To recalibrate, choose
Options from the Main Menu, and click on the left/right arrows in the
bottom-center of the screen until you reach the Controls Menu.

At the Controls Menu, click on Calibrate Joystick(s). After calibrating,
be sure to assign actions to your controller. This is done b y using the Set
Controls portion of the Controls
Menu. Click on each item and
move your controller or press a key
to assign each action. Note: When

assigning a steering action, turn
your wheel/joystick to the left. Do
not turn it to the right.

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1.4 Drive Now, Read Later

Grand Prix Legends is a very detailed simulation of 1967 Grand Prix
technology in action. Naturally, there is much to see, much to do and
much to learn about the famous cars
and tracks presented in GPL. But let’s
be honest- the first thing y ou w ant to do
is drive a car! Here’s how:

At the Main Menu, click on the
left/right arrows at the bottom-center of
your screen until you’ve selected
Training. Next, click on the green but­ton in the lower right corner to accept
your choice and move forward.

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Now, choose Novice Trainer
and set the Damage level to
None. Use the left/right
arrows in the bottom-center
of the screen to select Monza.
Click the green button again
in the lower- right corner to
move forward.

At the race track, you’ll see a
map in the upper-left corner
of your screen. A view of the
pit lane occupies the upper­right part of the screen. Click
on the green button in the
lower-right corner to once
again move forward.

You should now be sitting in
the cockpit of an authentic
1967 Grand Prix car.
Accelerate slowly out of the
pit lane and merge onto the
race track. Monza has a fork
in the road just past the
grandstands. Make sure you
stay on the left side of the
road here, since the right
lane leads to a barricade.
When you’ve finished driving and want to leave the track, press the
ESCape key, followed by Enter.

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2.0 Main Menu

The Grand Prix Legends Main Menu is very simple to use. There are
f ive labels on the left-side of the screen. Click on any of these to open
up each item’s individual menu. For example, point and click on Player
Info to edit/review your name, car selection, nationality and other vital
info. Click the arrows in the center of the screen to choose a Race
Type (see next page).

In the lower left corner of the screen,
you’ll see a red button; click on that area
if you’d like to exit the program. Click
on the green button found in the lower
right corner of the screen to accept all of
your selections and begin competition.

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Note: Several of the menus found in
GPL feature red (Cancel) and green
(OK) buttons located in the bottom
corners of the screen. Any time you see
them, click on the red button to cancel
an operation and exit the current
screen, or click on the green OK button
to accept all choices and move on.

2.1 Race Selection

By clicking on either directional arrow, you can choose the type of
authentic 1967 Grand Prix action you’d like to participate in...

Single Race: One race on the track of
your choice, with no championship points
aw arded at the conclusion of the race.

World Championship: Race each track
according to the 1967 Grand Prix schedu­le, accumulating points for top finishes.
The driver with the most points gained at
season’s end is crowned World
Champion.

Multiplayer: Using a modem, direct
connection or network, test your nerves
and skill against human competitors.
Gives the phrase “international competi­tion” a new meaning!

Training: Choose a track, adjust your
car and turn some laps in order to “dial in
the chassis” or learn the proper racing
line. You’ve got the track all to yourself
for a private test session.

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2.2 Menu Selections

From the Main Menu, click your mouse on any
one of the f ive labels to move to its appropriate
sub-menu. You can exit the sub-menus any time
you wish; you will be returned to the Main Menu
where you can then either begin racing or jump
to another sub-menu.

2.3 Player Info Screen

Enter all of your personal information, such as the name you’d like to be
known to your fans by, which country you’ll represent on the circuit,
which of the 1967 GP teams you’ll join, and the color of your helmet.

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2.4 Team Information

Wonder who the Grand Prix Legends of the 1967 season were? Check
the Team Info Menu to f ind out. Study the rosters carefully, so you’ll
know which alliances exist on the race track.

You’ll also be able to view each driver’s appropriate car make and tech­nical information.

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2.5 Selecting Options

Think of this menu as the “driveshaft” of the entire simulation. Grand
Prix Legends gives you total control over joystick/controller setup, gra­phics display, sound effects and many other features. They are all acces­sible by selecting Options from the Main Menu. The Options Menu
consists of three distinct areas, which may be reached via the left/right
arrows at the bottom of the screen: Controls, Graphics, and Sound and
Gameplay selections.

2.5a Joystick/Controller Setup

To set up up your joystick/controller, click on one of the arrows in the
bottom center of the screen until the word Controls appears. Begin by
clicking on the Calibrate Joystick(s) button. Follow the directions on

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