The Great American Cross Country Road Race for Atari 8-bit | Analysis
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I never had a special fondness for racing games. My only fond memories of racing tracks were some epic games with one of my older brothers in Pitstop or Pole Position. However, I must admit that The Great American Cross Country Road Race (Activision, 1985) -which I will refer to from now on as TGACCRR- always caught my attention; and not only because of its long title, but also because of the complexity that did not even allow me to complete the first level.
As withElektra Glide, it has not been until now that -thanks toemulator-I have finally been able to understand the dynamics of TGACCRR and enjoy acareerin the style of theBurt Reynolds movies, where a handful of maniacs for thespeedHe was immersed in acompetencethroughoutUSA
Programmed in its entirety byAlex DeMeo, TGACCRR challenges us tocross North Americafrom thewest coastuntil thethis. Which would be simple if we didn't have to identify the best route; check road and weather conditions; watch out for the police; avoid running out of gas; avoid crashing into opponents; try not to burn out the engine; and above all, beat the clock. Because when time runs out, so does the game.
THE GREAT AMERICAN CROSS-COUNTRY ROAD RACE
Posted by:Activision, 1985.Gender:Car racing.
Extra:1 player, joystick.
GAME SCREENS
After the game credits are shown to you, TGACCRR understandsthree screensMain:1. Competitor selection screen and competition route
It is shown atPress F3Option). The program asks you to choose whether you will load aband of competitorsfrom some diskette ("LOAD OPPOSING FIELD FROM DISK? AND OR N"). This band refers to aGroup of 10 drivers with time recordsalready established that you will try to beat. There are up to four bands of competitors to choose from, depending on the route. Unless you have the corresponding atr file,pressthe key "N
The program then asks if you wantrun the current routeDO YOU WANT TO RACE THISROUTE? AND OR N"). There isfour routesAvailable: Los Angeles to New York; Seattle to Miami; San Francisco to Washington; and theUS Tour(U.S. Tour) where you must tour each and every city featured in the game. Press the "N" until you findthe routeto your liking. Then press the " keyAND
2. Map screen
It is shown atPress F2Select). Once we choose the competition route, we mustSelect our first destination. In addition, here you can adjust thedeparture timeand review theweather and track conditions. Let's analyze the screen in detail:
ETElapsed time) (1): Counts the time elapsed from the start of the game until now.
FROM... TO(2): It tells you the city you are in, followed by your next destination.
Destination: The green flag on the left is where you started and the white one on the right is (7) your final destination. The large circle (3) is your current position and withthe arrow(5) Choose your next destination. Use the joystick to place the arrow on other cities. Press the fire button when the arrow points to the destination you want on the map. Only those with a road connecting to your current position are eligible options.
Departure time(4): Represented by the clock on the bottom left. Press F4 (Start) to change the time of day your race will begin. Try to plan your arrival during non-peak hours or drive at night in areas with poor conditions.
Weather conditions(6): Review the symbols that represent snow, rain clouds and fog.
Route conditions(8): A bulletin moves across the top of the map, alerting you of weather and route conditions. After the first round, themap bulletinIt will tell you your overall position in the competition, as well as who is ahead of you.
MPHMiles per hour) (9): Average speed in miles per hour with which you arrived from the previous destination.
Return toPress F2and thetrigger buttonto start playing.
3. Game screen
(1)Message line
(2)Your opponents
(3)Fuel Gauge: Shows your fuel level. You start the game with a full tank.
(4)RPM Gauge: Details how hard the engine is working. Be careful not to overwork it and burn out your machine.
(5)Remaining miles to reach the next destination.
(6)Time remaining to complete the current round. If time runs out and you did not reach the goal, you will be disqualified. However, if you reach the goal with time to spare, that time will automatically be added to the next round.
(7)Speedometer in miles per hour.
(8)Radar Alert: It will flash and sound an alarm when you approach a police speed trap.
(9)Your vehicle.
HANDLING AND SHIFTING
Unlike other similar games, in TGACCRRNois requiredpress the joysticktowardforwardto speed up; here it is enough topresshetrigger button
You always start each round in thefirst changeThe faster you run, the harder your engine will work. The higher yourrevolutions per minute (RPM), the louder you will hear the roar of the machine. The moment the engine reaches the9800 RPM, release the trigger button andpressthe joystickonce forwardto move to the next gear; now press the fire button again to accelerate.
First change: You start at 400 RPM; as you accelerate you go to 9800. Top speed is 16 MPH.
Second change: You start at 8400 RPM and go to 9800. Top speed is 48 MPH.
Third change: You start at 4800 RPM and go to 9800. Top speed is 110 MPH.
Fourth change: You start at 400 RPM and reach 9800. The top speed is 240 MPH.
Once the desired speed is reached,release the buttonand maneuver with the joystick to the right and left. If you hold down the fire button on theRPM limitfor a long time, you will cause theengine explodes
Likewise, trynot make the changestoo early (recommended when you reach 9600 RPM). Otherwise, your rate ofacceleration will go downand it will take you longer to reach optimal speed. To correct this, just step back once and try to regain balance.
Pull the leverIt serves toreduce your speedand eventually stop - like when you need to refuel.
COLLISIONS AND OBSTACLES
Throughout the race you will come acrossother vehicles-cars and motorcycles- thatwill hinderyour circulation. You will generally need to drive above the120 MPHto overtake them - although, of course, you'll have to step on the gas in the final rounds to avoid being disqualified.The problem is that your competitors often get in your way, blocking your path and giving rise tocollisions. Aspenalty, the crashes send youoff roadand they take you down to thefirst changeThat's when you shouldspeed up again, make the changes and return to the competition. Of course, other vehicles never hit you from behind.
On the other hand, insome routesYou won't have competitors but you will have toovercome obstacles. Many of those youslow down,but not as much as when you crash into another car. The thing is: these obstacles always come one after another and you usually end up blowing your engine. The solution is to keep a medium speed and maneuver with extreme care.
SPEED TRAPS
As we mentioned, there will be times in the competition when yourradar alarm, which detects theproximity of the police-which is ready to stop those like youexceed the speed limiton the road.
Havetwo optionsto avoid falling prey to the long arm of the law:
Driving less than 70 MPHjust before you come across the patrol car. Once you get past it and off the screen, accelerate again.
Full throttle (240 MPH)and overtake the police car. In this case, always drive in the middle of the road, as the police usually drive in an orderly fashion on the sides.
By the way, if you get caught by the police, they take away 12 seconds. Even worse,If you crash into the patrol car, it will take you 20 seconds in addition to showing you the message "OK, WISE GUY
REFUELING AND REPAIRS
Along the route, the game will inform you of the proximity of thegas stations, where you canrefuel. Gas stations are usuallyscatteredto the right and left of the roadevery 100 milesTo refuel, you must stop right next to the stations. Little by little, they will fill your car with gasoline.
Gas stations also serve in case you haveblew your engine-by keeping it for a long time at 9800 RPM without making changes. In case you run out of gas or have blown up the machine, you will have topush your cartto the nearest gas station.
For that, simplypress several timesconsecutively the firing button. According to the programmer, in these emergency cases, the stations will appear every 10 miles. By the way, the maximum thrust speeddoes not exceed 30 MPH
Whenyou reach your destination, a welcome message will be displayed "WELCOME" followed by the map. Now you must choose your next destination. Keep going like this until you reach the final destination, where you will meet yourranking position
END OF THE RACE
The competition ends when:1. You aredisqualifiedThis happens as soon as you run out of time at a certain point in the race.
2. You finished, butnot in the top tenIn this case, you will still be congratulated on the final screen, and your ranking will be displayed above the top ten. You will be able to see how close (or far) you were to making it into the top.
3.Finish in the top ten. Here you can enter your name in the Hall of Fame (Hall of Fame) of TGACCRR. Type your name, thenpress the baruntil the cursor reaches the date; enter the month and day (mm/dd). Finally, the program will ask if you wantengravethe result on disk.
OTHER COMMANDS
Forpause: Pressany key. Press the same or any other to resume the action.
Forcancel a gamein progress, return to the route selection screen, by pressingOption(F3).
THE ORIGIN OF TGACCRR
Alex DeMeo perceived that in themost car gamesAt that time one was limited toturn after turnon a circuit. So he thought, "What if we made a game in the style of themovieGumball Rally?" In fact, remember that the working title for TGACCRR was "Gumball" and when it was in development it became something like "Cannonball Run" title of a 1981 Burt Reynolds film.
The game itself savessimilaritieswith the gameEnduroofAtari 2600, based on passing a certain number of cars in a given time. DeMeo acknowledges thatpart of the codeof Enduro - in particular, the one that showed the track and provided cars to overtake - were used as the "engine" for TGACCRR. However, when they wanted to pass it on to othermost powerful platforms-like the Atari and Commodore 8-bit games- the entire design, graphics and sound had to be reworked, to add elements such as the speed trap and the leaderboard.
CURIOSITIES
- For quite a while,The Great American Cross Country Road RaceHe held the title ofgame with the longest nameHowever, this was taken from him byanother titleofActivisionThe Complete Computer Fireworks Celebration Kit
- When DeMeo was investigating thedistance between cities, in order to scale them as accurately as possible, used aold road atlasand tried to select jurisdictions with similar distances. He estimated that themeasuresThey were something like128 times fasterthan the real thing; so if you drive 10 minutes on TGACCRR, that would be equivalent to 1280 minutes in the real world. However, some cases could not be overcome, such as the route between Boston and New York which is very short (it takes only four minutes, which is impossible to cover even at 150 MPH).
- Betweenthe citiesthat are included in TGACCRR include: San Francisco, Salt Lake, Albuquerque, St. Louis, Nashville, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, New Orleans, Washington, Charlotte, Las Vegas, Billings, and Detroit.
- Atrickfrom the programmer himself: Before you are toldI finishedhefuel, accelerate as much as you can - above220 MPH. Once out of gas, simply "patina"without crashing to the next gas station.
- DeMeo had plannedimprovesome aspects of the game, such as preventing you from passing gas stations so easily or putting the gear shift into reverse. However, theurgencyfor throwing the title to thesaleprevented him from making such improvements.
- Finally, DeMeo admits that he took the algorithm developed by Peter Kaminski for a scene in the game Master of the Lamps in which the screen fills with smoke. He made some minor changes to make it look like dust and that is what is seen in the intro of TGACCRR.
Posted by
I might still play it though... I think I'll just load it into the emulator for now.
Sincerely,
Oniisan.-
http://manillismo.blogspot.com/search/label/tgaccrr