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Just when it looked as if the computer racing game was
running out of steam (or should that be fuel?), Ariolasoft
have seen fit to release a new innovation in the form
of Electronic Arts' Racing Destruction Set. And
no mere racing game is this either, oh no, RDS
offers far more.
For
a start, not only can you race around any of the multitude
of different courses provided, in the vehicle of your
choice, but you can actually design and build your own
tracks and alter the specifications of the vehicles
you race with!
As
with all games of this genre, the object is to get round
a determined number of laps of a course in as quick
a time as possible and beat the opposition in the process.
The opposition can be provided either by a computer
opponent or a human one. If you do decide to race against
the computer then there are three skill levels at which
to try your luck. Should you find the computer too easy
to beat then you can increase your own level of difficulty.
The
race can take place over any number of laps between
one and nine, with one of four different landscapes
in the background -- racing (lots of flags and things),
motox (tyres, flags etc), abstract (lots of op-art type
lines) and lunar (moon craters and the like). You can
also change the gravity you wish to race under from
one of the 9 main planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, etc)
or some of their moons (lo, Callisto, Titan and others).
Once you've settled on a course and car, it's time to
actually race . . .
There
are two sets of rules that you can play under -- racing
or destruction. The latter differs from the former in
that you don't only race around a track, you can play
dirty, with oil, mines and crushers at your disposal.
Either oil or mines can be added to your vehicle
along with armour for protection and crushers.
MANIC
MOTORS
If you are going to race around the twisting length
of a torturous track, then you will obviously need transport
in some shape or form. There are ten vehicles for you
to choose from and you can modify them to suit your
requirements (whatever they may be)! The variable factors
are all dependent upon engine size and extras carried,
although the figures given are for the basic vehicle.
The
vehicle currently selected is shown in all its glory
at the top of the screen with its specifications below,
The name, weight, power of the engine and other such
associated attributes are shown along with the type
of tires (well it is American) worn and the vehicle's
traction on all three road surfaces (with the selected
rubber wear). You can fit street (good all round), slicks
(best on pavement), spiked (excellent traction on ice
but slow on other surfaces) or knobbly tires (good for
dirt and not so bad on ice) to your vehicle, and suitable
tires should be chosen depending upon the composition
of the course eg: plenty of ice on the course means
that spiked tires would be an advantage.
Crushers,
gallons of oil or landmines can be added to a vehicle
and thus the overall weight, should they be required
for a destruction race. Additional armour (or armor
as the Americanism has it) is available as a protection
against the: destructive potential of the landmines.
A
good acceleration isn't necessarily of the utmost importance,
but a good speed most definitely is. Therefore one should
be careful not to have too much weight for the size
of the vehicle. Keep the engine size large and powerful
but don't take on loads of accessories that will weigh,
and slow you down. A good degree of traction is also
of use.
Once
a vehicle has been selected and/or modified it can be
saved to some form of magnetic medium, be it disk or
cassette, for future recall.
CRAZY
CIRCUITS
On the disk version of RDS there are 50
ready-made tracks to choose from, 19 of which are computer
versions of real life counterparts (eg: Longbeach, Monaco,
Silverstone and Hockenheim) and the other 31 are various
nasty combinations of the track pieces available. If
none of these tracks appeal to you, then you can always
build your own . . .
MAKIN'
TRACKS
Selecting the track construction option presents you
with a small 8x8 plan view of a circuit to build on
and a parts box. This box contains numerous parts, such
as straights, bends, curves, crossroads and junctions
to build with. You simply select a part with the cursor
and move it to where you want it to go on the course.
The piece can then be physically altered and manipulated
to your own specifications and can be raised or lowered
to different heights, narrowed or widened. The road
surface can also be changed, chosen from one of three
-- pavement, ice or dirt. Once you've finished fiddling,
the piece can be stuck back on the track, and when you
are finally content with your design it can be saved
out to disk for posterity, the computer checking the
track for flaws before allowing you to do so.
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