Heat Wave - Manual
OFFSHORE SUPERBOAT RACING
Manual for the Amiga
"I wanted the boat to project an exotic image, kind of like a 959
Porsche. I want people to look at her and be aroused."
- Don Johnson, star of "Miami Vice," on his custom-designed
Scarab 43 superboat
"Most people, at 45 miles per hour, will say, "This is fun. This is
getting interesting." At 55, they start looking around... and at 60
they're asking themselves 'What am I doing here?' At 65 they want to
get out, and when you hit 70, sheer terror sets in."
- Todd Owen, owner of a 41-foot Apache Heat Wave, as quoted in
USA Today
Taming the Waters
Have you ever wondered what would it be like to be strapped in front of
a pair of supercharged Lamborghini V-12 rocket launchers? How about
planing across the Gulf of Mexico at 100 MPH, kicking up a monster
rooster tail that can be seen on the beach, maybe five miles away.
Imagine: No traffic. No cops. No conscience. Just you, a few fish,
and about 11,000 pounds of screaming muscleboat built of space-age
metal alloys, designed to run about 1,300 horsepower at open throttle.
This kind of machine that guys like Don Johnson, star of Miami Vice,
might take for a spin in the Offshore World Championships.
For real speed freaks, hoisting a spinnaker on even the fastest 12-meter
yacht causes shrieking boredom. You need huge throbbing MerCruiser
420s that eat a gallon of gas every three-quarters of a mile - three
of them whenever possible, maybe mounted on a Kevlar hull. You need
speedmaster drives and hydraulic steering systems. You need a little
thunder on the water.
Welcome to Heat Wave.
Table of Contents
If you're a player who wants just the bare essentials before jumping
into action, read Superboat Section for a quick overview of Offshore
Powerboat Racing, then the Getting Started section which will get the
game up and running. Then you might want to skip to Boat and
Helicopter Controls, and Function Keys to see how to operate your boat.
For a little more depth, read the Control Panel section for a complete
explanation of the cockpit gauges and gadgets. Finally, the Main Menu
section explains each of the Heat Wave Agenda - the first screen that
appears after you get started.
The Superboat Circuit..................................................1
Getting Started........................................................2
Floppy Drive System...............................................2
Hard Drive System.................................................3
Nautical Examination..............................................4
Main Menu: The Heat Wave Agenda........................................4
Game Options......................................................5
Select Course.....................................................7
Select Boat.......................................................9
Registration.....................................................11
Pit Stop.........................................................12
Practice.........................................................13
Qualification Time Trials........................................13
Course Fly Through...............................................14
Driver's Meeting.................................................14
The Race.........................................................14
Winner's Circle..................................................14
Retire to DOS....................................................14
Basic Boat Controls...................................................15
Helicopter Controls...................................................16
Function Keys.........................................................17
The Control Panel.....................................................22
Troubleshooting Guide.................................................25
Page 1 follows:
The Superboat Circuit
The crown of Superboat Racing is the title US-1. It's reserved for the
National High Point Champion, the driver with the highest average of
points based on his finishing positions in a "season" or circuit of 10
races.
Courses
Courses are designed to maximize the challenge to the boats. The course
may vary in length from a quarter mile to 160 miles. The starts may be
green light drag starts, but usually they are flying starts - all boats
are planed out and running at the same speed as they approach the starting
line.
Strategy
The first thing a driver must do is get a good, legal start. If you
cross the starting line before the flag drops, you will be penalized.
After a good start, a winner must cross the finish line first, stay
on course at all times, and receive no penalties or time faults. But
even before the race starts, a winning strategy must include a careful
examination of your competitors, the layout of the course, and the course
conditions.
Race Scoring
Marker boats and check points record the boats' times and passing
positions throughout a race. They also determine time penalties when
infractions are made. The penalties and time faults are added to a
boats' official time at the end of a race. Thus the boat that gets
the checkered flag is only the unofficial winner. This scoring system
makes the outcome of a race very unpredictable. It ain't over till
it's over.
Page 2 follows:
Seasonal Scoring
Your seasonal standing is based on an adjusted "Average Time." Average
Time consists of your finishing time (plus any penalties) adjusted by
the length of the course. Thus, if you are racing a long course, your
Average Time will be lower than your actual time; and on short courses
it will be higher.
At the end of 10 races, you have finished a season. At this time, your
record and the scoreboard is wiped clean. But if your seasonal score
is one of the ten best ever, your name and score will be placed on the
All Time Best Seasons list. (See the Winner's Circle section of this
manual for more details.)
Page 4 follows:
Nautical Examination
Press RETURN to pass the Nautical Examination. Cracked by PARANOIMIA!
Page 5 follows:
Here's a rundown of all your options on the Heat Wave Agenda.
Sponsor's Buffet
First, meet the folks responsible for the fine menu of options on which
you are about to feast. Press Esc to return to the Agenda.
Game Options
The Option menu lets you alter some of the playing features of Heat
Wave, including the relationship between the speed of the game and the
level of graphic detail.
Sound. Highlight Sound and press Enter. Then hightlight On or Off
in the sub-menu and press Enter to turn the game sounds on or off.
Joystick. Highlight joystick and press Enter. Then highlight On or
Off in the sub-menu and press Enter to activate or de-activate the
joystick control.
Page 6 follows:
Game Options (continued)
World Detail. Highlight World Detail and press Enter. Then highlight
High or Low in the sub-menu and press Enter to control the detail of
the world that surrounds your boat. In general: The higher the level
of detail, the slower the frame rate of the display.
Boat Detail. Highlight Boat Detail and press Enter. Then highlight
High or Low on the sub-menu and press Enter to control the detail of
your boat. Again, lower detail means higher game speed.
Frame Speed. Highlight this option and press Enter. Then highlight
Normal, Double, or Quad on the sub-menu and press Enter. These let you
double or even quadruple the number of frames per step, creating a
smoother-looking progression to the animation. Of course, the higher
the number of frames, the slower the action.
Page 6 follows:
Select Course
Heat Wave features six pre-set courses - four offshore near Miami, one
in the San Francisco Bay, one on the Mississippi River. Highlight a
course name and press Enter; you are automatically returned to the
Agenda. If you select Custom Course, one of the custom courses will
be loaded.
You also have room to create up to ten different custom courses of your
own.
1 Highlight Edit Custom Course and press Enter. A text box will appear.
2 Follow the box instructions; they'll explain how to move the buoys
around the Miami Shoreline course (the only one that can be
customized).
Page 8 follows:
Select Course (continued)
o Use the cursor keys o move the buoys around, and the plus (+) and
minus (-) keys to select different buoys to move.
3 When you've finished your course; hit Esc or Enter to get back to the
Course Selection menu. If you happen to think that your new course
is the greatest thing since Magna Carta, you might want to highlight
Save Custom Course and press Enter.
Save Custom Course (on Course Selection menu)
You can have up to ten different courses saved at any one time.
1 Highlight one of the storage options (Course 1 - Course 10) and press
Enter.
2 When prompted, type the name of your course (up to 20 letters) and
press Enter.
o Follow all on-screen prompts about swapping disks if you're using
5.25" disks.
o Press Esc if you want to make more changes on the course before
saving it.
Page 9 follows:
3 Your custom course will now be saved. When you save a custom course,
the program will check to make sure that boats won't cross land. If
they do, the game will tell you which buoy or buoys need to be moved
to make an acceptable course.
4 To select a custom course for your race, highlight the Custom Course
option on the Course Selection menu, and press Enter.
Load Custom Course (on Course Selection menu)
1 To load a different custom course into the "playable" position,
highlight Load Custom Course and press Enter.
2 From the course sub-menu, highlight the name of another course you've
created and press Enter.
3 The new course will appear when you select Custom Course on the
Course Selection menu.
Select Boat
You can race one of four different type of boats. Each, naturally,
has different characteristics. Read the specs on these data screens,
then try them all out in a practice run. To select a boat:
1 Highlight the name of one of the four boats and a rotating 3-D
picture of the boat and appropriate specs will appear on screen.
2 Press C to toggle the boat information text on and off.
3 Press Enter when the boat you want to pilot appears on screen.
Page 10 follows:
The Boats
Offshore Racing is a combination of speed, navigation, and endurance
as competitors match themselves against the open sea. Teams of racers
work in synchronized harmony in each 30-foot to 50-foot craft to
overcome the sometimes menacing sea as well as their opponents. Speeds
of these sleek boats can exceed 100 mph throughout a long race.
Heat Wave features two types of boats. Deep-Vs and Catamarans. Both
types ride on top of the water, instead of plowing through it. The
faster the boat goes, the less the hull actually touches the water,
thus reducing friction and increasing speed.
Catamarans. Cats have two hulls, called sponsons, with a tunnel
(covered by the deck) in the middle. The tunnel is shaped like a long
wedge, wide at the bow and narrow at the stern. Air rushing into the
front end is thus compressed as it reaches the rear, actually lifting
the boat - and, in effect, reducing its weight. However, at slower
speeds in rough water, this lift effect is nullified.
Standard catamaran design usually features a series of steps that run
down the sides of each of the two sponsons. These mix air with the
water flowing under the boat. Aerated water creates less friction
with the hull.
Page 11 follows:
Deep-Vs. Deep-V - or monohull - boats win offshore races when the water
is rough and speeds slower. When a V boat approaches top speed on
flat water (at around 100 mph), only a small portion of the rear hull
(and the props) touch the water - a potentially unstable situation.
Deep-V design features strakes, which are horizontal ribs that help
the boat rise out of water. Also, when your boat flies off the top of
a wave, the strakes limit how hard you crash down into the next one.
Registration
In order to race, you must register. You will be asked whether you're
a Rookie or Experienced Driver.
If you sheepishly admit you're a Rookie Driver, you'll be asked to
type in your name, then the name of your boat. Press Enter and follow
all on-screen prompts. Only 16 drivers can be registered in Heat Wave,
so if the roster is full, you'll have to replay somebody. (NOTE: Once
you replace a driver, they and their standings are permanently removed
from the roster.)
If you're an Experienced Driver - that is, one who's already on the
roster - just use the arrow keys to highlight your name and press Enter.
(If you have chosen a different boat than the one you used previously,
Heat Wave will double-check, to make sure you want to do this.)
Page 12 follows:
Pit Stop
You only get one pit stop, and it's before the race. So make wise
choices here. If something goes wrong when you're out on the water,
you'd better be prepared.
Heat Wave automatically provides you with a life jacket. Beyond that,
you have room for extra gasoline and three spare parts of any
configuration. A driver must risk his boat sometimes to gain an
advantage, but rough seas and high RPM often result in broken
props and blown engines. The boat itself must be paced to control
the inevitable damage till near the end of the race. Then it's all out.
Gasoline. You can Add Gas or Remove Gas by highlighting the option
and pressing Enter. Each time you press Enter, one gallon of gas
is either added or removed from your tank. Press and hold Enter to
speed up the fueling process.
Too much gas will slow you down and increase the likelihood of a spin-
out while cornering around buoys. Too little gas, you won't finish
the course. Each boat uses different amounts of gas. Each course
is a different length. Weather conditions may force sudden course
length changes as well as alter how your boat rides (see the Drivers
Meeting section for more details). As you can see, your fuel
strategy is important.
Page 13 follows:
Spare Parts. These consist of propellers and shafts. You can damage
your propeller if it hits bottom in shallow water, or if you run
over a buoy. You'll damage a shaft if your engines run at high RPMs
for too long.
Highlight the desired part you want and press Enter. The part will
either appear or disapear from the Parts View window.
Practice
The practice run is just like the real thing - same course, same boat,
same basic conditions. To return to the Agenda at anytime during the
race, press Esc and follow the on-screen prompts. Or press F10 to
restart practice.
Qualification Time Trials
If you register a new name or a new boat, you have to submit to the
indignity of qualification, which is a race from the starting line
to one buoy and back again. (Each race has a different qualifying time
and distance.) When you select this option, you will see an Overview
Screen. You'll read more about this later, but for now, just follow
the directions here.
From the cockpit of your boat you will see the starting flag on the
Starter's Boat to your right.
1 When the flag drops, press Enter to start your engine, then press
the keypad plus (+) key to accelerate, the keypad minus (-) key to
slow down. Use the 4 and 6 keys on the keypad to steer. With the
joystick, push the joystick forward to accelerate, pull backward to
slow down, and move left and right to steer left and right.
2 Press Esc at anytime to drop out of the trial and return to the
Agenda.
Page 14 follows:
Course Fly Through
A guided tour, via helicopter of the course you've chosen. This will
help you navigate later during the race, so watch the buoy placements.
Driver's Meeting
It is compulsory that a driver's meeting be held and attended by all
drivers to officially announce the course, the race schedule, and
conditions. The judges may make last-minute course alterations, like
moving a buoy on you.
The Race
Keep an eye on the Starter's Boat to the right. When the starting flag
drops, start your engines and go. Race around the buoys in the manner
dictated by the course map or on the green side of the individual buoys.
Try to win. For racing details (how to control the boat, cockpit
gauges, etc.), see the Control Panel section. If you're a rookie and
haven't completed a qualification time trial, the game will remind
you of your omission.
Winner's Circle
Your goal, of course, is to finish in the shortest possible time. Heat
Wave keeps a running tab of each driver's average time. Highlight
the Winner's Circle option, press Enter, and the Season Standings
and Records screen appears. This lists the top 10 racers and their
average time for the present race circuit. Press the Space Bar and
the rankings of the ten best seasons of all time appear.
Retire to DOS
This is an option you will probably never want to exercise. You will
want to keep Heat Wave on your computer screen well into perpetuity.
Page 15 follows:
Basic Boat Controls
Use four keypad keys or a josytick to control your boat's speed and
direction. (If you're using a joystick, be sure to read the paragraph
on joysticks in the Game Options section of this manual.)
Keypad
Speed up +
Slow down -
Turn left 4
Turn right 6
Trim up 8
Trim down 2
Helicopter view 7
Joystick Speed Up
|
Turn left -- -- Turn right
|
Slow down
Fire button = starts engines
There are a few other controls worth mentioning now so that if you
want to jump into a practice run, qualification time trial, or race,
you have all the tools. (These are explained in more detail in the
section Main Menu: Heat Wave Agenda.) Remember, whenever you start,
you need to select a boat, a course, and register for the race.
Page 16 follows:
Basic Boat Controls (continued)
Enter Start engines (fire button on the joystick)
Tab Stop engines
8 Adjust trim down
2 Adjust trim up
B Run the bilge pump
F9 Pause game during practice, time trials, or a race
C On the Boat Selection screen, removes the text
from the revolving picture of the boat.
Helicopter Controls
While racing, you can view the world from the cockpit of your superboat
OR you can view the proceedings (while still controlling your boat)
from a helicopter view, hovering just above and behind your boat.
Just press the 7 key on the keypad, and suddenly you're racing with a
bird's-eye perspective. Pick out those distant buoys. Find your
competitors. Or just contemplate the awesome fractal scenery.
Page 17 follows:
To get back in the trenches, press the keypad 7 again.
To maneuver the helicopter:
Q Move helicopter lower
W Moves helicopter higher
A Swings helicopter left (the scenery moves right)
S Swings helicopter right (the scenery moves left)
Z Helicopter zooms closer to your boat
X Helicopter zooms away from your boat
Remember: While in helicopter view, you are still racing your boat.
All of the controls remain the same.
Function Keys
When something is wrong, or when something of interest happens, the
appropriate Function Key Indicator starts to flash. To see what's up,
press the corresponding F-Key. Except with F2, these will take you
to a new screen.
Page 18 follows:
F1 Navigation
Shows a map of your current race course. It even displays the position
of your boat (the asterisk) and the other boats (small marker). You can
scroll the map around with the arrow keys. The chart on the right
displays the distance and direction for each leg of the race. Very
helpful information:
F2 Loran/Radar Toggle
Toggles between the two navigational modes. For a full explanation
of these modes, see the Loran/Radar Screen section of the manual.
The F2 indicator flashes when you are in shallow water - usually less
than 5-6 feet, although catamarans tend to run a bit higher in the
water than deep-V hulls.
Page 19 follows:
F3 Time Sheet
Tells you how you are doing in the race. Each time you pass a buoy
marker, your time is recorded on this screen. So are all your time
penalties. You receive penalties for:
Penalty Length of Penalty
~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Missing a buoy 1 minute
Missing a marker 1 minute
Boat repairs
Shaft 1 minute
Prop 1 minute
Bilge 1 minute
Jumping the starting flag 1 minute
The F3 indicator will flash whenever something new is added to your
Time Sheet.
Page 20 follows:
F4 Damage
Your F4 indicator will flash if something is wrong with your boat.
Press the F4 key to access the damage. The problem will be spelled
out in the lower window.
There is also a menu on this screen. Scroll through the choices and
press Enter to select one of the following:
Trouble Shoot. Tells you what you did wrong - e.g., hit bottom, ran
at high RPMs too long, etc.
Repair Shaft. Only if you have an extra shaft on-board, of course.
Change Prop. Same story.
Check Gas. Tells you exactly how many gallons of fuel are left in
your tanks.
Disqualify. Lets you exit the race.
Page 21 follows:
F5 Ranking
This screen displays the current standings of all five drivers in the
race. NOTE: This function does not take time penaties into account;
you could be out front, but still lose because of penalties.
F6 Overview
This remarkable screen gives you a mule-high view of where you are on
the course (your boat is the yellow arrow). Very helpful for getting
your bearings. As in helicopter mode, you can move your point of view:
Q Move lower
W Move higher
Page 22 follows:
F6 Overview (continued)
A Swing left (the camera moves right)
S Swing right (the camera moves left)
The Control Panel
Once you choose Practice, Qualification Time Trial or The Race options
from the Agenda, the next screen you see displays your superboat's
control panel. Here are the panel components and their functions.
Compass
This tells you your current bearing in terms of direction (N, S, E, W)
and degrees (0-360).
Clock
Surprisingly, this unique device marks the time of day (all races
start at 1:00) and keeps track of your time. It can also be used as
a stopowatch. Press G to start the stopwatch, S to stop it, R to
reset it. Press C to toggle between the clock and the stopwatch.
Page 23 follows:
RPMs
The revolutions-per-minute of your drive shafts. The higher the RPMs,
the faster your propellers turn, and the faster you go. Of course, most
driving machines can only sustain very high RPMs for limited periods of
time. Ham-hands on the throttle will nuke your shaft.
Speedometer
Yes. This tells you how fast you are going. Keep in mind that some
boats spin out if you try to turn sharply at high speeds. Also, make
sure your speed properly reflects engine RPMs. If you are going slow,
but RPMs are high, something is wrong - e.g., the propeller is damaged,
or you didn't set the trim right.
Trim
When you get closer to maximum speed, your boat will "go on plane."
That means it will literally fly over the top of waves, with only
minimal hull contact with the water. Adjusting the trim up or down
will flatten out your ride and measurably increase your cruising
speed. Press the Down arrow for down and Up arrow for up. Do this
every time you adjust your speed. (Note: The turn will become off
balance every time your speed changes, so check it often.)
Bilge Pump
If you take on water for any reason, press B to activate the bilge
pump. This will keep you dry - but it also eats gas and slows you
down.
Temperature Gauge
Gauges engine temperature. Only runs high if something is wrong or
you are revving your boat too high for too long. In either case, the
warning light will flash.
Page 24 follows:
Starter
To turn on your engines, press Enter or the fire button. To kill your
engines, press the Tab key. (Hint: In case of imminent collision, the
Tab key will stop you faster than the minus (-) key on the keypad.)
Fuel Gauges
Give only a rough indication of fuel remaining. For a more detailed
reading, go to the Damage Screen (see F-Screen secction) by pressing
F4.
Loran/Radar Screen
Loran. Short for "long-range navigational." In the nautical world,
it is a system in which pulsed signals sent out by two pairs of radio
stations are used by a navigator to determine the geographical position
of a ship. In Heat Wave, that navigator is your shipboard computer.
In loran mode, you are shown the following information:
o Distance to the next buoy
o Heading (in degrees) needed to reach the next buoy
o Correction you need to make to get back on course. (The correction
number is followed by an S or a P. S stands for starboard or
correction to the right, and P stands for port or correction to the
left.)
o Current depth of water
o The next buoy you need to reach
Radar. You know what "radar" is. In radar mode, the top of the screen
is always the direction in which you are heading. Your boat is
represented by the blip in the center of the screen. The other blips
represent other boats.
Toggle between the two modes by pressing F2.
Also consult the Reference.Card loacted in the HeatWave (dir) of your
Heat Wave disk.
