MICROPROSE WORLD CIRCUIT
Version 1.05 - Modem Update

Additional Technical Supplement
For IBM PC and compatible computers

Memory Management:

You will need about 600,000 bytes of Base Memory 
available to run the program. If the game fails to run 
properly your machine's memory is probably not configured 
correctly.

The easiest way to temporarily configure your machine 
correctly is to make a boot disk.  Make the GPRIX directory
current and type 'BOOTMAKE' from the DOS prompt.

To use your boot disk, insert it and reset the computer.
The game will use either EXTENDED memory (made available 
via himem.sys), EXPANDED memory (via add on boards or 
EMM386.SYS on 386 or above machines) or create a spill 
file of 320k ('temp000.tmp') on your hard disc if no 
extra memory is available. Of the three, extended memory 
is preferred (it's generally faster than expanded memory) 
and is tested for first by the program.

EMM386.EXE

Emm386.exe is the standard DOS 5.0 expanded memory 
manager.

If you are running World Circuit on a 286 machine you will 
have to use the Expanded Memory Driver supplied with your 
machine.

There are many other 3rd party memory management programs
available. World Circuit has been tested with a selection 
of these.

Copy Protection:

World Circuit has no disk copy protection. This means that 
you can install the simulation files from the original 
disks to a hard disk. However, the program asks you a 
manual-related question. Use the manual to answer the 
question. MicroProse regrets that continuing casual and 
organized software piracy requires that we retain this 
minimal form of copy protection.

Sound:

The sound for AdLib and Soundblaster cards has been 
updated.  The original files in your GPRIX directory will 
be replaced automatically. 

Enhancements for the IBM PC Version

Important: The IBM PC modem version of World Circuit 
contains some enhancements over the original. 
Many of these program changes have been achieved without 
affecting the instructions you’ll find in the manual. 
However, you will discover that some things are not 
documented in the main manual, but are explained below.

The Game Options Menu:

The most obvious changes to game options can be seen on 
the Game Options Menu! You will see the following;
"About World Circuit"
"Quick Race"
"Race"
"Game"
"Control Methods"
"Startup Files"
"Printer"
"Linkup Menu"
"Save Options"
"Main Menu"

"Quick Race" allows you to make selections about the 
track, car, grid position, length and weather for a Quick 
Race. The "Race" and "Game" selections are the equivalent 
of "Race Options" and "Game Options" selections described 
in the manual.

"Control Methods" allows you to select between keyboard, 
mouse, joystick or customised control, to edit the 
controls and to calibrate an analog joystick.

"Start Up Files" allows you to specify which saved files 
you want to be loaded as defaults for Driver Names, Car 
Set Ups and Circuit Records.

"Printer" allows you to specify printer type, port and 
feeding instructions. You can print out any result screen 
after a race by selecting "Printer Menu" and then 
selecting the information set that you want to print out.
It is possible to print results to any IBM compatible 
printer or to redirect them to an ASCII file. The printer 
sub-menu on the Game Options allows you to choose between 
an IBM printer (with IBM box graphics characters) or any 
other IBM compatible printer (text only). If in doubt 
about your printer, try the test print option. Unless you 
have more than one printer attached to your machine you 
should select LPT1 as the printer port. It’s also 
possible to send a copy of the grid and/or results tables 
to a file on hard or floppy disk. To do this select 
‘File’ instead of LPT1-3 on the menu. The files created 
will be plain ASCII files if you have selected ‘other’ as 
a printer type but contain IBM graphics characters if you 
have selected an IBM printer. These files should be 
editable in all word processors.

Detail Levels:

There are four detail levels which can be  adjusted to 
ensure the faster running of the 3-D landscapes. You can 
also remove the ‘texture’ which has been added to the 
track, by pressing the "T" key. This will allow the 
simulation to run faster on slower machines.

Gaps between Cars:

An additional feature has been incorporated which gives 
you an accurate gauge of the distance between your car 
and those in front and behind. It also tells you the 
drivers' names. By pressing the "G" key during a race, 
the names will be displayed, along with the last recorded 
time differences, if available. The time differences are 
recorded when the cars cross the start/finish line.

Frame Rates and Processor Power/Speed:

Because of the wide range of hardware available on the 
market today this simulation has several custom options 
to help you get the best performance from your equipment. 
World Circuit will produce similar race times regardless 
of what type of processor you have, however more powerful 
machines will have the advantage of being able to use a 
higher "Frame Rate". This will make the simulation appear 
smoother and faster, if you wish the default settings may 
be changed as follows:

A) TEXTURED FILLS.
The keyboard letter "T" will toggle texturing on and off.  
We recommend this function be turned off for 286 and slow 
speed 386 machines.

B) FRAME RATE.
Within the "Game options / Game" menu you can alter the 
frame rate of the simulation; provided your machine is 
powerful enough this will provide smoother 3D graphics.

C) PROCESSOR OCCUPANCY PERCENTAGE.
While the keyboard letter "O" is depressed during a race 
the screen will display the "Processor Occupancy 
percentage", this figure will fluctuate depending on how 
much work the processor is doing.

If the % remains well below 100 you may wish to increase 
the frame rate.

If the % rarely exceeds 100 you are getting maximum 
performance.

If the % is mostly over 100 you may wish to reduce the 
frame rate.

The File Selector:

When entering a filename you should be aware that the 
normal MS DOS / PC DOS restrictions apply; i.e. Names 
must not exceed 8 characters in length, punctuation 
characters are prohibited, only 1 dot is allowed, this 
separates the filename from the file name extension.

Steering Sensitivity:

A Steering Sensitivity button has been added to the 
steering control method menu.  This is only active if 
steering help is Off and allows you to set the maximum 
lock of the front wheels in degrees. This value then 
corresponds to a full joystick movement. The default is 
12 degrees.

The original release used a value of 22 degrees. It was 
envisaged that an ordinary joystick would not be used 
without steering help. A large lock ideally requires a 
steering wheel device capable of spreading the analogue 
values over a physical movement of about 400 degrees like 
a real racing car instead of the 50 degree movement of a 
typical joystick, otherwise the steering feels too 
sensitive.

Even so, a real racing car is still very sensitive in 
steering compared to a normal road car. It is because 
typical joysticks make the very sensitive steering of the 
real racing car yet 8 times more sensitive that steering 
help is provided to compensate. However it is apparent 
from correspondence that some people prefer to learn to 
control the sensitivity in return for more direct ', the 
adjustable lock should make it possible to get the best 
from whatever equipment you have.

If you set too small a lock, the steering will feel more 
controllable but you could have trouble getting round 
sharp bends or find it harder to 'catch a skid'.

Rudder Pedals:

A new sub-menu has been added under Edit Control Method.  
Switch Joystick Axis is designed for users with rudder 
pedals, which may only have horizontal (x) 
potentiometers.  It allows the steering to be re-assigned 
to the vertical(y) axis and the accelerator/brake to be 
re-assigned to the horizontal(x) axis.  In addition, 
since some pedals could have one pot for each pedal, a 
further button will assign brake to one axis and 
accelerate to the other. 

Control Method and Game Saves:

In version 1.04 you can load a game which was saved 
whilst using a different control method to the one 
currently selected and the game now automatically allows 
you to continue to play using the current controls 
(version 1.03 required you to remember the previous 
control method and set it before loading the game.)

Link Modem Play:

The major change in version 1.04 is that a new feature, 
linked play has been added.

What is linked play?

Linking allows you to play on two machines 
simultaneously. The two machines are connected either via 
standard Hayes compatible modems using a phone link 
(called a modem link) or directly via a special cable 
called a null-modem cable (a direct link).

How to link up the machines:

First connect up the necessary cables. In order to use 
the link you will need to connect the modem or the null 
modem cable to one of the serial ports on the back of the 
machine.  Most PC's have 2 serial ports, labelled COM1 
and COM2.  Either port will do, but if you are using a 
serial mouse then you should leave that port alone and 
select the other com port.

Having connected the cable, load up the game on both 
machines.  Now from the main menu, go to the Options Menu 
and select link.

You should see the full screen Linkup Menu which controls 
how the link operates.

The Link Menu:

The Baud Rate:
At the top of the linkup menu are 4 buttons labelled 
2400, 4800, 9600 and 19200. These control the baud rate, 
which is a measure of how fast data is sent down the 
serial cable.  A fixed amount of data is sent down the 
cable for each frame of the simulation, so if you wish to 
play with faster frame rates (for smoother animation and 
control) you will need a higher baud rate.

The downside is that higher baud rates are more error 
prone, especially with longer or unshielded cables and 
that, while most modems will communicate with the 
computer at higher rates, the modem-to-modem connection 
down the phone lines may not be fast enough (in this case 
you will see higher than usual occupancy rates in the 
game).

Link Type:
Below the baud rate buttons are two buttons to select the 
link type.  Choose Direct for a null-modem cable between 
two machines or Modem if you are playing across the phone 
lines.

Direct Link Lead/Follow:
While the link is active, one machine takes control of 
the menus on both computers and is said to 'Lead', the 
other machine is said to 'Follow'. For a direct link you 
MUST set one machine to 'Lead' and the other to 'Follow', 
otherwise they will not make the connection.  For a modem 
link the machine that does the dialling (and pays the 
phone bill) is automatically the leader.

Modem Link Dial/Wait for Call:
If you are linked by modem over the phone line then one 
machine must dial up the other, and the other machine 
must be ready and waiting for a call.  You should pre-
arrange this (perhaps with a voice call) before try to 
start up the link.  These buttons control how the machine 
will behave for a modem link.

Modem number to dial:
You should type in the phone number to dial on the 
machine that will initiate the call. The string will be 
passed direct to the modem so, if your modem supports it, 
you can use "," to add delays to the dial etc.  All the 
linkup selections are included in your Options file so 
it's useful to save options before linking.

Modem dial type:
This tells the modem to use one of the two dialling 
methods employed by phone companies. Pulse dialling is 
much slower than tone dialling so tone dialling is 
recommended if your phone exchange supports it.
Modem initialisation string.

In order for the game to work smoothly via a modem 
connection, the mode must be set-up up in a particular 
way.  To keep the simulation running in real time it 
requires the modem to pass the data through immediately 
and not buffer or compress it as would be needed for a 
file transfer. Also the game performs its own error 
checking based on a packet system, so it is recommended 
that you turn the modem error checking off, as this can 
also delay data passage.  Unfortunately, there is no 
standard set of commands to do this across all Hayes 
Compatible modems; we have included sample initialisation 
strings for some makes below, but if your modem is not 
included you may need to look up codes in your modem 
manual.

In summary, we recommend that you:
1. Turn compression off
2. Turn error checking/control off

On a more technical note, it's recommended (though not 
essential) that you start the initialisation with the ATZ 
command to reset the modem. This ensures that it's in a 
standard state at the beginning and will make linking 
more reliable. If you need to insert control characters 
in the modem initialisation string then the sequence ^ + 
letter will do it.  For example ^M will send a carriage 
return. There no need to insert a ^M at the end of the 
string as an ASCII 13 is automatically appended.

For example:
Modem type      Sample initialisation string
Courier HST     ATZ&M0&K0
Twincom 144/DF  ATZ&Q6

Hangup/Connect/Exit:
Once both machines are set up, you should click on 
Connect on both computers. If you are connecting via a 
modem, then you should see the computer initialise the 
modem and either show 'Dialling' or ‘Wait for call’. Once 
a connection is established then the machines should show 
'Starting Link' to the dialler and 'Waiting for link' at 
the other end.

After about a second these messages should clear and the 
button 'Link is active' appear.
 
For a direct link, one machine should show 'Starting 
Link' immediately and the other 'Waiting for Link'. 
Again, after about a second these messages should clear 
and the 'Link is active' button appear.

What to do if things go wrong:

a.  For a direct link.
If the machines are showing 'Starting Link' and 'Waiting 
for Link' but nothing else is happening then you should 
check -

that you have selected the correct comm port on each 
machine,

that they are both operating at the SAME baud rate.

If this appears o.k. and still nothing is happening then 
you may have an incorrectly wired cable. If you are not 
sure about the cable, you could check it with a normal 
comms package.

b.  For a Modem link.
If the modem is not responding, check the connections and 
check  that the modem initialisation string is correct.  
Any error in the string will not get an OK reply from the 
modem. As a check, try a simple ATZ for the string and 
see if the modem goes on to dial or wait for a call.

If the modems dial but do not connect. This is the 
trickiest problem.  Many modems have subtle differences 
and modems from differing manufacturers can have problems 
with varying protocols. If possible, check that you can 
connect with a similar modem, after that it's down to 
checking through the modem's manuals.

After the link is connected:

After a connection is established, you shoiuld see the 
message Link Started, with either 'This machine has 
control' or 'Other machine has control'.  While in the 
menus the system is controlled from one machine, with the 
other echoing it's movements. The machine with control 
has the normal red highlight on the menus and is said to 
'Lead', whereas the other will show a blue highlight and 
is said to 'Follow'.

The machine designated to 'Follow' is excluded from 
certain actions eg Control Method set-up, Printer Setup 
and general loading and saving (but not game saves) and 
will display a 'Please Wait' message if the Leader moves 
into these areas on the menus. Also certain menus will 
behave slightly differently; Driver Select, for example, 
now shows both machines’ drivers and allows either to 
change their selections.

While in these Linked menus there are 3 Special hotkeys:

Alt/M   On either machine will pop up a message box 
	over the current menu and allow you to send up 
	to forty characters of text to the other machine. 
	Type your message and press Return, the link 
	will then wait for the other machine to clear the 
	message before moving back to the original menu.

Alt/R   This hotkey is only active on the machine that 
	has control of the menus. When it's pressed, 
	control passes to the other machine.

Alt/H   This hotkey is active on both machines and 
	brings up a menu box allowing you to hang up 
	the link. You should always end the link either 
	here, or by clicking on Hangup in the linkup menu 
	and not simply switch one machine off (the other 
	machine would then be left trying to regain 
	contact).

Alt/I functions as normal

These hotkeys are available on almost every menu, but 
note that they are disabled in the File Selector.

Extra options while linked:

After linking you may find that some of your option 
settings have changed, especially if the other machine 
has control. Many of the option settings are copied 
across from the 'Lead' machine.

If you close the link you will be given the option of re-
loading your  preferences file.

Also, after linking, some menus change. Driver Select now 
has selection options for either machine and the Quick 
Race menu shows both players’ chosen car and grid 
position. There is an extra option available in the Quick 
Race menu when two machines are linked - a two player 
Quick Race. This allows a normal Quick Race, but with 
only the two players and no computer controlled cars.

A note on Quick Race driver selection...
Note that, the normal driver selection and the Quick Race 
driver selection are two completely separate areas. Quick 
Race driver selection is accomplished from the Quick Race 
menu and only one driver is allowed.

Full driver selection, for non-championship and 
championship races, is accomplished from the driver 
select menu and allows full multi-player selection and 
editing of Driver and Team names. Note however, that if 
you edit the driver or team names in driver select, the 
new NAMES will be used in any Quick Race.

Driving while linked:

Some in car options are accessed slightly differently 
when linked.

Car set-up is accessed as before, by pressing brake while 
on the jacks, but now, rather than going straight in, the 
other machine will show 'pause requested' and the machine 
wanting set-up will wait for 'pause' to be pressed on the 
other machine. This is because both machines must exit to 
the menus together. The request for pause is, in fact, a 
courtesy request since the 'requested' player may be in 
the middle of a hot lap and may not want to be 
interrupted.

In fact, either player can press pause to initiate the 
car set-up menu so the requested player should not delay 
unreasonably (much more than a lap time for example) 
before pressing pause. If the requested player is also 
jacked up then that player will automatically go into car 
set-up if a request arrives. Like 'PAUSE', 'ESCAPE' on 
either machine will cause both to exit from the cockpit 
into the practise, qualifying or race frozen menus.

Note that, when slow machines are linked and are 
operating out on the track at 100% occupancy (press 'O' 
to see) there is a tendency for the pitlane graphics and 
VDU monitor to add an additional overhead to the 
occupancy. Although not usually a problem, when two 
machines are linked this can have the affect of slowing 
the frame rate on the other machine - even when its 
driver is out on the track. Therefore, if you wish to 
remain in the pits for a while waiting for results you 
could agree to ride with another car out on the track to 
keep the frame rate normal for your linked opponent (you 
could ride with your opponent!).

Loading and saving:

While in linked mode, any game saves must be made on BOTH 
machines, Screen prompts will guide you through the 
procedure and the filename chosen by the 'Leader' is 
automatically passed through to the other machine. It's 
recommended that you use the same filename on each 
machine to save confusion, but this is not required.

Other menus:

Some menus, notably the control method menu, the startup 
files menu and use of the printer/printer menu can only 
be accessed by the machine in control. To reach the menu 
on the other machine the 'Leader' should release control 
(from the main or options menu). After the second machine 
has finished, it can release control again, back to the 
original 'Leader'. Also some options are not allowed 
while linked: load names, load track records and save 
options are disallowed.

If you have any difficulty loading Grand Prix or need 
help while running the simulation, MicroProse will be 
happy to help you on the Helpline. Please ring UK 0666 
504399, Monday to Friday 0900 to 1700 hours. Have a pen 
and paper handy when you call.

Additional Keys Guide

Pressing ALT/I will display the PC’s processor type, DOS 
version and the current time. Click on ‘Continue’ to 
return to the normal menu system.

When Linked:-
	ALT/M sends a message down the link
	ALT/R releases control
	ALT/H hangs up phone or closes the link.


With grateful thanks to Footwork Grand Prix International 
and Honda UK

Game Design & Program Copyright ©1991/1992 Geoff Crammond
Documentation, Packaging & Logo Copyright ©1992 
MicroProse Ltd.,
Unit 1, Hampton Rd Industrial Estate, Tetbury, 
Gloucestershire GL8 8LD UK 

This documentation and accompanying disk are copyrighted. 
The owner of this product is entitled to use this product 
for his or her personal use. Except for back-up copies of 
the disks for personal use and the quoting of brief 
passages for the purposes of reviews, no one may 
transfer, copy, back-up, give or sell any part of the 
manual or the information on the disks, or transmit in 
any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, 
photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior 
permission of the publisher. Any person or persons 
reproducing any part of this program, in any media, for 
any reason, shall be guilty of copyright violation and 
shall be subject to civil liability at the discretion of 
the copyright holder.
