.1. Story Line Welcome to the world of Outlaw Racers, where all that matters is how much money you have, and what kind of car you drive. You are an Outlaw Racer, participating in illegal races in cities all over America. You are out to prove who's the baddest, coolest, fastest racer in the land, and you will have to do whatever it takes to be #1. No car, cop, or law will stand in your way. Everyone on the road is your enemy, so watch yourself, 'cause you're on your own. Mysterious Stalker cars are determined to run you off the road and get in your way wherever possible. Local authorities have issued a warning to all citizens to stay off the roads where outlaw racing is taking place. The public has been warned to stay off the streets until the police have taken care of these criminals. There are, however, innocent people still driving on the roads, as well as cash-laden armored cars which are big targets for anyone to rob. Because of these dangerous Outlaw Racers, the once peaceful and safe city streets are no more, and law enforcers of America have declared each city under Martial Law, until all Outlaw Racers have been apprehended. .2. Overview Outlaw Racers is a Real-Time 3D, strategic/racing game where the user will have complete control over where they are going. Along with driver-seat experience, Outlaw Racers involves an essential amount of strategy and skill. The user will not be subjected to any predetermined route or track, since every race is randomly generated, with new city layouts and checkpoints. The key element of the game is to find an appropriate balance between fast and cautious driving. The police are watching, as are hidden cameras that have been placed in certain spots around each city, waiting to capture your violations on film. Your objective is to cross each checkpoint, while also collecting money through bonus points and successfully hijacking armored cars and their loot. And all this time, you must choose if (and when) to obey the rules of the road. You'll need money, LOTS OF IT, because you'll need to constantly upgrade your car and its parts if you want to stay a step ahead of the police. And the money will come in handy, too, when you need to pay for traffic violations. Once you begin a race, you will be faced with several decisions: which route is best to take for you; how fast and cautious should you be; which laws can you break without severe penalties (i.e. running red lights, stop signs, driving on the wrong side of the road, ramming armored cars for their money). .3. Objective Once a law is broken, you will be penalized. You will need to have the money to pay for these fines, or off to jail you go! And if you think you can just escape the clutches of the local law enforcement by outrunning them, be aware that your actions are being monitored by surveillance cameras throughout the city! Collect as much money as you can; you'll never know when or how you'll need it. Avoiding the police and their cameras won't be easy, but you do have options. You can either drive as safely and as cautiously as possible and obey the rules of the road, but not collect as much money as your opponents, or you can go to option #2. You can drive as fast and as crazy as you want and avoid police and camera detection by using the sophisticated mono-rail system that is under development: O.R.T (Outlaw Racer Transport). .4. Outlaw Racer Transport O.R.T. systems are marked on each racer's GPS map and are accessible to all cars. Police and other "civilian" cars will be allowed access to O.R.T., so...BEWARE, you just may end up on a O.R.T. platform with a cop who will fine you till your blue in the face if your not obeying the laws. Once you've accessed O.R.T., the platform will zip you across different areas of the level of speeds that exceed 200mph. Use O.R.T. wisely, they could make the difference in how successful you are. O.R.T. will serve as a means of allowing racers to get to different parts of the city, quickly, as well as serve as a "shortcut" or "expressway." Best of all, it's a quick way to get the police off your tail! As you collect more money, and your infamous reputation gets you noticed by other racers, you'll need to choose the right time when to upgrade car parts and even the car itself. You'll need to be cautious in how you spend your money for upgrades, because you'll always need to put money aside to pay off penalties and pay for any repairs inflicted to your car. Otherwise, don't even bother trying to run your hooptie in a race (you don't wanna be laughed at, do you?). For those who don't upgrade enough they will be left in the dust, while those who upgrade too much won't have enough money to bail themselves out of trouble! .5. Mode of Play There are two modes of play: 1) Capture the Flag (CTF) - the goal of this mode is to collect as many of the flags (hence the name!) that are scattered throughout the level. There are three types of flags with varying values: GOLD: 500 SILVER: 250 BRONZE: 100 Your mission here will be to collect as many of them as you can before the other racers get to them. Your best bet is to get the higher valued flags first. Once all the flags have been removed from their posts, the game will end. The winner is determined by the Outlaw Racer with the most flags. If two racers have the same number of flags, then the winner is the racer with the highest valued flags. During the race you must be cautious of where the other racers in the game are. The reason: well, they'll be out to ram into you any chance they get. If they hit you going at a fast enough speed say "bye-bye" to the flags you've collected. Once they hit you, all the flags that you have collected will go the racer that hits you. You, of course, can do the very same thing! F8 is the key in which you can keep track of who has what, so check it often, and watch your back! .6. Explore Mode 2) Explore the World - Your mission here is to collect as many flags and bonus points as possible. This form of racing will not end until the entire level has been cleared of all flags and b-point flags. The winner will be the Outlaw Racer with the most cash value at the end. Oh, almost forgot to mention one thing. We didn't name this form of racing "Explore the World" for nothing, the reason is actually because when you begin a race in this mode, you will not be able to see where anything is when you begin in this mode as you can in (CTF). Only when you beginning driving will the map open up. .7. World Generation Every race is a new race, complete with uniquely generated maps and traffic conditions. Of these randomly generated conditions, the options you can control are: Road Mode, Police Activity (difficulty), Road Conditions, Settings (shadows, road dust, and rain drops). This is the information that will be generated for each new level: -City Name -Players (Cars) -Race Mode -Road Conditions -Police Activity -Number of Cities -Total Road Length -O.R.T. -Number of Lighted Intersections -Number of Stop Signs -Number of Bridges -Number of Check Point Areas -Number of Bonus Point Areas .8. Level Map Each race exists in an approximately 16 square kilometer area containing either 2, 3, or 4 cities with freeway and/or O.R.T. segments between them. This area will serve as your map for this race. All cities have their own uniquely generated name. The names generation scheme is based either on stochastic letter combination or conventional roots/prefixes combination. The mini map is available in all views. It serves as a miniature map of the race, or when toggled (F8), as a Status Screen with information on current statistics of the other racers. Also, the player may toggle between the cockpit mini map and a full-size Map View, which is generated by a Global Positioning Satellite system (GPS) link, by pressing Space Bar. (Play will continue even if you are viewing the full-size Map View). It is up to you as the driver to look at the map quickly, or drive cautiously, then return to gameplay. .9. Flags Flags may be cleared in any order; so, you'll have to have a plan of attack. All Flags will be clearly marked by the color of the highest prize still available. Once all Flags have been cleared from a checkpoint, no prize money will be available for capture at that location. .10. Bonus Points Bonus Points (B-Points) differ from Checkpoints in 2 ways: 1) B-Points are OPTIONAL in the Capture The Flag mode (CTF) Depending on the strategy you're using for this race, it is up to the racer to determine whether or not the time spent on capturing them is worth the hassle, because B-Point prizes differ from point to point. In the Explore Mode remember, the game will not end if there are still B-points lying around. 2) You can distinguish between B-points and C-Points by the large yellow dollar sign in the top center of each B-point. .11. Stalker Cars If you see dark grey cars roaming around the city, watch it! These Stalkers are out to run you off the road and get in your way anyway they can. If you do get hit by them they will take half of all the cash you've earned. So don't underestimate their presence .12. Armored Cars Throughout each race, 5 Armored Cars will be roaming the city, probably trying to avoid Outlaw Racers. Within each Armored Car is a HUGE amount of money. These vehicles are easily distinguished by the $ symbol on the side. If the $ symbol isn't visible, then another Outlaw Racer has beaten you to it. Again, depending on your strategy, Armored Cars may be more trouble than they're worth. You will need to use your car as a "battering ram," because you'll need to slam as hard and as fast as you can into the side of the car to collect its money. If you hit it just right, you'll definitely know that you've collected its money (listen for the sound effect). Otherwise, keep trying, because one hit may not be enough to do the job. .13. Traffic Laws Standard American traffic rules, signs, and signals are used in Outlaw Racers. All laws are subject to enforcement. On the other hand, breaking laws is unavoidable in "Outlaw Racers". At least, if you want to win! Depending on the situation, you may chose to drive through red traffic lights; speed by stop signs; or violate turn and/or directional signals, speed limits and/or passing rules. You may even have to crash into other cars and obstacles to clear your way. Do what you have to do to collect money! But beware. The police are awake (for the most part, at least), and are ready to catch you in the act. It's a good thing that the cities have been cleared of pedestrians! Remember, the authorities have told all local communities to stay off the streets. And even if you're good enough to avoid the police, it will be almost impossible to avoid being captured on film by surveillance cameras. You can try to talk your way out of a ticket but cameras don't lie! .14. Upgrades Once you begin "OR," you will be provided with an entry level car, Tsunami SE, complete with the standard Locust EM50 engine, and Cyclone tires. You will have a Torch Red paint job, complete with the logo design of your choosing (31 different choices). You will also be able to integrate your own logo, just make sure that it's 64 pixels x 64 pixels, anything white will be transparent and save it in the "OR" directory as a bmp. Throughout each race, your vehicle will incur damage. Flat Tires, Body Damage, and Severe Engine Damage are expected. Only after earning certain dollar amounts can you upgrade your car, and if timed right, you could get your upgrade for a special sale price. All upgrades take place between races and can't be changed until after the race is completed. Also, as in the real world, your car has a trade-in value. This may be crucial for that certain special upgrade you've been waiting for. But also remember that when you sell your old car, your new car drops back to the base model for engine and tires. .15. Price List Outlaw Cars: Johnson Research Tsunami SE - $30,000 Johnson Research Raven Z - $45,000 SpitzerTech Hyperon 5000 - $60,000 SpitzerTech Firepath C5 - $75,000 David Dynamics Aftershock GT - $90,000 Engines: Locust EM50 - $3,000 Stealth Q80 - $4,500 Tektonic 400Z - $6,000 Phoenix X100 - $9,000 Avalanche 2000 - $12,000 Tires: Cyclone - $200 Afterburn - $400 Terrain Master - $800 Paint: Arctic White - $108 Brilliant Green - $110 Yellow - $119 Purple - $120 Sapphire Blue - $130 Torch Red - $150 .16. Controls and User Interface The keyboard will serve as the default peripheral. You can also choose to use Mouse/Joystick/Steering Wheel. Here are the following "hot keys": Mouse Mode: Left/Right - wheel rotation Forward - Accelerator Back - Brakes Tab - Reverse Keyboard Mode: Left/Right Arrows - Wheel Rotation Up Arrow - Accelerator Down Arrow - Brakes Tab - Reverse Function Keys: ESC - pause/save games Space Bar - toggle driver view & map screen Delete/Page Down - driver's head turns left/right F1 - Help Panel F4 - Network Chat F5 - toggle dash on/off F6 - toggle camera position F7 - toggle short/long render distance F8 - toggle (small map, race status) Pause - toggle sound on/off .17. Views Each racer will have 3 different Point of Views to make the road experience that much more exciting. They are: 1) Cockpit: from the driver's seat, you'll be able to monitor your speed and mileage, as well as to your left and right. 2) 45 Degree: this is an aerial view, allowing you to see your car above and surrounding area. 3) Top: parallel to the car's movement, this aerial view will give a full view of the surrounding area. In each view, you can also toggle between having a dashboard and its controls, or not having it (F5). Each race car is equipped with a Global Positioning Satellite System (GPS). In the GPS system there are two camera control units that each racer can control. Each camera has up to 4 different views, which the racer can control to see any part of the race. This will give you the opportunity to know what's going on with other racers, and determine police and "civilian" car activity. This feature is extremely helpful, so don't be afraid to use it. It may mean the difference between fortune and frustration.