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Version 1.1 (5-3-2002) Written by H.Akse
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CONTENTS
1.0 Introduction
1.1 About the game
1.2 Game facts
1.3 System requirements
2.0 Gameplay
2.1 Vehicles and courses
2.2 1 player mode
2.3 2, 3 and 4 player mode
2.4 4 player teams
2.5 Party play
2.6 The construction kit
3.0 Highscores and shadows
3.1 Cheats
3.2 Hints and strategies
3.3 Peculiar
4.0 Troubleshooting faq
4.1 Known bugs
4.2 Where to get mm2
4.3 Legal stuff
4.4 Contact
4.5 Thanks
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1.0 INTRODUCTION
-----------------
This game guide is meant to serve as a complete source of information about
the PC game Micro Machines 2. To my knowledge no other guide or faq for this
game exists. Actually, any information about this game is scarce so I got
the information needed from the game and present to you my obligatory
contribution to the existing universe of game guides.
Henceforth, Micro Machines 2 will be referred to as mm2.
1.1 ABOUT THE GAME
-------------------
I'll try not to turn this section into a full review.
Mm2 is the second game in the Micro Machines line from Codemasters, all of
them arcade racers based on the little toy cars from the late eighties last
century. These games have become popularized mainly by releasing them on a
wide scale of platforms, as well as the success of the focus on multiplayer
gameplay. When mm2 was released on the pc in 1995 it faced fierce
competition, as new technologies allowed realism and 3d. What Codemasters did
was turn graphics and control all the way to simplicity and put the efforts
in gameplay, what resulted in one of the fastest, richest, most enjoyable
and competative arcade racing games ever.
Mm2 is a top-down 2d platform racing game. You drive little cars, boats and
other vehicles on racetracks around all kinds of different around-the-house-
locations. On dinner tables, toilet seats, through gardens, attics, pool
tables, rivers, sand and so on. A lot of effort went in making the tracks
varied and interactive, so you'll find yourself hopping over peas, crossing
water on a sponge, diving into pocket holes, getting knocked off the track by
a drill or a hammer, avoiding teacups, puddles, oil drips, pushed away by
wind etcetera. While the graphics aren't state of the art technologically,
they're clear, well designed and smooth.
There's one downside to mm2; the single player challenges are too hard to be
enjoyable for beginners. Frustration lies ahead for those unpracticed to play
through them.
Luckily, single play is not what mm2 is about though. By far the most fun is
the multiplayer racing. Mm2 gives people a wild competition which is rarely
matched in any other game. With up to four players at the same time on the
same computer. Plus, it's easy to learn.
Enough with the praises, enjoy this timeless game.
1.2 GAME FACTS
---------------
Name : Micro Machines 2: Turbo Tournament
Release Date : July 1995
Developer : Codemasters, Supersonic Software
Publisher : Codemasters (Gametek?)
Platform : PC Dos (Earlier released on Sega Genesis and SNES)
Distribution : Floppy or CD
Predecessor(s) : Micro Machines
Demo released : Yes, 4 tracks fully functional
Type : Top-down platform racer
Multiplayer : 4 max. simultaneously, 16 max. tournament play
# of vehicles : 17
# of tracks : 53
Extra features : Track editor
Graphics : Resolutions 224x156 to 320x224, 256 colors
Sound : Sound effects through soundcard
Music : Diverse musical scores in menu's, ingame music only from cd
Control : Keyboard, Joystick; Mouse in the track editor
1.3 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
------------------------
System : 386 DX-33 MHz
OS : MS-DOS 5.0 or later (only runs in real-mode DOS)
RAM : 4 MB
Free disk space : 15 MB
Video : VGA graphics card
Sound : Sound Blaster, Pro, 16, AWE32 and 100% compatibles,
Gravis UltraSound/Max
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2.0 GAMEPLAY
-------------
The gameplay of mm2 is simple and intuitive. There are four controls to
drive the vehicles: left, right, accelerate, brake. You look at the track
from above; it's a top-down racer. Many races are pretty fast so you may have
to practice quite a bit before you master it. It takes lots practice to get
ahead in the single player mode.
There are basically two types of racing in mm2; lap racing and head to head.
Lap racing is your usual drive 'round the track, completing 3 laps finishing
as soon as possible. Head to head is a more original kind of play, which is
described in the 1 player section (2.2). Except for time trial, all
multiplayer modes are head to head.
Mm2 is by far the most fun to play against other people. You can play it with
two, three or four players at the same time. Or you can play a party
tournament with 16 players at most.
Starting from the main menu you can choose a variety of modes to play, which
are explained further in the guide. Before racing, you choose a character to
race with, which you can give a name first. Your accomplishments in the game
will be awarded to this character. Time trial records will be saved to your
name. The characters have no different characteristics.
After choosing your character(s), you choose a course to race, or when you
picked a challenge or tournament of any kind, the course will be selected for
you. Then off you go.
2.1 VEHICLES AND COURSES
-------------------------
There are in total 52 courses, which are subdivided in 16 locations. Each
location has it's own vehicle, each vehicle is fixed to one location.
The bonus levels from the 1 player mode are set in different locations but
all share the Super monster. There are four different bonus levels.
These are the locations, their vehicles and courses:
DECORATION: TREEHOUSE: KITCHEN: POOL TABLE:
Convertible 4x4 jeep Supercar Sportscar
----------- --------- -------- ----------
Roller coaster Windy willows Plate hop Cue capers
Step on it Tiny treehouse Toaster trouble Ball bonanza
Ups n downs Treehouse tiles Ferry fiasco Ball chase
Turbo turns Raining champ Pool slalom
DINNER TABLE: WORKSHOP: GARAGE: MUSIC:
Dumper trucks Rally car Bug Monster truck
------------- --------- ------ -------------
Whine on! Chainsaw chase! Crossing chaos In a spin
Cob challenge Driller killer Garage games Musical hits
Jelly jitters Vice squad Turbo blast Piano panic
WOODS: PINBALL TABLE: POND: BATHROOM:
Chopper Formula 1 Hovercraft Dragster
------- ------------- ---------- --------
Bricks n trees Pinball panic Water chase Rim runners
Pinball pursuit Bathtub burnoff
BEACH: BASEMENT: RIVER: GARDEN:
Beach buggy Off roaders Power boat ATV
----------- ----------- ---------- ------
Dervish danger Attic antics Stream struggle Frosty reception
Bury my body Pipe patience Rapid results Atv action
Banked oval Basement bumps Training camp
Sand castles Ceiling circuits Garden jumps
Picnic problems Lights out!
Each vehicle has it's own characteristics in speed, grip and acceleration. A
vehicle's characteristics also vary on the different courses from one
location.
2.2 1 PLAYER MODE
------------------
These are the options you can choose from in the 1 player menu.
CHALLENGE:
You race 3 laps on 25 courses against 3 computer opponents. To progress to
the next course you have to finish first or second. Finishing third or fourth
will cost a life of which you have three at the beginning of the challenge.
After every third time finishing first straight (excluding the ones you had
to retry), you get a bonus level in which you have 30 seconds to gather 30
little cars with a super monster truck. Succeeding earns you an extra life.
These are the tracks in challenge:
1 Training camp 10 Ball bonanza 19 Musical hits
2 Driller killer 11 Whine on! 20 Toaster trouble
3 Sand castles 12 Roller coaster 21 Ball chase
4 Pinball pursuit 13 Bury my body 22 Crossing chaos
5 Cob challenge 14 Piano panic 23 Ups n downs
6 Ceiling circuits 15 Bathtub burnoff 24 Bricks n trees
7 Garage games 16 Banked oval 25 Windy willows
8 Atv action 17 Treehouse tiles
9 Lights out! 18 Vice squad
HEAD TO HEAD:
In Head to head you race against one computer opponent, the same way as in
multiplayer mode; drive your opponent off the screen and you earn a point,
get too far behind or too far from the track and you lose one. You have to
turn all eight lights in the left upper corner of the screen to your color,
in other words take away the ones of the opponent. Both start with 4 so
you'll have to end up with eight.
It's not always clear by which protocol the computer decides who wins in head
to head mode. It's basically like this: when the distance between two players
increases so much that they cross the edge of the screen, the computer
chooses the one who is most behind on track to lose. The other one will win,
or continue if there are still another players in the race of course. If
you're not ON the track, in other words way off it (while taking a shortcut
for instance), the computer decides your place on the track to be the last
place you went off it.
In head to head you race the same courses as in challenge (see above),
getting bonus levels works the same way.
SUPER LEAGUE:
You race in a league of four divisions. When you end first after four courses
your move up to a higher division, ending at division 1. The courses are
usual 3 lap races.
-Division 3 -Division1
1 Cue capers 1 Turbo blast
2 Rapid results 2 Pipe patience
3 In a spin 3 Pinball panic
4 Step on it 4 Raining champ
TIME TRIAL:
This is where records are set. Records and shadows are saved (read section
3.0 for more information). You can choose to race a time trial for either
one or three laps on one of the following tracks.
1 Roller coaster 10 Pool slalom 19 Musical hits
2 Tiny treehouse 11 Bathtub burnoff 20 Step on it
3 Ferry fiasco 12 Dervish danger 21 Crossing chaos
4 Basement bumps 13 Frosty reception 22 Vice squad
5 Whine on! 14 Pinball panic 23 Stream struggle
6 Chainsaw chase! 15 Bricks n trees 24 Rim runners
7 Garage games 16 Banked oval 25 Treehouse tiles
8 Water chase 17 Ups n downs 26 Garden jumps
9 Turbo turns 18 Ball chase 27 Driller killer
2.3 2, 3 AND 4 PLAYER MODE
---------------------------
These are the options you can choose from in one of the multiplayer
menu's.
SINGLE RACE:
At the heart of mm2 lies the multiplayer head to head race. In single race
you choose one of the same 27 tracks that are available in time trial
(see 2.2).
Playing 2 player head to head is exactly like playing 1 player head to head
(see 2.2) except you race against a human player instead of a computer
opponent. To win, turn all the lights to your color, or have the most lights
turned to your color when the three laps are over.
Playing 3 player head to head is slightly different from 1 or 2 player head
to head. For one, the 3 lap limit is off so you race until someone wins on
reaching eight lights (again all start with four). Instead of one row of
lights for two players there is one for each player. The player who goes off
the screen first loses a light, the winner gains a light and the one 'in the
middle' stays where he is.
4 player head to head is the same as 3 player head to head, except there are
4 rows of lights and they consist of twelve lights instead of eight. The
player that goes off the screen first loses two lights, the second one loses
one light, the third one gains one light and the winner gains two lights.
Note that you need at least one extra controller to play in 4 player mode.
Note that for each head to head race you receive a certain amount of points,
depending on your final position. In a 2 player game, the winner gets 30
points and the other one gets nothing. In a 3 player game, the winner gets 30
points, who comes out 2nd gets 15 points and who comes out 3rd gets nothing.
In a 4 player game the 1st one gets 30, the 2nd one gets 20, the 3rd one gets
10 and the 4th one gets nothing. Your total amount of points is shown on the
intermission screen between each course. This score remains throughout the
whole game.
TOURNAMENTS:
In tournament you can choose between 3 tournament modes, shown below. In each
tournament you race head to head against others (like in single race). You
basically have to win the most courses out of five. If the tournament is
undecided after five courses (possible in 3 player mode), you simply start
at the first course again until one comes out first.
- Rookie Races - Mega Mix - Pro Tournament
1 Tiny treehouse 1 Random 1 Treehouse tiles
2 Sand castles 2 Random 2 Turbo turns
3 Vice squad 3 Random 3 Ferry fiasco
4 Water chase 4 Random 4 Jelly jitters
5 Rim runners 5 Random 5 Pool slalom
TIME TRIAL:
Multiplayer time trial is just like 1 player time trial, but you take turns
racing a track. Highscores count the same.
2.4 4 PLAYER TEAMS
-------------------
This is like multiplayer head to head (see 2.2), only you race with two teams
of two players (red team vs blue team). Like in 2 player head to head, in the
left upper corner there is the row of eights lights to conquer. The team that
survives wins a light, the other one loses one.
Mucho fun.
SINGLE RACE:
Race 4 player teams head to head on one of the 27 time trial tracks
(see 2.2).
TOURNAMENTS:
Race a 4 player teams tournament exactly like in 2, 3 or 4 player mode
(see 2.3).
2.5 PARTY PLAY
---------------
Party play allows 4 to 16 people to enter a big knockout tournament. In each
round the players are randomly paired in 2 player head to head races
(see 2.3). The winners of the races enter the next round where they are again
paired and so forth towards the final race that decides the winner of the
tournament. One track per round is to be chosen.
2.6 THE CONSTRUCTION KIT
-------------------------
Alias the track editor, is an extra in the game to add even more richness to
the amount of courses and modes in mm2. However, it's quite restricted and
it doesn't allow making courses of the quality of the normal courses in the
game. It still is a fun addition, since besides designing the track you can
redesign the graphics of the course in a small editor and even redesign the
vehicle for the track. The course is saved in a single file which you can
easily exchange with others. The files are in the /construc folder. After
creating a course you can race multiplayer head to head and time trials on
it.
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3.0 HIGHSCORES AND SHADOWS
---------------------------
When you set a highscore in time trial, it will be saved to the name you gave
your character. Also a shadow, which is the shadow of your car from when you
raced the highscore, will be saved and will appear the next time you do a
time trial on that course. Course 3 and 21 are exceptions to this because of
their unpredictable nature.
If you want to share or backup the highscores and/or shadows, the highscores
are saved in a file named nrvfile.dat in the \present folder, the shadows are
saved in separate files in the \shadows folder.
Some highscores for you to beat:
1 lap 3 laps
Roller coaster 1.00.56 0.19.84
Garage games 0.33.32 0.11.24
Water chase 0.46.02 0.15.62
Pool Slalom 1.06.24 0.20.44
3.1 CHEATS
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There are no known in-game cheats whatsoever. There are trainers available
for mm2 and the memory is easily modifiable by memory hack tools such as
Gamewizard 32. But since there aren't any new features to gain by winning or
cheating there's no big point doing it though.
Still, you might want to freeze the lap number in 2 player head to head...
Here are some memory addresses and their corresponding values:
1DE90B - Number of lives left in a race
1DD081 - Number of laps left in a race
1DCE93 - Number of points won in 1 player head to head
1DD877 - Number of cars collected during bonus course
3.2 HINTS AND STRATEGIES
-------------------------
This section is mainly meant for head to head multiplay.
There is quite some depth to reach improving in mm2. Firstly, there are many
opportunities to take little shortcuts to get ahead of your opponents or
even rid yourself of them at once. Secondly, to rule in head to head is to
know battle. As important as taking tight corners is knocking other players
off their way. This adds quite an attack-defend layer to the racing on some
courses, especially on the Water Chase (the ultimate ride - played almost
like chess). The main idea for mm2 strategy is know how to use the tracks.
I'll explain some tricks that make the difference between winning and losing:
- Bump 'em off
It's very simple: bump your opponent off the track! Against the scenery,
into walls, off the track path or best of all push 'em down from bridges and
edges so they fall down and crash. Just a small sideways bump at the right
moment is sometimes enough to get your opponent out of balance, make him bump
into another opponent, make him skid out of corners, make him crash into an
obstacle. Hint: give your victim a little push to the side right before a
jump and he will fly off to New Zealand.
- The break attack
Very effective trick, especially when more than two people play. When you're
ahead of someone, make sure you drive in his way and hit the brake. Right
when the victim bangs into your rear, release the brake and accelerate again.
The bump will give you a boost to regain speed and slows your opponent down,
sometimes enough to kick him off the screen.
If you're practiced enough, you can do this trick while steering towards the
other player from a more diagonal position. Counting completely on a
successful hit you can regain direction and speed at the same time. Of
course a simple countermeasure from your victim by simply steering to avoid
you will likely cost you the point.
- The pinball attack
Like the break attack, only you use an obstacle to do the trick. You really
got to know the track for this. At the right moment, deliberately crash your
car into an obstacle so you bump backwards, hitting someone behind you. If
done right Newton's law will launch him back off the screen and give you back
your speed. Of course you shouldn't crash at a 90' angle into something for
you will not be able to avoid it when you get your speed back. Use something
that throws you back diagonally. Turns in the track are best for the pinball
attack.
- The turn attack
When on the inside of a curve in the road, you are very dangerous to the
ones on the outside, for obvious reasons I assume. Now, you can simply put
take a turn two ways: in a carefully positioned way and in a suicidal way
with no holding back. The latter will of course get you into trouble under
normal circumstances. But you will be faster, gaining on the ones ahead of
you and bumping into them somewhere along the curve will punch them off
course and restore your direction to get through the curve safely.
- Be a threat
Being ahead of others gives you an advantage, which of course you want to
keep. Keep your opponents back and busy by making threatening moves and
taking positions as dangerous to them as possible.
Further obvious hints are practice and learn the courses. At first the
driving may seem difficult but it's easy to pick up. Hard to master though!
3.3 PECULIAR
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- The 4th time trial / head to head course in the demo (Plate hop) is not
accessible in the time trial or head to head mode in the full game.
- The shortest track (relative to speed) in mm2 is Rim runners, the toilet
seat course. The longest one is probably either Jelly jitters or toaster
trouble.
- It's very easy to edit the game's graphics as they are all pcx files.
- Fun but difficult: race two cars at the same time! One with each hand...
See how far you get.
- Mm2 Promo line:
" Bigger, Better, Faster and Meaner: This is Micro Machines 2. Take charge
of 17 different turbo-charged air land and sea vehicles in the most
competitive all-action racer ever seen. Speed onto the multi-player race
circuits in and around the Micro Machines house where up to four players
can simultaneously compete on over 50 hazard-packed tracks."
---
4.0 TROUBLESHOOTING FAQ
------------------------
Q : The game runs slow and/or crashes.
A : Mm2 cannot run in a windows dos box (except for Windows 95 in some
cases). You have to start up in dos-mode. Also, expanded memory managers
like emm386.exe interfere with the game. You will have to turn them off
in config.sys by removing the line or putting "rem" at the beginning of
the line.
Q : When I play with others on the same keyboard, the keys get unresponsive
when too many keys are pressed at the same time.
A : This is due to restrictions of many modern keyboards. Use an old
keyboard or switch one or more players to joystick(s). You can also try
to remap the keys temporarily with the appropriate software.
Q : My joystick/joypad doesn't function well.
A : Calibrate it in the extra options menu.
Q : In 3 or 4 player mode, the cars accelerate by themselves.
A : When you play with 3 players on one keyboard the acceleration is
automatic to reduce the amount of keys pressed. You handle the brake
with the accelerate key.
Q : I have sound or memory problems.
A : Read the readme from the game.
4.1 KNOWN BUGS
---------------
Tournament bug: When you choose the tournaments mode from one of the
multiplayer menus and before selecting a tournament type return to the main
menu, you will not be able to choose the gametype next time you choose a
multiplayer menu, but go directly to the tournament selection menu. You can
escape this by choosing a tournament type and then return to the main menu.
Spawn bug: In some very rare cases the computer can not find the place to
respawn the vehicles in head to head and will keep looking for it until the
game is aborted.
4.2 WHERE TO GET MM2
---------------------
If you want to get a legal copy mm2 you will have search really good since
it isn't sold anymore for quite a while. Codemasters doesn't support it on
their site either. I also tried to find the demo on the internet; it was
truly hard. I found it on Fileplanet, but I expect it will just disappear
from the regular download sites soon.
Mm2 is probably considered 'abandonware' now and can be downloaded from so-
called 'abandonware sites'. Note that downloading abandonware technically is
not legal as long as it isn't released as free software by the copyright
holder. I won't recommend you to download abandonware but since you may not
be able to find mm2 anywhere else, there might be no other way.
4.3 LEGAL STUFF
----------------
1. I am not responsible for anything. Use this guide at your own risk.
2. You may spread, use and publish this guide as long as it's kept it it's
original state. No parts of it may be used for other work without consent
from the writer.
3. Don't shoot me for my possibly crooked English here and there.
4.4 CONTACT
------------
If you have comments, corrections or anything to add to this guide, you can
contact me at hakse@illian.net.
