California Speed -- FAQ by Poln (psu19257@odin.cc.pdx.edu) <-- Send any corrections/problems here v0.95
What's New
v0.69 -Added 1 quote when passing cars -Added 1 quote when car is passing you
v0.70 -Minor Fixes
v0.90 -Fixed time to start (60 seconds) -Added Monterey (rough start)
v0.95 -Fixed some tracks. -Fixed 2 p link
Currently, a FAQ + 9 Track Guides
Soon I'm going to tell you about the tracks in this game.
This is my first FAQ attempt at this game. Hope this FAQ works well. If there are any corrections or problems, send an e-mail to the address above. Thank you.
Legal Disclaimer c. 1998-1999 by Poln. This FAQ is for personal use only. No part of this FAQ maybe rewritten without the express written consent of the author. You may take something here your for your use, but please give credit where credit is due. Don't stick you name claiming that this FAQ is yours. NOBODY wants to plagiarize others people's work and rip things off. If I found out that this FAQ has been plagiarized, disciplinary action will be taken seriously (that means I can tell everyone that you're a lamer and your e-mail address will be filtered). Also, this is free, don't make money selling this sh*t. If you wish to redistribute, fine, but it has to be in its entirety. I don't want to see any type of abuse from this FAQ.
-------------------------------------------------------- I've include some similarities of real life in CA and this driving game. Examples are SFO, Hearst Castle, and others...
Welcome to California Speed. This is one of the new racing games from Midway/Atari who brought you SF Rush, Radical Bikers X, and others. If you are into racing games, then this game is for you. Okay.. for this game, you can choose different scenery of California on what to race on.. There is a lap race available for those of you who like car racing like Indy 500 or Daytona 500 (vid Daytona USA/Daytona USA 2). You can also choose "do the state" option which can you race around CA. When I first saw this game, I think to myself "WOW, this is neat."
The signs/obstacles that you see are real. Example, in Silicon Valley, you see Hwy. 237 which is the Milipitas Freeway. Technically, this is true. Hwy. 237 cuts through 101 and I-880. Starts at HWY 85 (Mtn. View/Sunnyvale) and ends at I-680 which turns into Calaveras Rd in Milpitas. It will also take you to Great America theme park which is in Santa Clara as well as McCarthy Blvd (in Milpitas). Silicon Valley is at the south side of the Bay Area. P.S. Like the fast food _In-N-Out_ .
Another real thing is the Call Boxes that you see at the side of the road every few feet or so when you are on a major Hwy/Freeway. In real life, this is true.
For those of you who don't know what a Call Box is, let's say that you are in trouble, your vehicle has trouble, or you got involved in an accident. You use call boxes to get assistance to suit your needs. You may get service from CalTrans (Transportation dept), or from a response team (fire dept, E.M.T. or police). When calling, you need to know what call box your calling, the location, what county, and your nature of your 10-80. (signs on call boxes will tell you where you are). If you got trouble in a city, the response time is around 15-20 min. where if you are in the countryside, may take up to 2 hours (or more) to get there.
Misc. ----- During attract mode/demo session, if you press view 1, view 3, and Radio button together, then it will show you the version number like this: v1.0r8 and the date.
Start of Game -------------
When you first put in your coins, you get to select your track. You can choose different races to play for OR you can choose an option to do the entire course which is similar to the Crusin' series. Yes, I did the state before and it was very interesting. If you want to know what the ending is........ (maybe you should try to look at the bottom of this document). [For entire course, you will first start in Silicon Valley, then Santa Cruz....until you reached SF]. Sorry, there are NO hidden tracks in this game like the Crusin series.
+ If you decided to choose a race track option, you will do 3 laps around the track. You will see your track time as you finish your lap (similar to other racing games).
Then choose your car. Press one of the view buttons to select the 2nd row or the last row of cars to race. You can choose from a hot rod, to an old car and/or *really* a golf cart. I don't know why you want to choose it, but if you want to do it, that's fine. You can change colors of your vehicle. Currently, I explain very well on how to do it now. You can hold the RADIO button to choose a hidden car that is not shown. One of them is a muscle car, the other is a police car. Hope that the vehicle you choose is the right one for you.
or...how about this... imagine driving through the mountains, go through a shopping mall accidentally/purposefully hit people ("GET OUTTA OF MY WAY!!!"), drive on a roller coaster track, drive on the edge of a bridge or drive on a race track. You can with this new racing game, California Speed. If you run through street lamps, signs, (some pole), you have little or no effect in the speed as long as you are in control. If you hit a tree, that's a different story. The 3D graphics are really cool. Example, in Monterey Coast, you see a cool water as you go through it. Or in Mojave Desert, you see something that is awesome, but I can't put that in words that well. You may need to see it for yourself.
There are shortcuts and/or alternative routes throughout the game. If you can tell me where you can access it, that would be great.
If you wish, you have the option of racing a mirror track. All you need to do is choose a track, hold ALL 3 viewing buttons then select. When starting, it will be different. You will see a mirror image of everything including signs, turns, etc. so if you turn right, the mirror image, you will turn left and vice versa. Traffic flow will be the same so stay on the right side of the road, if you can, unless you want to pass, avoid obstacles, etc. I've haven't tried this myself so if you did this already, tell me about it and I'll add it to the FAQ. --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Next, you choose your transmission... Automatic or Manual.
Now you can start the race.
As in any racing game (except for Pole Position), you will start in last place, in this case 10th (2 player link, either 9th or 10th). You are trying to pass all these cars towards 1st place. You have 60 seconds to start. In race tracks (such as Searts Point Raceway), you have 45 seconds to start. Extra time will be added as you go through checkpoints.
When you pass the cars, do the best you can. When passing cars and/or move up the ranking, you will hear a voice that complement you for doing so. Here are some of the phrases...
Traction 1. Dakar High 1. Wide Hog High 1. SUV High 1. Kart High 2. Street Fighter Medium/High 2. Road Burner Medium/High 2. Rodster Medium/High 3. Cresta Convertible Medium 3. C.H.P. Medium 3. Predator Medium 3. Fairchild Medium 3. M2 Medium 3. Sledster Medium 3. Velocity 6000 Medium 4. F1 Medium/Low
Views -----
There are 3 Views that you can choose
1. Road Cam In this position, you are in the driver's seat.
2. Tailgate Cam This view is like a car behind a car as you followed them.
3. Sky Cam This view is like a view from the helicopter.
Accidents ---------
When an oncoming car travels towards you or when you hit a slow moving vehicle, you'll to a flip and get back in the road. You will lose considerable speed down to around 50-60 MPH and you'll lose time. Bummer. Also, if you hit the wall, or uncontrollable turn (sharp turn), you will also lose time for it.
What's unique from the other driving games is that you will need to know approximately where the oncoming vehicle is. For example, in Monterey Bay, there is an oncoming car when you enter the golf course (when you past the black fence) which you are entering Pebble Beach *or* in Santa Cruz, there is an oncoming vehicle at the entrance to the roller coaster. Name of the roller coaster BTW is the Big Dipper. If you can spot that or at least remember in the back of your mind, you could avoid obstacles that way.
Finish Race -----------
You will cross the finish area (similar to Road Blasters, 1987-88), you have completed the race. It will show you the actual time that you did, and the record time. Hope you break a record. You get to enter your initials if you are one of the top 10 fastest times for this track.
If you are in first place, you will receive a free race. If you do, you can choose another track, and you can choose a different car if you want. Some arcades, you will need to pay per play so check the screen carefully.
There are 2 sets of fast times. One is regular racing, the other is for mirrored track so if you race in a mirrored track, you will get to put in the fastest time in a mirrored track section. When finished, will see the times that you raced in [mirrored].
Radio If you don't like the default music provided, then you can change the radio by pressing the RADIO button located on the left site opposite of the START button. You will hear music changes, but it won't show what the name of the music is.
2 Player -------- For those of you have 2 player link, this is fun. You have about 10 seconds after the first player start the button. Otherwise, it will start solo. After you press start, one of you choose a race to start, choose vehicle...etc... Race starts. Under your place (like 7th place), you will see something like this: 1/2 or 2/2 which what place you are in a 2 player mode. Whoever finished the race first, the other player have 5 seconds to finish the race. Otherwise, your luck ran out. This is different from other racing games where you don't stop in the middle of the race if the other player finished 1st. When crossing the finish line, you can put you initials if you are one of the top 10 fastest times in your machine. If you are officially in 1st place (by ranking, not by 2 player), you will earn a free game if you machine permits, otherwise, pay per play.
Update.. settings on different machines may very. In 2 Player link, you can earn a free game if you are 1st in terms of a player (first person crosses the finish line plays for free, if not, the guidlines will be the same (see above)
I wonder what happens when there is a dead heat. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now the guide..
NOT all if the Tracks are listed here. More will be posted as I get some experience for those tracks or you can contribute to them..
Silicon Valley [Easy] When you start, try to pass the cars smoothly. You see buildings, companies that make high tech stuff, etc. Turns are NOT very tight as you might expect, but you may need to get a grip on the controls. Otherwise, you may hit the wall, jump the curb, etc. and may loose speed and time. Nearby, you see a highway sign which displays HWY 237 which is the Millpitas Highway.
Stay on the right side of the road as you can.. If you see an obstacle go by, then try to swerve around it, hoping that you don't get caught in the middle. When you pass the final checkpoint. You will go through the wonders of the high tech era. That is, what's it like inside a computer. When you are in that area, there is NO oncoming traffic so you don't have to worry about hitting it. This is the final lag to the finish. When you come in to the weird area, the voice would say "Wooo, Psychedelic." In there you see a Pentium processor, lights, semi-conductor stuff, and parts for the computer. A rainbow of colors that you see as well..
You will also see the signs 3D FX.. (I thought 3 Com) oh well.. let me know if I'm wrong. Then you go through a tunnel to the finish line. Technically, when you are on a curve, try to have a smooth one.
There is a mini shortcut at the beginning of the race. You go over the cones, down the hill, then go up. Kind of dismal so you should stay with the course.
Avg. Time 2:15:xx Best Time 2:12:90
Santa Cruz [Expert] You will start in Los Gatos, CA and you will go through HWY. 17 (I-880 will turn to Hwy. 17 once you past Los Gatos, CA (Near San Jose). I-880 begins at the east end of the Bay Bridge (NEW Cypress Overpass, most expensive road project in U.S. history which is about 1 billion dollars). Hwy. 17, just as in real life is a windy road when you get to Santa Cruz. The highway is closed when there's an accident, or mud slides. It's a 4 lane curvy road. Some people don't like to drive on Hwy. 17 because of the windy road, but that's the only way to get to Santa Cruz unless, you want to take Hwy. 156 west from 101 and then take Hwy 1 north to Santa Cruz. That is possible to do so, but it could take longer.
Santa Cruz a town well known for the boardwalk. You will drive up and down the hill of Hwy. 17 going through forest, mountains, etc. till you reach to town of Santa Cruz. On the side, you will see Call Boxes (see above for what they are). They mean nothing for the race, but in real life, will come in handy. There are sharp turns along the road so in you try to make a turn and end up in a wall.. It's hard to get out. No foolin. You will be frustrated and end up dead last.
Once your there, you go through the town, then enter an amusement center where you ride (I mean, drive through) the roller coaster. The name of the roller coaster is "The Giant Dipper." You will travel on the roller coaster track to the finish line. Careful, some of the turns are really tight so don't lose your grip.
For information about the Boardwalk, phone (408)-426-7433 Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce (408)-423-1111
Monterey [?]
You will start in a similar fashion as in Santa Cruz, but this time, in a shorter stance. The sky turns foggy as you drive near the coast. You'll be off the road and drive on a beach sand. In the distance, you will see blue ocean water, and windsurfers having a wonderful time. As you drive through, you'll have a few hard lefts like in this diagram below.
As you can see, if you drive onto the grassy area or on wet sand, your speed may go down so be careful.. You also go under the deck. Don't hit the wood pilings.. (ouch..).
After the beach, you will drive through Old Monterey. When you enter, you will jump over the water, the drive around the old buildings past the cannery (curvy road) until you enter the Monterey Bay Aquarium. As you get in, you will see fish on the windows. The drive is at an angle so get a grip on the steering wheel. While you in, there is a fork up ahead. You can either exit (regular to a road) [left side], or jump out of the building through the glass [right side]. As you exit, you will enter the 17-Mile drive which you enter pebble beach, a well known golf course. You'll drive on a paved sidewalk til you reach the finish line. It's ok to drive on the grass to a certain extent. [of course, if you went out of bounds, you'll slow down].
#Monterey, and Monterey Bay Aquarium is a very fun place to visit. You should go to the aquarium because you can see and learn about different things in the water. This is one of the largest aquariums in the world. You can join a membership there much like a membership for a science museum and the zoo. For information about Monterey Bay Aquarium, call this number for more info... 408-648-4888 ticket info... 800-756-3737 in CA elsewhere call the info line or through BASS tickets or you can go to this website.. http://www.mbayaq.org
There's Sea World in San Diego, and Marine World in Vallejo (about 1 hour north from SFO), but that's a zoological park and a different story.
Monterey Chamber of Commerce/Visitor Center # 408-649-1770
Hwy 1 [Expert]
This is a 2 lane road though out the course till you reach the end. You will start at Half Moon Bay (I think) and you travel through the forest as fog rolls around. It's really foggy in the summer, but on a clear day, you will see a nice view of the Pacific Ocean. No foolin. You will also cross one of the historic bridges where you see an arch at the bottom. pretty cool. Turns can be hard. Remember if a turn, you hit a wall, you are going to get frustrated.
You will see people hitchhiking as you go along the road along the way before you reach the estate of Hearst Castle. This is a 2 lane road. Turns are moderate, not so steep or tight. When you cross the bridge, the bridge is a historic bridge that you may see in one of the postcards which it was built in the 1920's-30's. Road is narrow so be careful driving.
There is an alternate route to this, you can drive beside the Pacific Ocean on the sand. You can also get a better view of the historic bridge structure. Very cool.. I don't where it is located. Someone told me that is not a good alternate. Well..you be the judge and tell me.
Later on, you will drive on a grassy road, a gravel road and lastly through a swimming pool (you can drive around it if you want) to the finish line. You end up at Hearst Castle*. I'm not sure if the name of the swimming pool is the Neptune Pool.
If you drive through the swimming pool instead of around it, you be careful at the ladder part of the pool so you won't hit the wall or pillar.
*If you don't know about Hearst Castle, contact the National Geographic Society. They have tons of info for this place. (Tours there are run by National Geographic). This is located in San Simeon. [Remember, the changing of the mind]. Hearst Castle is a fun place to visit. There are 4 different kind of tours cause the place is huge. You need walking shoes cause you need to walk around and through. You need to buy tickets for each separate tour so plan ahead on which tour you want. Tour 1 is the most popular one. This is for beginners. There are tours 2-3 which they are good as well. Tour 4 is seasonal only (spring/summer). OH.. BTW.. you can't see it if fog rolls around. Cause the quarters is on top of the ground. Again, contact the National Geographic Society for more info. The number for info (805)-927-6811 Ticket info (800)-444-4445
Central Valley [Easy]
For me personally, it's should be intermediate. Cause when you go through the mall, you need to be careful on where to drive.
You start of the country side of the road where you see farm houses, silos, windmills, etc. (You will see tons of windmills off I-580 east of Castro Valley, CA). The default music is the countryside. Stay on the right side of the road as oncoming traffic may came and you could get hit.
There are 2 secret shortcuts in this game. You will enter from the left side (I don't know exactly where they are). You can see it by going through the barricades. You will drive through a dirt road until you reach the main road.
As you cross the railroad tracks, you are going to drive inside the mall. A voice would say "oooh..shopping" or "drive thru shopping." As you go in, you see people all around it. You can hit people there. When you hit them you say to yourself, "GET OUTTA MY WAY" so you can drive through to the finish line. Be very careful. If you hit the trees, a wall, or whatever, you may get out of control so watch where you're going. You can go on the upper level or the lower level when you drive through the mall. The finish line is when you are about to leave the mall towards the parking lot.
Los Angeles [Expert]
At the start of the race, you can go take either I-5, or go through the cones and take I-405. Dosen't matter what you take, you'll end up in downtown LA. You will see a HOLLYWOOD sign as you drive by.
If you drive I-5, you will see a white sign on the left that tells you $271 fine for violating the use of the carpool lane during certain hours. It's true. Fines are variable in SF and LA so don't cheat in a carpool lane. In SFO, NO CHEATING on the Bay Bridge.
If you drive I-405, you drive the upper portion, see the HY sign, then rejoin I-5 as you head into downtown. You will see buildings, signs, thats about it.
In either case, you'll be forced off the freeway to drive into downtown LA. You will see a yellow sign straight ahead that says "Freeway Ends 1/2 MI."
When you drive through downtown LA you will see people on the sidewalk. You can hit them if you want. The Road is 4 lanes, turns are moderate... little difficult, but hope you can come out safely.
At the edge of downtown, you will go back to the freeway, with more turns and some are very tricky (think of a "pretzel maze" that what Caltrans call it). Again, choose the route you want (either go straight, or go through the cones (I-5 or I-405).
I-5 - you will go on a downward slope, steeper turn. Stay on the right side of the road. You don't want to be in an accident. You'll drive at an angle.
I-405 - you can take it by going over the cones. stay level for a while, this is my favorite area cause its not as steep as I-5 (1st half of it anyway). You will curve right as you jump off the freeway (I-405) and join I-5. (similar to a bus jump from the movie, "Speed." but not quite.
The 2nd (latter) part is not as easy as you might think. You will curve right at an angle which is the hardest part of the race. This curve is similar to Yosemite and/or Santa Cruz on the roller coaster. You will be forced off the freeway and into the ditch.
You are in a ditch (I don't know that the technical term is). Best side is the left side because as you left the ditch to a road, it will be a smooth change. Right side, may need to drive at an angle when you are in transition to a road.
When you leave the ditch, you drive alongside the Pacific Ocean as you see the palm trees on either side of the road. You can hit trees, but it will slow you down. If the speed is not reasonable, then you will hit and get stuck much like Cursin USA's Beverly Hills Race. Turns are easy to moderate, not that difficult.
You are now entering a movie studio, which you may see on the cartoon TV show, "Animanics." You will see movie warehouses, studio set, and other things that might me used in a movie. As you enter voice would say, "Hey, that's __________!" (name of a famous actor/actress). You will finish the race as you leave the studios.
Los Angeles Visitor Center Number.. (213)-689-8822
Yosemite [Expert] Before I begin, there is no oncoming traffic in this course so it would be a little easier on you (yea, right). This is one the hardest races in this game.
Ah yes, Yosemite. You will start driving on HWY 120. Real life, Hwy. 120 heading east from I-5 which is not far from I-580 (north of Tracy, CA) and I-205. You will drive in a 2 lane road throughout the course. You will go through the woods past the campers/tents and cross the river (hydroplane). Turns are very windy, this is as hard as Redwood Forest in Crusin' USA. You will drive under the waterfall at an angle (similar to LA, Santa Cruz). If speed is around 188MPH, you're doing just fine. As you leave the waterfall, you will go through 3 U-turns. Those are the hardest part of the race. [If somebody wants to brief me on paper how to maneuver these U-turns, that would be great]. Once you leave, you will go through more windy turns trying to pass cars. This is not easy.. Later, you will climb up El Capitan rock. This is one of the well known landmarks in Yosemite. You may drive out of control at times so if you are off the road, try to come back to the road. Then, drive through Tioga Pass to the finish line.
If you want information about Yosemite National Park or any national park or forest, contact the US Forestry. You can also call this number for more info (209)-372-0200. Yosemite is a very nice place to visit, despite the fire several years ago (1992).
Avg time 2:02:xx Best time 1:58:11
San Francisco [Expert] This track is harder (as hard as Yosemite). Turns are tighter and may require you to ge a grip on your vehicle. Anyway, you will start off crossing the Oakland-Bay Bridge which is I-80. You won't see the toll booth, but in reality, this is a toll bridge and you need to pay $1.00 to cross it when you head towards SFO.
No charge if you are going to East Bay. As you cross the bridge. You may see holes in the road. The holes that you see came from the 1989 earthquake which measured 7.1 on the r. scale. If you fall in the hole, you'll drive on the lower deck till you reach downtown. You can drive up to the upper deck if you so choose. [You may not see Treasure Island or Yerba Breuna Island in this arcade simulation]. When approaching dtwn, you see overhead sign which is HWY 101 SFO, and Downtown San Francisco. (Real life 4th Street exit). You will turn right and see buildings, another sign near the Ferry Building/Embarcadero area and a curvy road through Victorian houses. You will also going to pass Market St. This is the main road in downtown SFO. (I can tell by the traffic light).
There are downhill which your vehicle will jump down to much like SF Rush. Control your wheel when you land. Be careful when you jump and try to land towards the Transamerica Building. You may end up being crashed. ouch..
Try not to steer hard in those places. A gradual turn would do. When you get through downtown, you will go through the toll plaza to cross the Golden Gate Bridge. Try not to hit the pillar as you go through the toll booths (much like the toll booths in Crusin' USA's Iowa and Indiana courses). [Real life, No charge if you headed towards Marin County as you leave SFO. If you cross the GG Bridge towards SF, there will be a $1.00 fee]. They'll make you detour to the edge where you drive up and down the cable. You can use either side.
You see below a 10-43 which means that traffic is really tied-up and it's bumper to bumper. It's kind of neat to drive on the cable to avoid traffic. The only bad part is when you go up, the speed will go down till you reach the top, then you go down, up, down.
When completed, you are on HWY 101 headed north into the country side as you see green stuff there. Also, its wine country. You will drive there for a short time then you see Victorian houses on either side of the road which is similar to Crusin' USA San Francisco Track. That is, you will go up and down.
Later, you will go into the MUNI subway tunnel (1 level higher than BART subway) and drive on its tracks. Be careful of trains going by. If you hit one, boy, you are screwed. Again, stay on the right side of the road. You will drive through stations and into the tunnel. When you are at the end of the tunnel, you are at the finish line. yay.
If you are playing "do the state," this is the last race.
For information about MUNI transit in San Francisco and Daily City, call (415)-673-MUNI
For BART subway, call (510)-465-BART [Yes, I know there are other local numbers to call BART, you just need to figure them out.]
If you "do the state" and finish the entire course (14 races), you will see an awesome ending. The ending is very cool.. However, I'm not going to give away what the ending was.. If you are really desperate in wanting to know what it is, e-mail me about it and lets chat.
Contest is when you can e-mail to the address or snail main to get a T-shirt which is much similar to Road Blasters (which you completed 50 races). Sorry the contest expired in September, 1998. Aww.. to bad. This frustrates people when they completed the race only realized that the contest is over, but you got an awesome ending to brighten up your day (or night).
Credits -------
siroccoh@lanset.com -- Name of the roller coaster in Santa Cruz. Mike Turner (mike205@hotmail.com) –- Car information/stats.
