DRAGMASTER © Timex 1983 Loading time: 5 minutes Load name must be typed in lower case letters. Test your reflexes. Try scoring the best time in the quarter-mile. It's all a matter of timing, knowing when to shift gears and how much punishment your engine can take. TO LOAD: Press LOAD "loader", start the tape recorder and press ENTER. The program loads in 5 minutes and starts automatically. Stop the tape when the DRAGMASTER title page appears on the screen. TO PLAY: Press any key to view the dashboard instruments. On the left is the speedometer and on the right the tachometer. The speedometer displays your speed, while the tachometer measures the RPM (revolutions per minute) of the engine. In between these two gauges is a small box with the letter "N" in it. The DRAGMASTER is in neutral. The current gear appears in this box. The scoreboard is at the top of the screen. It displays the time and peak speed, in miles per hour (MPH), for each race you run. Just below, STATUS tells the current status of your engine. The scoreboard displays the results of the best race run up to that point, including the initials of the driver. Pressing R displays the rules. We'll review the instructions. Press the 1, 2, 3, and 4 keys to shift into 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gears, respectively. Press the G key to accelerate. You must hold your finger on the G key throughout the race, except when changing gears. JOYSTICK FEATURE - 1 PLAYER This program optionally allows the use of a joystick to control its actions. With the joystick in slot 1 the following actions replace their keyboard counterparts: Stick up = Shift up 1 gear Stick down = Shift up 1 gear Stick right = Shift up 1 gear Stick left = Shift up 1 gear Button depressed = Apply gas THIS PROGRAM REQUIRES THE JOYSTICK TO BE IN THE PLAYER 1 SLOT. Simply stated: to shift gears on your dragster merely release the gas and move the joystick in any direction. Doing so will shift 1 gear at a time. Press any key (except R) to being the race. In the STATUS section of the scoreboard, six lights are changing from red to green. This is a good opportunity to put your DRAGMASTER into first gear. Press the 1 key. (Notice the "N" on your dashboard change to a "1.") As the last signal light changes to green, press the G key and hold it. (If you try to leave before the last signal light turns green, the race will be stopped and you must try again.) Keep your eye on the speedometer and tachometer needles. When you have achieved sufficient speed and RPM, take your finger off the gas and shift into second gear. Similarly, shift from second to third gear and third to fourth gear at the appropriate times. We won't tell you exactly when to shift gears. The secret of becoming a good drag-racer is developing a feel for shifting gears. As soon as you shift gears, your finger should be back on the G key. Be careful if the tachometer needle appears in the red portion of the dial — you could blow your engine! You can get away with "red-lining" sometimes, but it's risky. If you do blow the engine, it's reported in the STATUS section, and the race is over. As the race proceeds, the marker posts and bleachers zip past on either side. Toward the end of the race, the checkered finish line comes into view. Your time and speed are displayed on the scoreboard. The world "shutdown" appears in the STATUS section, indicating the engine has been turned off. If your time is the best, you will be asked to enter your initials. Type them in and press ENTER. See them on display on the scoreboard. Press any key to race again. To quit the program, hold the CAPS SHIFT key down and press BREAK. Thumbs up!