============================================================================= ============================================================================= The Definite MICRO MACHINES II Game guide ============================================================================= Version 1.1 (5-3-2002) Written by H.Akse ============================================================================= 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 --- 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 --- 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 4 -Division2 1 Tiny treehouse 1 Attic antics 2 Garden jumps 2 Jelly jitters 3 Rim runners 3 Picnic problems 4 Chainsaw chase! 4 Plate hop -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. --- 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 ----------- 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 ------------- - 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. -------------------------------------------------------- (c) H.Akse 2002 ----