Formula PC Version .9.96 beta 2.26.2002 (C)2000-2002 ONYX (J Boen) onyx@malagraphixia.com http://FormulaPC.Malagraphixia.com Introduction: Formula PC is the unofficial PC version of EuroGames' board game "Formula De". If you are familiar with Formula De then the majority of Formula PC will be easy for you. If you aren't familiar with Formula De then you should be! Open your browser and hit http://www.formula-de.com right now! Install: Simply run the setup.exe included with this .zip file. The setup is standard and you can install Formula PC anywhere you wish. Once the install is completed you will have a directory structure under the main Formula PC directory. This consists of: \Classes \Games \Teams \Tracks The Classes directory is where race class type files (.cls) are stored. These class files determine the structure of the car (wear points), dice ranges, etc. In the future we'll be able to create new racing classes so we can have touring cars, F3000, etc. The Games directory is where you will store your saved games (.fpc). The Teams directory holds the team files (.tem) as well as bitmap images of the team logos and driver faces. In the future, when team editing is fully implemented, this is where you will store your own team files and your own driver bitmaps. The Tracks directory is where track files (.trk) are stored. Currently there is only the Monaco circuit available. But that will change as new tracks are built using the Track Designer tool (found in the \Formula PC directory). Once the install is complete you can run Formula PC either by double-clicking the Formula PC.exe in your Formula PC directory, or by clicking the Formula PC icon on the Start menu. Gameplay: Since this is just a beta version, only 1 or 2-lap games are suggested. There are still many aspects to the game which are not implemented. First, go to the Game | New Game menu. The default is a 1-lap race and any available circuits will show in the "Circuit" dropdown. You can select up to 10 drivers on 5 different teams. Once you have selected your drivers, hit "OK" The next option is to have each driver roll for his starting grid position, or let Formula PC assign the grid randomly. This is to expedite gameplay if you are in an email situation, this way drivers aren't required to roll and wait just to get the game started. Once all starting grid positions are assigned, drivers roll (in order) for their start, then shift into 1st gear and begin moving. Gameplay henceforth follows the rules of Formula De, so, rather than go into it all here, I'm going to get back to writing more code. More information to follow as each build is released. (Be sure to take a look at the Basic Help.txt that accompanies the setup. It has more information on gameplay and navigating around the game screen) Enjoy! Minimum Requirements: Pentium 200MHz PC Windows 9x/NT/2000 SVGA 800x600 Video Resolution 5 Megs of Hard Drive space Visual Basic 6.0 Runtime Module (http://download.cnet.com/downloads/0-10082-100-897832.html?tag=st.dl.10001_103_1.lst.td) Suggested: Pentium II or III Windows 9x/2000 SVGA 1024x768 (or higher) Version Information: .9.96 beta ---------- 2002 official F1 teams added .9.9 beta --------- Note: I would suggest uninstalling the current version of FPC before installing this build. Due to the massive changes in the .TRK (track file) format, the track files have taken on a new naming convention. Every track now incorporates 20 starting positions, with a second version utilizing a "tight" grid (only one blank space between grids). To avoid having old and new track files in the \Tracks directory, the uninstall is a good idea. Also, henceforth, only track files with a version designation of 2.0 or higher will work properly with the game, so if you're playing a particular circuit and you start seeing odd behavior (can't change lanes, cars in the wrong order, etc) check the Track Info to be sure you're running a circuit that the Format 2.0 certified. Bugs addressed: The Track Detail setting was not getting saved to the registry correctly, resulting in a "Type Mismatch" error when the game was started after the Options dialog had been entered during a previous session - fixed. If a player's car was blocked at the start of the move, the game would "get lost" and not know what to do - fixed. (Thanks to Bryan Roberts) Bringing up the Rules dialog during a game would cause all rules to stop functioning - fixed. During the startup, the initial view translation was not being set, resulting in the view "jumping" once during the first pan process - fixed. Under certain circumstances the pole-sitter was forced to roll for a start twice - fixed. Auto-Save on exit was not saving the file unless it had been opened vie the File menu (as opposed to the initial start screen) - fixed. If a player got a "Max Speed" roll when going into the pits, the game was not registering that the pit lane had been entered, resulting in the dreaded "garage-pits-garage-pits, etc." situation - fixed. The toolbar was not always showing up under certain game start situations - fixed. The Trophy screen was not showing up anytime fewer than 3 cars completed the race due to retirements - fixed. After a car spins out a second time, the gear was not being reset to 1st on the next move - fixed (Thanks to Chris Boote) Not all keyboard commands were working as intended. I had recently shuffled some code and didn't get all the reformatting correct. I've tested them and they appear to be solid now. (Thanks to Allan Goodall) There was still an issue with cars exiting the pit lane and getting incorrectly credited for a lap completion, which would lead to odd results in the current running order. Part of the revamp of the .TRK file (discussed below) was to address this issue - fixed. (Thanks to Allan Goodall) On Zandvoort 1, a "Division by Zero" error would come up under certain circumstances. This had to do the routine that determined which side of the Pit lane the Garages were on. The .TRK format change has alleviated this. (Thanks to Fred Banville) The option to use the "Entire Car Crosses Finish Line" option is now working again. Then internal MAPI tools are working again. They have been tested with Netscape Mail, MS Outlook and MS Outlook Express. Any standard MAPI client should work, but if you have any issues, please let me know the specific client you're using and we'll take a look. If you have any problems using the internal E-Mail tools, simply create the games as "E-Mail" but save and mail them manually. Rules-Related: Slipstreaming was not checking that the "slipstreamable" car (the one in front) was in a gear equal to or lower than the "slipstreamer", it was only checking that the front car's gear was higher than the slipstream rule setting, this is not in accordance with the rules - fixed (Thanks to John C) After reading the rules again, and having some discussion, it was pointed out that a car that uses its last tire point, but still has movement points to burn, should be eliminated. FPC was allowing cars to "scrub off" extra spaces on their first spin out, so if you had 18 more spaces to go, but used your last tire point, you simply spun out, the rest of the move points disappeared and you waited to start your next turn in 1st gear. We've decided this is not who we would like to interpret the rules. Here is a quote from the American English version: "In a one-lap race the car is eliminated if it loses more than four tyre points.". I don't think it is correct to allow a car to dissipate that much speed, so from now on if you overshoot by more spaces than you have tire points, you're eliminated. If you happen to overshoot and use your last tire point, you spin out. After spinning out once, overshooting by 1 space results in another spin, overshooting by 2 or more results in elimination. When a car had to roll for possible engine damage, only cars in the same gear were also being forced to roll. Someone pointed out that this is incorrect, all cars in the same *or higher* gear should have to roll - fixed. (Thanks to Allan Goodall) Features added: (Yeah, I know I said I wouldn't, but a few of these things we just had to have) The team file list can now be edited when you start a new game. This allows players to limit what team files are parsed and added to the available teams list. Since we now have the 2000 and 2001 teams, I got tired of seeing the 2000 teams, so I added a dialog where you can "switch off" any team files you don't want included. Note that this is for the entire file, not for specific teams. If the minimum roll in the chosen gear will cause you to overshoot the current or next corner, the game will warn you and ask if you would like to rethink the move. This is to avoid accidentally rolling before you realize you still have one more stop to make in the current corner (a bad habit of mine... even *with* the stop signs on the driver card!) I have added the ability to run 3-lap races, BUT BE AWARE these do not entail all advanced rules. If the rule is disabled, that's because the code for it hasn't been written yet (and won't be until after version 1.0), but I had requests for the ability to run 3 laps using the existing rules, so there you go! (Thanks to Allan Goodall) The Road Holding rules are not fully implemented, but if you play with Road Holding on, you'll get to see a preview of the debris that is left when cars collide or take engine damage. The neat thing is that different debris is dropped for a front, side and rear collision! Zoom in and check it out! Other Changes: ***** CLICKING THE DIE **** In the past you could left-click the big die to roll it, then left-click it again to advance the game. This proved to be a problem for many of us (myself included) because we would click repeatedly to advance through a long series of collision or engine rolls and accidentally click one too many times, causing a car to roll in a gear we had not intended. Now when the big die is left-clicked it will roll, to advance the game RIGHT-CLICK the big die. There, I've said it, but I know I'm going to get a ton of emails wondering why you can't skip waiting for the die to change :) (Thanks to Allan Goodall) The .TRK file format has gone through a heavy modification. The Track Builder Tutorial has been updated so those of you involved or interested in creating your own circuits should go take a look, even if you went through the tutorial before, you'll want to be updated on the changes. The .TRK needed to be revamped to prepare for future track features such as the overpass at Suzuka and the 3 to 4 to 3 lane situation when racing the infield circuit at Indianapolis. For details go to http://FormulaPC.Malagraphixia.com/TD_Tutorial/TD_Tutorial_Contents.htm Some of the message boxes warning you of potentially-bad moves were redesigned so that answering "No" is always the "safe" choice. An example is "Are you sure you want to make this move?", by answering "No", your move is reset. Previously not all message boxes followed a standard, which could lead to some confusion, sometimes "Yes" would reset the move, other times "No". Now all message boxes follow the standard. (Thanks to Allan Goodall) .9.8 beta --------- Bugs addressed: If all drivers retired from a race, it was causing a sub range error - fixed. There was an issue with drivers completing laps in the pit lane, thus causing them to be incorrectly registered in the current running order. Now a car is deemed to have completed a lap once he *exits* the pit lane. Features added: Rules settings are now saved in the registry, so if you have a particular set of rules you like to race with, you don't have to select them everytime you start a new game. Modified the F1 2001 team file to contend with recent driver changes in the real world. Have now "officialized" 7 more tracks, each with a decent amount of background graphics. A final note: Henceforth, until we release 1.0, there will be a freeze on new features. The game will now only be modified to correct any errors that arise during playtesting. Thanks to everyone who has helped hunt down the bugs. Keep your mails coming, especially when you can provide saved games and screenshots! .9.76 beta ---------- *Note: Again, previous saved games will *NOT* work with this release. This should be considered true of all releases until we reach 1.0 Bugs addressed: FINALLY found the "Invalid Column Width" error and resolved it. The "Accept Move" button was incorrectly being enabled even though all move points had not been used. This was occuring when a space was clicked within the car's movement range, but it was not the "final" space - fixed. Features added: Added the ability to filter the gamelog to show a particular driver's entries only. This filter still adheres to the options you have set under Otions|Game Log, but allows you to see what kind of race one particular driver is having. Added the ability to filter the Current Standings just like the Game Log. This is done in the Options|Current Standings dialog. Added new real-time stats: Last Round: Shows the change in position from the last round Rounds Led: Shows the number of rounds that the driver was in the lead Possible Collisions: Shows the number of possible collisions caused by the driver. (so you know who the crazies are) Changed the way the Recent Games menu was handled. It nows used the built-in MRU list from the registry, rather than FPC storing its own history. Modified the keyboard shortcuts, added the ability to select gears using the number keys. (Numpad keys still control panning the view) Cleaned up the tab order for every control in the game. So now when you tab around the order makes sense. Added tooltips for anything that needed one, but didn't have it. .9.75 beta ---------- *Note: Again, previous saved games will *NOT* work with this release. This should be considered true of all releases until we reach 1.0 Bugs addressed: There were *still* issues in the pit routine, and I have no doubts more will arise. But for now I think it's very stable. With the creation of new circuits, it has become clear that the routines for the pit lane entry and exit needed to be rewritten to deal with counter-clockwise tracks. This has been addressed and corrected. When the trophy screen was shown it was cause a subscript error - fixed. Slipstreaming was causing a subscript error. This was due to a slipstream allowing a player's movement to exceed the value shown on the die, thus causing a sub out of range error when speed was computed according to the distance moved - fixed. Features Added: Added the ability to customize the Current Standings grid. You can choose what columns of information you would like to see. More stats coming in future releases. Modified the fonts used for the starting grid, current standings and corner flags. It it "Futura", the same font used on the Tag Heuer(tm) timing screens of the world TV feed. A *MASSIVE* thanks to Tony Crider, the second "freelance" track designer out there. Tony has already banged out 4 circuits and has been instrumental in developing the track designer, as well as molding the track file format to fit future needs. Go play Jarama and then thank Tony for putting in the time and effort. I worked in a little routine to slightly randomize the displayed speed of each car, this keeps everyone's speed from looking too similar on the Current Standings, but doesn't affect the computation of lap times. Known Issues: The automated mail tools are still nowhere near correct, and I'm contemplating removing them completely. Too many issues with different MAPI clients acting differently, firewalls, anti-virus programs, etc. For now, you can create email games and enter everyone's email addresses, but we've just been manually saving and mailing the games during testing. I'll keep trying. .9.73 beta ---------- Bugs addressed: If the options menu was selected before a game was in progress, exiting the dialog would produce an "Invalid Row" error - fixed. .9.72 beta ---------- Bugs addressed: There was an error in the flag-clearing routine that caused players to receive a spinout warning when the previous player had spun out during his/her turn. This one was a bear to hunt down but I believe I have it fixed. A "Subscript out of range" error was popping up instead of the results screen, or right after the OK button on the results screen was pressed. I believe this one is now fixed. Features Added: Where do I begin? The gamelog has been revamped. People were requesting a way to filter the amount of info you are given, so the Options dialog now has a "Game Log" tab. There you can turn on/off a myriad of different types of messages to tailor the log to your liking. The information is still generated, just not displayed, so if you decide to mod your settings later, you can see messages that you were previously hiding. This also means that two different players in an email game can have differing settings depending on their preference. The Die has been moved up into the track area to increase the size of the driver card. This allows for longer team/driver names and also allows the "stop" indicators to be viewed in the center of the card. (I *still* get mails from people asking for an indicator of how many stops they have remaining in a corner, not realizing that it's been there all along. Hopefully now everyone will see them clearly) You can also collapse/expand each round of the gamelog (or set an option to do it automatically). This allows you to compress the log and minimize the amount of scrolling necessary to view old info. Simply click on the "Round XX" line of any previous round (the current one always stays open until completion) to either collapse or expand it. Only items that you have set for viewing (in the Options dialog) will show. The Rules dialog has been given a boost. You now have the ability to set the roll ranges for bad/flying starts, collisions and engine damage. This means that if you feel a 5% (1 in 20) chance of a collision is too low, simply change the roll range when you're creating a new game. Slipstreaming is the first of the advanced rules to be implemented, but it is not 100% guaranteed and *3-Lap Races Are Still Not Ready*, so don't mail me saying they don't work. In an effort to quell the constant arguments (I *still* get emails on this) about whether a car must completely cross the finish line, I've added the ability to choose whether a lap/finish is determined by the nose of the car crossing the line (landing on *any* space that contains a finish line marker) or by then entire car crossing the line (landing on a space just past the finish line on the inside/ outside lanes, or landing on the second finish-line space of the center lane) Known Issues: Some people have reported an "Invalid column width" error that I have not been able to reproduce. If you receive this error, please email me so we can try to hunt it down. .9.6 beta --------- Bugs addressed: During auto-rolls for other players' damage, the black die was disappearing - fixed. During pit stops, a quick stop roll of 2 (which would allow the driver to move 1 space) would cause the car to be forced back into the pits - fixed. Modified the zig-zag logic once again to better match the rules for what constitutes "overtaking" another car. International settings were causing issues if the decimal separator was a comma "," rather than a period ".". They were also causing problems when the word "True" or "False" was being saved for boolean values. Routines are now in place to convert decimal commas to periods (to avoid the VB Input# from truncating entries) and booleans are converted to integers so "True" and "False" become -1 and 0 respectively. Found a problem with the routines to load more than 10 cars - fixed. Found an error in the Zandvoort 1 (20 player Skip 1) track file - fixed. .9.56 beta ---------- Bugs addressed: So many that I've forgotten them all. Needless to say, many things are corrected and many other things are inevitably now broken. Features Added: Fully-filled and colored track graphics. The provided tracks are only partially complete, but you can get an idea of what things will look like. Support for up to 20 players and 10 teams. A new track (Zandvoort 1) created by James Chapman! New versions of Monaco and Zandvoort that support up to 20 players. Ability to manually set starting grid positions. Ability to manually set pit space positions. MAPI tools are marginally implemented. Limited testing was done with these features (as much as we could with our setups) so I'm expecting plenty of issues to come up with these. Play with them and let me know what bugs you find. Improved the die icons drawn on the lane to show minimum and maximum possible rolls for all applicable gears .9.4 beta --------- Bugs addressed: Choosing "Drivers roll for position" was not triggering the die image or GameLog to become visible. Some changes in process had rerouted these routines - fixed. When a driver overshot a corner, and had a possible roll for collision damage AND another car had a roll for collision damage (whew!) then the initial car would not have wear points deducted for tires, brakes, etc according to the number of spaces he overshot - fixed. Changed the large die image to use icons rather than .bmp's. This means your system color for the Formula PC background will fill the area around the large die image rather than gray. The Draw Car Path routine was jumbling car's paths - fixed. Turning the scroll bars on/off while the Move Options window was open was not causing the window to move as the view window was resized - fixed. DOH! I broke the Zoom Mode in .9.3 - fixed Due to consensus of the Formula De rules, drivers causing a collision that destroys another car automatically take a damage point then *do not* roll to see if they take another. All game options moved to their own dialog box. Fixed a problem in the Edit Team routines. New teams weren't getting added to the team list correctly - fixed. Expanded the driver card so that each item on the card (tires, brakes,etc) can show 15 items. This will be necessary when car construction is implemented in case some whacko wants 15 tire points or brake points, but only 1 of everything else. Features Added: Basic Rules fully implemented. Now you can pick and choose which of the basic rules you want applied to your game. If you don't want tire wear or the ability to brake, take it out. If you want engine damage not just on maximum roll in 5th & 6th gear, but in 3rd, 4th, etc then choose it! Just the first step in customization and "house" rules. Added gear icons on the "Draw Car Path" routine. If you click on the lap length under "Current Standings" you will see the path the car has taken during the race. Now this "ghost" path also has the icon of the gear the car was in during each move. Now you can not only see a driver's line, you can see his gear choice. .9.3 beta --------- *Note: Previous saved games will *NOT* work with this release. This should be considered true of all releases until we reach 1.0 Bugs addressed: Ability to change lanes if your move started in a corner was incorrectly being limited. Completely rewrote the "valid next space" routines. Certain items in the gamelog were not being output (rolls for movement, etc) - fixed The scroll bars weren't working when you would click them in a spot off the their scroll cursor - fixed If you dragged the view using the "Pan View" cursor, then used the scroll bars, sometimes the track would "jump" - fixed Features added: Created a "Save As" game menu option. The old "Save" would ask you for a filename every time you saved, now, if the game already exists, "Save" writes over it without prompting and "Save as" asks for a filename. Whatever directory you loaded or last saved a game from is retained when you go into the Game Load/Save routines (not retained from session to session) Added support for retaining the last 5 games Loaded/Saved. They are listed under the "Game" menu, just above "Exit". Added "Driver Comments". There is a button on the toolbar that allows you to place a comment in the gamelog, useful for when you want to make a statement to other players in an email game. There is also an option under the "Options" menu which, when checked, will prompt you for a comment at the end of your turn. This is helpful because when a player's turn ends the game moves to the next player. This gives you a chance to put in a comment first. Added the ability to click anywhere on the lane between your current location and the "final" location. Your car will automatically be moved to that spot. This functions just like the old "click on the final space" routine, only now you can do it for spaces other than the "final" one. If you know you want to move forward 5 spaces, then change lanes, you don't have to click each space along the way. Added Toolbar icons for New Game, Load Game, Save Game. Added Toolbar icon for Track Info. Added Toolbar icon for Hide Cars. Cars aren't drawn on the track when this button is pressed, making it possible to see the symbols on the spaces beneath. Added a Toolbar icon for Options (Non-Functioning... next release) Rules button on the New Game dialog now brings up a preliminary Rules dialog. This isn't functioning yet, but allows you to see what I have planned. Other Changes: Redid all of the toolbar icons, now they're in pretty colors. I *completely* rewrote the click-select-of-spaces routines. Things are more efficient now. Changed the Jaguar Racing icon. The cat is now in red like the racing logo, rather than silver like the road car logo. Known Issues: There have been reports of some problems with the game requesting rolls from cars that have retired. These still need to be hunted down. If you have any problems, feel free to let me know. Just be aware that I have been alerted but haven't hunted them down yet. There is an interpretation issue in the rules regarding a car that causes a collision. If a car causes a collision and the car it hit is retired because of this, the initial car automatically takes a point of body damage (Formula PC does this). Formula PC also has the initial driver roll for another possible damage point from the crash. Some have stated that they do not play this way, that the automatic damage is the only one sustained by the initial car and therefore a roll isn't necessary. If the car does roll and gets a 1, then it is penalized with an extra body wear point, which is incorrect according to this interpretaion.I need to get a consensus from the community to determine which way is "correct". .9.1 beta --------- Bugs addressed: Error in the pit routine, was only letting cars exit using 1 of the 2 available spaces. - fixed When cars overshoot a turn, they must stay in the same lane. - added You can only move back into the lane your turn started in if you are overtaking another car or if you are in a corner. - added Features added: Scroll bars (optional) to pan the view. You can still use the Pan cursor. Frames around current gear modified. Clearer, look better. Option for displaying speed, avg speed in Kmh or Mph. Draw Car Path. If you click on a car's path length in the Current Standings window, the entire path of the car will be displayed. Helpful when you're wondering about the line a driver has taken during the race. .9 beta ------- Numerous bugs addressed and corrected Starting Grid, Gamelog and Current Standings frames updates with an MSFlexGrid, allowing the data to be laid out prettier and scrolled through easier. The view window can be sized allowing for a larger Gamelog/Current Standings info window. Editing of teams fully implemented. Teams can use all windows colors (not limited to Formula De colors). Lane change and overshooting rules appear to be fully implemented and functioning, but playtesting of the .9 release will tell. Pit stops implemented (playtesting needed) Features not yet implemented: All advanced rules 3-lap races Qualifying .7.2 beta --------- Bugs addressed: Downsizing the game window caused a Runtime Error '380' Invalid property value. - fixed You can select the same team twice at the team selection screen. - fixed Upon a car finishing the race, a Runtime Error occurs. - fixed Spin outs don't seem to work correctly after the first spinout - fixed (but still needs testing) Upon a player losing their last bodywork point, the program stops. - fixed Driver faces and team logos not showing up in sync with name. - fixed Features added: Cars now drawn as filled polys, much prettier. Die Icons on the track now drawn as filled polys, much prettier. Corner flags now show number of required stops. Clicking on a corner flag brings up detailed info on the corner. You can now click on the "final" green-shaded space anytime during a move and your car will cycle through the spaces to get to the destination. All rules will be applied as this move progresses and you will have the option to accept or reset once the car reaches the click-point. Features not yet implemented: Pit stops. Editing of teams. All advanced rules. Cars cannot change lanes more than twice in one turn, may not zig-zag, etc. When cars overshoot they must stay in the same lane. .7 beta ------- Bugs addressed: Rolling for starting grid wasn't being sorted correctly. - fixed Engine roll flag wasn't getting reset, causing one player to roll infinitely for engine damage. - fixed Game crashed when players crashed (ironic, huh?). - fixed Wear points not getting reloaded correctly from saved games. - fixed Loading saved games taking unusually long. - fixed Rules button not implemented. - Still not implemented Spin outs not working correctly. - Still developing, let's keep testing There is no need for a collision test when a car cuts off another and stops on the space in front of it. - routine removed Cars overshooting a corner with 2 or more stops remaining were not being eliminated. - fixed Features added: Track spaces now filled in gray. New "Select" mode: (Arrow icon on the toolbar) Players can now click on "next" spaces to move during their turn. Right-Click to "Accept Move" Players can click directly on cars to bring up that driver's information. Players can also click on driver names and positions on the Starting Grid or Current Standings to bring up driver info. All Options Menu choices now saved/loaded to/from the registry. After clicking the die to roll it, you can click it again to skip the pause before the game continues. "Next" and "Final" movement space markers can be turned on/off. Screen flashes when wear points are used or cars retire. (optional) .64 beta -------- First public release.