THE HAWAII RACING FAQ

HAWAII

NASCAR RACING

How do I get started? - First you need to have a legal copy of Papyrus' NASCAR Racing. Then you can download Hawaii from The Pits, or from ftp://ftp.sierra.com/pub/sierra/papyrus/hawaii.exe. Our copy on The Pits is the latest version. Hawaii is free...all you need is the game. Then copy it to your NASCAR directory, run it (or unzip it) and do your setup, then log in. For any technical questions on the setup of Hawaii, you need to contact hawaii_help@papy.com... we won't go into that here. There is also a guide included with the hawaii.exe package...read the directions FIRST! And remember... this is a LONG-DISTANCE PHONE CALL (unless you are a lucky son-of-a-gun who lives in BOSTON) so don't spend any more time than you have to online...if your spouse/parents/kids don't kill you, the phone bill will...

How do I log on and race? - When you first log on, you will get a message of the day window, and you might get a "forced-download" before that. That's why it's always good to keep your version of Hawaii current...they will give it to you whether you like it or not. And it's alot cheaper on the Internet for 500k than on long distance. After the message, hit escape and you will get another menu..go to race scheduler. From there, you can join races. I won't go into the menu items here, as you can read them for yourself from the guide. You will only be able to enter a race if you have the proper skill level, and if it is not a league race...both of these items are apparent in each race window.

How do I improve my skill level? - So you logged on, and found that you have a "0" skill level. It's fairly easy to gain skill, just finish better than people of your *approximate* skill level. If you've not had NASCAR Racing very long, I suggest that you log your butt back off and practice... you are not going to move up very fast, and you will create ALOT of havoc in the process. After you move up a notch, join or nominate races of your higher skill level...the more people you finish better than in a race, the better and faster your skill level will move up. And it don't take much...3-5 races of top 5 finishes, without causing incidents, will usually move you up no problem, provided there were about 20 people or so in each race. That's why Talladega is a good spot...usually, there are 15-25 people in any average Talladega race... so moving up is fairly quick if you do well here. Unfortunately, racing at Talladega is like being a lemming...you know you're going to die, but you go and do it anyway...(Thanks, DCarr, for that remark!) Your chances of being involved in a multi-car pileup is about as good as your chances of having an unusually high phone bill next month...

Finish the race...even if you wreck. If you finish, you get points for all the people of your skill level that wrecked and couldn't continue.

How come I can't change my setup? - Most likely you have logged into a race where the person who nominated it designated a forced setup...the ones that came with the game. Basically, it prevents people with killer setups from running away from the pack... kinda like an IROC race. However, these events are usually hairier than others...no one can get away from the pack, unless you are a better driver.

How do I set up my car? - You must remember one thing first...the multi.exe that comes with Hawaii is different than the nascar.exe that comes with the game. What does that mean to you? The car setups work differently. So the only way to find how a setup is going to work is to go into the nascar directory, and type "multi" instead of "nascar". You won't be able to race, but you can do test sessions at each track. Multi.exe also accepts the same command line functions that nascar.exe does... such as "-h" for SVGA, ect. Follow these steps: Keep the setups that come with the game, (ace, qual, ect). Load whichever setting you want to use, make the necessary changes, then save it to another name; "racetall" for Talladega, ect. Some people even have a 2nd version saved, so then they can go out, make a change to the race car, save it, try it, and then update the main one if they like the changes. The MAIN thing to remember is to make ONLY ONE CHANGE AT A TIME! If you change several things at once, you may find that the car works better or worse, but you won't know which changes affected the car. Take special care of your tires, remember, the tire temp is the telltale clue as to how your car is set up, and how you are driving it. Attempt to make all tires as equal in temp as possible, and slightly over 200 when hot. This can vary alot, and is not always possible, but is a general rule of thumb. Use my Qwikfix Guide if you are having problems setting up the car. You can also find hawaii setups on the hawaii page.

How do I find the best line around the track? - Follow the other drivers. Find ones with a high skill level. Before you race, highlight the race you are about to enter, and hit the "F4" key. This will give you race information, and the racers that have entered. It will list their skill level right next to their login name. Follow them around the track if you can, or save a replay of the race and watch it later... you can follow their car and see what line it takes around the track.

I've never raced on Hawaii before...what do I do? - First, you need to check out the race before you start...do you have a good enough skill level? Is it a league race? How long is it? You can hit the F4 key and find the racers that have entered, and the temperature and windspeed. The temperature is very important as it has a big effect on your car setup. Common rule of thumb...hotter is looser. You will also want to know if the damage/yellows/pace lap/night race apply. These are also shown by the D/Y/P/N key at the upper right of the race window. If you like everything, join the race by hitting F5 on the highlighted race. As soon as the race has the required number of drivers, you all will join the nascar game. From that point, you will practice, qualify, warm up, and then race. Make sure you use the practice time to your full benefit...and make any necessary changes to the car. If you have enough time, pull out the qualifying setup and run a few laps to get used to it, as well. On "pickup" races, races that are not league races, you will not get but about 4 minutes of practice, and 20 seconds of warm up, so make sure your car is ready before then. If you finish qualifying early, you can get the race car back out and make some laps in it until the qualifying session is over. The qualifying session will end early if everyone qualifies. IMPORTANT! Your qualifying run starts as soon as you cross the S/F line the first time after leaving the pits! Don't think you can start, go back to the garage, and change something...you will find yourself at the BACK of the field. You can join a race while it's in the practice session, but once qualifying starts, there will be no more entries. Once you are in the race, remember whether the pace lap is on or not...if not, stand on it! Also remember that Hawaii has the chat feature while in the race car...just hit "t" and you will see a display line. Type what you want to say and hit (enter). There is also a file included in the Hawaii package called autochat.msg. This file has some instant messages that are sent if you hit the (CTRL- F1 through F9) keys. These are important messages, such as "Exiting pits", ect. You can also edit the autochat.msg file yourself if you want to say something different (no profanity!).

How do I keep from crashing...and what if I do? - If you are new to Hawaii, TAKE IT EASY! You are NOT going to win your first races...it's MUCH different than the game. The most noticeable is that the cars are not taking the neat little computer lines into the corners anymore...this is 20 other fire-breathing racers, and they are all out to kick your butt!!! You are going to crash...that's a given. So wait till traffic clears, and then pull back out onto the track. Stay out of the way of the leaders. If your car won't move hit (Alt-I) and a tow truck will come a pick up your car. If your engine isn't damaged, you can continue on...DO IT! If you get annoyed and just leave, you have given everyone else skill level points for finishing ahead of YOU! I have crashed, and come back to finish in the top 10 out of 36 cars... so don't leave. You just ruined your skill level..and it WILL go down as well! If it's a short race, only get the stuff fixed that needs it. Don't get more gas, and don't change all the tires. If you can see over the hood, drive it! You will probably lose more time fixing the car in the pits than you would by driving a slower car on the track. If it's only slightly damaged, on a fast track, fix it...you'll get better speed.

There are two other important features that have been built into the multi.exe besides the tow truck. These are spotter functions and the F2 instant position function. If a wreck occurs during a race, you will see a "Big trouble in turn 4" or "Car thwonked on short straight". These are the much needed spotter features, and they work great...now you know where the trouble is. SLOW DOWN! Do not go barreling into a corner where a wreck is...you are most likely to become the next car involved if you do. The other feature is activated when you hit "F2", and then the "enter" key. The enter key toggles it on/off. Basically, it gives you an instantanious feedback on your position on the track, and how far cars are in front of you and behind. Use it! It can tell you if you are about to be lapped, or if you are approaching a stalled car rapidly.

I have a 486DX...how can I compete against Pentiums? - Doesn't really apply as far as performance of your car. Remember, you are recieving information from a modem. Your computer can easily handle the input from a modem, so the processor is not really loaded up computing positions...it's just showing them on the track. Modem speed doesn't really apply either. A person who has a 28.8 modem is not going to go faster than a person with a 9600.

How do I get into a league? - Look...and join. There are a few leagues mentioned on Rec.autos.simulators newsgroup, and the Hawaii BBS has a league menu option. Check out some of the web pages of racers...they usually belong to a league, and are proud of it. If worst comes to worst, ask! Hawaii has a chat feature, and people will be glad to inform you about a league that they belong to.

How do I watch and save replays? - Basically the same way you would as if you are using regular NASCAR. If you have the memory for it, you can go into the replay mode and hit (cut), then (rewind to beginning), and (cut) again and save an entire race! One important thing to note...to watch the replay later and see the names of the drivers who were actually on the track with you, you must run the replay from multi.exe, and not nascar.exe. Use the replays if you have an incident with someone...you may find YOU were actually at fault instead of them! And if you are sidelined by a crash, you can watch the rest of the race from the replay window!

I keep getting kicked off or out of a track..whats up? - If you are getting kicked out of the Hawaii network continuously, you need to contact hawaii_help@papy.com. They will be able to help you more. If you join a race, and it throws you right back out with a message "incorrect track version" then you need to install the track pack, or reinstall the game. If you edit files from the track directory, such as the (trackname).txt file, Hawaii DOES check that and will throw you back out if it has been modified or corrupted. If you get thrown out of races continuously, you need to contact hawaii_help.

Common Groundrules for Racing - There are going to be a few of these. Basically, these are rules for the road. If you follow them, you and everyone else will be happy, and have some good racing action. Some of these are derived from real NASCAR racing, others are particular to our form of racing.

  • Don't cuss or use foul language. No one wants to hear it, and Hawaii will not tolerate it. They can track it, you know...
  • Don't accuse another driver until you have checked the replay...YOU may be at fault, or they may have hit you trying to avoid someone else.
  • Use your chat functions to let other drivers know what's going on. If someone slams into you because you are slowing for pit road, they are not going to be happy...
  • Know the race before you enter. Ramming someone in the rear because you forgot there was a pace lap is no excuse.
  • Do not be a drunk driver. Yes, believe it or not, there are alot of people who like to have a few beers and go race. If you DO choose to do this, remember, Hawaii WILL remove your account if you do stupid moves.. such as driving around the track in reverse, purposely wrecking cars, ect.
  • If you are new to NASCAR Racing, practice OFFLINE before you go to Hawaii. You are only going to make alot of enemies if you get on and try to race. Here's a good indicator...if you can win a 20% race at 97% competition offline, you are well equipped to run Hawaii. If you haven't been to a track, practice offline before you go race there.
  • If you are passing, or being passed...GIVE ROOM! Basically, if you can see them in the side mirrors of your rearview mirror, they are beside you. If you can see them in the side mirror, give them the spot, or visa- versa.
  • Don't try to win the race on the first lap. This is the most common mistake made on Hawaii...everyone is driving as if they were going to win the next lap. This includes blocking other drivers coming up behind you. Even on a 15 lap event, if you give someone room going throught the corner, you can usually catch them again and pass them. If you can't, they were faster than you anyway, and running them into the wall isn't cool. Go buy Destruction Derby if that's how you want to race.
  • The leader of the race paces the field until the green flag. This is common practice with ALL forms of racing. Do NOT pass the leader until the green flag flies. After that, you may ONLY pass to the right until you reach the start/finish line. Then it's racing as normal.
  • If you have a damaged car, stay out of the way of the leaders. Let them know where they can pass you by using the autochat keys.
  • Buy a joystick. If you have just got NASCAR Racing and downloaded Hawaii, don't race Hawaii with just the keyboard. For $15-$20 you can get a cheap joystick which is MILES better than a keyboard. You just cannot react quickly or precisely enough with a keyboard. Most people use a yoke, custom wheel, or Thrustmaster, but a joystick will suffice if you don't have the money.
  • Don't accuse someone of cheating just because they are faster than you. A good driver with a good setup can be as much as 3-8 mph faster than a good driver with an "ok" setup. If you still think someone is cheating, let hawaii_help know.
  • If you are wrecked, get off the track. Use the tow truck (alt-I) if you cannot move.
  • Do not "jump" the start...remember the green flag rule, and do not drop back and try to get a run on the cars before the green flies. You will most likely cause a wreck, and even if you don't, someone may pull down to block you...and then you WILL be in a wreck.
  • And last, but not least, remember the Golden Rule...all above rules apply until the last lap! Seriously, though, there is nothing wrong with running hard on the last lap, blocking and *almost* anything else. However, make it clean. Don't put someone in the wall just because they are ahead of you. First of all, you might get caught up in it, second, you will probably get some other people caught up in it, third, they will all brand you as a "dirty driver" and return the favor in the next race. Make it fun...that's what racing is all about. You'll enjoy yourself alot more if you beat your competitor to the wire by the nose of your car, rather than by wrecking half the field...
Enjoy, and keep the pedal down!
Jan Kohl