Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat FAQ Version 1.1 By chessjerk (John Kearsley IV) Created - August 21, 2006 Updated - February 18, 2012 Questions? Comments? Contact me: chessjerk@msn.com =============================================================================== Welcome to my Danny Sullivan's Indy Heat FAQ. You've got to love old-school driving games. Four player fun for the whole family! =============================================================================== Table of Contents: =============================================================================== I. The Object of the Game II. Controls III. List of Tracks IV. Upgrades V. The Opposition VI. Race Prizes VII. Playing the Game VIII. Strategies IX. Credits/Disclaimer X. Version History =============================================================================== I. The Object of the Game =============================================================================== The object of the game is to win each race in the season and collect enough points to outrank your opponents. Each season has nine races, and each race offers cash and points based on each car's finishing position. Cash is used to upgrade your car until it cannot be stopped. Points are accumulated and totaled at the end of the season. Higher cumulative point totals offer cash rewards at the end of each season. If you lose to computer-controlled opponents three times, you have to use a Continue to keep playing. Once three Continues are used, you cannot continue any more and the game is over. As far as I can tell, the game does not have an ending. The players simply keep going until each player's Continues are exhausted. =============================================================================== II. Controls =============================================================================== Up - No use Down - No use Left/Right - Turn car left/right B - Use turbo A - Accelerate Select - No use Start - Pause the game =============================================================================== III. List of Tracks =============================================================================== Here is a list of the tracks and the number of laps for each race: Location # of laps W. Canada 5 laps New Jersey 5 laps S. California 5 laps Michigan 5 laps Illinois 8 laps Ohio 5 laps E. Canada 5 laps Colorado 5 laps Tradewest Speedbowl 12 laps =============================================================================== IV. Upgrades =============================================================================== Here is a list of upgrades you can purchase between races: Turbos ($30,000): Provides a short burst of speed (10 per purchase) Brakes ($30,000): Quicker stops by releasing accelerator Tires ($40,000): Quicker turns and less skidding while turning Crew ($40,000): Quicker pit stops MPG ($50,000): Extends range between pit stops Engine ($50,000): Increases speed Danny's Choice : If you're unsure of what to get, pick this option, and the computer makes your purchases for you. The choices seem to be random, so use this option if you don't know what to get or just don't care. The maximum turbos you can have at any one time is 200, the maximum number of upgrades you can have per item is 9 (you start with one unit of each, up to a maximum of ten units). If you cannot buy any more items, unused funds carry over to the next race. =============================================================================== V. The Opposition =============================================================================== This game can be played by up to 4 players, with each player receiving a corresponding car color. Any unused car colors are operated by the computer under the following names/colors: 1st player (red): Mark 2nd player (blue): Trev 3rd player (green): Chris 4th player (white): Steve Computer (gold): Danny =============================================================================== VI. Race Prizes =============================================================================== Money and points are awarded at the end of each race: 1st: $100,000 and 20 points 2nd: $90,000 and 16 points 3rd: $85,000 and 14 points 4th: $80,000 and 12 points 5th: $75,000 and 10 points Double points are awarded for the 8 lap Illinois race. Double points and prizes are awarded for the 12 lap Tradewest Speedbowl race. At the end of a season of all 9 races, each driver's points are tallied up and an additional award is issued based on the end of season rank: 1st: $200,000 2nd: $180,000 3rd: $170,000 4th: $160,000 5th: $150,000 =============================================================================== VII. Playing the Game =============================================================================== Start by choosing a player, entering your name and selecting your face portrait. Once all players have done so, the game begins. Each player starts with $100,000 in the bank and 60 turbos at their disposal. Each player may spend as much money as they choose on various upgrades (see the Upgrades section). When finished, select Start Next Race. Once all players have done so, the first race begins. You'll see various features on the screen to tell you what's going on. On the bottom of the screen, you'll see each player's car's status, including either a CAR OK or a PIT NOW message, an RPM gauge, a fuel gauge, and a turbo gauge. On the track somewhere, you'll see a pole with the current ranking in that race. From top to bottom, each color car is represented by a number, the number is the lap that car is currently on (e.g. if Danny is in second place and on the 4th lap, the second number from the top of the pole will be a gold 4). The pole also indicates how many laps the race is and the time spent on the current race in seconds. Another important feature to notice while the race is going is a group of people holding up signs that say PIT, one for each color car. When you see your color sign, it might be a good idea to get to the pit. Finally, you may also notice icons on your car as you race. If you see a flashing dot behind your car, you are out of fuel and can only drive very slowly. You may also see a fire on the front or rear of your car, either from hitting too many walls or the other cars bumping you too much. Again, you can only drive very slowly and should pit immediately. Turbos still work in these cases; use them to get to the pit quicker. Once a driver reaches the finish line, the race is over. The awards stand is then shown, with the points and money allocated to each driver based on their position at the time the leader finished the race, as well as their average speed for the race. This takes the players back to purchase more upgrades. If any player loses to any computer car three times, that player must choose to continue the game within 10 seconds. Each player has three continues to use, once they are used up, the game is over for that player, and the computer controls that car until all of the other players use up their continues and the game is over. After one season of nine races is completed and the end of season awards are issued, the next season begins. At the end of the second season and every season thereafter, you also see a cumulative leader board for all the previous seasons, not just the most recent season. =============================================================================== VIII. Strategies =============================================================================== "Danny's Tips" as provided in the game are as follows: Use turbos for speed boost - Self explanatory, really. Use pit stop when out of gas or on fire - Again, self explanatory. Turbo button will exit pit early - When in the pits, hit the turbo button to exit before your fuel gauge is full. Knock other cars off their jacks - When driving through the pits, aim your car behind another car that is receiving fuel and use a quick turbo to blast them off their jacks. If done quickly, that car likely has to refuel again very soon, thus costing them a lot of time. Some more tips from me: Upgrade importance - Pit crew and MPG are the most important to your later survival, as they allow you to refuel faster and pit less often (or not at all). Build these up in order to employ the "Follow the leader" strategy (explained below). Build up your tires and engine next, leaving the brakes for last. Manage your turbos - You can only carry 30 turbos in your car at a time, so try to save them for when you need them if you plan on using a lot in that race. Your turbo stock is replenished when you take a pit stop. Cause fires on the other cars - This trick is tough to pull off, but if you can do it reliably, it's very effective. Position yourself directly behind another car (hopefully Danny's) and blast your turbos. If you hit the back of his car 5 or 6 times in a row, it may cause a fire, crippling him until he can reach the pits. However, given Danny's mobility, this is very hard to accomplish in actual gameplay. Time your turbo use - Unless you're trying to cause fires on another car, try to space out your turbo usage to maximize the speed you get from each turbo. This is very useful when navigating a series of easy turns, but be careful on sharp turns, as you may slam into a wall and cause a fire on yourself. Watch out for obstacles - On the racetrack, you may see grassy or rocky areas. Avoid these areas as they greatly reduce your speed and hinder your movement. The "Follow the leader" strategy - This applies more in single player games than in multi-player games. The other cars (besides Danny's gold car) normally do nothing besides get in your way during the race. Danny's car is the car to beat to keep you from using your Continues too fast. However, he has the unusual ability to constantly outrun you no matter what you do at times, so you have to employ some strategy. There are a few different ways to do this. First, if you see in the pits that Danny's pit is behind yours on the track, follow closely behind Danny until he has to pit, then follow him in and knock him off his jack as quick as possible. This alone should win you the race, since he'll likely run out of fuel and lose a lot of time getting back to the pits. Second, if the first case doesn't apply, then try to judge when Danny has to pit and go to your pit the lap before he does. This works since when Danny is way ahead of you, he slows down, thus allowing you to pit and then catch up to him. When he pits, zoom past him and don't look back. Third, when you've built your car up quite a bit to the point where you don't have to pit at all (except at the 12 lap Speedbowl), don't follow Danny closely the whole time, or else he simply speeds up and won't need to pit either, and you'll likely never catch him. Lag behind him a bit, causing him to slow down and take an early pit stop. When he does pit, take advantage of this and zoom past him. On some courses, especially later on, Danny never needs to pit; he will simply drive fast and your only hope to catch him is to blast your turbos on the last lap and hope you can outmaneuver him at the finish line. =============================================================================== IX. Credits and Disclaimer =============================================================================== This FAQ is copyright 2006/2012 by John Kearsley IV. This FAQ may be distributed freely as long as it is not altered and I am credited for its existence. Thanks go to everyone else involved with the NES FAQ Completion Project, of which I am proud to be a part. Also, thanks go to GameFAQs.com and SBAllen for hosting a great site. Keep up the good work! =============================================================================== X. Version History =============================================================================== Version 1.0 - Original FAQ submitted Version 1.1 - Minor spelling/formatting changes