Vehicle reset
If you get stuck, press the reset button on the top right corner (opposite the pause button which is top left) to reset your car back onto the track – this buton is usually flashing if the game thinks you might need help.
Co-driver calls
Unlike circuit racing, Rally tests drivers on long, often-unfamiliar tracks, so it’s important to take account of the advice from your co-driver Nicky Grist when planning your way around each stage. Nicky reads pace notes, also known as co-driver calls, as you approach each corner or obstacle. Simple summary icons appear above your car, near the top of your screen, indicating the severity of corners diagrammatically and with colour-coding (blue easiest, red hardest) but you get the most information from the co-driver speech, which uses a standard format e.g.• The big number is the number of yards, or metres, to the next decision-point
The small number is an indication of the severity of the corner – low numbers are MORE severe, e.g. a tighter gap to drive through – and roughly correspond to the gear you should be in.
The codriver also provides forewarning of the type of turn:
- Left
- Right
- Hairpin
- Narowing
- Tightening
Or obstacle:
- Bridge
- Crest
- Jump
- Rocks
- Gates
And also changes of camber and surface grip e.g. between gravel and asphalt, are also noted.
Use the handbrake!
As a rule of thumb, if the co-driver calls refer to a hairpin or very slow (1 or 2) corner, consider using the handbrake to check your speed and lock your rear wheels. The later you leave this, the faster you’ll get round the corner, overall. Depending upon the corner and your position in the approach, you may be able to get by with the footbrake or engine braking, letting off the power so the car drops through the gears, so you lose less time.
Checkpoints
As you pass each section of the stage you’ll see yellow ‘checkpoint’ markers either side of the track. Times are calculated between these markers, and while they only indirectly affect the total time for the stage they’re a clear guide to how well you’re getting on.
A rising tone indicates that you’ve set a new best time for that section of the stage
A falling tone means you’ve got time to make up in order to win the stage, and the full rally later
Progress Indicator
All of the Colin McRae Rally games had a “progress indicator”; a line which corresponded to the length of the course, with an icon suggesting your position – however, each of the games (original, 2.0, 3, 04 and 2005) did this in different ways.
CMR 2.0, for each “split” in the stage, only offered you two possibilities – “good” and “bad”. However, the later games changed this “binary” system into a more “analog” one, showing your progress as a continuous movement over time. Fans seemed to like this change back when the games were new, so we thought we’d use this kind of system instead.
The indicator in the iPhone/iPad game shows a line, upon which is marked the start and end of the course, the location of the split gates, and two car markers – your position as the player, and a car marked “CPU” – this represents the time of the best computer competitor for the rally. You can look at this indicator at any time to get an impression of how much of the course remains, and how you’re performing relative to the computer drivers.
We hope that’s given you some insight into how to get the most out of Colin McRae Rally for iOS which is available now on the App Store.