Yeah as far as the score from 1984, I choose to believe All the Guinness books throughout the 1980's and the future VGMT's that all had 67,260 as the score to beat. Those were scores from the height of the arcade game craze and everybody looked to Guinness or print publications of the time for the scores to beat. I agree having it said many years later that Guinness was wrong the whole time has always seemed 'fishy' to me too.
I don't think it's accurate to call it an 'extra car' anymore, the number of cars passed can be any number depending on the starting pattern of enemy cars and how the race is played. Playing over the years and seeing/learning how the game works I think 310 or more could be possible but it simply comes down to the percentages, how many patterns even allow for the cars to remain grouped together.. not many and then playing the game with a beneficial pattern in a way that the enemy cars don't run away, all while going fast enough to get a 214.00 or better. The odds are extremely low, and even if it all comes together, turning just slightly before or after in a turn on the 4th lap could cause 1 car to switch lanes and you go from 141 passed to 140, and you don't even know where you turned wrong or what is even the right way lol. The game itself reacts to how it's being played, again it's genius.
During attract mode there are certain points where if you coin up you will get a certain pattern in the q lap most of the time. I've experimented over the years and have not found any advantage to coining up at any particular spot. If you notice the demo is different the 2nd time through, then the 3rd, etc.. The cars are in different spots, your car crashes into them at different spots, I don't know how many times until it repeats the first demo mode pattern but again, I've found no advantage at one spot over another. That being said I usually just coin up right after a reset, I started doing it because it gave a little better pattern to get a fast qualifying lap, but more so just to save time. Work, family, kids, I have so little time to play as it is and I don't want to sit and wait. I have found that a key to keeping the cars grouped is trying to get them in the 4 car pattern at the beginning the first time you see the enemy cars, you know the 2x2 pattern. Then go through or around them and pass them all in the hairpin, that at least gives you the best chance of passing as many cars as possible. That's why I finish my q laps in the middle of the track, seems to give the 4 car pattern more often than finishing on the right or left of center line. Do you have the quote that mentions a less favorable pattern?
Correct lap times don't really matter, the master clock, which is the number ticking down at the top is the only thing that matters. All lap times do is show how fast you got around the track that particular lap, they don't add up or anything, the race time at the end is based on how much time is left on the master clock. (or how much time you used)
Any theories about manipulation of the pedal to go faster are urban legends. No advantage at all, and you might damage your pedal cable or pot!
I've been messing around and have tried the brake but it slows you down way too much to be useful on these settings. For the casual player it could help them play the game, but at this level it's pretty much useless. Yes I've tried tricks at the end of the race too, braking, upshifting, etc.. and I've never seen anything special.
I don't know exactly what causes the extra 10 points, but I kinda know when I'm going to get it in the qualify lap. It has to do with the hairpin and sliding through it a certain way as well as the speed you maintain. 10,000 points for a lap right and you get an extra 10 points, The game gives points for distance traveled, you can see the score going up as you go, and if you stopped on the track the points would stop. So basically the car traveled an extra 1/1000 distance over the lap but still started and finished at the same place. I really think it's a bug in Atari's programming and the type of gameplay required to get into the very high score range lends itself to giving the extra 10 more than scores in the lower range.
Getting the game to show 245 is by finishing the q lap at 244 and upshifting right at the finish line. You never actually go 245, but it shows it which is cool.
General tips are just play, you Have to figure out what the car can and can't do. How hard you can turn it in corners without losing grip and skidding, get used to where the enemy cars are, how they move and getting to know if you have enough room to go inside or not. Coining up at the beginning of the demo just after the car leaves the start and finishing the q lao on the right of center line should give some good patterns to get going. I remember years ago I would coin up right after a reset and it seemed much more difficult, but now that's all I do. I reset, coin up at the title screen, and finish dead center. I want the more difficult 4 car pattern if I can get it, but you will crash alot if you do it lol.
You're not really aiming for a specific pattern, and even if you were there's no sure fire way to get any pattern every time. My advice is just play, try to finish, then finish without a crash, then start staying inside. Ride the yellow line in turns as much as possible, especially the long turn before the last straight away, you will save time. Oh and don't get to close to enemy cars, that kills your time. Just watch some of my early videos if you want, and then watch one of my 67,260, you will notice differences in how I play. I never had anyone to watch or learn from at all, no videos after 66,510.. So it's a lot of trial and error on my part, people that come after me will sure have it easier than I had! Good luck man! Even after all these years it's still a fantastic and fun game!
