Downhill Challenge (1988, Microids / Broderbund)

[Tijn]

#3951

This seems like a cool game at first, but I’m running into some issues. For starters there’s no sound for me? It’s also running ridiculously fast, so I’ve had to put the cycles of DOSbox all the way down to like 100 or 200 to get it somewhat playable.

Also… once I’m in an event, I don’t know how to get back to the menu? Pressing escape doesn’t seem to work. Control + C brings you back to DOS, which I guess works, but a bit of a hassle haha. Anyone have an idea how to operate this game? And is there supposed to be sound?

[Zagrebista]

#3958

The manual is here:

https://www.gamesdatabase.org/Media/SYSTEM/Microsoft_DOS/manual/Formated/Downhill_Challenge.pdf

There’s nowt about any sort of sound settings on the DOS version but it seems very weird a game from 1988 would be completely silent and not even use the beeper.

[Tijn]

#3959

Hey cool, thanks!

[TigerQuoll]

#3964

The manual was a bit threadbare for some details. Has anybody worked out how to land a jump?
I’ve worked out hitting shift just as you jump puts your guy into the jump position which gives you heaps of distance, but if you’re in that position when you land then you just crumple into a heap. I have no idea how to get out of that position though. I managed it once by accident (and got a pretty good score too!), but I haven’t managed to replicate it.

I’m having trouble getting a manageable speed too. Even on my 386 using a slowdown utility which I’ve supposedly set to emulate a 4.77mhz 8088 it still feels too fast.
I found some youtube videos. They’re for different systems, but they all play much slower.

[Zagrebista]

#3966

I watched a video of someone playing the ST version. If you use DOSBox, 200 cycles seems about right.

I’ve still no idea where I’m supposed to be going in relation to the flags, though. The ones on either side of the track you go through, I get that, but the ones on their own or the red/back ones one behind the other, not really sure. Even watching the video didn’t make it clear.

[Pix]

#3969

I’m playing this on an old Tandy at 4.77Mhz and it’s still a bit nippy. Kind of impressive for the hardware – you certainly get a sense of speed. I’m not getting any sound either so it must have been left off this version.

This game is actually the first in the Super Ski series and got 2 DOS sequels (neither of which I’ve tried yet). Is it just me or are 3 of the 4 events essentially the same? The giant slalom seems to be the slalom with bigger flags and the downhill is the slalom with near enough all the flags removed.

I can’t say I’ve entirely figured the ski jump but it seems like you press and hold fire at the end of the ramp and you can then move the joystick around to change your position. If I pull back a little and let go of fire when hitting the ground I can usually land it. This doesn’t necessarily net me any style points though so there must be more to it.

[TigerQuoll]

#3970

Wow, even on an actual 4.77Mhz machine it’s fast?

And yeah, I haven’t figured out what the real difference between most of the events is either.

I’m using a keyboard, but I’ll see if I can translate what you did for the jump to keyboard controls.

One other quirk of the controls I noticed: to stop moving altogether (so you don’t crash into the barrier at the end of a run for example), you have to be very specific with your movements.
For starters, the manual is simply wrong about the buttons you have to press (not sure if it’s the same for joystick). The manual says “down” + “left” + “shift” to stop. It’s actually “down” + “RIGHT” + “shift”.
They all have to be held together, and it matters which order you push them down in. Pretty sure it’s the order I wrote.