• Game Play
• Scoring & Prize Money
• Ranking & Points
• Tracks
• System Requirements
• Firewalls
• Car Resets

• Ai Cars
• Turbo Boost
• Graphics
• Controllers
• Account Login
• Leader Board
• Audio & Game Settings

"Thunder Island" is a remote island in the South Pacific where spectators come from all over the world to watch grunge-style dirt racing. Racers compete for the best lap time but you're also scored on three other driving styles which include best air time, best distance, and best height.

After each 3-lap race, your best lap time is uploaded to our Leader Board page where only the top 25 are displayed. Get a good lap time and you'll make the rank.

Prizes are be awarded every few weeks (based on the sponsorships) to the racer that has the best lap time. If there is a tie, the racer with the most points wins.

As you race more and more your rank will be upgraded. Below are the ranks:

• Newbie
• Student (100+ points)
• Rookie (200+ points)
• Amateur (300+ points)
• Veteran (500+ points)
• Instructor (1,000+ points)
• Pro (5,000+ points)
• Team Owner (admins only)

• Place 1st (10 pts)
• Place 2nd (5 pts)
• Place 3rd (4 pts)
• Place 4th (3 pts)
• Place 5th (2 pts)
• Place 6th (1 pt)

Currently there is only one dirt track called "Pirate's Cove."

A good gaming PC is preferred (Macs will be supported soon), but "Thunder Island" can run on low-end PCs and laptops as long as you have a good gaming video card that supports shaders. We also recommend either a dual or quad-core CPU, 2+ GB RAM, and a geForce type of video card (256-512 MB RAM) that supports DirectX 9.0c

If you are unable to connect to the server, you may want to check your firewall settings. Also, some firewalls will require you to set your permission for the game to run.

In some cases your car may get stuck and the game will automatically reset your car back on the center of the track. Your car will appear partially invisible which means you can not collide with other vehicles while you're in the process of getting reset.

The AI cars are brutal and they have no problem taking you out of the race. Their job is to keep you from scoring a good lap time. Try to stay clear of the competitors or you will pay the price.

It's all about the air time! Between your gauges is a turbo boost meter. As you continue to get air, your turbo meter will start to fill up. You can use your turbo at any time to drastically increase your speed as long as your gas pedal is down. After you use your turbo boost, the meter will build back up each time you get more air. Getting air is the secret to getting the best air time, distance, and height scores.

Each time you run the game you will be prompted with configuration options. Once you set these you won't need to change them again because your preferences are saved.

The "Graphics" tab allows you to set your resolution and graphics quality. If you have a high-end gaming computer then you can set these very high. Otherwise, you may want to experiment with the lower settings. If you are having frame rate issues then try setting a lower screen resolution and use "Windowed" mode. You can also press Alt-Enter to change window modes during game play.

The "Input" tab allows you to configure your steering wheel, joystick, or keyboard. If you want reassign a key or joystick function, double-click the control and press the key/button you want to assign. Make sure you double-click over the "Primary" column.

When you first start the game you will be asked to login with the account information you provided when you created your account.

Before and after each race you will see the top 10 best lap times in the Leader Board (website shows the top 25).

In the "Settings" screen you can configure your sound and graphics. Because there are many types of sound cards and speakers out there, your sound settings may require adjusting that are different from the default settings. You can also disable special effects to help increase your frame rate.