Slipstream 5000: Manual Details Anti-Grav Racing, Weapon Damage, and Controls

Anti-Grav Racing at Breakneck Speed

Slipstream 5000 puts players in the cockpit of futuristic anti-grav aircraft, racing at high speed through the air rather than on a conventional circuit. The machines defy ordinary motion as pilots swoop through tracks built for aerial competition. The action is pitched as a spectacle of speed, with dramatic crashes and aerial maneuvers woven into the racing itself. Before a race begins, the player picks one of ten selectable pilots, each taking on the same role in the competition. The goal across the campaign is to become the Ultimate Slipstreamer.

Reaching that title means competing in a grueling ten-race season, with the ten tracks set at famous locations around the world. Documented examples include a run down the River Thames in London, a pass by the Sphinx in Egypt, and a breakneck flight down the Grand Canyon. Players also choose between arcade and simulation racing styles, and they control many upgradeable futuristic racers within those rules. The upgrade path and the racer roster are therefore part of how a season is played, alongside the track settings and the chosen racing style.

No Brakes, Three Control Schemes

Slipstream 5000 lets the pilot choose among three control methods: keyboard, joystick, or mouse. With the keyboard, the cursor keys steer the craft while the space bar accelerates and Enter fires. The joystick maps movement to the stick, with the first button accelerating and the second firing, while mouse control steers by moving the mouse and uses the left button to accelerate and the right to fire. In every scheme, pressing S selects the weapon, and Escape skips intro and fly-through scenes or returns to the main menu from other screens.

Because these are fast flying craft, there are no brakes at all; to slow down, the pilot must release the throttle instead. Pilots using a joystick must calibrate it before entering a race, clicking the calibration option for controller one or two and following the on-screen prompts. A separate Reverse Accelerator option sets the ship's accelerator to full without holding a joystick button or key, acting like cruise control on a motor vehicle and freeing the pilot to concentrate on the track.

Practice, Single Race, Championship and Two-Player Split

Choosing One Player from the main menu opens three further options. Practice suits pilots who are new to Slipstreaming or unfamiliar with a particular track. Single Race pits the player against the nine other Slipstreamers in a one-off contest. Championship runs a ten-race epic across every track, with no turning back once it starts: the pilots Lyall and Crystal give a fly-through and commentary on each track before the player hits the Hanger.

Championship racing pays cash as well as points for top-six finishes. First place earns 650 dollars and ten points, second 450 and six, third 350 and four, fourth 200 and three, fifth 100 and two, and sixth 50 and one, while any lower finish earns neither. That money buys new equipment for the vehicle. Two Player mode supports split-screen play on one computer or competition over serial, modem or network connections; before selecting it, the Configuration menu sets controls for both players, each needing a different key to toggle weapons if two joysticks are used.

Track Unlocks, Cash and the Hanger

In Single Race mode, unlocking additional tracks follows a strict performance gate: the player must finish in the top four on the current track to gain access to the next. Starting from Arizona, a top-four result opens Chicago, and another top-four finish there opens the Amazon, continuing until all tracks are available. Practice mode initially offers only Arizona; Single Race is the route to expand the track list. Separately, beating an existing fastest lap time on any track places the player's name on the Slipstreamers Roll of Honour, the Best Drivers list.

Championship begins with a pitiful $750, which buys little but can help secure a better finishing position if spent wisely. The Hanger is where the craft is tooled up, and while powerful weapons tempt, they are not always the best tactic. On-track pickups include Cash bonuses worth $50 each, Boost items that match the fitted turbo's power, and Repair pickups that fix engine or control damage, saving a trip to the Repair Zone. Championship racing also pays cash for top-six finishes, supplementing the starting funds.

Blasters, Frags and Seekers

Every Slipstream craft starts with a standard blaster already fitted. Against Drone ships it is very effective, and when used skillfully at close range against rival Slipstreamers it slows the target down briefly while inflicting minimal damage—1% to both engine and control. In Hard mode the blaster's effect doubles. The Frag trades accuracy for punch, dealing 2% engine damage and 15% control damage, while the Super-Frag seeks more accurately than the standard Frag and inflicts 4% engine damage and 25% control damage. The Disrupter reverses the joystick operations of the targeted ship and adds 1% engine and control damage.

Seeker missiles deal 15% engine damage and 2% control damage on impact, and the Super-Seeker is the more accurate version, causing 25% engine damage and 4% control damage. The Ambler cuts the target's engines briefly and adds 1% engine and control damage. The Scrambler stands apart as the only guided missile that can effectively pursue its target around corners, following it around the course until impact, where it deals 25% engine and control damage.

On-Track Pickups and Rear-View Cameras

Six kinds of on-track items can be collected by the ship during races. A Boost grants an instant burst of speed equal to the turbo currently fitted, so a larger turbo produces a bigger boost. Cash bonuses add $50 to the bank balance. Two Repair bonuses exist: one fixes engine damage and one fixes control damage, sparing the pilot a trip to the Repair Zone and saving time on the track. Engine damage makes the ship run slower, while control damage makes it harder to handle; a Re-charger Pit on every track, marked by blue and white flashing lights above or below tunnel entrances, restores the craft when used tactically. Drone ships can be blasted to release an on-track bonus, though missiles destroy the bonus along with the drone.

The General settings screen lets players change the racing environment, sound, control method and difficulty level by toggling options with the left mouse button or Enter. Turning on the Rear Monitor activates a rear monitor camera, showing the opposition behind the ship in a display on the screen; this reveals not only who is chasing but also incoming weapons, so the pilot can take evasive action. A separate Weapons Monitor activates a fly-through camera that tails an activated weapon as it flies through the air toward its target. The same screen also offers language selection among English, French and German, plus a toggle to show the track map on the race screen, and screen detail can be tuned to match the PC's processing power.

First published Oct 31, 2026.