My Summer Car Computer – Making The Time Fly By In The Finnish Summer

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to spend a whole summer living in 1990s rural Finland… While simultaneously trying to build an entire car in your garage and do loads of crazy things in the meantime? Well, that pretty sums up the entirety of My Summer Car, and the many wild antics that you’ll get into. Although, if you’re somehow bored with this digital reality, then maybe you could consider retreating into your My Summer Car computer.

Yes, there’s a fully interactable computer inside of a computer game. This is what Inception looks like in the real world, ladies and gents. But amidst the cheeky tropes, drunken jokes, and rallying across the Finnish countryside in your dad’s Datsun, it’s easy to overlook the fact that this feature was even there in the first place. But what exactly is the My Summer Car computer? More importantly, what can you do with it? Well, read along with our guide here to find out…

• What Is My Summer Car?
• The Computer
• Building The Computer
• How It Works
• How To Install New Programmes
• Programs

What Is My Summer Car?

Before looking at the My Summer Car computer, it’s customary for us to describe what the game is like in a pinch. If anyone out there is keen to have a go at the game for the first time, then this might give you a few pointers. My Summer Car is an open-world simulation game, which has survival, racing, driving, and building mechanics in it. The latter of which relates to building a car, as it is the main goal of completing the game. However, this is just one arc of a very big game.

More specifically, it is to rebuild your dad’s Satsuma – which is based on the real world Datsun 100A – from scratch. This involves fitting together different parts and attaching them bolt-for-bolt. Once the car is fully built, you’re then tasked with maintaining it. Or, you can upgrade the car and take it for a race. Aside from the meticulous car building section of the game, there’s also a lot of silly role-playing. You can find jobs within the game to earn money, which is used to buy car parts.

Walking around the map, there are a lot of miscellaneous tasks and people to interact with. This expansive world exploration and plot building is then matched with a unique permadeath system. In My Summer Car, you’ll be required to care for your character and his basic necessities such as food and water. Get into an accident, and your in-game character could die, thus forcing you to restart from scratch. In short, there’s a lot more to My Summer Car than just building a car.

If you want a full walk-through guide of My Summer Car read our post.

What Do You Need To Know About The My Summer Car Computer?

But, how does that all relate to the My Summer Car computer? As the dev team continually adds more immersive features and content to complete the life simulation and role-playing aspect of the game, a computer was later added. You can then interact with this computer, as another way in which you can spend time and be a part of the My Summer Car world. The computer here is called the Mikropekka, or by its full model name, the MIKROPEKKA TURBO X33.

As My Summer Car is set in the 1990s, the Mikropekka is based on the real-world MikroMikko computer that was made by Nokia in the 1980s. The player will first encounter the Mikropekka through an advertisement that you’ll get in the mail. At which point you could send an envelope to request a purchase, and drop it off by the post box at Teimo’s shop. This works just like ordering a part for your car. After paying for the item, it will then appear by the loading dock.

You can buy the Mikropekka computer for 6,495mk (Markka – the in-game currency). That price also includes a 60mk delivery fee to have it delivered. The entire computer will come inside of a single box, which will have four components. These are the case (or the tower of the computer), monitor, keyboard and mouse together, as well as a set of speakers. Once the player has taken the parts home, you could then spend time putting them together as you would with the Satsuma.

How Are You Supposed To Build The My Summer Car Computer?

The building mechanics for the My Summer Car computer work similarly to building a car. The only difference is that the computer has far fewer than the hundreds or thousands of individual parts that you’ll deal with on a car. Most of the tiny bits and pieces like the CPU, RAM, and hard drives are all pre-installed. All you need to do is connect the different components together. You can pick up individual parts of the computer. Place it on the desk in the character’s room.

Once that’s done, you’ll then pick up each component. A checkmark (?) icon should appear when certain parts are hovered and oriented correctly. Pressing the left mouse button (LMB) will now attach and assemble them. There is also basic internet connectivity that needs to be sorted for some of its functions that we’ll explore later. So, you’ll need to plug in the modem to the telephone line. This may require you need to unplug your phone first.

How Does The My Summer Car Computer Work?

To interact with the My Summer Car computer, just walk up to it and press the ‘Enter’ key. You then have ‘power’ and ‘reset’ buttons that you may use on the computer itself. The Mikropekka computer runs on RS-POS, which is akin to DOS. It thus requires you to interact with the command-line interface, which lacks a simple point-and-click GUI. Every action needs to be prompted with a written command. For example, typing in “dir” will list every item in a set directory.

Once you’re inside a program, pressing the ‘Q’ key on your keyboard should terminate the program and bring you back to the command line. Sometimes, this might require you to press the ‘Alt’ and ‘Q’ keys together. By default, the Mikropekka comes with two pieces of pre-installed software in the box. The first is Pieno, which is a virtual keyboard that can play music if you pressed the corresponding letter keys on your actual keyboard. For instance, pressing ‘C’ to play the C note.

The other software is TeleBBS, which is a bulletin board dialler. Essentially, this is an early version of an internet browser, that allows the player to download data. You can open TeleBBS by typing “telebbs” in the command line, and close the program by typing in “exit”. You can dial a number by typing in “atdt”. Meanwhile, typing in “baud=” will be important to fine-tuning your in-game internet speeds for file downloads, as it correlates to the speed in kilobytes per second times 8,000.

How Can You Install New Programmes On The My Summer Car Computer?

Besides the two included software programs on the My Summer Car Computer, the player can try and attain new ones. Mostly, this additional software is games that you can play inside the Mikropekka. There are two ways to acquire new programs. Firstly, you can try to find three floppy disks (or diskettes) scattered throughout the game. You can get these diskettes from Jouko’s new house, as a holiday present left by the fireplace in your home, or through the mail after you purchase the Mikropekka.

Otherwise, you could use the Con-Line BBS. Following up from earlier, the Con-Line BBS is a bulletin board that you can readily access through TeleBBS. Then, type in “atdt 938xxxxxx” to download and save those programs into the Mikropekka. The last six digits (x) are random for each program in their save file. Once a program, or more precisely, the game has been downloaded through the Con-Line BBS, it will be stored in the My Summer Car computer permanently.

What Are The Different Software That You Can Use On The My Summer Car Computer?

It’s worth noting that each software has its own file names, storage requirements, and the amount of time it requires to download them. In total, there are 15 extra programs that you can install on the Mikropekka. Some are acquired through floppy disks, and others are downloaded from the Con-Line BBS. Here are some examples of what they each of these mini-games do once installed on the My Summer Car Computer…

1. Grillisimulaattori

Grillisimulaattori translates quite simply into ‘grill simulator’. It is essentially a food stand-style of game, where the player needs to serve food items. If the player serves the wrong food to the customers more than three times, the game will end. These food items include a hamburger, meat pie, sausage with fries, grill plate, house special, and meatballs.

To win, the player needs to serve as many people correctly as possible. However, the entire game, and thus all the orders, are spoken in Finnish. Even the different characters (nine of them in total) voices sound very similar. You can access this game by typing “grilli” in the command line of the My Summer Car computer.

2. Sormileikki

Sormileikki can be played by typing in “sormilki”. Translated to ‘finger play’, this is a more relaxing and casual arcade game. The goal of the game is to guide the on-screen index finger through the two fingers on the other hand. You’ll need to do this as many times as possible within 60 seconds, with three points given for each successful fingering. There are sometimes numbered squares that pop up, which can yield the player extra points.

3. Filosofiapeli

Typing the “filosofi” command line will open up Filosofiapeli, which translates quite simply to ‘philosophy game’. The entire gameplay is dependent upon the player’s reaction. To play the game, you only need to press the ‘Up’ and ‘Down’ directional keys, as well as the ‘Enter’ key. Essentially, you’ll need to press the right key at the right time. This will be prompted as the in-game philosopher starts or stops talking, and when you no longer hear a chiming sound.

4. Fishgame

Fishgame is the first of our My Summer Car Computer mini-games that isn’t written in Finnish. You can play it by typing the “fishgame” command. The entire game revolves around you catching fish and reeling in other miscellaneous items found in the water before the timer runs out. By the end, your score is measured by how much money – earned from the fish or in-game items – that you’ve caught.

Different fish will yield different scores. For instance, a Bream will net you 100mk, a Goldfish with 500mk, or a special UKK earning you 5,000mk. However, there are also other things that you could catch which will cost you penalties. You can bring up a Fine that costs you 100mk, or you might bring up a robber that will steal all your money. The Soak, meanwhile, is an item that will deduct you one beer bottle, which is how time is measured in the game.

5. Pasi Invaders

Back to speaking Finnish, the next game here can be opened up by typing in “invapasi”. Pasi Invaders is an action shooter game, and you’re tasked with preventing the enemy Pasi from entering and taking over the school. Once ten Pasis pass through you into the school, the game ends. You can shoot at the Pasis, or wait for them to cross over the line near the bottom of the screen, and then simply walking over them.

When 100 Pasis are killed, you’ll now have to defeat an armored vehicle. It takes ten shots in order to defeat it before you can win the game. There are six different Pasi enemies that you can encounter. Each of them has its own characteristics. Some move faster than others and have more unique pathing to make them harder to fight. Harder Pasis will yield more points when defeated.

6. Johnny F. Kemedy Racing Challenge

The next My Summer Car computer game we have here is the Johnny F. Kemedy Racing Challenge, and no, that’s not a typo. You can launch the game by typing in “jfkrace”. As a driving game, the mission is simply to drive Johnny to safety within the city. The game is split into three unique phases with increasing difficulty. Phase 1 sees the player having to dodge simple moving bullets. Phase 2 will see bombs get introduced into the game.

This bomb will get dropped into a random place on the screen every few seconds, and it will explode immediately on impact. Phase 3 sees the player having to avoid a sniper rifle. A red dot will appear every few seconds, and it will start to target Johnny’s head. If Johnny is killed, the game ends. He can sustain ten shots from regular bullets, but getting hit by the bomb or sniper rifle will instantly kill him.

7. Wild Vest

The “wildvest” command will launch Wild Vest, another casual arcade-style mini-game. Just like the earlier Philosophy Game, Wild Vest will gauge its gameplay based on the player’s reaction. The game involves a female in-game character being approached and flashed by a man. Your goal would be to spray the flasher as soon as he opens his trench coat. Either spraying him too late or too early will end the game.

8. Rapula

The next My Summer Car computer game is Rapula, which translates to Hangover. It can be launched with the “rapula” command and is one of the most extensive games on this list. Rapula is a side-scrolling adventure game. As for the plot, you’ll need to guide Mr. Rapula safely to a store across 20 different levels, while simultaneously trying to avoid enemies. The controls are simple, as it only needs you to go left and right, as well as jumping.

You get ten lives at the beginning of the level, and falling below zero lives will end the game. Each level is fairly comprehensive in its design and gets progressively harder. The same goes for the 12 different enemies that you might encounter in those levels. Each enemy will move in unique patterns across the screen, some being more erratic and random than others. Certain enemies will start appearing in different locations. In any case, touching any enemy will cost you one life.

9. Massacre

One of the most popular My Summer Car computer game is Massacre, which is accessed by typing in “massacre”. Similar to Rapula, Massacre plays as a side-scrolling game, but is focused as an action shooter. The mission of the game is to defeat three different mini-bosses, before then coming across the final boss and thus finish the game. Gameplay requires you to move left, right, and vertically across rooms. You will need to shoot enemies that appear to kill them.

There are four basic enemy types that can be killed with a single shot, but higher-level enemies move around faster. Later, we have the three mini-bosses, each with a distinct fighting mechanic and how they maneuver to attack you. The final boss also has several abilities which it can use to fight against you. Killing it will prompt a 60-second timer to appear before you need to find your way back to the main entrance before the game can end.

10. Ojasta Alkoon

Ojasta Alkoon can be played by typing in the “allikko” command. It is a Frogger-stye game that requires the player to fill the bottom row of the screen with beer bottles. You’ll need to move the character up to a liquor store, before moving back down to deliver the beer. Along the way, you’ll need to navigate ten lanes filled with various moving obstacles.

They need to drink any liquid to prevent the thirst bar from filling up completely. Getting too thirsty, or being hit more than five times will end the game. Once you’ve filled the entire bottom row with beer bottles, you will win the game.

11. World’s Man

Using the “worldman” command should open up World’s Man. The objective of this My Summer Car computer game is to move your character around the map with your directional keys to find “the truth”. The Truth is an invisible object, and you’ll need to navigate the player around using the in-game map, and based on how the grids or tiles are placed to better determine your position. There are several items that can help you here, with the game ending after “the truth” has been found.

12. Run The Gauntlet

Launched by typing in “gauntlet” in the command line, Run The Gauntlet is another reaction-based game. You’ll need to move your character from the left- to the right-hand side of the screen, dodging obstacles on the way. There are three different types of reactions. In ‘Defend Your Cap’, you need to prevent your character’s hat from being taken away by one of the bullies.

Next up, in ‘Dodge Snowballs’, you must avoid oncoming snowballs to duck or jump over them as they fly past. Another mode is ‘Find Empty Toilet’, where you need to try and find an empty lavatory stall. In any one of the different game modes, a single hit will end the game. Your score is measured by how many stages you’ve completed.

13. Joulupukin Joulustressi

Translated to ‘Santa Claus’ Christmas-stress‘, it can be launched by typing in “joulu”. The goal of the player is to help Santa navigate across four different levels and find all the presents scattered in them. All the while, you need to move Santa while trying to avoid touching the walls, which will cost you lives. There are 20 presents, with each one increasing Santa’s speed. Across the four levels, they will get harder as you’ll find more walls and placed awkwardly to try and stop you.

14. Pro Pilkki

This is the first of the My Summer Car computer games that can only be played by finding a diskette. Pro Pilkki is another fishing game. The gameplay mechanic is quite simple. You’ll need to cut open a hole in the ice, set up the bait, and drop your fishing rod. There are different types of fishes that you can catch, each one will score you more or fewer points. You’ll be competing against the CPU to see who can catch the biggest fish.

15. Conan McGuinness Global Rally Grand Prix 95

This next mini-game is by far the largest one that you could download through the Con-Line BBS, accessed through the “rally95” command. Unfortunately, some consider this game – a mock of the Colin McRae rally games – to be an April Fool’s joke, as it is actually unplayable. When launched, the game stutters through the Mikropekka computer due to inadequate hardware. While some menu functions are interactable, the computer will freeze anytime you try and start up a race.

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