LOADING THE GAMES Place a cassette in the tape recorder and rewind. Make sure the recorder is properly adjusted (max treble, medium volume) and connected to the computer (EAR sockets connected). Type LOAD "" and press the ENTER key, then PLAY the tape. SPECTRUM PLUS 2 JOYSTICKS If you have a SPECTRUM PLUS 2 and wish to use a joystick, first select the option to ADJUST PLAYING KEYS before playing, and press keys 6,7,8,9 and 0 in response to the prompts for LEFT, RIGHT, DOWN, UP and FIRE (in that order). These number keys control your FIRST joystick. If you wish to use the SECOND joystick use keys 1 to 5. Works with Kempston, Protek, Interface 2 and Spectrum +2 joysticks THANATOS by Mike Richardson STANDARD CONTROLS A Joystick UP HIGHER (or aim up when breathing flame) Z Joystick DOWN LOWER (or aim down when breathing flame) M Joystick RIGHT FASTER going right (or slower going left) N Joystick LEFT SLOWER going right (or faster going left) SPACE Joystick FIRE FIRE flame (or DROP when carrying object) P Pauses game NB: SLOWER + SPACE turns dragon around SKILL LEVEL 1 is easiest Dragon must be moving before it can take-off QUICK START INSTRUCTIONS Fly to the right till you get to a castle, then land and walk up to castle gate. Use flame from close range to burn down gate. If you run out of flame go back and find a witch tied between two stakes and eat her (just walk up to her slowly). This will refill your energy shown by the glass (on the bottom right of the screen). In the first castle land near the girl (wo will be waving with both arms - don't mistake her for a soldier!), and allow her to climb onto your neck (ie: just land nearby and wait). Fly onto the next castle. When you find the book of spells, land and let the girl collect them. Fly to the last castle where you will find the cauldron in which the girl can cast her spell. Land nearby. GENERAL PLAYING TIPS You can pick up foreground objects (eg: knights, horses, rocks and soldiers) by flying over them and touching them with your open claw. You can then take them up high and drop them (on ohter objects, if you wish!). You can also burn foreground objects with your breath. If you get attacked by the knights, dragons, rockfalls, etc. your heart (shown on the bottom left of the screen) will beat faster, eventually flickering blue just before you die. To slow down your heart rate you must land and stand still (or walk slowly - especially when in the cave!) without being attacked. To win the game you must carry the girl all the way to the cauldron. If you turn around quickly she may fall off, and you will have to pick her up again. SCORE Select the VIEW SCORES option to check your position on the high score table. You score bonus points for wiping-out entire attack waves in a single pass, and you get double points for killing the enemy by dropping objects on their heads. SIGMA SEVEN by Mike Richardson SIGMA SEVEN has seven stages which progressively increase in difficulty from very easy to almost impossible. Hence there is no need to fix a "skill level" before play. Each of the seven stages is divided into three separate "sub-games" or phases: the first flying through space fighting against space-mine defences, the second travelling along the internal pathways of a space station fighting against robo-mines, and the third solving a futuristic puzzle. CONTROLS A Joystick UP Forward Z Joystick DOWN Backward N Joystick LEFT Left M Joystick RIGHT Right SPACE Joystick FIRE Fire PHASE 1 Take-off from your base and fly to the next factory fighting your way through the space-mine defences as you go. The distance between the space stations and the number of space-mines increases with each new stage. Bonus points are awarded for destroying complete waves of mines. PHASE 2 Once into the factory area, the player must move around clearing the pathways. Defence robo-mines rapidly home-in to kill simply by making contact, though they may be shot first. Each stage has a different path layout, which is more difficult than the last. As the paths are cleared a pattern of fixed markers is revealed. This pattern MUST BE MEMORISED and subsequently entered on the control unit in phase 3. The player may leave phase two (at the opposite end) when the counter in the top left hand corner, starts to flash, which happens after clearing a certain area of the pathways (proportional to the stage's skill level); or he may choose to wipe out all the robo-mines and clear all the paths to maximise his score before making his exit. Score is awarded for destroying robo-mines and the points are shown over the explosions. Bonus points are awarded in proportion to the area of pathway cleared. If the time limit is exceeded (ie: the counter at the top left of the screen reaches zero) then all remaining "lives" are lost and the game ends. PHASE 3 The control unit must be reset by pressing a group of its buttons in a pattern similar to that revealed on the pathway in phase two. The usable buttons of each stage are surrounded by inactive ones coloured blue which should be ignored (there are fewer inactive buttons as the stages get harder). During play the usable active buttons repeatedly change colour from green to red then to yellow. An active button may be reset by positioning the player's KEY SPHERE above it and pressing "fire"; though this must be done while it is yellow (after which it stays white). Hitting a button already on will turn it off again. Timing is critical, as a pyramid-shaped defence shield lags just behind the KEY SPHERE, and will cost one "life" is touched by mistake. Lights on the side panels indicate time taken, and the bonus available for quick completion. If the time limit is exceeded all remaining "lives" are forfeit and the game ends. LIVES & SCORE The player starts phase one with three "lives". At the start of each following phase, three more "lives" are added to however many are still left. If a player gets through phase one with two lives left, then he would have 2+3=5 lives for phase two, and so on. If the player looses all his lives during any phase, or exceeds the time limit in phases two or three, then the game is ended. DEEP STRIKE by Nick Wilson STANDARD CONTROLS KEY RECOMMENDED JOYSTICK ACTION Q Up Fly higher A Down Fly lower O Left Bank left P Right Bank right ENTER Fire Fire machine guns SPACE - Drop bombs(from bomber) M - Flight map(also acts as PAUSE PLAY) QUICK START INSTRUCTIONS You are in control of a World War I fighter. Your job is to protect and guide a flight of four bombers to take out an enemy fuel dump. You may then land and refuel before heading out once again. Keep your compass pointer vertical or you will run into heavy flak and also run out of fuel. Shoot down all planes EXCEPT for your own bomber which will fly dead ahead of you. Fly around hills - don't hit them - or you will damage your propellers. Avoid barrage balloons. If one of your bombers gets hit a replacement will fly in after a few seconds. Bomb anything you like. If you can stay on course and survive long enough you should eventually pass over the enemy fuel dumps which you must wipe out. Watch out for suicidal Black Barons, and crack-shot Blue Maxes. If you need a break, press the MAP key to inspect your progress - this also acts as a PAUSE GAME control. THE SCREEN Your controls at the bottom of the screen include the following:- COMPASS POINTER Keep this vertical! It indicates the direction to fly in. If it moves to either side, then FLY IN THAT DIRECTION or you will encounter intense anti-aircraft fire. At the end of the game you must be on the correct flight path or you will not find the enemy fuel dump. TWO PROPELLER BLADES The blue one is yours, the green one belongs to the bomber currently infront of your plane. The propellers get worn away if the planes are damaged by either GUNFIRE or HITTING HILLS. When either propeller disappears that plane is destroyed. FUEL GAUGE Shows your fuel supply. Stay on course and you will be fine. Fly off-course for long and you will be an ex pilot. BOMBERS GAUGE Shows number of bombers still flying. Once they have all been shot down the enemy will concentrate on your fighter. AMMUNITION BELT & BOMBS These will slowly disappear as they get used up. After long bursts of gunfire the gun at the end of the ammo belt will glow red and your firing will become irregular. SABOTEUR II by Clive Townsend You take the role of the Ninja's beautiful sister, who must avenge her fatally wounded brother. In "SABOTEUR I" he broke into the central security building and stole a computer disk that contained names of the rebel leaders. This disk also held information about the dictator's huge missile silo. Your night-time mission is to hang-glide into this high security complex of buildings and underground passages (over 700 screens), search for the pieces of punched computer tape that control the missile's flight path, redirect it before blast-off, then escape by motorbike down the one and only exit tunnel. The site is guarded at night by massive android guards with flame-throwers, vampire bats, and deadly black pumas. STANDARD CONTROLS A Joystick UP CLIMB UP, or KICK if still Z Joystick DOWN CLIMBDOWN or DUCK if still M Joystick RIGHT MOVE RIGHT N Joystick LEFT MOVE LEFT SPACE Joystikck FIRE THROW/USE/TAKE object, or PUNCH if none. If you press MOVE + UP you will perform a RUNNING JUMP. If you press MOVE + PUNCH you will perform a FLYING KICK THROW + UP or THROW + DOWN will AIM your throw. Press TAKE when there is an object in your NEAR DISPLAY, and the NEAR object will become HELD. FIRE drops you from the HANG-GLIDER. UP allows you to climb onto and start the MOTORBIKE, providing you are standing next to the seat and facing the same direction as the bike. UP or DOWN when you are standing in the centre of a LIFT platform starts it moving. USE operates the control TERMINALS. THE COMMAND CENTRE The dictator's new command centre and office complex is being built on top of a mountain filled with underground tunnels and caverns. An armoury building is on the top left of the mountain, and a missile silo is on the top right. The central top area is still being developed. There is only one way out of the mountain, which is the long entrance tunnel on the bottom left, sometimes protected by an electrified perimeter fence. This site covers over 700 computer screens. On the stolen disk, the rebels have found a small outline map... Armoury Office Silo Lifts Tunnels Tunnels QUICK START INSTRUCTIONS Drop into building. Watch out for pumas and android guards. Search through the command centre for boxes of supplies (these contain the objects that appear in your HELD display). Check each box for pieces of PUNCHED TAPE (and remember its location for later games). You get paid for killing guards and pumas, collecting tape and escaping. Get down towards the bottom centre of the underground caves (use the lifts if time is short), where you will find a motorbike on which you can drive to safety. SCREEN DISPLAYS The HELD DISPLAY shows the object that you are carrying and ready to throw. The NEAR DISPLAY shows nearby objects that you can pick-up or use. If you press the TAKE control when an object is shown in the NEAR DISPLAY it get swapped with your HELD DISPLAY. The objects are mainly stored in boxes, some of which may be filled with many items. Each time you press the THROW/USE control you will swap the object at the top of the box with your current object which goes to the bottom. Some items cannot be seen distinguished in the dark and are shown as QUESTION MARKS. If you take one and it is punched tape it will automatically be added to your collection, otherwise it will be some kind of throwable weapon (eg: a rock) and will go into your HELD DISPLAY. Search through ALL THE OBJECTS in a box (when the word "NEAR" will change colour) to check for punched tape. Note that these boxes will be in the same place with the same objects at the start of all missions, so use a low skill level to find their location in the building. When a box is empty your NEAR DISPLAY will show the top of the box with an arrow above it. The TIMER ticks down the time till the missile fires. On higher skill levels (or "selected missions") you will need to collect sufficient punched tape to be able to operate the terminal next to the missile before blast-off, in order to redirect its flight path (and score a large bonus). If you care for your life (and extra pay) you should also try to escape before blast-off. The PAY DISPLAY shows your earnings in US dollars. You get paid for collecting punched tape, redirecting the missile (by using the control terminal next to it), fighting with pumas and guards, and escaping. The RED BAR below the PAY DISPLAY shows your energy level. This will go down when you get burned, when you fight, fall, drown or get bitten; but it will go up if you stand stil. If you run out of energy you die. Pieces of PUNCHED TAPE will appear one piece at a time between the pay display and your energy display. When you have enough pieces to redirect the missile the last one changes colour to GREEN. On skill level 1 you are not asked to redirect the missile, so all the tape you collect will be white. CONTROL TERMINALS In various parts of the complex you will find computer control terminals (waist high) which sometimes have a video display on the wall behind them (not in the caves). Move to the centre of a terminal and press the USE control to operate it. Terminals control the lifts, the missile, and the electrified perimeter fence. FIGHTING The PUMAS will snap at your heels and cause your energy to run down. You may jump over them, or kill them either by throwing objects at them (remember to press the DOWN control at the same time as the THROW control), or by crouching down and punching them in the teeth. It is rumoured that the dictator also uses vampire bats. All the ANDROID GUARDS have throwing knives, a flame-thrower, and may resort to unarmed combat (punching and kicking). They are inhuman, very strong, and unlikely to be killed by a single blow. Try throwing a knife at them first, then give a hard flying-kick, followed by a couple of low punches. If a guard throws a knife at you or shoots at you, you can DUCK down out of the way, or try to somersault out of trouble. They can't follow you over a change in floor level. It is rumoured that the dictator has a source of infinite energy somewhere deep underground. SKILL LEVELS Unless a friend tells you the code words, you will only be able to play at the lowest skill level until you have completed that mission successfully. After each successful mission you are given the code word for the next more difficult one. The skill levels or "missions" require you to complete increasingly more hazardous tasks and collect extra pieces of tape (14 maximum) SCORE Puma hit 20 Puma killed 100 Guard hit 20 Guard killed 100 Redirect missile 5000 Escape 5000 Bonus for completing mission 10000 OTHER GAMES BY DURELL SPITFIRE £9.95 CHAIN REACTION £9.95 BIG4 £9.95 (Sabateur, Turbo Esprit, Combat Lynx, Critical Mass) SPECTRUM 4 £7.95 (Jungle Trouble, Scuba Dive, Harrier Attack, Fat Worm) Send cheques or postal orders (FREE postage & packing) to Durell Software Ltd, Castle Lodge, Castle Green, Taunton, TA1 4AB Or use our 24-hour any-day phone service and order by ACCESS or BARCLAYCARD. Just phone 0823 - 252193.