THE DAM BUSTERS U.S. Gold GAME DESCRIPTION OPTIONS The options that may be selected are: Practice Dam Run - starting near the dam, with no enemy action. Flight Lieutenant - starts from the English Channel. Squadron Leader - takes off from Scampton Airfield. The "Squadron Leader" option requires more skill in game play. ROLES (SCREEN DESCRIPTIONS, JOYSTICK, FIRE BUTTONS) All flight crew positions (points of view) are controlled by the player. The positions and their associated numbers are: 1 - Pilot 2 - Front Gunner 3 - Tail Gunner 4 - Bomb Aimer 5 - Navigator 6 - First Engineer screen 7 - Second Engineer screen (in Squadron Leader option) 8 - Status and damage report To select a position, press the appropriate number on the keyboard. When a specific position is in trouble or needs attention, the corresponding number will flash at the bottom of the screen. PILOT The pilot screen is used to control the direction of the aircraft: left, right, up, down. The joystick control behaves like a real Lancaster. When you pull back the aircraft goes up, push forward the aircraft goes down, left=left, right=right. The pilot's screen contains a view of the horizon lights, enemy barrage balloons, searchlights and Me110 night fighters. (This view also appears in the Front and Tail Gunners' screens). It also includes several instruments (see Fig.1 - DBFIG123.GIF). The left side of the pilot's screen contains the altimeter that measures how far the aircraft is off the ground. The altimeter shows two indicators. The smaller indicator measures 100-foot increments while the larger measures 5-foot increments (Fig. 2 - DBFIG123.GIF). When "Intercom" blinks 1 (pilot's position) you are too low. Fly over 100 feet. The second instrument from the left is the Directional Compass for the aircraft. This tells the pilot what direction the aircraft is heading relative to magnetic North. The small red marker that moves on the top of the compass is the direction that the navigator has selected the aircraft to fly (see NAVIGATOR). The next instrument is the Artificial Horizon Indicator (second right) which shows which direction the aircraft is turning. (This instrument is useful at night when the real horizon is not visible). The far right instrument is the Airspeed Indicator (Fig.3 - DBFIG123.GIF). The dials are shown in the figures below. [DBFIG123.GIF located here] FRONT GUNNER The Front Gunner controls the twin 303 calibre F.N.5 machine guns by guiding the cross hairs with the joystick, and pressing the fire button. The guns fire 20 rounds per second. Every fourth round fired from the guns is a tracer bullet which "glows" as it travels away from the aircraft, so that the direction and target of fire can be determined. If the bomb rotation switch in the Bomb Aimer screen has been turned on and the bomb has reached the specified 500 rpm, the gun cross hairs will be replaced by the bomb distancing sights (see Fig.4 - DBFIG4.GIF). The [DBFIG4.GIF located here] sights are used to determine the distance from aircraft to dam. To release the bomb, the front gunner should press the fire button when the distancing sights are aligned with the dam towers. Align the sights with the dam by moving the joystick left or right (see Fig.4 - DBFIG4.GIF). TAIL GUNNER The Tail Gunner controls four F.N.20 303 calibre machine guns, two mounted on either side of the turret. The guns are controlled in the same way as those of the front gunner (see Fig.5 - DBFIG5.GIF). BOMB AIMER In the Lancaster, the Bomb Aimer is also the Front Gunner. The Bomb Aimer need be accessed only on the dam approach. The instruments at the bottom of the [DBFIG5.GIF located here] screen are the Bomb Rotation switch (left) and the Aircraft Altitude Spotlight switch (right) (see Fig.6 - DBFIG6.GIF). To select a switch, move the joystick left or right. Under the selected control, a black control dot will appear. Press the fire button on the joystick to grab control of the switch. With the fire button pressed, move the joystick up to turn the switch on or down to turn it off. Releasing the fire button releases the control of the switch. When the spotlight switch is on and the altitude is less than 100 feet (at higher altitudes the spotlights cannot be seen), use the joystick to adjust the altitude, just like the pilot's joystick control (forward is less altitude, back is more altitude). Avoid turning on the spotlights over enemy territory because the Lancaster will become an easy target for enemy flak. [DBFIG6.GIF located here] Just before the dam approach, turn on the Bomb Rotation switch. When the bomb has reached maximum rotation, the Front Gunner will no longer control the front gun, but will be looking at the distancing sights in preparation for the bomb release. Turning off the bomb rotation frees the front gunner to man the twin 303s. NAVIGATOR The Navigator has the most important job of the whole mission, the responsibility of plotting the course through enemy territory to the dams. The Navigator's screen shows a map on which there are two moveable objects (see Fig.12 - DBFIGCDE.GIF). One shows the current aircraft position. The other shows the navigational cursor that is used to set the compass heading. The joystick controls where the navigational cursor goes on the current map. There are six maps comprising most of Northern Europe, each selected by moving the cursor toward a map edge. As the map boundary is reached, the next map, if there is one, will be displayed. Press the fire button to switch between the map showing your current location and the map showing your destination. As you move the cursor around the screen the heading of the compass at the top of the screen will change. This new heading will be reflected in the pilot's screen and indicated by the red directional marker on the top of the pilot's compass. Thus if the cursor is directly above the position of the aircraft, the navigator's compass heading will read N (north). The pilot then should bank (turn) until the aircraft direction [ - DBFIG7.GIF located here] compass is aligned to the red marker which will also be N (north). The maps of Europe contain different coloured symbols representing the location and types of landmarks (see Fig.7 - DBFIG7.GIF). The symbols are classified as follows: Green circles - military installations Red aircraft - military airport Violet diamonds - population centres Blue smoke stacks - industrial complexes The size of the symbol is an indication of the concentration and magnitude of the installation. The novice should look over these maps carefully before choosing a course to fly. ENGINEER The engineer controls one or two screens, depending on whether Flight Lieutenant option (one screen) or Squadron Leader option (two screens) has been chosen. The first screen (Fig.8 - DBFIG89A.GIF) is associated with the control of the engines. It is the same for both options. The second screen (for Squadron Leader option only) is associated with take-off and controlling trim on the rudder. The first screen contains four throttles (bottom left), four booster controls [ - DBFIG89A.GIF located here] (bottom right), and four engine fire extinguishers (top right). The booster gauges are the upper four dials. The lower four dials are the rpm gauges for the throttles. A fire in an engine is indicated by a blinking rpm gauge for that engine. To access an instrument move the joystick left, right, up or down. Under the selected control a black control dot will appear. Press the fire button on the joystick to grab control of the instrument. With the fire button pressed, move the joystick up or down depending on what you want to do. Releasing the fire button releases the control of the instrument. The four throttles may be controlled simultaneously, as may the four boosters. To do this select the position between the second the [sic] third throttles or boosters and press the fire button as before. The upper right section of the screen controls the fire extinguisher for each engine. Each fire extinguisher may be used only once, so be careful using them. Press the fire button and move the joystick down to extinguish an engine fire. This action permanently disables the engine. The throttles control the rpm on a specific engine much like an accelerator pedal on a car. The booster controls the pitch of the propeller blades in relation to the airstream near the propeller; thus a larger pitch takes a larger bit of air. Setting a booster is similar to selecting a gear in a transmission. Thus the speed of the aircraft can be set by any combination of booster/throttle settings. The fastest airspeed is achieved by a combination of boost (high gear) and maximum throttle (pedal to the floor). Damaged engines can be a result of "revving" the engines too high and using the throttle without adjusting the appropriate booster (putting it in gear). Too much boost with a low throttle setting will result in inefficient engines and low power, reducing the airspeed. If the boosters are set higher than the throttles, too much force is required from the engines and the rpms will drop. Conversely, if the boosters are set lower, the engines are free to rotate and will spin out of control. They will eventually over-rev and burn out. An engine is over-revving if the rpm needle is in the red zone of the dial; it will flash; reduce the throttles immediately. If the throttles will not reduce, it is too late - the engine has caught fire; use the fire extinguisher. Thus individual gauges should be watched when increasing / decreasing the booster and throttle (see Fig.9 and Fig.10 - DBFIG89A.GIF). The Second Engineer's screen (see Fig.11 - DBFIGB.GIF), which is only displayed for the [DBFIGB.GIF located here] Squadron Leader option, shows the flap control with indicator (bottom centre), landing gear (bottom right), and rudder trim (bottom left). These instruments are controlled in a similar manner to the First Engineer's screen. The flap switch will turn on/off the flaps. The flaps are retractable extensions of the wing of the Lancaster, thus when the flaps are down, the wing area is larger and as a result the lift of the wing is increased. The landing gear control activates the hydraulic motor control that lifts the gear. The rudder trim adjusts the direction of the aircraft to the left or right. Moving the stick up introduces a small positive yaw in the aircraft, guiding it slightly to the right. Moving the stick down introduces a negative yaw that turns the aircraft to the left. STATUS AND DAMAGE This screen provides you with status information on how many flak hits, Me110 night fighters, searchlights, and barrage balloons you have been attacked by and how many you have destroyed. The searchlight counter counts how many searchlights found your Lancaster.. Also provided is information about damage to various parts of the Lancaster - the four engines, altitude spotlights and the trim. Being hit by flak or getting caught in the spotlight and drawing enemy anti-aircraft fire can jam the trim, break the altitude spotlights, or cause engine damage. Your engines may be damaged by night fighters. They may also kill one of your gunners, or the pilot. Unextinguished engine fires may spread to adjacent engines and to the rest of the Lancaster. When you have been killed, the status and damage report will be displayed. PLAYING A GAME Press the fire button to leave any title screen, the dam scene after dropping the bomb, or the status screen after being killed. Pressing the RUN/STOP and RESTORE keys simultaneously will return you to the title screens. LEVEL SELECTION The level of play is an indication of how difficult a game you want. There are three levels of difficulty: 1 - Practice Dam Approach 2 - Flight Lieutenant 3 - Squadron Leader To choose a level, press the number on the keyboard associated with the selected option. PRACTICE DAM APPROACH OPTION This option allows you to try the dam approach without worrying about Me110s, flak searchlights, or barrage balloons. FLIGHT LIEUTENANT OPTION The Flight Lieutenant option is to choose to start over the English Channel. SQUADRON LEADER OPTION In order to take off, set the flaps down, and give the engines full throttles and about half boost. Select the pilot screen and wait for the airspeed to build up. You will be able to pull up the nose of the Lancaster once the take-off speed is reached. (Airspeed indicator will point straight up.) Retract the landing gear and the flaps to increase airspeed. It is important that the throttles and boosters are lowered as soon as possible after take-off so as not to over- rev the engines. Pull back slowly on the joystick to start increasing altitude, and you're off. FOR FLIGHT LIEUTENANT AND SQUADRON LEADER OPTIONS When flying over enemy territory at night there are a number of considerations: * If you fly at an altitude of over 1,000 feet you will give the night fighter radar something to lock onto. If you fly under 100 feet you risk hitting an object on the ground. The pilot's number will start to flash in the status screen if you start to fly too low. * Searchlights may be knocked out by firing at the base of the light on the ground. * Me110 attacks may be avoided by either trying to shoot it down or by performing a "corkscrew" in an attempt to out-manoeuvre the fighter. DAM APPROACH Three parameters must be set exactly during the approach for the bomb to skip properly over the water (see Fig.12 - DBFIGCDE.GIF): Speed - must be 232 mph Altitude - must be exactly 60 feet Distance - must be exactly 800 yards from the dam (indicated by distancing sights) When making the dam approach make [DBFIGCDE.GIF located here] sure that the aircraft takes a long run down the lake to the dam so that all of the parameters (airspeed, distance, and altitude) may be set (see Fig.12 - DBFIGCDE.GIF). In order to set the approach parameters examine the following points: * SPEED - Set the speed by adjusting the throttles. When the blue airspeed indicator hides the red needle, then your airspeed is correct. The red needle only appears when the bomb rotation switch is ON. (see Fig.14 - DBFIGCDE.GIF). * ALTITUDE - Make sure you are over the lake before reducing your altitude under 100 feet. Bring the aircraft down and fly level. Select the bomb aimer screen. Turn on the bomb rotation and the aircraft altitude spotlights. Adjust the aircraft's altitude so the spotlights converge and are just touching. The aircraft is now at exactly 60 feet. (see Figs.6 & 13 - DBFIG6.GIF & DBFIGCDE.GIF). * DISTANCE - When you are heading directly at the dam going down the lake, the dam should appear on the horizon. Use the pilot screen to gently adjust the direction of the aircraft so the dam is near the centre of the screen. Then using the Front Gunner distancing sights (see Fig.4 - DBFIG4.GIF), wait for the exact moment that the dam towers align with the distancing sights. When they align, push the bomb release (the fire button). It is useful to keep checking the parameters (altitude, speed, distance) after they are set because of drift and error in the setting. RESULTS OF BOMB RELEASE If the bomb is not released under the proper conditions, one of two things can happen: Coming in too fast, too low, or releasing the bomb too late will cause the bomb to hit the crest of the dam and skip into the valley beyond the dam. Coming in too slow, too high, or releasing the bomb too soon will result in the bomb dropping short of the dam causing a harmless explosion in the water in front of the dam. If the release of the bomb is within the acceptable limits described by Barnes Wallis, the bomb will skip across the water above the torpedo nets, hit the crest of the dam and sink to the prescribed depth of 300 feet, igniting the hydrostatic pistols which will detonate the bomb, destroying the dam (see Fig.15 - DBFIGFG.GIF). [DBFIGFG.GIF located here] You can still reach bombing speed on 3 engines. However, this requires care, since they must be over over-revved. Set the throttles to maximum near the end of your run to get enough speed. After about 10 seconds the over-revved engines will catch fire, but can still power the Lancaster. However, you must drop the bomb before your Lancaster catches fire. Ground installations such as searchlights and flak guns can be dodged by banking hard left or right. Other objects such as barrage balloons can be shot out using the front machine guns. If barrage balloons get too close you will get caught by the cable and crash. Always re-check your heading and position if you try to dodge night fighters or searchlights. It is possible for searchlights to be shot out of action. FOR ALL OPTIONS The key to playing the game is to keep switching between views that are useful at the time. For example over enemy territory flip back and forth between the front and rear gunner and now and then examine the pilot and navigator to make sure you are on course. Remember to examine the map before things get hot over enemy territory and plot a path that will keep you as far away from enemy installations as possible. Keep track of where you are on the map at all times. Always keep checking the Front and Tail Gunner screens for fighters as sometimes there is little warning of their attack. Always answer a call from a gunner. There are two ways of trying to deal with night fighters, firing at them and dodging them. Using the machine guns, fire a spray of bullets moving left and right as soon as you see a night fighter. Keep firing until it explodes, then stop to look for more. You can dodge night fighters by using a "corkscrew" manoeuvre. The "corkscrew" is a standard Lancaster manoeuvre that traces a horizontal corkscrew through the air. It is performed by diving left, pulling up, climbing, then diving from the right to the left. However, if you don't kill the night fighter, he will attack you again, until he runs out of fuel and leaves. If you miss too many, your gunners will be killed. In order to fly straight after extinguishing a fire, decrease a throttle on the opposite side of the Lancaster (i.e. turn off engine 1, reduce throttles on 3 and/or 4), or adjust the trim (Squadron Leader Option only). Setting the trim to the highest position will compensate for losing both engines 1 and 2. NOTES FOR USE WITH SPECTRUM 48K There are some changes to the instruction book for the Spectrum version and additional enhancements to increase your enjoyment of this superb simulation. Please read these notes carefully. LOADING: Attach a suitable cassette player, type LOAD "" and press ENTER. Press PLAY on the cassette and the program will load and run automatically. OPTIONS: Options are available to change the skill level, the readout mode and the starting mode of the game. The skill level can be altered by pressing "L". Three skill levels are available: Easy, Fair and Hard. These aLter the skill level by adjusting the amount of enemy activity. The readout mode can be altered by pressing "R". The readout from instruments can be digital or analogue depending on the preference of the player. Three starting modes are available: a Practice mode, an In-Flight mode and a Take-OfF mode. ROLES: All flight crew positions (points of view) are controlled by the player. The positions and their associated keys are: Q - Pilot W - Front Gunner E - Tail Gunner R - Bomb Aimer Y - First Engineer Screen U - Second Engineer Screen I - Status, Damage Report and Score To select a position, press the appropriate letter on the keyboard. When a specific position is in trouble or needs attention, the corresponding letter will flash at the bottom of the screen. FIRE EXTINGUISHERS: Press fire button and move joystick UP to extinguish the fire. DIGITAL DISPLAY: When using digital display a figure for revs over 9,600 means that the engine is over-revving. PAUSE: To halt action press H. ABORT: Pressing CAPS SHIFT and SPACE during the game will return you to the menu. LEVEL SELECTION: Three starting modes are available from the menu. PRACTICE MODE: This allows you to practice the dam approach with little enemy activity. IN-FLIGHT MODE: This places you over the English Channel and so eliminates the need for take-off. TAKE-OFF MODE: This option places you on the runway at Scampton Airfield. DAM APPROACH: SPEED: Set the speed by adjusting the throttles. When the airspeed indicator needle is at approximately "2 o'clock" the airspeed is at 232 mph. ALTITUDE: Make sure you are over the lake before reducing your altitude under 100 feet. Bring the aircraft down and fly level. Select the bomb aimer screen. Turn on the bomb rotation and the aircraft altitude spotlights. Adjust the aircraft's altitude so that the spotlights converge and remain so (NOT a figure of eight as shown in diagram in booklet). The aircraft is now at exactly 60 feet. (see Figs.6 & 13 - DBFIG6.GIF & DBFIGCDE.GIF). THE DAMBUSTERS SPECTRUM 48K FINAL BRIEFING VITAL INFORMATION FOR YOUR OPERATION: Additional scoring facilities are as follows: Spotlights 200 Barrage Balloons 300 Enemy Planes 500 On Dam approach the bonuses are as follows: For dropping the bomb at the correct height 2,000 For dropping the bomb at the correct distance 4,000 For dropping the bomb at the correct speed 4,000 This concludes your instructions - Good Luck! Spectrum version produced in conjunction with Ocean Software Ltd. Spectrum version written by David Anderson and Ian Morrison with additional help from Mark A. Craig. FA GB1 GG 151700 18-06 HTS ASL UNLESS NOTED PROG MARITIME ARCTIC FRONT FROM WV 250 S JAN MAYEN IS. TO SECOND WV 400 W LIMERICK. FIRST WV MOVING TO 100 N FAEROES AT 06Z WITH FRONT S ROCKALL TO SECOND WV 300 WSW LIMERICK AT 06Z THENCE ENE D AS A COLD FRONT. AMS N FRONT MOIST DRIER TO S. GG 1 - 2 - 3 - 6 - 7 SE AND CENTRAL ENGLAND, NE EUROPE INC. N SEA TO 60 DEG CLOUDS AND WX. SW ARCTIC FRONT 100 SCT VBKN 140 RISK OF LIGHT FOG IN LOW LYING AREAS. N OF FRONT XTNSV BKN V OVC ST CIGS 6-10 TOPS 25-30 WITH FREQ FOG PTCHS VSBYS 1/4-F. RISK RW+. LRF EST FRONT OVER CENTRAL ENG 09Z 170443. CAVOK UNTIL FROPASS - 2 HR.