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- Robomaze II: The Tower
-
- volume 2 in the Robomaze II trilogy
-
- Volume 1 -- Robomaze II: The Lobby and volume 3 -- Robomaze II: The
- Penthouse available separately from your favorite store. Complete
- the adventure!
-
-
- Acknowledgements
-
- Robomaze II was designed and programmed by Keith Laverty.
- Additional programming by David C. Snyder.
- Graphics by Jason Pellerin.
- Music composed by Melody Smith and Jason Pellerin.
- Levels designed by Daniel Nuttall and Jason Pellerin.
- Manual written by David C. Snyder.
-
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-
-
- About MVP Software
-
- MVP Software was founded in 1985. Initially marketing software via
- direct mail-order channels only, in 1989 it began offering titles
- through shareware outlets. The company specializes in entertainment
- packages, programmer's utilities, and other products designed for the
- home user. MVP Software is a member of the Association of Shareware
- Professionals and of the Western MichiganBetter Business Bureau.
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- IBM is a registered trademark of
- International Business Machines, Inc.
- Tandy is a registered trademark of Tandy Corp.
- Copyright 1991 MVP Software
- All rights reserved
-
- Getting Started
- ---------------
-
- Installation
- ------------
- Place the distribution disk in either drive A or drive B of your
- computer. Make sure the logged drive (the drive corresponding to the
- prompt on the screen) is the same as the drive in which you have
- placed the disk. If it is not, type the drive letter in which you
- have inserted the disk, followed by a colon, and press <ENTER>.
-
- Now you are ready to install Robomaze II: The Tower (volume 2).
-
- If you are installing the software on a floppy drive, you must use a
- drive other than the one in which the distribution disk is inserted.
- If you have a one-drive system, insert the distribution disk in the
- drive, and designate drive B as the drive on which to install the
- software. Simply follow the directions on the screen to complete the
- installation.
-
- Important: During installation an additional program data file is
- created. This file is essential for Robomaze II to operate
- correctly. If the software detects that this file does not exist on
- the logged drive and current directory, it will abort. For this
- reason, you must install Robomaze II before you attempt to play the
- game for the first time. If you are installing Robomaze II on a hard
- disk the software will prompt you to select a directory name. Choose
- the default by pressing <ENTER>.
-
- Note: Robomaze II comes in three different volumes. Although
- each game is playable on its own, it is best to finish volume 1
- before playing volume 2, and volume 2 before playing volume 3.
-
-
- Keyboard Commands
- -----------------
- Robomaze II accepts keyboard and joystick input. However, some
- commands must be entered from the keyboard, while others can be
- executed using a joystick.
-
- To accomplish your objective in the game you will be commanding the
- prototype Stalker robot. The Stalker is capable of moving left and
- right, as well as jumping. The gun that he carries can be fired at
- enemy robots. The keyboard commands that control the Stalker's
- movements and other actions, and other game commands, are listed
- below.
-
- You can change the speed of the game at any time. When you do, an S
- followed by a number will appear for an instant at the bottom right
- of the screen. This tells you what speed you just selected. There
- are nine speed settings, 1 being the fastest and 9 the slowest.
-
- Choosing the Save Game option allows you to continue the game at
- another time. However, you will not necessarily continue from the
- floor that the Stalker currently occupies, but from the last continue
- point. Continue points are spaced five floors apart. In addition,
- the Stalker will have only five hearts (explained below) when the
- game resumes, no matter how many he had when you saved the game. One
- saved game may be stored at a time. Saving a new one will overwrite
- the old file.
-
- Left arrow Move Left
- Right arrow Move Right
- Down arrow Stop Moving
- Up arrow Jump
- (Space Bar) Fire Weapon
- J Joystick Control
- K Keyboard Control
- S Sound on/off (Y/N)
- Q End Game (return to opening screen)
- ESC Terminate Game (return to DOS)
- F1 Help (quick reference)
- F2 Display Game Status
- F3 Load an Old Game
- F4 Save Game
- - Slow Down Game
- + Speed Up Game
-
-
- Joystick Control
- ----------------
- Robomaze II accepts joystick input. Press J to activate joystick
- mode. The Stalker robot can be moved by moving the joystick in the
- corresponding direction. Press the first button to fire the
- Stalker's weapon, the second button to make him jump. All other
- commands must be entered from the keyboard.
-
- Playing the Game
- ----------------
-
- Object of the Game
- ------------------
- You have escaped from the Maze of Death in the basement of the
- massive Tower, one of two structures controlled by the evil dictator,
- your sworn enemy. Now you must continue your journey by fighting
- your way through the one hundred floors of the Tower. Your mission
- is to take the Tower by defeating the enemy robots now controlling
- it. Fortunately, you have at your disposal the fabulous Stalker
- robot, as well as various weapons and other surprises left by the Mad
- Scientist. Volume 1 of Robomaze II contains the first 40 floors of
- the Tower. The other floors appear in volumes 2 and 3.
-
-
- Conflict Background
- -------------------
- You are a freedom fighter -- a member of the Resistance -- fighting
- against your country's tyrannical dictator. Your tiny country is
- dominated by two massive structures, the Tower and the Dome.
- Although the dictator's robots control both structures, the
- Resistance is now poised to begin its assault and free your country
- from its evil ruler and his henchman the Mad Scientist.
-
- For months the Resistance has been tunneling from its secret
- headquarters towards the Tower. The tunnel is now complete, and you
- have been chosen to lead the assault. In Robomaze (the original),
- your first adventure, you fought through the Maze of Death using the
- Mk. 39 Fighter robot. (The original Robomaze game was never released
- to the public. It is now available from MVP Software free with
- purchase of the commercial version of Robomaze III: The Final
- Journey. See the last page of this manual for details.)
-
- The Mk. 39 is unsuited to your current needs, however, so you have
- acquired the prototype Stalker robot from the Mad Scientist's
- basement storage area. Among the Stalker's many advantages is the
- capability to pick up and use various weapons that you discover in
- the Tower. It also has the ability to absorb great punishment and
- can deploy various attacks that you may purchase. Additional power
- comes from hearts and vials scattered around the Tower. You must
- discover and acquire these items.
-
- Many enemy robots will attempt to prevent you from taking the Tower,
- which is divided into five levels of 20 floors each. A unique _Boss_
- robot occupies the last floor on each level. These special robots
- are especially difficult to defeat. In addition, the Mad Scientist
- has hidden booby traps and other surprises for you.
-
- In volume 1 (The Lobby) you attempt to take the first 40 floors of
- the Tower. To complete your mission, you must also take the
- remaining 60 floors found in volumes 2 and 3. It is rumored that the
- Mad Scientist himself occupies the last of the 100 floors of the
- Tower. If this is correct, you will encounter him on the last floor
- in volume 3. No member of the Resistance has ever seen the Mad
- Scientist. We hope you will be the first.
-
- The Resistance is counting on you to take and secure the Tower. The
- future of the movement depends on your success.
-
- Tower Terrain
- -------------
- The Tower has been designed as a defensive stronghold, with many
- pitfalls and traps for enemies of the evil dictator. The
- intelligence arm of the Resistance has learned that it is made up of
- five levels, with each level containing twenty floors. Some floors
- have false floors or walls, so that if you fall or push through
- these, you will plunge to your death on the sidewalk below. Some
- floors also contain invisible keys and invisible land mines. Other
- special features are as follows.
-
- Doors and Chests. Your success will require you to acquire keys to
- open doors and chests that you discover along the
- way. Both white and red doors will disappear
- before you if you are carrying the proper key.
- Chests disappear upon being unlocked as well, but
- they leave behind a valuable treasure. Once a key
- opens a door or a chest, however, it is useless.
-
- Land Mines and Spikes. These are dangerous objects and must be
- avoided. Land mines come in various colors
- and may be hidden on objects of the same
- color. They can be deactivated either by
- shooting them or by using a Repel attack.
- Falling on a spike is always fatal unless you
- are using a Repel attack.
-
- Plants and Water Coolers. These objects are normally for decorative
- purposes only and are not dangerous.
- However, sometimes they can be used to
- your advantage. When you or an enemy
- robot runs into them, they disintegrate.
-
- Moving Platforms. Platforms are a critical means of transportation
- in the Tower. Some move horizontally while others
- move vertically. But be careful when you are
- around them, because if you aren't using a Phase
- attack the platforms are capable of grinding you
- into dust.
-
- Teleporters. Another means of transportation, these paired devices
- instantly deliver you to the other teleporter on the
- floor.
-
- Enemy Teleporters. These devices are used by the Mad Scientist to
- drop his reserve robots into the floor you
- occupy.
-
-
- Treasures
- ---------
- Before the Mad Scientist replaced the Tower's human employees with
- robots, these employees had stored treasures in the building.
- Gathering these treasures will help you succeed in your mission.
-
- Money Bags. These contain anywhere from $50 to $250. Money can be
- used to buy special attacks.
-
- Dollar Signs ($). These give you $1,000.
-
- Hearts. At the bottom of your screen is a bar read-out showing the
- health of the Stalker. Picking up hearts adds to your
- health quotient. If you are already at full health, you
- receive a bonus of $1,000. Maximum health is marked by an x
- on the read-out. In the early stages of your mission your
- health quotient will be limited.
-
- Health Vials. These bring you to full health and extend your health
- meter. If you are already at full health, you receive
- $10,000.
-
- Keys. Picking up white or red keys adds to your respective totals.
- They can be used to open doors or treasure chests.
-
- Ammo Boxes. These fill your ammo, which is indicated on the second
- bar read-out on the bottom of the screen. If the weapon
- you have is a semi-automatic rifle, which has unlimited
- ammo but limited firepower, then it becomes a machine
- gun.
-
- Shotgun. Picking up a shotgun changes your weapon into a shotgun and
- fills your ammo charge.
-
- Rocket Launcher. This changes your weapon into a Rocket Launcher and
- fills the ammo.
-
- Laser Blaster. This changes your weapon into a Laser Blaster and
- fills the ammo.
-
-
- Stalker Weapons
- ---------------
- Initially the Stalker comes equipped with a semi-automatic rifle. As
- you progress through the various floors you may acquire different
- weapons. The chart below describes these weapons.
-
-
- Weapon Ammo Power Range
- --------------------------------------------------------------------
- Semi-automatic Rifle unlimited medium good
- Machine Gun limited heavy excellent
- Shotgun limited heavy (at short range) poor
- Rocket Launcher limited extra heavy fair
- Laser Blaster limited excessive excellent
-
-
- Although a shotgun blast does heavy damage at short range, at medium
- range it does light damage, and the pellets do not travel very far.
- The Rocket Launcher does very heavy damage, and upon impact it
- scatters fragments that do additional light damage.
-
- Special Attacks
- ---------------
- Resistance intelligence gathering has discovered that the Mad
- Scientist has placed magic powers called Special Attacks in the
- Tower. Originally designed for forces loyal to the evil dictator,
- these attacks can be purchased if you have enough money. While you
- may not purchase more than one attack at a time, they will help you
- overcome obstacles and defeat enemy robots. Once purchased, however,
- they last for only a short time. To purchase an attack press the
- number key associated with it.
-
- 1 Shield ($250) Repels half of enemy damage directed towards you so
- that your life force is diminished more slowly.
- 2 Super Jump ($350) Allows you to jump 50% higher than usual.
- 3 Down Attack ($750) Causes heavy damage to any robot that you jump
- on.
- 4 Freeze ($2,000) Causes all robots and enemy shots to freeze in
- place, as well as enemy teleporters temporarily
- to shut down. But even when frozen enemy robots
- and shots can still cause damage.
- 5 Mayhem ($1,500) Causes all shots fired to be yours. This means
- that you cannot be shot and enemy robots will
- shoot each other.
- 6 Power Up ($500) Makes your shots twice as powerful as normal.
- 7 Phase ($3,000) Allows you to move through robots and shots
- without being hit.
- 8 Repel ($4,000) Causes enemy shots to bounce off you and become
- your shots. It also allows you to walk on land
- mines without tripping them and cross over spikes
- without being impaled.
- 9 Defoliant ($5,000) This unique attack causes all plants destroyed
- while this attack is operating to turn into
- hearts. In addition, all water coolers
- destroyed will turn into dollar signs.
- 0 Zap ($10,000) Causes horrendous damage to all robots on the
- screen and disables enemy teleporters for a
- protracted amount of time.
-
-
- Enemy Robots
- ------------
- Although Resistance intelligence is sketchy here, we do know that
- fifteen different enemy robots control the floors of the Tower. Some
- of these are poorly armed with only a knife, while others are armed
- with weapons that exceed even the Stalker's in firepower. Some
- enemies are poorly armored, while others are heavily armored. Nearly
- all of the enemy robots will cause damage if they run into the
- Stalker.
-
- Level-Ending Enemy Robots
- -------------------------
- The Tower contains five levels, each with twenty floors. We have
- determined that on the last floor in each level there is a
- particularly fearsome enemy robot. These are in addition to the
- other robots you will encounter. It is rumored that the Mad
- Scientist himself occupies the final floor of the Tower, but we have
- not been able to confirm this. No one has ever actually seen the Mad
- Scientist. We hope that you will be the first.
-
-
- Tips From the Mad Scientist
- ---------------------------
- Recently, during a daring raid by brave members of the Resistance, a
- secret document written by the Mad Scientist was discovered.
- Originally drafted for the evil dictator as a description of the
- strengths and weaknesses of the Tower's defenses and robot
- inhabitants, this document has given us some additional intelligence
- that may help you in your mission. Here are some tips constructed
- from our analysis of the document.
-
- In the initial stages of your mission, the robots you encounter will
- be armed only with a knife. Since you will encounter little
- opposition on these first several floors, be sure to investigate and
- pick up everything you see.
-
- When you have to make a tricky jump on a floor with a false bottom,
- look to make the jump when a moving platform is beneath you. If you
- miss the jump, you will fall onto the platform instead of on the
- sidewalk below.
-
- Exiting a floor from the top is the only way to get to the next
- floor. Any other type of exit will result in a fatal fall.
-
- Press the F2 key to display game status. This will tell you which
- level and floor you currently occupy, as well as your score. When
- you first enter a floor, press F2 to pause the game. That will give
- you time to survey the floor and decide on a strategy. Save the game
- to disk whenever you reach a continue point, so that if you meet with
- an untimely demise, you can pick up right where you left off.
-
- At the end of a game, you will be given a short time to resume the
- game from the last continue point.
-
- We have discovered that you will encounter one robot known as a Tank.
- This fearsome creature is a heavily armored, treaded robot who
- carries both a machine gun and a Rocket Launcher.
-
- Another robot of whom to be especially wary is the Kal Mk. VII. All
- we know about this enemy is that it carries a Laser Blaster weapon.
- No one has ever seen this robot and lived to tell the story.
-
- Normally the continue points are spaced five floors apart. The last
- continue point is on floor 91. Floor 96 does not contain a continue
- point. When you reach a continue point, it is best to save the game
- immediately.
-
- When you encounter a stationary robot, try to jump on top of him, and
- then choose the _down attack_ special attack. You will defeat him
- more quickly by jumping up and down on top of him this way than by
- shooting him.
-
- You will encounter a pesky flying robot in several rooms. This robot
- carries no weapon and so cannot harm you when he bumps into you.
- However, he will push you around and into places where you don't want
- to go. He is heavily armored and is difficult to shoot. Sometimes
- you must jump on top of him to ride up to the next floor.
-
- Finally, things will not always be as they seem. It is rumored that
- the Mad Scientist retains some of his magical powers. When magic is
- in the air, anything can happen. For example, on some floors of The
- Penthouse some keys and other objects are invisible. So be careful.
-
- Power Mode
- ----------
- If you wish to progress faster through the various floors, you may
- use the unique Power Mode. Invoking this mode will give you double
- hearts, double money and double firepower. To use the power mode,
- when you begin a game and enter a floor, enter the following
- keystrokes.
-
- <#H [for double hearts]
- <#M [for double money]
- <#D [for double firepower (damage)]
-
- Note that the H, M and D must be entered as capital letters, and each
- sequence must be entered individually.
-
-
- Limited Warranty
- ----------------
- This software package is sold on an AS IS basis. MVP Software
- makes no warranties with respect to this software program, with the
- exception that the original disk is warrantied to be free from
- material defects. If the disk is defective, return it for
- replacement.
-
- The foregoing warranty is in lieu of all other warranties, expressed
- or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of
- fitness for a particular purpose and merchantability. Accordingly,
- the entire risk as to the use, results and performance of the
- software, diskettes and documentation is assumed by you. In no event
- will MVP Software be liable for consequential damages even if MVP
- Software has been advised of such damages.
-
- The user shall not make available or provide any copies of materials
- or portions thereof associated with Robomaze II, its associated
- program files, data files, and documentation files, to any person
- without prior written consent from MVP Software.
-
- If any of the provisions, or portions thereof, of this disclaimer are
- invalid under any applicable statute or rule of law, they are to that
- extent deemed to be omitted. All other provisions, however, remain
- in effect.
-
- Special Offer
-
- If you need some additional help in finishing Robomaze II, a
- detailed printed hint book is available direct from MVP Software.
- This hint book takes you step by step through each component of the
- game, although of course you still must play it yourself. But the
- hint book tells you what to do next to get through all those tough
- rooms.
-
- Normally the hint book sells for $6.95. But as a Sofsource customer
- you are entitled to a special offer. For a limited time only you
- may purchase the the map and hint book for just $4.95, a 29%
- savings!
-
- To receive your hint book, simply fill in this page and mail it to
- the address below. We'll rush you the hint book by first class
- mail.
-
-
- Please RUSH me the hint book for Robomaze II. I understand that for
- a limited time I may purchase both for just $4.95, a savings of 29%.
- I am enclosing a check or money order for the total amount due,
- shown below.
-
-
- Name _________________________________________________
-
- Address_______________________________________________
-
- City _______________________ State ____ Zip ________
-
-
- hint book $4.95
- shipping and handling 1.00
- tax (if you are a
- Michigan resident) .24
-
- TOTAL (please fill in) $_____
-
-
- Please send your order to: MVP Software
- RM2 Special Offer
- 1035 Dallas SE
- Grand Rapids, MI 49507-1407
-
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