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11 8888 111 88 88 11 8888 11 88 88 1111 8888 persons must be 18 feet or over W I N G N U T S - (A beginners guide* to the chortling comic capers of the Wingnuts multiverse...) * For further reading see; > 'How to bake your own planetary muffin', by Delroy Price. > Reference guide 308A - 'Idiots, morons and Betelguesians.' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C O N T E N T S CHAPTER ONE: INTRO What`s this Wingnuts lark then? CHAPTER TWO: FLYING Navigating the arena and flying your contraption. CHAPTER THREE: COMBAT Using your weapons/damage to your contraption. CHAPTER FOUR: THE WINGNUTS Choosing your pilot/important stats. CHAPTER FIVE: THE CONTRAPTIONS Choosing your contraption/important stats. CHAPTER SIX: THE ACNE ARMOURY Descriptions of all available hardware. CHAPTER SEVEN: ARENA GAMES Games you can expect to compete in. CHAPTER EIGHT: THE JIMBOB FLYING CIRCUS Playing tips for novice pilots. THE WINGNUTS Game Design/Creative Director .. Colin Philpott Programming .................... Paul Glover Graphics & Animation ........... Evan Pitman 3D Shapes ...................... Colin Philpott Manual Author .................. Colin Philpott ASCIIfied by ................... Paul Glover Copyright (c) 1997 The Skunkworks E-mail: skunkworks@anakin1.demon.co.uk WWW: http://www.anakin1.demon.co.uk/skunkworks ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER ONE - 'INTRO' 'A quick nosy through Time', excerpts from an article by Stephen J. Dawkings. PART 1:0 'How did we get here Bert?' INSTRUCTIONS 1) First, take 3000 dogotons of Prime Virgin Planet. Sprinkle liberally with a little atmosphere (oxygen, hydrogen, vinegar), then sprinkle vigorously into 8 cosmic pints of water until you have your primordial soup. Bake slowly in a solar oven for approximately 80 million years. Leave to cool. 2) Next, cover your planetary muffin with a creamy topping of Raw Colonists. Saturate with fat then simmer gently for 20 years over the flames of civil war (alternatively you can frizzle it in a nuclearwave oven for 2 minutes). Once you have cooked it thoroughly, you are ready to add the sauce. 3) Sauce mix. For this you will need the following ingredients; 1 race of Enlightened Aliens (preferably non-Betleguesians), 2 dogotons of Enlightened Alien Magic Toadstools (EAMT's), 1 cosmic pint of water. Crush the EAMT's into the cosmic pint of water and slowly bring to the boil, stirring continuously until it has reached the consistency of yak's milk. 4) Add the psychedelic sauce to your planetary muffin and slowly reduce the heat of civil war. Leave to soak. Allow 30 years to age, and viola! PART 2:0 "What's this Wingnuts lark then?" 'Holy Doobie' is a small, insignificant planet that was created in a similar manner to that which I have described in part one of this article. Ravaged by years of civil war then thrown into an ice age of peace by the timely intervention of Enlightened Aliens, this is a planet which has seen Extreme Rapid Change. Looking closely at its eccentric population, with their long culture of oldearth cartoon reruns and their daily water supply of psychedelic sauce, it is perhaps no wonder that a marvel such as Wingnuts should begin life here. So what is Wingnuts? Well, bluntly stated, Wingnuts is the most popular combative sport watched and played on the planet of Holy Doobie. Each week millions of fanatical fans tune in to watch as the six pilots are strapped into their heavily armed contraptions, cheering thunderously as they take off into the arena and fly their dance of homicidal death. Their objective is brutally straightforward - destroy the opposition and remain the last pilot in the air. PART 3:0 "So how's it work?" The aerial arena in which the game is played is enclosed within an active particle field, which works as a wraparound teleporter. In practice this means that if a pilot flies through one edge of the arena, he will emerge from the opposite edge that was directly behind him.* Any bullets, missiles or other such weapons that are in pursuit are unable to pass through these walls, so tactically they can be very useful during the course of a game. The ground level has a number of hills and obstacles in which ground level dog-fights are made possible and embarrassing cacti-collisions are common. The ground also has a small airstrip (positioned on top of a flattened mesa) from which repairs are always available (with the exception of lunchtimes). * For further reading see; > 'Hyper-particle physics and the processes of accelerated energy inside quantum G-force merry-go-rounds.' By Delroy Price. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER TWO - 'FLYING' FLIGHT Each contraption in the game flies in one of two distinct styles: normal, which is the same as the forward flight mode of any standard plane, and hover, which is similar to that of a helicopter. Normal flight is easy and intuitive to learn, and can be grasped quickly by novice pilots of all levels. Hover is a more complex affair and should be avoided by beginners until they have practised it thoroughly. Remember - your flying skills are what make the difference between shooting down opponents and getting shot down yourself. Learn them well. SPEED Speed in the game is rated on a scale from 0 (engines off) to 8 (maximum possible speed). However each contraption has its own top speed rating, some being slower than others, and you may find that the contraption you are flying in cannot reach the maximum speed of 8. Your current speed is shown using the speed icon, which will pop up whenever you increase or decrease the throttle (see Game Controls Manual), and disappear once you have finished adjusting your speed. Remember that you will be unable to increase your speed above the contraptions top speed rating. STALLING Contraptions that use the normal flight method (i.e. fly like a normal plane) can sometimes stall if you attempt a manoeuvre at too low a speed. Remember to keep this in mind when flying within the arena, as stalling at low altitudes can sometimes prove lethal. Contraptions that use the hover flight method cannot stall, as they do not rely on forward motion for lift. LANDING The landing-strip acts as a sort of pit-stop during the game, and landing on it will repair any damage that your contraption may have sustained (see Damage in the Combat Chapter). Touching down safely on the landing-strip will require practice and skill, and can be very dangerous for the inexperienced pilot to try. Be sure to check out your fully- inclusive cloning policy before attempting it. The first thing to do when attempting a landing is to correctly line up your approach with the landing strip. The easiest method is to come in at a distance, as this will give you the maximum amount of time for course alterations. Coming in straight is absolutely crucial. When you are close to the landing strip, aim the nose down slightly towards it, cut your speed to 2 or less, and start praying to the deities of your own choice. If you are lucky you will be given a 'landed safely' message. Cut your remaining speed and switch your engines off as fast as possible before you roll off the edge of the mesa. Touchdown! ROUGH LANDING It is also possible to land on the ground of the arena, and this is much easier than attempting the landing-strip (although you will gain no repairs from doing so). Make sure not to drop the nose too much, keep your speed at 2 or less, and landing should occur without difficulties. Note that hitting the ground at speed 0 (engines off) will almost always result in a crash. TAKING OFF For hover contraptions this is a simple task. Simply switch on your engine, apply thrust, and you are away. For normal contraptions, switch on your engine, throttle up to speed 4 then pull the nose up after a few seconds. You should then take to the air successfully. Note that most contraptions require a certain speed before they can lift off. If you cannot reach this speed, you cannot take off. THE RADAR This device is shown on the top left of your screen during a game, and shows the positions of your opponents relative to you in the arena. The display uses a trapped layer of electrically charged oil to depict the other contraptions as coloured blobs (the same as their real colour schemes), with a line drawn on them to show whether they are above or below your present altitude. The radar device works at two ranges: long range and short range. By default it is always set on long range, which is the same radius as the arena itself. The small circle found in the middle of the radar represents the short range; once a blob moves into this circle the radar will switch to short range, giving you a more detailed representation of your immediate area. Likewise, as soon as a blob leaves short range, the radar will revert back again to the long range scale. The radar is a useful way of keeping track of the other pilots, and is especially good at telling you when an opponent is on your tail. Remember to check it on a regular basis. Note that in conjunction with this, your pilot itself will always turn his head during the game to face the nearest contraption, giving you a clear indication of what direction they are in. GAME POINTS Your points score for the current game are given as a number below the radar device. Each time you score points you will also be given a points table showing how many points each pilot has accumulated so far, and therefore who is winning. Points are gained in the following ways. Destroying a contraption ....... + 5 Shooting a dropin .............. + 2 Shooting a pigeon .............. + 5 Manual landing (landing-strip) . + 3 Wounding a pilot ............... + 2 Killing a pilot ................ + 5 Last contraption in game ....... + 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER THREE - 'COMBAT' GUNS As standard each contraption is fitted with two high-velocity rapid fire cannons, which use armour piercing shells of depleted uranium for ammunition. These are your bread and butter weapons; they will never run out of ammo during a game and are devastating at short ranges. Guns can be jammed due to some of the other weapons in the game. If you are unfortunate enough to experience jammed guns, keep your cool and remember that they will return to normal in a short while. MISSILES When you select a missile as a weapon (see the Game Controls Manual) your gun sight will change to a diamond shaped missile sight, and a targeting box will appear. This targeting box will select the closest contraption that is in front of you as a target (if there is one), and will follow it around the screen as it moves. To launch a missile at a selected target you first need to achieve lock-on. You do this by aligning your missile sight with the targeting box for a few seconds, giving it enough time to achieve a solid lock-on. At this point your missile sight will change to a skull, informing you that you are locked-on and ready to launch the missile. Fire now before you lose the lock-on and you will see the missile fly off towards the target. Note that you can have only one missile in flight at any given time, so will have to wait for your current missile to explode before firing another. Missiles are most lethal when fired from close range, as this gives the target (i.e. the victim) little time to attempt evasive tactics. However it is extremely difficult to achieve a lock-on when this close to a target and so most pilots launch missiles while still at long range distances. DECOYS AND EVASIVE TACTICS When an enemy pilot is attempting to lock onto you with his missile sight you will hear a warning bleeping sound. Evasive manoeuvres can sometimes throw them off, since they are attempting to align their targeting box on you for several seconds. Don't make it easy for them - throw your contraption about as much as possible. When a missile is launched at you the warning bleep will increase in pitch, informing you of the serious trouble you are now in. From this point you have three choices. Your best option is to start dropping decoys from the back of your contraption in the hope that the missile will go for one of these instead. Any missile that passes close enough to a decoy has a chance of changing course and flying towards it instead; it will then detonate harmlessly as soon as it reaches the decoy. This means however that launching decoys behind you when a missile is coming in head-on will often not work: the missile will hit you before it even gets close to a decoy. Always make sure to launch your decoys so that they are between you and the missile. Another choice is to head directly for the closest edge of the arena. Missiles cannot pass through the teleport walls and so will explode against them on contact. At times however you will find that after teleporting through to the other side of the arena, the missile has been able to swing away from the wall and is now heading for your new position. This is a difficult situation. Chances are it will run out of fuel before reaching you, but you can never be certain. Your final option is to start throwing your contraption about in the hope that the missile will miss you on it's first pass and run out of fuel before it can swing round again for another try (generally a missile has enough fuel for 30 seconds of flight). This is an extremely difficult tactic to pull off, but it can be done. A popular addition to this tactic is kissing dirt (flying a few feet above the ground). While you are at this altitude any missile coming in from above will often come in too sharply and hit the ground while trying to level off, leaving you in the clear. Missiles will detonate as soon as they hit any solid object. This includes ground objects such as hills and the arena teleport walls themselves. A missile does not need to hit a target in order to detonate - it may detonate in close proximity of the target and cause almost as much damage. LASERS Lasers work in a similar way to missiles, in that you must achieve a lock-on with your target before you can fire the weapon. If successful you will see the target being hit with a laser beam and then a red flare appearing momentarily around him. Each laser has a unique and powerful effect on the target, even though sometimes these effects will not be outwardly apparent. KILLS Each time you knock out an opponent's contraption you will be given a kill, represented during the game by a small wing symbol beside your radar. Amassing 5 kills will give you a lightning symbol, 10 kills a skull symbol. Once you have gained a row of 3 skulls (30 kills) your pilot will be awarded a bonus onto his stats in recognition of his experience. The skulls will then be cleared from the screen so that you can begin another level of advancement. DAMAGE: TOUGHNESS AND HANDLING LOSS Damage inflicted on contraptions will cause a reduction in their toughness scores (see Contraption Chapter), the amount of loss depending on the weapon used and the accuracy of the hit. A contraption that loses all of it's toughness points becomes a wreck, and will begin diving towards the ground out of control. You may attempt to fight the controls and force a crash landing, but this can sometimes be impossible, especially if you have lost all handling (see below). Another result of damage is that a contraption's handling score (see the Contraptions Chapter) is gradually reduced, therefore causing it to become less stable in flight. A contraption that loses all of it's handling points is almost uncontrollable, and the pilot will find it difficult to maintain any form of normal flight. Landing in this condition will take a high degree of skill (and luck). When firing your guns at a target you will occasionally notice your shots resulting in a large explosion. This means that you have caused the target serious damage, and have reduced it's toughness and handling score by a sizeable amount. You may have even knocked out one of his weapon systems. When you hit a target with an explosive weapon (missile, rockets etc.) you may sometimes see pieces of debris falling away from the contraption. This also indicates that serious damage has been caused, and that one or more of his weapons may have been destroyed. The more debris there is, the more damage you have caused. When your own contraption is hit by a missile the screen will momentarily flash yellow. You will also be informed of any weapons that you have lost. REPAIRS The only way to regain lost handling and toughness points is through the use of a repair unit (see the Armoury Chapter) or by landing on the landing-strip and seeking repairs there. However your damaged weapons and other systems will still remain inactive for the duration of the current game. These cannot be repaired. When you successfully touch down on the landing-strip you will see a timer appearing on the screen, giving in seconds how long it will take to fully restore your contraption's handling and toughness. Points will be restored for each second that passes, and once the timer has reached 0 you will be fully repaired. Note that you can take off at any time during this count-down, although not all of your damage will have been repaired. Once the current game is over all damage will be automatically repaired. ENGINE FAILURE This can occur if your contraption is wrecked or you are hit by a needle missile. Your only option is to hope that the engines start again before you hit the ground. Continue trying to apply thrust. If your engines restart you will then increase speed and can attempt landing or normal flight. PILOT WOUNDS Sometimes when your contraption sustains damage your pilot can be wounded as well. All pilots have a toughness score similar to contraptions (see The Wingnuts Chapter), which is gradually reduced as the pilot takes damage. A pilot will become critical if he sustains too many wounds. Once you are in this condition the screen will begin to pulse red every few moments as the pilot slips in and out of consciousness. Any more wounds after this (i.e. 0 toughness) results in immediate death. The only way to patch up a wounded pilot is by using a medical unit during the game. If your pilot dies during a game, a clone will be revived for the next one. However this will cost you valuable points if you are playing in a league game. BLACKOUTS Certain weapons can cause temporary blindness or unconsciousness. When this happens the screen will begin to pulse black. In these situations all you can do is attempt to level off and hope the effects wear off soon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER FOUR - 'THE WINGNUTS' WINGNUTS The pilots are what lend the sport of Wingnuts it's name, for they themselves are called wingnuts, and they are most certainly the oddest people on the planet (other than vice president Rodders of course). There are 6 pilots for the player to choose from, these being the highest rising wingnuts of the current season. WINGNUT STATS Each wingnut has 4 important statistics that the player should take account of : Pilot Skill, Pilot Toughness, Hotwiring and Fluke. Pilot skill is similar to the handling score of contraptions (see Contraptions Chapter). It determines how good the wingnut is at flying, and during a game is added to the handling score of the contraption he is flying in to determine it's overall stability. As a contraption is damaged and becomes less stable the pilot's skill may be the only thing that keeps it in the air. This score is important when flying contraptions with low handling scores, and less so for those that are more manoeuvrable. Pilot toughness is similar to the toughness score of contraptions (see Contraptions Chapter), and works in the same way. A wingnut with 0 toughness is dead. This score also determines how long you stay unconscious when you fly into snooze deploys, and how long you stay sick when hit by fear sonics (see the Acne Armoury Chapter). Hotwiring is a measure of a wingnuts mechanical aptitude, and determines how long it takes him to get the guns working again when they jam, and the engines restarted when they are knocked out by needle missiles. Fluke is an indication of how lucky the wingnut generally is. A high fluke score can increase the chances of decoys attracting missiles. It can also cause drop-ins and pigeons (see The Armoury Chapter) to favour the lucky wingnut, so that they often emerge into the arena closer to him than anyone else. SKILL ADVANCEMENT Every time a wingnut amasses 30 kills he is allowed to increase a few skills of his own choice. This represents the valuable experience that he has gained within the game. FAME RATING As your wingnut becomes more successful in the sport his fame and popularity with the fans will begin to rise. Fame is gained in a number of ways, the easiest methods being to accumulate kills and game victories. In the Championships you gain fame through promotion, winning divisions and the trophy itself. In the Cup you gain in popularity by progressing to the final three rounds, and of course by winning the title. You can also make a name for yourself by surviving in the Grudge Title for as long as possible, and an even bigger name for yourself by winning it. The Fame ratings are as follows, read as two columns with the highest rating being last. Unknown Ruffian Notorious Braggart Rising Cad Infamous Scoundrel Popular Wretch Legendary Vagabond Cult Villain Immortal Demi-God CLONES Before each arena game is played an identical clone of each wingnut is grown and preserved in a cryogenic tank of frozen syrup. If the pilot should die during the game his clone is defrosted and continues on in his place. However valuable league points will be deducted from the player's score as a result of this. Players are free to chose one of 6 wingnuts to play before each game. DICKY DASTARDLY A man of striking cunning and malice, he has suffered a decline in popularity this year due to the publicity of his alleged pigeon fetish. DELICIOUS DEVINE Black leather, blonde hair, and a sharp edged tongue that can cut a grown man in half... DAN NAPALM Yes indeed, this is the same pilot who emerged out of the Peelo Jungles two decades after the end of the civil war, and then tried to start his own. Given the choice of 30 years of mindless violence in a state penitentiary* or 30 years of mindless violence in the Wingnuts arena, he chose the latter. Odd that. * 'Rodders Institute for the Morally Challenged'. SMUTLY Described quite eloquently in last months Rolling Bone as 'half dog, half idiot.' MAVIS THE MARTIAN This fiery wingnut gained her name not because she was from Mars, but because of a bad plastic surgery job back in '58. SANTIAGO STEELE The love of the lasses, clad in a dinner jacket and an iron jaw, this wingnut is said to have a smile that can blind a lady at a thousand paces. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER FIVE - 'THE CONTRAPTIONS' CONTRAPTION STATS The contraptions in the game are rated by 2 important statistics: Handling and Toughness. Handling is a measure of how stable and manoeuvrable a contraption is in flight. A contraption with a low handling score will quickly become unstable through sustained damage, although a good pilot skill can counteract this to a certain extent. Toughness is an indication of how much damage the contraption can take before if becomes a wreck. Once the toughness score is reduced to 0 the contraption will plummet to the ground. STANDARD ARMAMENTS All contraptions are armed with a number of basic weapons which are automatically fitted (free of charge) before each game. 2 Guns 3 Impaler missiles 8 rockets 6 missile decoys Players are free to choose one of 6 aircraft to fly in before each game. Note that each contraption is unique in how it flies and handles in the air. THE FLASH This is propelled by 8 rocket tubes fixed to the rear. Each tube is activated by the pilot in turn, and burns for 30 seconds. It is a plane of high speed and good handling, but due to its odd form of propulsion it requires a smart pilot to fly, one who knows when to fire a rocket tube or when to glide. FLASH TUBES - These are the rockets from which the Flash gains it's propulsion. Once a wingnut has used all of his 8 flash tubes he has no other way to power his craft. He can remedy this problem by landing on the landing-strip and picking up more. THE RED MAX A prop driven monoplane based on oldearth World War One designs. A good average all-rounder, and ideal for novices. THE FLAPPER This odd craft resembles a vintage car with large flapping wings which propel it through the air. Its average handling and toughness scores make it a good choice for novices. THE HOPPER CHOPPER This is a bizarre form of helicopter which actually uses a huge 'umbrella' that moves up and down to provide lift. THE ADAMSKI A UFO shaped contraption based on secret military technology, which some say was gained from a crashed weather balloon some years ago on earth. THE BLIMP MOBILE A small, fairly fast blimp. The pilot is slung underneath the balloon in a heavily armoured basket (well that's what he's told anyway...) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SIX - 'THE ACNE ARMOURY' In total there are over 40 weapons and special items of equipment in the game, all of which can be bought with cash or picked up within the arena itself. CASH The currency of the game is called Doshmarks, and these are awarded to the player according to what type of game they are playing in. In the League games the amount of doshmarks he has to spend depend on how many points he scored in his last game. Before each new game begins he can use these in the armoury to buy new weapons for his contraption. Any cash that he has left over will remain his until he spends it, so he can accumulate larger sums over the process of several games in order to buy the more expensive items of equipment. PICK-UPS As well as buying weapons the player can gain additional hardware by picking it up within the arena. There are 2 forms of pick-up to be found: DROP-INS: toilet shaped objects that parachute in from the arena roof. They tend to contain the more basic items of equipment such as missiles and rockets, although can sometimes contain more exotic hardware. PIGEONS: bird shaped objects that occasionally turn up and fly around the arena. They can contain ANY of the hardware items found in the armoury, primarily the more expensive and lethal forms of weaponry. However be wary, for shooting a pigeon can also unleash a special arena event. These can either be extremely good or extremely bad, and are listed briefly below. Cyclone - creates high winds at high altitudes within the arena, which can throw your contraption around at all the wrong times. Flak - anti-aircraft fire begins bursting in the air at low altitudes. Extremely lethal. Jungle Sunset - night time falls on the arena, making it difficult to see your opponents. Hero Pigeon - a huge pigeon is unleashed within the arena, a Hero-Pigeon out to avenge all innocent bids mercilessly cut down by the wingnut pilots. It kills by crashing bodily into the slower contraptions and will only stop if killed. A near impossible task. IT Mode - the unfortunate player becomes 'IT'. Anyone who causes him serious damage will gain a large points bonus, therefore making him a very attractive target. The 'IT' player can pass on this unfortunate affliction by causing serious damage to another contraption. The pilot in this contraption then becomes the new 'IT', and so on. Funky Mode - your wingnut dons a dodgy oldearth costume, slaps a police light on his contraption, and is invincible for the next two minutes. To gain the contents of a pick-up (whether toilet or pigeon) you need to either shoot them or collide with them. You will then automatically be given the weapons they contain. ACNE HARDWARE MISSILES IMPALER MISSILE: the standard homing missile of the game. DUMMY MISSILE: looks like a normal missile but causes no damage at all. Anyone hit by this will hear the sound of mocking laughter. PAINT MISSILE: causes no damage but temporarily blinds the target by covering him in paint. This will disappear eventually, although flying at high speed and diving can sometimes shift it faster. ACID MISSILE: causes damage by covering the contraption in acid which eats away at it's structure, therefore drastically reducing it's handling. NEEDLE MISSILE: causes no damage but temporarily knocks out the target's engines. Deadly at low altitudes. SMARMY MISSILE: same as an Impaler except that it ignores all decoys. SKUNK MISSILE: mega missile that causes twice the damage of Impalers. CLUSTER MISSILE: explodes in mid-air and launches an Impaler at every other contraption that is still flying. ROCKETS: unguided missiles that simply fly straight ahead until hitting something, usually launched in groups to increase their chances of hitting. They cause less damage than an Impaler missile but can be lethal if launched at close range in large numbers. DEPLOYS MISSILE DECOYS: these have a 50% chance of attracting any missile that flies close to them. PROX MINES: like all deploys this is launched behind the back of your contraption. It will stay in this position until it self-detonates or another contraption flies close to it. Causes the same amount of damage as a single rocket. DUMMY MINES: cause no damage except an immediate change of underwear. Anyone who runs into one of these things will hear the sound of mocking laughter. SMOKE DEPLOY: this will cause smoke to trail from the back of your contraption, which will partially obscure you from anyone on your tail. Can also be used to fake your own death... ACID DEPLOY: exactly the same as the smoke deploy above, except the smoke trail is actually mixed with acid. Any contraption that flies through this smoke will suffer a reduction in handling. TEARGAS DEPLOY: similar to above except the smoke is mixed with teargas. Any pilot who flies through this smoke will suffer temporary blindness. SNOOZE DEPLOY: this launches smoke that is laced with sleeping gas. Flying through it will result in temporary unconsciousness (the duration depending on how tough your pilot is). LASERS Note that due to overheating, lasers may only be fired once every 5 seconds. BLIND FLARE: if successful this will temporarily blind the target. FEAR DISRUPTOR: causes the target to be sick, reducing the pilot's skill and therefore the overall handling of the contraption. FEAR SONICS: same as the fear disruptor except this works as a radius weapon. Once activated every pilot that is currently on your short-range radar (see Radar in Chapter Two) will be effected by it's millimetre-wave sound bursts, suffering sickness and handling loss. CONTROLS REVERSE: causes the target's controls to temporarily reverse. When they turn left they will go right; when they climb up they will dive down. Also causes them to talk Flemish for the duration of the game. Very frustrating. GUN JAM: forces the target's guns to overheat and therefore jam. They will begin working again in a short while, depending on how good the pilot's Hotwiring skill is. BODYSWAP: this is an extremely nasty weapon for those who want to really annoy the opposition. When fired at a target your own pilot will exchange places with him. Therefore you will end up in his contraption and vice versa, via a short-pulse teleportation. Very useful if your opponent has a better contraption than yours, or if you are almost wrecked. SNATCH: this weapon causes no damage or adverse effects during the game. What it does do is rob the target of his game points (see Flying Chapter) and gives them to you. SHIELDS Only one shield may be activated at any given time. Note that all shields will eventually burn themselves out due to overheating, and so are not permanent devices. CHICKEN UNIT: works like a cloaking device by temporarily rendering your craft invisible. However you can still be seen on radar. TURKEY UNIT: temporarily renders your contraption invisible to radar, although you can still be physically seen. Also makes it impossible for other pilots to lock onto you. PROTECTION SHIELD: while it is active you will be immune to all laser weapons. RAMMING SHIELD: makes your contraption immune to all collision damage with other contraptions, allowing you to ram them on purpose without you yourself being harmed. Does not however protect you from collisions with the ground or hills. OTHERS NIGHT VISION: allows you to see clearly at night. BLUNDERBUSS: This weapon can only be used if you are on the ground (whether landed or crash landed). It is basically a miniature gatling gun that your wingnut carries with him in his cockpit. Once he touches down on the ground he can whip this out and use it against the other contraptions still in the air. TELEPORTER: Randomly teleports your entire contraption to a different area of the arena. Very useful if you need to get out of a nasty situation. Be warned thought - it is entirely random, so could therefore teleport you into the middle of a mesa. REPAIR UNIT: instantly repairs any toughness points your contraption may have lost. MEDICAL UNIT: instantly restores any toughness the wingnut may have lost. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER SEVEN - 'ARENA GAMES' GAME TYPES The sport of Wingnuts is a wide ranging activity, and pilots have many options to choose from. This chapter explains the various types of games available to the novice wingnut. PRACTICE CLASH A single one-off game that is commonly used by wingnuts to improve on their flying and firing abilities. You fly in a mock practice fight against 5 other novice pilots. SINGLE CLASH This a real one-off arena fight in which you fly against 5 other eager wingnuts. These single games are commonly used by pilots to settle old vendettas or to improve their status with the fans. They are therefore highly competitive and often result in multiple fatalities. RODDERS MEMORIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS The championships are the single most important event of the wingnuts sport, and the league of championship games are followed by more fans than all the other types of games put together. There are 4 divisions within the championships, each one having it's own trophy and prize at the end of each season. However it is the division one games that are the most fanatically watched, and the winner of this division is hailed as the overall championship winner, and the greatest wingnut of the year. THE SPUDLEY CUP This is a bonus series of games that are always played a month after the championships have finished. Although not as coveted as the Rodders Memorial Trophy, winning this competition still holds a high level of prestige. Anyone can enter the Spudley Cup and many young pilots choose to participate in the hope of making a quick name for themselves. There are no divisions and far fewer rounds than a standard championship season. The Cup is a fast and furious knock-out competition in which the multitude of entrants are quickly whittled down to a core of skilled or lucky pilots. The games are slightly different from those in the championships, in that each match has a time limit of 2 minutes. After this the game becomes sudden death, which means that any damage that you sustain, regardless of how minor, will knock you out of the game. The ultimate goal is to make it to the finals, played on day 7 of the competition and watched by a huge number of fans. The winner of this final wins the Spudley Cup. THE JIMBOB GRUDGE TITLE This is a unique game which most wingnuts try once and then vow to never try again. It is basically a demolition derby in the air between 6 frenzied pilots, the only problem being that everyone is out to get you. That's right, 5 highly skilled combatants working together to knock you back into the dark-ages. Only 2 pilots in the history of this title have ever managed to win it (i.e. destroyed everyone else). They were Jim Lazarus and Bob Apollo, and the title became known after this date as the JimBob Grudge Title. Few people expect to repeat these legendary performances and win the game - they participate to see how long they can survive in the fight before being knocked out. The current standing record is a mere 42 seconds... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHAPTER EIGHT - 'THE JIMBOB FLYING CIRCUS' JIM: So here we are again, heh Bob? Another batch of freshfaced punks hoping to make it big in their favourite sport... BOB: And a sorry bunch they are too, Jim. Look at them. Faces like a six week old turnip. Eyes like two squirtholes in a snow drift. Watching too much TVEE I'd say. Think they know it all 'cos they've watched Camp Henry pull the Immelman sixteen times in the reruns. JIM: Probably played the game too Bob. Read our wingnuts manual cover to cover. Think they got it sussed, think they're ready to fly, ready to have some action. You know what Bob, I think we should just forget our usual pre-training lessons. BOB: You know Jim, I think you're right. Let's just send them up, give them what they really want. JIM: Listen up cadets - that includes you DiGriz! We're all going up on a little flight, help you get used to the real thing. Yes yes yes, no need to thank us just yet. Plenty of time for that later. Now - to your contraptions! --------- BOB: Hmnn, didn't do to well, did they Jim? JIM: I think giving them live ammo may have been a little pre-emptive Bob. You cadets - help carry the wounded into the hall. BOB: Now listen up people - stop that snivelling Withnail! And for the last time, no I am not the ruddy farmer. So you cadets thought you knew it all, huh? I hope our little exercise up there helped clear your heads a little. Now, if you're ready to listen, myself and Jim here are going to teach you a few lessons. JIM: Yup, Bob and I, we're going to teach you how to really fly... PLAYING TIPS - FLYING - Often in the heat of combat it is easy for a pilot to become disorientated as to his facing or turning direction. When this occurs simply flick to the outside view. This will allow you to quickly see the orientation of your craft so you can achieve level flight again. The outside view is also useful for seeing exactly how close to the ground you are when flying at low altitude. - When your craft is aimed skywards and you wish to level off again, the fastest way of doing so is by cutting your speed until you stall. The craft will level off and you can then increase your speed again. COMBAT - Superior tactics can often win over superior fire power. Think before firing a weapon. - Use dummy missiles to waste an opponents decoys, and then launch the more expensive stuff. When you want to use the blunderbuss try touching down on the landing strip - you can sit there firing at any flying targets while your own damage continues to be repaired. When chasing a more manoeuvrable contraption, wreck his handling with the use of fear lasers or acid missiles so that he loses this advantage. - Each weapon has its own unique capabilities and uses. Learn them and adapt your tactics accordingly. EVASIVE TACTICS - Often the best way to shake a pursuer is to change your altitude, rather than simply turning and turning. - The Flash has enough speed to go ballistic (straight up fast), and hover contraptions have the ability to dart upwards in an instant. A pursuing craft will often stall trying to follow this sort of climb and lose you in the attempt. - A more dangerous course of action is to go into a power dive (increasing your speed and pointing straight down) Try turning at the same time and your pursuer will often lose sight of you altogether. Be warned though. A power dive is difficult to get out of, and without skill and judgement you may well hit the ground before you can level off. - In really bad situations, when shaking your pursuer proves impossible, use a teleporter if you have one. This will always get him off your tail. MANOEUVRES - There are many famous manoeuvres which wingnuts have invented and used over the years. Here are a few of the better ones... - The Apollo Splash - use this against grounded contraptions who are proving difficult to take out. Fly slowly towards the target at a low altitude. Once you are close, snap on a ramming shield and dive into him, pulling up at the moment of collision. Hopefully the collision will bounce you in the right direction (upwards) and you will avoid hitting the ground, while your target is left a smoking wreck behind. - The Lazarus Hop - another use of the above tactic. If you happen to find yourself grounded with damaged engines and cannot reach the takeoff speed, try colliding with any nearby contraptions on the ground. Again pull up at the moment of collision and you might just be bounced into the air. - The Hammerhead Handsome - used in situations where two contraptions are flying head-on at each other. Fire off the usual volley of rockets and cannon shells, but just before you both collide, turn on a ramming shield. Then at the moment of impact, dump every mine and deploy you have. Having already lost most of his toughness in the collision your opponent will then fly straight into them and die horribly... GENERAL TACTICS - Remember that your guns are only effective at short ranges. Get as close as possible before firing them at a target. - Head for the landing-strip as soon your craft becomes critically damaged and seek out those much-needed repairs. - Pick up as many points as possible by shooting down dropins and pigeons whenever they appear. - And remember, let's be careful out there! -------- BOB: Right, that's your lot! Now we take to the air again to see what you've really remembered. JIM: And this time, let's try and get it right shall we?