Edgeways. A huge artificial world controlled by a complex computer system.Both are products of the Egeways Corporation,the worlds leading force in technology.But ! Something is wrong with the computer.Nasty aliens have unleashed deadly bugs into the system.The computers circuit boards are working loose.You must control your Edgeways Corp Maintenance Droid to tighten down the circuit boards & eliminate the bugs.The system is made up of stacks & stacks of circuit boards,& you must fix each one in turn,or Edgeways will be no more.
16 levels of brain ache ! ! !
Everything's Weird in Edgeways !
How to play.
W.I.E is basically an arcade puzzle.However,it requires TOTAL concentration and a lot of forward thinking.You don't directly
control your droid.Control is done by laying a path of instruction blocks for your droid to follow.You control a Dropper at the top of the screen.This simply drops blocks (Tetris style) which stack up(Tetris style).However,all similarity to Tetris ends there.On each block is a symbol.There are four direction symbols for each direction you can travel.To cycle through these symbols you hold your fire button down.The dropper cycles through Right/Down/Left/Up and finally to the Clearer(Flashing) block,before returning to the right symbol.So the fire button has 5 modes in all.I'll explain the CLEARER block later.At the start of play,your droid will stay still,awaiting an instruction block.
At the beginning of each level a flashing icon will indicate the
starting position of the droid.
To start him moving,a block must be placed beneath him.He will then move in the direction the block tells him.He will keep moving in that direction until another block changes his path.
You must be very careful that he does'nt wander off the edge of the circuit board,or he will fall into deep space.End of game.
There are 3 screws holding down each board.To tighten a screw down your droid must simply touch the appropriate screw.Beware the bugs ! If a bug touches a screw that you have previously tigtened,it will loosen and require tightening again.
Also note that the bugs also obey your instruction blocks,so if a bug should get onto a path of blocks you've made,theb he will follow you (probably undoing all of your hard work)
To kill a bug: This sounds simple enough.Apart from your direction blocks you have a Clearer block.This hollow flashing block actually has 2 modes.If your Droid touches this block,it acts as a Clearer,that is clearing all the blocks you have dropped as well as pausing your droid.This is helpful when you're stuck in a corner as your droid stops,giving valuable thinking time,and all your blocks disappear,so you can plan your route from scratch.
The Clearer block also has a Detonator mode.If a bug touches the Clearer/Detonator block,the bug is blown up,killing it.Easy, eh?
Well,no.The explosion will blow a hole in the circuit board.The other bug can pass over this gap,but should your droid go over this hole.....Deep space again.
However,there is a way of repairing these holes.There is one more type of block you may drop.This is a Bridging block.A bridging block is a solid flashing square.
To drop a Bridging block you press theJ/Stick up while positioned over the hole.When your droid touches a Bridger,it will lay a piece of circuit board where the Bridger is positioned.If the Bridger is over a gap,that gap is filled.Be warned,however.You can use the Bridging block only twice.That's easy.you say.There's only 2 bugs to blow up.BUT ! Later levels have gaps built into the circuit board.Be careful where you blow up the bugs....
And if a bug should touch a Bridger,all your blocks are turned into temporary holes.Fatal !
In the top left corner is the number of blocks you have used.
As well as the blocks you drop,there are others built into the board.These cannot be cleared.Two of them are fixed in 1 direction,while the other 2 are Random blocks.These move 1 block to the right and back and are best avoided.They also change direction randomly.The bugs use these blocks to get about and
keep you on your toes.
The final enemy is the Static charge.This fellow is a tiny pulse
that starts in the bottom left corner and makes his way to the left of the screen.If he touches a screw,he will leave the screw charged with static.(Flashing spikes emit from a charged screw)
This is harmless in itself.However,if all 3 screws are charged the circuit board will over load and the screws will kaboom.Game over...
There's nothing you can do to the Static,apart from finish your job before he does.
To complete the level you must destroy both bugs & screw the 3 screws down.You must then get to the I/O port and you've made it.
You have 12 blocks to drop.When you've dropped the 12th block you
then go back to block 1,so you can't fill the screen with blocks.
Each bug destroyed is worth 1000 points & another 2000 pts are yours upon completing the level (by getting to the I/O port).At the end of each level a value of 10 pts will be subtracted for every block used.You will then be given the password to the next level.
Hints: Try to build a path for your droid BEFORE moving him.Drop the first block of your path next to him.When the path is ready,drop a block on the droid to move him onto the first block of your path.
When destroying bugs,try to blow them up on part of the board you won't be using.This will save your valuable Bridging blocks.
Remember,the whole path system is based on Stacking.If your droid is awaiting instructions at the top of the screen,then you must drop blocks beneath the droid to work your way up.
There is another way to clear the blocks without using a valuable Clearer block.If you desperately need to clear all your blocks simply move your dropper above the highest block and hold your J/Stick down.Keeping the stick down will use all of your blocks,eventually cycling through to the other blocks,thus removing them.
Don't drop your Bridger near a bug.
If a bug touches your Bridger,all other blocks will be turned to holes.These are not permanent.Just get your Droid to a Clearer and clear the bricks.
If you need a breather,press 'P' to pause the game.Your current score & statistics will also be shown.
