Copyright: Copyright(c)1995-1996 LittleWing CO.LTD.


Contents
  Loony Labyrinth for Windows Help

 Loony Labyrinth is a PINBALL Simulation Program.

To learn how to use HELP, press F1.

Introduction

Loony Labyrinth and Minotaur Legends

Basic Structure of Game

Game Strategy and TIPS

From the Creators

Credits

How to?

Playing the Game

Pausing the Game

Assigning Extra Keys

Entering your Name for the HighScore Roster

Entering the HighScore Contest

Commands

File Menu

Operation Menu

Option Menu

TIPS

Get Status Report During Game

Optimizing Performance

Select Best BGM for Game

Select Best Sound Control Setting

Troubleshooting

Could not Hear Effect Sound

Could not Hear BGM Sound

The Ball Stops when the Sound is Produced

 Please read the Player Guide. It contains additional information to help with troubleshooting and technical support. Also, you'll find information and illustrations on Game Strategy, Tips and Rules.

Loony Labyrinth Online Manual Copyright(c)1995-1996 LittleWing CO.LTD. All Rights Reserved.


  Loony Labyrinth and Minotaur Legends

 Loony Labyrinth and Minotaur Legends

Minotaur Legends

According to Greek Mythology, Daedalus built a labyrinth for King Minos of Crete to imprison the Minotaur, a creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man. Each year, nine Authenian youths and maidens were sacrificed to the Minotaur. Theseus, son of the king of Athens, finally killed Minotaur and escaped the Labyrinth by following a thread given him by Ariadne, daughter of King Minos.

Loony Labyrinth takes the mythical maze of Minos and transforms it into an exciting and challenging pinball adventure. Although the myth in Loony Labyrinth is not identical to the actual Myth of Minotaur, the goal is still the same-to defeat the Minotaur and save its victims.


  Basic Structure of Game

 Basic Structure of Game

Loony Labyrinth has two different modes of game play. One mode is "Modern Times" and the other is "2000 B.C." The game starts with Modern Times and can only retreat to 2000 B.C. if certain challenges are met.

Modern Times: During this stage of the game, you can enjoy three kinds of multi-ball play, Loony Multi, Labyrinth Multi and Minotaur Multi. These multi-ball challenges symbolize an exploration of the Labyrinth with the purpose of getting to the time machine (Loony Machine) and activating it to travel back to 2000 B.C.

Loony Labyrinth makes you the modern day Theseus trying to go back in time to 2000 B.C. to heroically defeat the Minotaur and save its victims. Your key to time travel is the ancient Loony Machine discovered by Sir Evans, a British archeologist, at the Knossos Palace on Crete.

To activate the Loony Machine, five engraved (Galopetra) stones must be placed on its pedestal. Gather five Stones (1) and charge the Loony Machine power to 100% (2). When the Loony Machine is fully charged, place the stones in the pedestal (3).

(1) Complete five Stone Ramps when STONE Indicators are flashing;

(2) Hit the Bumpers until Energy level is 100%;

(3) Install the ball into the "Install Stone" Hole.

2000 B.C.: Back Ground Music will change as you travel in the Loony Machine back to 2000 B.C. to save the sacrifices and defeat Minotaur.

When you complete the challenges of Modern Times, you have proven yourself as the predestined warrior Theseus. Now the Loony Machine will take you back in time to 2000 B.C. for a whole new challenging mode of play. Your goals are (A) to save nine human sacrifices by shooting the Labyrinth Ramp nine times; and (B) to defeat the Minotaur by shooting the ball into the Minotaur Chamber three times before the Moon Phase indicator goes out. Failure to complete these tasks in the correct sequence automatically sends you back to Modern Times to start your adventure again.

With these goals complete, you must find your way back to Modern Times by following Ariadne's thread (shooting ramps, spot targets and bumpers).

Please read the Player Guide for additional information and detailed illustrations.


  Game Strategy and TIPS

 Game Strategy and TIPS

1. Concurrent multi-ball

Loony Labyrinth has three kinds of multi-ball play, Loony Multi, Labyrinth Multi and Minotaur Multi. Each multi-ball is started by completing different challenges and each has its own features and ways to score points. Concurrent multi-ball means two or three multi-balls can be played at the same time. You still play with three balls, but the scoring possibilities are vastly increased as you accumulate every point, bonus and jackpot for the two or three kinds of multi-ball.

2. Multi Level Shield KickBack

 This special feature helps save the ball from dropping through the out lane by kicking it back up into the playfield. With the ability to store up to four spare shields for Shield Kickback (N1,N2), you can increase your defense dramatically. This means the Shield Kickback will automatically be restored as long as you have a spare shield stored.

It is not easy to get spare shields quickly, but you can earn four shields by getting Labyrinth Multi. Also, if you shoot the MYST Hole when there is no shield, there is a higher probability of receiving "Shield Restored" as a Mystery Feature.

3. Rescue The Ball

When you only have two balls left after dropping a ball during multi-ball play, shooting a ball into the MYST Hole gives you "Rescue The Ball" and restores three multi-ball play. There is no limit to the number of times you can get "Rescue The Ball", which makes it a great feature for prolonging multi-ball play.

4. Quick Move

Although the first Quick Move scores are not very high (200K, 400K), each time you get Quick Move, the scores increase up to a maximum of 5 Million. During multi-ball play, completing Quick Move sequences can increase your score dramatically.

5. Extra Ball

Each time the ball rolls down the winding Pit Fall Lane (10) under the bumpers, one of the blue Pit Fall Indicators (K1-K3) will light up. When all three Indicators are lit up and the ball rolls down the Pit Fall Lane again, the red rollover Extra Ball (L) light will light up. One more time through the Pit Fall Lane awards an Extra ball. The number of Extra Balls is limited to two for each regular ball (maximum number of Extra Balls per game is 6).

Note: Labyrinth Multi automatically lights the Extra Ball light so you only need to go down the Pit Fall Lane once to get an Extra Ball.


  From the Creators

 From the Creators - Welcome to the Pinball Labyrinth

Loony Labyrinth was designed to accommodate two contrary feelings -- the modern style, full speed pinball machine and the nostalgic, old-fashioned one which is found in the corner of old bars.

Loony Labyrinth was also designed to appeal to a larger class of pinball players than Crystal Caliburn, which was released in 1993. For instance, Crystal Caliburn has a larger number of features, especially complex ones, and was aimed at expert players. Loony Labyrinth includes more simple features which makes the game enjoyable for beginner players.

At the same time, in Loony Labyrinth we believe expert players will enjoy feelings which are close to the origin of pinball since it implements these skills and techniques faithfully. And, even though Loony Labyrinth doesn't have a big surprise feature such as the Crystal Caliburn "Holy Grail", players will feel another dimension and charm of pinball with Loony Labyrinth's playability -- the strategy of constructing a play with precise shots, step by step.

Pinball has multiple sides of joy. And in many cases, it's not feasible to implement two or more elements in one title. We designed Loony Labyrinth with a completely different concept from the beginning. We guess some players will like Crystal Caliburn better, and some will like Loony Labyrinth better. For some reason, in our circles, female players prefer Loony Labyrinth. We believe players will find the two games are a series and can be enjoyed in different ways. We'll keep on adding much more pinball fun and joy to this "Solid State PINBALL" series.

Lastly, we'd like to acknowledge our thanks to the people who contributed to this product.

Now, let's travel through time to the year 2000 B.C.!

March, 1996

LittleWing would enjoy hearing your comments about Loony Labyrinth and may be reached at LittleWing CO.LTD. P.O. Box 30, Toyamaminami, Toyama-city, Toyama, 939 Japan. Please address technical questions to StarPlay Technical Support in the U.S.


  Credits

 Credits

Loony Labyrinth(TM) was designed and created by Yoshikatsu Fujita and Reiko Fujita of LittleWing CO.LTD.

Production, Game design, Programming

..... Yoshikatsu Fujita

Visual, Audio, Package design, Artworks

..... Reiko Fujita

BGM (Bump Bumper Bandit & Speak Greek), Sound effects

..... Ryuichi Sato, Mio Kumamoto (STUDIO MIOTRON)

Voices of Sir Evans, Loony Machine, and Ariadne

..... Fergus & Corby (Audio's Amigos Studio)

Publisher

..... StarPlay Productions, Inc.

Marketing and Promotion

..... StarPlay Productions, Inc.

Testing

..... Scott Mesch, Rana Bachman, and Jodi Ginsberg

Loony Labyrinth Copyright(c) 1994-1996 LittleWing CO.LTD. All Rights Reserved.

Loony Labyrinth Online Manual Copyright(c)1995-1996 LittleWing CO.LTD. All Rights Reserved.

Loony Labyrinth(TM), Crystal Caliburn(TM) and TRISTAN(TM) are trademarks of LittleWing CO.LTD. Other company names and product names are trademarks of their respective companies.


  Playing the Game

 Basic Playing Instructions

Loony Labyrinth recreates the experience of arcade pinball as fully as possible. Just like in the arcade, to play you must first insert coins and start a new game. Then use the plunger to launch the ball and the flippers to keep it in play. Also, like in the arcade you can nudge the table to affect the ball, but be careful -- too much nudging and you'll Tilt!

 Insert Coin:	CTRL + I

 Start New Game:	CTRL + N

 Plunger:	SHIFT

 Left Flipper:	Z

 Right Flipper:	/

 Nudging:	SPACE BAR

During the game you can suspend the game by pressing the left mouse button or ESC key. You can resume the game by choosing 'Resume Game' from the Operation Menu. You can also add coins by pressing CTRL+I and add players by pressing CTRL+N (Only available before the first player loses the first ball).

You can customize keys to optimize Loony Labyrinth to your playing style. Please see the section Assigning Extra Keys.


  Pausing the Game

 How to

During the game you can suspend the game by pressing the left mouse button or the ESC key. You can go to other applications while the game is paused and then resume where you left off by choosing Resume Game from the Operation Menu.


  Assigning Extra Keys

 Assigning Extra Keys

This feature allows you to customize Loony Labyrinth operation keys to optimize the keyboard to your playing style. The original keys will remain active after you assign new keys. After choosing Assign Extra Keys from the Option menu, a dialog box will be opened to designate new keys. Enter the key for each field of the dialog box.

On keyboards which have the SHIFT, CTRL, ALT keys on both sides of the keyboard, the left and right keys do not work independently. For example, if you assign the left SHIFT key to the left flipper, both SHIFT keys will activate the left flipper. So assign your keys carefully.


  Entering your Name for the HighScore Roster

 How to

If your score is one of the top four highest, the program will prompt you to enter your name for the high score roster. Loony Labyrinth simulates arcade pinball machines by using the flippers to spell out your name. To do so, use either of the flipper keys to scroll through the alphabet, one advances, the other descends. Use SPACE to select the letter, BACKSPACE to erase a letter. Press the ESC key or SPACE to the end to finish entering your name.


  Entering the HighScore Contest

 How to

Loony Labyrinth is designed with a unique high score authentication capability built into the game. A special internally generated confirmation number is recorded with each of your scores. You may mail or fax StarPlay your high score printout and compete with other players anywhere in the world.

Please refer to the Player Guide for details.


  File Menu

 File Menu

Exit

Exits the application.


  Operation Menu

 Operation Menu

Insert Coin

Adds a credit each time chosen. One credit is required per player per game.

New Game

Starts the game.

Resume Game.

Resumes paused game. There is three second delay before action begins.

Reset game.

Aborts the game in play and clears all counters. You must first press the ESC key or left mouse button to pause the game and then choose Reset Game.

Auto Demo Mode

Begins automatic demonstration of Loony Labyrinth. When you are in Auto Demo Mode, pause the demonstration by pressing the ESC key or the left mouse button. Choose Reset Game to exit the demo mode.


  Option Menu

 Option Menu

Effect Sounds

Turns game sound effects on and off.

BGM Sounds

Turns the game background music on and off.

Full Screen

When this option is chosen, the game window is automatically maximized.

Record Score in Log File

When this option is chosen, all scores will be recorded in text file 'LLWINLOG.TXT'.

Single Player, Two Player, Three Player, Four Player

Choose one to determine the number of players in the game.

Assign Extra Keys

You can customize keys to play the game. Please see the section Assigning Extra Keys.

Sound Control

Changes the way sound effects are output. Please refer to Select Best Sound Control Setting for details.

Select BGM

Select BGM for game. Loony Labyrinth contains data to adapt to various MIDI synthesizers. Please refer to Select Best BGM for Game for details.


  Get Status Report During Game

 Get Status Report During Game

You can get a status report by holding one of the flippers for eight seconds. The status report will tell you how many balls are locked, how many extra balls you have, and the status of your Bonus, Bonus Multiplier and Energy Level. Current high scores will also be listed.


  Optimizing Game Performance

 Optimizing Game Performance

Display

Use 256 color mode.

Use 800x600 resolution.

Update display driver software for your video board.

Choose 'Full Screen' from Option Menu.

 Loony Labyrinth is optimized for 256 colors. The program is compatible with other color modes but performance may be affected.

Sound

Update sound driver.

 Well designed sound hardware and driver software improve the quality and performance of applications. In Loony Labyrinth, the performance of the sound system can affect the smoothness of ball movement.

Multi-Task

To get maximum speed out of your PC, exit all applications other than Loony Labyrinth. This will also help with memory usage.

 Windows is a multi-task operating system and it may run two or more applications at once. However, performance of each application may be affected.

Memory

If you have disk access during the game, try to reduce the size of the RAM Disk or Disk cache program. This may improve application speed.

 It is very important to have a large block of physical memory installed for Windows. Generally, the RAM Disk program and the Disk cache program take memory away from Windows. Please refer to the section 'Optimize Windows' in the Windows operating system manual.


  Select Best BGM for Game

 Select Best BGM for Game

When you choose 'Select BGM' from the Option Menu, the above dialog box will appear. You can select BGM for "Modern Age" and "2000 B.C". (Please refer to Basic Structure of Game)

 Name

Not available in this version.

 Version

Select the best data for the MIDI synthesizer installed in the System. The following choices are available.

General MIDI Synthesizer

This is mainly for high end MIDI synthesizers with a connected external MIDI port. Please check that all MIDI channels are enabled by using MIDI Mapper.

Extended FM/Wave Table Synthesizer

This is mainly for high performance FM synthesizers or WAVE table synthesizers installed in slot. Please check that the 1 to 10 MIDI channel is enabled by using MIDI Mapper (Extended level synthesizer).

Basic FM Synthesizer 1

Basic FM Synthesizer 2

Basic FM Synthesizer 3

This is mainly for an FM Synthesizer. Please check that the 11 to 16 MIDI channel is enabled by using MIDI Mapper (Basic level synthesizer). Since FM Synthesizers produce different sounds depending on the manufacturer, three versions are presented.

 Test

You can hear selected version of BGM by using this button.


  Select Best Sound Control Setting

 Select Best Sound Control Setting

When you choose 'Sound Control' from the Option Menu, the above dialog box will appear. It allows you to change the way to output effect sounds. By choosing the best setting, you can improve game speed and increase the quality of the sounds.

 Cut Off Timing

If you find the ball stops when the program produces effect sounds or you can hear noise at the beginning of effect sounds, try 'Asynchronous'.

If you find delays in subsequent sounds, try 'Synchronous'.

 Use Priority Interrupt

If you find that the ball does not move smoothly around the bumpers when sound is produced, try 'No'.

When you choose 'Yes', the priority sound may override the ongoing sound and be produced immediately.

This function exists to adapt to the installed sound driver. By using a well-designed sound driver, these settings may not affect game performance or sound quality.


  Could not Hear Effect Sound

 Could not Hear Effect Sound

Make sure 'Effect Sounds' is checked on the Option Menu. Loony Labyrinth may uncheck this item automatically when errors occur on the sound system.

If you cannot hear effect sounds and no error message is shown, check the cable connection or the volume setting (use 'Sound' in the Windows Control Panel to test).


  Could not Hear BGM Sound

 Could not Hear BGM Sound

Make sure 'BGM Sound' is checked on the Option Menu. Loony Labyrinth may uncheck this item automatically when some errors occur on the sound system.

If you cannot hear MIDI sound using other programs, check the cable connection or volume setting.

If you cannot hear BGM sounds and no error message is shown, please check the 'MIDI Mapper' setting. Refer to the Windows manual and sound card manual for details on MIDI Mapper.

Please test the other version of BGM. Refer to Select Best BGM for details. The version of BGM which can be used depends on the setting of MIDI Mapper.


  The Ball Stops when the Sound is Produced

 The Ball Stops when the Sound is Produced

Choose 'Sound Control' on the Option Menu. In the dialog box, check 'Asynchronous' for 'Cut off Timing' and check 'No' for 'Use Priority Interrupt'. Refer to the Select Best Sound Control Setting for details.