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- PROSPECTOR
-
- Prospector takes place in a mine deep in the depths of
- the earth. The prospector is searching for nuggets of gold
- while avoiding the many creatures in the mine and navigating
- the various machines found there.
-
- Occupying every level of the mine are creatures called
- snarfs, odd creatures consisting mostly of a big mouth. They
- stake out a platform as their territory and patrol it
- diligently. Fortunately, they cannot move up and down the
- ladders or jump across the gaps between the platforms.
-
- Found on some levels is a giant rat, affectionately
- known as Ratty. Unlike the snarfs, he can climb up and down
- the ladders. Luckily for the prospector, the gaps between
- the platforms are too wide for Ratty to attempt to jump
- across.
-
- However, the creature with the odd stalk-like eyes,
- known as Igor, cannot only climb up and down, he also can
- jump between platforms.
-
- Among the other creatures are the grofs, which lay their
- eggs in mining carts and come leaping out when they hatch,
- falling into the depths of the mine. Lastly, there are the
- giant bats, which are relatively harmless, as long as the
- prospector doesn't bump into them or walk across an occupied
- nest.
-
- Contact with any of the creatures is fatal to the
- prospector. Aside from the creatures, there are the various
- machines within the mine, including elevators, teleportation
- platforms, floating platforms, conveyor belts, and jets of
- flame.
-
- The prospector does have a few weapons to use against
- these obstacles. His great jumping ability allows him to
- leap over the creatures, across the gaps between platforms,
- and onto elevators and other machinery. Scattered around
- each level of the mine are gas bombs. When the prospector
- touches one of these bombs, it goes off, normally knocking
- out all the creatures on the current level. (Only Igor is
- unaffected by the gas.) However, bumping into a stunned
- creature is as fatal as bumping into an unstunned one.
-
-
- To run Prospector type PROS and press the enter key.
- Use the arrow keys or the joystick to move the prospector.
- Pressing the space bar or the fire button will cause the
- prospector to jump in the direction in which he is moving.
-
- You must gather up all the gold on a level. To do this,
- position the prospector over each nugget, move him down and
- then back up. When all the gold has been collected, an exit
- platform will appear somewhere on the screen. Move the
- prospector onto this platform to go on to the next level.
-
- Gold nuggets are worth 50 points each. Gas bombs are
- worth 100 points. When the last gold nugget is picked up,
- the bonus points will start counting down. Whatever bonus
- points remain when the prospector reaches the exit are added
- to your score. A new prospector is awarded every 10,000
- points.
-
- The creatures grow more intelligent and faster each time
- level 10 is completed. If you manage to survive level 10
- when they're at their smartest and fastest, they will become
- stupid and slow again.
-
-
- The following keys are used in addition to the arrow
- keys and the joystick:
-
- P pauses the game until a key is pressed.
-
- Q cycles through three sound levels. The game initially
- starts with all sounds on. Pressing Q the first time turns
- off the sound of the prospector walking. Pressing it again
- turns off all other sounds. Pressing it yet again turns all
- the sounds back on and starts the cycle over again. The
- color of the music symbol in the upper left corner of the
- screen indicates the sound level. Green means all sounds,
- yellow means all sounds but walking, and red means no sounds.
-
- Esc halts the game and returns to the title screen.
-
-
- At the title screen:
-
- Enter - Starts the game
-
- H - Brings up a help screen giving a summary of the
- instructions
-
- J - Switches to joystick control (Make sure your
- joystick is centered before pressing J.)
-
- K - Switches to keyboard control
-
- S - Displays the ten highest scores
-
- Esc - Quits the game and exits to DOS
-
-
-
- This program may be copied and distributed freely, as
- long as the program is not modified in any way and no fee
- aside from the cost of a disk is charged.
-
- The shareware version of Prospector contains only 10
- screens. For 25 dollars you can purchase a non-shareware
- version containing 150 different screens. The 10 screen
- version contains all the obstacles found in the 150 screen
- version, the 150 screen version just mixes more of the
- obstacles together on the various levels, creating more
- challenging screens.
-
- Also included in the non-shareware version is a practice
- game feature, in which you can set the number of prospectors,
- the starting level, and the creatures' speed and
- intelligence.
-
-
- To order the non-shareware version, send 25 dollars to:
-
- Lee Chapel
- 2349 Wiggins Ave.
- Springfield, IL 62704
-
- Be sure to specify what size disk you wish, 5-1/4" or
- 3-1/2". If you do not mention the disk size, you will
- automatically be sent a 5-1/4" disk.
-