300 Favorite Games/300GAMES.iso/205/robotron.doc

Text File | 1994-10-09 | 10KB | 223 lines

        ROBOTRON -- Video game for MS-DOS-compatible computers
        Manual (short version)


        Minimum System Requirements:

        At least 520 kilobytes of free RAM, 32-bit CPU (386 or later),
        color VGA card and monitor.


        Files

        Robotron is composed of the following files:
                ROBOTRON.COM Program code
                ROBOTRON.TBL Table of highest scores
                ROBOTRON.BSS Block storage segment
                ROBOTRON.DAT Data
                ROBOTRON.GRX Graphics data
                ROBOTRON.SND Sound data
                ROBOTRON.PIC Picture of robot
                ROBOTRON.DOC Documentation (ASCII text, this file)
                ROBOTRON.TXT Summary of keyboard commands (ASCII text)


        Starting The Game

        Turn on your computer.  Insert the disk in drive A or B.
        Log the drive which contains the disk.  Type ROBOTRON and
        press the <enter> key.  The program should load within 60
        to 90 seconds.


        The Ultimate Conflict Between Man And Machine

        Robotron:  The story of the rise of the machine and the decline
        of man, which paradoxically coincided with his discovery of the
        wheel.  And a warning that his brief dominance of this planet
        will probably end, because man tried to create robot in his own
        image.

        Well, man has once again opened a Pandora's Box, and, of course,
        it's up to you to put things back in order.  Man, a game-player's
        work is never done.  This time we're battling wall-to-wall robots
        and saving the human race from extinction.


        Bonus

        A bonus man is awarded every 20000 points during first million,
        every 50000 points during second million, every 100000 points
        during third million, and every 200000 points thereafter.

        It is possible to play indefinitely, but I wouldn't count on
        this.  My highest score is 3,298,725 points; I died on wave 154.
        Don't feel bad if you can't play indefinitely, the game is
        designed to ensure that no human can play indefinitely.  By the
        way, the game can register a maximum score of 99,999,975 points.


        Game Control Suggestion

        The best game-control layout is one which offers independent
        move and fire capabilities, either two joysticks or one
        joystick and the keyboard.  I use a Gravis GamePad and the
        keyboard to play:  My left hand on the stick to move the player,
        and my right hand on the keyboard to fire, keeping my right
        wrist on the GamePad (where the buttons are) for stability.
        You will find the higher waves to be very difficult without
        separate move and fire controls.


        Understanding Game Controls

        If you plan on playing the game using the keyboard or one
        joystick then I suggest you read the following.  When using
        the keyboard or one joystick you fire in the direction in
        which you are moving, however, it is possible to fire in one
        direction while moving in another.  Here's how it works:
        first, move in the direction which you want to fire in; second,
        press and hold the SHIFT key or joysick button; third, move in
        any desired direction; the result, your fire direction remains
        the same until you release the SHIFT key or joystick button.
        To summarize, press and hold the SHIFT key or joystick button
        to retain your current firing direction, regardless of your
        direction of motion.  This takes a lot of practice to master,
        and I wouldn't recommend using the keyboard or one joystick
        on the higher waves.


        Two-Handed Keyboard Mode (added to v1.1)

        This mode allows the user to use the keyboard to move and
        fire, independently; movement is accomplished by a matrix
        of eight buttons; firing by another matrix of eight buttons.
        Here is the layout of the buttons to move and fire:
           Q W E    I O P
           A   D    K L ;
           Z X C    , . /
        The left matrix is for moving; the right matrix for firing.
        This mode is not recommended for ambidextrous retards, like
        myself.  The successful use of this mode seems to require the
        use of two brains.  After vainly trying to use this mode, I
        considered a brain transplant, but couldn't find a donor
        Baboon; man, that would've been something -- think of all the
        advantages: I would be able to peel a banana with one hand.
        Yeah!

        The two-handed keyboard mode may cause you to inadvertently
        press the R key or the M key.  The R key will reset your game;
        the M key will turn off the sound.  If you accidentally press
        the M key, simply press it again to re-enable sounds; if you
        accidentally press the R key, too bad.

        The keyboard has certain hardware limitations which prevent
        the desired use of certain keystroke combinations.  If you
        suddenly stop moving or firing, then you are probably pressing
        too many keys simultaneously.  Pressing two keys simultaneously
        shouldn't cause any problems; but three or more keys may
        cause undesired effects.


        Game Hints

        Saving the Humanoids may be your responsibility, but it is
        only one of your objectives.  Your prime objective is self-
        preservation and advancement.  And that means not saving
        the Humanoids, but exploiting them.  There is no room in
        Robotron for bleeding hearts or charity or humanitarianism.
        You must first of all survive.  The capture of Humanoids
        helps build your power (points).  And that's that.

        A Grunt's thought mechanism is a simple J-K flip-flop, and
        will follow you wherever you go, just like blind people follow
        blind politicians -- to their graves.  So how do you administer
        to a Grunt?  Simple, just turn around and stick a knife in his
        back.

        Hulks are your only indestructible enemies.  They seek out
        and destroy the Humanoids.  Your fire can, however, push Hulks
        away from helpless Humanoids.

        Beware of the ingenious Brain Robotrons, which seek to turn the
        Humanoids against you by reprogramming them into sinister Progs.
        Brains, like Intellectuals, are generally over-confindent.  The
        only good Brain is a dead one -- kill them as soon as possible,
        go out of your way to ensure their absolute and permanent death.
        Watch out for Cruise Missles launched by the all-knowing multi-
        tasking Brains.  Cruise Missles are as subtle and slippery as
        Serpents in the morning dew planning their next conquest in the
        cool of the day, craftily camouflaged in the Garden Of Evil.
        Always attack Cruise Missles from a distance, and shoot for the
        head.

        Progs spend their time the way most of us spend our lives --
        spinning our wheels, going around in circles, basically getting
        nowhere.  If you are asphyxiated by a Prog you have only
        yourself to blame -- this is equivalent to walking into a body
        of water and drowning.  By the way, I am a Prog.

        Sphereoids and Cubeoids are generally harmless -- they bounce
        around producing Enforcers and Tanks, respectively.  If you
        bump into one of these guys then I suggest you get a head-swap
        operation with a Danubian Slime Dog.  Sometimes it pays to
        preserve a Sphereoid or Cubeoid until the end of the wave,
        this will give you time to rescue all the Humanoids before you
        move onto the next wave.

        Enforcers like to surround you and force you into a corner so
        an obliging Hulk can grind your bones into a fine powder and
        cast it to the four winds.  Try to get the Enforcers before a
        huge swarm is released by the ever-fertile Sphereoids.

        Tanks are a royal pain once they start firing -- their
        cannonballs reflect off the walls and, unless you are adept
        at geometry and dodge-ball, will find one where it ought not
        to be -- deep within your person.  The trick is to destroy
        the tanks before they see the light of day -- while they're
        still deep within the bowels of the Cubeoids.

        Electrodes are silent enemies.  You will find yourself
        occasionally running into one for no apparent reason except,
        maybe, negligence.


        Approaching The Game

        The following suggestions are strictly my opinions, feel free
        to develop your own strategies.  My approach to Robotron is
        based on self-preservation, rescueing Humanoids only when it
        is convenient for me.  There is a particular order in which I
        destroy my enemies: first, I go after Cubeoids, then Sphereoids,
        followed by Brains.  I kill Grunts whenever I can, or whenever
        they get in my way.  You can push Hulks around, but this may
        waste valuable ammunition.


        Optimizations

        For best results unload all TSRs and don't use a memory
        manager.  By the way, a TSR is a Terminate and Stay Resident
        program (a.k.a. Memory Resident programs).


        Troubleshooting

        If you get an error message or ROBOTRON doesn't start, try
        this: format a floppy using FORMAT A:/S then re-boot your
        system using this newly formatted floppy.  Now try starting
        ROBOTRON.  If this doesn't work then you probably have a bad
        copy of the program.


        About The Author

        The original coin-op version of Robotron was written by Vid Kidz
        (Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar).  This PC version of Robotron
        was written by me, Sarwan Narine.  You can reach me on CompuServe
        at user ID 76675,164 or via Internet at [e-mail].


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