********* Welcome to Project 64! The goal of Project 64 is to preserve Commodore 64 related documents in electronic text format that might otherwise cease to exist with the rapid advancement of computer technology and declining interest in 8- bit computers on the part of the general population. Extensive efforts were made to preserve the contents of the original document. However, certain portions, such as diagrams, program listings, and indexes may have been either altered or sacrificed due to the limitations of plain vanilla text. Diagrams may have been eliminated where ASCII-art was not feasible. Program listings may be missing display codes where substitutions were not possible. Tables of contents and indexes may have been changed from page number references to section number references. Please accept our apologies for these limitations, alterations, and possible omissions. Document names are limited to the 8.3 file convention of DOS. 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Therefore if you read this document or use the information herein you do so at your own risk. ********* The Project 64 etext of the ~Lode Runner manual~, converted to etext by Matthew Miller . LODRUN10.TXT, April 1998, etext #344# ********* LODE RUNNER (R) An Action Game and Game Generator For Commodore/Atari Computers DISK VERSION LODE RUNNER (R) An Action Game and Game Generator by Doug Smith Commodore 64 Disk Version by Dane Bigham PLAYING THE GAME You are a Galactic Commando deep in enemy territory. Power hungry leaders of the repressive Bungeling Empire have stolen a fortune in gold from the people by means of excessive fast food taxes. Your task? To infiltrate each of 150 different treasury rooms, evade the deadly Bungeling guards, and recover every chest of Bungeling booty. TO START Commodore: Turn on disk drive. When disk drive busy light goes off, insert disk and close drive door. Turn on computer and monitor. Type LOAD "LR",8. When READY appears on the screen, type RUN. Loading will continue. After a minute or so, the program automatically begins a self-playing demo of three different levels of play. Watch them to get a sense of game play. To begin play, press any key (except "Return") or push the joystick button. Your player will start to flash. Move your player or push a joystick button to begin game action. Important: When using joystick control, be sure your joystick is plugged into Control Port 2 (not 1). Atari: After booting, the program automatically begins a self-playing demo of three different levels of play. Watch them to get a sense of game play. To begin play, press any key (except "Return") or push the joystick button. Your player will start to flash. Move your player or push a joystick button to begin game action. KEYBOARD COMMANDS: JOYSTICK COMMANDS: I = move up Up/Down/Left/Right K = move down Button = Dig J = move left L = move right U = dig left O = dig right GAME PLAY: To complete a level, you must collect all the gold chests in a scene. When you succeed, you may then climb to the top of the screen and enter the next level. You will also gain bonus points and earn an extra life for each level you complete. You start with 5 lives. You will use your laser drill pistol to drill pits and passageways through brick floors. You may dig through fissured bricks only, not through solid surfaces, and holes must be drilled all the way through to be effective. If a Bungeling guard falls into a pit and gets stuck, it will become safe (for a moment) for you to run over him; also, he will release any gold he is carrying. Any holes that you've drilled will fill in again after a period of time, and guards caught in them when they refill will die and be replenished by new guards at the top of the screen. Be careful: Guards can climb out of pits that do not close up around them. Your player, however, cannot climb out of pits and will die if trapped in a pit that is only a single brick wide. You will notice that gold chests carried by enemy guards cease to be visible. If you have picked up all the visible gold on the screen and the ladder leading up to the next level has not yet appeared or you cannot reach the next level by climbing to the highest part of the screen, one or more of the guards is still carrying gold. You must trap the guards in a pit and pick up their gold. If an enemy carrying gold falls into a "dead end" that he and you are unable to leave, you will not be able to get that gold chest safely. If stuck in a "dead end," press CTRL-A to continue (see below). SCORING: Completing a level 1500 points Picking up a gold chest 250 Trapping an enemy 75 Enemy dying in a hole 75 HIGH SCORES: If you achieve a new high score, a high score list will appear on the screen at game's end. Type in your initials then press RETURN. Note: You can use the left and right cursor keys to make corrections before pressing RETURN. SPECIAL KEYS: Commodore SPECIAL KEYS: Atari CTRL-A aborts man if stuck CTRL-A aborts man if stuck without means of death without means of death or escape or escape CTRL-J sets game to joystick CTRL-J sets game to joystick control control CTRL-K sets game to keyboard CTRL-K sets game to keyboard control control RETURN In demo, displays RETURN In demo, displays current high score list current high score list CTRL-R terminates current game CTRL-R terminates current game (enter demo mode) (enter demo mode) - slows down overall game <- slows down overall game speed (press repeatedly) speed (press repeatedly) + speeds up overall game -> speeds up overall game speed (press repeatedly) speed (press repeatedly) RUNSTOP freezes action until ESC freezes action until ESC until RUN/STOP hit again hit again CTRL-D toggles direction of dig CTRL-D toggles direction of dig (forward or behind (forward or behind runner) runner) CTRL-Z toggles iris-in/iris-out CTRL-Z toggles iris-in/iris-out scene change feature scene change feature Cheat keys: Cheat keys: CTRL-U advances a level CTRL-U advances a level CTRL-F adds additional CTRL-F adds additional lives/players lives/players Using either of the two "cheat keys" forfeits your high score attempt for that game. So does beginning a session at any level other than the first level (level 001). MAKING YOUR OWN GAMES The Game generator ("Edit mode") lets you design, move, erase, playtest, and save to disk your own unique Lode Runner games -- with no programming knowledge required! You may also use this editor to access directly (then play) any of Lode Runner's 150 different game screens, as well as to erase high scores and prepare new data disks for use in saving your own game creations. Don't panic. It's all remarkably easy. The following chart summarizes the steps involved in making your own games. Detailed instructions are given in the sections that follow. HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN GAMES: SUMMARY WHAT TO DO HOW TO DO IT 1. Enter "Edit Mode" Press CTRL-E from demo mode (or CTRL-R then CTRL-E from game in progress) 2. Put "Initialized" data disk (See "Initializing Your Data Disk") into disk drive 3. Design Your Game Use I-J-K-M keys to move cursor; Use 0-9 keys to make shapes 4. Save your Game Press CTRL-S 5. Play Your Game Press CTRL-Q to "Quit" game generator; Press P (and RETURN) to "Play" 1. ENTERING EDIT MODE First you must enter Edit mode. If you are playing a game, press CTRL-R to end the game, then press CTRL-E (for "Edit"). If you are starting from the self-playing demo mode, simply press CTRL-E. The Lode Runner Board Editor screen will appear, allowing you to enter the following single-key editing commands: E (for "Edit") P (for "Play") I (for "Initialize") C (for "Clear") M (for "Move") S (for "Score") These commands are explained in the instructions below. 2. INITIALIZING YOUR DATA DISK Commodore: Before designing your first game board, you must prepare a Lode Runner data disk on which to save your creations. This is a two-step process. First, you must initialize a blank data disk by normal means as outlined in your disk drive manual. Second, you must customize the initialized disk for Lode Runner use in the following way: a. With an "initialized" disk on hand, restart your Lode Runner disk and enter Edit mode. b. Press I for "Initialize." c. Remove your Lode Runner disk and insert the normally initialized data disk into the drive. Press Y (for "Yes") in response to the screen question ("Are you sure?"). d. When the disk drive stops whirring, your data disk is ready to use, and you can use it to create and save 150 different boards without reinitializing. Note: Use this "I" command with caution as it erases everything on the disk! By the way, the program will prevent you from initializing (and erasing) your Lode Runner master disk. Atari: Before designing your first game board, you must prepare a Lode Runner data disk on which to save your creations. Enter the Edit mode (if you haven't done so already) and press "I" for "Initialize." Remove your Lode Runner disk and insert a blank disk of your own into the drive. Press Y (for "Yes") in response to the screen question ("Are you sure?") When the disk drive stops whirring, your data disk is ready to use, and you can use it to create and save 150 different boards without reinitializing. Note: Use this "I" command with caution as it erases the entire data disk! By the way, the program will prevent you from initializing (and erasing) your Lode Runner master disk. 3. DESIGNING YOUR OWN GAME BOARDS Now that you have an initialized data disk, you are ready to create your own games. From the Lode Runner Board Editor screen, press E (for "Edit"). You will be asked to type in the number of the game board you want to work on (001-150). For your first board, use 001. Type in the number, then press RETURN. The selected screen will appear. Note: Whenever you type in board numbers in response to prompts in the Board Editor, you must type the entire three digit number before pressing RETURN (i.e., 3 must be entered as 003, 47 as 047, etc.) For Commodore you may use the left or right cursor keys to skip over digits or to make corrections before pressing RETURN. For Atari you may use the forward and back arrow keys to skip over digits or to make corrections before pressing RETURN. The process of designing your own boards is simple. There are nine basic shapes that make up all Lode Runner game boards. Each of these shapes is controlled by one of nine number keys (1-9). Zero (0) makes a blank. To design a game screen, you simply move the cursor around the screen with the cursor movement keys and place the shapes where you want them by pressing the appropriate number keys. Remember: You MUST have any initialized data disk on hand if you are going to save your creations to disk; you cannot use the Lode Runner master disk for this purpose. IMPORTANT: See tips on saving your creations below. You must save your game each time you quit the game generator, even to playtest. CURSOR MOVEMENT CONTROLS: I = up a line M = down a line J = left a character K = right a character LODE RUNNER SHAPES: 0 = blank 1 = diggable floor 2 = undiggable floor 3 = ladder 4 = hand over hand bar 5 = trap door 6 = ladder that appears after getting all gold 7 = gold chest 8 = enemy 9 = player There are a few practical limitations regarding the number of objects you can use: YOU MUST HAVE ONE "PLAYER" ON YOUR GAME BOARD FOR YOUR GAME TO BE PLAYABLE -- i.e., NO MORE, NO LESS THAN ONE LODE RUNNER COMMANDO (SHAPE #9) MUST BE INCLUDED IN YOUR GAME BOARD DESIGN, OTHERWISE, WHEN YOU TRY PLAYING YOUR GAME, YOU WILL BE RETURNED TO DEMO MODE. You may have 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 enemy guards (shape #8) on a board. No more than five, no less than one. The other shapes (1-7) also have numerical limits, though you are not likely to exceed them. If you do, the program will simply ignore the excess. Commodore: From within the game generator, you may also view adjacent Lode Runner boards by pressing CTRL-F (for forward) or CTRL-B (for back). Atari: From within the game generator, you may also view adjacent Lode Runner boards by pressing the forward or back arrow keys. 4. SAVING YOUR CREATIONS When you finish designing a screen or when you want to play test it or take a break... YOU MUST SAVE THE BOARD ON YOUR INITIALIZED DATA DISK BY TYPING CTRL-S (for "Save"). IF YOU DO NOT SAVE THE GAME ON A DATA DISK, THE BOARD WILL BE LOST WHEN YOU EXIT THE GAME GENERATOR! 5. PLAYING YOUR GAME After you have saved a board (using CTRL-S), type CTRL-Q (for "Quit"). CTRL-Q returns you to the Board Editor screen. From there simply type P (for "Play") and RETURN to play the game board you've created. OTHER EDIT MODE COMMANDS The other single-key commands available from the Board Editor (CTRL-E screen) are as follows: P (Play) -- Lets you select any game board you desire. After pressing P, you will be asked to enter the three digit number of the level you wish to play (001-150). Type in the number and press RETURN. Note: If you attempt to enter Play mode using a disk that has no level 001, control is returned to demo mode. To resolve this, enter Edit mode and create a first level. S (Score) -- Clears high scores from the disk; you start high scores over again with a clean slate. C (Clear) -- Erases a game board from the disk (blanks the board). M (Move) -- Copies a board to another level number. Note: You cannot Clear, Move, or Edit the game boards on the master disk. These functions are available for use with a data disk only. TROUBLESHOOTING: Whenever there is a disk error, the game will return to demo mode. If this happens, check to see if the Lode Runner master disk is in the disk drive and if the drive door is shut. If this doesn't resolve this problem, check to see if you have a level 001 on your game disk. If not, create one. Playtest your own board creations to make sure they are beatable. If you want to refine or improve them, simply return to the editor. Remember, as mentioned in "Game Play," if a player becomes stuck in a "dead end" with no way out, press CTRL-A to Sacrifice that "life" and to resume play. LIMITED WARRANTY INFORMATION BRODERBUND'S LIMITED NINETY-DAY WARRANTY Broderbund warrants for a period of ninety (90) days following the original retail purchase of this copy of Lode Runner (R) that the program is free from substantial errors or defects that will materially interfere with the operation of the program as described in the enclosed user documentation. This policy applies to the initial purchaser only. If you believe you have found any such error or defect in the program during the warranty period, call Broderbund's Technical Support Department (415)492-3500 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. (Pacific time), Monday through Friday. Broderbund technical personnel will attempt to help you correct or avoid the problem. If any such error or defect cannot be corrected or reasonably avoided by the customer, Broderbund will inform you how to obtain a corrected program disk (or, at Broderbund's option, Broderbund may authorize refund of your purchase price). This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have rights which vary from state to state. DISK REPLACEMENT POLICY If any disk supplied with this product fails with ninety (90) days of purchase for any reason other than accident or misuse by the customer, please return the defective disk together with a dated proof of purchase to Broderbund Software-Direct, 17 Paul Drive, San Rafael, CA 94903-2101, for a free replacement. This policy applies to the original purchaser only. Broderbund will replace program disks damaged for any reason, whether during or after the ninety (90) day free replacement period, for $5 per disk plus a postage and handling charge of $2.50 per request, as long as the program is still being manufactured by Broderbund. LIMITATIONS ON WARRANTY Unauthorized representations: Broderbund warrants only that the program will perform as described in the user documentation. No other advertising, description, or representation, whether made by a Broderbund dealer, distributor, agent, or employee, shall be binding upon Broderbund or shall change the terms of this warranty. IMPLIED WARRANTIES LIMITED: EXCEPT AS STATED ABOVE, BRODERBUND MAKES NO OTHER WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THIS PRODUCT. BRODERBUND DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY THAT THE SOFTWARE IS FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE NINETY (90) DAY DURATION OF THIS LIMITED EXPRESS WARRANTY AND IS OTHERWISE EXPRESSLY AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMED. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. NO CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES: BRODERBUND SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES, EVEN IF BRODERBUND IS ADVISED OF OR AWARE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS MEANS THAT BRODERBUND SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR LOSS OF PROFITS OR REVENUES, OR FOR DAMAGES OR COSTS INCURRED AS A RESULT OF LOSS OF TIME, DATA, OR USE OF THE SOFTWARE, OR FROM ANY OTHER CAUSE EXCEPT THE ACTUAL COST OF THIS PRODUCT. IN NO EVENT SHALL BRODERBUND'S LIABILITY EXCEED THE PURCHASE PRICE OF THIS PRODUCT. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. The user of this product shall be entitled to use the product for his or her own use, but shall not be entitled to sell or transfer reproductions of the software or manual to other parties in any way, nor to rent or lease the product to others without the prior written permission of Broderbund. For technical support on this or any other Broderbund product call (415)492-3500. BRODERBUND BRODERBUND, 17 Paul Drive, San Rafael, California 94903-2101 (c) 1987 by Broderbund Commodore is a registered trademark of Commodore Electronics Ltd. Atari is a registered trademark of Atari, Inc. ********* End Project 64 etext Lode Runner manual. *********