antoine-source/loderunner/ReadMeFirst

LODE RUNNER
by Doug E. Smith
(c) 1983, Broderbund Software

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:
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 a 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 0 = dig left
	J = move left		Button 1 = dig right
	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 a ladder 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 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 arrow keys to make corrections before pressing  RETURN.


SPECIAL KEYS:
	CTRL-A	abort man if stuck without means of death or escape
	CTRL-J	sets game to joystick control
	CTRL-K	sets game to keyboard control
	CTRL-P	sets game to 4play joypad control
	RETURN	displays curent high score list
	CTRL-R	terminates current game (enter demo mode)
	CTRL-S	toggles sound ON/OFF
	<--	slows down overall game speed (press repeatedly)
	-->	speeds up overall game speed (press repeatedly)
	CTRL-X	flips x-axis on joystick and 4play joypad
	CTRL-Y	flips y-axis on joystick and 4play joypad
	CTRL-B	flips buttons on joystick and 4play joypad
	ESC	freezes action until ESC hit again

	Cheat keys:
	CTRL-N	advances a level
	CTRL-P	adds additional lives/players

	Special keys on title page
	CTRL-N	sets native Apple IIgs mode for sprites and sounds
	CTRL-V	sets original Apple II mode for sprites and sounds

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 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	See "Initializing Your Data Disk"
	disk  into disk drive
3.	Design Your Game		Use I-J-K-L keys to move cursor;
				Use 0-9 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"


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",
	O	to load a new level file,
	R	to restart the game,
	Q	to quit the game.

These commands are explained in the instructions below.


INITIALIZING YOUR DATA DISK:
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." Enter the file name of the 150 levels data file you want to create. You can use it to create and save 150 different boards without reinitializing. Note: the high scores are stored into the same data file.


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 (ie. 3 must be entered as 003, 47 as 047, etc.) 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 an initialized data disk on hand if you are going to save your creations to disk.

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
	K = down a line
	J = left a character
	K = right  a character


LODE RUNNER SHAPES:
	0  = blank		5 = trap door
	1 = diggable floor	6 = ladder that appears
				      after getting all gold
	2 = undiggable floor	7 = gold chest
	3 = ladder		8 = enemy
	4 = hand over hand bar	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.

From within the game generator, you may also view adjacent Lode Runner boards by pressing the forward or back arrow keys.


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!


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.

R (Restart) - Quits the editor and return to the main title page.

Q (Quit) - Quits the game and returns to your program launcher.


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 the 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.


Happy Gaming!