ROADWARS It is the beginning of the twenty-fifth century and the whole of humanity is entering a new golden age of enlightenment and reason under the beneficent rule of the Galactic Federation, which has brought peace and freedom throughout mankind's realms, and as no other space faring races have been found in the galaxy there is no cause for confrontation. With the advances in Cybernetics and Artificial Intelligence, there is now no need for any human to have to work. All the necessary tasks are carried out by Robots or Computers, leaving Humanity to a life of pleasure and idleness. With the entire Galaxy as its playground, there is always something new to see, a new sensation to try, a new thrill to seek. The whole of the Universe has opened up as a great pleasure garden for all. Like all the other planets in the galaxy, Armageddon had prospered under the New Order of peace and prosperity; though with the surface of the Planet blackened and seared from the Last Ever War, habitation is only possible on the moons. This encounter is between the Forces of the Galactic Federation, all Robots of course, and those of the Tar'Sians, the only race not to welcome the Federation. The Tar'Sians ruled five planets in the Galactic Core, they dominated the other races on the Planets in a despotic rule of violence and barbarism. The Exploratory Task Force sent to the sector first landed on one of the Planets occupied by the Tar'Sians on 2371. Although rebuffed by the Tar'Sians the subservient races pleaded with the Federation for Deliverance. Within a year, the Tar'Sians had attacked five Federation Planets, and for the first time in thirteen decades the Federation found itself at war. Armageddon found itself at the centre of the conflict, even though it had been a Federation Planet for more than fifty years, under its earlier name of Sarac. The war left its mark on Armageddon, and it will never again be fit for habitation. Fortunately it was the only planet destroyed; this however made the Planet famous, and earned its new name, a name based on an ancient legend, dating from the Old Earth and the time before space. As the last planet destroyed by War, Armageddon achieved a large degree of notoriety. In a universe of peace and tranquility, Armageddon was unique. It rapidly became a major centre for tourism, the only activity left for real people, and its future prosperity was assured. Instead of dying from its overdose of radiation, Sarac rose like a phoenix from the ashes as Armageddon, a museum to destruction and a monument to peace. With the population forced by the war to move to the moons, these were linked together by a series of Space Roadways. These magnificient pathways provided fast and easy access between the different moons. They required all the power of the latest developments in intelligent computers to maintain the links between the moons, which of course circle the planet at different rates. The computer also controlled the safety mechanisms that kept the travellers on the roadways. These in themselves became tourist atractions, with visitors from all over the galaxy coming to marvel at the engineering achievement of the universe, the only Space Roadways to link natural moons anywhere in known space. However now there is a problem! The computer has gone rogue. The Roadways are no longer safe for traffic. Some of the side panels that create the magnetic field which keeps vehicles on the roadways have been altered, and are now sending violent electric sparks arc across the roadway, destroying all that try and cross their path. You have been chosen to clear the roadway. You are to control a Battlesphere. These robot droid are highly manoeuvrable, heavily armed and armoured weapons of destruction. Two of these are being sent out to clear the road, one of which you will control. You must work together to clear the road, but do not take cooperation for granted. Your Battlesphere is armoured with a protective shield, you can lower this at any time, to reveal your powerful laser canon. Use this to keep the space-highway clear. But be warned although you can replace your shields at the touch of the button, if you are a fraction slow you will be utterly destroyed. If you lose your shields, and you will, you will have to reply on your skill, speed and reflexes, mixed with a little luck to survive. Destroy the sparks by blasting the correct side panels, but do not be indiscriminate, they are all that are keeping you on the road. Shoot too many of the side panels and you, and your opponent are vulnerable to being forced off the road and in space there is a long way to fall! GAMEPLAY The object of the game is to clear the road of obstacles. On either side of the roads there are panels; these serve to keep you on the road. However some of these have turned rogue and are producing sparks. These are blue whereas the normal panels are brown. You need to shoot these panels, but beware - as you shoot out the panels the chance of you being forced off the road increases. When you have cleared the road of all rogue panels you will move onto the next level. There is a range of other hazards to impede your progress. Satellites appear at the side of the road and shoot laser beams. The small balls run in the opposite direction to you along the road. If you hit these with your shield up they will destroy your shield, if your shields are down or have been destroyed then your battlesphere will be totally destroyed. Chevrons in the middle of the road cause the same damage as the balls. If you run over an arrow pointing towards you in the road, you will be rewarded by increased firepower. CONTROLS Close Shields | | | Move Left ________|________ Move Right /|\ / | \ / | \ Aim Left | Aim Right | | Open Shields Player one has choice of:- Kempston Joystick. Interface II Joystick, Keyboard. Player two must use the keyboard. The keys are intitally defined as Q | | O _____|_____ P | | | A Space to Fire. However they may be redefined. LOADING INSTRUCTIONS Type LOAD "" and press ENTER.