Hill MacGibbon Games to stretch the mind RUN FOR GOLD Five Ways Software Contents -------- How to play 'Run for Gold' Loading the program Starting the program Running the race Moving on to the next event Use of a joystick How to finish Using a Microdrive Summary of keys ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cover photo from Coloursport, shows a 1500 metres heat at the 1984 Olympics — Sebastian Coe surges ahead. Created by Five Ways Software Ltd. 64 Kidderminster Road, Bromsgrove, Worts 861 7JY Published by Hill MacGibbon Ltd. 92 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH First published 1984 (C)Five Ways (TM) Software Ltd. 1984 All rights reserved. The contents of this package are copyright and may not be duplicated in any form by mechanical, lithographic, photographic, electronic or other means. 'Five Ways' is the Trade Mark of Five Ways Software Limited. Filmset by Advanced Filmsetters (Glasgow) Ltd Manufactured in Great Britain by Cosprint Ltd. London How to play 'Run for Gold' -------------------------- The challenge The ultimate challenge for middle distance runners: to win the Olympic Gold against the world's top athletes and to break the world record in three events - 400 m, 800 m and 1500 m. Run for Gold allows you to train two runners for this task: both a 400 m runner and a 800 m/15OO m runner. There are four major championship finals: first Crystal Palace, then the European Championships, thirdly the World Championships and finally the Olympics. Your runners will have to race in local meets in order to gain entry to each of these finals. You control your runners by varying their pace. But the higher the pace you choose, the more energy they use, so the quicker your runners will tire. To qualify for the top events and achieve good times you will need to learn how to adapt your two runners paces to suit the event. And as your times improve, so your runners' abilities to run at higher and higher paces without tiring will increase. You will soon be challenging for the world record itself. But there are forty other runners who share your dream of Olympic Gold. Each runner uses individual, realistic tactics. And, as you improve, so they will improve and the harder it will become to qualify for major championships. As you strive for the world record, so they will also strive for the same goal. The race for gold is on. Rules for qualifying You need to do consistently well in local races (i.e. regularly come 1st, 2nd or 3rd) before you can qualify for a major championship race. When you have done well enough, you are entered into the major championship. However, the qualifying requirement for each championship race gets harder as your opponents improve. Winning tactics You will soon develop your own strategies for each race, but here are some hints to start you off 1. The timing of your final burst for the line is crucial If you break too soon, you will run out of energy and slow down in the home straight, allowing the other runners to overtake you. If you leave it too late, you simply won't catch up in time! 2. Bad steering costs you precious seconds Try to keep steering down to a minimum until you are competent at controlling your runner. 3. 8OO and 1500 metres — Don't get too far behind 4. 800 and 1500 metres — Use the inside lanes (Remember that you cannot race your are in the 800 m until you have passed the 700 m mark.) Breaking the World Record — using a pacemaker When you have reached a high enough standard, the program will provide you with a pacemaker at the major championships. If you stay close to the pacemaker for 3/4 of the race you will be in an excellent position to make a burst for the line and take the World Record. (The pacemaker will not always lead the field: other runners may force the pace to suit their own tactics.) Saving your runners Every time you race, your runners ability to run at a higher pace without tiring improves. as long as the program remains loaded. You can save your runners on tape at any point within the same season and continue with them next time you load the program until you have reached the Olympics in each event. You cannot continue with the same runners into a new season. Loading the program ------------------- Set up your cassette recorder, computer, and TV set as instructed in your manual. a Press J. Hold down SYMBOL SHIFT and at the same time press P twice. LOAD "" should now appear on the screen. Press ENTER and then press PLAY on your cassette. b Note — the program takes six minutes to load. In this time two screens appear. DO NOT stop the cassette recorder until the sequence of screens is finished, as described below. c After a minute a Hill MacGibbon logo will appear. d A minute later the title screen appears. e A little over four minutes later the program will have loaded. f Press STOP on your cassette recorder. g Press ENTER to start the game or M to save to Microdrive (see page 14 for a full explanation). Starting the program -------------------- Selecting keyboard or joystick The first screen dissplays three options for running the program: you can either use the keyboard, a Sinclair joystick or a Kempston joystick. a Initially 'Keyboard' is highlighted. After the tune has finished, press SPACE to highlight the other options. b When the option you want is highlighted, press ENTER. c Page 12 describes where a joystick can be used when you are running the program. Choosing game options The Game Options screen now appears. This allows you to choose what degree of control you have over your runner. Run for Gold Level 1 — you control your runner's pace. The computer will keep your runner in his lane but you will have to steer him into another lane. Run for Gold Level 2 — you control your runner's pace and you have full control of his steering. Steering the runner is tricky so it is recommended that you start on Level 1. Demonstration — the computer controls your runner by way of demonstration. a Press SPACE to highlight the option you require and press ENTER to confirm your choice. Specifying your runners The next screen allows you to specify your runners. If you are using the program for the first time or if you want to use 2 new runners, choose 'Name two new runners'. You may have saved the names and information relating to particular runners on cassette. If you want to use runners previously saved on cassette, choose 'Load runners from tape'. a Initially 'Name two new runners' is highlighted. Press SPACE and 'Load runners From tape' becomes highlighted. b When the option you want is highlighted, press ENTER. c Loading runners from tape — replace the program cassette with the cassette that contains your previously saved runners ead rewind, making sure the ear is connected, press PLAY on your recorder and ENTER to start loading. In a short time the program will re-start at the point in the season you had reached when you saved your runners. (If you make a mistake hold down CAPS and press SPACE to abort loading.) d Naming two new runners — type in a name for the runner to compete in the 400 m event and press ENTER. Then type in a name for the 800 m and 1500 m runner, and press ENTER. The name for each of the two runners can be up to 10 characters in length (including blank spaces). To correct mistakes, press 0 to erase any character you typed before you press ENTER. Choosing an event The next screen allows you to choose the next event you want to run. a Initially 400 m is highlighted. Press SPACE to highlight the other events. b When the event you require is highlighted press ENTER. A message at the bottom of the screen will now tell you which race will now take place. There are Local Meets, Qualifying Races and Major Championships. In the Major Championships you may be provided with a pacemaker so that you can try for a new world record. Press ENTER and the message on the screen will tell you who is your pacemaker. Running the race ---------------- Controlling your runner The race screen appears. A list of competitors and their lane numbers will scroll across the screen. If there is a pacemaker in the race, take note of the lane in which he is running, so that you know who to follow. You will be allocated a lane number by the computer. Now the runners appear lined up at the starting line. Your runner is the one in the middle of the track view. To the right of the screen are two important indicators. The pace and energy Indicators Throughout the race, the two columns on the right of the screen will record your runners pace in metres per second (left-hand column) and his energy level (right-hand column). As your runner's pace increases, so his energy level will decrease as he tires. Below a certain energy level the computer will force your runner to slow down so that he can regain some of his energy. You must monitor your energy level carefully in order to judge whether or not your runner can maintain the pace you have chosen. a As soon as the runners appear, they will be under starter's orders. The starter appears in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen and the orders are as follows: 'On your marks', 'Get set', 'Go'. On the word 'Go', the starter will raise and fire his pistol. b Press Q to start your runner. (Unless you have chosen Demonstration you must start your runner immediately if you are to make a fast time.) Note — If you press this key before the starter has given the instruction to 'Go', a message 'False start' will appear. The second time you make a false start you will be disqualified. c To increase your pace, press O. The pace indicator bar will increase. To decrease your pace, press N. (Note — if your energy level gets too low, your runner will become too tired and your pace will decrease automatically. In this case pressing O will have no effect until your runner's energy level has built up again.) d To steer, press I to move left or P to move right. In the 400 metres you will be disqualified if you change lanes. Checking your position during a race To see how you are doing in the race, press E. The screen now displays a side-on view of the track showing the relative positions of the runners and the name of the current leader (runners are shown in their starting lanes not lanes they are currently running in). Your runner is indicated by a small arrow. Your lane number flashes. Press E or any of the pace or steering keys to continue your race. Steering Level 1 The computer will keep your runner in his lane — you need not steer at all, if you don't want to. If you wish to change lanes, press I (or P) once then, when the runner is in his lane, press P (or I) once to keep him there. If you press either key too many times then the runner will be difficult to control. Level 2 Follow the same procedure for changing lanes as described above. This time, however, you must keep pressing I or P (as appropriate) to make your runner stay in his lane. (Remember that in the 400 metres you must stay in your lane.) Collisions Other runners will attempt to avoid colliding with you but when there is imminent danger of a collision with another runner, the screen border will flash. If you collide with your opponents (or one of the 50 m marker poles alongside the track) your runner will fall over. Press Q to start running again before you lose too much time. Disqualifications You will be disqualified for: a making 2 false starts in the same race. b steering off the track. c moving out of your lane in the 400 metres. d moving out of your lane before the 700 metre mark in the 800 metres. Demonstration In this option the computer will start your runner and control his pace. At the end of the race, the computer will automatically restart the same race again. Time keeping and results In the top right-hand corner of the screen a digital clock records your runner's time since the start of the race. At the end of the race, press ENTER and the results board will appear, showing the positions of all the competitors and their respective times. The letters WR next to a time show that a new World Record has been set by that runner. Press ENTER to continue. After Major Championships the current world rankings will appear, otherwise the save detail screen appears. Press ENTER to continue. News flashes on these screens may tell you that a new World Record has been set by one of the other runners. Press ENTER to continue. Saving your runners The screen will now ask you whether you want to save your runners or continue. a Press SPACE to highlight the option you require and ENTER to confirm your choice. b To save the results — insert a blank cassette into the tape recorder. Wind the cassette to a suitable position for saving the runners. Disconnect the EAR lead and press ENTER. Then press RECORD on the tape recorder and press ENTER to start loading. When the runners have been saved, press ENTER and the save detail screen will reappear. You will need this cassette when you want to load your runners the next time you run the program. c To continue — you will be returned automatically to the event selection screen. Moving on to the next event --------------------------- After completing a race you can either now continue with another race in the same event or you can race a different event. If you continue with the same event for a few races you can still carry on with the other events from where you left off, e.g. suppose you get to the European Championships in the 400 m, 800 m and 1500 m and you continue to the Olympic final with the 400 m. When you next select to race the 800 m you will still be racing in the qualifying races for the World Championships. Once you have reached the Olympics in an event, you cannot reselect it. After the Olympic Final results have been displayed. press ENTER and you will be awarded a medal if you have made the top three. You must either reach the Olympics in all of your events or hold down CAPS and A to start the whole athletics season again. If at any time you wish to cancel an option you have selected, hold down CAPS and A. Each time you press these keys you will go back one screen. Use of a joystick ----------------- Remember to plug your joystick Into the Spectrum before you load the program. Use your joysticks as follows: UP — increase pace (same as O) DOWN — decrease pace (same as N) LEFT — steer left (same as I) RIGHT — steer right (same as P) FIRE — start the runner (same as Q) How to finish ------------- Remove any cartridge in your Microdrive (if you have one attached), then simply disconnect your Spectrum from the power supply. Using a Microdrive ------------------ You are allowed to make only one copy of the program on to a Microdrive cartridge. You must not make more than one copy on to a Microdrive cartridge (or any other copy of the program) either for your own use or for hiring, lending, or selling to other people. This would be an infringement of copyright for which you could be prosecuted. How to make a copy on to a Microdrive cartridge: a Format a blank Microdrive cartridge by typing FORMAT "m";1;"RG" and then ENTER. b Make sure the formatted cartridge has been inserted into your Microdrive. c Load the program from the cassette in the usual way. d When the program has loaded, press M to save it on to the Microdrive cartridge. After about 30 seconds the program will have been saved. The program begins automatically. e If you press any key other than M, the game will begin and the program will not be saved. To save it, you must start again from c. Loading your Microdrive copy of the program: a Make sure the Microdrive is connected and insert the cartridge which contains the program. b Press R and then ENTER. c The screen blanks and after 10 - 15 seconds the program will have loaded. A new game begins automatically. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Summary of keys --------------- SPACE highlight options ENTER chooses highlighted option Q start O increase pace N decrease pace I steer left P steer right E check your position CAPS A reselect option/restart program -------------------------------------------------------------------------