E-MOTION U.S. Gold SCENARIO E-Motion takes place in the sub-atomic world where particles can be brought into existence, accelerated, collided and destroyed. Strange elastic bonds can form between particles and complex lattices will block your path. But beware, nothing is stable in this strange world, and only the most experienced and expert nuclear pilots can prevent particle melt-down ... GAMEPLAY E-Motion gives you control of a ship which can be rotated left and right, and moved in the direction it is currently facing. The ship is used to push coloured spheres around the screen and each sphere may be one of three different colours (contain one of three different shapes). At the start of a level, these spheres pulsate slowly, but as the levels progress they pulsate faster and faster until finally they explode. Every time a sphere explodes, energy is lost (indicated by a bar at the top of the screen). When the energy bar reduces to zero, a life is lost; when all lives are lost the game is over. The strategy is to avoid the exploding spheres by pushing two spheres of the same colour (same shape) together, whereby they'll both disappear harm- lessly. If you should accidentally push two differently coloured (different shaped) spheres together, a small pod is formed. Initially this can be picked up for an energy recharge, but if left alone for too long it grows into a new full-sized sphere, which must itself then be disposed of. The level finishes when there are no spheres left on- screen. If there is only one sphere left on-screen then obviously it cannot be disposed of by pushing it into another one, so it explodes immediately, to finish the level. To complicate your progress, there are pipes scattered around the screens which both your ship and the spheres will bounce off. On some levels spheres are joined by elastic bonds which means that to push one around will result in it dragging other spheres (or even your ship) with it. Most levels have all the spheres that you need to finish, but a few higher levels leave out some of them, which forces you to make new spheres by pushing together different coloured ones. Every fourth level is a bonus level where you have the chance to score bonus points but you cannot lose a life. There are three different types of bonus level and each one contains instructions as to what must be done to score points. There are 50 levels in all and upon completion of all levels comes the congratulations sequence. There are five secret bonuses to be discovered throughout the game. When each one is found a message flashes up at the end of the level on which it was found. GETTING STARTED E-Motion requires a colour monitor and is best played with a joystick (though the keyboard can be used). When the game has loaded, the title screen is displayed, followed by the high score page and then a demo mode. Watching the demo mode will give you an idea of what to expect when you start a game. Press the FIRE button to take you to the opening menu, where you can preset all of your options. MODE: NORMAL, PRACTICE OR DEMO NORMAL MODE: play the game. PRACTICE MODE: try the first five levels but without the balls ever exploding. DEMO MODE: runs the same demo sequence which is seen in the attract mode. PLAYERS: ONE OR TWO E-Motion can be played by two players simultaneously, each controlling their own ship. Both players must co-operate to finish a level. The players share one joint score. JOYSTICK/KEYBOARD CONTROLS These can be set according to preference. Note: On the Atari ST, playing a two-player game with both players on the keyboard will be restricted because only two keys can be detected at once. CONTROL MODE: NORMAL OR ALTERNATIVE The mode that most people will recognise at once is the left-right- thrust mode used as as default. As an alternative, though, there is another mode where left and right work as normal but up accelerates and down brakes. ROTATION SPEED: FAST OR SLOW If you find it difficult to control your ship, try adjusting your rotation speed to slow instead. The ship will then rotate at half speed. After selecting your options, press FIRE to start the game. Your preferences are remembered for the rest of the session, so you can go straight past the menu by pressing FIRE twice in succession from the title page. CONTROLS CBM 64 SPECTRUMAMSTRAD ATARI/ST/AMIGA/IBM PC PLAYER 1 UP W Q Q W DOWN X A A X LEFT A Z Z A RIGHT S X X S FIRE SPACE C C SPACE PLAYER 2 UP I P P up-arrow or 8 numeric keypad DOWN , L L down-arrow or 2 numeric keypad LEFT K B B left-arrow or 4 numeric keypad RIGHT L N N right-arrow or 6 numeric keypad FIRE RETURN M M 0 numeric keypad GENERAL PAUSE P H H P QUIT CBM KEY F&G ESC ESC SAVE D RESTORE R SOUND F9 ON/OFF CONTROL MODE 1 CONTROL MODE 2 UP - THRUST DOWN FLIP DECELERATE LEFT ROTATE LEFT ROTATE LEFT RIGHT ROTATE RIGHT ROTATE RIGHT FIRE THRUST FLIP SCORING Points are awarded for pushing spheres together; either 200, 250 or 300 points depending on the colour of the spheres. At the end of each level, a 500 point bonus is awarded if no pods are created. A 1,000 point bonus is awarded if no spheres explode during the level. An extra life is awarded for every 20,000 points. E-Motion was conceived, designed and programmed by The Assembly Line. Additional artwork by Blue Turtle. 8-bit conversions by The Code Monkeys. Technical and administrative support by U.S. Gold Ltd. (c) & P 1990 U.S. Gold Ltd.