TECHNICIAN TED THE MEGA-MIX PLAYING INSTRUCTIONS INTRODUCTION Help Technician Ted outwit his dastardly Boss and win promotion in the Chip Factory. A specially extended version of the Spectrum arcade hit. Technician Ted is an enthusiastic young computer hacker who bounces to work at the local Microprocessor factory every day at 8.30 a.m. Anxious to please, he knows he must complete his 30 daily tasks in and around the factory by clocking off time at 5.30 p.m. or incur the wrath of the Big Boss. His tasks are to be found in some of the rooms he visits. He must find the right rooms and visit them in the right order. A task is shown as a numbered box. When Ted finds the room with the next task he must work his way around the room to touch the numbered box. When he has done so a second, unnumbered, box in the same room will start to flash and Ted must touch this one also. To help him Ted has a rough sketch of some of the places in and around the factory: Up in the Air We Call Him Sir Ted's Desk Canteen Factory Gates Reception Cloakroom Silicon Slice Store Ted's Den/Shop Boardroom Photocopier Main Corridor Steward's Lounge Ted knows that his first task is in his Den, the second is at his desk and the third is in the Silicon Slice Store. A mate has told him that after that he must go to the Diffusion Furnace but Ted's map doesn't tell him where that is. He also knows that time is of the essence and that the two parts of some tasks must be done Mega-quickly. LOADING INSTRUCTIONS Technician Ted The Mega-Mix has a unique loading system and it is preferable that you reset the computer before loading the program either by switching it off and then on again or by using the small switch located on the lower left side. This ensures that the machine is in 128K mode. Press ENTER to start the loading sequence. After a few seconds a dynamic loading screen will appear with a countdown in the bottom right hand corner of the remaining time to completion. CONTROLS Technician Ted The Mega-Mix responds to Sinclair Interface II and all standard IN 31 type joysticks. Action Result Q, E, T, U, O, joystick left Ted moves to the left W, R, Y, I, P, joystick right Ted moves to the right CAP SHIFT, SPACE, Z, X, C, V, Ted jumps B, N, M, SYMBOL SHIFT, joystick fire A Pause (hit a movement key to recommence). ENTER Music off (press again to switch on again). Any jump key followed by Sound effects off (press again ENTER to switch on again). A followed by P R I N T Copy screen to ZX printer (press A or SPACE to halt). BREAK Return to beginning of game 1 followed by BREAK Reset computer. SCORING The number of tasks completed and the time of day is shown at the bottom of the screen. A pink tell-tale running horizontally across the screen shows the number of lives remaining. You will lose a life if Ted collides with a hostile object – most moving objects are hostile and some stationary ones are too. When Ted has completed task 3 in the Silicon Slice Store, Silicon Slices appear on the tell-tale. The two parts of some subsequent tasks have to be completed within a time limit. On completion of the first task the slices move a long the tell-tale and Ted must complete the second part before they all disappear off the screen. PLAYING TIPS 1) Technician Ted graphics are ultra-smooth and collision detection is exact so that starting position is even more important than in ordinary platform games. The PAUSE (key A) facility can often be used to ensure that the correct starting position is used. 2) Similarly a jump can be made from a precise position by first jumping vertically and then pressing left or right (as appropriate) whilst Ted is still in the air. 3) Time is of the essence. Many rooms have been timed so that the skiIled player can pass through without pausing provided that he makes the right moves from the correct positions. 4) Similarly when a task has been completed it can sometimes be faster to lose a life deliberately so that Ted is reset to the required exit from the room rather than waste time following a tortuous route to that exit. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION * A full event processor-solving a problem in one room changes the nature of another problem elsewhere. * Very high cycle time -ultra smooth, pixel-by-pixel movement occurs at all times. * Exact collision detection so that collisions occur if and only if objects overlap. * Synchronisation of interrupts for constant speed animation. * Intelligent sound routine -the music plays constantly no matter what the progress of the game. * Complex two channel music routine with a cycle time of over one minute complete with vibrato and slide. * One hundred high resolution screens. * Myriads of eight-positions sprites of varying sizes. CREDITS © Search 1986 Published by Hewson Consultants Ltd.