THE FINAL MATRIX By S. Marsden & D. Cooke When the Universe appeared, two forms of life were to evolve - the organic types like humans, and the mechanical forms such as Bioptons. The Bioptons are a very friendly race and they live on a planet called Pludos. Unfortunately a group of Bioptons were on a space outing when their spaceship was intercepted by the hostile Cratons. They were all taken hostage and guarded closely on the Cratons Matrix network. This sinister network of 'space prisons' are very well protected from attack and it is impossible to get a rescue craft down to retrieve the hostages. There is only one way to rescue the Bioptons - a brave and courageous Biopton must approach each Matrix in his spaceship and then actually land on the Matrix himself to rescue the hostages individually. Poor Nimrod! He has been chosen by the Biopton Government as the one to rescue all the hostages. The task is a difficult and challenging one - for a start nobody really knows how many hostages there are to rescue and their location is anybody's guess! The only consolation for Nimrod is that you can help him find the helpless Bioptons with the aid of a spaceship fitted with the ultimate in Biopton navigation aids - the Pentavision. The Pentavision display shows a map of the stars in the Craton galaxy and also the Matrix positions. As you steer the ship through the stars, you should manoeuvre a Matrix into the red section in the middle of the Pentavision screen in order to enable Nimrod to land upon that Matrix. When a Matrix has been centred in this way, press fire to enable Nimrod to go through with the automatic landing sequence. Each Matrix is named and has a defensive power according to the number of times Nimrod visits that particular Matrix. Obviously Nimrod should try to visit a Matrix only once - or risk being dematerialised very quickly! The ship's console also tells Nimrod how many hostages have been rescued and how much time is left. The Cratons told the Biopton Government that they would give them 99 Aeons before executing the hostages! (An Aeon is an infinitely long period of time but you the player don't have to wait that long - your Aeons are approximately one Earth minute long). Once Nimrod has landed on a Matrix, he will be equipped with a simple weapon device. This will give a small amount of resistance to attack but there are other weapon units to be found scattered around the Matrix - like the powerful Megabolts which can even blast away heavy block-like obstructions. Nimrod is normally confined to the ground but if he finds a Thrustpak, his weapon fire button becomes a thrust control. This upward thrust is limited to twice Nimrod's own height, but should prove useful in getting around. To obtain any weapon or thrust device, Nimrod has only to touch the unit. Note that the weapons do use up the ammunition, and that the thrustas only have a limited fuel supply! Where Nimrod lands on the Matrix is also the place where he must launch himself - hopefully with the rescued hostage - back to the spaceship. To help him locate the landing position, the display shows which direction relative to Nimrod the take off position is. To return to the spaceship, position Nimrod on this site and press fire. Assuming Nimrod was stationary, then he will launch himself off the surface of the Matrix and go back to the spaceship. If the hostage was near to Nimrod at the take off site, then the hostage will copy Nimrod and also launch himself off the surface. Fortunately, the Cratons installed a TV monitoring system which was never actually used by the matrix inhabitants. Nimrod can, however, stand upon a TV monitor and gain valuable information about the Matrix he is on. The will also provide Nimrod with a map layout of the Matrix. The Matrix has a very sophisticated security system and has various means of coping with Nimrod or any other foreign visitor for that matter. There are: 1. Guards. 2. Disruptors. 3. Mines. 4. Floor pad operated doors. 5. Heavy obstructions. 6. Wire framed antagonists. 7. Rebound thrust squares. 8. Energy loss squares. 9. Deadly black ice. The guards patrol certain parts of the Matrix and their movement is in straight lines which can track Nimrod's movement. They will take pot-shots at Nimrod and are very dangerous. The disruptors are just that! They are spherical and fast moving and they will knock Nimrod off course - or anything else for that matter - be warned. A mine means instant death for Nimrod or the hostage. Doors can be opened by standing on a floor pad switch. The wire framed antagonists are a sinister form of defence devised by the Cratons. They don't really do anything except push Nimrod where he doesn't want to go. The rebound thrust squares make manoeuvring very tricky - watch out for them! Energy loss squares are also to be avoided unless Nimrod is feeling strong. Should Nimrod be positioned on Black Ice, his energy will be sapped very quickly - manoeuvre him to the nearest floor to stop the energy drain. Try to find a refuelling square to build up his energy. One remarkable thing about the Cratons is that the company which was responsible for constructing the Matrix network - Associated Craton Enterprises (A.C.E.) - were just like any Earth bound construction company in that they left all their building materials lying around. A few miscellaneous crates here and there - some filled with concrete and obstructing movement through the Matrix, and a few lightweight crates can in fact help Nimrod to rescue the hostages. Having located a hostage, the hostage will follow Nimrod and the task now is to return to the take off site. The job will be hardere now that you have a hostage to protect! BE ON YOUR GUARD AND GOOD LUCK! KEYS Left T, U, O, Joystick Left Right Y, I, P, Joystick Right Up Q, W, E, R, Joystick Up Down A, S, D, F, Joystick Down Fire SPACE, SHIFT, Z, X, C, V, B, N, M, Joystick Fire Pause 'H' Effects On/Off Press ENTER to toggle Reset Game Press BREAK Reset Computer Press '1' then the BREAK key The joystick can be either the Sinclair Interface 2 version (as standard on the Spectrum + 2), or a Kempston compatible type. HOW TO LOAD AMSTRAD CASSETTE Insert cassette into cassette unit. Press CONTROL (CTRL) and small ENTER keys simultaneously. Press PLAY on the cassette unit and then press any key. The program will load and run automatically. DISK Insert the disk into disk drive, label side up. Type :CPM and press ENTER. The program will load and run automatically. SPECTRUM Type LOAD"" and press ENTER. Press PLAY on the cassett recorder, the program will load and run automatically. Gremlin Graphics Software Limited. Alpha House, 10 Carver Street, Sheffield S1 4FS. © 1987. All rights reserved. Unauthorised copying, lending or resale by any means strictly prohibited. (Re-typed by Alessandro Grussu in 2005 from a scan of the original inlay card)