Fortunately an appeal to Cris Berneburg at Project 64, a page dedicated to preserving in electronic form Commodore 64 manuals, has resulted in my obtaining the instructions for the C64 Zoids game. The story presented in the game is simular to the one in the British Zoids comic book. Enjoy!
ZOIDS - THE BATTLE BEGINS ZOID HISTORY Zoidstar Millions of light years from earth lies the plant Zoidstar. Its rock and desert surface is scorched and barren. Its lifeless atmosphere hangs in a perpetual heat haze. For aeons this desolate planet has suffered from constant warfare. Here strode an ancient race of galactic warlords ... the ZOIDARIANS. Here stood the cities where they planned their conquests. Deep within the cities lay the mammoth construction plants that spawned their terrifying war machines... ZOIDS. Possessed of devastating firepower ZOIDS carried the warlords into battle. Nothing could stand against them. Planet after planet fell to their merciless onslaught, till their victory was absolute. Heroic Combat Now the ZOIDARIANS turned on one another. Duels to the death satisfied their lust for battle, but this Heroic Combat threatened disaster for them. The ZOIDARIANS bore offspring rarely, their survival depending on their great life expectancy. The escalating death toll of Heroic Combat would inevitably lead to their extinction. So, androids were developed to pilot ZOIDS into battle. The duels continued but the survival of the ZOIDARIANS was secure. The androids became increasingly sophisticated, eventually taking over the design and construction of ever more terrible ZOIDS. The Meteor Storm When the skies over Zoidstar burned in a blaze of colour the ancient warlords were unaware of the devastation to come. The ZOIDARIANS were doomed by the poison from the skies, within days only machines survived. Alone now, the androids created ever more fearsome ZOIDS. Supplies of Zoidar power began to dwindle and ZOIO turned on ZOID to obtain it. The Blue Moon The ZOIDARIANS had kept a battleforce of ZOIDS on standby, in space. Caught in the meteor storm, the battleforce attempted to land on the Blue Moon, a frozen and inhospitable world. Most of the battleforce survived, though their ships suffered terrible damage. The androids soon discovered that the icy cold was their worst enemy. ZOIDS had to be transformed from cold metal into boiling fluid machines. To survive they had to become. RED ZOIDS. Red Zoid Attack Forced to cooperate in the desperate struggle for survival, RED ZOIDS learnt to operate together. For the androids, the urge to combat was superseded by the need tor conquest. The RED ZOID battle squadrons were made ready for return to Zoidstar. BLUE ZOIDS, still locked in individual combat, were taken by surprise. City after City fell to RED ZOID IMPERIAL LEADER, REDHORN THE TERRIBLE, a mutant monster hell-bent on destruction. BLUE ZOIDS were forced to unite. Their androids set to work to create a BLUE ZOID to challange the mighty REDHORN. Their efforts culminated in building SUPREME BLUE ZOID COMBAT LEADER, ZOIDZILLA! Earthman Into the maelstrom plunged an insignificant spacecraft. A BLUE ZOID patrol reached the wreckage first and the androids retrieved a humanoid pilot, still living. The humanoid from another galaxy was repaired. Called EARTHMAN after his home planet, he quickly learned the ways of this new and terrifying world. EARTHMAN proved to be a fearless and cunning fighter, a quality not often found in androids. A Fateful Mission Mindful of his future and indeed the prospects of his home world, should RED ZOIDS ever leave Zoidstar, EARTHMAN proposed a desperate plan. He would land with ZOIDZILLA in the heart of the RED ZOID City complex, there to seek out and destroy in Heroic Combat, REDHORN THE TERRIBLE. LIVE THE GAME - BECOME THE MACHINE YOU are EARTHMAN. Landing preparations complete, the descent begins. Suddenly, sensors pick up an unidentifiable object - presumed hostile - approaching your craft at speed. As you make your hurried escape you see your craft explode, dispersing ZOIDZILLA across the landscape. RED ZOID patrols are sent out and recover the wreckage. As a precaution against the BLUE ZOIDS regaining the pieces of ZOIDZILLA and rebuilding him, they bury the pieces under 8 different city domes. You manage to avoid the patrols and unload the TANK ZOID which you brought down in your esospe pod. Now your task is even more perilous, you must first recover the pieces of the mighty ZOIDZILLA and rebuild him before taking on REDHORN THE TERRIBLE. You climb into the command capsule of your ZOID and merge minds with the machine. lnstantly you are as one. Your eyes are closed, your body motionless. Into your mind the ZOID projects its experiences. The battle begins... SCREEN LAYOUT ---------------------------------------------------------------------- YOUR HEARTBEAT ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- ------- ------- ------- SENSORS RAILGUN SHIELDS JAMMING ------- ------- ------- ------- MAP --------- -------- ------ ---------- INFO BANK MISSILES STATUS MANIPULATE --------- -------- ------ ---------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ZOIDPULSE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- YOUR HEARTBEAT This reflects the state of urgency in the game. ZOIDPULSE This indicates the state of your ZOID, becoming weaker as it is damaged. ICONS The eight icons on this screen fall into three main groups. A. Information about the enemy Info Bank This will animate when activated. Pictures of enemy Objects and information about them are stored in your ZOID's memory banks and will be displayed for any object on the map that you select. Sensors This icon also animates when activated. It relays supplementary information given by an assortment of sensors on the outside of your ZOID. For instance you will automatically receive warning of incoming missiles and you will be given a chance to intercept them (using sonic or heat flares, or jamming). B.The Mode lcons Activating any of these three puts your ZOID in a particular mode. Only one of these may be activated at a time. You must then go to the map to select your target. Railgun This uses an electro-magnetic pulse to propel high velocity metal projectiles at your target. Missiles You fire conventional missiles which are more dfficult to target than the railgun, but correspondingly more effective. Jamming Scans the surrounding area for all objects giving off an electronic signal e.g. radio transmitters. You may then wish to try to jam the signal. C. Information about your Zoid Shields Assess your damage and set your shields to protect your most valuable systems. Status See how many of the eight pieces ot ZOIDZILLA you have collected and review your rating. Manipulate Check what you are carrying and pick up or drop items. THE MAP The map gives a display of your immediate surroundings, (a tiny fraction of the overall terrain) marking on it enemy cities, mineral mines, power stations, and so on (all in yellow) and enemy ZOIDS (in red). The blue symbol approximately in the centre of the map represents your ZOID. Moving the cross-hair over the map and pressing fire calls tip the target-select window. This displays in icon form all objects of interest in the vicinity. Once again the blue symbol represents your ZOID. Pressing fire while the crosshair is positioned over this icon transfers control to navigation mode (see below). The result of selecting any other icon in the target-select window will depend on which of the mode icons are currently active, as follows:- (Info Bank can be active in conjunction with any of the modes and provides a picture and relevant information about the target). 1. Railgun (N.B. This will time-out after a few seconds, to avoid overheating). This consists of two windows. (a) TARGETTING SYSTEM (Left Hand Window) The level indicator on the right displays the number of projectiles currently loaded into the magazine. Reloading is a continual but slow process. The level indicator on the left reflects the damage status of the target. The target is represented by a spinning diamond. Using the joystick, you must pull the target info the focussing beam (The square area in the centre of the display) when it will expand. When it turns red it is in range and can be hit. Press fire to launch a projectile. All targets possess electro-magnetic jamming devices of varying effectiveness, which they will use to deflect your focussing beam. (b) TARGET CLOSE-UP (Right Hand Window) This gives a detailed close up of your target. 2. Missiles First load your missile with an appropriate amount of fuel using the arrow icon. Then activate the launch icon at he base of the window. A new set of windows will open. The large window at the left displays long range views of the elevation (side view) and heading (plan view), of your missile. At the far left of the window are two gyroscopes together with close-ups of the side view and plan view of your missile which are highlighted in white when selected. Both the elevation and the heading can be changed by moving the joystick up or down. The trigger selects between these two; by holding it down, you control the missile's heading otherwise you control its elevation. Your missile in displayed as a white dot in the right hand section of the window and the target as a red pyramid. To the right of this is a close-up of your target as in Railgun mode. Under attack this switches to a forward view from your missile. To control the missile's retros and avoid enemy flack move the joystick right or left. 3. Jamming (YOU MUST BE STATIONARY-SELECTING JAMMING WILL AUTOMATICALLY STOP YOUR MOVEMENT). A window will Pop up showing the target signal in the top half and your own output in the bottom half. Your aim is to produce a wave which precisely matches the target wave. First you need a carrier wave. Using the top icon will open up a small window with your available carrier waves displayed as icons. Make your selection. The wave will now be used as the basis for construction of your output wave. Now use the middle icon to similarly select a variable wave. The combined signal of these two waves now forms your output wave. Activating the bottom icon opens your variable-wave-adjustment window. From left to right, the top three icons can be used to vary the frequency, amplitude and phase ot the variable wave. Activating one of these opens a small window with a meter display of the current value of the chosen icon. Use the arrow icons to change the value as desired. Your output wave is continually updated to show the effect of any changes. When you think you have matched your output wave with the target wave, activate the transmit icon at the bottom of the window. The resulting signal is now displayed where the target wave used to be. If you succeed in completely matching the target wave and jamming the signal the display will show a straight line. You can leave this mode and keep jamming, so long as you don't move your ZOID (jammed missiles will however, immediately explode). NAVIGATION MODE AND MOVEMENT In this mode the map is shown as grey on black and is overlayed by a yellow, gridded display giving an approximate version of the routes available to you, and any bridges on the routes. When you first enter this mode the direction indicator will be a small white square, if you press fire now, you will drop out of this mode with your ZOID stationary. Move the joystick in the direction you wish to travel, it there is an available route the direction indicator changes to a white arrow pointing the same way. Press fire. You will now drop out of a navigation mode and your ZOID will automatically travel in the direotion you have chosen. Your ZOID's navigation system will independently steer around outcrops, craters and so on. The ZOID will carry on moving until it comes to a junction, when you must redirect it. SHIELDS You control an octogonal system of shields. Esch ot the eight plates (the colour bars on the outside of the octogon) protects one of the ZOID's vital functions an represented by the eight segments. As your ZOID incurs damage these plates are progressively weakened making centain systems vulnerable to damage. The shields are colour coded from purple (maximum strength) through the blue and red scales to dark red (minimum strength). You can rotate the plates by using the arrow icon in the centre in order to best protect your most important systems. Heavily damaged systems will flash. All systems will automatically repair (slowly) it they aren't too badly damaged. When a system is completely knocked-out the appropriate icon on the main screen will go dead. MANIPULATE This icon will flash when you have found something. Activate it to pick up the object(s). You can also drop objects, e.g. surveillance mines which come complete with: on-board computer, camera and a radio transmitter (When a ZOID comes in range of a mine a window will pop up displaying the section of map where the mine was left, the mine's I.D. and a picture of the ZOID. You can then choose whether or not to detonate). CITY NETWORKS There are eight city networks each containing several cities, a raw material mine, a power station, radio transmitters and so on. The city domes contain the massive construction plants within which the androids make new RED ZOIDS. The dome is a powerful force-field which protects the city from attack. The mine provides the raw materials necessary for RED ZOID production. The power plant provides the Zoldar power necessary to maintain the protective dome fields over each city in its network. lt has no protective force field itselt, but if attacked, it switches its power supply to an impenetrable Deflector Shield. This has the dangerous effect of temporarily draining power from the city shields. Radio transmitters are used for communication between cities. CONTROL Free-roaming cross-hair. Entire game played on joystick exept pause/restart game functions. The joystick controls the neuro-empathic reflex arc which links you to your ZOID. To activate any icon, move the cross-hair over it and press fire. To close any window except those used in the attack modes, move the cross-hair out of the window. KEYS press m to toggle between music and sound effects press p to pause, press (space) to restart press (restore) to abort a game GAME CLIMAX Should you succeed in rebuilding ZOIDZILLA you can then set about defeating REDHORN THE TERRIBLE. Progress towards this will prove increasingly diflicult as the shrewd and vicious RED ZOIDS work ever harder to defeat you. But do not be afraid try.... LIVE THE GAME. BECOME THE MACHINE. ZOIDS designed and programmed by:- Binary Vision Ltd and The Electronic Pencil Co. Ltd. Programming team:- Paul Norris Benni Notarianni Rupert Bowater Original Music by Rob Hubbard (c) SOFTWARE COMMUNICATIONS LTD. 1986. All rights Reserved.
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The Project 64 etext of the Zoids manual. Converted to MS Word format
by Klaus G. Bobacz
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