TechnoVenture V1.21  by Ben Marty (c) March 1994

   This program was written using AMOS Professional.  The compiled
program is freely distributable and NOT to be sold for a profit (ie.
excluding the charge of a disk and copying - $3 or so).  For information
or registration (to receive a nice map editor), I can be reached at:
1410 Post Ave.;  Holland, MI 49424;  U.S.A;  Phone: (616)-399-4934
   To register this program, send $10 to the above address requesting
the registration of TechnoVenture.  I will send the diskette with the
latest versions of the game and editor.
Or you can check the Playfield! AMOS magazine library.
   The following files must be included when distributing this game

TechnoVenture
TechnoInfo.TXT  (This file - rights to alter it currently go to:  )
                (The author - Ben Marty, Playfield! magazine      )
Music.Abk
TechnoSprites.Abk
TechnoVenture.Abk
TechnoFX.Abk
Default.Map


Instructions:

Joy stick:
Up: Jump, Use jet pack  (jump is higher on up-arrow blocks)
Left: Run and aim left
Right: Run and aim right
Down: Enter door, Plant bomb (in conjunction with button)
Button: Read message (usually marked by sign post),  Plant bombs (in
        conjuntion with Down), turn on/off Energy beams (with wrenches),
        fire energy gun (if owned and energized) in conjunction with left or
        right.

Keyboard:

The four arrows between the numeric keypad and the main keypad correspond to
the four main joy stick directions (they can be used in conjunction with
each other).  The right ALT key is the equivalent of the fire key.
"L" will load a different map (a new game or a saved game).
"S" will save the game under a given name.
"K" will kill you and place you at the position where you entered the screen
"R" Rearranges the inventory.  The two possible states are 1) visible at the
    bottom of the screen and 2) invisible until requested by...
"V" displays the inventory if it is hidden.  It reamins visible only as long
    as you hold the "V" key down.
"Q" Quits the game immediately (if that doesn't work CTRL-C should).
"P" Pauses the game until a key is pressed.
"M" Toggle music off/on.
"F" Toggle sound effects off/on.

Inventory:

   Your inventory can contain the following:
Red Key cards to open red doors
Green key cards to open green doors
Blue key cards to open blue doors
Wrenches to turn energy beams on and off
Treasure with which you may pay for keys and wrenches that need to be payed
   for (indicated by an arrow pointing from treasure to the item within a
   small icon.)
The number of lives you have
Bombs (used to blow up barrels)
A jet pack followed by the amount of jet fuel
A pickaxe
An energy gun followed by the amount of energy
Shields (protect you from monsters for a short while)
Swords (kill monsters if you touch them)


Moving objects:

Platform: Stand on this to travel wherever the platform goes.
Bubble: Moves in continuous pattern and kills you if you touch it
Water blob: Moves from one end of a platform to the other and back, deadly.
Arrow:  Shoots up to a limited range whenever you move above it. (not the
      green arrown in a block, but a different up arrow) Also deadly
Rolling droid: Rolls to the left and right and tries to stay directly
      above or below you.  Kills if you touch it.
Fire: Moves back and forth in a limited range and always tries to stay on
      the same vertical position of the screen as you and, of course, kills.


Objects on the screen:

   Every energy beam is powered by an orb on one or both ends.  Standing by
the orb and pushing the button turns it on or off.  Beams are not deadly
and you may walk on them, but you cannot go through one.
   Moveable steel blocks are recognizeable by the two small supports on the
bottom.  You may move them left by getting on the right side of them and
pushing left.  You can push them right similarily.  When pushing, you need
not be directly next to it, but may be one row above or below it.  After
pushing it, if there is nothing holding it up, it will fall down and kill
any monsters it falls on.  You may also stand on top of one if it is in the
middle of the air and ride it down slowly.
   Pole-raised platforms are usually red held up by a white pole which you
usually cannot go through.  Standing on the red platform will lower it as
you ride down.
   Arrows are usually green in a silver block and may point up, left, or
right.  They will cause you to move in the indicated direction.
   Barrels are recognizeable by the rings that stick out around them at
certain places.  Placing a bomb next to a barrel will blow up the barrel.
It will also blow up any monsters around, crumbling blocks, and YOU!
   Crumbling blocks are recognizeable by the cracks in them.  They crumble
in three visible stages (including the original state) and then disappear.
   Sectioned blocks come in four pieces and will automatically be destroyed
when you touch them if you have a pickaxe.
   Treasure comes in two forms.  The golden spheres lying around and the red
spheres growing in trees may be picked up and used to pay for items.
   Message posts usually indicate a message you can read be standing
directly in front of the sign and pushing the button.  The message will
appear scrolling at the bottom of the screen until you press the button or
until the message has finished scrolling.
   Doors may or may not be visible.  Some are automatic and some you must
press down to enter.  They may transport you to another section or another
place on the same screen.
   Jet fuel is recognizeable as a translucent orange orb.  To use the jet
pack, just press up and hold up as long as you want.  Every time you slow
down, the rockets will fire again and use another jet fuel.  But if you run
up against a ceiling, watch out because the jet feul starts going fast!
   Gun Energy appears as a blue orb surrounded by energy arcs.  Each orb is
worth one shot with the gun.
   A pickaxe, a jet pack, and an energy gun will likely appear only once in
the game since once you have it, you keep it.
   There are two types of deadly blocks.  Fire and Skull & crossbones will
kill you, no way out: shields don't help and guns or swords don't kill.
   Shields and swords are explained in the inventory section above.


Secret Blocks:

   Any block you can see may be a secret block.  This is how secret passages
may exist.  For every solid block, there is an equivalent block wich can be
walked through.  There may also be solid blocks where you don't expect.


Hints about moving:  You will notice that you have inertia so although you
stop moving in a direction, the robot will continue for a short distance due
to it's inertia.  Also note that the height of the jump is constant and has
nothing to do with the length that you hold up (except of course in the case
of a jet pack!).  You may notice it's very hard to fall down some skinny
holes because you have to be at just the right pixel alignment.  Therefore
in making the map I try to remember to avoid these, but you should be aware
of the precision needed to get through skinny holes.  One way to align
yourself correctly in such a situation is to run into a wall aligned with
the edge of a hole.  Then you should be able to go through without a
problem.