TRODDLERS
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The story
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once upon a time in a far away castle in a magical land lived the sorcerer
`divinus` and his 2 apprentices hokus and pokus. now hokus and pokus were 2
little rascals who were always getting themselves into scrapes. much to the
annoyance of `divinus` when he thought they were learning spells they`d be
off in the orchard eating all the cherries meant for `divinus` favourite
fruit pie. or when they were supposed to be collecting herbs for magical
potions, he`d find them tucked up in bed exhausted after a day spent
vaulting across the moats using their wands as poles. all in all, `divinus`
despaired of them ever learning anything of use.
one day, when devinus had really reached the end of his tether(hokus and
pokus had swopped the lids around in the larder and the poor sorcerer had
put marmite on his shoes instead of polish) he sent them down to the
storeroom to clear it out. no one had tidied up in centuries, as devinus
himself was actually rather lazy if the truth be known. and he was hoping
this task would actually keep hokus and pokus out of mischief for a few
days. as he sent them down the stairs he boomed `and make sure you dont
touch anything!`.
unknown to devinus, his 2 apprentices had slipped their comic book
collection into their robes and were looking forward to hours of fun
without devinus nagging them to do something or other. time went by and it
was with horror that hokus and pokus reliases that it was almost supper
time and they had`nt done a stroke of work!. divinus would be livid. they
thought they`d better shift some boxes around to make it look as if they`d
actually been doing something.
they had just reached their second pile of boxes when, out of reach and
covered in cobwebs they saw a box with the word `warning` in bright red
letters written across it. like bees to a honey pot they hurriedly cleared
everything away and carefully dragged it out where they could see it
better. on it in neat writing it said..
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`warming` instant magical troddlers - do not mix with water! - may turn
into zombiesfied variety if allowed to teleport. `do not touch`
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this of course sounded highly intriguing to the naughty duo who instantly
decided they ought to investigate further.
unbeknown to them, divinus had been plotting behind their backs. he was so
fed up with their pranks, that he had decide to try and make some troddlers
and rear them so that they could replace hokus and pokus. allowing him to
get down to some serious magic.
true to form, hokus and pokus thought was,devinus told us not to touch
anything, but, i wonder if we could get some of these troddlers to do the
clearing up for us, while we have a snooze. they were in such a rush to be
first to get at the troddlers, that they ripped the box spilling troddler
powder in to the water bucket. there were bubbles and ripples then splashes
and jets of water as the powder turned into troddlers who burst out of the
bucket and all over the floor.there were hundreds of them. it was`nt long
before an uncanny homing instinct took control of the troddlers, it was as
if they were hypnotised, one by one they started to move towards a strange
little door in the far end of the storeroom. hokus and pokus didnt know
what to do. for every one they caught 2 would escape, eventually the duo
collapsed exhausted to the ground.
it was just as the last troddler was slipping through the teleporter that
devinus burst in. not even he could believe what the duo had been up to
this time. he was mad!!!!. go after them this instant and get as many back
as you can!!!...they didnt need any prompting -mainly because devinus had
given each one an almighty kick up the backside and they were heading for
the teleporter at an exceedingly fast rate- as they shot through the door
they heard devinus shriek `and dont bring any bleeding zombies back either`
the mission
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your job as hokus and pokus is to rescue those poor innocent troddlers who
went through the teleporter door through no fault of their own. you must
get them out of the levels and through the exit/s and back to the wizards
storeroom before something nasty happens to them,however, any that may have
been zombified through teleportation experience should under no
circumstances be allowed to get back to the exit!
different levels may require other tasks such as collecting diamonds or
killing zombies. you will be informed of your missiom at the beginning of
each level, so read your mission instructions carefully.
the characters
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hokus and pokus; you play the part of hokus and or/pokus. they have the
unenviable task of completing all the missions despite the obstinacy of the
troddlers, and the destructiveness of the zombies and all the other
hinrances that you are about to encounter.
the troddlers
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these are the little fellows pouring out of the entrances. you let them out
of the storeroom, so its your responsibility to get them back!. they are,
fortunately enough for you a friendly lot. they are not able to harm anyone
but need a lot of protection as they are quite fragile.mistakes may cost
them their lives and o.k so they are not very bright, but they are cute and
all they want to do is return home.
the zombies
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these are the ones that turned funny whilst teleporting! they just act like
their normal troddler counter parts but on contact destroy themselves and,
more importantly your charges. whilst zombies always kill troddlers,only
some are lethal to the player.
the control panel
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top of screen........player one`s score
next down............player two`s score
first vertical bar...mission completion bar.
second vertical bar..health bar: the bar shows the current state of player
energy.it sinks when the player is hurt.
third vertical bar...is player two`s mission completion bar
fourth vertical bar..is player two`s health bar
vertical tube
(left hand side) all way down screen.... block tube. player 1:here the
player can store upto 15 blocks. picked up blocks are stacked at the top
and blocks that you place on the screen are taken from the bottom of the
stack.
vertical tube
(right hand side) all way down screen... block tube. player 2
below the mission completion bar are 3 sets of figures. these are diamonds
left to pick up.[same 3 sets of figures on opposite side are player 2
diamond figures]. the numbers hsow how many more of that colour need to be
collected. zero means no diamonds have to collected to complete mission.
bottom of the screen shown as a clock is the mission time:shows the minutes
and seconds that are left for you to complete the mission in.
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player modes
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solo - your partner left you in the lurch yelling `its your fault` you sort
it out. so your on your own with 100 missions to complete and many hundreds
of troddlers to rescue.
team - hokus and pokus decided that the only way to sort this out is to
work together to complete 50 missions. remember that zombies can hurt both
players.
war - your partner got warped in the teleporter and is now on the side of
the zombies!. you now compete in 25 selectable levels, to complete the
mission or finish off your opponent and his side-kicks. lethal zombies hurt
player 1 whilst lethal troddlers hurt player 2.
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player control
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1 or 2 players with joysticks - with fire button released you control the
direction of hokus or pokus.
placing blocks - with the fire button pressed you produce a crosshair that
shows the destination of the block. by keeping the fire button pressed and
moving the joystick you can move the crosshair to the chosen spot. release
fire button and a block will appear on that spot. if a crosshair is red you
cannot place a block on that spot. you can only place as many blocks on to
the screen as are available in your block tube (situated on the right of
your screen)
picking up blocks - to pick up a block from the screen press firebutton to
produce the crosshair and place this over the block. when you release the
firebutton the block will be gone and will appear in your in your block
tube for later use. you can only pick up as many blocks as is room for in
your block tube.
destroying zombies - using the building and taking blocks away principle,
you can squash the zombies underneath the blocks.
1 or 2 players using the keyboard
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player 1 (hokus)
up.....a
down...z [german keyboards = y)
left...s
right..d
fire...amiga key on left of keyboard (to build and take awat blocks,kill
zombies ect)
player 2 (pokus)
up,down,left,right ...cursor keys
fire..................right shift key(to build and take away blocks,kill
zombies ect.)
nb; when using the keyboard make sure the mouse is not connected
keys : esc.....abort mission
p.......turns the pause mode on/off
q.......return to main menu
sound : f1......enhanced sounds effects
f2......music only
f3......music and sound effects, selection of the above
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each level is built up of different kinds of blocks, and its mainly by
manipulating these blocks in different ways that you will accomplish the
different missions.
troddlers entrance
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the troddlers enter the screen through here, unaware of the terrors that
await them. their direction of travel is marked by a yellow arrow. nothing
can destroy an entrance and nothing can be placed in front of it, neither
can the entrance be picked up.
zombie entrance
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the evil mutated zombie troddlers enter through here,apart from that, its
the same as an ordinary entrance.
exit
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this is the end station for the troddlers. once they get here they are
safe. be sure to direct them to the exit in the current angle or they will
just ignore it.
solid block
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standard non-manipulative block, nothing can alter a solid block.
building block
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the most common pick and place block, a standard block which can be safely
trodden on.
rocks
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can be pushed around by hokus and pokus to block or kill all living things.
cannon
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exterminates, troddlers,blocks,rocks,diamonds - most things apart from
permanent blocks,entrances and exits.
mines
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explode on contact with troddlers and zombies, taking them and the nearby
blocks with it.
flipper
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flips troddler from one side to the other, in the direction the arrow is
pointing in - but take care not to flip a troddler in to anything solid.
ice cube
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a totally unclimeable block that sends troddlers slipping and sliding.
bouncer
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saves troddlers from being splatted when falling from great heights, and
has some invaluable uses.
pauser
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slows troddlers down to a more reasonable speed.
grinder
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the sharp and rotating side of a gadget turns(literally!) the troddlers
into pasta paste.
no entry
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this mechanism lets nothing but troddlers get past it. to troddlers its
like thin air, to players like a permanent brick wall.
diamonds
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these precious gems are often needed to complete a level. they come in 3
colourslred,green,and blue. in some cases they are already present on the
screen, in others they need to be created by the player.
fruit ; restores the players health
heart ; restores the players health fully
clock ; gives player an extra minute to complete the mission in.
shield ; makes players invincible for about one minute
bomb ; destroys enemy troddlers that are on screen
fiveblock; places a bonus of 5 extra building blocks in to your block
tube.
enemy aliens
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these are rather menacing objects you`ll find on some levels. they all hurt
players on contact. however they will turn in to blue diamonds when hit
with rocks. these enemy aliens include the following;
the bird - a pecking bird that has a bit of an appetite for the blocks you
build. it flies about at random, hacking through blocks in a determined
manner. it is not a direct threat to troddlers but can seriously damage
your plans.
the spinner - a rolling object that knocks troddlers head over heels. it
travels along in search of troddlers.
the fire - a moving flame that touches the troddlers and melts ice-cubes.
it moves from left to right working its way to the bottom of the screen.
playing tips
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* keep track of the level passwords for use when attempting levels again
* practise combining manoeuvers to take the block beneath you whilst
jumping to the next one.
* pausing the game at the beginning of a level enables you to plan your
mode of attack before you attempt to complete it.
* when encountering new objects assess wether they are causing damage to
either yourself or the troddlers.
* some objects can be picked up - some can`t. always worth trying though.
THE END