WALKER
******
BY
**
PSYGNOSIS
*********

WALKER - THE STORY
==================

The shape grew in the dark. A grinding and clashing of metal filled the
dank air as the immense hulk rose to its feet.

Soldiers looked on, paralysed by fear at the shape that now stood tall and
menacing scant distance ahead.

The machine settled itself, almost relaxing on its haunches like a puma in
wait, muscles flinching, silent and purposeful.

A powerful hum drew attention towards the towering monster as gun turrets
swung smoothly into view and began to scan the scene.

Shouted orders now issued back and forth accross the lines of infacntry men
who spurred into action.

A rumbling heavy cannon drew up behind the lines with a loud hiss as
airbrakes brought its colossal weight to a halt.

Yet it was still dwarfed by the Walker.

And there they lay, face to face; the might of the Endalion Time Force - a
specially trained unit with the latest mortar technology and the best
back-up hardware money can buy (Super Wild Card?!) - against the Walker,
the machine from the future.

It came as no surprise, of course, to the troops on the ground facing the
Walker; they'd been waiting and preparing for weeks now, waiting for the
time vacuum to burst its deadly load upon their doorsteps.

But when the Walker did arrive, its sheer size drove dread into the hearts
of the troops who's task it was to destroy it.

The history of The Time Wars was scarred with appearances such as this.
The war broke out in the year 2370 following the invasion of the Myarn
terbium-mines by the great warring continent of Northern Endalion.

But it took over three decades before the war entered its most deadly
phase...

With the shifting polarity of the mother planet, vast new tracts of space
time opened up in which these deadly war games could now be played. But it
was Northern Endalion who reacted most swiftly.

Suddenly realising the strategic advantage to be gained they sent large
forces of highly trained commandos back in time. There, the Time Bandits,
as they were to become known, established bases in full knowledge of future
enemy manoeuvres.

This meant that the war being waged in the present could be irrevocably
altered by war in the past - a war in which the Endalions would have a huge
advantage of both surprise and technology.

It was only when entire units of the Myarn army were thrown out of
existence by the actions of the Endalion Time Bandits that the Myarn high
command realised the immense danger their essentially peaceful nation was
in.

And so it was that the AG-9 - codename Walker - was born. A weapon which
could be taken back through time and challenge the Endalion units
established in past time zones.

Engineering criteria required a self-contained and energy-efficient unit -
thus expansive armour and a powerful yet efficient weapons' system would be
required.

Plus the ability to traverse any terrain, at speed, necessitated a bipedal
movement system.

The only compromise this design required was the need for a large heatsink
at the back of the craft to dissipate the heat produced by the Walker's
power source.

Thus produced, the Walkers were sent through the Myarnian timegate and into
battle leaving the High-command waiting with baiting breath to see how many
returned.

History now relates the ensuing events up to the present day; of how the
Endalion forces attacked the Walker installations, halting Walker
production for any foreseeable future.

It also tells of how only one Walker returned in a usable state, limping
through the timegate to report the sole successful mission of Walker
operations.

No other mission results were reported.

With hindsight, it was rather ironic that these events happened at about
the time that Myarn intelligence units communicated the presence of four
key Endalion positions within the timescape which it appeared, with the
enigmas thrown up through time-travel, could prove decisive in the wars.

It was noted that should these four bases be destroyed, Endalion forces in
the present would cease to exist.

And so, armed with this piece of information, the Myarnian commanders
turned their attention to the remaining Walker unit.

Conventional attacks could not be successful because speed was of the
essence to prevent present-day Endalion units mobilising quickly and
reinforcing the remaining key installations.

Only a Walker unit would be quick enough and versatile enough to complete
the mission within time constraints.

But only one Walker remained operational.

And it it, only one chance for survival...


WALKER - LOADING
================

Insert disk 1 into the internal drive and turn on your Amiga.

Witness cool intro.

Follow any on-screen prompt messages asking you to insert disk 2 and disk
3.

The game will now load.

One external floppy disk drive is supported.

To skip the intro, click the mouse button and the game programme will load.



WALKER - CONTROLS
=================
FIRE
GUNSIGHT /
UP ___/
/\ / LOCK-ON TARGET
MOUSE: |/ / KEYBOARD:
_______|/|____/__
| ___/ ___/ | _____ _____
| _| /|_| /|_ | <- | | | | ->
| | | | | | | | WALKER | Z | | X | WALKER
| | |___| |___| | | LEFT |_____| |_____| RIGHT
<-| | | |->
GUNSIGHT| | | |GUNSIGHT _____ _____
LEFT| | | |RIGHT <- | | | | ->
| | | | WALKER | <-- | | --> | WALKER
| | | | LEFT |_____| |_____| RIGHT
| | | |
| |_____________| |
| |
|_________________|

\/
GUNSIGHT
DOWN
________________FIRE
JOYSTICK: / /
______/____________/
| ___/ ___/ |
| | /| ____ | /| |
| |___| | | |___| |
| |_ _| |
<-| | | |->
WALKER| | | |WALKER
LEFT| __| |__ |RIGHT
| | |__| | |
| |________| |
| |
|____________________|


ACTIVATING THE WALKER

Walker is controlled by an innovative mouse/cursor key combination.

The cursor keys or the Z and X keys control the direction of Walker whilst
mouse moves the target cross-hair.

The left mouse button is used for firing Walker's twin 30mm carbines and
the right button will allow you to lock-on to a target - wherever it goes.

SCORING & CANNONS

Top left of the game screen, you will find your current score. Below is
the gun temperature indicator.

When the gun is used, the indicator rises from red through orange and
yellow to white representing the heat level of the cannons.

At white, the cannon is overheated (an alarm will sound) and needs to be
allowed a short time to cool down.

One tip for using the cannon is to use it in short bursts - letting the
cannon cool down during use.

At the bottom left of the screen, a written display of gun temperature is
available.

LIVES & SHIELD

To the top right hand side of the screen you can see how many lives you
have left.

Below that is the shield indicator.

When your shield is complete, the box is entirely green.

As you are hit by the enemy, the shield level will drop.

When the level becomes low, an alarm will sound and a written display to
the bottom right hand side of the screen will tell you of the current
status of your shields.

When the shield is destroyed, the enemy will be destroying the fabric of
your Walker.

The shield box turns red and when the box is empty, the Walker is
destroyed.

AREA STATUS & LOCK DISPLAY

When the current screen is clear of enemies, the message box in the centre
will display 'AREA CLEAR'.

When enemies are about to appear, the message will be 'DANGER'.

When the cannons are locked on to a target, the message display below the
area status box will display 'LOCK ON'.

TIME SCENARIOS

Walker is initially placed in a Berlin World War II scenario.

Once the travel is cleared of enemy troops, he travels to the next
timezone.

These progress as follows:

i. Los Angeles 2019 (The survivors call it Judgement Day...!)

ii. Middle East, present day.

iii. The Great War 2420


(THE REST OF THE MANUAL DESCRIBES THE SPECS OF THE WALKER BY HIGHLIGHTING
AREAS ON DIAGRAMS -- AS I AM NOT GOING TO DRAW IT IN ANSI, YOU CAN IMAGINE
THE REST....)

End.................