TUSKER Keyboard Command Reference G = Gun M = Machete B = Boom D = Dagger I = Acid A = Ammunition L = Gold F = Flash W = Watch U = Amulet K = Key T = Torch C = Matches J = Magic Stick S = Stick O = Bottle Pills E = Exchange Objects F9 = Object Held Selection F10 = Weapon Selection Space = Pick Object Up Alt = Fire Cursor Keys = Direction you wish to move P = Pause ESC = Quit Game Keypad Commands --------------- 0 = Switch High Resolution mode on and off. In High Resolution mode, the picture is condensed and centered in the middle of the screen. To see your Amiga reach new heights of graphic excellence, switch to this mode. 1 = Toggle Screen Scroll mode on and off. 2 = Switch Low Resolution mode on and off. 3 = Toggle Interlace mode on and off. Interlace mode will double the number of lines displayed on your monitor thus eliminating scan lines and improving image quality. This may, however, cause flicker on some monitors. 4 = Toggle Playfield Screen Brightness (each time this key is pressed the screen will become darker). 5 = Toggle Playfield Screen Brightness (each time this key is pressed the screen will become brighter). 7 = Toggle Upper Activity Window Brightness (each time this key is pressed the screen will become darker). 8 = Toggle Upper Activity Window Brightness (each time this key is pressed the screen will become brighter). SKID ROW ============================================================================ TYPED BY THE TWINS OF TRILOGY T U S K E R ~~~~~~~~~~~ INTRODUCTION It is now more than three years since the multilated body of your father was found, skewered to a native raft, floating down the Turkwel river. Everyone had warned him not to pursue the last of the great ancient treasures of the dark continent, but he wouldn't listen. His life-long quest for the treasure had long creased to be just another adventure - it had become and obsession. Many had gone before your father, treading the same treacherous path that he had chosen. None ever returned. Would any now dare follow? Is the desire for the treasure great enough to induce anyone to suffer the hardships and hazards of such a quest? Or will the Elephant's Graveyard remain in the realm of myth and legend? Something of a disappointment to your father, you had never shown the desire to follow in his footsteps as one of history's great explorers and adventurers. Preferring to remain at home and pursue a more cautious career in writing. Since leaving university you had been your father's diarist and biographer, carefully documenting all his great adventures and creating several novels based on his exploits - none of which had yet entered the bestseller lists! The truth is that you have neither the courage nor the compulsion to venture further than the coast of England, especially not to the dark continent - all those nasty, creepy-clawly things, wild animals who look at you as a quick snack and not to mention the less-than friendly natives who like to use you for target practice. What sane person would really want to risk all that? For the last two years you have been trying to put together your father's memories from all the material collected over the years. While searching through your father's papers you happen to find your father's private journal, his own personal diary that he never showed to anyone. You are surprised to find this here as he would never go anywhere without it and you had surmised that it had been lost when her was murdered. You had never been allowed to read the journal while your father was alive, though you often asked permission to do so. You father had always dismissed the contents of the journal by claiming they were little more than the emotional ramblings of an old man and of no use to your literary works. You were soon to discover how far from the truth your father's claim was and the sinister nature of the journal's contents. The journal was full of hand drawn maps, sketches of landmarks and numerous notes on the Elephant's Graveyard. It became clear that your father had been looking for the graveyard most of his exploring life and had amassed information from every quarter of the dark continent, a story here, a folk-tale there, but all had been appended with the same pathetic footnote - no luck so far. Why had your father not taken his most personal possession with him? Did he know he would not come back this time? As you read the wellthumbed and browning pages, you are drawn deeper into the web of mystery that has at its centre the greatest prize of all - the Elephant's Graveyard. Nearing the end of the journal you find that two pages have been hurriedly tornn from the book leaving only frayed remains. Bending back the covers of the journal in order to examine the remnants of the missing pages, you notice part of a name written in your father's familar scrawl. The word is hard to make out especially as the end of it is missing, all you can see is Nyahur. Reaching for your atlas, you turn to the detailed map of central Africa. After careful scrutiny you discover there is only one place it could be - Nyahururu. Is this where your father's last adventure began? What was so important about these two pages that he would rip them from the journal? Had your father stumbled across the true path to the Elephant Graveyard? The irrational compulsion to follow your father's trail overpowers you. Ill-equipped and even less prepared, you make the decision to leave for the dark continent at the earliest possible moment. Still shocked from the rashness of your decision you slowly regain your composure with the realisation that your father's dream has become your destiny. COLLECTING OBJECTS & WEAPONS The hero is able to pick up a wide range of things, these are divided into two catagories, weapons and objects. The weapons are: A Gun, Knife, Machete and a Slingshot. The objects are: A Water bottle, Book, Pocket Watch, Gold Nuggets, Bottle of Acid, Bottle of Medicine, Hammer, Chisel, Key, Box of Matches, Idols and a plank of Wood. In order to pick up either weapons or objects, you must position the hero facing the item you want, with his feet level with it. When in the correct position, press the space bar and the hero will automatically crouch down and retrieve the item. The collected item will be automatically added to the hero's inventory and an appropriate icon displayed in the status area. If your attempt to pick up the item is unsuccessful, reposition the hero and try again. With a little practice, this manoeuvre will become easy to accomplish. Whenever an object or weapon is collected, it becomes the current item the hero is using - this is shown by the fact of its icon being displayed in the status area. To change the weapon the hero is using, press the F7 key, this will cycle one at a time, through the complete inventory of weapons until the one you want is displayed in the status area. To select an object for the hero, use the F1 key and follow the same procedure as for weapon selection. USING WEAPONS Certain weapons require a specific object to be displayed in the status area in order for the weapon to function correctly. For example, the gun needs ammunition - so the appropriate object icon has to be displayed as well as the gun. STATUS AREA The status area shows the main functions from left to right they are: 1)Object: Icon of object in current use. 2)Weapon: Icon of weapon in current use. 3)Score and Lifes left: Accumulated score and life counter - this automatically alternates between showing how many lives you have left and your score. 4)Energy: Your reserves of energy - as your energy is used up this will progressively turn to black. 5)Water: Your reserves of water - as your water supply is used up this will progressively turn to black. FIGHTING There are two methods of fighting. Bare-handed or holding a weapon. When you start the game your will have no weapons, only hands and feet, with which to defeat your opponents. The moves available are as follows. (All the following are joystick moves with the fire button pressed): To Fight Bare-Handed: Slow uppercut punch - Push up. Rapid left/right - Push left or right on the joystick. Punch - The hero will automatically turn and face the direction in which you push. Kick - Pull down on. To Fight With The Knife: Upward slash - Push up either diagonally left or right. The hero will automatically turn and face the direction in which you push. Stab - Push either left or right. The hero will automatically turn and face the direction in which you push. Kick - Pull down. Fighting With The Machete: Swipe - Push up either diagonally left or roght. The hero will automatically turn and face the direction in which you push. Stab - Push either left or right. The hero will automatically turn and face the direction in which you push. Upper-cut stab - Push up. Kick - Pull down. Fighting With The Gun: To Fire - Push either left or right. The hero will automatically turn and face the direction in which you push. Kick - Pull down. Fighting With The Slingshot: To Fire - First, face the direction in which you want to release a projectile then press the fire button to start the slingshot spinning. Depending on the length of time of the spin, and the position when button is released, the distance the projectile travels will be set. Basic Movement The joystick controls below move the hero around the screen and are without the fire button being pressed. Up the screen - Push up. Left or right across- Push left or right. The hero will automatically the screen turn and face the direction in which you push. Diagonally up or - Push up-left, up-right, down-left or down-right. down the screen The hero will automatically turn ad face the direction in which you push. Controlling The Hero on Screen. In order to provide the maximum amount of realism in the game and give the player as much freedom in the control of their character, it is important that the player master the range of joystick controls prior to serious play. WATER BOTTLE The reserve of water you carry is indicated in the status area. It is important that a careful eye is kept on this as you will loose a life if you run out of water. Your reserve is reduced continuously, but a different rates depending upon where you are and what you are doing. Therefore, it is essetial that your water reserves be replenished as often as possible for example, in the desert there are many cacti. Find the water bottle and the knife and then, selecting them both as object and weapon - stab an approriate cacti towards the front of the screen. ENERGY RESERVES You will need as much energy as possible to combat some of the opponents you encounter, so keep a careful eye on how much you have before throwing yourself into reckless combat. PLACING OBJECTS DOWN In order to solve some puzzles and overcome certain hazards, some objects have to be put in particular places. To place an object, first make sure that the appropriate object icon is displayed in the status area - if it is not then use the F1 key to make the selection. Position the hero so that his feet are level with where the object is to be placed ad that the hero is facing the target location. If you now press the space bar the object will be placed down, or used in some manner depending on the puzzle or hazard confronting the hero. Once this has happened, the icon will disappear from the status area. Objects canot be placed just anywhere, there are specific locations for all placeable objects. If you try to put down an object in the wrong place nothing will happen. There is also a special object drop function. This is activated by having the appropriate icon displayed and performing a punch action with the joystick. This is only used once in the game, so be on the look-out for a lofty puzzle that would alter the outcome of the game. As with all special functions in a game of this sort, practice makes perfect so expect to make a couple of mistakes before you master this function. DESCRIPTION OF OBJECTS The following illustrations and their accompanying descriptions are to held you identify the many objects you will have to find throughout the game. Also, careful reading of the descriptions may give you a few hints about some of the puzzles you will encounter - on the other hand they may not! Knife Will give you a cutting edge in combat. But don't be thrown by its simple apprearance, there's magic in the air. Machete Stanley could never have found Livingstone without one. Gold Nuggets Could relieve you of a weighty problem and lead to a more balanced outlook. Pocket Watch There is no time like a present. Idol Three little monkeys could be well placed to reveal all. Key Unlock a native's good nature for the present. Medicine Bottle Which doctor would meen only one bottle. Flask Of Acid Unshackled, you could get a quick burn through the jungle. Book They say on's destiny is mapped out, well not till you lift this problem from your chest. Clenched Fist It's all you've got in the beginning. Bullets There is a strong case for having these, but don't count on them forever or you may come up blank. Box of Matches Strike out and go on evre forward and don't idol away too much time. Slingshot Victory sometimes can be little more than a stone's throw away-unless you forget to look underfoot. Hammer & Chisel It would be a shame not to get all tooled up. Plank Walking it could span-out the quest. Water Bottle Refreshments not always being on tap could have prickly consequences. Orb Mystery. HINTS ON HOW TO PLAY LEVEL 1 TUSKER We felt that to help you get into the adventure element of TUSKER we would give you some hints on how to complete level 1. Do not read any further if you want to find out for yourself. Kill all the Arabs with your fists while you look for the water bottle. You should find this and the knife first so when your water gets low you can replenish the supply. As soon as you find the gun the Arabs get agressive and will chop off your head. Find the ammuntion park before your gun becomes useful. Remember you only get 10 shots. Around the desert there will be an entrance to underground caves. You must collect the machete from one of the rooms. Kill The crocodile with the knife by stabbing him on the nose. Natives guard the entrance to both rooms and cannot be killed. You must run through the middle of them. When you exit the caves back into the desert you should notice green foliage. This reveals a hidden forest. Use the acid to free the monster at the end of the level by dropping the acid on the chains. Exit to level two. ----- AGAIN ANOTHER 100% POWER-TYPING ---- --- DONE BY THE TWINS OF TRILOGY --- -- IN NOVEMBER --