______________________ | | | Cosmic Commuter (tm) | | EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK | | _____________________| WAY BACK IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, a bunch of Ivy League Professors sat around inventing space colongied. they were lauded as visionaries and went on as lecture tours. Do you think they thought about traffic jams in space? Somehow, we don't think they did. We're the G.T.A --- Galactic Travel Authority. The movers of the daily grind, circa 2075 A.D. And we're glad you're working for us now. ___________________________________________________________ ACTIVISION FOUR PART EMPLOYEE PROCEDURE 1. Land your Rocket Module. The Astrobus will instantly seperate and begin the commute route. 2. Pick up commuters when they appear at surface but stops. Stay on schedule 3. When route is completed, return to the Rocket Module and reconnect. 4. Lift-off, Drliver commuters to Grand Central Space Station. DRIVER BASICS - With power off, plug in game cartridge. - Plug in LEFT Joystick (right Joystick is not used). - Select game level one or two with the game select switch. Level two is most challenging, with obstacles being faster and more numerous. The Difficulty Switch is not used. - To start a new game at any time, press the Reset Switch. You can now land your Rocket Module. - The Astrobus follows the movements of the Joystick. To blast meteors and space mines, press the red button. To pick up a commuter, fly over his head and quickly pukk the Joystick towards you. - A bonus bus wil be added to your fleet with each increase of 10,000 points. - Mandatory retirement is enforced when you have lost your entire fleet of busses. RULES OF THE ROUTE 1. Before an Astrobus can begin it's route, it must touch down as part of the Rocket Mosule. For this initial landing, Joystick action must be delicate and precise. Push forward to thruse, pull back to cut back engines. 2. The Route Scanner Strip is the lower left of your instrument panel. The eight yellow squares represent the commuters waiting along your orbital route. The moving white dot is represents your Astrobus. Use the Scanner to check your distance from the Rocket Module and your direction. It also displays the number of commuters remaining and their location. 3. Commuters won't wait all day! If you're taking too long to arrive, they'll leave...and you will hear a series of low tones. You must pick up at least one commuter on the route or you will be unable to reconnect with the Module. 4. When you've completed your route, a continuous beep will sound. Fly to the 'end of the line' to meet the Rocket Module. When it appears, land the Astrobus directly on top of it. 5. Watch your fuel level. When the indicator drops to "3", your engines will sputter. Refuel by flying into a purple fuel pod. Fuel pods are unavailable once you've completed the route. 6. Meteors, fireballs and space mines can be dealt with handily by using your red button blaster. 7. Commuter Delivery. After the Module reconnection, prepare for lift-off. Thrust your engines and head directly up to Grand Central Space Station. You'll hear the commuters pay their fare in the form of points. If all eight commuters been picked up, delivery points will double! OVERHEARD AT THE UNION HALL Tips for Trainees Jou Muldooner, Local 472, said, "The best way to stay on schedule is to fly close to the surface. You'll lose time if you fly all over the place, trying to shoot everything." Maude Spinetti, Local 12, added, "I aim to get all eight commuters. That's when those bonus fares realy pour in." Amron Smert, dispatcher, said, "Learn to use the Scanner to choose direction. Remember that it represents an orbit, not a straight line. So sometimes the quickest way to either end of the display is to fly in what appears to be the opposite direction." Finally, an anonymous voice whispered a secret: "If there are no fuel pods around, one will often appear if you fly to the top of the screen and shoot three times. But even this won't work once all the commuters are gone." Designed by [insert mug] John van Ryzin [shot here.] LET'S GET TO KNOW EACH OTHER We're working hard to design the kind of home computer entertainemnt you want. And we'd love to hear your comments. So, drop us a note. We'll put you on our special mailing list. Also if you'd like to find out about our newest computer software, call 800-633-4363 anytime on weekends. In California, call (415)940-6044/5 (weekdays only). ACTIVISION INC. P.O.Box 7287 Mountain View, CA 94039 [... Activision(R) Limited Warranty ...] manual typed by Galen Komatsu gkomatsu@hawaii.edu 1996.5.23