Imagic ICE TREK Game Program Instructions The Youth begged the Elder, "Tell me again of the ancient ones who knew no fear, of Vali the Avenger and Kaltkron the Terrible. Tell about the theft of the lights that glister and blaze in the night, and of the new Ice Age it threatened. tell me of the Avenger's many trials - of countless caribou and the majestic Wildlife Goddess, fragile ice bridges and the spectabular Ice Palace!" "Another day, young one. Now you must rest." With eyes closed tight against time, the Youth slep. Upon rising, he was clothed in ancient garb. A single mission consumed all thought: free the lights of night from Kaltkron the Terrible! So began a legendary trek... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE SAGA OF VALI THE AVENGER Vali the Avenger sets out on a perilous ice trek. To prevent the advance of a devastating Ice Age, Vali must reach the Ice Palace of Kaltkron the Terrible. Crossing vast expanses of snow-laden countryside, Vli tries to ski through thundering herds of caribou. Vali admires their graceful strength and wishes them no harm. Still, if he must kill one of the herd in self-defense, there is a price to be paid: the arrows of the unforgiving Wildlife Goddess will stalk the offending mortal with deadly accuracy. Only skillful skiing can then save Vali, who comes to understand the plight of the hunted. Other trials await the adventurer. Confronted with an impossibly wide river, Vali can cross only by building a bridge of massive ice floes as they drift by. He flings fireballs to melt icebergs that threaten to collide with the frail bridge. The young Avenger must hurry, though; bitter cold can turn him blue before the task is finished. A single careless step can pitch the youth into the freezing waters! Across the river, Vali finally stands before the intimidating Ice Palace of Kaltkron the Terrible. Deadly crystals flung from its parapets fill the air with danger. The Avenger dodges them and throws blazing fireballs at the frozen turrets. Vali must melt the Ice Palace if the brilliant lights of night are ever to flash and gleam again! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OBJECT OF THE GAME Hold back another dark and deadly Ice Age a while longer, as you: Guide Vali the Avenger through herds of caribou. Spare their lives to avoid the Wildlife Goddess's wrath. Help Vali cross an arctic strait by building a bridge out of floating icebergs. Don't let passing bergs crsh into and break the bridge! Move Vali back and forth to escape the deadly black ice crystals hurled from the Palace. Aim fireballs to hit the frozen armor and fiendish defenders of the stronghold. Melt down the Ice Palace and unlock the Aurora Borealis! ICE TREK IS A 1-PLAYER GAME. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- GETTING STARTED Insert cartridge in console and turn power ON. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PICK YOUR GAME When the ICE TREK title and Ice Palace scene appear, pick a game skill level. There are 6 starting levels: the easiest is #1 and the hardest is #6. Skill level automatically gets harder when... You complete all 3 game sequences. You are attacked and evade the arrows shot by the Wildlife Goddess (difficulty increases during the Ice Bridge sequence). You start with 5 chances at Levels 1 and 2. ... 4 chances at Levels 3 and 4 ... ... 3 chances at Levels 5 and 6. WHEN YOU PICK A SKILL LEVEL THE GAME STARTS. Note: Press no keypad buttons during a game. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Trek Begins... FIRST SCENE: TRAVERSING THE TUNDRA The first part of the trek is an expanse of frozen tundra. Vali must pass through a stampeding herd of caribou. Move Vali through the herd. Press disk edge in desired direction to avoid being run over by any of the animals. If trampled, Vali is carried off the screen and loses one chance, then reappears after a few seconds. If a collision is unavoidable, Vali can use an axe in self-defense - BUT this creates a new danger! To arm Vali, press and hold in ANY side button. An axe appears in Vali's hand. While Vali holds up the axe and faces toward the right, any caribou hit will be killed. Killing caribou reduces your score! When an animal is killed, the Wildlife Goddess will appear and fire 2 arrows at Vali! If Vali is hit, one chance is lost. If Vali escapes the arrows, the Skill Level will automatically advance in the following game sequence, making it harder to build the ice bridge. When Vali ahas passed through the entire herd of caribou, the Wildlife Goddess bids him farewell. It's time to continue the trek across an ice-filled river... SECOND SCENE: CROSSING THE WATER Vali reaches an arctic river filled with floating icebergs. The challenge: build a bridge and cross the water to the horizon (at the top of the screen). The only available building materials are the icebergs! To give Vali a grappling hook, press and hold in either BOTTOM side button. To throw the hook at an iceberg, keep pressing the button and tap the disk in the direction you want the hook to go. Don't depress the disk very long, or Vali will fall into the water. Brrrrrr! Aim the hook at icebergs that are above and to the left of the bridge, so they can be pulled in before they float away. The longer the HOOK side button is held in, the farther the hook is thrown. To engage icebergs that are close to the end of the bridge, just press the HOOK button a short time, or press the bottom edge of the disk to move Vali farther away. When an iceberg is caught, it breaks in two or changes outline shape slightly. If an iceberg is too small, it will break into tiny ice fragments when it is hit by the hook. To haul the iceberg in, press and hold the bottom edge of the disk until the berg becomes part of the bridge. At Skill Level 1, you only have to bring the iceberg in so that any part of it touches the bridge. At higher Skill Levels, the iceberg must touch at least half the bridge width in order to connect. To release the hook from an iceberg (when you can see that it is not going to connect), tap the top edge of the disk. If an iceberg is pulled into another berg, it will be released automatically. Vali turns blue after falling into the frigid water. If Vali gets dunked again while still blue, one chance is lost. If Vali spends too much time on the bridge (even without falling into the icy water), Vali turns blue with cold and loses a chance. Beware of floating icebergs that drift into the bridge! They'll break off part of the bridge if Vali doesn't melt them first with his torch. To melt approaching icebergs, press and hold in either TOP side button while tapping the disk edge in the direction you want the fireball to be thrown. When the ice bridge has been completed and Vali's shoulders can reach the horizon, press the top of the disk. Vali will step off onto the land at the far side of the river - ready for the climax of his trek! THRID SCENE: MELTING THE ICE PALACE Move Vali back and forth in front of the Ice Palace by touching one of these edges of the disk. Be careful: it's plenty slippery out there! Avaoid black crystals! If Vali is hit by any of them, a chance is lost. Move out of the way or throw a fireball at the approaching crystal to melt it. Vali's torch is always hot. If it touches a black crystal, the ice will melt instantly! Press any side button to throw a fireball straight up. To melt the Ice Palace and free the Aurora Borealis, Vali has to melt all the ice blocks, parapets, and Kaltkron's fiends. The outer segments of each top parapet must be hit by fireballs before the flashing fiend can be melted. If a black crystal gets in the way of Vali's fireball, that flame will melt the crystal and not the parapet. When all parapets have been hit, the entire Ice Palace slowly melts away and the Aurora Borealis is freed to light the sky: Vali is victorious! Then the next trek begins... THE NEXT TREK On each new trek, the Skill Level increases for every sequence. Crossing the Tundra: caribou run faster and there are more of them. Building the Ice Bridge: more icebergs float across the lower part of the screen, threatening to crash into the bridge. Starting at Level 2, hooked icebergs must contact at least half the width of the bridge. Starting at Level 10, bigger waves make the icebergs rise and fall more. Melting the Ice Palace: the black crystals fall faster at each advance in Skill Level. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SCORING For each caribou passed .......................................... 10 For getting through a herd without killing any caribou. 250 For each section of Ice Bridge built .......................... 100 For each section of Ice Palace melted away ............. 40 For each castle melted ............................................. 200 plus 60 times the Skill Level! YOU WIN A BONUS CHANCE FOR COMPLETING ALL THREE PARTS OF THE TREK WITHOUT LOSING A CHANCE (MAXIMUM: 6 CHANCES) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STRATEGY TIPS Tundra Sequence: Try to keep Vali near the center of the screen. If he is too close to the right side, you won't be able to see the oncoming caribou. Don't try to hide behind trees; the caribou can trample Vali anywhere on the screen, and a tree just blocks forward progress! Ice Bridge Sequence: Aim the grappling hook at the left side of an iceberg to avoid having the unhooked part crash into the new addition to the bridge. When a target iceberg is floating close to the tip of the bridge, move Vali away from the end of the bridge. Then time the hook throw to catch the berg at the top of a wave surge. Keep throwing torches at icebergs that collide into the bridge. There may still be time to melt them before they cause a break. Keep Vali away from the very edges or tip of the bridge to avoid dunkings! Don't waste any time! When Vali turns blue without having fallen in the water, it means you have to complete the bridge soon - or lose a chance. Ice Palace Sequence: Tap the top edge of the disk to make Vali stop, if you don't want to throw fireballs while moving. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Game Program designed by Patrick Schwmitz ©1983 IMAGIC 710012-1A All Rights Reserved