THE BACKGROUND

It all started one bright spring day when you found a tatty blue 
envelope waiting on the mat. It was from uncle Arthur, a friendly 
but faintly black-sheepish sort of uncle, known for unlikely, and 
largely unsuccessful business ventures, usually connected with 
distant planets. Uncle Arthur was in trouble, and knowing your 
brilliance with computers, had turned for help in the only 
direction he could think of.
    
He was the owner-or so he claimed-of the mining rights to 
T'ngl-y-wd, a small, undistinguished planet in a remote galaxy. He 
had bought these rights from a big company who had been unloading 
a lot of useless property in an attempt to improve thier cash-
flow. Little had come of it, and the planet was about to be added 
to the long list of Arthurs might-have-beens when a series of 
extraordinary events occured.

To cut a long story short ,one of Arthurs mining mobiles had 
been used to rescue a local inhabitant from the clutches of a 
rogue t'ngl dog. This usually benign animal had been badly 
disorientated by a particularly violent earthquake, and had run 
amok. The local inhabitant turned out to be the great sage of 
Tanglewood, and in gratitude, the local people showed Arthur (via 
the mining mobile), certain secret properties of some pretty, but 
otherwise unremarkable stones, which had previously been ignored.

These stones-now christened Dog crystals- might have great value, 
and even military potential, and their close relative-the very 
rare Ice Emerald-possibly important indusrial use. Sadly, Arthur 
talked too much over the beer one night, and the news got out. 
The big boys have decided to muscle in.

The company who (Arthur says) sold him the mining rights, now 
maintain that they never did so. They have re-established their  
operational base on the planet with a hastily assembled new 
security system. They are deploying short range disruptor 
mobiles to damage Arthur's own mobiles. What's more (Arthur 
claims), they have stolen the documents which gave him sole 
mining rights, and are bringing a case in the inter-galactic 
court to have him thrown out. Right may have been on Arthur's 
side, but what is right whan faced by big money ?
His only chance is to find those documents before the court case-
which gives him ten days. To make matters worse, his latest 
mobile operator, who was making some progress, had vanished in 
suspicious circumstances, and there's no time to get another. He 
appeals to you, with your knowledge of computers, to help him, 
and promises you a large share of the profits if you succeed.

Well, you've nothing special on for the next few days-so why not 
give it a go ? You have your suspicions that Arthurs side of the 
story may not be the only one, but he might just be telling the 
truth for once. One thing's for sure, you expect to find some 
pretty ropy equipment knowing Arthurs preference for second-hand 
hardware whenever he can get it. Even so, you could hardly have 
expected the antique load of junk you find when you get started. 
Computers out of the 20th century!-and who on earth wrote the 
software? The only help you've got are the notes Arthurs last 
operator was making before he vanished (just in case anything 
'happened' to him and someone else had to take over).

         OPERATOR'S MANUAL (notes by P.A.T)

            T'NGL-Y-WD- THE HISTORY

Discovered in the early 21st century by a Hungarian gypsy with 
vaguely celtic ancestors. It's always called Tanglewood, since 
nobody (apart from the locals, and Pete Lyon) can pronounce it's 
name.

Locals are called T'nglians, and are basically friendly, though 
difficult to contact. They seem to be on our side-suspect they 
are telepathic. Their culture is weird-ritual is very important 
to them, even when it seems to have absolutely no purpose (see 
under 'Telephone' and 'Space flight' ). They are basically non-
technological, but have adopted a few of our ways-very strangely.

SPACE FLIGHT
There is a daily shuttle to the three moons-Neera, Fahtha and 
Furthera. Don't know what for, they're only barren chunks of 
rock. Suspect the journey has some sort of ritual significance.

TRADING
There are four trading centres, but they have their own rules. 
Basically, Tanglians only seem to offer what they think you need 
(how do they know ?).
Each centre uses only one form of currency-Tanglians themselves 
don't uses currency so this is for our benefit-but they don't 
seem to have understood the system properly. They won't give 
change. All trade requires ritual protocol first (see under 
'Communications').

TELEPHONES
No idea what they use these for. Suspect they may be part of some 
elaborate initiation ritual, or even a practical joke. They do 
need to be answered, though. T'nglian etiquette requires a reply 
to communication , even when it doesn't seem to make sense.

COMMUNICATIONS
There seem to be two forms. One is straightforward, and our 
mobiles can translate perfectly well. Other forms require correct 
ritual replies (such as when trading). I've fixed up one of the 
mobiles to use the data i've managed to collect, but i left the 
disk in one of the bases, and can't remember which one at the 
moment.

T'NGLIAN BASES
Can't get to either. Ones in the earthquake zone, and we can't get 
the road repaired since a landslip buried the equipment. The 
other's requires understanding of a particularlly obscure Tanglian 
ritual. Suspect the local church comes into it somewhere.

CHURCH
Tanglia is a member of the Anglican communion!! Very high church. 
They obviously like the ritual.

INITIATION RITUALS.
Tanglians won't trust us fully until we've passed various tests. 
Trouble is, they won't' let us know what the tests are.

DOG-CRYSTALS
we haven't found any yet, but the Tanglian great sage told us the 
following:(you can believe this if you like-i think it's probably 
just a local old house-persons tale, or another of their weird 
tests). The crystals are inert during the day due to the great heat 
of the Tanglian sun. At night they may be tuned to certain 
electronic frequencies. They will then feed off the tiny 
quantities of radition such as our mining mobiles give off. They 
are very pretty. Also (and this is what interested the military), 
once tuned in they will protect their hosts against certain forms 
of energy, and are able to absorb great quantities without harm 
to themselves.

ICE EMERALDS
These are apparently very rare (so rare you'll never find one 
?). They are closely related to dog crystals, but absorb heat. 
They could therefore be very valuable in industrial applications 
which need small, efficient cooling systems. They are also made 
inert by exposure to the Tanglian sun, though probably in this 
case it is simply because they very quickly absorb as much heat 
as they need.

THE OPERATING SYSTEM

Pretty ancient ! Modern systems use a development of Ritter-
Pavlovsky transfer (see below), but Arthur couldn't afford that. 
We use a hybrid of pre-digested data plus an early form of R-P 
transfer for unmapped areas. That means that what we see is not 
actually there!! The map of the planet surface is continually re-
created from mobiles pre-recorded data. For unmapped areas (like 
the forest) we have to switch to R-P transfer, but it's 
practically the original pioneering system. It works like this:

RITTER-PAVLOVSKY TRANSFER (early version)

As it is usually impossible or incomprehensible to provide an exact 
image of alien landscapes, the mobile matches what it actually 
sees against it's data banks, and provides us with the nearest 
equivalent in Terran terms. Since data banks are limited, views 
which are actually different may be transmitted to us looking the 
same. There is also a timelapse while the computer carries out 
the conversions, so that the mobile cannot transmit continuously. 
By the time the picture gets to us, the mobile may have come round 
full circle, or found a dead end and returned, changed direction, and 
so on. There is no guarantee that if you go back the way you came, 
you will get back to where you started, although you often 
do. In the early days, this used to drive the operators crazy, 
until they learned to use the mapping techniques, well known from 
certain sorts of computer game. (Imagine, they used computers to 
play games in the old days!). It's tough ,but possible.

THE MOUSE

Everything works by mouse control. There are 7 switches on the 
console, and five numbered buttons. All these are dead easy to 
use (left button ). Then there are five little screens apart from 
the main one. Top is a picture of the mobile (if it hasn't been 
zapped), then there are three to show what's it's carrying. The 
bottom screen is used by the mobile to show anything it finds 
(these objects don't show on the map-see notes on the operating 
system). To get it to pick something up, drag it to the carrying 
screens, and reverse to drop something. It won't drop anything if 
there is already something there (it confuses the computer), or 
in certain other places where it might not be retrievable.But be 
careful-the hostile mobiles somtimes collect things they find and 
hide them in the control centre. They also steal things when they 
zap our mobiles.

You don't need to type anything in, if you want to use something, 
or open it up, click on it with the left button. If you want to 
know more about it, use the right button.

DIALS

Top left:heat gauge. Goes from red to white and back to red 
during the day, and light blue to deep purple and back during the 
night. Bands move across the gauge to give a visual impression of 
the time. The day elapsed number is also shown.

Yellow dial below mobile picture:Energy gauge.Dial to right of 
text:indicates when objects found.

STEERING

Call a mobile (numbered buttons).It appears centre screen-or if 
it is in a building or base, the building appears centre screen. 
To get mobiles moving, move on to the main screen (the bulb 
comes on and the mouse disappears) and click either button. The 
mobile will then follow the mouse-if it can. If it was hidden in 
a building, you'll have to direct it the right way out before it 
will appear. If it can't move, it won't bother telling you-it just 
won't move. If it tells you why it can't go somewhere, one of the 
others can. All the mobiles have limited energy, and will stop when 
they run out. They recharge automatically while one of the others 
is being used-but it doesn't do to get caught in the open. Energy 
can be difficult to judge (see under computer reports)

Steering can be tricky until you're used to it. When you start, 
imagine the mouse is in the centre of a small pointed star, and 
use the points as your directions. The biggest move rules, so if 
you've shifted the mouse a long way right, that direction will 
rule until you move back again, or move even further in another 
direction. Very small moves are enough to change direction, and 
if you anticipate a turn slightly, it helps.

To stop, click again with either button. All commands are 
effective on button up, so to be sure of a result, you can hold 
the button down a little longer than usual.

In some sectors (e.g during R-P transfer), you will get an arrow 
on screen. The NORTH pointing arrow (rust coloured) will cause a 
change of LOCATION in whatever direction you're facing (and due 
to problems of R-P transfer, that may not be the direction you 
thought you were facing). The green arrows (WEST,EAST and SOUTH) 
will cause a change of DIRECTION only (turning on the spot), not 
a change of location.

COMPUTER REPORTS

While you're moving, the computers are fully occupied keeping 
track of your position. You get only updates on things like energy, 
time of day, heat and so on, when you come off the main screen 
(and then, of course, the hostiles start tracking you).

           THE MOBILES

Most of these are fit for the scrapyard. They've not been 
properly maintained, and most of them have bugs in their data. 
For a start, all climbing data seems to be corrupt in one way or 
another.

MOBILE1
Pretty ancient mining mobile, but it works fairly well. It's been 
reinforced with extra plating to try to defend against 
disruptors. It didn't work, and all we've got now is a heavy mobile. 
It also lost it's mining data somewhere, so you can't even get 
the thing into the mines at the moment. On the other hand, it has 
been adapted to use simple tools.

MOBILE2
A bit more modern than 1, but not necessarily any better. At least 
it's still got it's mining data, but the climbing data is 
suspect. It's been fitted with a fancy jet-propulsion program to 
help it jump short distances, but it won't work-at least, the 
mobile objects whenever i've tried to use it. Also it's shock 
absorbers keep seizing up-they've got an oil leak or something 
equally ludicrous.

MOBILE 3
much the same as 2. This one's got the same data which is 
supposed to work with a gravity reducer to reduce it's weight. 
The theory is that it could then go into the swamp. But-guess 
what?-the gravity reducer's been lost. Arthur reckons it went 
into one of the lakes during the big earthquake.

MOBILE4
Supposed to have an adaption to let it go on water as well as 
land. It's also supposed to have the tool-using  extension like 
mobile 1. I wish i knew more, but we can't even contact this one, 
since the opposition stole it's reciever aerial. The mobile's in 
it's base but quite useless. If the aerial can be found, it goes 
in the bottom left section of the base.

MOBILE 5
This is the most modern of the lot-but it's got to stay near 
water during the day because the cooling system can't cope with 
the land temperatures. Some idiot also had the bright idea of 
programming it not to go into any of the buildings (to protect it 
or something). Still, it is invunerable to disruptors, and it has 
a new repair program to fix any of the others if they get zapped, 
though the program's only on Beta test. I have a feeling this one 
might just turn out to be the most useful of the lot.

All mobiles will tell you where they are, and whatever they know 
about what they're carrying. Just click the right switches. They 
also report any other communications directly, including messages 
from the opposition computer.

              THE OPPOSITION
I haven't been able to find out much-but for what it's worth, 
here it is.

Their mobiles have limited intelligence and range. Basically that 
means that if you keep moving. they're not very good at tracking 
you down, but if you stop- watch out! Also they constantly run 
out of gas, and new ones have to be sent out. As far as i can 
tell, they won't go into buildings.

The control centre is protected by a computer system which i 
managed to hack into very briefly before i was noticed. It seems 
to work in two ways. The external system will zap any 
unrecognized mobile, unless it is protected. Then the internal 
system allocates a security level to any mobile which gets in-and 
that's where the bug is, if there is one. If you get past the 
external system, the internal one assumes you must be authorized, 
even if it doesn't recognize you. The only trouble is that so far 
we haven't been able to get in! Also, as far as i can tell, use 
of the internal computer itself is part of the security system. 
In other words, if you can use it at all, it thinks you must be a 
recognized user.

In the end, the best plan might be to see if we can somehow cause 
a power failure in the system, but i don't see how unless the 
Dog-crystals really do work like the old man said.

          SUMMARY

Movement and commands:mouse-controlled

1. summon a mobile (left hand numbered buttons)

2. move onto the main screen (mouse vanishes, bulb on)

3. Click to start move

4. Mobile follows mouse

5. click to end move

When there is an arrow on screen:NORTH moves somewhere different
                                 EAST,SOUTH,WEST turn on the spot

To pick up an object, drag it from the 'found' screen to any of 
the three 'carrying' screens.

To drop an object, reverse the pick-up process. You cannot drop
objects  a)Where there is already another object
         b)Off the main map
         c)Certain locations which might later change

To use an object (e.g a box), use left button to click on it.

To get information about an object or a program in the mobiles 
suite of programs, use right button to click on it.

Note:to simplify things a bit, whenever you have used an object 
correctly it is simply removed from the game. This gives you less 
to think about.

THE SWITCHES
(Don't read this if you'd rather find out by experiment).

Four at the foot of the main screen (left to right)
1. Quit game (conformation required)
2. Save or restore game (up to 5 files)> To restart use either, 
and select RESTART from window, then insert disk B when asked.
3. Sound on or off
4. Pause

Only switch number 1 will work before a mobile has been selected. 
So to restore a saved game, load the program, select a mobile, 
then use switch 2.

Three underneath mobile picture (left to right)
1. Suite of programs.
2. Brief location description, and sometimes more.
3. Sound on or off
4. Pause

DIALS
1. Top left-heat/time gauge
2. under mobile picture-energy
3. To right of text-indicates object found.

The console is ONLY updated when you stop moving and come off the 
main screen.

     This is 007 signing off (to give my fingers a rest) 
     23/11/87
