********* Welcome to Project 64! The goal of Project 64 is to preserve Commodore 64 related documents in electronic text format that might otherwise cease to exist with the rapid advancement of computer technology and declining interest in 8- bit computers on the part of the general population. If you would like to help by converting C64 related hardcopy documents to electronic texts please contact the manager of Project 64, Cris Berneburg, at 74171.2136@compuserve.com. Extensive efforts were made to preserve the contents of the original document. However, certain portions, such as diagrams, program listings, and indexes may have been either altered or sacrificed due to the limitations of plain vanilla text. Diagrams may have been eliminated where ASCII-art was not feasible. Program listings may be missing display codes where substitutions were not possible. Tables of contents and indexes may have been changed from page number references to section number references. Please accept our apologies for these limitations, alterations, and possible omissions. Document names are limited to the 8.3 file convention of DOS. The first characters of the file name are an abbreviation of the original document name. The version number of the etext follows next. After that a letter may appear to indicate the particular source of the document. Finally, the document is given a .TXT extension. The author(s) of the original document and members of Project 64 make no representations about the accuracy or suitability of this material for any purpose. This etext is provided "as-is". Please refer to the warantee of the original document, if any, that may included in this etext. No other warantees, express or implied, are made to you as to the etext or any medium it may be on. Neither the author(s) nor the members of Project 64 will assume liability for damages either from the direct or indirect use of this etext or from the distribution of or modification to this etext. ********* The Project 64 etext of the Sports-A-Roni manual. Converted to etext by Russell Reed . SPORON10.TXT, November 1996, etext #97. ********* SPORTS-A-RONI IT'SA FUNNA! It'sa wild. It'sa wacky. It's Sports-A-Roni! Take eight of the silliest sports ever invented. Put them in eight of Italy's liveliest locations. Then invite 18 different countries to compete. And what have you got? Some downright, old-fashioned, world-class fun! Start with a sack race in pot-holed Naples. Then pop over to Pisa to balance a precarious pile of pasta plates. Next it's on to Rome, where you'll hurl Casanova's boot -- with or without a bootful of water. Then try to pole vault the Arno river -- without ending up with your head in the sand. Scale a pole in Verona that's coated with Italy's finest olive-oil -- and topped with her bubbliest seltzer. And if you're really starting to climb the walls by now, Venice is the place to do it. But don't forget your hat! When you take part in a pillow fight on a wobbly gondola, someone's going to end up in the canal. Then last but not least, pogo through a field of ancient ruins -- bursting balloons as you go. Play as many games as you like. Against as many as six opponents. Then view your final scores and placements on a special screen at the end of each event. Sports-A-Roni. It's enough to make you a little crazy. Which is exactly what makes it so much fun! GETTING STARTED To load Sports-A-Roni, find the information for your system in this section and follow the steps. || Note: When playing Sports-A-Roni on all systems, use the Epyx || 500XJ joystick with tactile-response micro-switches for precise, || instant control. The 500XJ is the only joystick that actually || fits your hand and puts the fire button right at your trigger || finger. Atari ST 1. Set up your system as explained in the owner's manual. If you're going to use a joystick, plug one into joystick port 1. For two players, plug another joystick into joystick port 0. 2. Insert Sports-A-Roni Disk A into drive A and turn on your system. 3. Sports-A-Roni loads and the title screen appears. Press the fire button to see the credits screen. 4. Insert Disk B as instructed and press the fire button. Commodore 64/128 1. Set up your system as shown in the owner's manual. If you're going to use a joystick, plug one into joystick port 2. For two players, plug another joystick into joystick port 1. 2. Remove all disks from the disk drives and turn on the system. For Commodore 128, hold down the C= key when you turn on the system to set it to C64 mode. 3. Insert the Sports-A-Roni disk into the drive, label side up. Type LOAD"*",8,1 and press Return. (Or, if you have an Epyx Fast Load cartridge, hold down the C= key and press Run/Stop.) 4. Sports-A-Roni loads and the title screen appears. Press the fire button to see the credits screen. Then press the fire button again. 5. Turn the disk over as instructed on screen and press the fire button. IBM PC and Compatibles 1. Set up your system, following the instructions in your owner's manual, and connect your joystick. 2. Insert the DOS disk into drive A and turn on the system. 3. After DOS boots, remove the disk from drive A and insert the Sports-A-Roni disk. 4. If your system boots from a floppy drive, type SPORTS and press Enter. If your system boots from a hard drive, type A: and press Enter. Then type SPORTS and press Enter again. Polly Plays a Record A screen appears showing a parrot, an old phonograph, and a box of records. Use the keyboard to type your name at the bottom of the screen. Then press Return. Next, choose your country. To cycle through all 18 countries, push the joystick handle forward or backward. When the country of your choice is shown, press the fire button. Then wait for the parrot to play you a song from your country. Continue entering names and choosing countries for every player. When all the players have finished, press Return to view the game selection screen. Selecting Games You'll now see a screen with eight video monitors and a video camera in the right hand corner. Each video monitor displays the name of a game and its number. The camera displays the number of the game currently selected. To change the number, move the joystick handle forward or backward. To select one game, push the joystick handle up or down to reveal a number from 1 to 8. When the number of the game you want is selected, press the fire button. The video monitor for that game will turn on. To play multiple games, continue selecting games until the video monitors for all the games you want to play are turned on. To practice or begin the competition, push the joystick handle up or down until the number 9 appears in the camera. Then push the handle right or left to see either Practice or Compete. When the word you want is showing in the camera, press the fire button to start. || Note: No scores are kept in a practice session. In multi-player games, you can select your opponent. Once a game starts, push the joystick handle up or down to highlight your opponent. Then press the fire button. To continue the game after each event, press the fire button. || Note: When instructed to flip the disk or insert a new disk, do || so and press the fire button to continue. ENJOYING THE GAMES Sack Race Bounce. Bounce. Bounce to the finish line. And try not to fall. But if you do, jump up again. And watch out for those manholes. Jump over 'em. Or go around 'em. Action Joystick Moves Begin the race. Press fire button and wait for the balloon to pop. Then move the joystick handle to the right. Race forward. Jiggle handle left and right. Go around Push handle up or down. manholes. Get up if you Push handle up. fall. Jump. Press fire button. || Note: When two players are competing, player 1 is at the bottom || of the screen. The player who crosses the finish line with the best time wins. Pile of Plates Whoa... Watch out! You've got a stack of plates. As many as you can carry. And you have to tread gingerly towards the finish line. Hold on to as many plates as you can. And still try to go as fast as you can. You only have 100 seconds! Action Joystick Moves Select the number Push handle up and down. of plates. Begin walking. Press fire button and push handle up. Walk faster. Push handle up. Walk slower. Pull handle down. (But be careful! If you do it too long, you'll start walking backwards.) Move arms to Push handle right or left. balance plates. Drop a plate. Press fire button. Scoring is based on the number of plates you're carrying when you cross the finish line. You earn 3 points for each plate plus 1 point for each unused second. Boot Throwing How far can you fling the boot? It all depends. On whether it's empty. Or full of water. And on whether you release it too soon. Or too late. It's tougher than it looks. And try not to drop the boot on your head! Action Joystick Moves Select empty or Push handle up or down to highlight selection. full boot. Then press fire button. Begin. Press fire button. Swing the boot. Push handle left and right. (The speed indicator in the right corner tells you how much force you've built up. Try to release the boot at full speed.) Release boot. Press fire button. The farthest throw wins. River Jump Pole vaulting is all in how you carry the pole. The ideal angle is perfectly straight. But the pole is heavy and prone to drop. So hold it steady while you run. Then let it drop at the river's edge. Action Joystick Moves Begin running. Press fire button. Control pole Push the handle up and down. (The best angle is angle. straight, but it takes practice.) Plant pole in Pull handle down. water. Release pole, Press fire button. vault across river. The player who jumps the farthest across the river wins. Pole Climbing Climb up, up, up to the top -- where there's a special surprise for you. It's a bottle of Italy's finest seltzer! But be careful sliding down. If you drop too fast, you'll break your precious prize. Action Joystick Moves Begin climbing. Press fire button. Climb pole. Push handle up, press and hold fire button, and pull handle down. Release fire button. Then repeat. (Your climbing speed depends on how fast you work your joystick.) Slow down your Press fire button. descent. || Note: When two players are competing, player 1 is on the left. The player who gets to the top and down again with the best time wins. Run Up the Wall This one will drive you up a wall! Literally. Get a running start. Then be sure and grab that hat as a prankster parrot drops it from the sky. Finally, climb the wall, sticking the hat there at the very top. And remember: you can't climb the wall if you don't have the hat. Action Joystick Moves Begin running. Push handle up. Go faster. Push handle up repeatedly. (The speed signal in the right corner tells you how much speed you've built up.) Slow down. Push handle down. Get in position Keep your eye on the birdie. (He'll stop three to catch hat. times before dropping hat. You have to get right under it.) Catch hat. Press fire button when hat is right above you. Climb wall Press fire button on your approach. Then push handle up. Place hat on top Press fire button when you're at highest point on of wall. wall. Climb down. Pull handle left, then down. The player who places the hat on the wall and safely jumps down with the best time wins. Pillow Fight Everyone loves a good pillow fight. Especially when the loser ends up in the water. Learn how to work the joystick for the best offensive -- and defensive -- moves. Action Joystick Moves Hit opponent on Hold down fire button and push handle down. your nearest side. Hit opponent on Hold down fire button and push handle up. your farthest side. Defend your Push handle down. nearest side. Defend your Push handle up. farthest side. For player on the right Hit opponent Hold down fire button and press handle left. from above. Dodge a hit from Press handle left. above. For player on the left Hit opponent Hold down fire button and push handle right. from above. Dodge a hit from Push handle right. above. || Note: When two players are competing, player 1 is on the left. You earn 5 points each time you hit your opponent with the pillow and 50 points if you can send him swimming. Pogo Stick What a pogo course! Complete with stone fences, archeological ruins, and billowy balloons. Pogo through the course, bursting balloons on your way. You have ten minutes to stomp all 20 balloons. Action Joystick Moves Begin pogoing. Push fire button. Pogo forward. Push handle up. Pogo backward. Push handle down. Move left or right. Push handle left or right. Get up if you fall. Press fire button. You earn 10 points for each balloon you pop and 1 point for each unused second. The player with the most points wins. SCORING At the end of each event, you'll see your score. At the end of the game, you'll see a scoreboard listing all players, their countries, the number of gold, silver, and bronze medals won, and the total point score. Each gold medal is worth 5 points, silver is worth 3 points, and bronze is worth 1 point. Epyx, Fast Load, and 500XJ are trademarks of Epyx, Inc. Atari and ST are trademarks of Atari Corporation. Commodore 64 and Commodore 128 are trademarks of Commodore Electronics Limited. IBM is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Sports-A-Roni, Tower Toppler, and U.S. Gold are trademarks of U.S. Gold Ltd., U.K. Sports-A-Roni game program is licensed from U.S. Gold Ltd. Copyright 1987, Gremlin Graphics, Ltd. Sports-A-Roni manual written by Paula Polley and Epyx, Inc. Copyright 1988 Epyx, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of all or any portion of this manual is not allowed without the specific written permission of Epyx, Inc. ********* End of the Project 64 etext of the Sports-A-Roni manual. *********