********* 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. 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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 Axe of Rage manual. Converted to etext by Russell Reed . AXRAGE10.TXT, November 1996, etext #96. ********* AXE OF RAGE Pact of the Axe Thunk! The woolly mammoth thudded down dead, its throat split by the flying axe. Mariana ran out from her ambush, pulled the axe from the woolly's throat, and deftly sliced two giant steaks from the animal's flanks. "Lunch!" she yelled, raising both her voice and the steaming steaks to get her partner Gorth's attention. "Mmmmmm. Flank steak good!" Gorth chomped awhile. "I get dinner, OK?" he grunted, his overhung brow furrowing under the effort to communicate. "Gorth, we've got work to do before we eat again? Remember, we're on a quest", Mariana said. "We've got to find Drax and stop him from shrinking humankind's advanced brain capacity back down to the size of a pea. Drax will do to all of us what he did to you, and civilization will be thrown back millions of years!" "Unhgh -- that bad!" Gorth agreed. "So now we go fight bad Drax creatures -- Octospleens, Slimebodies, Flying Earwigs?" "...and Mutant Chickens! Yes, Gorth, we've got to keep our pact to chop, hack, slice, and dice our way to Drax's subterranean stronghold! At least we have something more powerful than all the hideous monsters Drax can summon." "What that?" he asked. Mariana hoisted her weapon, its curved blade glowing with blinding ferocity. "The Axe of Rage," she yelled, stomping her feet in the dust. "Axe ... of ... Rage!" Gorth echoed, swinging his weapon furiously overhead. "We big. We bad. We go axe Drax!" Loading Instructions Commodore 64/128 1. Apply your Axe of Rage tattoo. Then set up your system and plug in a joystick. 2. Make sure your disk drive is empty. Turn on the disk drive first, then turn on the other system components. For the Commodore 128, hold down C= when you turn on the system to set it to C64 mode. 3. Insert Axe of Rage Disk 1 into the drive. Type LOAD "*",8,1 and press Return. (Or, if you have an Epyx Fast Load cartridge, hold down C= and press Run/Stop.) The program loads and the title screen appears. 4. Press the fire button. The Choose Warrior screen appears. Move the joystick handle left or right to select either Gorth or Mariana to fight your battles. 5. Press the fire button to begin play. During play, follow the on- screen messages that tell you when to flip the disk. 6. To pause the game, press Run/Stop. Press the fire button to resume play. Press Q to start a new game at the last level you played. To begin a new game at level 1, reboot your computer. Atari ST 1. Apply your Axe of Rage tattoo. Then set up your system and plug in a joystick. 2. Insert Axe of Rage Disk 1 into drive A and turn on your system. The program loads and the title screen appears, followed by the Choose Warrior screen. 3. At the Choose Warrior screen, move your joystick handle left or right to select either Gorth or Mariana to fight your battles. 4. Press the fire button to begin play. During the game, follow the on- screen messages that tell you when to switch disks. 5. To pause the game, press P. Press it again to resume play. Master the Axe! As Gorth or Mariana, you must fight Drax's hideous creatures before gaining access to his Subterranean Sanctum. His monsters are everywhere, waiting to kick, club, stab, bite, and claw. Here's how to move and fight: Facing Right, Fire Button Pressed High Chop. ^ | Flying <- -> Kick. neck chop. | v Low chop. Facing Right, Fire Button Released Run. Press fire button while running to jump ^ | Back up. <- -> Walk. Run through / \ Run through archway. | archway. v Turn around. Note: When facing left, reverse the right and left joystick moves. You have six lives to battle Drax and his nightmarish monsters. Keep an eye on the two strength bars and the life counter at the top of the screen. The left bar shortens as the monster weakens during battle; the right bar shortens as you weaken. When your strength bar disappears you lose a life, and one of the life counter buttons changes color. Then the game resumes. If you lose all your lives, the game ends. Meet the Monsters Before you can axe Drax, you must successfully battle the creatures in the first three levels. Although some monsters are tougher than others, an encounter with any creature can be lethal. Valley of Despair (Level 1) Your nightmares come to life as you battle Blade Bellies, face Flying Earwigs and Mutant Chickens, and knock out Knuckle Draggers. Pith-Doff Man has a club with your name on it and Lardosaurus is after your head! The Caverns (Level 2) Cave Crabs and Whiptails are the least of your worries. Orc Guards tower over you and Slimebodies slither at your feet. Get ready to punch it out with the Dwarf Dukers or have a maul with a Razor-Tooth Tiger. The Dungeon (Level 3) Does getting face to face with giant Eyeballs make you uneasy? Does just looking at the Octospleens and Leaping Larvae make you queasy? Does Buster Chops look big, bad, and sleazy? That's nothing! The Carniverous Pit Lizard will show you where all those skulls come from! And don't overlook the Teeny-Weeny Greenies just because they're small. Drax's Subterranean Sanctum (Level 4) If you've made it this far, don't relax! The Gargantuan Phlegm Launcher and Pit Fiend are waiting for you. If you can beat them, go into the final room to axe Drax. Use your best (and trickiest) axe move and go for the jugular. If you keep your head, Drax loses his. More Horror Watch your step! Touching lethal liquids knocks you flat and drains your strength. Use your advanced brain capacity and jump over these: * Lava rivers flowing through the Valley of Despair. * Cave crud trickling across Cavern floors. * Dripping gore that seeps from Dungeon walls to puddle underfoot. Magic Charms You must grab two charms in each of the first three levels in order to finish your quest. When you find a charm, walk into it to pick it up. Charms you collect appear at the lower left of your screen. * Protect yourself from Drax's evil magic with the Globe. * Find the Shield or you'll never complete your quest. * The Magic Potion increases your resistance to pain. * You need the Jewel to survive Drax's Subterraneum Sanctum. * Without the Key you'll be trapped in the Dungeon forever. * The Sacred Axe gives you the strength to face Drax's creatures. * The battle areas are littered with Skulls. These are the remains of warriors who attempted to battle Drax without collecting all the magic charms. Each skull you pick up gains you back one life. You can collect skulls even if you haven't lost any lives. More Tips for the Axing Sure you're primitive, but you're savvy enough to know it takes more than brute strength to cut down your attackers. Use these tips for monster management: * Time your blows to save your strength and polish creatures off with the fewest chops possible. With the right technique, you can destroy some monsters with a single, well-placed blow. * Eliminating monsters gains you points. But if you're getting walloped and want a breather, run from slow monsters and jump over low ones. * Avoid facing the Gargantuan Phlegm Launcher until the last possible moment. That way you can survive his hits, cross the room, and get your chops in. * You've got nothing to fear from the Pit Fiend if you're carrying all the magic charms. * Practice your moves between battles. Mastery of all the chops, kicks, and evasive maneuvers is your best bet for staying alive. Mapping The Valley of Despair, the Caverns, and the Dungeon levels are mazes. The Valley has 26 battle areas, the Caverns have 28 areas, and the Dungeon has 27 areas. Each battle area is a separate screen. Explore all the screens by walking right or left off one screen and onto another, and by walking through archways at the backs of the screens. If you're hesitant with your axe, monsters can push, kick, or batter you into adjoining screens. The north, south, east, and west orientation changes from screen to screen. The sword at the bottom of the screen acts as a compass and reorients for each screen with the sword tip pointing north. [ Map entitled "Valley of Despair (Level 1)" omitted ] A warning pulses at the bottom of the screen when you reach the exit to the next level. Don't walk onto the next level without gathering the two magic charms in this level! Once you leave a level, you can't return to it. Exploration is easier if you map the levels. Use the maps of the Valley of Despair and the Caverns to get the hang of mapping techniques. The Valley of Despair map shows all archways and most of the pits and rivers. The Caverns map shows all the archways, but you'll need to add in the pits and cave crud. In both maps, the arrows point to the back of the screens. For the Dungeon and Drax's Subterranean Sanctum, you're on your own. [ Map entitled "The Caverns (Level 2)" omitted ] Scoring You score points for each successful blow. The points awarded depend on difficulty and execution of the move. Since some monsters are harder to destroy, some monsters are worth more points. When you either axe Drax or run out of lives, the game ends and the high score table appears. If your score is higher than one of the scores on the table, you can enter your name or initials. On the Commodore 64/128, move the joystick handle up or down to scroll through the alphabet, then press the fire button to select each letter. On the Atari ST, type your initials from the keyboard, then press Return. Press the fire button to start a new game. The high score table is saved until you turn the computer off. Important Information Axe of Rage game design and conception by Steve Brown. Graphics by Steve Brown and Jo Walker with additional work by Lorne Campbell. The Atari ST version programmed by IDS Consultants. The Commodore 64/128 version programmed by Rob Stevens. Axe of Rage game manual by the writing team at Epyx, Inc. Epyx, Fast Load, and Axe of Rage are trademarks of Epyx, Inc. Atari ST is a trademark of Atari Corporation. Commodore 64 and Commodore 128 are trademarks of Commodore Electronics Limited. Axe of Rage game program copyright 1988 by Palace Software, Ltd. Manual copyright 1989 by 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 Axe of Rage manual. *********