OVERLANDER ========== The year is 2025. The once green end beautiful planet now resembles Death Valley. USA. The soil is dry and scorched; there is little vegetation to be seen anywhere. The Earth has been in this state ever since the ozone layer was destroyed in the latter part of the twentieth century. They say the aerosol was to blame; a primitive form of dispensing container using highly dangerous propellant gas. Scientists saw the holes developing in the ozone layer and sent warnings but they were never taken seriously, until it was too late. The holes were there and they were growing. The damage was minimal at first but eventually grow into an unstoppable apocalypse. Radiation from the sun caused terrible damage to the environment and forced people to retreat underground, safe from the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation. Vast subterranean cities evolved, but in isolation. Today, the only link between these underground cities is the old network of surface freeways, now ruled by anarcic gangs of outcasts, known wholy as surface dwellers. The only people daring to make trips these days are the Overlanders... The Overlandere are a breed apart They keep themselves to themselves. Their only passion in life is their customised cars; pre-apocalypse vehicles dragged underground and rebuilt; rebuilt for speed and survival. They make journeys for cash, running cargo across the surface dwellers gauntlet. Life is improving the car. Cargo's are carried for cash, cash means a better, faster, more powerful car... PLAYING INSTRUCTIONS At the beginning of each journey you must choose one of two cargoes to transport to the next city. You will be confronted by two offers, one from the Federation, and one from the Crimelords. One organisation will offer a higher reward than the other for completion of the contract. However, this cargo will be a more valuable, dangerous, or even illegal item. Because of the dangerous nature of the higher value cargo, and it's increased value to the surface dwellers, the trip will be more difficult as the gangs increase their determination to stop you. Fifty percent of the contract will be offered upfront to help fund the journey. Before heading out on the surface, you must prepare for the trip by purchasing enough fuel and weapons to see you through. The distance between cities varies so be careful not to waste money on unnecessary fuel. After fueling up you can choose the firepower and performance parts which will be needed for the trip, for a price. Only one type of weapon can be carried at once whereas add-ons can be held in any order and quantity. Some add-ons last for the entirety of the game once bought whereas some are bought in quantities which can be deplenished. The various weapons include a standard issue gun, a flame thrower, surface to surface missiles, and homing rockets. Powerful Disc brakes, a nitrous oxide injected turbocharger, and a leanburner engine can be bought to complement your car's performance. Several items such as battering rams, armourplating, bulletproofing, and wheelblades can also be added to make your life on the road a little easier. Extra cars can also be purchased if you have enough money. The surface is ruled by several gangs of outcasts, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on your car and it's cargo. Each gang poses a different but equally dangerous threat and their specific patterns of attack should be learnt if you are to survive for long on the surface. One gang call themselves The Crawlers. They don't possess any vehicles themselves, but prefer to travel on foot. They are known to block off sections of the surface roads with overturned cars and wooden fences in an attempt to force passing vehicles off the road. "Gunshot Alleys" are also set up where gang members line up on the sides of the road, armed with sawn off shotguns, taking shots at passing vehicles for points. The Roadhogs are another surface dwelling gang who cruise the open freeways in large steel plated limosines. They try to force other vehicles off the road by running into them at speed. Tough, aggresive driving is needed to shake these guys, or you could beat them at their own game and force them off the road into a passing obstacle. The Kamikazee's are a motorcycle gang with a difference. They follow a strange cult in which the greatest honour one can acheive is blowing up whilst pulling the ton on the open highway. Their religion does not allow them to blow themselves up but it is considered "proper" to run into other vehicles on the road, thus sacrificing themselves to the Great God Harley. To acheive the best explosion possible their bikes are booby trapped so that any contact with other vehicles will cause both the bike and the poor victim to explode into a thousand cubic centimetres (1000 cc). Bikers obviously explode if touched but can fortunately be destroyed if shot. The Kamikazee's have perfected a number of trick manouvers such as the loop-de-loop, the emergency stop, and the snake. Finally, there are the Offroaders, probably the toughest of the lot. These guys travel around in monster four wheel drive pick-up trucks, with an armed terrorist perched in the back. The armed man is equipped with petrol bombs, an elephant gun, anti-aircraft guns and occasionally a bazooka. Their trucks are heavily armoured and require a lot of fire power to destroy. CONTROLS UP - Accelerate DOWN - Brake LEFT - Turn left RIGHT - Turn right FIRE - Fire single shot from standard issue gun BACK + FIRE or SPACE - Launch special weapons Use joystick or redefinable keys. LOADING INSTRUCTIONS C64/128 Cassette SHIFT and RUN/STOP C64/128 Disk LOAD"*",8,1 Side 1. Spectrum 48k LOAD"" Side 2: Spectrum +2 Use Loader Spectrum +3 Use Loader Amstrad Cassette CRTL and ENTER Amstrad Disk RUN"OVER" Atari ST Insert disk and press reset Amiga Insert disk then switch computer on CREDITS 6502 coding by Richard Underhill. Z80 coding by Mark Haigh-Hutchingson. 68000 coding by Darren Pegg. Graphics by Gary Tonge and Peter Tattersal. Music and sound effects by Mark Cooksey. Game Design by Simon Cook. ©1988 Elite Systems International Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide Unauthorised copying, lending, broadcasting or resale without the express written permission from Elite Systems Ltd. is strictly prohibited.