ESCAPE FROM COLDITZ Typed by SIDEWINDER & PARASITE of LSD. AIM Your four characters have been imprisoned in Colditz castle and its up to you to guide them to freedom. Each character is allowed to move freely within his own quaters, and at certain times in the inner courtyard. You will need to explore deep into the German quaters in order to collect the equiptment you need to escape. CONTROLS Joystick in port 2 OPENING DOORS There are hundreds of doors throughout the castle and many will be locked. A collection of keys and lock-picks can be found and used to open these doors. There are three types of door, which are: Low Security Door - Use a lock-pick to open it Grade 1 Security Door - Use a Grade 1 key to open it Grade 2 Security Door - Use a Grade 2 key to open it Each key/lock-pick can only be used once but any unlocked doors will remain so until the end of the game. Beware of the Prisoner's Quarters because many of the doors here lead into small empty rooms - therefor precious keys may be unecessarily wasted. Explore all areas as soon as possible and remember which contain useful items so they can be collected early on in future games. AVOIDING GERMANS The Castle is regularly patrolled by sentries, who walk around on selected routes looking to stop escape attempts. Some Germans (if they think a POW's getting away) may open fire. As these guards are skilled marksmen, they will need only one bullet to kill a potential escapee. To minimise the chance of a Guard shooting you in the back, place a solid object (such as a wall) between yourself and the Nazi. Even better is to walk through an unlocked door where you will be able to hide and should remain safe for a while. Wait in a room in 'Stooge' for a couple of minutes and the guard should go away, as they rarely enter certain rooms at all. However, leaving sanctuary too early may mean the guard is still snooping around and you are likely to get arrested. Beware when opening doors because sentries have a nasty habit of waiting on the other side. Arrest in this situation is almost unavoidable, as you will usually walk straight into the German! Remember there are always AT LEAST two sentries patrolling each courtyard AT ANY TIME. EQUIPMENT Various tools and other important items can be collected to aid your escape. Most are hidden behind walls, tables, bunks, etc, so you should investigate every possible hiding place. Some of the most important equipment includes: Keys - Use these to open specific doors. Lock-pick - Use these to open low-security doors. Uniform - Disguise yourself as a Nazi. Pass - Use this with the uniform. It will be discarded if stopped and interrogated by genuine guards. Papers - Needed at the main gateway in conjunction with the Pass and Uniform. Pick-axe, Saw, Spade - Use to re-open disused tunnels. Candle - Needed in tunnels to light your way. Stone - Throw to distract the attention of suspicious guards. Never carry too much equipment at once because if you're caught every item will be confiscated and lost. Stash equipment in 'Safe' areas (such as the Chapel) as these places are never searched by the Germans. Although several trips may be required and this can be time consuming, you run no risk of having valuable equipment confiscated. YOUR MEN You can set up one or more of your men as 'stooges' or lookouts, by pressing F10. When a German comes near to him, control will automatically switch to him and thereby give you a warning of approaching guards. To come out of 'stooge' mode reselect him by pressing keys F1 to F4. KEYS Toggles Walk/Run. , Cycles through your inventory. Pick up. Put down. F1 Control British POW F2 Control French POW F3 Control American POW F4 Control Polish POW F5 View all POW's F10 Stooge GENERAL HINTS Pressing the F9 key will allow your POWs to go to sleep in a bunk at their start location. This is very useful at night because the Fatigue bar will diminish. If a tired POW is sent to Solitary, rest him for a few minutes when he is returned to his Quarters. Use the map supplied with the game as it gives an outline to each sector of the castle. Although not every room is included, at least it shows you roughly your current whereabouts. Nazi guards will not hesitate to open fire if it looks as if you're getting away. If a pursuing sentry stops running then it's a safe bet he's about to fire - and they never miss. A good tactic to avoid this is, if the German is not too close, to suddenly stop running. The sentry will run towards you to make an arrest at which point you should continue your escape and head for a door or obstacle to put between you. As it takes a second for a Nazi to raise and lower his rifle you will still be able to successfully avoid him - but only if your timing is right! Fatigue plays an important part in the game, especially after a POW has been doing a lot of running. If the Fatigue bar is filled, you will only be able to walk. End.