Myth: History in the Making

MYTH - History in the Making

(c)1989 System 3

Programming: Peter Baron

Graphics: Bob Stevenson

Producer: Mark Cale

Concept: Mark Cale

Additional Design: Bob Stevenson & Peter Baron

Music: Jeroen Tel/Maniacs of Noise - Stefan Hartwig (loader)

-----------------------------------------------------

GENRE: Action Adventure





THE MYTH STORY



Magical tales of intrigue and mystery were spawned thousands of

years ago, as the world's civilisation believed that

mythological gods and demons carved out the way of the world.

They were said to have dealt their own hand in the epic Game of

Life and ruled their domains with cast iron law and powerful

sorcery not known to mere mortals. The subsequent fear of such

sorcery enabled the gods to mold their own world, like an

elaborate game of chess, and pre-ordain the fate and destiny of

their minions. The combination of ruling bodies kept the world

in balance and laid the foundations of our history.



Only a mortal can attempt to change the eras of time...



***********

An everyday lad lounges at his desk fully submerged in an article

he reads aloud in his complex mind, about Medusa, the terrifying

snakes that entwine her scalp, and shivering coldness of her

black-eyed stare as she turns courageous men to solid stone. The

lad seems arrogantly amused with what he reads and curls his

upper lip in an aggrieved sneer, signaling his resentment at the

brash, uniformed way in which his favorite daydreams had been

handled.



"This guy's a jerk", rolls off his silver tongue as he hurls the

trash magazine into an overused bin. It seems near bursting with

a hive of knowledgeable mythological drawings, screwed up and

scribbled out, that weren't quite good enough or didn't depict

how a certain fable was meant to annihilate all who dared

challenge it or who didn't respect its vital role in the strat-

egic Game of Live and History. He would spend hours thumbing

through books and sketching the theories as he understood them,

believing that mythology was for real, believing everything was

there for a reason, believing that titanic gods watched his

every moves and even played some of them for him so as to ensure

that foreseen destiny would indeed take its course.



This guy was hooked, at times he wore blinkers to everyday life,

or upset school teachers with his hankering on about myths and

how they were the only history any of us need learn if we were

to ensure the future turns of the world were in the right

direction.



Maybe he seemed a little confused, strange to some teachers, but

everyone warmed to him. He wore the right trainers, the right

jeans, he hung out with the right guys, danced to the right

music. His cockiness and arrogance was a lure to all the best

girls in school and his contempt for those who wouldn't listen

to him, shieded him, and gave him bigger following than the

school football captain. This guy was a happening, a hero to

younger kids, a thorn in the side of history teachers and a

real worry to his parents who had seen his obsession grow from a

passing interest to the only supporting crutch his life seemed

to be leaning on. This obsession wooed him to sleep at night and

led him through everyday life with hypnotic effect. He couldn't

wait to get home and lose himself in mythological literature, to

draw his favorite characters and dream of long-fought battles

through time itself.



If he only knew. Word of his undying loyalty to mythology had

not only spanned the length and breadth of the school playing

fields and formed major points of discussion over school dinners,

but had astonishingly penetrated the Heavens.



The last remaining good titans had been casting a hopeful net

over our planet for some time, a global search that had them

clammering for a mortal with character, cunning, and most of all,

belief. These great universal dictators had swallowed their pride

and had finally succumbed to the fact that their means of

rulership was now rapidly becoming a laughing stock. Strong,

steadfast beings who aggressively ruled the Heavens, the Seas,

the Land, were now in a state of panic. The evil god Dameron, a

self-appointed leader, turning the skies black with rage and the

seas red with the blood of many a god who dared question his

tyranny. Bloodbaths arose in the Heavens, death was meeting

those who refused to control their part of History in his way

and the once seemingly solid temple of this History was now being

severely rocked to its very foundations.



The law stated that the great gods could not interfere directly

with the destiny of Modern History, but that the world's future

lay with its past and therefore by changing the past, Dameron

will conquer the future and forever destroy mortal Life.



An encouraging fire engulfed the era of time as they found who

they were looking for and with the discovery of a mortal with

such a belief they breathed tentative, if not premature, sighs

of relief into the soul of our hopeful History.



They were to visit him in his sleep and bargain with mortality,

convince him that his relentless pursuit of mythology was to be

rewarded by actually meeting the gods he dreamt of by battling

the demons he scribbled on pieces of old paper, by solving the

life and death riddles of ancient leaders. He must confront the

twisted power of Dameron and struggle through all the corner-

stones of time, putting right the evil god's wrongdoings and

setting the wheels of our History in motion once again in the

right direction.



They were to take him through all mythological eras of time,

including roman-greek, norse-viking and egyptian. then onwards

towards the greatest challenge for no mere mortal except this

one, Dameron. The world's future is at stake and must be

brought back to tranquil normality. He must remember his

arrogance, he must have faith in the prophecies he tried to

enforce upon others.



He must believe that this is



History in the Making!



**************************************************



INTRODUCTION TO THE GAME



This game has 4 levels. They are:



1. Greek Legends

2. Norse Legends

3. Egyptian Legends

4. The Final Confrontation (with Dameron)



Each level has several phases, which can be quite different in

play. The end of the last level is followed by a game End

Sequence.





CONTROLS OF THE CHARACTER MOVEMENTS



Plug joystick in Port 2 (no keyboard controls).



Upon Level load completion press Fire to start (this allows you

to take a rest in-between levels...).



Without Fire button pressed, the joystick controls the movements

around the screen. There is walking and jumping (2 kinds). With

Fire depressed, you are in the fighting mode, and motion of

joystick then gives (Level 1 through 3):



Throw Daggers

High kick (pulled _____ | ______ High punch

opposite to facing) \ | / or weapon blow

\ | /

\ | / Middle punch

Kick (pulled -------------X------------ or stab with weapon

opposite to facing) / | \ (or throw fire bolts)

/ | \

Low kick (pulled _____/ | \_______ Lower punch

opposite to facing) | or stab with weapon

Kneel / Crouch

(or icon pick up)



Notes:

1. Directions are for facing right. When facing left, reverse

all directions.

2. Some weapons have to be worked with fire button in conjunc-

tion with joystick movement (you will have to try!).





WEAPONS



Levels 1 thru 3 have various weapons that you obtain by

various ways (for you to find out - hints are provided below).

You start with your bare fists...



You select the weapon by pressing the < | | > keys to scroll

left-right or right-left. The center top of the screen shows

only 3 slots, so not all the weapons you have show. You have to

scroll. The center one is the one in use.



Level 4 is unique in this area as you are on a magic carpet

fighting like a jet fighter... So the controls are like hori-

zontal shoot'em up games. You do get various weapons there too.





LIVES/ENERGY



The top right of the screen shows the number of lives in reserve

and your energy. Instead of an energy bar you have 3 (at start)

energy pellets which change color upon use. In the game you may

have up to 4 such pellets as you can gain new ones in the play.

So it is for lives. You can have up to 7 in reserve even though

you start only with 2.





GENERAL HINTS



Always remember you can pause/unpause the game using the P key!



The first aspects of the game you should MASTER are the JOYSTICK

controls. The highly interactive nature of the game is required

because of some of the COMPLEX MOVES the main character has to

perform. A high level of competence at the controls will enhance

your game play CONSIDERABLY. Try use with trainers on!



Because of the adventure elements, our second suggestion is that

you should get into the habit of RECORDING what happens on each

screen. This will enable you to obtain HIGHER SCORES with

repeated play.



The last point is, NEVER take anything FOR GRANTED - some things

are not as they appear. Be curious, nosey, etc. and try

everything. Throwing things in fire can bring unexpected results

for example.



-------------------------------------------------------

Written in June 2000 with input by COWBOY of FBR (1989), and

hints from Kim Lemon's Site discussion board, as well as the

VOID Site info for the Spectrum.





-END-





(extras from the original instructions sheet)



Keyboard controls



[...]



For Spectrum and Amstrad owners



SPACE BAR - Cycle through and select icon in window

- Press again outwards to get back in the game

Q - Left

W - Right

I - Up

J - Down / small jump

O - Fire

H - Pause game



If these keys prove unsuitable to some games players, there is an option to define the keys at the beginning of the game.





Status area definitions



For Spectrum and Amstrad owners



Status area

ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿

³Score ³ ³Amount ³ ³Energy ³

ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ

ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿

³Lives ³ ³Collected items³ ³Teleport cons ³

ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ



Lives - Ammount of lives (up to six)

Score - Current score

Amount - Shows the number of times the currently selected item can be used

Items - Shows what you are holding. Press SPACE to select them

and LEFT and RIGHT to move

Energy - Shows your energy. When energy is low the man will pulse

colours. When energy reaches zero a life is lost and

energy reset to maximum

Teleport icons - The amount of these you have collected so far. When all

have been collected they will flash continuously to

confirm that the master icon is on the map



[...]



Clues



For Spectrum and Amstrad owners



Collect all the "TELEPORT ICONS" to reveal a "MASTER ICON". This is then

used on the "TELEPORT PAD" to get results.



CHEST

Treasure what you may find.



VASES

Take a welcome break and your quest could prove fruitful.



GEMS

Just what the doctor ordered.



HEART ITEM

Conserve your strength and realise your limitations.



DOVE

Be flight and cause a major coo!



SKULLS

A burning desire brings out the devil in you.



MEDUSA

Head off in the right direction and open your eyes to all around you.



TRIDENT

Be a kill joy, two's company but there's a crowd.



SACK

As you journey onwards, remember you have certain statutory rights.



BOLTS

It all adds up to a lot, so save some for a rainy day.





==========================================================================

Taken from Project 64 with additional material by Cristian Secara.

Readapted for the Spectrum in 2000 AD by

Alessandro "Gazzosa" Grussu