The following information is from the old Exile boxed game
manual. Mostly it is still relevant...
THE STORY SO FAR
After yet another dangerous mission on yet another alien planet, you lie back in
the commander's seat on the deck of your space-craft and look forward to being
warm and comfortable on planet Earth once again.
In your heart of hearts you know that one day soon you will get the calling,
indescribable urge to explore new galaxies, discovering new planets and naming
them after your favourite cartoon characters. But for now, you tell your
commander's seat to recline to near-horizontal call up 'Earth Sound Effects -
Babbling Brooks IV' on the ship's hi-fi, close your eyes and think of home.
The relaxed harmonious environment of your ship is suddenly interrupted by a
crackling on the speakers. The INCOMING DISTRESS SIGNAL message is projected
onto the main display screen, along with hundreds of seemingly random
statistics. Suddenly the sub-ether comms link is activated.....
"This is Commander Sprake of the Columbus Force Ship Pericles, on a mission to
colonise the planet Phoebus. Here's the data....."
The screen in front of you fills with even more numbers. You'll analyse them
later. You think to yourself.
Of course, you know all about the Columbus Force. After all, they gave you the
training and experience that has kept you alive so far. They perform the most
dangerous part of any colonisation procedure the initial setting up of a base.
The rewards are immense, but they work with little, if any, back-up.
You continue to listen to the disembodied voice extracted from the ether.
"We're in real trouble down here. You must help. Not for our sake- we may be
dead by the time anyone picks this up- but you MUST stop Triax! Please read this
information......"
The screen flickers. It now shows and old news bulletin about the genetic
engeneer who was found to be tampering with the brains and bodies of helpless
victims, turning them into ruthless terminators called himself TRIAX. He
was convicted and sent into space for punishment, destined to drift helpless in
the infinite void for the remainder of his life. You look at the date of the
report. It is over a century old - surely Triax should be long dead by now.
Yours thoughts are almost immediately answered by the Commander's voice.
"We didn't initially realise that anything was wrong, since he had hidden
himself in the Western system. Beneath a seemingly impenetrable door. The planet
is riddled with caves and tunnels, excavated by an ancient civilisation now
reduced to some pitfull imp-like creatures. We set up base in some caves, away
from the vicious winds on the surface.
"We dismantled a large section of the Pericles for material standard procedure
for colonising a new planet. It seemed for us to do so. The worst things we
found were some kind of giant wasps, but they usually seem to stay out of the
way, near to their nests".
You shudder with revulsion -you have always hated wasps from the first time you
regret losing all of your weapons in your last escape from the Acid Creatures of
Ravinox 5. But you will try to help. After all, where would humanity be without
having the explorers and colonists of the Columbus Force to satisfy insatiable
appetite for expansion? And they'd pay good money too - you wouldn't need to
sell your valuable personal transporter if you could rescue the Columbus Force
personnel, or avoid their deaths! You listen on intently......
"We knew something was terribly wrong when our Destinator went missing, leaving
us no choice but stay and explore further. We found that the mysterious western
door had opened - the entrance of Triax's domain. The screams of the doomed
exploration party still seem to be echoing around this hateful place. they had
our plasma gun and the latest PX312 Blaster Weapon with them, but it did them no
good against the shear magnitude of Triax's evil creations."
You have heard of the PX312, but have only dreamed of possessing one. It emits a
blast otf energy in directions without effecting the user. If only you could
find it, and the plasma gun too. You'd have to get through that western door
first, though.
"There are terrible creatures down there, the result of Triax's vile
experimentation. His lab is very deep down. He is creating a race of maggot
creatures to infest the universe. He has a giant machine manufacturing them. You
must destroy it! He must be stopped! Anyone! You must come! For pity's
sake.....!"
Sprake's voice, up to now the unnaturally calm voice of a condemned man, seems
to lose control. There are confused noises in the background, panicked voices
intermingled with sporadic icer shots. Sprake barks out some futile orders in
desperation, then there is a loud crashing sound, followed by silence. You hear
the distinctive sound of a Transporter materialisation, then a new voice, filled
with evil and malice.
"Finally I have you, Sprake. You and your surviving crew will make fine fodder
for my experiment. Humans are so much more interesting than the stupid imps and
maggots I've been forced to use for the last hundred years. Come, we will now go
to my laboratory."
All thoughts of the warmth and comfort of Earth are now forgotten. You are
heading for Phoebus......
SECURITY SYSTEM
(NB: This may be disabled on the emulated game)
*** Once you have located the correct code you must enter it,
either by using the spacemen to hit the corresponding digit on the AMIGA or
ATARI ST.
For example, if you are given the code 4354, the two codes are 6167(OUTER) and
0700 (INNER).
If you are using a pirated copy of EXILE, watch out! The game will modify itself
subtly to stop playing as the game progress, so it may not be immediately
apparent that somtehing is wrong. You will enjoy playing the game much more if
you have bought a genuine copy!
-----------
When the game begins, you will find yourself in your spacecraft above the planet
Phoebus. You see Triax materialise and steal your Destinator.
Your ship is helpless without the Destinator - there is no other way of tracking
the sub-space fractures which make intergalactic travel possible. The ultimate
aim of the game is to destroy the Maggot Machine, recover your Destinator,
and bring it back to your ship, at which point you will blast away from Phoebus.
You will get a large bonus for each member of the original launch party that you
rescue from captivity in the process.
Before you can complete the task, there are many problems to overcome and
puzzles to solve. There are often several ways to doing something. You must
explore as much as possible, and you may experiment freely with anything in the
environment. If you find yourself stuck, go back and explore - there maybe
something that you missed the first time. You could also read this manual again,
since it does include many helpful hints.
GETTING STARTED
This section describes how to complete the first part of the game. This may seem
unusual, but it is a insignificant small part of the whole game, and it is a
good way to painlessly introduce you to some of the main control methods
used in EXILE. It is not the definitive method of completing this part of the
game - you can, for example, get more grenades before going underground. Feel
free to miss out on a section if you want to explore by yourself.
When you arrive at Phoebus, you will see Triax teleport into your ship, steals
your Destinator and then teleport away again. That is the last you will see of
the Destinator for a long time! Without it your spaceship is stranded, so you
need to get out and explore.
To manoeuvre, you may use either the directional thrust keys or the eight usual
joystick directions.
You can see the pair of airlock doors, but they are locked. To unlock the doors,
you need to press the switch near the front of the ship - just bump yourself
against it. You may accidentally press the switch a second time, which will lock
the doors again. Once unlocked, the doors will open when you touch them. So just
stand on the top door, fall through, wait for the second door to open, fall
through, and you are out! If you now just drop straight down, you will land on
the partially dismantled spacecraft Pericles.
Now press the REMEMBER TELEPORT POSITION KEY (R). Nothing seems to have
happened, but your teleport circuitry (your "valuable personal transporter") has
remembered your position - this will be demonstrated later. Move to the right,
off the end of the ship, down onto the ground, and remember your position again.
Watch out for the occasional meteorite showers!
Keep walking east (to the right) and you will find an irritating (but harmless)
bird. Keep moving, and you will see a grenade. If you walk or fly against it,
you will push it along the ground. You need to pick it up, not play football
with it! Hold down the PICK UP KEY (<) and carry on pushing against the grenade
until it jumps into your hand. Put the grenade into your pocket by pressing the
STORE OBJECT key (S).
The bird may knock you around a bit, but is doesn't actually harm you (you will
encounter much nastier birds later on!) However, you will want to get away from
the bird since it hampers you. You haven't any weapons yet. I know you have a
grenade, but you need to keep that until later and it's a waste using it to
blast a harmless bird. So you can't kill it, you can't grab it (some animals you
will be able to pick up and carry) and if you fly back to the Pericles it
will probably just follow you. Here is where you can use your personal
transporter.....
Lead the bird to the east, until it can't fly into the wind any further, then
press the Teleport key (T). You will be teleported back to the last position you
REMEMBERED (on the ground by the Pericles, well away from the bird). If you
teleport again, you will end up at the position before that (on top of the
Pericles). So, teleporting takes you back through the positions you have
remembered with the R key. Only the last four positions are stored as R the
"last resort" position, which you can always get back to in case Y if dire
emergency. You will also be automatically teleported if your G health is very
low (it never lets you die - a valuable piece of A equipment indeed!) - Read the
TELEPORTING section of this manual for R more details.
Now fly back onto the ground to the east of the Pericles, Press R, then fly to
the left, under the ship. You will see a passage down into the ground, protected
by a defence gun. If you are quick, you will be able to get down the hole
without getting "killed" (i.e. teleported back to the surface). If you are
killed, you should re-REMEMBER your position (making sure you are in a surface
place), and let your health recover before trying again.
Since the gun takes a while to turn it's barrel to face you, it might be a good
idea to try approaching from the other direction.
When you get down the hole, move quickly to the left hand of the cave, out of
the sight of the gun. To the right you will see another horizontal door blocking
your path down. It is locked and there is no switch to open it, but you can blow
open this door with your grenade (some doors are stronger than others - this is
a week one). REMEMBER your position (R) and GET out your grenade (G). Now fly
over to the door, press M to drop the grenade onto the door, then go back to the
left to shield yourself from the blast. After a few seconds the grenade will
explode, blasting the way clear. If you are caught in the aftershock you will
"die", but the only result of this is that you will be automatically teleported
(having REMEMBERED your position). Wait for your health to recover, re- REMEMBER
your position, and then carry on down into the depth of the planet. Good
luck.....
THE CONSOLE
At the bottom of the screen, you will see the console (or control panel). This
console shows the current status of all your vital equipment, as well as your
health, score and elapsed time. It also displays important messages throughout
the game.
On the far left of the console are the six horizontal Equipment Status
Indicators. The top indicator shows the amount of Jetpack Fuel remaining. The
next four bars are your Weapons Status Indicators (numbered 1 through to 40).
The sixth indicator shows your Space Suit protection field status.
On the far right of the console, you will see the six pass-key slots. As you
collect the keys from around the game, the relevant slots are filled. If you are
holding a key in your hands, the corresponding indicator pulsates.
Below the pass-key status area is your Health Indicator, shown in white. This
indicator reduces are you get injured, until finally you are so badly hurt that
you are automatically teleported away.
In the centre of the console is the EXILE panel. It will begin to glow if you
are injured, and also if your jetpack becomes clogged up with mushroom spores
(see later in the manual for more information on the mushrooms). To the right of
the EXILE panel is an indicator which illuminates when your Jetpack Booster is
activated.
Below the EXILE panel you will see your score and underneath that is the elapsed
time panel in the scrolling message area and to the left are the joystick
control icons (accessed by pressing the SPACE BAR).
THE CONTROL SYSTEMS
The following section of this manual describes all the controls used in EXILE.
You have greatest flexibility you use the keyboard, but you can use a joystick
for thrusting and firing, together with the keyboard for the extra functions
(throwing, dropping, etc.). At first the number of keys available may seem
daunting, but if you persist it will soon become second nature.
Note: - Due to a hardware limitation, the ATARI ST is unable to accurately
register more than two simultaneous key presses, so you may experience a lack of
responsiveness if you are trying to press three or more keys together (e.g.
thrust up and left, as well as fire).
If you prefer not to use the keyboard at all you can use the joystick for
everything (however, you always keep the opportunity of using the keyboard
whenever you like).
The joystick control system is icon driven. You need to press the SPACE BAR to
get the first icon set, press it again for the second set, then a third time to
return to normal thrust control. Move the joystick to highlight the required
icon, and press the fire button to select it.
For many functions, you need to keep the fire button held down when you use the
joystick to complete a selection. When you release the fire button, the joystick
will revert to normal "thrusting" mode.
Note: - If you have an auto-fire feature on your joystick, it should be turned
OFF!
THRUSTING
Thrusting causes a pressurised jet of air (or water, if you are underwater) to
be blasted from your jetpack. You will see this jet as a stream of particles.
The Jetpack uses energy - its energy bar on the console shows how much energy
remains. If you are standing on the ground, thrusting sideways causes you to
walk or run, using no energy. If you thrust up while standing on the ground, you
get an extra upward impulse by jumping. If your Jetpack is out of fuel, or
temporarily blocked (e.g. with mushroom spores), you can still run and jump.
AIMING AND FIRING
Once you have found, pick it up, and selected a weapon you can then fire it. It
is fired in the direction you have chosen using the aiming controls (see below).
Additionally, the fire key/button can affect some held objects - for example, if
you are holding a grenade, you can use it to start and stop the countdown to
detonation.
Holding down the fire key/button gives auto-fire on the missiles, but you can
fire more rapidly by repeatedly pressing it quickly yourself.
NOTE: If you are using the joystick for thrusting, the SPACE BAR is used for
icon selection, but if you are using the keyboard for thrusting, the SPACE BAR
functions is the FIRE KEY.
The Aiming function controls the trajectory of firing and throwing. You can
raise and lower the direction (a stream of particles shows the direction of aim
as you do this), and by holding the RAISE AIM and LOWER AIM keys together, you
can show the current aiming direction without altering it.
To aim using the joystick, select the icon and keep the fire button held down.
You will see a stream of particles showing your current aiming direction. Move
the joystick up and down to direct it, or sideways to centralise it. When you
release the button, you will return to normal thrusting mode.
To pick up an object, you must hold the PICK UP key as you touch the object in
front of you by moving into it. You may also be able to grab an object that is
on your head, or under your feet, as long as it is not actually behind you. To
use the joystick, select the PICK UP ICON, and keep the fire button held down
while you thrust against the object, until you have succeeded in picking it up.
Not all objects can be held, and some objects will hurt you if they are carried
(e.g. radioactive crystals - until you gain radioactive immunity). On the other
hand, some creatures can be held, thus stopping them hurting you (try grabbing a
wasp).
* Try picking up the big fish.........
Once you are holding something, you can drop or throw it. Pressing the THROW key
launches the object in the direction defined by your aiming trajectory.
Realistically, light objects are thrown further than heavy ones. Also, thrusting
and walking are slower if you are carrying a heavy object.
If you select the THROW or DROP icon with the joystick, you won't actually throw
or drop the object until you release the fire button. This enables you to
manoeuvre whilst you drop or throw. This can be very important, because you can
throw objects faster by thrusting and throwing at the same time.
USE OF POCKETS
You have four pockets into which you can store some carried objects. The pockets
are actually stasis fields, designed so that a stored object is completely
suspended in time and space (a live grenade won't explode, for example) and
doesn't affect your weight.
Pressing the STORE OBJECT key, or selecting the STORE OBJECT icon, will put the
object you are holding into a pocket. If this doesn't work it either means the
object is too large, or all your pockets are occupied. If it is the latter, you
can still use GET OBJECT to see which item(s) you might want to discard.
Pressing the GET OBJECT key will take an object out of your pockets and put it
into your hands. If you are already holding something, the held object will (if
possible) be put in a pocket first. Repeatedly pressing the G key will cycle
through all the items in your pockets.
Selecting the GET OBJECT icon with the joystick is similar to pressing the G
key, except that if you keep the fire button held down you can cycle through the
items in your pockets by moving the joystick up (just like repeatedly pressing
the G key), or you can store the object away (like pressing S) by moving the
joystick down. Release the fire button to return to normal thrusting mode.
TELEPORTING
You will quickly find out the importance of your personal teleporting
capability, and it is imperative that you learn to use it properly and get the
best out of it.
When you teleport, you go to the last position stored with REMEMBER. This
position is then lost, so the next teleport will take you to the position
remembered before that. You will usually want to re-REMEMBER your position
immediately after you have teleported, in order to keep this position intact as
your destination.
Your teleport circuitry remembers only the last four positions, plus a "last
resort" position, back at the ship.
You can teleport voluntarily (by pressing the TELEPORT KEY) or automatically
(when you are badly injured, in which case you lose points). Because of this, it
is a good idea to only remember your position in places which are SAFE. If you
are teleported automatically, you will want to recover without something
immediately hurting you, and causing you to teleport again.
You cannot teleport voluntarily if you are holding something, and if you are
teleported automatically you will drop whatever you are currently holding in
your hands. You may even have something drop out of your pockets, so try and
teleport voluntarily before this situation occurs. If you arrive at your
destination very hurt, there will be a short delay (a couple of seconds) before
you are able to remember your position again. Listen for the sound effect when
you press R.
You can use your teleport strategically too. For instance, to get past a
creature that keeps pushing you away, you could REMEMBER your teleport position,
be pushed back, then TELEPORT. You will then be on the other side of the
creature!
WEAPON SELECTION AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Certain weapons and items (listed below) that you pick up are automatically
attached to your spacesuit, and cannot be dropped again. Initially you have only
your jetpack (not to be confused with the jetpack booster). These items use
energy from their own batteries, but energy can be freely transferred between
them. You can see how the energy is distributed by looking at the energy bars on
the console. The weapon selection and charging functions have no effect until
you have picked up your first weapon, and when you have picked it up you must
remember to select it before you can fire it.
KEYBOARD WEAPON SELECTION
To select a particular piece of equipment you need to press the relevant key.
You can transfer energy to the selected weapon by pressing SHIFT together with
the key corresponding to the item from which you want energy to be taken. For
example, if you have Weapon 1 selected, you can transfer energy to it from the
jetpack by pressing SHIFT together with the jetpack key. You will see the energy
transferred on the console. If you need to recharge your jetpack from a weapon,
you need to select the jetpack first, and then press SHIFT together with the
weapon key.
JOYSTICK WEAPON SELECTION
Firstly, select the WEAPON icon (Icon set 1, centre left icon) and keep the fire
button held down. You can now choose your weapon by moving the joystick left and
right or you can charge/discharge the weapon by moving the joystick up and down.
Release the fire button to return to normal thrust mode.
When a weapon (or the jetpack) is low on energy it will function intermittently.
To gain extra energy, you need to pick up Power Pods. These are released when
robots or gun turrets are destroyed, and they supply energy to the jetpack
battery (from which you can charge the other items). Power pods become unstable
and begin to pulsate if they are disturbed, so you should pick them up quickly
before they burst into flame and self-destruct.
THE GUN
This is the first weapon you will find, and fits into slot 1. It fires bullets
which cause damage on impact and are quite light. It is quite a feeble weapon,
but capable (with lots of shots) of stunning robots and turrets
temporarily.
THE ICER
This fits into slot 2, and fires explosive energy packets which do more damage
than bullets. Not surprisingly, it uses more energy than the gun. It is carried
by a hovering robot, which you need to destroy to get the Icer.
THE PX312 BLASTER
This weapon (slot3) causes a blast of energy away from your suit, damaging and
pushing away anything that is close to you. It uses a lot of energy though. Just
watch the energy drain away as you use it!
THE PLASMA GUN
The weapon in slot 4 launches plasma balls (very hot charged gas), using about
10 times the energy of the gun.
THE PROTECTION DEVICE
This item gives you greater protection from anything that hurts you. In doing so
it uses up energy, and when it is low in energy it will lose its effectiveness,
so you will revert to your normal strength. Watch the console to see when it
needs recharging. The more you are being hurt, the more quickly energy will be
used in trying to protect you.
SCREEN OFFSET
To enable you to see more of your surrounding environment, you can move the
screen by using the cursor control (arrow) keys, or by selecting the screen
offset icon and moving the joystick (with the fire button held down).
Pressing the left and right cursor keys together will centralise the screen
horizontally. Pressing the up and down keys together centralises the screen
vertically.
BOOST
These functions are only applicable once you have picked up the jetpack booster
attachment. The booster gives you the capability of doubling the amount of
thrust from your jetpack, although it uses four times the amount power in the
process (you can see it's status on the console). Once installed, you can switch
it on or off as required and you can also activate it for short bursts of
energy. The booster is particularly useful (if not essential) when you are
trying to carry a heavy object.
WHISTLES
There are two whistles to find an pick up. They are needed to control the
friendly robot "Chatter", who is initially deactivated. When you are able to,
try feeding Chatter some Coronium crystals, and then using the whistle.
LIE DOWN
This option forces you to lie down on the ground - useful for getting through
small gaps, or ducking enemy fire. To stand up again, release the key or
joystick fire button.
TURN AROUND
This option makes the spaceman turn around to face in the opposite direction. IF
he is lying down, he will turn to face upwards.
REPEAT LAST MESSAGE
You will occasionally see messages scrolling along the bottom of the console.
They are usually initiated when you touch something for the first time, telling
you what it is. Sometimes there is a queue of pending messages waiting for
you. This option will repeat the last message for you.
MENU
The menu screen gives you the option of loading and saving positions. This is
described in detail later on in this manual.
PAUSE GAME
There is no visual indicator to show that the game has been paused, so if the
game seems to have "frozen", try pressing this key!
SCORING
To the left of the EXILE logo on the console is your current
score. You gain points for killing enemy creatures, and you also scores bonuses
for completing certain tasks, such as destroying Triax's Maggot Machine, and
rescuing crew members. If you are injured enough to be automatically teleported,
you will lose points.
Also displayed on the console is the elapsed time. This is the actual playing
time taken to reach this point in the game. You lose one point per second from
your score, so it doesn't pay to hang around for too long doing nothing!
**********************************************************************
SOME THINGS YOU WILL SEE
DOORS
There are doors to be found throughout the game, hindering
your progress. An unlocked door is easy to pass through - all you have to do is
to touch it and it will open. If a door is locked, however, you will need
to either find a way to unlocking it, or you may be able to blast it open with a
grenade (there is only one type of door that can be blasted in this way).
You can lock or unlock a door by using the RCD (see below), but only if you
possess the key corresponding to that door. Sometimes there will be a switch
that controls a door, or there might be an invisible trigger-point nearby which
activates its mechanism. Different doors have different strengths - weak doors
can be destroyed with a grenade, for instance, while the other doors require
either the Cannon or a Coronium blast to destroy them. Ancient rock-doors cannot
be affected by the RCD, even if you have all the keys.
TURRETS AND ROBOTS
These are easy to spot, since they shoot at you at every opportunity! If you
manage to damage a robot or turret badly enough, it will start flashing,
indicating that it's "Stunned". This puts it temporarily out of action. If your
weapon is strong enough you should be able to destroy it completely wit a few
more quick shots. It may release a power pack, or maybe something more useful
when it expires.
IMPS
Imps evolved from the remnants of the ancient civilisation
which originally built the underground system of Phoebus. They are not very
friendly - they bite you and throwing mushrooms or other things at you given
half a chance. However, if you give an imp something it likes (or even if it
steals something) it may give you something useful in return.
SWITCHES AND TRIGGER POINTS
You have already encountered a switch in your spaceship.
Switches can lock and unlock doors, open and close doors, enable and disable
transporters, and even change transporters destinations.
You may be walking or flying through what seems an empty tunnel, then suddenly
there is a sparkling effect, and a door opens or closes. You have encountered an
invisible trigger-point. You can sometimes leave an object in the trigger area
to keep the effect going (e.g. keeping a door open).
TRANSPORTERS
Transporters are teleport booths. Any object that touches the
scan-beam gets transported to the location programmed into it. The scan-beam
stops if the transporter is deavtivated -either with a switch, or the RCD (if
you have the correct key).
GRENADES
When a grenade is thrown or dropped, it will become "live",
exploding a few seconds after the countdown begins. You can start the countdown
without dropping the grenade by pressing the FIRE key. Press it again to stop
the countdown. If you are quick, you can grab a live grenade, press the FIRE KEY
to deactivate it, and then keep it for your own use.
THE REMOTE CONTROL DEVICE (RCD)
The RCD is a vital piece of equipment that you need to locate
and recover. It was dropped by a member of the Pericles down through a trap
door, into a fire. It is used to lock and unlock doors, or activate and
deactivate some transporters.
To use it, aim it at the centre of the door or transporter (using the AIM keys),
and press the FIRE key. You will hear a sound and see it emit a particle stream,
showing that it is functioning. Each door and transporter has its own activation
code, witch means you need the correct pass-key in order for the RCD to have any
effect. You must be close enough for this to work, and the further you are away
the more you care you need to take to aim it (just like old-fashioned TV remote
controls found on earth). There are two pass-keys which you can find in the
early stages of the game.
If you use the RCD on a door or transporter, or touch a door or transporter
beam, the corresponding pass-key slot will flash in the console. If you don't
already possess it, this shows which pass-key (if any) will control that door or
transporter.
THE CANNON RCD
There is a second RCD which operates similarly to the first,
except that this one fires the cannon (no pass-key is required). AIM it at the
Cannon, then press FIRE. Watch out for the blast!
FLUFFY
Originally a pet of one of the colonists, Fluffy is a strange
alien creature who has a tendency to squeak repeatedly when frightened by loud
noises such as gunfire. Once he's befriended you, he'll stick by your side
through thick and thin. Fluffy is extremely agile, and can squeeze through very
tight gaps to retreive objects for you....
MUSHROOMS
Mushrooms on Phoebus are really annoying, since their spores
temporarily block up your jetpack. There are two types of mushrooms. Some are of
a hallucinatory nature, making you fall over helplessly when you are
affected by them. The others just block your jetpack - you can walk through
areas of these mushrooms. After a while your jetpack will automatically unblock
itself.
You can eventually protect yourself from these effects by finding and storing
away a special immunity filter. Even without immunity, you can still PICK UP and
STORE AWAY mushrooms, since they don't always disintegrate on impact.
Whilst you are suffering from the effects of the mushrooms, the EXILE logo on
the console flashes green.
CORONIUM
Coronium is a glowing, radio-active substance. There are
small, unstable Coronium crystals, and large Coronium rocks. Touching any two of
these together causes an explosion, the most powerfull explosion being when two
Coronium rocks collide. You can manufacture Coronium crystals by burning the
Mushrooms.
Initially you get badly hurt if you touch Coronium, but eventually you will find
a radiation protection pill which stops this happening. You will need to get a
Coronium rock from the Eastern tunnel system to blow open the entrance to
the Western tunnel system.
HINT: There is a two-stage method of converting "Slimes" into Coronium Rocks.
SUCKING CLAMS
There are GIANT clams scattered around the lower regions of
the tunnel system. Each clam can generate a powerful force, attracting or
repelling anything in its sight (including you!). Some are fussy eaters, and
only suck when they see their particular food.
USING GUNS AS TOOLS
Everything in EXILE has mass, varying from light wasps to
large heavy boulders. Winds have less effect on heavy objects than light ones.
Conservation of momentum applies on all impacts, so that a fast, light object
may move something as much as a slow, heavy one. Because of this, you can use
your guns as tools to move heavy objects around. The second gun (The ICER) has
heavier projectiles than the first, so it will move things more effectively.
Note, however, that this uses up energy very quickly.
Most pieces of equipment you will find (keys, RCDs, Guns, Whistles, the Cannon,
the Booster, the Protection Suit, the Destinator) are indestructible, so don't
be afraid of damaging them. Feel free to shoot at them or blow them up in order
to move them.
If you are trying to move something heavy along the ground, it helps to aim
slightly upwards as you shoot. This tends to lift the object off the ground,
thus reducing friction. Aiming straight upwards as you shoot is an effective way
of lifting something up into the air.
SAVING AN LOADING POSITIONS
When you enter the menu screen (by pressing HELP) you are
given the option of loading/saving to DISK, or loading/saving to RAM. Use the
joystick and fire button or the cursor keys and RETURN to select the required
option. Select CONTINUE to return to the game.
Saving a position to RAM is very useful during game play, since it it is a good
idea to temporarily save your position before trying something dangerous or
tricky. Imply select RAM SAVE or RAM LOAD.
To save your position to disk you must have a blank, formatted disk to use as
your EXILE data disk. You must REMOVE YOUR GAME DISK, place your blank disk, or
a previously initialised EXILE data disk into drive A and select DISK SAVE. If
the disk hasn't been initialised as an EXILE disk, you will be asked if you want
this disk initialised. Once the disk has been initialised, it should only be
used as an EXILE data disk. You will not be able to use the disk other than from
within EXILE.
When the disk has been initialised, you should choose one of the slots into
which you want to save the position. Do this by either the slot's identification
letter, or use the cursor keys and Return, or use the joystick and fire button.
You can then type in a name, followed by Return, and the position will be saved.
Pressing Esc during this process will cancel the operation.
To load a position from disk, place the EXILE data disk into drive A: select
DISK LOAD choose the required slot (as described above) and press Return.
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