
 DINO EGGS -- Instructions
 by Marco Nadal, July 8 1996

This is a guide to a 'forgotten game' by computerdom's distant
past...1982!  This was a computer game for Commodore 64 (and Apple II,
I think) and was unique in having an original idea that related to the
plot, and having a sensible scoring system whereby 300+ points are
quite an achievement!


HOW TO START

This game works as a 5.25" disk on a Commodore 64 with 1451 or 1471
disk drive.  It can also be played on IBM format by using the PC64
emulator and the "dinoeggs.d64" disk-image.


THE STORY

Exploring the prehistoric past via time-warp...  You infect the
dinosaurs with common measles -- accidently condemning them to
extinction!

Overcome with remorse, you devote yourself to rescuing the entire
dinosaur population!

You can do it! For you are Time Master Tim!  Using the time warp, you
can find and carry the dino eggs and dino babies safely into the 21st
century.

The dinosaurs live again -- in our future. Thanks to you -- Time
Master Tim!


HOW TO PLAY

CONTROLS

Your only controls are a joystick in port #2.

         climb up
          cliff             Forward Jump: Walk and press fire to jump
             O                            in that direction.
             |
 walk     O--+--O    walk     Split Jump: Press up and fire to dodge a
 left        |       right                low attack.
             O
          climb down     Manipulate objects: Press down and fire
           cliff         while standing over an object/an empty space.


THE SCREEN

After the intro and time-warping animation, the game-screen appears.
Tim will appear inside his shimmering teleporter. The teleporter is a
safe area in which nothing may harm you and where you can recharge
your energy.

The screen represents a cliff face with protusions (=platforms and
ladders) The dino eggs are the elongated white objects. Various
colored circular things are boulders. They may hide stuff underneath.
A big, seastar looking thing is the "power plant". Eating it gives you
the power to carry up to 9 eggs rather than the usual 3.  The moving
white sinusoids are meant to be snakes. The jittery things on top of
the screen are spiders. On occasion they drop down. Later levels bring
big dragonflies.  The irregular white outlines are wood, good for a
fire.  Finally, the colorful top bit is meant to be a prehistoric
panoroma.


GAMEPLAY

First up you'll warp out of 2XXX into 66 m.y. B.C. on a random
location.

A concerned 'dino mom' tends to arrive shortly after and squash Tim
with her huge foot. Starting a fire keeps her away! So pick up a stick
and drop it onto another one.

Now you can turn to your main concern, those eggs. Most of them are
hidden under various colored rocks. Pick up a bunch (usually 3) and
head back to your teleporter. Warp out by pressing down + fire. You'll
be accreditted the points for the eggs.

Warning! Should you happen to touch any prehistorical creature... it
will be affected with measles and will die!  history will be changed
for millions of years, so mankind will never happen, so Tim cannot be
human, and a rather unusal fate will befall him...

However, once touched, the degenerative process will proceed slowly
enough for Tim to head back to his transporter and reverse it, e.g.
"be recharged".  Any eggs Tim was carrying when he was touched will be
infected.

As if Tim didn't have enough to do, eggs logically hatch, producing
various types of cute little dinosaurs. These may fall prey to
spiders. (For some reason the snakes are not interested) To save them,
jump over them. Tim will encase them in a protective time-flux-cage
and they'll be brought into 2XXX the next time you warp out.

If a given level has no more eggs or dinosaurs, you can warp to the
next one by warping out while not carrying any items.  You may abandon
a level, but you'll be penalized for any eggs and dinos still present.

And so it goes on... the furthest I got was level 7, with 367 points.


SCORING

 event                           points

 Bringing an egg into 1982       +2
 Having an egg infected          -1
 Saving a dino baby              +10
 Killing a dino baby             -10
 Killing a hostile creature      +1
 Abandoning an egg               -1
 Abandoning a dino               -10
 Clearing a level                +10


TIPS

* When near your teleporter, take the time to touch all creatures in
the immediate vicinity to kill them off, then return to recharge.

* before attempting anything risky, like caging a dino, drop your eggs
close by.

* On the early stages, Leave single eggs lying on nice big platforms
and wait under your teleporter. In time, dinos will hatch, which you
then can 'harvest' for points.

* On the later stages, it is sometimes wiser to abandon a few eggs
rather than risk death.

* You can kill creatures by dropping a boulder onto their head.

* This is a simple game, but one which has enough elements to warrant
playing.  Strategies can be surprisingly effective.


IN CLOSING...

If you liked Dino Eggs, or this instruction file, email me and tell me
what you think! If you hated this, flame somebody else. :-)
Corrections, and proposals of *any* kind, always welcome!

 email: m.nadal@student.qut.edu.au
 phone: You crazy? You know what telephone companies charge?? Money!!

 Jubei
