LOADING INSTRUCTIONS The loading instructions appear on the label of your disk/cassette. Once the loading screen is displayed, the theme music will be played. To start the game press FIRE (SPACE), and the OPTIONS SCREEN will appear. This screen sets up the variable options of the game as follows. NUMBER OF PLAYERS/NAMES OF PLAYERS You are prompted for the number of HUMAN players (1 - 3), the computer will then generate one or two players, as necessary, to make up the three teams. You are now prompted to enter the names of the Human players; these may be up to eight characters long and are terminated by (ENTER). The computer chooses names for the computer players. COMPUTER PLAYER SKILL LEVEL Enter the desired skill level for each computer player as follows: A for average; G for good; P for perfect, followed by Return/Enter. ORDER OF PLAY The die will spin and the players are prompted by name to press FIRE to stop the die. The number scored is then displayed next to the first players name and the next player is prompted for his turn. When all the players have thrown the die the players are sorted into the correct order of play and the screen redisplayed. LENGTH OF ROUND You are prompted to enter the length of round in seconds, entering 0 sets the round to unlimited time (except for the Hit for Six and Jigsaw rounds which default to 20 seconds per clue). This sets the maximum time allowed for any one player to answer his question. CONFIRM SELECTIONS You are then asked if everything is OK? If so the game moves on to its' next stage, if not the screen is reset and the information may be entered again. SPORTS SELECTION SCREEN The players are prompted by name to choose their specialist sport from the twelve options. Players choose their sport in order of play. Once a sport has been selected it is removed from the screen as a choice for other players. This continues for the other players including the computer players, whose choice is automatic. Once this selection is made there is no opportunity to change. However, a quit option is active throughout the game, which restarts the game from the very beginning. (Amstrad CPC: CTRL + Shift + Escape) (Spectrum +3: Caps/Shift + Break) LOADING THE QUESTIONS Having selected sports, the screen will ask that the tape be switched on to load the questions. Insert the Question Tape at the start of side one and press play. Should the tape end before the questions are fully loaded, simply turn the tape over and press play to continue loading. SPORTING TRIANGLES contains over 2500 questions and in order to produce the maximum number of original games loading is random and the questions may, therefore, take a few minutes to load. The games' tape system will give an error message or instruction in the event of a malfunction, so please be patient. When loading is complete, the computer will prompt you to press fire. MAIN GAME SCREEN This shows the three contestants, with the sports they have chosen pictured behind. The screen indicates the current round, player and each players score. The rounds are arranged in the following pattern: 1. Standard Question Round 2. Standard Question Round 3. Hit for Six Round 4. Standard Question Round 5. Standard Question Round 6. Jigsaw Picture Question Round 7. Quickfire Question Round Each player is asked by name to press fire to start his turn. KEY CONTROLS Up = S Left = N Down = X Right = M Or cursor keys or joystick STANDARD QUESTION ROUND In the Standard Question Round the Main Game Screen is replaced by the Game Board Screen. This shows the triangular playboard, the 'puck' or marker and the rotating die. Pressing Fire will stop the die and the puck will move an appropriate number of spaces around the board. The Question Master will then ask a question of the category indicated by the colour of the space on which the puck rests. Red, yellow and green spaces are the sports of the three contestants and white is general sport. The player has an indicated amount of time to think of an answer and say it out loud to the other players. If the answer is unknown or cannot be guessed then the 'Give Up" option may be used. This displays the correct answer and play moves to the next player. The 'Answer' option displays the correct answer and the player is asked "Were you correct?". He should then select the appropriate response by moving the highlighted bar over YES or NO and pressing fire. The Main Screen is displayed again for the second player to take his turn. HIT FOR SIX ROUND In the Hit For Six Round, the player is presented with seven possible answers and a clue. The player has six attempts to guess the answer, with each guess a new clue is displayed and the number of points scored decreases by one, from a maximum of six to a minimum of one. After the answer has been established the game returns to the Main Game Screen for the next turn. JIGSAW PICTURE ROUND The Jigsaw Picture Round works in similar way to the Hit for Six Round. It has the same seven possible answers but this time the clue is a picture in the lower left of the screen, revealed in stages. Again the score reduces from six to one with successive guesses. QUICKFIRE QUESTION ROUND The Quickfire Question Round is a "buzzer" type round, in which the questions are flashed on the bottom of the Main Game Screen and contestants must press their "buzzer" key to answer the question. The keys for each contestant are as follows: Left Contestant = Z Centre Contestant = V Right Contestant = M As a buzzer is pressed, it disables the other two contestants' buzzers and prompts for an answer. If the player is correct he scores two points, but, in this round a point is deducted for a wrong answer. FINAL SCORES After seven rounds we come to the end of the game. The final scores are displayed and the program will ask if you wish to play again. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the questions contained in the program, CDS cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions which may occur within it. CDS Software Ltd. Nimrod House, Beckett Road, Doncaster DN2 4AD Tel: 0302 321134 Fax: 0302 340480