DOCUMENTS TO NETHERWORLD 
========================


SCENARIO
--------
You're trapped in another world, one farremoved from the reality you know. Fantastic structures and strange creatures swirl around you, a dizzying array of sizes and shapes - and not all of them friendly. You're in the Netherworld, home of evil demons and fantastic magic, acid bubbles and terrifying dragons. In order to escape, you have to fight your way through the endless maze, avoiding demons and aliens, smashing your way through barriers in search of the only things that can buy your freedom: diamonds. 

NETHERWORLD - by Hewson, British mastersof the modern arcade game - is a visually stunning masterpiece combining the best of fantasy and science fiction!

Forget reality - the Netherworld has rules all its own. 
* The ultimate in arcade action! Endless hours of fun for players of all ages! 
* Dazzling graphic images and detailed artwork! 
* Non-stop action and adventure, through a wide variety of levels and challenges! 


INTO THE NETHERWORLD
--------------------
It had taken three years to plan the expedition, raise the money and get the team together. Six months ago Hugo Thomas and his team left London for Lima, Peru, heading inland through the dense jungles of South America in searchof the Dragon Temple. 

As its height in the 11th century, the Incan Empire stretched along most of thewest coast of the continent. But even though the Incans controlled the commerce of half the southern hemisphere, there was no writing. There were no inscriptions to record the comings and goings of the mysterious priesthood in charge of the People of the Sun. When the remains of the Incan civilization crumbled at last in the wake of greedy Spanish explorers, there was nothing left but legend and rumor to account for power the priests once wielded. 

But the tales men told were tantalizing indeed: tales of vast storehouses filledto capacity with gold, diamonds and precious stones never seen before or since. The London expedition was, officially, an archaeological survey of an isolated Incan outpost and nothing more. 

Unofficially, there wasn't one member who didn't know the real purpose of the trip to the Dragon Temple. 

It was, the story went, the Vault of theGods. The precious objects used in the rites of the Incas were given to the gods after each ceremony; it would be profane to use them twice. To remove such temptation, the priests declared that the treasure should be sent to the Dragon Temple, deep in the jungle and safe from thieves. For 400 years the golden trail led into the forest; four centuries of glittering prizes hoarded away in the Temple. 

There had been other attempts to find the place, of course. But the explorers always returned insane, if they returnedat all. This time, however, Hugo was confident they'd make it. The team reported back to base daily via shortwave radio, plotted their course through satellites, planned every detailon computer. If anything went wrong, they could be out of the jungle within hours on a helicopter. Nothing on earth could stop them. 

They reached a 30-square-mile stretch ofjungle where, their research showed, theDragon Temple was most likely to be found. On the fourth day of the search, one of the explorers found a stone cube ten feet high, and within hours they located the entrance to a large, ancient, granite building. It seemed that they had found the Temple. 

Inside, the building looked as if it hadbeen visited only a few days ago. No jungle plants were growing inside, no scorpions cowered in the cracks in the walls. In fact, there was nothing but bare stone - three empty rooms. But thisdidn't dampen Hugo's spirits at all, he was actually expecting something very much like this, although he hadn't confided his thoughts to the rest of the team. He called them together in the largest of the three rooms, and stood inone of the shafts of light that filteredthrough the gaping holes in the roof. 

"You're probably wondering what we've found here: a house for the Temple guards or a food storage depot. The answer is far more thrilling. We've found the Dragon Temple itself. We're the first to step inside since the last Inca warriors left to protect their dying empire." 

"So where are the great vaults ?" He continued. "To tell the truth, I suspected it would look like this. It looks like it's been gutted. But that's what we're supposed to think. The real Temple is beneath us - untouched." 

Some of the group glanced downward, but saw only their boots and a dusty floor. "I want you all to look around for a small hole. It'll be just big enough to fit your arm inside. It was devised so that the Sun God could get to the treasure buried beneath us." 

Within moments, one of the explorers haduncovered a black, stone-rimmed hole exactly as Hugo had described. 

"Now, nearby, there will be a stone slabjust beneath the surface of the soil. That's to cover the stairway to the vaults," Hugo said. The stone slab was found about 20 feet away. It was the size and shape of a coffin lid, with twosmall holes drilled in one end. "Those were for a vine handle. Can someone get a crowbar ?" A crowbar was found, and the staircover was eased open. 

As they clustered around the dark well, no one noticed that the jungle had fallen silent. 

"Well done, everyone," Hugo said. "Someone give me a lantern. I'm going in." 

He started down, the light from the lantern showing only more ebony stone steps leading into an impenetrable darkness. 

Thirty steps in, Hugo reached a narrow corridor that curved sharply, blocking the light from the stairway, and the sound of his colleagues' voices. He glanced back in the direction he had come, then returned his attention forward. 

He gasped. The light from his lantern leaped back at him, reflecting off a thousand glittering surfaces: diamonds, sapphires, opals set inside golden daggers - the vault was huge and it was full. 

Hugo waved the lantern around to get a look at the entire vault, and was surprised to see a small, dull wooden statue in the middle of the floor. 

He knelt beside it. It was an Incan Dragon, with stylized wings and huge, curved fangs jutting from its elongated mouth. 

Hugo picked it up, meaning to show the men outside that this statue was the Dragon of the Temple, but he froze in mid-turn. The lantern fell to the floor and went out. The vault was silent. 

"Thief!" The vault was dark except for the glimmer of light from the skyhole. The voice was a whisper in his mind. "Thief! You are not sanctified. You havecome to rob my masters of their rightful possessions." Hugo realized it was the Dragon speaking. 

"Your masters are dead, little Dragon," Hugo thought, knowing the Dragon could hear him. "There's nothing out there butjungle. We have our own gods now." 

"The Masters are not dead, brave explorer," the Dragon laughed spitefully. "They live on, but not in your world, not with your gods. They arein the Netherworld, biding their time. If you would have their treasure, you will have to venture a little farther." 

"I have nothing to fear from them, or you," thought Hugo. 

"Then stand and fight." 

He was looking at a room colored green, like the green of the jungle. Walls withIncan designs were carved from stone blocks that stood next to granite boulders. 

"Your first test," said the Dragon, "like the rest, depends on your natural lust for wealth. All you need to do is collect 27 diamonds. Do that, and you'llbe free - to start the next test." 

Hugo surveyed the room in amazement. In the distance, replicas of the Incan Dragon grinned evilly. "Because your ancestors, the Spanish conquistadors that plundered my Masters' empire, marched under the sign of the Cross, that's what you will look like in the Netherworld: a cross. But the cross willbe bound inside a wheel to represent your imprisonment." 

There, in the middle of the room, was a cross in a wheel, twisting lazily around. 

"To make things fair, we've given you a weapon," continued the Dragon. "See ?" 

With a thought, Hugo told the cross to fire. Bolts of translucent fire flew from the four arms of the cross. 

"Good," said the Dragon. "In the Netherworld you will find such magic. My friends, my Dragons who guard the Masters from such as you, can spit bubbles of acid at you. Beware of these,they will eat into your soul. But if youmanage to hit them with your weapon, youmay - if you are fortunate - gain something." 

"Like what ?" Hugo asked. 

"Perhaps a temporary invulnerability. Or perhaps a spirit will take you over, rendering you unable to move, or allowing you to move only in the opposite direction that you intend. You may even be granted a new weapon: the power to kill a Dragon such as I, or the power to remove a brick from the wall to get more diamonds." 

"Another thing," the Dragon added. "Beware the wandering souls of those killed by the conquistadors. They move about the rooms in straight lines. You can't stop them. If you don't get out of their way, you'll lose energy." 

Hugo had a thought. "Any moment now, my colleagues will realize that I've been missing for quite a while - and they'll come looking for me. You won't be able to protect your treasure with this Netherworld rubbish from 20 people armedwith modern weapons." 

The Dragon laughed again. "They've already left you, and my Temple. After you found me, the entrance caved in. Leaderless, your people left for home." 

"So even if I win, I can't leave the Netherworld..." Hugo imagined an eternity underground. 

"Perhaps. Do you see these circles in the room ?" The Netherworld room, like the vault, had skyholes in the roof, through which a faint light shone. 

"Move onto them and fire your weapon, and you will be transported. If you haven't got enough diamonds, you'll merely be transported elsewhere in the same room. But if you have all the gems that you need, you'll leave the room andenter another level. For a while in the new level you'll be invulnerable and cangather more diamonds. But eventually you'll be placed into combat again. Makethe most of these little intermissions - you'll need them. And don't take too long in any one room, or your time will run out. Occasionally you might find an hourglass, which will buy you a little more time. Maybe." 

"How many other levels are there ?" Hugo asked. 

"That would be telling," the Dragon replied. "But there are rooms of skulls,rooms of chains, and rooms which might not even be on this planet. The Masters exercised powers that you can't even imagine, and the normal rules of logic are suspended here." 

"Are there enough diamonds on each levelto get me out ?" 

"Almost. Sometimes you will have to move some rocks around - there are a fewsmall boulders which can be pushed. Movethem into the right place, and these boulders will turn into diamonds. You can also use the boulders to deflect a soul into a metamorphosis wall - turningthe soul into four diamonds." 

"Well I don't want to play your games," Hugo said. "Put me back in my world, andI'll leave the treasures of your Masters alone." 

Hugo found himself back in the vault. Hewas very cold, and his lantern wouldn't work. He stumbled back along the corridor, but instead of stone stairs he felt a wall of warm, damp soil blocking his exit. The Dragon wasn't lying about the cave-in. Hugo felt his way back to the vault, and picked up theDragon statue again. 

"You've changed your mind. What a surprise..." whispered the Dragon. "Prepare to fight, brave explorer. The Netherworld is all you've got." 


SURVIVING IN THE NETHERWORLD 
----------------------------
There is always a lot going on in the Netherworld, and there are a great many opportunities for bonus points and extradiamonds. There are equally as many opportunities for penalties and damage. 

The most common things in the Netherworld are bricks, which form wallsand barriers to your progress. Some of these bricks, however, are actually secret doors, and are distinguished frombricks by slightly different graphics. 

Two of the greatest dangers in the Netherworld are demons and alien generators. Demons spit deadly acid bubbles at you, and alien generators produce a variety of enemies seeking to harm you. One of the best ways to block an alien generator is with moveable rocks, which can be found throughout theNetherworld. By placing the moveable rock near the alien generator, it becomes unable to produce aliens. Another danger to be wary of is the goat's head - which spits acid blood that is deadly to touch. 

The Netherworld is also populated by a number of free-floating souls which are very dangerous if touched. Some of thesesouls follow the perimeter of any objectin a clockwise motion, some more vertically and are deadly to touch, and some (also known as bounders) fly in a straight line until colliding with a solid object, when they will then changetheir direction 90 degrees clockwise. If a soul comes into contact with a metamorphosis wall, the wall will changeinto four diamonds. 

Another way of producing diamonds is through the use of diamond squeezers. Ifa moving rock is pushed into a diamond squeezer, the rock will turn into a diamond. 

Thought transporters are circular teleportation devices that enable you totravel to different parts of the Netherworld. 

Simply move your icon on top of it and press the fire button, and you will be teleported. 

After shooting the aliens, some of them leave behind glowing icons. These icons can grant you more points, even extra speed. But if more than three extra speed icons are used, you will actually slow down. 

Another unique icon is the demon killer,which looks like a skull and crossbones.This one will enable you to kill a demonby touching it. A brick smasher icon, which looks like a small brick, allows you to break up a brick. There is also a surprise-icon, which looks like a collection of question marks. The surprise icon can grant you one of four phenomena: 

a) an extra life 
b) invulnerability (your ship will change color) 
c) an uncontrollable ship (it will stop spinning), or 
d) reverse controls (the ship changes its spinning direction). 

The surprise icon should be avoided by those unwilling to gamble. 


CONTROLS 
--------
All action in NETHERWORLD is controlled via the joystick. A joystick, connected into port #2, is required. 

KEYBOARD COMMANDS 
[RUN/STOP] to pause game. [SPACE] bar or fire button to continue. 
[Q] to abort game. 

JOYSTICK CONTROLS
UP : Up. 
DOWN : Down. 
LEFT : Left. 
RIGHT : Right. 
FIRE BUTTON: Fires bolts of energy in each of the four joystick directions. 


DISPLAY INFORMATION (BOTTOM OF SCREEN) 
--------------------------------------
I-I                 I-I 
I1I                 I I
I-I  I--------I  I--I5I-----I-I
I2I  I    3   I  I5 I I  8  I7I
I-I--I--------I--I--I-I-----I-I

1.Number of demon killers (max.9) 
2.Number of brick smashers (max.9) 
3.Score 
4.Level 
5.Armor strength gauge (max.12 shots) 
6.Time remaining 
7.Number of ships remaining 

The number of diamonds you have to collect is displayed at the top left of the screen. 


CREDITS 
-------
Game Design: JUKKA TAPANIMAKI 
Produced by: PAUL CHAMBERLAIN 
Programming: MARK BARKER 
Music: JORI OLKKONEN 
Manual: GARY T. ALMES, SANDRA COUSINS and RUPERT GOODWINS 
Copyright: HEWSON LTD. 1988 