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!
You've discovered the secret
underground treasure hoard of
the power-hungry Bungeling
Empire. It contains the fortune
in gold that the evil Bungelings stole from the Galactans.
As a highly trained Galactic
Commando your mission is to
infiltrate each of the 150 subterranean levels evade the
Bungeling guards and recover
every last batch of Bungeling
booty. One other thing —
you've got to stay alive
,
3.
,
,
System Components
• Atari XE game system console
(or XE or
XL™ computer)
game to keyboard control.
• Atari XE keyboard (optional)
• Atari
CX40 joystick (optional if
If
when the
screen appears. When
the Play Editor screen appears,
move the joystick handle
forward or back to change
the number to the play level
you want. (You can choose
any level between 001 and
150.) A level is selected When
level. Press [Select]
• Atari XE- or XL-compatible disk
title
drive (optional, keyboard
required)
TV or color monitor
Getting Started
1 .
With your system set up, plug
the joystick into controller
port
If you're using the XE
keyboard, connect the keyboard to the XE console.
Insert the Lode Runner cartridge into the cartridge slot.
1
2.
its number appears on screen.
Then press the joystick fire
.
Turn on your TV or monitor,
then press the [Power] key to
turn on the system. The Lode
Runner title screen appears,
followed by demonstration
game play at three different
play levels. Watch the demonstrations to see
how to get
your Lode Runner out of tight
situations.
you're using a joystick,
you can begin play at any
using keyboard)
• Color
To begin play at the lowest
level, press the joystick fire
button (or press any keyboard key except [Return]).
The game screen appears and
your Lode Runner begins
flashing. Move the joystick
handle or press the fire
button to start the action. If
you're using a keyboard,
press [Ctrl] [K] to set the
button to begin.
4.
Press [Select] or [Esc] to
pause a game during play;
press the same key again to
resume play.
Grab That G
Bungeling guards chasing you
Playing the Game
at close range will fall into these
You start a play level with five
lives. Your mission is to collect all
the gold chests in that level by
carrying. Grab the gold and run
running over them. If a Bungeling guard catches you or you
become trapped, you lose a life
and the level starts over. Once
you collect all the gold chests, a
ladder appears at the top of the
screen and you can climb up to
the next level. You gain an extra
life each time you complete a
level.
Control your Lode Runner by
moving your joystick handle. The
player will move in the direction
you move the handle. Press the
joystick fire button to drill
through floors with your laser
drill pistol. For keyboard control,
use the keys listed below to
move your player.
[1]
Climb up.
[JJ
Run left.
[K]
Climb down.
[L]
Run right.
[O]
Drill right.
[U]
Drill left.
Use your pistol to drill escape
channels for your Lode Runner
and pits to trap the Bungeling
guards. You can drill through
brick floors but not through solid
surfaces.
pits,
dropping any gold they are
over the guards to escape them.
But be careful— guards can climb
out of pits, and if you're not fast
enough, they'll catch you. Pits
will eventually close up, sometimes trapping a guard. When
this happens, a replacement
guard appears at the top of the
screen.
If
you fall into a pit, you won't
be able to climb out. To free
yourself, you must be able to
drill down through a brick surface. If you're trapped, you'll
have to sacrifice your Lode
Runner. Press [Option] or [Ctrl]
[A] to begin again with a fresh
screen at the same level.
Sometimes the guards pick up
gold chests and hide them under
their uniforms. If you've picked
up all the visible gold but you
can't climb up to the next level,
one or more of the guards may
be carrying gold. You must trap
the guards in a pit to pick up
their gold. If an enemy carrying
gold falls into a dead end (where
you can't reach his gold and he
can't escape), press [Option] or
[Ctrl] [A] to continue. You must
give up one of your lives, but if
you can't get the gold you can't
advance to the next level.
all
The game ends when you lose
your lives.
old and Run!
Keyboard Control Keys
For keyboard control, press the keys listed below to perform the
actions described.
Keys
[Ctrl] [A]
Actions
Sacrifice trapped Lode Runner, display
new screen.
[Ctrl] [D]
Toggle direction of drill (forward or behind player).
[Ctrl] [J]
Set game to joystick control ( press any time during
play).
[Ctrl] [K]
Set game to keyboard control (press any time
during play).
[Ctrl] [R]
End current game.
[Ctrl] [ZJ
Turn off telescoping scene change feature (press
any time during play); press keys again to turn
feature on.
[Ctrl] [U]
Advance game one level.
[Ctrl] [F]
Add extra lives.
[Left Arrow]
Slow down game speed (press repeatedly any time
during play).
[Right Arrow]
Speed up game speed (press repeatedly any time
during play).
,
sound to stop. Press [Ctrl] [E],
Using the Board Editor
The Board Editor lets you
design, save, test, move, play,
and erase your own unique Lode
Runner game boards. You can
also use the editor to play any of
the original 150 game boards,
and prepare data disks for saving
your game creations.
To use the Board Editor, you
must have a keyboard connected
to your XE system. Press [Ctrl]
[E] to access the editor from the
screen or demonstration
play. If you are currently in play,
press [Ctrl] [R] to end the game
then press [Ctrl] [E].
With just the keyboard
attached, you will be in ROM
title
mode. Here you can design game
board 151. You will be able to
access your design as long as
you don't reset or turn off your
console. See the section Creating
Your Own Game Boards for
instructions.
By connecting a disk drive to
your system, you can create and
permanently save another series
of up to 151 game boards. With
a disk drive connected and
turned on, press [Ctrl] [E] to
access the editor, then press [D]
to toggle between
ROM mode
and DISK mode.
Before designing a game board
mode, prepare a data
disk for saving the board. Insert
a blank disk into the drive and
move the latch to the closed
in DISK
then follow the instructions in
Creating Your Own Game
Boards. To exit DISK mode without completing or saving a
design, press [D] from the com-
mand line. Doing this puts you
back in ROM mode.
Note:
Initializing a data disk
erases any information already
saved on the disk.
Creating Your Own
Game Boards
From the Board Editor screen,
press [E] (for edit). If you're in
mode, the screen automat-
ROM
ically displays game board 151
for you to work on.
If
you're in DISK mode, use the
number keys to type in the number of the game board you want
to work on. You can choose any
number from 001 to 151. You
must always show three digits
for your game board (for
example, board 3 must be shown
as 003; board 47 as 047). You
can use the [Left Arrow] and
[Right Arrow] keys to skip over
digits. After you type the
number, press [Return]. The
selected game board appears.
Designing a new game board
is simple. You use nine shapes,
each controlled by a number key,
[1] through [9]. To begin, move
the cursor around the screen by
pressing the keys below:
.
[I]
position. Press [I] (for initialize ),
pi
then wait for the drive's busy
light to go off and the whirring
[M]
[K]
Move cursor up.
Move cursor left.
Move cursor right.
Move cursor down.
When the cursor is where you
want it press a number key to
In order for the game boards
you design to be playable, they
set a shape in place. You can
must contain these shapes:
replace shapes with other
shapes, or erase them by
•
One (and only one) Lode
•
One to five Bungeling guards
•
At least one ladder (either [3]
covering them with an empty
space [0]. Shapes and their
corresponding number keys are
shown below:
D
[0]
Empty Space
Runner ([9]).
im
or [6]) leading to the top of
the screen for escape to the
next level.
Other shapes also have numerbut if you go over the
limit the program ignores the
ical limits,
1
II
[1] Brick Floor
extra shapes.
From your game screen, press
1
[2] Solid Surface
[3] Ladder
[4]
Hand-Over-Hand
Bar
1
P
[5] Trap Door
[6] Ladder That Appears
after Getting All Gold
Gold Chest
ffl
[7]
*
[8] Bungeling Guard
*
[9]
Lode Runner
[Right Arrow] to display the
next highest game level, or [Left
Arrow] to display the next
lowest game level.
Board Editor Control Keys
At the Board Editor screen, press the keys listed below to get the
results described.
Keys
Actions
[C]
Clear (erase) any game board you created in DISK
mode; clear board 151 in ROM mode.
[E]
Edit level, at which you type in the number of the
game board you want (in DISK mode).
[1]
Initialize (DISK
[M]
Move (copy) a board to another level number
(DISK mode only).
[P]
mode only).
ROM
Play any game board in
or DISK mode. Press
[P] followed by the three-digit number of the
board you want to play.
[Esc]
Erase previous command.
[Right Arrow]
Skip over digit to the right.
[Left Arrow]
Skip over digit to the left.
Saving and Playing
Your Creations
When you finish designing a
game board, press [Ctrl] [S] to
save it. If you want to take a
break or test a board, save it
first. Otherwise the board will be
lost when you exit the Board
Editor.
After saving a board, type
[Ctrl] [Q] to return to the Board
Editor screen. Then press [P]
[Return] to play the game board
you've created.
Troubleshooting
When a disk error occurs in
DISK mode, the game returns to
the demonstration game play. If
this happens, check your disk
drive. Make sure your data disk
is in the drive and the drive latch
is in the closed position. Check to
see if you have level 001 on your
data disk. If not, create one or
skip to level 002. If you still have
disk error problems, your disk
drive may be malfunctioning.
Test your game board creations
to make sure they are playable
and beatable. If you want to
change or refine a board, return
to the editor and type in the
number for the board you want
to work on.
.
Scoring
The bottom of the game screen displays your current score (on the
the number of lives you have (in the middle); and the game level
(on the right). You score points as follows:
left);
Completing a level
.
.
500 points
1
Picking up a gold chest
.
Trapping a guard
.
.
75 points
Guard perishing in a pit
,
.
75 points
250 points
You gain an extra life each time you complete a level.
Atari Corporation is unable to guarantee the accuracy of printed material after the date of publication and
disclaims liability for changes, errors, or omissions. Reproduction of this document or any portion of its
contents is not allowed without the specific written permission of Atari Corporation.
ATARI, XE, and XL are trademarks or registered trademarks of Atari Corporation. Lode Runner is a trademark
of Broderbund Software Inc.
Copyright
© 1987, Atari Corporation, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. All rights reserved.
Printed in Taiwan.
K. I. 3.
1988
C031882