LONDON BLITZ

A single player video game for the Atari 2600 Video Computer System'" and Sears Video Arcade. Intended for use with one joystick controller and a color television.

GAME BY: William J. Sheppard
COVER ART: Jim Talbot
Rules Paste-Up and Graphics: Jean Baer
Typesetting: Colonial Composition
Prep Dept. Coordinator: Elaine Adkins
Printing: Monarch Services

Any cartridge which fails will be replaced when returned to:
The Avalon Hill Video Game Company
4517 Harford Road, Baltimore, Maryland 21214.

As with any video game, turn off television and game when not in use.

(c)1983 The Avalon Hill Video Game Company
All Printed Material, Video Game and Audio Visual Display Copyrighted.

LONDON BLITZ IS AVALON HILL'S TRADEMARK NAME FOR ITS UXB VIDEO GAME Atari and Atari 2600 Video Computer System are trademarks of Atari, Inc. Sears and Sears Video Arcade are trademarks of Sears Roebuck and Co,
 

INSTRUCTIONS

During World War II, German bombs turned daily existence in London into a nightmare. Hoping to undermine the strong spirit of the British, every night the Germans dropped bombs on the citizens of London. Mast bombs exploded on impact, but some would sit minutes, hours, or days before detonating. It was up to the British Army Royal Engineers to find and defuse these unexploded bombs (UXBs). There were many types of UXBs and the engineers had to learn each. The bombs did have some things in common: they required sharp thinking, delicate treatment, and split-second timing. in LONDON BLITZ you are assigned to the Royal Engineers and are tasked to keep your sector of London free of bombs. There are several types of bombs, each requiring special skills which you had better learn. Excellent performance will be rewarded by promotions, but damaged property may get you 'busted.' There are three ways for you to get out of this nasty business:

1.Be removed from the service for incompetence [busted below Lance Corporal].
2.Receive a posthumously awarded Victoria Cross, or
3.Be promoted to the rank of Captain where you can turn your attention to administrative details.
 

GETTING STARTED

To play LONDON BLITZ, insert the game cartridge, label up, into your game system. Be sure that a joystick is plugged into either of the controller jacks. When you turn the game on, the letters 'AH' will be displayed against a blue background. Select the joystick you will use by briefly pressing its fire button. Now select your initial rank [level of difficulty] by moving the joystick up or down until the desired rank is displayed. Your rank determines the difficulty of the bombs assigned to you for disposal. As you progress in skill you can start at a higher rank. When you have selected the initial rank you desire [Lance Corporal through First Lieutenant], briefly press the fire button to start the game.
 

GETTING AROUND

The blue and green street map displays your assigned sector of London. Your position is displayed by a red cross. The positions of any reported bombs are flashed on the screen in white. To view your entire sector, scroll the map up or down by pushing the joystick in that direction. You cannot move to the bomb while looking at the map, but you will find it helpful to give yourself instructions to the bomb. For example:

Face left, move to the second street on the right, turn right, go as far as you can go, and turn left.

You can move any combination of up, down, left, or right movements, but you cannot move diagonally. When you are ready to move to a bomb, briefly press the fire button. You can move while viewing the street. You can see the square you are in and several directly ahead of you in the direction you are facing. The white arrow serves as a compass showing which way you are looking on the map. Use it should you lose your sense of direction. To change the direction you are facing, without moving, push the joystick left or right to turn in that direction. Note the change in the direction of the arrow. The joystick is very sensitive and will turn you very quickly. This may make control a little difficult for you at first, but will be very helpful once you have had some practice moving on the streets. To advance in the direction you are facing or retreat [without turning around] push the joystick up or down. To view the map again, briefly press the fire button when you are in any square not occupied by a bomb. You can only see bombs that are directly ahead of you. To examine or disarm a bomb, advance to the square containing the bomb and briefly press the fire button.
 

THE BOMBS

The three type of bombs you will encounter are very similar in appearance. Starting at the top of the mechanism there are three sliding bars. All the bars will initially be to the far right. The top and bottom bar have six positions from left to right. The middle bar has four positions. The color of the slides Indicates the type of bomb: green, blue, or orange. Below the three slides are three indicator lights. The indicators are only valid after you have made an attempt at disarming the bomb. Below the three indicators is the timer showing a red line against a green or yellow background. The red line moves from right to left, showing the amount of time left before the bomb detonates. When the slower green timer runs out the bomb shifts to a fast yellow timer. If you are working on a bomb when it shifts to the yellow timer, you must disarm it or perish.
 

DISARMING INSTRUCTIONS, PAY ATTENTION!

All the bombs are similar in that in order to disarm the bomb, you must match a three digit combination by properly positioning the three slides. The duration of the bomb's timer and the number of combinations you can try before the bomb's anti-tampering fuse will detonate it vary according to your rank when the bomb was dropped. The higher your rank, thee shorter the bomb's timer and fewer the number of attempts allowed to disarm the bomb before it detonates. There is no visual indication of the number of attempts allowed or taken--you must keep track of that yourself. Once a bomb has started on its short (yellow) fuse, you cannot run clear of its blast and must attempt to disarm it. When you are a First Lieutenant, the bombs are rigged so that any attempt to disarm them immediately sets off the short (yellow) timer. The short timer last 33 seconds. You had better be good!

All the bombs are similar in appearance except for the color of the three slides. The slide color indicates the type of bomb.
 

THE BASIC BOMB (GREEN SLIDES)

The bomb with the green slides is the simplest bomb to defuse. When you first see the bomb, the three green slides will be to the far right. Anytime you switch from the street scene to the bomb, the accuracy of the three indicators is uncertain. To set a combination into the bomb, move the joystick up or down until the slide you desire to change is shown white instead of green. Now move the joystick left or right until the slide is in the desired position. Move the joystick up or down and set the other slides to different positions if desired.

When all three slides are in the position you desire, test your combination by moving the joystick up or down until all three slides are green. Now briefly move the joystick left or right until your hear a beep. Each beep you hear registers one attempt to defuse the bomb. Be careful not to hold the joystick to the side longer than necessary and waste some of your tries. When you hear the beep, the indicator lights will change to reflect the accuracy of your attempted combination. The indicators will not change until you attempt another combination or until you leave the bomb. Should you return to the street scene, the bomb remembers the positions of the slides and the number of attempts you made, but will not remember the status of the indicator lights. The indicator lights will be red, black, or green. The left indicator corresponds to the top slide, the middle to the middle slide, and the right indicator to the bottom slide. If the Indicator Is black, It Indicates that the corresponding slidde is correctly positioned. If the slide Is red, It Indicates that the slide should be moved Jo the left. If the slide Is green, the corresponding slide needs to be moved to the right.

When you have positioned all three slides correctly and test the combination, you will disarm the bomb. You will hear a high pitched tone and be returned to the street scene. The bomb will have disappeared. Should you desire to leave the bomb prior to disarming it, press the fire button and you will return to the street scene. You cannot leave the bomb if it has begun its fast (yellow) timer.
 

THE AUTOMATIC BOMB (BLUE SLIDE)

The automatic bomb is similar to the basic bomb except that you do not move the slides. The bomb will automatically cycle through sixteen [always the same] combinations. One of these combinations is the correct one. Your task is to test the proper one. The key to solving the automatic bomb is to remember the position of the slides when you make a disarming attempt. To attempt disarming, push the joystick to the left or right briefly until you hear the beep. Remember that the indicators are not accurate when you first see the bomb. The indicator lights will change to reflect the accuracy of the combination that was displayed when you moved the joystick, and will not change until you test another combination. The indicators correspond to the same slides as those in the basic bomb. If you remember the positions of the slides and use the indicators, you can make your next choice of combination more intelligently. It is particularly helpful if you happen to chose a combination with one of the slides in the correct position giving you a black indicator. This is easy to spot and tells you to try only combinations that have that particular slide in the same position. As with the basic bomb, you can leave the bomb any time while it is still on its long (green) timer by pressing the fire button. If you disarm the bomb, you will hear the high pitched tone and will be returned to the street scene.
 

THE RANDOM INDICATOR BOMB (ORANGE SLIDE)

The random indicator bomb is identical to the basic bomb except for the positioning of the indicator lights. With the basic bomb the left slide corresponded to the top slide, the middle to the middle, and the right indicator to the bottom slide. With the random indicator bomb, the relative positions of the indicators may be in any order... Top-Middle-Bottom... Top-Bottom-Middle ... Bottom-Top-Middle... Middle-Bottom-Top... etc. The sequence will not change for any one bomb and all slides will be represented by an indicator. It may be helpful to move only one slide for each attempt until you have identified which indicator corresponds to each slide. When you disarm the bomb, you will hear a high pitched tone, the bomb will disappear, and you will find yourself back on the street to tackle another bomb
 

WINNING, LOSING, SCORING

Should you take too many incorrect attempts at disarming any of the bombs, or happen to be in the same square with the bomb when the timer runs out, the bomb will detonate--terminating the game. You get credit for bombs you disarm, and are penalized for bombs which detonate. In order to be promoted, you must disarm more bombs than you allow to detonate. Failure to disarm enough bombs will lead to being busted. There are eight levels within any rank. You will be advanced one level for disarming a basic bomb (green slides), two levels for an automatic bomb (blue slides), and three levels for a random indicator bomb (orange slides).

Your level within your rank will be indicated by a bar displayed beneath your rank insignia. Your rank without a bar indicates the lowest level. A bar the full width of your rank insignia indicates the highest level within your rank. Your final rank is displayed against a black screen when the game ends. No intermediate level is shown. The game will end when you get promoted to Captain, when you would be busted below Lance Corporal, or when you have a fatal meeting with a bomb. Should the last occur, your rank will be the highest rank you were promoted out of. For example--if you started as a Lance Corporal, worked your way up to Warrant Officer, were then busted to Sergeant and were killed at this rank, your final rank would be Staff Sergeant. If you started at Second Lieutenant and were blown up before being promoted, your final rank would be Lance Corporal as you never earned your initial rank!
 

CONSOLE SWITCHES

You can restart any game, at any time, by pressing the RESET button on the game console. After a game is completed you may start a new game by pressing the fire button once (the letters 'AH' will appear on the screen] and then pressing EITHER joystick fire button to start a new game. This sequence allows another player to play LONDON BLITZ without having to reach for the console control switches. The console switches other than the POWER On/Off switch and the RESET switch are not used. GET BUSY. GOD SAVE THE KING!