Taken from an ST SEWER SOFTWARE docs disk. Edited by Parasite.
In a strange universe of 10,000 worlds, where the only force is pure
energy, a lone Synthoid does battle against the Sentinel and her agents,
the Sentries.
You control the Synthoid in his attempt to dethrone the Sentinel as
the ruler of each of the 10,000 worlds.
As you move about the individual landscapes, avoiding the withering
stare of the Sentinel and the Sentries, you must gain a position
from where you can destroy the Sentinel ; her energy becomes yours
and the landscape is complete.
Drawing on your remaining energy, you must now Hyperspace to a new world
where a fresh challenge awaits and only 9,999 words to go and victory
will be yours.
GETTING STARTED
Upon loading being complete, the title screen will be displayed.
Pressing either the mouse buttons or any key will access the Landscape
Selection Screen.
Each landscape, except the first, is reached via an 8-digit code. We will
deal with how these codes work later in the manual. For now, just press the
RETURN key and a representation of the first landscape will appear before
you. This representation gives you your first information about the
landscape that awaits. You will be able to get an idea of the terrain
involved in the landscape, hills, valleys, plains, chasms and so on. It
will also show you how many Sentinels and Sentries there are. Have a good
look, as this is all the information that you will get.
The screen will be prompting you to press any key so, press any key.
You are now in the landscape.
MOUSE CONTROLS
Taking hold of the mouse, press the left-hand button and a cursor will
appear on the screen. This cursor is your means of control and movement. We
will now get used to its functions and their implementation.
Move the mouse to the right and the cursor will cross the screen in that
direction. When the cursor approaches the edge of the screen your Synthoid
will turn in that direction. Now move the cursor to the left of the screen
and the Synthoid will turn left and you will be returned to the view that
you began with.
Now move the cursor to the right of the screen and leave it there. The
view will now pan round and will keep doing so until the cursor is centred.
If you let the view move 21 times then you will have returned to the starting
point.
Now start moving the cursor to the top and bottom of the screen, so that
your view pans upwards and downwards. If you leave the view panning, either
upwards or downwards, you will eventually reach a point beyond which
you can look no further, the point which is almost vertical, either
upwards or downwards. You will know if panning has stopped by looking at the
cursor. Whilst panning is taking place, the cursor will flash. If it is
not flashing, then the view is stable.
By moving the cursor to one of the corners of the screen, you will be
able to achieve a diagonal pan. The screen does not scroll in a diagonal
fashion, rather it moves the view first on the horizontal plane and
then on the vertical, to achieve a diagonal effect.
So, now that you have discovered the principles of viewing the landscape,
spend some time getting used to the mouse and changing the viewpoint of
your Synthoid, as speed will become an integral part of the game-play.
THE FUN STARTS HERE
Now that you have become used to looking around you, we will start to
discover how to move within the landscape, how to create and absorb.
The Sentinel is a game of energy, and the units of energy that exist in the
landscape have a variety of forms.
One unit is represented by a tree and this is the building block upon which
the rest of the game takes place. While you were looking around, you
will have seen that there are many trees within the landscape. These are
for you to take to build up your energy. We shall start by absorbing a
tree.
You may have noticed that below and to the right of the starting view (the
view that you get on first arriving in the landscape) there is a tree. You
should move three times diagonally and twice down, from the starting view, to
look at the square on which the tree is standing. Ensure that the cursor is
over the square on which the tree stands and press the left-hand button.
You will see the tree disappear before your eyes.
The tree, or at least the energy, still exists. If you look to the small
figures above the screen, you will notice that there are currently three
small Synthoids and a boulder (an inverted U). If you noticed this
section before, you will remember that there was a small tree where the
boulder now is. This is because every object within the landscape has an
energy value. These values are as follows:
1 Unit: a Tree and a Meanie
2 Units: a Boulder
3 Units: a Synthoid and a Sentry
4 Units: a Sentinel
(By now you will have heard a clunking sound, and possibly seen
the box at the top right corner of the screen fill with static. This
means that the Sentinel is scanning you and absorbing your energy. This
is because the action of absorbing or creating anything will start the
Sentinel turning. If this has happened, then you will probably have
died. (don't worry about this at present, we'll get on to keeping you
alive a little later).
Now that you have absorbed an object, it is time to create an object. From
the starting position, look around the landscape until you find a square that
doesn't have anything on it. Then, with the cursor on the target square,
press the 'T' on the keyboard of your computer and a tree will appear. You
will notice that your energy indicator has dropped by 1 unit (ie. a tree).
Now absorb the tree by pressing the left-hand button of the mouse. Having
done that, press the 'B' key on the keyboard. This time a boulder will
appear. Absorb the boulder as you would a tree, and press the key 'R'.
You will see a synthoid appear. You are almost there.
By now you will have died, so start again and use the techniques that you
have learnt to start moving about the landscape.
From the starting view, turn to a position from which you can see a
square, as before, and, with the cursor on the chosen square, press
the key 'R'. As before a Synthoid will appear. Now press the right-hand
button of the mouse. For a moment the screen will turn blue and you will
hear a five note tune. When the screen comes back, you will notice that
things look a bit different - the reason is that you have transferred
into the second Synthoid!
When the transfer is complete you will be looking back at your old
Synthoid. Absorb it as you would a tree and your energy level should be
the same as before you moved into a new Synthoid.
Now to put the technique to real use.
From the starting position, find a square as before and create a
boulder. Then, with the cursor still on the square, press the key 'R'. You
will see that a Synthoid has now been created at the top of the boulder.
Press the right-hand button of the mouse and you will have transferred
into the second Synthoid, but because you are also standing on a boulder,
your position in the landscape will be higher. Beacuse of this higher
position you will now be able to see much more in the landscape; more trees
to absorb, more squares to move to. You have now embarked on a unique
gaming experience.
MAKING IT WORK
The Sentinel is a complex, yet simple game. By now you should be able to absorb and create objects, although you will probably have died many times. Now to deal with staying alive.
As was mentioned earlier, when you make any kind of move other than
panning, the Sentinel and the Sentries if they are there, will start turning
to look at you. Their movement is akin to that of a lighthouse beam, turning
steadily in one direction (either clockwise or anticlockwise). Should
their view look upon ANYTHING that has an energy value that is greater than
one, then, through the same process of absorbtion that you used, they will
break down the object into single energy units (a Sentinel can't store
energy as you can).
So, to stay alive, your first aim is to avoid the Sentinel's gaze. There is
no substitute for experience but follow these guidelines and you should
get to grips with things pretty quickly:
i) Always make sure you know in which direction the Sentinel is turning, so
that without looking at it you can anticipate when the withering stare
will reach you, and react accordingly.
ii) Keep on the move, as it doesn't take the Sentinel long to turn a full
circle.
iii) When you move, always try to create a boulder and a Synthoid, so
that every time you move you will gain height and therefore your options
will increase.
iv) To absorb a Sentinel, as with any other object, you MUST be able to
place your cursor on the square on which she stands, so gaining height is
of prime importance to completion of a landscape.
v) If you find yourself being scanned by the Sentinel, DON'T PANIC! Energy
will be taken from you a unit at a time, and you may find that you have
just enough time to create another Synthoid and move to a position of
safety. If you feel that you don't have enough time to move, then there
is the last way - HYPERSPACE. By pressing the key 'H' you will be
transported to another, almost random point in the landscape to try again,
at an energy loss of three units (this is because of the loss of your
previous Synthoid). If you have less than 3 units left, then Hyperspacing
means suicide. The 'almost' random nature of the move is because the new
position that you are moved to will only be on the same level of terrain
or below. Beware: you may end up in a position from which you cannot move
any further. If this is the case then suicide is probably the only option.
vi) Absorb as many trees as you can, and always reabsorb your old boulders
and Synthoids. Gain as much energy as possible.
vii) Rather than panning all the time, you can turn through 180 degrees by
pressing the key 'U' (a U-turn).
viii) You can hide from the gaze of the Sentinel, either behind parts of
the landscape or behind trees. If the Sentinel can't see you, she will
just keep turning.
This raises another aspect of the game - the Meanies.
Meanies are created by the Sentinel or Sentries when they have spotted a
Synthoid but cannot see the square on which he is standing to absorb
him. The Sentinel or Sentry will look for a nearby tree and will transform
the tree into a Meanie. The Meanie will then swiftly rotate until he can
see the Synthoid and, hopefully, the square on which he is standing. If
this is the case then you will be Hyperspaced. There is nothing you can
do, other then absorb the Meanie before he looks at you, or move out
of the way. If you don't have enough energy to Hyperspace, then the Meanie
will destroy you.
You will know if the Sentinel or a Sentry can see you in this way when
the scanning box (top right) is only half-full of static, consequently this
is known as half scan.
ix) Energy in the landscape is static, and though it can be absorbed and
distributed, it cannot be either created or destroyed. If a Sentinel
breaks down a boulder and a Synthoid for example, the energy will not
disappear, rather it will be redistributed as five trees elsewhere
in the landscape.
x) As long as you have enough energy, you can place as many boulders as you
like on top of each other, with a Synthoid on top. You can use this
technique to dominate the landscape more quickly, but beware; if you are
scanned whilst on a top of such a stack you will almost certainly lose
a lot of energy.
xi) There is a 'help' feature that can be used at any stage of the game that
serves to give you an idea of where you are in the landscape. First,
ensure that your Synthoid is looking into the sky, then press the HELP key.
This has the effect of giving you a view of the landscape from the
position of the sky which you looked towards. This also acts as a pause
facility and can be very useful in providing you with valuable
information about the landscape.
These are the basic techniques to playing Sentinel ; you'll probably
discover your own as your experience of the game develops.
ONE POINT IS LEFT - HOW TO WIN
Your object is to absorb the Sentinel and any Sentries that may exist.
Having done this, you must place yourself on top of the Sentinel's
tower and then, satisfied with your achievement, press the Hyperspace
key. After a few short seconds you will be given an eight digit code to
a further landscape. WRITE IT DOWN and make sure you don't make a
mistake!
This is your only means of getting to any other landscape than #0000, and
as such acts as a game save. When you load the game you can get to any
landscape you wish, as long as you have the correct code.
The way it works is as follows: when you are on the top of the Sentinel's
tower and you Hyperspace the program calculates how much energy you have
left (three units are taken away for the hyperspace) and gives you the
code for the landscape that corresponds to your remaining energy.
So, if you have just finished landscape #25 with 15 units
remaining, you will be given the code to landscape #37 (25+15-3 = 37). Keep
going like this, recording all your codes, all the way to #10,000!
It is worth mentioning that once the final Sentinel has been absorbed, then
nothing else within the landscape can be absorbed. However, you can still
distribute energy, so you can chose the next landscape that you go to. Say
you have just finished landscape #25 with 15 units remaining, rater than
hyperspacing immediately, creating one tree will leave you with 14 units,
giving you the code to landscape #36. You can use this technique if you have
problems with a specific landscape.
Supposing that landscape #37 is very difficult (no landscape is
impossible), you could return to #25, complete it again and try to end up
with the code to another landscape, possibly higher than #37.
