                                 HOW TO PLAY IMPACT
         
         GETTING STARTED

         Insert the IMPACT disk into drive A of an Atari ST, then reset the
         computer. On an Amiga, power up the computer normally, but insert
         IMPACT instead of Workbench (use cursor up/down to centralise the
         screen on your monitor). The game will boot automatically.
         
         The object is to demolish the wall on each screen - there are 80 in all.
         After every tenth screen a password is displayed - use the passwords to
         skip screens that you have already conquered.
         
         Press the left mouse button to start the game, then again to launch the
         ball (after 2 seconds the ball will launch automatically). Use the mouse
         to move the bat left and right to hit the ball against the wall, If you
         miss the ball you lose it - you start the game with five. Whenever the
         ball is caught on the bat you can adjust its position by holding clown the
         right button and moving the mouse left or right.
         
         Most bricks are destroyed with a single hit from the ball, but some need
         to be hit more than once, whilst others are indestructible. On certain
         screens you will encounter invisible bricks.
         
         ALIENS

         Various alien life forms move about the screen as you play. Although
         they are not harmful, they can interfere by deflecting the ball. On sonic
         screens the aliens drop small yellow stun bombs - if one of these hits the
         bat it is paralysed for about a second. Aliens are destroyed on contact
         with either the bat or the ball. Each alien destroyed scores 100 points.
         
         (c) 1987 Audiogenic Software Limited, Harrow, England HA3 7SJ         


				P1


         TOKENS AND WEAPONS

         Some bricks contain yellow tokens which can be used to purchase
         weapons - so catch them if you can. Any tokens unspent at the end of
         a screen score 1000 points each (maximum 9000 points). The nine
         available weapons are represented by icons, and a white square indicates
         the weapon currently available for purchase (this depends how many
         unspent tokens you have). Press the right button to buy it.
         
         Slowdown - 1 token
         Reduces the speed of the ball to 75% of its current speed. Can be
         selected more than once if you collect more tokens.
         
         Magnet - 2 tokens
         Allows you to catch the ball and hold it (for about 2 seconds).
         
         Divide - 3 tokens
         Splits the ball into three.
         
         Wide - 4 tokens
         Enlarges the bat (the extension is not vulnerable to stun bombs).
         
         Torch - 5 tokens
         Lights up invisible bricks
         
         Laser - 6 token
         When selected you can fire laser bolts by pressing the left button.
         Beware, some bricks reflect laser bolts back onto the bat.
         
         Smart bomb - 7 tokens
         All aliens are removed from the screen and do not reappear - once you
         have selected this icon activate the bomb by pressing the right button.
                  

				P2



         Missile - 8 tokens
         Up to three missiles can be launched, one at a time, by pressing the left
         button. Missiles can destroy multi-hit bricks with a single hit.
         
         Force field - 9 tokens
         A force field encircles the ball, allowing it to smash through bricks and
         aliens without being deflected. When surrounded by the force field the
         ball can pass through, but not destroy indestructible bricks.
         
         All weapons other than torch are lost when you lose a ball, or at the end
         of the screen. Some cannot be used together, e.g. laser and missile or
         magnet and divide - choosing one will cancel the other.
         
         BONUSES
         An extra ball is awarded after 50,000 points have been scored, and for
         every 50,000 points thereafter. On some screens you can gain a bonus
         by destroying, in order, bricks marked with the letters B-O-N-U-S.
         
         STOPPING THE GAME

         You can abort the game by pressing ESC. Pressing any other key will
         pause the action; press any key to restart.
         
         DESIGNING YOUR OWN SCREENS

         There are 48 user-definable screens (81- 128); the password for screen 81
         is user. The screen designer is selected by pressing Return as the game
         begins to load. It has a built-in help screen - just press the HELP key.
         Use the cursor keys to move around the screen and press the space bar
         to draw a brick in the currently selected colour. With + and - on the
         numeric pad (Atari) or F9 and Fl0 (Amiga) you can cycle through the
         available colours (use black to erase a brick you have previously drawn).
                  

				P3



         The points scored by destroying a brick depends on the colour; no points
         are awarded for black (i.e. invisible) bricks, 5 for white bricks, 10 for
         red bricks, and so on up to a maximum of 75 points. Press M to make a
         brick multi-hit, I to make it indestructible, or R to make it reflect
         lasers. Invisible bricks are created by pressing M, I, or R without first
         drawing a brick. Press B, 0, N, U or S to draw a bonus brick.
         
         Clr/Home (Atari) or F7 (Amiga) moves on to the next screen; Insert
         (Atari) or F6 (Amiga) goes to the previous screen. You cannot access
         the built-in screens. There are various additional parameters that need
         to be defined for each screen. Press Return to change the first
         parameter, then use the Return key to step through the parameters.
         
         initspd      	  the initial speed of the ball, in the range 4 to 16
         accel          	  the acceleration of the ball, in the range 0 to 8; the
                            	  ball speeds up when it hits a brick
         maxspd     	  the maximum allowable ball speed on this screen, in
                           	  the range 4 to 16
         tokens     	  the number of tokens hidden in bricks; up to 99, but
                             	  no more than one per brick
         speedup     	  when the number of bricks on the screen falls to
                           	  this figure the ball speeds up whenever it hits
                            	  anything on the screen, not just bricks
         aliens        	  there are 8 alien types; up to six aliens in total are
                            	 allowed on any screen
         bombs      	 the rate at which aliens drop stun bombs, 0 to 8
         to kill         	 the nuniber of times a multi-hit brick must be hit
                            	 before it is destroyed
         
         Press Fl to save the screens you have designed to the program disk, then
         reset the machine and reload the game.
