Metal Warrior 4: Agents of Metal V1.2

A Covert Bitops production in 2012


INSTRUCTIONS

Use joystick or arrows to scroll, press FIRE/SPACE/RETURN to exit.



HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

Required:
- C64 or C128 (in C64 mode)
- Disk drive or hard disk

Optional:
- Joystick (highly recommended)
- SuperCPU (eliminates any slowdown)

Inbuilt fast loader supports the 1541, 1571, 1581, CMD FD, CMD HD and IDE64 drives. By switching the fast loader off, any drive can be used.


LOADING

You will be presented with the start-up menu, where you can toggle the fast loader and loading picture options. Use cursor keys + RETURN, or joystick in port 2 to move and toggle options.

Select 'LOAD THE GAME' to go on. When the game main part has been loaded you will be asked to insert disk side 2.


HARD DISK INSTALLATION

MW4:Agents of Metal is not copy protected - to install on a hard disk, copy the files from both sides of the MW4 disk to a hard disk directory. The file '01' on both sides is the fast loader and needs to be copied only once.



PROLOGUE

Three weeks after the events depicted in 'Metal Warrior 3', two figures stand at the gates of a deserted farm.

Led by a phone call consisting of ominous pig grunts & squeals, and the voice of the maniacal bassist/vocalist LORD OBSKURIUS, they have been asked to arrive at this place for reasons unknown.

They are IAN SMITH (artist name yet undecided) and JOAN ALDER (aka PHANTASM) who were, on several occasions in the past, drawn into violent conflict with a powerful military conspiracy.

With the conspiracy revealed and brought into justice, they should now be free to live together in peace, wielding their axes only in symbolic combat against the evils of the future world.

But things are about to get weird. The Agents of Metal are about to enter the picture.


INITIATION

You as the player are asked to assume the control of IAN on his journey to the unknown. As the story begins he is his usual self but an Initiation and Transformation into Agent form awaits.


5. CONTROLS

The game is controlled by joystick in port 2, or by the keys:

Q W E
A   D + SHIFT as fire button
Z X C


CONTROLS WITHOUT FIRE BUTTON

                Climb up
      Jump left         Jump right
     Walk left     +     Walk right
     Sneak left         Sneak right
       Crouch/Climb down/Pick up



CONTROLS WITH FIRE BUTTON

           Interact/Drop item
   Attack up-l.         Attack up-r.
   Attack left     +     Attack right
 Attack down-l.         Attack down-r.
    Use inventory item/Reload weapon


SPECIAL MANEUVERS

To go up stairs instead of down, hold down up-direction first before moving joystick left/right.

To jump away from a ladder, push the joystick up diagonally.

To perform a 'wall-flip' while jumping, push joystick up and to the direction opposite to the wall at the moment you hit the wall.


ITEM MANIPULATION

To pick up an item, crouch at it (joystick DOWN; you are near enough when the item's name is displayed). If you cannot pick up an item, you likely have reached your carrying capacity. See the STATUS SCREEN if this is the case.

To drop an unnecessary item, select it from the inventory and hold FIRE+UP for 1 second. If the screen is already full of items (4 is the limit), you must go somewhere else. When a firearm is dropped, any ammunition held in it is moved to the ammunition reserve.

To 'use' the currently selected item, press FIRE+DOWN. Examples of items that can be used are first aid kits, armour rechargers, and the 'Agent gear' you receive soon after game start! Firearms are reloaded this way, also.


INGAME STATUS DISPLAY

The bottom left part of the screen shows your score, current weapon/item selected and ammunition remaining.

For firearms, the ammunition display is split in two. Left side shows rounds in magazine and right side shows number of magazines remaining.

For melee weapons, INF (infinite) is displayed.

The bottom right part shows your health (H) and armour power (A) meters.

Keep an eye on the health meter; when it falls to zero you are defeated and the game is over.

The armour power bar will be displayed only after receiving your Agent gear. The armour will take most of the damage as long as it has some power left.

To replenish health, use first aid kits. To replenish armour power, use armour rechargers.


MENU SYSTEM

Hold down the FIRE button for 1/2 seconds or press SPACE to pause and access the main menu.

The main menu is divided into 3 sub-screens: GAME MENU, INVENTORY, STATUS. To move between them, push joystick left/right. To move within a sub screen, push joystick up/down. To activate a menu item, press the fire button.

To leave the menu, press SPACE.


GAME MENU

Before a game is started, only the GAME MENU is accessible.

NEW GAME - Start a new game. You are presented with a difficulty level selection:
- EASY - Reduced damage to player, carrying capacity 25kg
- NORMAL - Normal damage to player, carrying capacity 20kg  
- HARD - Extra damage to player, more enemies, carrying capacity 15kg

LOAD GAME - Load an existing game.

SAVE GAME - Save the current game. Select a slot between 1-3. Remember to save often to be able to continue in the case you're defeated!

QUIT GAME - End game and return to title screen, or if not in game, end session and return to the BASIC prompt. You are asked to confirm.

MUSIC Y/N - Toggles whether music will be played. With music off you will hear more sound effects, such as footsteps.

SOUND Y/N - Toggles whether sound effects will be played.


INVENTORY

Here you can select the current item (weapons, first aid kits etc.) in use. Press FIRE or SPACE to confirm & return to game.


STATUS SCREEN

The STATUS SCREEN displays your total game time, weight of items carried, and three status bars:

- VIT - Vitality
- STR - Strength  
- ARMOR - Armour system class

With higher vitality, the health bar will deplete slower from damage.

Higher strength increases your carrying capacity, so that more weapons and supplies can be carried at a time. Your melee attacks and thrown weapons also become more powerful.

A higher armour system class means that the armour can stop more damage before requiring to be recharged.

Vitality & strength upgrades can be found in enemy installations. Use Surgical Units to install these. Armor upgrades can also be found; these can be installed simply by selecting from the inventory and using (FIRE+DOWN).


INTERACTION

There are several ways to interact with the game world. All of them are activated by pressing FIRE+UP.


CONVERSATION

You need to stand near and face the person you wish to talk to, and hold FIRE+UP for about 1/4 seconds.

If no conversation begins, this means simply that there's nothing important to say at the moment - you might want to come back later. Also, if the person is engaged in combat, you must wait.

At times you are able to choose your reply from multiple choices; this is indicated by arrows in the message window and a question mark above your character's head. Press joystick UP/DOWN to see choices and FIRE button to select.

Sometimes conversations are also triggered automatically when you are near a person.


GAME WORLD OBJECTS

When you're standing at an object that can be interacted with, an arrow will flash at your character's feet.


DOORS, SWITCHES, CLOSETS

To enter a door, stand in front of it and hold FIRE+UP for about 1/4 seconds. Some doors need to be opened or unlocked first by using a nearby switch or keycard lock.

To operate a switch or lock, stand in front of it and press FIRE+UP. Any item required will be inserted automatically.

Closets might contain ammunition, weapons or other useful items. Press FIRE+UP to open and reveal any items.


COMPUTER TERMINALS

Press FIRE+UP to read the contents of the screen. They are displayed either in the main game screen or in the message window. Sometimes you might also be presented with a control interface similar to the game menu.


RECHARGERS AND SURGICAL UNITS

These fixed units can be used to regain lost armour power or health. Press FIRE+UP to operate. The surgical unit presents you with an interface:

- HEAL - Restore all health
- VIT - Install vitality upgrade
- STR - Install strength upgrade
- EXIT - Return to game



ELEVATORS

To go up on an elevator, press FIRE+UP while standing on its left half. To go down, press FIRE+UP while standing on the right half. An elevator call button can usually be found next to an elevator shaft.



THE MAP SCREEN

When you exit an area you are presented with a map screen to choose your next destination. Use the joystick to move and FIRE to select.

New locations are added to the map as you learn of their existence. Note that you need to locate and use the ground level exit of each enemy installation before you can return to it simply via the map screen.



WEAPONS & AMMUNITION

There are 21 different kinds of weapons in the game, and of course your trusty fists to fall back upon.

Note that by picking up every weapon you encounter you will likely reach your carrying capacity quickly.

Common ammunition types and uses:
- 9mm - Pistols, Submachine gun
- .44 - .44 Magnum pistol
- 5.56 - Automatic rifles
- 7.62 - Sniper rifle
- 12 gauge - Shotguns
- Darts - Dart gun
- Batteries - Electronic stun gun

Any experimental weapons that you encounter might require their own kinds of ammunition.

The weapons with non-lethal effect are:
- Fists
- Baton
- Dart gun
- Electronic stun gun

Some weapons (such as the dart gun) may have a prolonged damage effect, that the armour does not protect against. You will notice this when the health bar starts to decrease even if you have armour left, and your character flashes. Using a first aid kit stops this.


AGENT HINTS & TACTICS

Enemies detect you by sight and sound. When you crouch-walk (sneak), they will not hear you.

Enemies might be expecting you when there has been gunfire or other loud noises just before. It might be beneficial to let things calm down before proceeding.

Reloading in the middle of combat can prove fatal. Therefore it is often wise to ensure beforehand (use FIRE+DOWN to reload) that you have a fresh magazine.

A damage bonus is added to surprise attacks from behind (for example, a guard might go down with one blow of the Baton).

An Agent might not necessarily have to kill; double points are awarded for non-lethal defeat of an enemy.

Good luck on your adventure!



CREDITS & COPYRIGHT

Agent concept:
LIONEL GENDRE & LASSE OORNI

Programming, graphics & sound:
LASSE OORNI

Additional programming:
PER OLOFSSON, WOLFRAM SANG, CHRISTOPH THELEN (disk drive code), MAGNUS LIND (Exomizer)

Music:
HARRI AHOLA, LIONEL GENDRE, PAAVO HARKONEN, JUHA JAAKKOLA, ANSSI JAASKELAINEN, ANTTI KIVILAHTI, BAS KOOY, JUHO KOTILA, DENNIS MOTT, DANIEL WUIS, LASSE OORNI

Covert Bitops homepage:
http://covertbitops.c64.org

Copyright (C) 2002-2012 by the authors. All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
3. The name of the author may not be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.


THANKS FOR AGENT EVIDENCE

Beta testing:
MAT ALLEN, RICHARD BAYLISS, ROMAN CHLEBEC, JORG DRAGE, MICHAEL DURRER, MATHIEU FAES, ANDREW FISHER, JOHAN FORSLOF, LIONEL GENDRE, PAAVO HARKONEN, JOHAN IJZERMAN, MILO MUNDT, KARL-JOHAN NILSSON, SIMON QUERNHORST, LAZE RISTOSKI, LUIGI VICARI

Fast loaders/drive coding:
MARKO MAKELA, KRZYSZTOF MATULA, MAGNUS LIND, NATHAN SMITH, GUNNAR RUTHENBERG, KOVACS BALAZS, WOLFRAM SANG, CHRISTOPH THELEN

SuperCPU programming:
STEFAN GUTSCH

Extra RAM programming:
WOLFRAM SANG

Discussions & suggestions:
BRIAN BAGNALL, RICHARD BAYLISS, JAN BOTTCHER, ROMAN CHLEBEC, JORG DRAGE, MICHAEL DURRER, PAAVO HARKONEN, JASON KELK, KALLE NIEMITALO, OLLI NIEMITALO + many more

Primary Agent inspiration:
AGENT STEEL (the band), DEUS EX (the game)

The composers of the music in this game come from the 'tracked metal scene', see http://www.trackedaggression.com

Special thanks to all beta testers, without whom many infernal bugs would have remained.

Greetings to all C64 users, sceners, artists & webmasters etc. You rule the world!



Distributed with the Commodore 64 Ultimate with permission from Lasse Oorni.