------------------------------------------ - - - MINDWHEEL - - - - An Electronic Novel - - - - A SYNAPSE & BR0DERBUND PRODUCTION - - - - -Written by The Whip- - - - ---------------------------------------------- Introduction ------------ [NEWS FLASH!] -FEDERATED NATIONS CHARTER IS DISSOLVED- -LEAK FOUND IN NERVE GAS STOCKPILE- -TOURIST TORN APART BY WILD DOGS IN TIMES SQUARE- Headlines tell the story. Your world is teetering on the brink of self-destruction. You have been chosen to perform the most crucial and daring of rescue missions. Only by journeying back telepathically to the first moments of civilization can you retrieve THE WHEEL OF WISDOM, the small, precious object upon which survival of your planet depends. Your voyage will cast you into an interlocking matrix of four extraordinary and powerful minds. Although these individuals are dead, their thought patterns survive in a kaleidoscope realm of shocking episodes and mutating images. The minds of matrix: Bobby Clemon, assassinated rock star, voice of a generation; The Generalissimo, ingenious dictator and hideous criminal of war; The Poet, composer of the glorious epics which are your culture's supreme literary achievement, a victim of love; Dr. Eva Fein, scientist, humanist, distinguished musician, "the female Einstein" of the Late Technological Age. When you negotiate the labyrinth of these four minds, you will encounter THE CAVE MASTER, the prehistoric, apelike being who invented the primary tools of your culture. He safeguards THE WHEEL OF WISDOM, the potent, mysterious source of all inspiration. This is the object of your quest. Doctor Virgil, the originator of neuro-matrix mind travel, will propel you into MINDWHEEL. Your choices, imagination, intuition, and skill, as well as the unpredictable dictates of chance, will determine your success or failure. A child with the head of a bird, a weeping soldier at a smoldering fire, a demon of fear, a woman of glass...such are the images of the beckoning Vortex. You may enter it - in fact, you must. The universe of MINDWHEEL is turning all around you. MINDWHEEL requires 64K of memory. Optional equipment which will improve the game include: 128K of memory for faster play A second disk drive A printer Blank formatted disks An 80-column card (Note: the original of MINDWHEEL was unprotected but had a "book protection" which made the player check a specific word out of the book and type it in. Who ever cracked side 1 of MINDWHEEL also took the 40-80 column option out which means you are stuck with 40 columns. (Until a later crack becomes available.) Special Features ---------------- [BOOKMARK] Perhaps you've made progress in an Electronic Novel and you'd like to pick up next time where you left off. To do so, you will need a blank disk. DON'T try to bookmark or write files to your program disk. The bookmark disk you use to save your current position should first be formatted in DOS 3.3. After you have formatted your bookmark disk, do not use it for anything except storing versions of Electronic Novels. Any other files written to it will be destroyed by the bookmark process. Some Electronic Novels are designed so that you cannot always save your position. Usually, though, you can bookmark you novel by following these steps: 1. From inside the novel, type BOOKMARK and press RETURN. Do not insert your formatted bookmark disk until you are prompted to do so. NOTE: If you make a mistake and want to stop the bookmark process, type 'A' to abort. 2. Next, you will see the message TYPE A VERSION NUMBER (1-8). Type a number from 1 to 8. Give each saved version of the novel a different number. After you have saved 8 versions and use 1 again, you will replace the original bookmarked version 1. Note the number you give each saved version of the novel. You will need to use the last number with the RESUME NOVEL command to pick up where you left off. 3. Next you will see the message BOOKMARK DRIVE 1 OR 2? Type the number of the drive in which you want to have your bookmark disk. 4. After you have typed a drive number, you will see the message, INSERT BOOKMARK DISK, PRESS RETURN. Insert the bookmark disk into the drive you specified and press RETURN. 5. Depending upon your position in the novel and whether you are using one or two drives, the bookmark process will ask you to insert a particular side of the program disk. Follow the messages at the bottom of the screen. When the bookmark process is complete, the novel will begin again where you left off. [RESUME NOVEL] To reopen a version of a novel you saved with the BOOKMARK command, follow these steps: 1. From inside the novel, type RESUME NOVEL and press RETURN. NOTE: You can use the RESUME NOVEL command only after you have answered the question the character asks after loading. If you make a mistake and you want to stop the bookmark process, type 'A' to abort. 2. Next you will see the message, TYPE A VERSION NUMBER (1-8). Type the number of the version you want to resume. 3. Next you will see the message, BOOKMARK DRIVE 1 OR 2? Type the number of the drive in which you want to have your bookmark disk. 4. After you have typed a version number, you will see the message, INSERT BOOKMARK DISK. PRESS RETURN. Insert the bookmark disk into the selected drive, and press RETURN. You may be prompted to insert a particular side of the program disk. Follow the messages at the bottom of your screen. When the resuming process is complete, the novel will begin again from the point at which you typed the BOOKMARK command. [PRINTER ON] If you have a printer connected to your computer, you can use this command to create a printed record of the novel. Follow these steps: 1. Be sure your printer is turned on and cabled correctly to your computer. Your printer card should be in slot 1. Do NOT use the PRINTER ON command unless you do have a printer. Doing so will cause the novel to run erratically and you will probably have to start over. 2. Follow steps 1-5 under starting the Electronic Novel on this reference card. Note: You can use the PRINTER ON command only after you have answered the question the character asks after loading. 3. After you have answered the question, type PRINTER ON and press RETURN. Whatever commands you type now, together with the Electronic Novel text responses, will both print and display on your screen. To stop printing, simply type PRINTER OFF and press RETURN. [SPECIAL KEYS] CTRL-S: Turns off the beep while typing. CTRL-X: Erases a line you just typed provided you have not yet pressed RETURN. CTRL-E or TAB: On a //E or //C will repeat the last line you typed up to the RETURN DELETE OR <--: Allows you to back up and correct mistakes before you press RETURN. It deletes the character before the cursor and moves the cursor backward on space ESC: Stops the changing world of the novel. It performs the same function as the PAUSE NOVEL command. When you pause the novel, the message PRESS ANY KEY TO CONTINUE will appear at the bottom. [NOTE]: These docs serve as a reference card for the Electronic Novel, MINDWHEEL, as well as all other future Electronic Novels released by Broderbund and Synapse. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Written by The Whip 4-19-85 ----------------------------------------------------------------