
Battery's not Precluded
=======================

A game for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum.
Game design and programming by Jonathan Cauldwell
Music by Yerzmyey.

Battery's not Precluded supports ULAplus.



The Plot
--------

Oh, so you want a plot then?  Okay, I'll have to think about that.



Loading
-------

Spectrum 48k/+             type LOAD "" and press ENTER
Spectrum 128k/+2/+3/+2A    select Tape Loader option from the main menu
Commodore 64               Put it back in the cupboard and fetch your Spectrum first



The Plot
--------

Hold on, I'm still thinking about it.



The Game
--------

Imagine that it is Christmas day, and you have received 4 battery-powered remote control toys to play with.

The game consists of a series of different challenges featuring 4 miniature vehicles: a car, a speedboat, a rocket and a hot air balloon.  Each challenge features a different vehicle.  All vehicles move differently, and the controls vary from one vehicle to the next.  The balloon features standard up/down/left/right directional controls with inertia movement, while the other toys have rotational controls.

The first challenge involves driving your car around a number of obstacles, with opponents' cars appearing every few seconds which copy your every movement.  Your aim is to set a path for them to follow which will inevitably lead to them colliding with each other, while avoiding any collisions yourself.  When fewer than two opponents' cars remain, you prograss to the next stage.  Other challenges involve completing 5 clockwise laps of a course, shooting everything in sight, or rescuing toy soldiers in a bathtub.  The vehicle, control method, and challenge are displayed at the start of each challenge.

There are two types of bonus which appear on screen from time to time.  Coins add to your points tally, while spanners can be collected to give an extra life.

Other than that, you're on your own.  Good luck...



The Plot
--------

I was hoping you'd forget.  Look, a plot really isn't applicable you know.  It's the game that counts.  No, really.  Oh, what the hell.  For what it's worth...

The self-appointed Queen of Dudley and part-time litter picker, Mavis Enderby, has announced in the local newspaper that she will be holding a magnificent competition for remote control vehicle fanatics, comprising of a number of exciting challenges.  As befitting a grand tournament such as this, the winner will be awarded a pair of wellington boots (non-matching and in different sizes), be granted the freedom of her back garden, the title of Duke or Duchess of 2 Haydock Close, and an annual pension amounting to a packet of Rolos (partially sucked but still in the wrapper) and a 13p stamp (franked) steamed off an old envelope she found down the back of her wardrobe.  Riches indeedy.  Unsurprisingly, this remarkable contest captures the imagination of several residents at the local lunatic asylum, and the competition is well and truly on.  Knotting together their bedsheets, several of them abscond together and make for chez Mavis.

The scene is set; Can you overcome your fellow inmates to become top nutcase?



Here's what the Critics Said
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"Absolutely brilliant!" - Jonathan "Darling Brothers" Cauldwell
"Greetz!" - Yerzmyey
"A Spectrum?  Eh?!  Look, it's 3 o'clock in the morning, I haven't the faintest idea what it is you're talking about, and I have to be up at six thirty to go to work.  Kindly stop ringing my doorbell and get off my property before I call the police" - the man next door

