The Music Machine - Game Instructions

FOR ATARI
2600

^THE MUSIC MACHINE

VIDEO GAME

WHAT'S A
MUSIC MACHINE?

The Music Machine is a wonderful, happy thing. It is the featured performer in the hit children's record The Music Machine. In the record, the Music Machine was able to make up a song for whatever Stevie and Nancy put into it. In this game, the Music Machine sends down lots of symbols representing various positive character qualities. You'll see the colorful contraption moving along the top of the screen of your video game.

MR. PIMS

He's the "villain" of this piece. He roams around just under the Music Machine on the video screen trying to prevent Stevie and Nancy from catching the character symbols being dropped by the machine. He does this by using his assistants, the Pudgeons.

PUDGEONS

The people Mr. Pims drops once in awhile in an effort to get Stevie and Nancy to catch them and break their baskets. The more points you get, the angrier Mr. Pims gets and the more Pudgeons he drops at you, Stevie and Nancy.

Stevie and Nancy

As in the record, Stevie and Nancy are the heroes of this game. They hold a big basket between them and race around on the bottom of the screen trying hard to catch the character symbols while avoiding catching the Pudgeons. The more character symbols they catch, the more points they get.

LOVE

Love, which is the most necessary positive character quality, because it makes all the others possible, is also the most important symbol in this game...and the hardest to catch, too! Love is symbolized by a heart which only appears when you have caught at least one of each of the other eight character symbols. When it does appear, it doesn't fall in a nice straight line like the other symbols; instead, it floats gently and you must be in position to catch it. Missing the heart results in the loss of one of your three baskets!

What's that? You aren't sure what love is? Well, let me explain. Love is wanting the best to happen to someone else so much that you are willing to make it happen. When you take the time to encourage someone, or chip in to help them get a job done, and you are genuinely happy when they get all the credit or praise...that's Love!!

PATIENCE

Patience is shown as a small brown snail in this game. It is one of the eight character symbols you must keep trying to catch. But more than that, it's also important that you have patience when you're playing this game. Sometimes you'll want to race from one side to the other of the screen trying to catch as many character symbols as you can. But if you don't slow down and have patience once in a while, KERPLOP! One of the Pudgeons will suddenly find himself a new home in your basket. And your basket will rip with a loud noise!

In life, patience is being willing to wait for things to happen even when you want them to happen so badly that you think you can't wait. It is learning to wait for the right time for the good things you know that your parents and others really want you to have, but maybe not getting them exactly when you think you should.

Gentleness

Gentleness is treating people, like animals and things in a careful way. It is shown in this game as a lamb, the gentlest of all animals. When you treat things and people gently, it shows that you appreciate them. And gentle people always consider the needs of others as being as important as their own.

If you practice gentleness in playing this game, you won't hit or kick or stomp on your video game when things don't go exactly your way.

FAITH

Faith is shown in this game as a tiny yellow mustard seed with a small green leaf. Faith is believing in things we cannot see, but on which we must depend. You can't see electricity, but you have faith that when you turn on your video game it will play, because the electricity you need will be here. If you believe in God, that, too, is a kind of faith.

JOY

What is that terrific feeling that makes you want to sing? It's joy! There's nothing like it in the world; no substitute can take its place.

In this game, Joy is shown by a blue musical note. Be sure to catch as many of them as you can!

Peace

Peace has been described as a restful feeling inside. Peace comes when you live as you should. So, when your life is right, true peace can fill your heart even when everything around you seems to be going wrong.

Peace is symbolized by a white harp in this game. You'll also find that you get a little bit of peace between each round of the game after you catch each heart. Everything stops for a moment and there's no music or catching sounds. You can enjoy that until you press the red trigger button on your paddle controllers and then the next wave of character symbols begins to drop...along with more and more Pudgeons!

KINDNESS

Someone probably showed you a kindness when they gave you this game. And you can show kindness to others by letting them play it with you. Kindness is shown as a gift-wrapped package in this game.

To be kind to others is to treat them the way you wish they'd treat you, even if they don't. Kindness can become like a present; give it away and you'll make others feel very special. You'll find something else, too. Give away enough kindness and you'll find it comes back to you!

Sharing is one way to show kindness. With this game, you can let a friend play with you. When you start the game, press the "Game Select" switch on your video game system until a big white "2" shows at the top of the screen. Then press SYSTEM RESET once and the first player is ready to begin.

GOODNESS

Goodness is represented by an angel (complete with halo!) in the Music Machine game. Someone who is good is one who obeys the rules. So if you want to be known by others as a good person, learn to obey.

When you see the angels coming down from the Music Machine while you're playing this game, think about how important it is to obey the rules of the game, the rules of your parents and the rules of the land. Be obedient and you'll be known as a good person.

SELF-CONTROL

Mr. Pims could sure use some of this! He gets really angry when you score a lot of points and he drops more and more of his troublesome little Pudgeons to try to make it more difficult for you to catch the character symbols. If you've ever stopped yourself from doing something you knew was wrong, you've used self-control. Even though it's not always easy to say "NO" to wrong feelings, you can do it. And doing it often enough will show that you have the power to live the way you should.

Use self-control when playing The Music Machine video game, too. Don't get upset if you don't always do as well as you think you should. It's only a game. And use self-control in knowing when to put away the game and do your home-work, talk to your friends or help your family with chores. Then you'll really be learning what this game is all about!

Credits

"The Music Machine" record, name, characters and music are copyright © 1977 by Agape Force. Original creator: Tony Salerno.

"The Music Machine" video game was designed by Dan Shafer, programmed by Glenn Stohel, graphics by Jon Tedesco.

This product is brought to you by Sparrow Distribution and HomeComputer Software Co. and is copyright © 1983 by Christian Software Development. All rights reserved.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Insert the Music Machine video game cartridge into the slot on you Atari Video Computer System console. Be sure a pair of paddle controllers has been plugged into the left joystick port.

2. Turn the VCS power ON.

3. Select a difficulty switch setting. Each paddle controller has its own difficulty level, so a parent and a child can ply more equally. Setting the switch at position "A" plays the easy game; setting it at "B" plays the harder game, where the game starts at the third level of difficulty.

4. If you're playing with two people, press the GAME SELECT switch once and be sure a big white "2" shows at the top of the screen.

5. Press the SYSTEM RESET key on the console.

6. The music will stop and you can now play the game. Start by pressing the red trigger button on your game controller and be ready to start catching as many character symbols as you can and dodging Pudgeons! Each time you catch a heart, a little song plays, you get some points and the game waits for you to signal you are ready to go on by pressing the trigger again.

7. Each time you miss the heart or catch a Pudgeon, you lose a basket. Each time you get to 10,000 points, you get a bonus basket, but you can never have more than three baskets at one time.

**SCORING TABLE**
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
EVENT
Catching Symbols	10	15	20	30	40	50	60	70	80	90
Missing Symbols	-5	-8	-10	-15	-20	-25	-30	-35	-40	-45
Catching Love	100	200	300	400	500	700	1000	1400	2000	2500
Catching Pudgeons	-100	-200	-300	-400	-500	-700	-1000	-1400	-2000	-2500
Missing Love	-----------LOSS OF BASKET AND LEVEL -----------
BONUS BASKET At 10,000 Point Increments to Maximum of 3 Baskets

Game instructions typed by Ben Valdes for Atari Age Instruction Manual Archive.