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Steeplechase - Sears - Atari 2600     HTML Manual   

Steeplechase
	SEARS TELE-GAMES

	STEEPLECHASE
	Game Instructions

	For 1 to 4 players
	6 Games
	Sears, Roebuck and Co.
	4975126

Note: Always turn the POWER switch OFF when inserting or removing a
Tele-Games Cartridge.  This will protect the electronic components and
prolong the life of your SEARS Video Arcade.  Copyright 1981 Atari, Inc.


1. MEET THE VIDEO ARCADE HORSES
Welcome to the VIDEO ARCADE Stables.  It's time for you to meet the lively
thoroughbreds waiting inside this game cartridge.  This spirited bunch of
hoofers never miss a race.

Wonderful cartoonish drawings of horses are shown in their stalls.

[Purple Horse, Little Dictator "Keep Out"]
In the lane at the top of the playfield is "Little Dictator".  Little
Dictator has a mean streak that surfaces every now and then.  Once, after
losing a race, he ate the entire grandstands.

[Blue Horse, Just Missed]
The horse in the next lane was aptly named.  "Just Missed" just missed every
race he had ever entered before coming to our stables.  Now he's as
dependable as a horse could be.  He doesn't win every race, but he never
misses one.

[Red Horse, Absent Mind]
"Absent Mind" occupies the third lane down.  He tends to forget things
occasionally.  One time during a race he completely forgot what he was
supposed to be doing and ended up selling programs to the spectators lined
up at the rally.

[Yellow Horse, Lucky Devil]
The horse at the bottom lane of the playfield is the pride and joy of the
VIDEO ARCADE Stables.  "Lucky Devil" is his name.  He's become so wealthy
from winning races that he now lives at the infamous "Horse Heaven
Penthouse".  At Horse Heaven, he sleeps in a hoof-shaped waterbed, dines
regularly on caviar- flavoured oats and carrots and drinks champagne while
lounging in his Gucci loafers and satin dinner jacket.

So now you know a little about the VIDEO ARCADE team of horses.  You can go
against them in any one of the six games, or you can pick one of them as
your own mount.  Who knows? -- You may end up in Horse Heaven yourself some day.


2. OBJECT OF THE GAME
The object of Steeplechase is to be the first player to advance your horse
to the right side of the screen display.  Each horse gallops at a given
speed from left to right.  While the horse gallops, hurdles of different
sizes approach the horse from right to left.  Your task is to jump and clear
the hurdles, and get your horse to the right side first.

As you are jumping each hurdle, your horse actually has no motion from left
to right.  Whenever you hit a hurdle your horse loses some horizontal
position (distance) while it falls to the ground and gets up.  The higher
you jump your horse, the easier it is to clear all hurdles.  However, the
more time it takes to clear the hurdles, and the more time it takes to reach
the right side of the screen.

The height of a jump can be set by adjusting your height indicator bar.
There are four height settings.  Each horse has its own height indicator
bar.  To learn how to adjust the bar and how to control and jump your horse,
see USING THE CONTROLLERS, Section 3.

The speed of the race starts off slow, and increases when the leading horse:

(1)	gets about one-third of the way across the screen, and,
(2)	again when the leading horse gets two-thirds of the way across.

A game ends automatically when the game clock reaches 3:00 and none of the
horses have made it to the right side.  All six games can be played by one
to four players.  If less than four players pick a horse before the race
starts (see USING THE CONTROLLERS), the computer will control the other
horse or horses.

If players want to compete against each other only, they should play against
the computer horses in Games 1 and 4.  In these games the computer horses'
performance rating is "poor", so they are essentially out of the race and
you are free to race each other.

If one or more players want to race against the computer, play against the
computer's horses in Games 2 or 5 ("good" performance rating), and Games 3
or 6 ("excellent" rating).  Be sure to read GAME VARIATIONS, Section 5, for
a complete listing of each game.

You already know that the next section (USING THE CONTROLLERS), describes
how to control your horse.  Read Section 4, CONSOLE CONTROLS, to find out
how to select a game number, as well as how to start a game.

The GAME SELECT MATRIX at the back of the booklet provides a quick breakdown
of the game variations for each game number.


3. USING THE CONTROLLERS
Use your Standard Paddle Controllers with this Tele-Games Cartridge.  Be
sure the controller cables are firmly plugged into the controller jacks at
the back of your Video Arcade.  Four-player games require an additional set
of Paddle Controllers.  Hold the controller with this red button to your
upper left toward the television screen.  See page 4 of your owner's manual
for further details.

Before each race begins (see game RESET switch, Section 4, CONSOLE
CONTROLS), each player has four seconds to press the red controller button.
This will place your horse in the race.  Otherwise, the computer will
control the horse.  Notice that when you press the controller button your
horse changes from a sitting position to a standing position.

After the race begins, press the red controller button to jump your horse.
Turn the dial on the Paddle Controller to select one of four height settings
of the height indicator bar.  To clear the widest hurdles, you must use the
highest height setting.  Use lower height settings to clear the small hurdles.


4. CONSOLE CONTROLS
GAME SELECT Switch: Press down the GAME SELECT switch to choose a game.  As
you press the switch, the game number changes on the screen display.  The
game number is located toward the top, middle of the screen, as shown in
Figure 1.

Game RESET Switch: Use this switch to start each race.  As explained in the
previous section, after the game RESET switch is pressed, each player has
four seconds to press the controller button and get into the race.  Each
race starts with the sound of a gunshot.  The time clock begins counting at
the beginning of a race.  Figure 3 shows where the clock is located on the
screen display.

NOTE: The LEFT and RIGHT PLAYER SKILL switches have no effect in STEEPLECHASE.


5. GAME VARIATIONS
NOTE: All six games can be played by one, two, three, or four players.  See
USING THE CONTROLLERS, Section 3.

Games 1,2,3: The spacing between the hurdles in these games is "uniform",
meaning that the distance between all hurdles is the same, enabling you to
establish a rhythm.

In Game 1 the computer horse or horse's racing ability is poor.  In Game 2
the computer horse's ability is good, and in Game 3 it is excellent.

Games 4,5,6: In these games the spacing between the hurdles is "random"
meaning that the hurdles come at you with varying distances between them.
In Game 4, the computer horse's racing ability is poor, good for Game 5, and
excellent in Game 6.


6. HELPFUL HINTS
At first, it may be difficult to focus your attention both on the horse, AND
on the height indicator bar.  You may have a tendency to keep your eye on
your horse toward the left side of the screen, rather than on the bar on the
right side.  To eliminate this problem when first playing STEEPLECHASE, set
the height indicator bar to its highest position and leave it there for the
entire race.  This allows you to get the knack of jumping hurdles without
having to worry about the bar.

Later, when you feel more comfortable about jumping, you can switch your
attention to the height indicator bar.  Naturally there is more than one
method you can use to control your horse and the bar.  You may develop a
winning method of your own.

One method is to quickly change your concentration from the horse to the bar
and back to the horse.  The trick here is not to linger too long and the bar
and miss the hurdle.  Another method you might try is to keep your attention
mainly on your horse and you your peripheral vision to adjust the bar.  This
method can be especially helpful once you are used to adjusting the
controller to move the bar.


7. GAME SELECT MATRIX

Game			Computer				Hurdle
Number		Performance Rating		Spacing
1			POOR					UNIFORM
2			GOOD					UNIFORM
3			EXCELLENT				UNIFORM
4			POOR					RANDOM
5			GOOD					RANDOM
6			EXCELLENT				RANDOM



This document obtained from the History of Home Video Games Homepage, �1997-1998 by Greg Chance