Contents

General:

About Midway’s Arcade Classics Volume 1

About this game

In the game window, press:

Play to begin or continue a game;

Options to customize the keyboard, joysticks, or game play;

History for game history and interviews;

Change game to play a different game; or

Exit to exit Arcade Classics.

Game play:

How to play

Game controls

Changing the keyboard

Using joysticks

Changing a joystick's sensitivity

Varying the game's difficulty and settings

Other:

Troubleshooting


About Midway's Arcade Classics
About Midway’s Arcade Classics Volume 1

Digital Eclipse Software, Inc. Team

Digital Eclipse Software, Inc. has developed and published several successful commercial software packages for the Macintosh and the PC.  The company was also responsible for the DOS and Mac versions of Midway’s Arcade Classics and is currently working on projects for next generation gaming systems.

Andrew Ayre - Andrew served as Producer of Midway’s Arcade Classics for Windows® 95 and is President of Digital Eclipse Software.

Jeff Vavasour - Jeff was the Lead Programmer on this project, responsible for the emulation engine and the Arcade Room and "Behind the Scenes" interfaces, as well as supervising the overall design.

Technopop (Randel Reiss and Justin Wolf) - Technopop was responsible for the coding of the games' user interface and also for DirectX support programming.

Bert Monroy - Bert is the talented artist that lent his hand to creating the original artwork which appears in the Arcade Room.

Chris Charla and Jon Snyder - Chris and Jon brought you "Behind the Scenes" with their multimedia one-on-one interviews with the original Midway Programmers.

Midnight Design - Midnight Design provided multimedia post-production, including additional artwork for "Behind the Scenes."

Image Impressions - Image Impressions did additional layout for parts of this CD-ROM's "AutoPlay" launcher.

Developed by Digital Eclipse Software, Inc.

Emulation software © 1995 Digital Eclipse Software, Inc.


The Play Button

Press the play button to enter the actual game.  The first time you do this after choosing a new game, you will start out in the "attract mode."  This is the mode the arcade game is in when it is waiting for a new player.  To start a new 1-player game, press 1.  To start a new 2-player game, press 2.

To pause a game, press the ESC key.  This will return you to the game's main title window.  You can resume your game where you left off by selecting Play a second time.

For more information on the object of the game, see How to Play.

For more information on the controls used to play this game, see Game Controls.


Changing the Keyboard

Using the Options button on the game window, you can change the keys used to control the game.  In Options, select the Keyboard tab.  This page lists all the controls used by the game, and the current keys assigned to each.  To assign a new key to a control, click on the Change button next to it, and then press a new key.

If you press Cancel or ESC when you are asked to select the new key, the change is cancelled and the control remains unchanged.  You can also restore the original keys assigned to the controls by clicking on Restore Defaults.

For a list of the keys assigned to the controls when you first install the game, see Game Controls.


The Options Button

The Options button on the game's title window allows you to customize the game in a variety of ways.  You can vary the difficulty and game play options (see Game-Play Settings), change the keys used to control the game (see Changing the Keyboard), select joysticks to be used to control the games (see Using Joysticks), or vary the game's sensitivity to motion of the joystick (see Advanced Joystick Settings).


Behind the Scenes

Click on the History button on the main game window to enter the "Behind the Scenes" multimedia retrospective.  "Behind the Scenes" features interviews with the original game designers, insider tips and information, and rare artwork and photos that are a must-see for game enthusiasts.

Once on a game's "Behind the Scenes" page, you can view interviews by pressing one of the Clip buttons, read through the accompanying text, or see the artwork and photos in the Media Gallery.

You can also enter "Behind the Scenes" from the Arcade Room by clicking on the center of the neon sign on the back wall.

Warning: Entering "Behind the Scenes" will end any game that may have been paused.


The Arcade Room

When you first start Arcade Classics, you will enter the Arcade Room where you can select a game to play.  Pressing the Change Game button on a game's main window will end the current game and return you to the Arcade Room.

In the Arcade Room, you are shown three games.  You can either click on one of these three games to go to it, or click on the "Front/Back Room" sign to see the other three games which are available.

In addition, you can also click on the center of the neon sign on the wall to enter the "Behind the Scenes," or click on the "Exit" sign to exit Arcade Classics.

The "Go to" pull-down menu provides an alternate way to go directly to one of these options using the mouse or the keyboard.

Tip: When you first insert the Arcade Classics CD-ROM, you can bypass the Arcade Room and go to one of the six games or "Behind the Scenes" by clicking on a shortcut button at the top of the "Welcome" window.


The Exit Button

The Exit button will completely exit Arcade Classics.  To restart Arcade Classics you will either have to reinsert the CD-ROM, or open your "My Computer" folder and double-click on the CD-ROM icon.

To exit your current game in order to choose a new game to play, click on Change Game instead.


How to Play

Robotron is an all-out, non-stop, kill-or-be-killed rampage.  The basic rule is shoot everything.  Your bullets may not have an effect on everything, but it can never hurt!

Thanks to the perfection of technology in the form of the Robotrons, humans are an endangered species.  You are humanity's last hope, a product of an error in genetic engineering which has given you superior reflexes, and has rendered you impervious to the Robotrons' mind-numbing reprogramming process.

Armed with your laser, your goal is to take out as many of the Robotrons as possible while rescuing as many stranded human families as you can.  You can instantly transport a human to safety by touching them.  Each human you successively transport to safety in the same wave without losing one of your own lives is worth more points than the last (up to 5,000 points).

The controls of Robotron are different than what's found in many other shoot-em-up games. You have two joysticks (or two sets of keys on the keyboard, one for each hand).  Traditionally, the left hand controls your player's movement, and with the right hand, you can fire in one of eight directions.  You need this kind of flexibility in Robotron to keep ahead.  However, if you find the controls too complicated, you may want to start out in the "2-button" joystick mode instead.  See Game Controls and Using Joysticks for more details.

Naturally, the Robotrons want you out of the way and they have a substantial army whose only purpose in life is to accomplish that goal.  The most-abundant, but least-intelligent foe is the Grunt.  Grunts will simply try to kill you by crashing into you.  What they lack in intelligence they make up in sheer numbers.  If you last for enough waves, you'll soon find yourself overwhelmed by the Grunts.

The Hulk robots can kill you in the same way as the Grunts, but their true targets are the last humans, so they don't pick a fight with you unless you happen to get in their way.  This is a good thing because your bullets have no effect against the Hulks, except to slow their advance.

Lesser nuisances, but ones that are equally deadly are the Electrodes.  These stationary objects serve as deadly obstacles, easily dispatched with a bullet but otherwise still deadly to the touch.

There are also more formidable enemies in the Robotron world, and they start with the Quarks and Spheroids.  Spheroids are small circular objects that move very fast, and if they are not destroyed start to release Enforcers. Enforcers fight back, using evasive movement patterns and projectile weapons that aren't destroyed by barriers.  Instead, these projectiles will hug the walls, so a good tactic is to stay a person-length away from the walls when Enforcers are about.  A better idea is to destroy the spheroids before they release their complement of Enforcers.  It's also worth more points.

The Quarks are, in principle, similar to the Spheroids, but they release Tank Robotrons.  Tanks move much more slowly, but their weapons are even more persistent than those of the Enforcer.  The Tank's projectiles move faster and bounce off walls, able to catch you on the rebound if you stay too close to them.

Finally, most sinister are the Brain Robotrons.  With a touch, they can turn normal humans into mindless zombies called "Progs," slave to the Robotrons and equally bent on your destruction.  Brain Robotrons are abundant where there are a lot of humans.  They also have cruise missiles, which, when fired, wind their way randomly, unceasing until they hit their target... you!

Early waves "feature" one or two of these enemies with the rest in minor roles, but if you can last long enough, they'll start to mix and match their attack teams into a deadly combination.

To find out more about how to play Robotron, watch the attract mode when you select Play, before starting a 1- or 2-player game.


Game Controls

Robotron's controls are the most complicated of the games in this package, but they allow for the greatest power and control.  In the original arcade game, Robotron had two joysticks.  In your left hand, you could move your player in one of eight directions (up/down/left/right plus the diagonals). Moving the joystick in your right hand caused your gun to fire in that direction.

Of course, most PCs don't have two joysticks, and so this version of Robotron provides you with several additional options.  You can use the keyboard in place of one or both joysticks (though using up to sixteen keys to control the game takes some practice).  If you have a 4-button joystick (the Gravis gamepad is ideal), you can use the four buttons alone or in combination to fire in the eight directions.  A third option is the special 2-button joystick mode, where pressing the main fire button fires in the direction you last moved, and the second button fires in the opposite direction.  The last option is not a preferred one, as it reduces your firing capabilities (and you need every edge you can get), plus it will not be an "authentic" Robotron experience.

For more information on using the keyboard, read on.  For more information on how to select the best joystick option, see Using Joysticks.

By default, the left-hand movement controls are arranged as eight keys centered around the "D" key:

W - Move diagonally up and left

E - Move up

R - Move diagonally up and right

S - Move left

F - Move right

X - Move diagonally down and left

C - Move down

V - Move diagonally down and right

The eight right-hand fire controls are similarly arranged around the "5" on the numeric keypad:

Keypad 1 - Fire diagonally down and left

Keypad 2 - Fire down

Keypad 3 - Fire diagonally down and right

Keypad 4 - Fire left

Keypad 6 - Fire right

Keypad 7 - Fire diagonally up and left

Keypad 8 - Fire up

Keypad 9 - Fire diagonally up and right

You can change the keys used to control Robotron using the Options button on the game's title window (see Changing the Keyboard).


Game-Play Settings
Varying the Game's Difficulty and Settings

These original arcade games had a number of settings which could be adjusted to vary the difficulty of play (to make it harder for people to play too long on one quarter!).  On the main game window, choose the Options button and then select the Game tab.  Here you can adjust your game in the same way to make it easier or harder.

For Robotron, the inital settings are a bonus life every 25,000 points, starting with 3 lives.  You can change the bonus to happen at either every 20,000, 25,000, 30,000, or 50,000 points, or not at all.  You can also change the number of lives you start with to be anywhere from 1 to 20.

In addition, you can vary the game's difficulty using the "Difficulty" slider control, or change the number of letters allowed in the top score to anywhere from 3 to 20.  Only the top score is allowed more than 3 letters.  All the rest only get 3 regardless.

If, at any time, you want to restore the game to its original "mint condition," simply press the Restore Defaults button under the Game tab.

You can also clear all your high scores, restoring the high score table to the factory-set scores.  To do this, click on the Reset High Scores button.

Warning: If you attempt to change any of these settings or reset high scores while you are in the middle of a game that has been paused, that game will end and your score in that game will be lost.  If you attempt this, however, you will be warned and given a chance to change your mind.


Troubleshooting

The action in Arcade Classics stutters:  Windows® 95 may do a momentary "garbage collection" (that is, a clean-up of memory and disk) after a new program has settled in for a short time.  If this occurs on your machine and is unsatisfactory, try letting the attract mode run through once or so before playing a game.  If it occurs frequently, it may be a sign of insufficient memory, or another active application may be requiring intensive use of the CPU or hard disk.

I get no picture or a corrupt game screen:  Ensure that your video board is at least a local bus video board.  Microsoft's DirectX requires local bus video (or better) in order to work properly.

The sound seems choppy or poor:  Ensure that you have an up-to-date Windows® 95-compatible audio driver for your sound card, and preferably a sound card which is recommended for use with Microsoft's DirectX.  Consult with the manufacturer for details.

I can't fire using the keyboard: Ensure that the NUM LOCK key is on, and that your key controls are set correctly.  See Game Controls and Changing the Keyboard for more more information.

On my joystick, I can only fire left and/or up: The game is set to 4-button joystick mode.  This means that one button fires left, another up, another right, and another down.  You can press them in combination for diagonal shots.  If you want the main button to always fire in the direction you are moving, select 2-button under the Joystick Options.  See Using Joysticks.

I have the joystick set to 4-button, but only two buttons work:  Some joysticks (such as the Gravis gamepad) have a switch that changes the third and fourth buttons on your joystick to rapid-fire versions of the first two.  Make sure this switch is set correctly.  Also, joysticks that are connected through Y-splitters (so that two joysticks can be attached) can only use two buttons each.  If this applies to you, remove the Y-splitter and connect the joystick directly to the computer.

I am having other trouble using my joystick with the game: See Joystick Troubleshooting.


About this Game

The Robotron Team

Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar - Program/design

Constantino Mitchell - Cabinet art

Eugene Jarvis, John Sheldrake, Larry DeMar and Ken Roberts - Character Graphics

Greg Wepner and Chuck Bleich - Hardware

Special thanks to

Mike Stroll and Nate Dardick

Robotron: 2084 © 1982 Midway Amusement Games, LLC.

Robotron: 2084 is a registered trademark of Midway Amusement Games, LLC.

All rights reserved.  Used under license.


Using Joysticks

In order to use a joystick with this game, it must first have been set up under Windows® 95's Control Panel.  To do this, choose Start, then select Settings..., then Control Panel, and finally select the Joystick icon.  See the help within for more details.

Once this is done, you must tell the game which joystick you wish to use with it.  This is done by selecting the Options button on the title window, and then selecting the Joystick page.  Select the joystick from the combo box there.

Robotron has a great deal more flexibility in its use of joysticks than the other games.  Separate joysticks can be assigned to "movement" and "fire." If you haven't already done so, you should read Game Controls and How to Play for more information on the use of these controls so that you can make the best selection of joystick configuration.  The possible configurations are:

Two joysticks (best) - If you have two joysticks connected to your PC, select one joystick for Movement, and the other for Fire.

One 4-button joystick (good) - If you have a single 4-button joystick (particularly a Gravis gamepad) you should select it under Movement and use the four buttons alone or in combination to fire in the eight directions.  The firing directions are arranged to correspond to the position of the four buttons on the Gravis gamepad.  Also select 4-button mode on the same joystick setup screen.

Alternate 4-button mode (fair) - It is also possible to select the joystick under Fire and then use the four buttons alone or in combination to move.

One 2-button joystick (fair) - Select the joystick for Movement and then select 2-button mode.  In this mode, pressing the primary fire button fires in the direction last moved, while the second fire button fires in the opposite direction.

If you wish, you can also adjust how far the joystick needs to move before the game responds.  See Advanced Joystick Settings for more details.

If you are having trouble with your joystick, see Joystick Troubleshooting for help.


Advanced Joystick Settings

The Advanced button on the Options' Joystick tab gives you access to the joystick sensitivity slider and the calibration tester.

The calibration tester is the graph on the right of the dialog box.  It is divided up into nine squares, representing center (the gray square) and the eight possible directions of the joystick.  By moving your joystick around, you can see how far the joystick has to move in order for the game to register it as being "centered," "up," "right," etc.

The Sensitivity slider allows you to vary the relative size of these squares.  As you increase sensitivity, the distance the joystick has to move to get out of the "center" position gets smaller.  You can use this control if you wish to make your joystick either more "touchy" or more "sluggish" in the game.

A separate sensitivity setting can be set for each game, and, in the case of games that use more than one joystick, for each joystick also.

If you are having trouble getting your joystick to respond properly, you can use the calibration tester to troubleshoot the problem.  See Joystick Troubleshooting.


Joystick Troubleshooting

If you are having trouble getting your joystick to respond correctly, first ensure that you have the correct joystick selected under the Joystick tab of the Options button.

If the joystick is not listed there, then it may not have been calibrated. Joysticks must be calibrated in Windows® 95 using the Control Panel.  To access this, select Start, Settings..., then Control Panel and then double-click on the Joystick icon.  Follow the instructions there to calibrate your joystick.  If you do not have a Joystick icon under your Control Panel, you may not have installed the needed multimedia drivers.  Check your Windows Setup under Add/Remove Programs.

If your joystick has been calibrated under Windows® 95, and selected in the game's Options' Joystick tab (a joystick must be selected in each of the six games individually), click on the Advanced button under that tab to access the Advanced Joystick Settings.

The graph in this window shows you where the game "sees" the joystick, using a small "+".  The graph is divided up according to the different possible positions of the joystick, with "centered" indicated by the gray square.  You can try recalibrating your joystick or adjusting the trim controls (on joysticks that have them) and seeing how this graph responds.  Also, in all games but Sinistar, it is possible to adjust the Sensitivity which changes the threshold beyond which the joystick is no longer considered to be "centered" by the game.

If no "+" is shown on the graph, then the Windows® joystick driver is reporting that the joystick is not responding properly, and so its plug may be loose or not connected, or else the joystick driver has not been correctly selected in Windows® Control Panel.