Downland pits you against the natural perils of the netherworld. Play this easy-to-learn Color Computer game, and in your search for the treasure, you'll encounter dangerous chasms, dripping venom, bone-shattering boulders, and bats careening through the eerie depths. Go farther and gather more than those who've tried and tailed before.

DownLand Program:
© 1983, Spectral Associates
Licensed to Tandy Corporation
All Rights Reserved.
All portions of this software are copyrighted and are the proprietary and trade secret information of Tandy Corporation and/or its licensor. Use, reproduction or publication of any portion of this material without the prior written authorization by Tandy Corporation is strictly prohibited.
Downland Program Manual:
© 1984, Tandy Corporation
All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction or use, without express written permission from Tandy Corporation, of any portion of this manual is prohibited. While reasonable efforts have been taken in the preparation of this manual to assure its accuracy, Tandy Corporation assumes no liability resulting from any errors or omissions in this manual, or from the use of the information contained herein.
Introduction
You found an opening into what looks like an underground Cavern! You enter the cave, and suddenly a rock slide cuts off your exit. There's no turning back. You have no choice but to continue through the cavern, looking for another exit.
As you explore the cave, you realize that others have been here before. Ropes are hanging from ledges throughout the cave, and treasures, such as diamonds and bags of gold, are scattered everywhere. Suddenly you come upon a key. The key must be magical for when you pick it up, a door appears. You must get to that door! Surely, it will lead you to safety.
Collect the treasures and keys, and make your way to the door by climbing the ropes and jumping onto the ledges. But be careful! It will take all your skill to keep from falling or being hit by acid drops or boulders. Also, beware of the poisonous bat that is waiting to destroy you!
Required Equipment

•  Tandy Color Computer with at least 16K RAM memory

•  Standard Television (color recommended)

•  Joystick(s)

Loading Instructions

Before inserting or removing a Program Pak™, make sure the computer is OFF. Failure to do so may result in damage to the Program Pak.

Connect the Color Computer to the television set and move the antenna switchbox control to Computer (or Game). See your Tandy Color Computer operation Manual for further details regarding connections.

Plug the joystick(s) into the correct jack on the back of the computer.

Insert the Downland Program Pak, label side up, into the slot located on the right side of the computer. Press firmly until it securely engages, but don't force it.

Turn on the television and tune it to channel 3 or 4 (whichever is weaker in your area).

Turn on the Color Computer.
Before the Game Begins
When you turn on your Color Computer, the screen displays the name of the game and the copyright information. To indicate that you want to play a one player game, push the joystick to the left. For a two player game, push the joystick to the right.
To start the game, press the fire button on your joystick.
Playing the Game
You control the man in the cave by moving the joystick in the following directions:

climb up rope

move left
*
move right

climb down rope

To make your man jump, press the button on the joystick.
There are a series of 10 different chambers (0-9) in this cavern. Within each chamber, you see bags of gold, diamonds, and keys. These items appear in different spots depending how far you are in the game. As you travel through the cavern, pick up as many of these treasures as possible. Accumulating these items increases your score. To pick up these treasures, touch them by jumping or swinging one arm off a rope.
The keys are very important. When you pick up a key, a door in the cavern opens. (You may or may not see the door at this time.) These doors let you move from chamber to chamber. Not all the keys are accessible from your position. For example, in the second chamber, there is usually a key in an upper section of the chamber that you cannot reach. Eventually, as you travel through the next two chambers, you will exit a door that lets you backtrack through the chambers to collect the remaining key. Without it, a future door will not open.
You are given four men with which to maneuver the cavern. They can be killed by the boulders, the acid drops, the bat, or by falling. When you enter each chamber, a counter in the lower right corner starts. When it reaches G, the deadly bat appears, and it destroys you if you cannot get out of the chamber. Your remaining men are shown on the upper left of the screen.
If you are playing a two-player game, each player's turn is over after losing a man. PL1 or PL2 in the upper left corner indicates the current player.
If you wish to pause while playing the game, press [BREAK]. The action freezes, and the counter stops. When you are ready to resume play, press [CLEAR].
After losing all four men, the game is over. The copyright screen reappears, and you can restart the game by pressing the button on the joystick.
Scoring
You accumulate points by collecting keys, bags of gold, and diamonds. The points for each item vary randomly. Your score for the current game appears on the lower left side of the screen. The copyright screen shows the highest score made during the current playing session and the score for the preceding game for players one and two.
Strategy
Downland is an exciting game of skill, but it will take time to master. Below are a few hints that may help:

•  When jumping onto a rope, maintain your forward motion as you make the jump. Once on the rope, stop the forward motion. Your man will not grab hold of the rope while standing still.

•  When jumping onto a rope, start the jump a short distance from it. If you wait until you are too close, you will overshoot the rope.

•  When jumping to a ledge from a rope, make sure you are almost even with the top of the ledge. If you are too far above, the jump will count as a fall.

•  When jumping to a ledge from a rope, you do not have to maintain a forward motion.

•  When moving around the falling boulders, watch them carefully and time your movements between them.

•  When you move into the higher level chambers, the acid drops fall closer to the rope. It may be necessary for you to swing to one side of the rope to avoid the drops.

•  When you move into the higher level chambers, watch for the horizontal ropes. After jumping onto the rope, maintain your forward motion, and you will climb hand-over-hand across these ropes.

To Get You Started

To give you an example of the types of challenges you will encounter playing Downland, the following description steps you through the first three chambers.

Chamber 0
The game begins with you located in the lower right corner of the chamber. Acid drops are falling and boulders come rolling down at regular intervals. Start running along the bottom of the chamber. Be sure to watch the falling drops. Two treasure items are located along this bottom level. Jump up as you run beneath them to pick them up. If a boulder is closing in on you, jump onto one of the three small ropes hanging from the ledges above.
When you get to the long rope on the left side of the chamber, jump onto it. Start climbing the rope, and when you are level with the top of the small ledge on the right and no acid drops are falling, jump onto the ledge. Jump up and capture the treasure above this ledge.
Now jump from this ledge onto the next rope. If no drops are falling you can continue onto the next rope. When you get to this rope, wait. The best way to get to the rope leading to the next level of the chamber is to wait on the third rope until a boulder has gone by and
then without stopping, jump onto the ledge and run and jump onto the fourth rope.
Maneuvering the rest of this chamber is easy, but WATCH THOSE ACID DROPS!

Chamber 1
When you get into the second chamber, you must immediately jump onto a rope. Near the top of the rope, jump onto a small ledge to the right. When no drops are falling, jump onto the second rope and climb to the bottom of the chamber. Run across the bottom of the chamber and jump onto the next rope. From there you must jump onto the bottom ledge on the left.
To move up these three ledges, move your man to the outside and position his feet so they overhang the ledge slightly.
Simultaneously, run and jump onto the next ledge. Maneuver each one of these ledges the same way.
Once you get to the top ledge, jump to the rope, and then jump to the ledge on the right. An open door leads you into the next chamber.
Notice that one key remains in this second chamber. You will have the opportunity to return later to collect it.

Chamber 2
In this third chamber, you are immediately greeted by rolling boulders. You must jump over them to get to the first rope. From this rope, you will have to either jump to the ledge on the left or swing to the right from the rope to collect the key.
Climb back down the rope and prepare to jump onto the slightly elevated ledge on the right. Again, you have a series of three ledges to climb. Watch the boulders carefully. Notice that they land in alternating spots on the bottom ledge each time (outside and middle). After a boulder lands in the middle of the ledge, make your jump and run to the inside. Wait for the next boulder and then back up, run, and jump onto the next ledge. Wait again and then make one more jump. You are now at the door leading to the fourth chamber.
Now, you're on your own. What awaits you is still a mystery. Sharpen your skills and prepare to face many fascinating challenges as you maneuver the various chambers in Downland.
GOOD LUCK!