GOD OF THUNDER

Copyright 1994, CSE Games
All Rights Reserved

Copyright Notice

©1994, CSE Games 
Published by Impulse Software

This document is not to be reproduced in any form, electronically or photocopied.  The following information is proprietary to Impulse Software.  Please help us by not distributing this document to people who have not purchased it.

This program is a product of CSE Games.  It is protected by United States copyright laws and international treaty provisions.  You may NOT modify or create derivative works based on this program or any of the information that is contained within it.  You may NOT sell, lease, rent or perform any modifications that might otherwise convert the original contents, performance or concept that was intended by the copyright holder of this software package.

Disclaimer

The author and publisher of this program make no warranty of any kind either expressed or implied.  In particular we make no warranty as to correctness or fitness for a particular purpose.

In no event shall the author or publisher be liable for any errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this product or documentation.

This document contains proprietary information which is protected by copyright.  No part of this document may be photocopied, reproduced, or translated without the prior written consent of the owner.

The information in this document is subject to change without notice.

CREDITS

Programming	Ron Davis
Graphics	Gary Sirois
Level Design	Adam Pedersen
Additional Programming	Jason Blochowiak
Music	Roy Davis
Title Screen Art	Wayne C. Timmerman
Additional Level Design	Ron Davis
	Doug Howell
	Ken & Evan Heckbert
Play Testing	Ken & Evan Heckbert
	Doug Howell
	Kelly Rogers
	Tom King
	Michael Smith
	Rik Pierce
	Cliff Bleszinski
	Terry Herrin
User Guide Design/Layout/Edits	Sara Sobkowiak
	Missy Mulgrew

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TOPIC	PAGE

1.	Introduction	
2.	The Story	
3.	System Requirements	
4.	Installing God of Thunder	
5.	Starting the Game	
		Now for an equipment check...	
6.	The Main Menu	
7.	The Name Entry Screen	
		Joystick Info...	
8.	The Options Menu	
9.	Game Controls	
10.	The Status Panel	
11.	Playing the Game	
12.	Hints & Tips	
13.	Ordering Information	20

1. Introduction	

You are Thor, The God of Thunder!  Armed with only your enchanted hammer that always returns to the one who throws it, you must journey through dozens of puzzles and fight your way past hundreds of creatures determined to put an end to your quest.  Along the way you will find several items that you'll need to complete your adventure.  Many items are not what you would expect to find in 927 A.D.  

You will also encounter villages filled with goofy people who try to help you, but often just make you laugh with their hilarious responses.  At the end of each of the three parts, you will come face-to-face with an evil boss character, whom you must defeat to free the villagers from their tyranny!

2. The Story	

Your father is Odin, the most powerful of the Norse Gods and ruler of Asgard.  Odin must fall into a deep sleep (known as the Odinsleep) every few hundred centuries to rejuvenate his power.  Your half-brother is Loki, The God of Mischief.  Loki has seized the opportunity of this most recent Odinsleep and obtained the help of his most powerful allies to take control of Midgard (earth).

Loki has established three centers of power on Midgard, from where he and his accomplices rule with an iron fist.  The first is in Spegville, where Jormangund (the Midgard Serpent), delights in terrorizing its innocent citizens.

The second, in the town of Milgrund, is now under the control of Nognir, Prince of the Underworld.  Nognir keeps a firm grip on his subjects and runs his territory like a prison camp, complete with walled villages and locked gates.

The third is in what used to be called Blechton.  This territory is ruled by Loki himself.  He has even changed the name of the town to Lokisburg.  Its citizens are kept in constant fear of arrest for even the slightest infraction of any of Loki's long list of laws.

Odin, upon awakening, learns of what has happened but has not yet recovered enough from his Odinsleep to challenge this terrible trio.  As his eldest son and the Prince of Asgard, he has called upon you to journey to Midgard and defeat Loki and his evil allies.

3. System Requirements	

God of Thunder requires the following equipment:

•	IBM compatible computer with an 80286, 80386, 80486 or Pentium Processor
•	VGA graphics card with at least 256KB of video memory
•	VGA monitor
•	A Hard disk drive with at least 1.4MB of available space
•	510KB of available RAM

OPTIONAL:

•	A Sound Blaster or compatible sound card for digitized sound effects and full musical soundtrack
•	An Adlib or compatible music card for full musical soundtrack
•	A joystick in port #1

4. Installing God of Thunder	

1.	Insert the God of Thunder disk into the A: drive.

2.	At the C:\> prompt, type:  A:  and press the [ENTER] key.

3.	At the A:\> prompt, type:  INSTALL and press the [ENTER] key.

Note:	You can substitute B: for A: depending on which floppy drive you're using.

4.	Sit back and watch the Install program go to it! 

Approximate installation time:
5 minutes or less

5. Starting the Game	

To play God of Thunder (if installed in the default directory) type the following commands:

1.	Type  C: and press the [ENTER] key.

2.	Type  CD\GOT and press the [ENTER] key.

3.	At the C:\GOT> prompt, type  GOT and press the [ENTER] key.

In a moment, the Impulse Software logo should appear on your screen.  If this is the first time you have played God of Thunder, sit back for a few minutes and watch a demonstration of how to play.  Press any key during the demo to go directly to the main menu.

	

Now for an equipment check...

God of Thunder does a very good job of automatically detecting what type of equipment you have installed in your computer.  However, in some cases, certain types of equipment may cause problems with this detection. If you are having problems getting the game to run properly, try the following commands (in DOS at the C:\GOT>  prompt):

GOT /NOAL	If you don't have an Adlib or compatible card	
GOT /NOSB	If you don't have a Sound Blaster or compatible card	
GOT /NOAL /NOSB	If you have neither an Adlib nor Sound Blaster card	
GOT /NOJOY	If you don't have a joystick	

Example Steps: 

1.	At the C:\> prompt, type:  CD \GOT and press the [ENTER] key.

2.	At the C:\GOT> prompt, type: 
	GOT /NOAL and press the [ENTER] key.

6. The Main Menu	

Once you're at the main menu, you will see a list of options that you can select.  Press the Up or Down arrow keys to move the rotating hammer to the option you wish to chose and press the [ENTER] key.

The Main Menu options are:

Play Game	Start a new game or continue a saved game. Choosing this option will bring you to the Name Entry screen (see topic #7, next page).	
High Scores	See the names of the people who have scored the most points.	
Credits	See the names of the people who created God of Thunder.	
Demo	View a demonstration of how to play.	
Ordering Info	See how you can order the other two parts of the game.  You will only see this in the shareware version of the game.	
Quit	Exit the program and return to DOS.	

You may also press the [ESC] key to exit the program and return to DOS.

7. The Name Entry Screen	

When you select PLAY GAME from the Main Menu, you will be shown the Name Entry screen.  This is where you begin your game.  The name you enter here is the name that will appear in the High Score listing.  You have up to five entries to put different names in.  This is useful if more than one person in your family wishes to play different games.

Use the Up or Down arrow keys to select an entry and then press:

[ENTER]	to enter your name in an empty entry, or continue a saved game if the entry already has a name in it.	
[INSERT]	to change the name that is already in an entry. This will not affect the saved game itself, if there is one.	
[DELETE]	to delete an entry. This will make room to enter another name.  THE SAVED GAME FOR THIS ENTRY WILL BE LOST! DO NOT SELECT THIS OPTION UNLESS YOU ARE SURE YOU WON'T EVER WANT TO CONTINUE USING THIS SAVED GAME.	

Joystick Info...

After entering your name and pressing [ENTER], you will be asked if you are going to use a joystick.  Use the arrow keys to select 'Yes' or 'No' and then press [ENTER].  If you selected 'Yes' you will be asked to push your joystick in a few different directions and press one of the joystick buttons.  When doing this, you must push AND HOLD the joystick in the proper direction and then press the joystick button indicated.

8. The Options Menu	

After a short pause, you will see the first screen that you will play.  If this is the first time you have played, the Options Menu will automatically be displayed.  

The options in this menu are:

Sound/Music	Turn sound and music ON or OFF.	
Skill Level	Make your enemies easier or harder to fight.
This option does not directly affect the puzzles.	
Save Game	Save your game, including your score, health, magic and all the items you have acquired.  Only one saved game is allowed per name. This option will save your game as of the time you first walked onto the current screen!  If you enter a particular screen, partially solve a puzzle, save your game, and then later load that game, everything will be just as it was when you first entered the screen.  If you have finished a screen and wish to save your game, walk to the next screen first or you will have to replay it.	
Load Game	Load your last saved game.	

More items in the Options Menu include:

Die	If you find yourself trapped in a puzzle, or you have been damaged considerably by enemies, you can press the [D] key to kill yourself.  This allows you to start the current screen over again with your health, jewels, magic, etc. restored to what they were when you entered that screen.  You have an unlimited number of lives.	
Turbo Mode	This option can be turned on when playing on a slower computer (usually only needed on 80286 machines).  Turning Turbo Mode ON will keep the action from slowing down on these computers, but may cause some of the animation to become more coarse.	
Help	Displays a list of keys you can press, along with their meaning.	
Quit	Exit the game.  You will also be asked if you wish to save your game.	

You may press [ESC] to erase the Options Menu and begin playing the game.  You may also press [ESC] anytime during the game to display the Options Menu again.

9. Game Controls	

During game play, use the four arrow keys to move Thor around the screen. If you are using a joystick, you may press it in any direction to move Thor.

The following is a list of keys that are used to play:

Arrow Keys or Joystick	Moves Thor around the screen.	
[ALT] or Joystick Button #1	Throws your hammer. You only have one hammer, so if your hammer is already on the screen, this key will do nothing.
After your hammer hits something (a bush, an enemy, etc.) it will turn around and come back to you.  It will return to you no matter where you are on the screen, unless there is something on the screen blocking its path.  There are times when you will have to hit something with your hammer while it is on its way back to you, so practice throwing it a little and get to know how it works before you get too far into the game.	

Additional keys for game controls:

[CTRL] or Joystick Button #2	Uses a magic item.  You start the game with no magic items.  You need to find these items as you journey through the game.  Some items require you to press [CTRL] just once to use them while others require you to hold [CTRL] down the whole time you wish to use the item.	
[SPACE BAR]	Displays all the items you currently have with you.  You may then use the arrow keys to highlight the item you wish to use and press [ENTER].  That item now becomes your current item and you can use it by pressing [CTRL] or joystick button #2.  Your current item is always displayed in the lower right corner of the Status Panel (see topic #10). You can use any item that you pick up, but be careful!  Not all items are intended to be used by you, some must be given to other people.  Some may even be harmful if used improperly!  But don't worry too much, you have an unlimited number of lives in God of Thunder so try to use everything you find at least once!	
[ESC]	Displays the Options Menu (see   topic #8).	

10. The Status Panel	

The Status Panel is always displayed on the bottom portion of the screen.  It contains the following information:

Health Meter

This displays the amount of health you currently have.  It starts out as a long red bar and gets shorter every time you get hit by an enemy or when an enemy shoots you.  Different enemies take away different amounts of your health.  Some even take it all!  When this red bar is completely gone, Thor dies and you start over on the same screen that you died on.

You may pick up Golden Apples to restore your health and make the red bar get longer.  There are also other ways to restore your health, but you will discover them along the way.

Magic Meter 

This displays the amount of magic you currently have.  It works just like the Health Meter, but it is green and you start out with no magic -- it must be found along the way.  You may pick up blue and red potions to increase your magic power.  Using magic items decreases the amount of magic power you currently have.

Number of Jewels

This displays the number of Jewels that you have found.  Thor has some pretty deep pockets, but he can only carry 999 Jewels at one time.  Occasionally, you’ll have to spend some of these Jewels to progress in the game.

Number of Keys 

This displays the number of Keys that you currently have with you.  You will need these keys to unlock certain doors before you can proceed.

Current Item 

This is displayed in the upper right corner of the Status Panel and shows you which item you will use if you press the [CTRL] key or press joystick button #2.

Score 

This is your total score for this game.  You get points for killing enemies, picking up trophies, etc.  You lose points for killing innocent villagers.

11. Playing the Game	

The object of God of Thunder is to find and defeat the Boss creature who is terrorizing villages of innocent people.  During your journey, you will come across hundreds of enemies that will try to stop you.  You will also meet many people who wish to help you.  When you meet someone who wishes to help you, just use the arrow keys to make Thor touch that person.  A dialog box will then appear and the villager will say something to you.  Carefully read what he has to say -- some of this information will be vital to your completing the game!  You can tell your friends from your enemies easily because your friends don't chase you or shoot at you.

Sometimes your friends will ask you questions.  When this happens, you will see a list of responses from which you can pick.  Use the arrow keys (or the joystick) to pick a response, just like you do in the menus.  Press [ENTER] or either joystick button to select that response.  Sometimes your list of responses to a particular question will be different after you have completed certain tasks.  You can pick each response one-by-one to determine which response is correct.

There are also dozens of puzzles to be solved before you reach the Boss character.  These puzzles usually involve pushing cement blocks or small logs to block the shots of enemies, touching certain glowing oracles to change your path on the screen, or finding keys to unlock doors.

12. Hints & Tips	

	Always try to pick up everything you see.  There may be a few items that will harm you, so be careful!

If you find yourself getting creamed by enemies on a particular screen, press [D] to die and start the screen over.  This will restore your health, magic, etc. to what is was when you entered that screen.  WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T RUN OFF THE SCREEN OR YOU WILL BE STUCK WITH WHAT LITTLE HEALTH YOU HAVE LEFT!

Enemies will reappear when you leave a screen and then come back to it.  You can use this to your advantage to quickly accumulate health, jewels, etc..

If you get to the point in a village where you don't know what to do next, go talk to people you have already talked to.  Some people say different things when you talk to them twice.

Each boss character has a weak spot, or is vulnerable to a particular weapon.  Try to hit him in different places on his body, and try each of your weapons.  You can change the skill level if you find them too difficult to beat.	

	Don't feel like you must always kill everything on a screen.  Discretion is indeed sometimes the better part of valor.

God of Thunder was designed so it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to mess anything up to a point where you have to reload a saved game because you gave an item to the wrong person, forgot to pick something up 10 screens back, etc..  But beware!  You could find yourself  facing a horde of enemies when you have very little health, so save your game every few screens, especially when you find a way to fill up on health or magic.

If you find yourself stumped on a puzzle screen, don't give up!  You could try asking a friend to look at it; sometimes a new set of eyes can see something that you are missing.  You can also order a hint book.  All of the puzzles in God of Thunder ARE possible.

13. Ordering Information	

Find out the secrets behind each of the exciting, challenging puzzles!  Learn how to gain access to those hard-to-reach underground tunnels, bridges and doorways!

The programmers and designers of this action-packed adventure game will lead you through each level of God of Thunder with their  “official” Hint Book!  Order today for only $9.95 + $3 S&H

Impulse Software
P.O. Box 31199
Indianapolis, IN  46231

Orders: 1-800-6-IMPULSE
Fax: (317) 247-1009
BBS: (508) 368-7139

You can even order ON-LINE!  Just type "STORE" at the Main Menu of the Software Creations BBS.