DARK CHAMBERS c 1983, 1988 THE DARKNESS IS UPON YOU ------------------------ You're on a dangerous search, deep underground. Wraiths, wizards, and moldering skeletons surround you. Even now, a grim reaper stalks you. The exits take you -- where? Only deeper into the maze. Find weapons in the darkness and fend off your elusive enemies. Claim the treasure and fight your way even deeper into the caverns. Your strength will outlast the weaker ghouls. But are you a match for the strongest? GETTING STARTED 1. With your Atari 2600 or 7800 set up, insert the Dark Chambers cartridge into the console. Plug a joystick into the left controller port. For two players, plug a second joystick into the right controller port. 2. Turn on your television or monitor and press the [Power] key to turn on your Atari console. The Dark Chambers screen appears. 3. Press [Select] to choose a skill level and number of players (one or two). Or move the joystick handle up or down for players and left or right for skill level. A hero for each player appears at bottom right. A bear's face at bottom left shows your sill level. Bear's Face Skill Level [Image of smiling bear with small eyes] Low [Image of straight-faced bear with two big eyes] Medium [Image of straight-faced bear; big left eye, small right eye] High 4. Press the [Reset] or the joystick fire button to begin. SEARCHING DARK CHAMBERS You're lost in Dark Chambers. Enemies, treasures, and curses are scattered through all 26 levels from A to Z. Your goal is to survive all levels and take the greatest amount of treasure. Only by finding the hidden gates can you descend from one level to the next. Your enemies -- dangerous ghouls -- are everywhere. At times they'll chase you. Other times they'll chase you. Other times they'll back off, but its a ploy -- they're trying to lead you further from the exits. Move your joystick handle to move through the chambers. (In the early levels of play, beware of false doors that won't open.) Search each chamber for treasures and weapons. Pick them up by walking over them. (The treasures and weapons you pick up appear at the bottom of the screen.) Stay away from the curses -- traps and poison. If you touch them, they'll take away your strength. Go through the exits to move on. (In a two-player game, you won't be able to walk any farther than you can see unless your partner goes with you.) Ghouls drain your strength by touching you. Shoot them by moving your jothey'll take away your strength. Go through the exits to move on. (In a two-player game, you won't be able to walk any farther than you can see unless your partner goes with you.) Ghouls drain your strength by touching you. Shoot them by moving your joystick handle in their direction and pressing the fire button. Be watchful, though, because you can't walk while you're shooting. Ghouls will use that time to move in and touch you. Potions are also hidden in the chambers. When you find one, pick it up to renew your strength. A bar at the bottom of the screen shows how much strength you have left (up to 31 units). Strength Bar [image of a bar] Find the hidden gate to escape from a level and descend to the next. As long as you have strength left, you can go through all 26 levels. If you lose all your strength, you collapse and the game is over. In a two-player game, if one hero collapses, the keys are given to the other hero. If the surviving hero makes it to the next level, the other hero revives on that level. When a game is over, press the fire button or [Reset] to start a new game at the last level played. Press [Select] at any time to start a new game from the title screen. HEROES, TREASURES, AND POWERS You're the hero, caught in the maze of Dark Chambers Hero 1 [Image of a person. He looks like a candle with feet on both sides. The head slopes from left to right. There is a diagonal white slash that goes from the upper left side of the body to the center of the body.] Hero 2 [Image of a person. He also looks like a candle with feet only on the right side. The head slopes up a little from the left to the middle of the body, then it slopes back down to the right. There is a slash that goes from the upper middle of the body to the bottom right side of the hero's waist] Pick up potions to increase your strength. (When your strength bar is full, you don't need the potions.) [Image of a flask-like-object] The more keys you pick up, the more doors you can unlock to enter secret rooms. Each key unlocks one door. You can carry up to 15 keys. [Image of a key] Pick up weapons for defense. Guns let you fire faster. Daggers make your shots more powerful. Shields minimize the amount of strength you lose when an enemy touches you. When you're carrying a weapon, a box appears next to your strength bar. Guns [Image of a gun] Daggers [Image of a cross] Shields [Image of a medieval shield with a white cross on it] Set off bombs to slay all ghouls and curses in the area you're in. Grab the bomb and press the fire button twice quickly. Or carry it (up to 15 bombs), and detonate it when the time is right. [Image of a bomb. It looks like one of the bombs from Kaboom!] Gates lead to the next level [Image of a hollow rectangle that is standing up. There is a horizontal line about a quarter of the way from the bottom. On top of this line, is two rectangles. A small one sits on top on the large one. The large one sits on the line. Both of the boxes are inside the hollow rectangle.] Grab the strongboxes, jewels, and silver and gold chalices to earn points. Strongbox [Image of a box. It has three white squares near the top wear the key hole is. There is a small lid That sits on top of the box.] Jewel [Image of a necklace. It has a huge stone, and the necklace is open at the top.] Chalice [Image of a chalice. A chalice looks like a "Y".] DENIZENS AND CURSES OF THE DARK CHAMBERS The inhabitants of Dark Chambers drain your strength by touching you. When shot, they mutate to the next weaker form. Zombies are the weakest form. They explode when you slay them. [Image of a rectangle with feet, a hat brim, and a huge nose. There is a white piece missing in the middle of its body.] Wraiths want to scare you crazy. [Image of a thing that looks like a Master Lock. The base is a rhombus with an inverted "U" on top of it.] Skeletons shake their bones, coveting you skin. [Image of a skeleton] Wizards hate live heroes. They attack without mercy. [Image of a wizard. He had the familiar wizard hat and robe on] Grim reapers are the strongest form. They'll slice you down if you let them get close. [Image of the Grim Reaper. He is wearing a rob, and has an inverted "U" on his head.] Spawners hatch new ghouls. They also hide treasures, weapons, curses, and gates. Shoot them to discover what they're guarding. [Image of a head with a two eyes and a straight-face. It has an "X" beneath the head] Traps and Poisons drain your strength if you tough them. Traps [Image of a hollow square with an "X" going through the middle of it] Poisons [Image of a flask-like-object. It has a white "X" on it.] SCORING ------- Slay the ghouls and pick up treasures and potions to score points. Scores appear at the bottom of the screen, next to your strength bar. GHOULS AND CURSES Spawner: slaying.................................100 points Grim reaper: slaying............................100 points touching......................-5 energy units Wizard: slaying..................................50 points touching...........................-4 energy units Skeleton: slaying................................30 points touching.........................-3 energy units Wraith: slaying..................................20 points touching............................-1 energy unit Trap: touching.............................-6 energy units Poison: touching...........................-4 energy units TREASURES AND POTIONS Gold chalice....................................3000 points Amulet..........................................1000 points Silver chalice...................................500 points Strongbox........................................100 points Potion.......................................+3 energy dabs And of course, this game was made by ATARI in 1983/1988. And this game manual was typed in by me! And I am Eddie Beiles. I can be reached at beiles@email.unc.edu if you have any questions about this game manual. Or you can email me and thank me for typing it in. Anyway, enjoy the game and this wonderfully typed in manual. ------------------------------------------------------------------ This file was downloaded from, the Classic Cartridge Web page at: http://www.cet.com/~steverd ------------------------------------------------------------------