                       THE KILLING GAME SHOW

Typed in by MR.THOMPSON of DEFJAM. Edited by PARASITE.


Incredible! Sensational! Unbelievable! It's the hottest holo programme of
the century! IIIIIIt's THE KILLING GAME SHOW! Bored with the drudgery of
normal holo progs? Then get a life and tune into Channel KGS to experience
thrills and spills like never before in the deadliest show this side of
Klaxos 9. THE KILLING GAME SHOW is broadcast for your delight and
delectation all night, every night on Channel KGS; it's THE deadly contest
where contestants push themselves to the limit to win first
prize: their life!... there IS no second prize!

Welcome one and all to Channel KGS, glad you could make it! And so will
you be once you've experienced THE KILLING GAME SHOW! But before we get
into the action lett me tell you a little bit about the game of the century:
we've constructed 16 Pits Of Death on eight of our costom-built satellite
moons. Take a look in the sky right now and you might see them twinkling
right back atcha. They look kinda pretty from down here don't they? But
close up they ain't so nice: each satellite has one helluva huge cylinder
sunk into it. Now these here cylinders have two Pits Of Death in 'em which
in turn are packed with HALFs - that's Hostile Artificial Life Forms to you
an' me - specially created by our very own scientists. An' they're here to
do what they do best: KILL!!

But - just to add a little spice to the proceedings - we've added a splash
of DOLL (Deadly to Organic Life Liquid) to each pit. That don't seem too bad
does it? Oh, no? Well wait 'till it starts rising up to fill the pit. . .
anything organic in its way is history!

Now you may be wonderin' what's the big deal in watching customised aliens
whizz 'round a pit that's slowly fillin' up with liquid. Well, lett me
remind you of our crazy contestants, or MUGs as we like to call 'em!
These, shall we say, less-than-willing participants are law breakers and as
such deserve everything they get. Intent on causing unrest and spreading
vicious lies about our generous sponsors, 21st Century Inc we feel these
anarchists should be given the chance to argue their pathetic cases,
first hand.

It seems we have a little time before the first MUG enters Pit One so let me
fill those of you new to our game in about our unlawful participants.
To give you edge-of-your-seat action and entertainment you'll never forget
we provide our MUGs with limited-protection body armour, at no expense to
them! - we're all heart at KGS. Here's how: as soon as a suitable MUG is
arrested (an' I must admit we're not to fussy about who we choose) we
take him (or her, we're nothing if not fair!) off the authorities' hands and
prepare them for the game of - and for - their life. What we do is
surgically alter the contestants,just to give 'em more of a chance of coming
out alive, you understand.

Here's a MUG we prepared earlier... We remove the bottom half of the body,
just above the groin, an' yes we do anaesthetise most of them...
dependent on their crime really.Then we strip the flesh from their worthless
bones with a method developed and patented by 21st Century Inc science
division - it's not unlike sandblasting to watch ... is it?
Of course, to help keep the beneficiaries alive, we do our best to protect
what vital organs they have left from unreasonable harm. Our skilled
surgeons then replace their frail skin with a coating made up of a strong
malleable metallic element. This element is especially reinforced around the
arms 'cause they need these limbs to not only 'walk' round each pit but also
to pick up and use weapons and tools. Also attached to the arms are
touch-sensitive, vacuum suckers that enable the MUGs to climb walls.
Now, what the contestants have to do is travel from the bottom of each pit
to the top, before the DOLL get 'em. Sounds easy don't it. Well it ain't!
Not only are our HALFs out for blood but each MUG has to solve intricate
puzzles to access higher levels while avoiding some very entertaining traps.
But, again cause we're all heart, we've scattered weapons around each pit
for the MUG to pick up an' use. Plus some pretty nifty tools essential to
winning. Of course even if the MUG makes it out of the pit it ain't all
over, there's another 15 to go . . . but you'll probably never see beyond
the second one anyway . . .

Well, it looks like we're ready to roll. Number one pit is active and in
goes the first MUG! So sit back and enjoy the life an' death thrills
of THE KILLING GAME SHOW . . .

CHANCE OF A LIFETIME
Carl felt uneasy as he paced down the crumbling stone corridor. He had been
attending meetings here for mounths now as part of the underground movement
fighting to displace the 21st Century Government Inc. There were several
groups, each spread across a number of cities, all of them working to expose
the corruption rife within the power group.

Things had been going well until his group began to receive reports that the
safe locations used by someof the other groups had been located and raided
by the secret police. There was only one way that the locations could have
been discovered - a traitor was working from the inside leaking information
to the authorities. Carl was mystified as to how the person in question had
got past the movement's thorough vetting procedure. Still, however it had
been done, it was too late to worry about it now. The first priority was to
eliminate the mole before more harm was done.

Carl was fairly sure, as he approached the door to the 150 year old bunker
they were using as a base, that it was still safe. But for how long?
Putting his ear to the cold metal he tapped out the entry code. There was
half a minute's silence and then there was a soft tapping from the other
side. He waited a similar interval and then tapped the relevant answer.
Half a minute later the heavy door swung open.

Half silhouetted in the dust-filled room stood Lynnette, his closest friend
and colleague. Around her were the rest of the group, silent and smiling
uneasily, each one with a strangely foreboding look in the eye. The instant
he took in the scene, Carl knew there was something terribly wrong. In a
flash he turned and ran madly down the tunnel. Behind him there was much
commotion, but he continued to run, expecting any moment to feel a steel
slug bite into his back and bring his panic to a sudden end.

Now there was the sound of running feet behind him, and almost unconsciously
he sprang upwards, his hands grasping the bottom rung of a rusted steel
ladder that headed up into a cool shaft, rapidly losing itself in the
darkness. As he used every bit of strength he could summon to pull himself
up, three or four bullets snapped past his legs, ricocheting off the metal
ladder and sending echoes tumbling back down the tunnel.

Carl did not wait to listen to them. He was already fumbling his way up the
ladder and, although his soft shoes made no sound against the rungs, it
seemed as if his rapidly beating heart was banging with unbearable loudness
against the walls of the chamber.

Without warning, a couple of widely aimed shots whistled past him and he
flattened himself against the reassuring steel. He clung there for a minute
desperately trying to regain his composure, but he soon continued his
panicked climb when the sounds of boots on metal drifted up from below.
The first man was moving too quickly though and it was only moments before
Carl could hear laboured breathing from only metres beneath him. Stopping,
he turned himself about on the ladder and thrust viciously downwards with
his right foot. He felt his shoe make contact with a shoulder, there was a
muffled gasp, and then a scream as his pursuer plunged down the narrow shaft.
Carl continued upwards, an immense sense of relief washing over him when he
realised that the police had given up the chase. Soon he arrived at the top
of the shaft. There was an ancient bracket protruding from the wall which
had once held a ventilation fan. Above it was an old steel cap, with mangled
slots through which he could glimpse the grey sky.

Hoisting himself onto the bracket, Carl swung his legs upward and heaved
against the cap. After a few fruitless kicks the rusty bolts finally gave
way and it flapped over to clang noisily against concrete. He had not got
more than half way out of the shaft when a pair of rough hands seized him
from behind and he felt a needle being thrust into his lower back. That was
the last he felt before everything went black. . .

Carl came to in a low-ceilinged cell. He wasn't alone - around him were many
other people, some of whom he recognised. Obviously the raids had been
becoming morefrequent, and more successful. He looked around at those within
the cell, but all other eyes were downcast and none acknowledged him. Then
his eyes came level with a tired old face he could never forget - Old Al, one
of the few remaining founder members of the movement.

The old man managed a weak smile as Carl Crawled over towards him. "It's good
to see you again Al, but I'm not glad that it took this to bring us back
together".
"They've done their worst this time Carl," the old man croaked, "You want to
know why we're not dead? Because they want to make an example of us all,
a warning. The reason we're here is because we are going to 'star' as
contestants in an abominable holo contest we can't win".
"What if one of us was to make it?" Carl inquired. The old man looked at him
hard and long before replaying.
"If YOU were to make it Carl, you'd be an international hero. . . nothing
could stop you then. . ."
Carl was about to shrug off the possibility when the two were interrupted
by the sound of the cell door being opened. Two armed men entered and
indicated that Carl was to follow them.

YOUR OBJECTIVE
Once 'kitted out' to take part in THE KILLING GAME SHOW you're placed at the
base of the first Pit Of Death. Then HALFs are released and the DOLL is
pumped into the pit. Your objective is to escape alive.

Your armoured torso provides a certain amount of protection but you'll have
very little time to familiarise yourself with its idiosyncracies.
Scattered throughouteach pit are camouflaged containers concealing weapons,
tools or access keys. Shoot them to reveal what they contain and crouch
over the object to collect it. Jumping at a wall activates your climbing
equipment. Should you fall,pushing the joystick in the direction of a nearby
wall enables you to grab on, if you're close enough.

You may only carry one weapon and one tool at any time.
Should you not make it to the exit (an occurrence you'll have to get used to)
a video replay of your last attempt is shown so you can see where you went
wrong. You may take over at any point during the replay and continue your
attempt to escape.

CONTROLS

Joystick (in port 2):
                               UP:Jump/Ascend

                                     /|\
                                      |
                                /     |     \
               LEFT:Move left  < -----|----- >  RIGHT:Move right
                                \     |     /
                                      |
                                     \|/

                              DOWN:Crouch/Descend

Fire          : Fire Current Weapon
Hold Down Fire: Use Current Tool

KEYS
Spacebar          : Pause
ESC (while paused): Quit
F (during replay  : Fast Forward
