In a strange universe of 10,000 worlds, where the only force is pure energy, a lone Synthoid does battle against the Sentinel and her agents, the Sentries.
You control the Synthoid in his attempt to dethrone the Sentinel as the ruler of each of the 10,000 worlds.
As you move about the individual landscapes, avoiding the withering stare of the Sentinel and the Sentries, you must gain a position from where you can destroy the Sentinel ; her energy becomes yours and the landscape is complete.
Drawing on your remaining energy, you must now Hyperspace to a new world where a fresh challenge awaits and only 9,999 words to go and victory will be yours.
Upon loading being complete, the title screen will be displayed. Pressing either the mouse buttons or any key will access the Landscape Selection Screen.
Each landscape, except the first, is reached via an 8-digit code. We will deal with how these codes work later in the manual. For now, just press the RETURN key and a representation of the first landscape will appear before you. This representation gives you your first information about the landscape that awaits. You will be able to get an idea of the terrain involved in the landscape, hills, valleys, plains, chasms and so on. It will also show you how many Sentinels and Sentries there are. Have a good look, as this is all the information that you will get.
The screen will be prompting you to press any key so, press any key.
You are now in the landscape.
Taking hold of the mouse, press the left-hand button and a cursor will appear on the screen. This cursor is your means of control and movement. We will now get used to its functions and their implementation.
Move the mouse to the right and the cursor will cross the screen in that direction. When the cursor approaches the edge of the screen your Synthoid will turn in that direction. Now move the cursor to the left of the screen and the Synthoid will turn left and you will be returned to the view that you began with.
Now move the cursor to the right of the screen and leave it there. The view will now pan round and will keep doing so until the cursor is centred. If you let the view move 21 times then you will have returned to the starting point.
Now start moving the cursor to the top and bottom of the screen, so that your view pans upwards and downwards. If you leave the view panning, either upwards or downwards, you will eventually reach a point beyond which you can look no further, the point which is almost vertical, either upwards or downwards. You will know if panning has stopped by looking at the cursor. Whilst panning is taking place, the cursor will flash. If it is not flashing, then the view is stable.
By moving the cursor to one of the corners of the screen, you will be able to achieve a diagonal pan. The screen does not scroll in a diagonal fashion, rather it moves the view first on the horizontal plane and then on the vertical, to achieve a diagonal effect.
So, now that you have discovered the principles of viewing the landscape, spend some time getting used to the mouse and changing the viewpoint of your Synthoid, as speed will become an integral part of the game-play.
Now that you have become used to looking around you, we will start to discover how to move within the landscape, how to create and absorb.
The Sentinel is a game of energy, and the units of energy that exist in the landscape have a variety of forms.
One unit is represented by a tree and this is the building block upon which the rest of the game takes place. While you were looking around, you will have seen that there are many trees within the landscape. These are for you to take to build up your energy. We shall start by absorbing a tree.
You may have noticed that below and to the right of the starting view (the view that you get on first arriving in the landscape) there is a tree. You should move three times diagonally and twice down, from the starting view, to look at the square on which the tree is standing. Ensure that the cursor is over the square on which the tree stands and press the left-hand button. You will see the tree disappear before your eyes.
The tree, or at least the energy, still exists. If you look to the small figures above the screen, you will notice that there are currently three small Synthoids and a boulder (an inverted U). If you noticed this section before, you will remember that there was a small tree where the boulder now is. This is because every object within the landscape has an energy value. These values are as follows:
1 Unit: a Tree and a Meanie 2 Units: a Boulder 3 Units: a Synthoid and a Sentry 4 Units: a Sentinel
(By now you will have heard a clunking sound, and possibly seen the box at the top right corner of the screen fill with static. This means that the Sentinel is scanning you and absorbing your energy. This is because the action of absorbing or creating anything will start the Sentinel turning. If this has happened, then you will probably have died. (don't worry about this at present, we'll get on to keeping you alive a little later).
Now that you have absorbed an object, it is time to create an object. From the starting position, look around the landscape until you find a square that doesn't have anything on it. Then, with the cursor on the target square, press the 'T' on the keyboard of your computer and a tree will appear. You will notice that your energy indicator has dropped by 1 unit (ie. a tree). Now absorb the tree by pressing the left-hand button of the mouse. Having done that, press the 'B' key on the keyboard. This time a boulder will appear. Absorb the boulder as you would a tree, and press the key 'R'. You will see a synthoid appear. You are almost there.
By now you will have died, so start again and use the techniques that you have learnt to start moving about the landscape.
From the starting view, turn to a position from which you can see a square, as before, and, with the cursor on the chosen square, press the key 'R'. As before a Synthoid will appear. Now press the right-hand button of the mouse. For a moment the screen will turn blue and you will hear a five note tune. When the screen comes back, you will notice that things look a bit different - the reason is that you have transferred into the second Synthoid!
When the transfer is complete you will be looking back at your old Synthoid. Absorb it as you would a tree and your energy level should be the same as before you moved into a new Synthoid.
Now to put the technique to real use.
From the starting position, find a square as before and create a boulder. Then, with the cursor still on the square, press the key 'R'. You will see that a Synthoid has now been created at the top of the boulder. Press the right-hand button of the mouse and you will have transferred into the second Synthoid, but because you are also standing on a boulder, your position in the landscape will be higher. Because of this higher position you will now be able to see much more in the landscape; more trees to absorb, more squares to move to. You have now embarked on a unique gaming experience.
The Sentinel is a complex, yet simple game. By now you should be able to absorb and create objects, although you will probably have died many times. Now to deal with staying alive.
As was mentioned earlier, when you make any kind of move other than panning, the Sentinel and the Sentries if they are there, will start turning to look at you. Their movement is akin to that of a lighthouse beam, turning steadily in one direction (either clockwise or anticlockwise). Should their view look upon ANYTHING that has an energy value that is greater than one, then, through the same process of absorption that you used, they will break down the object into single energy units (a Sentinel can't store energy as you can).
So, to stay alive, your first aim is to avoid the Sentinel's gaze. There is no substitute for experience but follow these guidelines and you should get to grips with things pretty quickly:
i) Always make sure you know in which direction the Sentinel is turning, so that without looking at it you can anticipate when the withering stare will reach you, and react accordingly.
ii) Keep on the move, as it doesn't take the Sentinel long to turn a full circle.
iii) When you move, always try to create a boulder and a Synthoid, so that every time you move you will gain height and therefore your options will increase.
iv) To absorb a Sentinel, as with any other object, you MUST be able to place your cursor on the square on which she stands, so gaining height is of prime importance to completion of a landscape.
v) If you find yourself being scanned by the Sentinel, DON'T PANIC! Energy will be taken from you a unit at a time, and you may find that you have just enough time to create another Synthoid and move to a position of safety. If you feel that you don't have enough time to move, then there is the last way - HYPERSPACE. By pressing the key 'H' you will be transported to another, almost random point in the landscape to try again, at an energy loss of three units (this is because of the loss of your previous Synthoid). If you have less than 3 units left, then Hyperspacing means suicide. The 'almost' random nature of the move is because the new position that you are moved to will only be on the same level of terrain or below. Beware: you may end up in a position from which you cannot move any further. If this is the case then suicide is probably the only option.
vi) Absorb as many trees as you can, and always reabsorb your old boulders and Synthoids. Gain as much energy as possible.
vii) Rather than panning all the time, you can turn through 180 degrees by pressing the key 'U' (a U-turn).
viii) You can hide from the gaze of the Sentinel, either behind parts of the landscape or behind trees. If the Sentinel can't see you, she will just keep turning.
This raises another aspect of the game - the Meanies.
Meanies are created by the Sentinel or Sentries when they have spotted a Synthoid but cannot see the square on which he is standing to absorb him. The Sentinel or Sentry will look for a nearby tree and will transform the tree into a Meanie. The Meanie will then swiftly rotate until he can see the Synthoid and, hopefully, the square on which he is standing. If this is the case then you will be Hyperspaced. There is nothing you can do, other then absorb the Meanie before he looks at you, or move out of the way. If you don't have enough energy to Hyperspace, then the Meanie will destroy you.
You will know if the Sentinel or a Sentry can see you in this way when the scanning box (top right) is only half-full of static, consequently this is known as half scan.
ix) Energy in the landscape is static, and though it can be absorbed and distributed, it cannot be either created or destroyed. If a Sentinel breaks down a boulder and a Synthoid for example, the energy will not disappear, rather it will be redistributed as five trees elsewhere in the landscape.
x) As long as you have enough energy, you can place as many boulders as you like on top of each other, with a Synthoid on top. You can use this technique to dominate the landscape more quickly, but beware; if you are scanned whilst on a top of such a stack you will almost certainly lose a lot of energy.
xi) There is a 'help' feature that can be used at any stage of the game that serves to give you an idea of where you are in the landscape. First, ensure that your Synthoid is looking into the sky, then press the HELP key. This has the effect of giving you a view of the landscape from the position of the sky which you looked towards. This also acts as a pause facility and can be very useful in providing you with valuable information about the landscape.
These are the basic techniques to playing Sentinel ; you'll probably discover your own as your experience of the game develops.
Your object is to absorb the Sentinel and any Sentries that may exist.
Having done this, you must place yourself on top of the Sentinel's tower and then, satisfied with your achievement, press the Hyperspace key. After a few short seconds you will be given an eight digit code to a further landscape. WRITE IT DOWN and make sure you don't make a mistake!
This is your only means of getting to any other landscape than #0000, and as such acts as a game save. When you load the game you can get to any landscape you wish, as long as you have the correct code.
The way it works is as follows: when you are on the top of the Sentinel's tower and you Hyperspace the program calculates how much energy you have left (three units are taken away for the hyperspace) and gives you the code for the landscape that corresponds to your remaining energy. So, if you have just finished landscape #25 with 15 units remaining, you will be given the code to landscape #37 (25+15-3 = 37). Keep going like this, recording all your codes, all the way to #10,000!
It is worth mentioning that once the final Sentinel has been absorbed, then nothing else within the landscape can be absorbed. However, you can still distribute energy, so you can chose the next landscape that you go to. Say you have just finished landscape #25 with 15 units remaining, rather than hyperspacing immediately, creating one tree will leave you with 14 units, giving you the code to landscape #36. You can use this technique if you have problems with a specific landscape.
Supposing that landscape #37 is very difficult (no landscape is impossible), you could return to #25, complete it again and try to end up with the code to another landscape, possibly higher than #37.
