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| | The Story So Far | It has been quite a few years since we last saw Prospector Pete in action (around about 34 years I think!). But he is back, and he is still wandering around abandoned mine workings looking for treasure. Having managed to escape from the old Klondike mine (which was infested with monsters and kept flooding) he stumbled across another abandoned mine to explore. This one used to be owned by a rather unscrupulous mining company called 'Rock Bottom Mining Corporation'. They were looking for gems, and found lots, but they also found some other things down there too. Some good, some not so good. Eventually, despite the riches that they were extracting from the mine, they had to abandon it. They left lots of things down there in their rush to leave...
Pete is now on his new quest – to get through all the caves of the mine workings, gathering as many gems on the way as he can, solving puzzles, fighting monsters, and trying not to get stuck.
He will encounter lots of obstacles on the way. The caves are littered with boulders, which will come crashing down if he is not careful. Pete has been working out, and he is able to push and pull boulders to clear a path, and attack things.
There are numerous monsters lurking in the mine. Some have very poor eyesight and will feel their way around by following the walls. They are often quite anti-social and do not like meeting other types of monsters. Maybe he can use that to his advantage? Some other monsters (who appear to have escaped from a 1980's classic arcade game) are a bit smarter. They wander the caves and are always on the lookout for Pete, or one of their opposite number. If they see Pete, they will chase him down, unless he can outwit them. If they see one of their opposite number, its best to stand clear!
The deeper parts of the mine can contain a mysterious and much prized substance called Gemanium. Looking and behaving a lot like a boulder, it twinkles in the darkness. Be warned: it is radioactive, and if you get too much of It together in one place it will reach critical mass. Stand back!
Rock Bottom had specialist miners whose job it was to search out Gemanium. They wore radiation suits to protect themselves, but it did not work. Some got left behind, and they seem to have gone a bit mad now. They too are on the lookout for Pete and will chase him if they see him. Since they are miners, they also love digging new tunnels, so be very careful down there.
For a while Rock Bottom were illegally dumping toxic waste in the mine. Watch out for this pulsating green ooze. It will relentlessly spread through a cave, up to a certain size. If it reaches this size nothing good will happen. If you have been skillful enough to trap it and stop it reaching its critical size, then it will morph into gems.
When Rock Bottom worked the mine, they had their advanced product R&D division develop several neat bits of kit to try to maximize profits and defeat the monsters. Some of these were left behind in the mine. |
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| | Game Elements |
| |  | | Prospector Pete
"It's a-me, Pete!". Back after 34 years, fleeing from the old Klondike mine, he's now on his new quest: to get through all the caves of the Rock Bottom Mining Corporation's abandoned mine, gathering as many gems on the way as he can, solving puzzles, fighting monsters, and trying not to get stuck. |
| |  | | Vic
Their very weak eyesight in the dark chambers of the mines forces the Vics to continuosly move staying close to the walls of any kind of material, making them very predictable, e.g. for a boulder's ambush: hitting a Vic produces diamonds! |
| |  | | Ted
Unfortunately, the darkness in the bowels of the Earth hit the Teds monsters too, as they move along the walls like the Vics, but hitting them does not produce any diamond. |
| |  | | Mad Miner
Time before, Rock Bottom Mining Corporation has sent some miners in search of the Gemanium, but their antiradiation suit didn't save'em from the malicious effects of that dangerous mineral. Nowadays, they still wander among the caves: crawling along the walls in circles, they unpredictably sustain some madness raptus, during which they dig onto the bottom rock, consequenty breaking their constant circular movements. Once hit... No diamonds for Pete! |
| |  | | Ooze
This is toxic and Pete can't touch this and keep him alive. Illegaly stored into the deeper bottoms of the mines, the ooze relentlessly spreads through a cave, up to a certain size. At this point, the whole green stuff reaches a critical point and collapses, morphing into something else, based on the reason why the ooze got critical: explosions like e.g. due dynamite change it into boulders; collpasing due reached size limit produces the change into anything else (boulders, diamonds, exploding boulders, bottom rocks); collapsing due space limiting switches the ooze into diamonds. |
| |  | | Tar
It spills out, filling the cave up to a certain size. Objects like boulders can fall through the tar, but it is a sticky and slow process. Pete can walk through it as well, but it is slow going, and it stays on his feet for a while after he comes out of the tar. Once it reaches its maximum size, or is hemmed in and can spread no more, then it self-destructs. Pete had better not get caught up in that! It is very useful stuff though. It can trap monsters, who get wiped out when it destructs. It is also good for clearing out some of the harder bedrock down there. |
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 | | Stinky & Cranky
Stinky considers himself the official ghost of the mines. Unfortunately, Cranky too considers himself the official ghost of the mines. If Stinky would encounter Cranky, their mutual contempt will be explosive...literally! Being two perfect troublemakers, they freely wander anywhere in the cave, but if Pete, or the opposite ectoplasm, would were to unfortunately fall within range, they will walk straight toward their target. |
| |  | | Boulders
They are the real counterpart of this history's hero, the co-starring par excellence. Bolders simply take the consequences of gravity into game, so they can hit Pete, or hit a monster, or ignite dynamite, or become diamonds... What Pete can do is to push and pull them, gravity will do the rest. |
| |  | | Diamonds
They really are Pete's best friends! Any level needs to be left as soon as possible, but the exit will only open if the required number of diamonds have been collected! So, what if there are no sufficient diamonds in sight? Oh well, do something to create'em, Pete! |
| |  | | Explosive boulders
Some boulders use to glow in the dark of the caves. Beware! They contain Gemanium, a very unstable radioactive material, ready to explode once a critical mass is reached! If three of them get in contact, a dangerous detonation will occur for sure! |
| |  | | Bottom rock
Easily diggable material, its main role is to stop the objects to fall down due gravity. Anyway, beware Pete: you're not the only digging miner here! |
| |  | | Bedrock
The hardest rock a miner can walk on. It may usually be destroyed by explosions, but exists also as indestructable material, mainly placed to build up the limitating border of a cave. |
| |  | | Soft concrete
This is the kind of concrete that Pete can deploy in the limited time of working with a spade. Soft concrete can be dug out, but rapresents an effective obstacle e.g. for the slime in order to limit its grow. |
| |  | | Hard concrete
A relatively tough material which can be blown up, or better, it can be literally engulfed by a growing tar. |
| |  | | Dry stone
Masonry material typically used for man-made labyrinthine structures within the cave system. It can be compared to bedrock, except that it can be exploded in all cases. |
| |  | | Freeze blocks
Some walls have twinkling blocks embedded in their surface. If Pete can land a boulder or other item on a freeze block it will temporarily stun everything in the cave. A small blue meter at the top of the screen will count down how long everything is stunned for. |
| |  | | Magic walls
These look like ordinary walls to the unobservant, but something magical happens when you drop a boulder on one. This will active the wall, and it remain active for a limited time. Whilst active, any boulders will pass through the wall and emerge beneath as a gem. |
| |  | | Boulder pits
The R&D division were particularly proud of this invention. If you can spot a pit, then you need to set about filling it up, ideally with boulders. Once filled up, all the boulders in the pit will transform into gems. |
| |  | | Dynamite
Very useful for blowing up walls, monsters, and Pete himself if he is not careful. The dynamite has aged and is a bit unstable. It will survive a drop but landing a boulder on a stick will set it off. An exploding stick will also set off any sticks that are close enough to feel the heat of the explosion. |
| |  | | Spades
These are useful for laying blocks of concrete. Whilst Pete can dig his way through it afterwards, monsters will be blocked by it. Sometimes you will need to construct walls to guide where boulders cascade, or a pit that is tricky to fill becomes easy to fill with a spade in hand. The spades are old, and do not last long. A green countdown meter at the top of the screen shows how long is left before the spade breaks. |
| |  | | Davy lamps
A miner's favourite thing to see their way by. However, these lamps are special, and will temporarily allow Pete to become immune to attack. Be careful, superpowers do not last for ever, and there is no warning when it is about to run out. |
| |  | | Gravity switches
The pinnacle of the R&D group's efforts, the gravity switches were an amazing invention. They allowed a skilled miner to alter the direction of gravity within a cave. |
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 | | Block-chains
Keep an eye out for the intriguing 'block-chains'. The R&D group had heard of this technology, but completely failed to understand what it was about, so came up with these oddities. They have unique physics, and only want to move in certain directions, depending on the gravitational field. They also attract each other, and once joined, are not easily broken apart. |
| | 
 | | Portals
These are small wormholes, down which items can be sent, but not Pete himself. Each portal entrance has a unique exit somewhere else in the cave. |
| | 
 | | Warp doors
These are special doorways within the cave (not to be confused with the big exit door, which will remain locked until the cave is cleared). Only Pete can pass through these one-way doors and he will warp across the cave to appear at another location. |
| |  | | Tar barrels
The tar in the barrels has gone a bit funny over the years, so they easily release their content once deployed. |
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 | | Exit
Collecting the specific number of diamonds required per level, opens the exit door. But hey, reaching it to feel as being out of troubles is another kettle of fish! |
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| | Controls | Game Controls
| Joystick in any port | | | | | | Left | : Move Pete left / (When Paused) explore the map leftward | | Right | : Move Pete right / (When Paused) explore the map rightward | | Up | : Move Pete up / (When Paused) explore the map upward | | Down | : Move Pete down / (When Paused) explore the map downward | | Fire | : Fire button (see below) |
| Keyboard | | | | | | A | : Move Pete left / (When Paused) explore the map leftward | | D | : Move Pete right / (When Paused) explore the map rightward | | W | : Move Pete up / (When Paused) explore the map upward | | S | : Move Pete down / (When Paused) explore the map downward | | Shift | : Fire button (see below) |
| During gameplay | | | | | | F1 | : Mute and unmute music | | Space | : Pause the game (see below) | | Q | : (When paused) Give up and retry a level (you will lose a life) | | Esc | : (When paused) Abandon the game and return to the title screen | | Return | : Toggle between drop item and activate item (see below) | | N | : Nudge a gravity switch when stood next to it |
| Title Screen | | | | | | F1 | : Toggle music on/off | | F2 | : Toggle infinite lives on and off - you can still 'die' with infinite lives, but you will never lose a life | | F3 | : Toggle hero speed on and off – hero speed plays all levels as fast as possible | | Help | : Toggle immortality on and off – nothing can kill Pete, but he can still get stuck in awkward places and he still has to play against the clock | | Space | : Start the game | | Letters | : Type in the code word for a level on the title screen, and you will start at that level |
Using the Fire Button
When Pete runs into an item, like a stick of dynamite or a barrel of tar, he picks it up. His colour changes to indicate what he is carrying. His usual behaviour is to 'use' the item if the fire button is pressed. So, in the case of dynamite he will light it and drop it. Sometimes you pick items up by accident, or just need to pick it up to move it somewhere else and want to drop it rather than use it. You can change whether Pete drops or uses items by tapping the return key.
Using the Pause Key
Pausing will reveal the code for that level. If you are really desperate you can also cheat and skip the entire level. To do this, simply type 'CHEAT' whilst paused. You will instantly complete the level and move on to the next one – at a cost. You have a limited number of cheats available (you earn more as you play), and each time you use one, you will lose 10% of your current score.
Whilst paused you can use Pete's movement controls to scroll the screen around – useful to orient yourself on a new level.
Elements of gameplay
Pete has a simple aim in each cave – to collect enough gems to open the exit door and move on to the to the next cave within the time limit. Gravity will cause boulders, gems, and other items to come crashing down so he needs to keep his wits about him. In some caves it is just a matter of collecting gems and staying alive. In others some puzzle solving skills will be required.
Pete can also grab hold of boulders with the fire button pressed and pull them along horizontally – but they are heavy.
When he is stood next to a gravity switch the fire button tells Pete to grab hold of it, so that you can flip the switch into the desired direction by moving in that direction.
One more trick with gravity switches – Pete can nudge the switch, causing gravity to briefly flip in the direction required. Pete can do this by walking up to the switch in the desired direction and tapping N on the keyboard. |
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| | Cheats - How do I use cheats? | ENTRANCE
STUNNED
DAVYLAMP
BOMBVOYAGE
PASSAGES
YYZ
STRANGERTHINGS
DROPZONE
SHOOTINGRANGE
YINANDYANG
STORM
RADIOACTIVE
BLOCKAGE
REUNION
SWITCHEROO
FILLUP
CRITICALMASS
TRICKY
LINEUP
TELEPORT
REACTION
MAGIC
CORROSION
CHALLENGE
MANICMINER
LURKER
CLARKKENT
AMAZEING
PUZZLE
BLOCKCHAIN
BOWLING
INDIE
TUNNELLING
BONANZA
MENSA
FINALE
CHEAT
RANDOM | Passwords |
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