

       Welcome back to Gotham City



Batman Returns for the PC uses a new concept called Directorial
action. The premise is that Batman possesses intelligence and
knows what to do in certain situations. For you, the gameplayer
, it means that you don`t have to direct his every move. For
example, if  Batman is attacked  he will defend himself, even if
you do nothing. You can, however, control the fierceness of his
retaliation, and direct him to use specific weapons. In the
movement mode, you can select the location you want to move
Batman to, and he will get there in the most efficient manner.



The game uses a basic point-and-click interface throughout the
game. ( We recommend you become familiar with handling the mouse
before you begin. ) The cursor will highlight available options.
The left mouse button will be used to select the option.



Batman Returns takes place over a period of nine nights. As you
know, Batman is primarily a nocturnal being. He prefers night
mainly because he knows that is when his enemies-- which means
anyone who chooses to ignore the law or thinks they are above
the law-- are at work. For these reasons, Batman operates only 6
p.m. to 6 a.m.. Each night begins in the Batcave and the end of
each night Batman automatically returns to the Batcave. 



The object of the game is to prevent The Penguin from becoming
the mayor of  Gotham City. Of cource, when you spoil his
political ambitions, he will try to destroy city. You can stop
him.



You MUST stop him...





















	Getting  started



After the title sequence the game begins in the Batcave, a
hidden fortress far below Wayne Manor. There are four options
available for you. The cursor will be highlighted when moved 
over an available option. ( The cursor highlight occurs when the
Batman logo changes from yellow to orange. )



The four available options in the Batcave are vault ( with the
utility belt computer ), the master computer, the garage and
Wayne Manor.



	The vault option



Bruce Wayne has spent a considerable amount of money developing
these hightech weapons and the mysterious suit of armor which he
dons as Batman. He knows that he cannot risk letting  any of his
equipment get into the wrong hands. For that reason he and his
trusted butler Alfred are diligent in their security efforts.
The suits of armor and high-tech weapons are therefore stored in
an impenetrable vault.



The armored costumes

Inside the vault are two of Batman`s costumes   ( he is wearing
the third ). These suits of armor are made from an advanced
blend of synthetic materials that surpass the Kevlar used in
bullet-proof vests in terms of both flexibility and resistance
to penetration. When the cursor is moved over one of the
costumes, a window will pop-up giving the offensive and
defensive ratings of each. All armored suits start  out the
same, but their ratings are reduced with the wear and tear of
combat and use.



Clicking on a suit with the left mouse button will cause it to
dissappear as Batman puts it on 

and be replaced by the one Batman was wearing.















	The utility belt



It doesn`t help to have a lot of great weapons if you have no
place to put them. The utility belt worn by Batman serves this
purpose faithfully. It can hold up to eight items. Some of the
items are reusable, some aren`t. It is stored in the vault  and
re-stocked with the utility belt computer.



The following is a list of special weapons available to Batman
before heading out into the night. To load an item onto the
utilitybelt, point to the name and click the left mouse button.



+ Grapple gun - allows Batman to climb               straight
up. Reusable.

+ Gauntlet - fires two grapples in opposite            
directions for sliding down. Reusable.

+ Batrope - used to swing from one location to      another.
Reusable.

+ Lock pick - opens doors, windows, drawers.       Reusable.

+ Standard Batarang - Batman`s version of          boomerang.
One use per fight.

+ Bolo Batarang - trips and entraps victims.         One use per
fight.

+ Sonic Batarang - stuns foes with sound             waves. One
use per fight.

+ Smoke bomb - creates smoke in a small area.     One use per
item carried.

+ Knockout gas - incapacitates foes. One use per     item
carried.

+ Scanner - makes an electronic copy of docu-       ments,
photos, etc. Reusable.



    The utility belt as a control panel



In many scenes the utility belt is used as a control panel
interface. It provides easy acces to Batman`s weapons, and has
controlbuttons to allow you to direct Batman. The command
buttons change depending on the mode you are in.

There are two command buttons which are usually present on the
utility belt: an escape [ESC] button at the left ( which pauses
the game and takes you to a load / save game menu)  and a
Batmobile button at the right which causes Batman to return
immediately to the Batmobile.



          The master computer



The master computer shows a bank of computer and video monitors.
The cursor will highlight which monitors you can activate during
Batman`s investigation. A small message bar at the bottom of the
screen indicates the name of the monitor. Activating a monitor
produces a fullscreen close-up with a menu for that particular
monitor. The five active monitors are:



+ News broadcast - This allows Batman to view     the news of
Gotham City. A red light flashes     to indicate that an
important story is being          broadcast.

+ Video - Used to view any videotapes collected     by Batman.
"Transmit" video will send pirate     broadcast over airwaves.

+ Evidence - This monitor is used to enter new      evidence
into the computer, and to view exis      ting evidence and make
extrapolations based      on the evidence.

+ Game options - Allows the player to turn            sound and
music on or off.

+ Biographical database - This monitor has four     sections
containing information about various     people: city officials,
business leaders, known     criminals and persons to watch
section of the     database is dynamic - it changes as new      
       events occur.



	The garage



Selecting the garage puts Batman in the Batmobile.



	Wayne Manor



Selecting Wayne Manor allows you to advance to the next night
immediately. Think of it as sending Batman to sleep for the day,
returning again for the day, returning again for a new evening
of crime-fighting.

Speed-up hint:

Press the left mouse button to move Batman to a location in the
batcave, then immediately press and hold down the right mouse
button. This allows you to skip the animation of Batman moving
around the Batcave.





      Moving around Gotham City



Batman has two ways to get around the city; on foot or in the
Batmobile.



	The Batmobile



When you send Batman to the Batmobile, you will see an interior
shot of the Batmobile`s cocpit. Batman knows how to drive, so
you don`t have to worry about that, but you will notice two
important pieces of equipment - the video monitor and the
navigational computer. Both are activated by the cursor, just as
you did in the Batcave.

The video monitor is linked with the news monitor in the
Batcave. It allows Batman to keep up with events that are
reported while he is traveling.

Placing the cursor on a location causes the name to appear.
Clicking the left mouse button sends Batman to that location.

The navigational computer displays a map of Gotham City.
Available locations are displayed in red. The map is dynamic -
as Batman learns more information, new locations are available
for him to drive to.



	Travel on foot



Batman often finds it is better to patrol the city on foot. To
travel the streets and rooftops, move your cursor around. Look
for highlighted areas of the screen to discover which locations
Batman can move to. Click the mouse button and Batman will go to
new location in the most efficient manner( grapple, fly, etc ).

Batman likes to scout a scene from above when he arrives at a
location. He will go from the Batmobile to the rooftops, if he
has the right utilities.

The utility belt will be on the screen during these scenes. It
serves as a control panel, as mentioned earlier. Specific
utilities may be selected for travel or the control buttons may
be used. There are three specific buttons which control travel.









+ ROOF button takes Batman to the rooftops        when he is on
the ground.

+ STREET button takes Batman to the streets        when he is on
the rooftops.

+ BATMOBILE sends Batman to the Batmo-       bile to drive to a
new location.

If a utility icon is dimmed, that option is currently
unavailable.

If the gauntlet, grapple or rope are on the utility belt, you
can click on them to initiate a move without specifying a
destination.



	Searching for clues



This mode is engaged whenever Batman enters a location where he
can search for clues - interior locations and ground level
locations. The combat mode is also active in these locations. It
will be covered in the next section.



	Searching



The cursor will highlight areas of a location that can be
searched by Batman. Clicking on a highlighted area will cause a
close-up view of the area to appear on your screen. Any evidence
or clues present at that time will be shown on the close-up.

Items that Batman can collect will be highlighted by a cursor.
Clicking on that item causes a window to pop-up with a brief
description of the item.

The utility belt will display three buttons.



+ The TAKE button allows Batman to pick up      the item and
take it with him.

+ The LEAVE button tells Batman to leave the     item where it
is.

+ The SCAN button ( if Batman brought his scanner ) makes an
electronic copy of scannable items. A scan can also be conducted
by selecting  the scanner from utility belt.

To leave a close-up view, point the cursor to a highlighted
bottom corner of the screen ( this takes you back to a normal
view ) or select the Batmobile icon on the utility belt.











   Meeting the enemy in combat



When confronted by a foe, Batman will automatically fight him or
her. You do not direct Batman`s specific combat moves, but you
do control the intensity of the fight. Use the combat  buttons -
which are on the utility belt control panel - to instruct Batman
to fight EASY, NORMAL or FIERCE.



+ FIERCE instructs Batman to attack aggressi-      vely, but at
the cost of expending additional       energy.

+ NORMAL is the regular style of Batman`s          fighting,
which is still far superior to most          enemies he will
encounter.

+ EASY will cause Batman to be more defensi-     ve and try to
conserve energy.



Of course, at any time during the a battle you can select a
weapon from the utility belt. Simply  click on the weapon and
Batman will do the rest.



Batman`s strength will decrease as he expends energy and gets
hit. The offensive and defensive capabilities of his armor
decrease through use as well.

If his strength gets dangerously low, the buckle of the utility
belt will flash red as a warning. To escape, select the
Batmobile button.



         Interrogating a fallen foe



When Batman has overcome certain thugs 

( members of the Red Triangle Circus Gang ) he  may get a chance
to interrogate them. A pop-up window will offer Batman a chance
to direct questions at the unfortunate creeps. Use the mouse to
point to the preferred options on the screen. Batman will be
able to ask questions from three categories, such as leader,
identification or explanation. On the last two days he has only
two types of question from which choose- location and plans. (
These categories will become clear as you play, but we don`t
want to give too much away here! )

If Batman disables an enemy, he can conduct an interrogation. If
he knocks out the enemy, he can`t.



	Vignettes



At various times during the game there will be a  series of
still pictures with accompanying text. These vignettes convey
information and move the story along. Vignette pictures change
automatically, but:



+ You can move from one picture to the next         with the
left mouse button.



	As time passes...



As mentioned previosly, Batman is active from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00
a.m.. Each night begins in the Batcave, and at the end of every
night Batman will return to the Batcave.

A time line running through the game will determine when places
are opened or occupied, when evidence can be found in a given
location, and where characters will be. Game time is
proportional to real time, with specific durations of time
elapsed for driving between locations in the Batmobile or for
events shown in the vingettes.

In most cases, when the utility belt control panel is on the
screen there will be a TIME button available. To see what time
it is in Gotham City,  select the TIME button. A clock will
appear for several seconds.

A small clock is built into each newcast monitor for additional
information.



     Save and load game features



The game options menu is available by pressing the [ ESC ] key
at any time during the game or click on the ESC button on the
utility belt - except during the fight scenes. The game is
placed in pause mode when you select this menu. To make a
selection, point and click the left mouse button on the desired
option.



+ Return to game - returns you to the game in        progress.

+ Exit to DOS - takes you out of the game and       back to the
DOS screen.

+ Advance hour - moves the game clock ahead      one hour every
time you select this option. 





+ Save game - click on one of the 20 spots and      type in a
brief  description. You may enter a       name up to 30
characters long. You candelete    a line by using the delete key
and re-typing a     new name.

+ Load game - pick one of your saved games        and click the
left mouse button. You will            return to the game at
that point.

+ New game - start all over from the begining.



If you wish to cancel your selection and return to the main
menu, press ESC key.



        Troubleshooting guide



Begining you the simple pleasures of Batman Returns takes a
complex program. It asks a lot of your computer. One of the
frequent problems many of todays computer systems run into is
memory allocation. When you try to run a complex program you may
recieve messages telling you that your PC doesn`t have enough
memory. If this happens, don`t panic!

Here are some steps to help you troubleshoot your problem.



      Check available memory



If the program fails to run, you must check your available
memory. The amount you need free to run Batman Returns is
580,000 available bytes.



       Install the mouse driver!



If you use a boot disk with this game, don`t forget that you
must install your mouse driver before you enter the game itself.
Because the mouse is required to operate the game, you will be
unable to move around the screens or activate any control
buttons if you don`t install the mouse driver before you play.



If you are using a product that compresses your hard drive (
such as Stacker, Double Disk or others ) and are the above steps
haven`t helped, then there may be compatibility problems between
our product and the compression program. To determine if there
is a conflict, try putting the game on an uncompressed hard
drive. 



HAVE A NICE GAME PLAYING!

