ACTIVISION TM FREEWAY TM INSTRUCTIONS If you think driving on a busy freeway is intense...wait 'till you try to cross it on foot! In Freeway by ACTIVISION, your challenge is to guide a chicken across ten lanes of the most perilous freeway traffic imaginable. Be careful, because those speeding cars and trucks don't brake for animals! So, before you start the chicken across the road, take a minute to read these instructions. You'll find out how to score points by leading your fearless fowl to safety without getting his feathers ruffled by a "semi". ACTIVISION TM FREEWAY BASICS 1. Hook up your video game system. Follow the manufacturer's instruction. 2. With power OFF, plug in the game cartridge. 3. Turn power ON. If no picture appears, check connection of your game system to TV, then repeat steps 1-3. 4. Plug in Joystick Controllers. 5. Set difficulty switches at b (down) position. 6. Select game with game select switch. In all games, there are ten lanes of traffic, five in each direction. Game 1: Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, 3 A.M. Game 2: Interstate 5, Seattle, 6 A.M. Game 3: Santa Monica Freeway, Los Angeles, 10 A.M. Game 4: Bayshore Freeway, San Francisco, Midnight Game 5: John Lodge Expressway, Detroit, 9 P.M. Game 6: The Beltway, Washington D.C., 6 P.M. Game 7: LBJ Freeway, Dallas, 5 P.M. Game 8: Long Island Expressway, New York City, 3 A.M. (See descriptions under "Special Features.") 7. Use of Joystick Controllers. The left Joystick controls the chicken on the left. The right Joystick controls the chicken on the right. Hold Joystick with red button at upper left. Pushing the Joystick forward moves your chicken ahead (up). Pulling the Joystick back moves your chicken back (down). Your chicken can move forward and backward only, not side-to-side. The red button has no effect. 8. Difficulty switches. With the difficulty switch in the b (down) position, your chicken is knocked back one lane when struck by a vehicle. With the switch in the a (up) position, your chicken will return to the curb (the beginning) after being struck by a vehicle. The left difficulty switch is for the left player; the right switch is for the right player. Start with difficulty switches in the b (down) position; a (up) is for more advanced players. 9. To begin play. Press game reset. One or two players may play in any game. 10. Scoring/Timing. Each time you guide your chicken successfully across the freeway, you are awarded one point. The score for each player is indicated at the top of the screen, directly above each player's chicken. There are two minutes and sixteen seconds in each game. When the score begins to flash, eight seconds of playing time remain. At the end of each game, the traffic comes to a stop and the final score is shown. Whoever scores the most points is a winner. Note to owners of Sears Tele-Game Video Arcade system: Difficulty switches are called skill left (or right) player and a (up) is expert and b (down) is novice. SPECIAL FEATURES OF FREEWAY TM BY ACTIVISION TM When game reset is pressed, the traffic in the game you've selected begins to move. This motion is accompanied by sounds associated with a typical freeway: the drone of auto and truck engines, the honks from the horns of the vehicles. Each game has its own combination of these sounds. Should your chicken get hit, he'll chirp and be knocked back either one lane or all the way back to the beginning (depending on where you've set your difficulty switch). He always gets up, though, and is ready to try again. [Screen shot with arrows indicating SCORES, TRAFFIC, CHICKENS.] GAMES Each game offers a different challenge. The type, speed and frequency of traffic may vary, depending on the game. GAME ONE: LAKE SHORE DRIVE, CHICAGO, 3 A.M. Automobiles only. Traffic is thin. Speeds are relatively slow. Autos move slowest in lanes closest to curbs, then faster with each lane closer to center of highway. GAME TWO: INTERSTATE 5, SEATTLE, 6 A.M. Upper lane closest to center of freeway has trucks; all others have autos. Traffic is thicker and moves faster than in Game One. Speeds of autos increase in the same order as they did in Game one. GAME THREE: SANTA MONICA FREEWAY, LOS ANGELES, 10 A.M. Trucks are now in both center lanes. These trucks are the fastest moving vehicles, and they move faster than the fastest moving vehicles in Games One and Two. Traffic is thicker in the two lanes closest to the curbs. GAME FOUR: BAYSHORE FREEWAY, SAN FRANCISCO, MIDNIGHT There are trucks in all lanes. The trucks in the lanes closest to center, as well as those closest to the curbs, move at the same speed as the trucks in Game Three. The trucks in lanes 2 and 4 move at half the speed of those in lanes 1 and 5. The trucks in lane 3 are the slowest, and move at half the speed of those in lanes 2 and 4. (Lane at bottom of screen is lane 1; lane at top is lane 10.) GAMES FIVE THROUGH EIGHT Similar to Games One through Four in the amount of traffic for each game. But, take care, because the speeds of the vehicles are increased and decreased at random throughout each of these games - without regard to lane. You'll really have to be on your toes, because you can never tell when the speed of any particular traffic will change. GETTING THE FEEL OF FREEWAY TM BY ACTIVISION TM The objective in Freeway by ACTIVISION is to score as many points as you can by guiding your chicken across the ten lanes of traffic as many times as possible in two minutes and sixteen seconds. For beginners, try Game One (Lake Shore Drive) with the difficulty switches in the b (down) position. Get the feel of how your chicken responds to your Joystick. Since the traffic flow in Game One is relatively light, you have ample time to react to oncoming vehicles. You want to guide your chicken across the freeway as quickly as possible, but you don't want to put him where he can't avoid an oncoming vehicle. You will need to be aware of traffic not only in the lane closest to your chicken, but also in the lanes on either side. After you get the feel of Game One, try your hand at some of the tougher highways. And, when you're really feeling bold, put your difficulty switch up to a and watch out! Freeway by ACTIVISION is a game of anticipation and timing. After awhile, you'll learn to judge traffic flow and make the right move at the right time. Sometimes that means bravely forging ahead. And, at other times, that will mean sitting back and waiting for just the right opening. JOIN THE ACTIVISION "SAVE THE CHICKEN FOUNDATION" Activision wants to recognize your traffic dodging achievements. So, if you're successful in guiding your chicken through traffic at least 20 times in either Game Three or Game Seven, you can become an official member of the Activision "Save the Chicken Foundation." Send us a picture of your TV screen showing your accomplishment, and we'll enroll you and send you a special membership emblem. HOW TO BECOME AN ACE "CHICKEN CROSSER" IN FREEWAY TM BY ACTIVISION TM Tips from David Crane, designer of Freeway David Crane is also the designer of Dragster TM, Fishing Derby TM and Laser Blast TM by ACTIVISION. He consistently comes up with highly unusual, imaginative and challenging games. [Nice photo of Crane (same one that appears in the 1982 Activision games catalog.)] "As unusual as Freeway is, you still will have to employ some tried and true gaming skills to do well at it. For instance, you must become familiar with the different traffic patterns in order to anticipate and make the right moves. This is especially difficult in Games Five through Eight, where traffic speeds can change instantly. "You'll notice that clusters of vehicles in each lane travel at generally the same distance apart, at the same speed. If a cluster happens to be in a fast lane, you'll have to plan in advance how you're going to get through without being hit. "Succeeding at Freeway will depend on your ability to develop quick reflexes to avoid the traffic and "hit the hole" at just the right time. Have fun and watch the traffic! "Drop me a line. I'd like to hear about your exploits." [David Crane signature] Look for more Activision video games wherever you buy your video game cartridges. Drop us a note and we'll gladly add your name to our mailing list and keep you posted on new Activision game cartridges as they become available. ACTIVISION TM Activision, Inc., 3255-2 Scott Blvd., Santa Clara, CA 95051 (c) 1981 Activision AG-009-03 Rev. 2 Printed in U.S.A. -------------------Atari 2600 Instructions Archive-------------------