
		L  A    C  O  S  A    N  O  S  T  R  A  
	
	(c) copyright Tony L. Ford 1995


	Thank you for trying out the La Cosa Nostra demo and we hope you 
	enjoy it!

Requirements

	Before you attempt to run the game, you should first make certain 
	your machine is up to the task. La Cosa Nostra should be run on a 
	fast 486 or better. If you receive memory conflict errors, you may 
	have to free up portions of your conventional memory by unloading 
	large device drivers. Try to have around 590K to 600K base DOS memory 
	and around 2.5 MB of XMS memory for everything to run along at the 
	pace they were intended.

	This should not be a problem for most computers these days.

Running Under Microsoft Windows 3.1

	La Cosa Nostra is a DOS-only program and can be run only from the DOS 
	command line. You cannot run it from within Windows, as Windows takes 
	up far too many resources which the game needs. This means shelling 
	out to DOS, as well. You must first exit Windows to play La Cosa 
	Nostra.

Story

	The story surrounds a number of events which have happened in your 
	life recently. Your name is Slade A. Ryker and you are an investigator 
	for the New York City Police Department. Your best friend was named J. 
	Walter Kelly, your homicide investigator partner. You and he grew up 
	together, went to college together, went through the academy together.
	
	You were the best of friends.
	
	Walt Kelly's sister was named Monica. Monica Kelly had attended law 
	school and had just recently been promoted within the ranks of the 
	Westchester County District Attorney's office to assistant D.A.
	
	You and she had been dating for nearly three years and had just gotten 
	married less than a month ago.
	
	The three of you were now inextricably bound in each other's lives. 
	But that peace was shattered when Monica, working late one night, saw 
	her brother murdered by two known mafia hitmen. She instantly recog-
	nized them and their connection to the Girabaldi family, whom she was 
	preparing a case against secretly.
	
	She attempted to escape, to run away. But they chased her down and, 
	with the butt of a weapon crashing hard against her skull, knocked her 
	out cold.
	
	Yesterday you received the ransom note from Girabaldi himself. He made 
	no bones about having Walt murdered and later dumped into the river. 
	And he made no pretense about having Monica in his home on Girabaldi 
	Hill.
	
	In fact, he dared you to come and save her!

Help

	Online help is available by pressing the universal help key, F1. A 
	single screen with shortcut keys and their definitions should come up. 
	This screen alone should handle most of your questions regarding how 
	to fire a weapon, pick up objects, set them down, detonate explosives, 
	etc.

	To toggle out of help, press F2. If you press F1 again, you'll just 
	bring up the same help screen again. If you hit the 'Esc' key, you 
	will be returned to the main menu again. Of course, from here you can 
	simply select the Resume Game option.

Starting the Game

	From the DOS command line simply type the word Nostra and then hit 
	'Enter.' 

	After the opening scenes fade away, you will be left at the main menu 
	with several options you may choose from. Sound Blaster should be on
	automatically if you have a 100% compatible Sound Blaster card instal-
	led in your computer. Automatic detection should also be the case if 
	you have a mouse or joystick connected. Simply choose your preferred 
	input device and start the game.

	Once you select New Game, the first floor will be loaded and you will 
	be given a view of a white, window-paned door which leads out into a 
	main hallway. Right outside this door is a shotgun. Pick it up and 
	defend yourself!

	From here on out, you're on your own!

	Good luck!

Inventory Objects

	As you travel throughout the floors of the Girabaldi manor, you will 
	encounter a plethora of static items lovingly referred to as inventory 
	objects. These include weapons, ammo, health packs, etc. 

	Along the bottom of your status screen will be a great many black 
	boxes. This is where your various inventory objects will be held as 
	you go room to room. When you encounter an object in the house, you 
	walk up over it and tap the 'Enter' key to bring it into your 
	inventory. If this item is a weapon, the minute you hit the 'Enter' 
	key that weapon pops into your hands. 

	If it is a health pack, your health will be instantly helped. If your 
	health is such that you don't need it right now, you can save onto it 
	for when you may need it later. Or you could just set it back down 
	again and forget about it.

	If it is ammunition for a weapon you are currently using, it will be 
	added to your ammunition count. If you have plenty of ammo already, 
	just save it by adding it to your list of inventory objects.

	We mentioned how you could set various items down once you had picked 
	them up. This is done by tapping the 's' key. A white line will appear 
	under the icon in the first inventory object box. If this is the item 
	you wish to set down, hit 'Enter.' If you have a whole row of items 
	and the item you wish to set down is in the middle, you can move the 
	white line box to box by using the arrow keys on your keyboard.

	For your convenience, the game is temporarily paused while you are 
	setting items down. The bad guys will actually stop in mid-shot and 
	wait for you to set your item down. Of course, once you do, the action 
	will pick back up.

	Finally, if you currently are holding a weapon -- a machine gun, let's 
	say -- and you run out of ammo and so you want to switch to the 
	shotgun you have in your inventory, you type 's', cursor over to the 
	shotgun icon, then hit 'Enter' twice. You'll appreciate the game paus-
	ing for you when you're in a room full of shooting thugs and you need 
	to change guns, or add more ammo, etc.

Weapons

	There are a number of weapons available for your use in La Cosa 
	Nostra. Here are a few and their descriptions.

		Shotgun  --  Main weapon of the game. Excellent accuracy 
		and explosive power.

		Machine Gun -- Tremendous power, but difficult to aim and 
		control in an efficient manner.

		Spiked Brass Knuckles --  Whomever you hit with these won't 
		soon forget who you are! This is the default weapon for when 
		you have nothing else.

		Gas Grenades  -- Be exceedingly careful how and where you toss 
		these precious playthings! When they hit the ground, they de-
		tonate and emit a nerve gas that incapacitates them [guards], 
		albeit temporarily, and gives you a case of double vision like 
		nothing else!

		Hand Grenades -- These work just like the gas grenades except 
		when they detonate a killing blast erupts! If you are foolish 
		enough to throw a grenade and not run away from it, we are 
		foolish enough to annihilate your character without hesitation. 
		
		In fact, you'll be returned to the DOS command line instead of 
		the menu for your misdeed.

		To avoid such harsh treatment, don't blow yourself up!

Other Objects

		Gas Masks --  Renders any and all areas saturated with nerve 
		gas completely innocuous to the wearer. A very handy item to 
		have if you've littered a vital corridor with detonated gas 
		grenades. 

		Health Packs -- First aid kits are everywhere throughout the 
		floors for you to use as you get blasted. Don't pass any of 
		them up!

		Ammo Packs -- These are obviously ammunition refills for when 
		your weapons are running low. They are available in two forms, 
		machine gun ammo and shotgun ammo. Collect these wherever you 
		find them, whether you need them at the time or not.

		Radar Packs -- These are much rarer to find, but are worth 
		their weight in gold. When you pick one up and add it to your 
		inventory, you will see a green-hued screen appear in the 
		lower lefthand corner of your status area. This is an ever-                        
		changing realtime rendering of the layout of the floor you are 
		currently on.

		Body Armor -- This is an extremely rare item to stumble onto. 
		It offers protection - somewhat - to opponent gunfire. But 
		this is only under certain circumstances. For example, it only 
		protects you in a measurable amount if the gunfire it absorbs 
		is from a distance. In other words, wearing it matters little 
		if you are receiving point-blank shots in the chest. It also 
		protects only from the front. 

		Color-Coded Keypads  -- Occasionally you will encounter doors 
		which will not open for you. These doors are locked and admit-
		tance is possible only by possession of certain keypads, which 
		are strewn about in various locations throughout the Girabaldi 
		house. When you attempt to open a door which requires a keypad 
		you do not have, an icon of the keypad will appear towards the 
		middle of your status screen. This is to show you what it 
		looks like so you don't have to carry around every keypad you 
		encounter.

Living and Dying

	When you start out in La Cosa Nostra, your health is perfect at 100%. 
	However, as you get hit by various opponents' gunfire, your health is 
	diminished accordingly. Unlike in other games you may have played, 
	where you are alive and kicking until your health is 0%, an attempt 
	has been made to simulate realism by limiting the player's chances of 
	living once your health falls below 40%. In other words, if your 
	health is 39%, all it takes is one shot from any guard to kill you. 
	This has been done to make you become much more careful about the 
	amount of shots you're willing to take.

Strategy

	To win in La Cosa Nostra you may have to alter your usual game-playing 
	habits in the sense that you cannot simply run down a hallway with 
	weapons blazing. Well, you can, it's just that you'll probably be dead 
	before you get to that hallway's end.
	
	Instead, you should treat events as if they were real. You should try 
	to pick off guards from hidden vantage points, peeking around corners 
	so you can hit them but they cannot hit you, etc. This is the way La 
	Cosa Nostra was designed to be played.

	Some weapons are lying on floors which, due to dark colors, make them 
	extremely difficult to see unless you walk right up on them. Again, 
	this was done to make gathering weapons a difficult thing to do 
	instead of easy.

Elevator Doors

	Elevators are easily spotted by their silvery/glassy pseudo-
	transparent look. Simply step forward and when you are close enough 
	they will open. If an elevator door does not open, it means you do not 
	have the proper clearance.

	The various elevators on each level can carry you to other floors by 
	simply stepping into them. You will be immediately transported to that 
	next floor, non-stop, without the appearance of an intermission 
	screen.

	This is done to keep La Cosa Nostra at a heady pace.

Enemies

	Throughout the game you will encounter numerous dangerous characters, 
	all whom have one solitary desire to maim and kill you. The following 
	is a list of these various characters and their descriptions.

		Walt -- Walt is represented as the brown-suited guard usually 
		patrolling the rooms and corridors of Girabaldi's Hill. He is 
		usually very alert and quick on the draw. He may yell out a 
		warning to you and he may not. Walt is armed primarily with a 
		.45 caliber handgun which he carries in a shoulder holster 
		beneath his jacket.

		Stu -- Stu is a blue-suited version of Walt and only appears 
		in certain areas of interest. He is armed as Walt is and fires 
		continuously at you until you are either dead or he is.

		Devon -- Devon is a sensuous-looking black female in a white 
		evening gown. You will only encounter her ever so often, but 
		when you do she will make you sit up and take notice. She is 
		armed with a single-action revolver which she carries beneath 
		her dress.

		Linc -- Lincoln is a tall, foreboding figure of a man dressed 
		usually in a dark gray suit and brandishing a sawed-off shot-
		gun, which he is none too shy at using. Linc is capable of 
		reducing you to a vegetated state in a very short time, so 
		don't stand around gawking.

		Kat -- Kat is a green-and-yellow-suited female in sunglasses. 
		She is usually armed with an automatic weapon and his capable 
		of going through several rounds of ammo in a short time.

		Tiny -- Tiny is a sawed-off runt of a man, standing barely 
		four feet tall. He loves to shoot people with his .357 though, 
		and is very good at it. Tiny is an awful lot of violence rol-
		led up into a small package.


The Boss

	Girabaldi himself makes few appearances, but when he does it's with 
	his hostage in tow. Constantly holding a gun to Monica's head, he 
	poses a serious threat when cornered, both to you and her. Extreme 
	caution is advised.

Object of the Game

	Even though the score for the game is kept, as are the number of 
	enemies you've killed, the real point of La Cosa Nostra is your saving 
	Monica from certain death. As such, the game is designed to focus on 
	this aspect of gameplay more than tallying players' high scores and 
	such. 

