Robot Tank Atari 2600  FAQ/Strategy Guide
Version: 1.0
Author: Larcen Tyler
Last Revision Date: 12/10/02
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This document is electronically published work Copyrighted ©2002 Larcen Tyler.
Permission is granted to make a copy _ONLY_ as a personal reference copy, in
which case the document _MUST_ remain in its original, unedited form.  Any
other reproduction is strictly prohibited.  This document may not be used as
a promotional item or for profitable means of any kind (even if no profit is
intended to be gained.)

This document is only allowed to appear on the GameFAQs website and no other
website whatsoever, nor may any part of this document appear on any website
for any reason whatsoever.

Robot Tank is a registered trademark owned by Activision Games.

Atari 2600 and any accessories mentioned within are registered trademarks and
copyrighted materials owned by Atari Games.

GameFAQs is a registered trademark and copyrighted 1995-2002 by Jeff 'CJayC'
Veasey.

Any other names mentioned within not mentioned in this section are registered
trademarks and/or copyrighted materials owned by their respective owners.

Larcen Tyler is in no way affiliated with any of the companies listed above,
or their affiliates in any way.  No affiliation should be assumed for any
reason whatsoever.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. REVISION HISTORY
2. MISSION DETAILS/HOW TO PLAY
3. SCORING
4. TIPS
5. CONTACT INFORMATION
6. CREDITS
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1. REVISION HISTORY

12/10/02: First started writing this guide.

12/12/02: Finished it finally.
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2. MISSION DETAILS/HOW TO PLAY

MISSION DETAILS
October 2019
California

The recent advances in robotic technologies have created a new type of defense
system for the United States.  Military actions are controlled primarily by
computers nowadays, and human intervention is reduced to a minimum.

However, a problem has occurred.  Somehow, a great deal of the newest Robot
Tanks have suddenly begun going haywire and attacking innocents near Santa
Clara, California.  It is unknown who or what is behind this whole mess, but
one thing is certain: The enemy tanks must be stopped at any cost whatsoever.

Fortunately, there are still some tanks that are unaffected by this disaster,
so the President of the United States has ordered you to take command of these
tanks and destroy the enemy tanks.


HOW TO PLAY
Plug a joystick into the left joystick port and hold it with the fire button
pointing toward the upper-left.  The right joystick port, difficulty switches,
TV Type and Game Select switches are not used in this game.

Pressing the Game Reset switch begins your mission.

To move your tank forwards, push the joystick towards the game screen.  Pull
it towards you to move it backwards.  Pushing the joystick to the left or right
will turn your tank in that direction.  You can move diagonally by moving
forwards or backwards and pushing the joystick to one of the sides at the same
time.

To fire a shot, press the fire button.  Use your crosshairs to set your sights
on the enemy and then fire! You can turn your tank left and right to steer your
shot in case the enemy moves at the last second.

Watch out, as the enemy is not going to sit there and let you defeat them that
easily! They will attempt to destroy your tank as well.  If they fire at you,
quickly move out of the way.

You can spot an enemy by looking at your radar in the bottom center of your
screen.  The rotating wand is there simply to simulate a real radar.  The
bottom of the wand designates where your tank is, and the dot indicates where
an enemy is.  The bottom indicates the enemy is behind you, to the left and
right indicates they're on that side, and the top indicates they're in front
of you.  Enemies who are behind you won't shoot you so don't worry.  However,
once they're ahead of you, they will have no qualms against shooting you!


If your tank is hit, one of two things may happen:

TANK DESTROYED: Your screen will fill with random static before a message tells
you that you are switching to a reserve tank.  Reserve tanks are designated
by the tanks located at the bottom of your screen.  If your tank is destroyed
and you have no reserve tanks left, the game is over.

TANK DAMAGED: Your tank has not been destroyed, but has sustained damage to one
of four possible locations.  The damage indicators are:

V: Video screen damaged.  Your view will black out occasionally.

T: Treads damaged.  Movement is severely slowed down.

C: Cannon damaged.  Your cannon will not always fire when you want it to.

R: Radar damaged.  The radar stops functioning and you must locate enemies
on your own.

Damaged tanks CAN'T BE REPAIRED AT ALL! So be careful!

It is possible for more than one system to be damaged at a time.  If
all four are damaged, you lose your tank.


TIME OF DAY AND WEATHER
Your mission begins at 1000 Hours (10 AM military time) in bright sunlight.
As the time approaches 1800 Hours (6 PM military time) things will get dark,
making it harder to see.  You will only be able to see tanks on the radar and
when they fire, illuminating themselves.

When the time reaches 0000 Hours (Midnight military time) one day will have
elapsed.  At 0500 Hours (5 AM military time) a weather report will come in.
You'll need to use extra caution since these conditions can make things more
complicated.

FOG: The area will be a grey color, and tanks will only show up when you are
close to them.

RAIN: The sky will be a dark grey color, and the grass will appear darker.
Movement will be impeded slightly.

SNOW: The sky will be dark blue and just about everything else will be white.
Movement becomes a bit slippery.  However, if your treads are damaged, movement
will be next to impossible in the snow.
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3. SCORING

At the top of the screen, one small tank will appear for every tank that you
destroy.  There are twelve tanks in every squadron.  If you destroy one
squadron, a small box with the number '12' will appear beneath your total
number of tanks, and you will be rewarded with an extra tank.  The maximum
number of reserve tanks you may have at any time is 12.

If you manage to destroy 144 tanks, then you will have destroyed all 12
of the enemy squadrons.  The game will end with the mission a success.
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4. TIPS

-Enemy shots can be destroyed.  If you see one coming at you, fire your cannon
and the shot will be neutralized.  You can also destroy an enemy tank while the
shot is in mid-air and the shot will automatically neutralize.

-If your cannon is damaged or you don't have time to shoot the enemy shot, you
can dodge the shot.  Simply move so that the shot is off of your view screen
and it should go right past you.

-Even at night or during a fog, don't give up hope.  Your radar, as long as
it's undamaged, can still locate enemy tanks where normal people couldn't,
and when an enemy fires, they illuminate for a second, giving you a lead on
where they are.

-Don't give up! It may seem tough at first, but with a little practice,
it should get easier.

-And most importantly, HAVE FUN!
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5. CONTACT INFORMATION

READ THIS BEFORE YOU SEND ME ANY E-MAIL!

The following types of E-Mail I will _NOT_ accept under any circumstances:

-Mail that contains flaming (insults) or offensive content within.  If you
don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything!

-Spam/Advertisements of any kind.  This is against the law, and will not be
taken lightly.

-Asking if you can use this on your website/in your FAQ/Magazine/anything
like that will not be tolerated.  In case you missed it, I specifically
stated that I won't allow it in the disclaimer section at the beginning.

-Asking where to find this game in a ROM format, or any other illegal
software requests will be ignored.

-Asking me where to find this cartridge.
(Honestly, I wish I knew where to find Atari games, but I have as much of
a hard time finding them as you probably do! Your best bet is to check
online.)


The following types of E-Mail I will accept:

-Suggestions and/or constructive criticism.
-Strategies of your own.
-Any information I may have left out in this version.
-Generally, anything that will help me improve this guide in future revisions!
(Make sure to put 'Robot Tank FAQ' as your subject line.)

You can reach me at: [email protected]
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6. CREDITS

This couldn't have been possible if it weren't for the following people:

-Alan Miller at Activision for designing this game!
-Atari for making the Atari 2600.
-AtariAge (www.atariage.com) for providing an HTML version of the manual which
gave me a great plethora of information!
-My mother for constantly playing the Atari 2600 and passing the addiction onto
me.
-Jeff 'CJayC' Veasey for such a great website where FAQ writers (like me!) can
post our work!
-And lastly, but certainly never least, YOU for reading this document!
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©2002 Larcen Tyler

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