And now, my successful run of Ledgeman without commentary. Enjoy.
After Ledgeman arrives home from the village auction with his bargain of the day, a Victorian bureau, he decides to dust away the cobwebs and put all his important papers and documents into the top drawer.
On opening the second drawer down he is astonished to find a map. The map gives directions to a hidden cave where precious stones can be gathered in abundance. However, the map also warns of the strange and perilous guardians of the cave, sentient barrels, meteor storms and a host of wandering nasties.
The explorer's blood in Ledgie's veins is stirred, and armed with his trusty umbrella, he sets off.
Collect all the flashing rectangles from one screen to move onto the next screen. The faster you are, the more you score.
Z lets you move left, X lets you move right, : lets you move up ladders, / lets you move down and either Shift button lets you jump. @ skips to the next level, COPY lets you pause the game and DELETE un-pauses the game. ESCAPE lets you abort the game and exit to the title screen at any time.
At the main menu, S lets you turn the sound on and off, while T lets you turn the music on and off. In the pre-release version, the music is the theme from The A-Team, while in the retail version, it is the William Tell Overture. There are three skill levels that can be switched between with 1, 2 and 3. 1 is the default difficulty, 2 and 3 have the aliens firing in the direction they are going when you're on their level, and the higher the skill level, the faster the meteor showers move.
There are seven screens in all, and when you beat all seven screens, you beat the game.
Screen 1
Start by jumping to the left and getting the treasure, then jump up the stairs and get the treasure there. When the aliens pass by to the left, drop down and go to the right past the fallaway bridge and use the Up Key to continuously up the ladder. Get the treasure nearby, then jump over the alien and head to the left. Keep walking off the edges until you get the treasure in the center left.
Red conveyor belts always go to the right, while purple conveyor belts always go to the left. You cannot move against a conveyor belt by jumping in the opposite direction like in Manic Miner; all it does is let you move in place.
The aliens obviously kill you if you touch them. Also, falling from too high a height will also kill you.
Screen 2
Make your way to the top immediately, and get the flashing rectangle on the way there. When you reach the top, watch out for the meteor shower on the way to the upper-left corner of the screen. The meteors will always spawn in random locations, and when they land on a piece of platform, they will destroy it, so pay attention to what's going on. You may be forced to lose a life due to the placement of the meteors forcing you to plummet to your death. Since you only get an extra life at 10,000 points, that's not good.
Once you get the treasure in the upper-left, you'll need to slowly make your way back down to the bottom of the screen. Get the treasure in the lower-left corner, then go all the way to the right and jump your way to the final rectangle.
Screen 3
Make your way to the top and jump for the treasure on the way. Avoid the barrels, and make sure you don't jump into the underside of these barrels, either. When you reach the top, go to the left, go down the ladder, get the treasure, then go all the way down to the conveyor belt in the lower-left hand corner and get the treasure there.
Don't go for the conveyor belt at the start; you'll be trapped if you do.
Screen 4
Get on the platform above and get the treasure on your way to the right. When you get the treasure near the alien on the other side, jump straight up and jump to the next platform when the close is clear. Go all the way to the left, wait for the next platform, then jump up to the small platform above. Wait for a platform here, and be ready to jump three times to get the treasure in the upper-left corner. From here, wait at the edge, with Ledgeman's toes hanging off the edge of the platform. Drop to the right, ride the platform to the right and get the last treasure, hopefully without hitting the alien.
Screen 5
Jump to the right to get the treasure at the start, then climb up the nearby ladder. Go left and jump all the way to the conveyor belt. Walk to the left to stay in place between the meteors of the meteor shower. Get the treasure in the upper-left corner, but don't go for the treasure in the upper-right corner yet. Instead, let the meteors destroy the platforms blocking the way to the left ladder in the pair of ladders that are here. Go down that ladder, jump to the right, get the treasure, go up the ladder, loop back, then walk off the edge, get the treasure and float down with the parasol. From here, you'll need to brave the conveyor belts and the meteor shower once more to get the treasure in the upper-right corner.
Screen 6
You'll need to go around the level in a counter-clockwise (or anti-clockwise) motion by climbing up and down ladders on the way to the center, all while getting the treasure along the way. The "box within a box" contains poison gas clouds that come out and spiral around the room in a clockwise motion, which can make it easier to anticipate where the poison gas clouds are going to go. When the clouds are gone, be ready for a new batch of clouds to spawn out of that "box within a box." There are safe spots at the far right side of the screen as well as down and to the right of the poison cloud at the bottom of the ladder, as well as some safe-ish spots such as above and below the poison cloud box where you can fine-tune your position to avoid the clouds if you know where they are going. Get the treasure near the poison cloud box, then make your way back to the bottom of the screen the same way you go to the center. Jump to the conveyor belt and get the last treasure.
Screen 7
Jump to the platform on the right, then move against the conveyor belt to avoid the aliens as they converge in the center. Once you're past them, jump to the platform to the right, then keep moving left, and jump to the left between the aliens when they come your way. Jump to the platform to the left, jump straight up, and move left against the conveyor belt to avoid the aliens. When you have the opening, move all the way to the right and wait for the aliens to head all the way to the right. When they move left again, jump onto the platform you're in front of them, then jump to the left. Get on the next platform, then jump to the right and get the treasure. If you see a robot head dropping down from the sky at this point (or any point), avoid touching it, as touching it will kill you. After getting the treasure above all the conveyor belts, jump straight up and move to the left. Head to the left and wait on the fallaway platforms. Once you're low enough, head to the right and get the treasure, then immediately head to the left upon touching it and jump to the parasol. You'll float to the last treasure. You just beat Ledgeman!
As mentioned earlier, skill levels 2 and 3 have more dangerous aliens and faster meteors, but that will be another story for another time. For now, you've done it!
This is a fun game, but it does have its challenges, frustrations and difficulties, and there will be some trial and error as you go throughout the game. It can be annoying having to hear the same music (which is well composed here) over and over again as you start from square one and have to work your way back to where you lost the game and get better, but the effort can be worth it. The music and sound is pretty arcade-y, I had no problems or errors regarding the gameplay and programming respectively, and this game is worth giving a shot if you can find it somewhere, especially when the more difficult skill levels are concerned. Check this game out if you can!
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