Choplifter

helicopter shoot'em up game for Commodore 64, 1982

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SCENARIO

Most of us would like to be heroes.
Trouble is, we're often not properly
prepared when the chance to do something
heroic comes along. This is your chance.

In the area which lies just a few miles
east of Patagonia and to the south of
Kurdistan lies the Bungeling Empire.
This nation of militaristic ideologues
has kidnapped the 64 delegates to the
United Nations Conference on Peace and
Child Rearing.

An ancient treaty between the United
States and the Bungelings allow the
U.S. Postal Service to maintain a mail
distribution center in an area near
where the hostages are being kept. You
have smuggled an entire helicopter into
the post office by disguising it as
a mail sorting machine. There, while
you reassembled your chopper, you have
carefully planned to rescue the 64
hostages and bring them back to the
post office.

Suddenly you hear the sound of
explosions. Looking out on the plain
where the hostages are billeted in four
barracks you see one of the barracks
aflame. The hostages are running about
frantically, desperate for a chance to
escape. Bungeling planes and tanks are
fast approaching and lives may be lost.
Your chopper is ready to go and fully
armed - there is no time to waste.

Br0derbund has already contacted the
governments involved and received
assurances that if they are returned
safely, discussions on world peace can
begin in earnest.

Please purchase this package
immediately. Go straight home. Read
the instructions for operating your
helicopter, and lay out your plans for
rescuing these innocent people. Then get
to it. Don't blow it. Being a hero isn't
easy or everybody would be one.

RULES

Hostages are locked in barracks, 16 per
barracks. One barracks has been blown
open so the hostages can get free. You
will need to figure out how to free the
other hostages without getting them
killed.

The object of the game is to retrieve
the hostages, then return them to
home base safely. You must land your
helicopter close to the hostages so they
can climb in, then return and put down
on the landing pad next to the post
office in order to allow them to
scramble out. Don't land on the
hostages. That kills them.

The score is at the top of the screen.
The LEFT score shows how many hostages
have been killed. The MIDDLE score
shows the number of hostages inside the
chopper, which has a seating capacity
of 16 hostages. The RIGHT score shows
the number of hostages safely returned.
The maximum score is 64.

You get 3 helicopters per game. The game
ends when you lose your third helicopter
or all the hostages are dead or rescued.

CONTROLLING THE HELICOPTER

Plug joystick into control port #1.

The chopper will respond logically to
up, down and sideways thrusts of the
joystick control.

A short press of the joystick button
will fire.

A medium press will put your chopper in
"tank attack" posture, facing you, so
that the chopper can shoot back at the
tanks on the ground.

A longer press will turn the chopper
completely around.

THE ENEMY

The Bungelings have 3 weapons at their
disposal.

The first are tanks, which amble along
and will kill hostages or destroy
helicopters which have landed or are
near the ground. To shoot back at
the tanks you must have your helicopter
facing forward.

The second are jet fighters, which
scream out of the sky and shoot
air-to-air missiles at you. You can
shoot the fighters down.

The third and most deadly enemies are
the drone air mines which home in on
your helicopters. These are the only
enemy vehicles which will attack you on
your side of the barrier, at the post
office, as well as in the field of
battle.

NOTE

To stop action or pause during play,
press [RUN/STOP] key. To resume, press
[RUN/STOP] again.

To abort a game, press the [Q] key.

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Some useful keyboard shortcuts
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       [PAUSE] - stop/continue game
          [F9] - quick load game state
         [F12] - quick save game state (still stored after leaving the site)
         [F11] - toggle fullscreen mode
  [ScrollLock] - quick switch control ports
    [PageDown] - make a screenshot (320x200)