Dropzone
sci-fi shoot'em up game for Commodore 64, 1984
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MISSION BRIEFING
----------------
It is the year 2085, and only a handful of people have
survived the devastating robot wars. In a final bid for
human survival the peoples of the earth unite to develop the
ultimate transportation, a Tacheon propelled star cruiser,
capable of overcoming relatavistic limitations to fresh new
star systems.
The Tacheon drive relies on bombarding very rare Ionian
crystals with quarks. But all the earth's resources were
used up developing a prototype and so a consignment of men is
despatched to the hostile young planet of IO, Jupiter's 2nd
inner most moon. It is here that the crystals are found in
abundance scattered all over the surface. They are
continually thrown up from the depths of the planet by the
elemental forces of the three active volcanoes, first
discovered way back in the 1980's.
Not long after building a moonbase in the flat bed of a large
crater the first wave of aliens arrive from Jupiter to rid
their moon of the human invaders.
It is your mission to protect the men and their crystals from
the marauding aliens. You have been equipped with the latest
pulse laser back pack system capable of carrying an extra man
and becoming invisible and indestructible for short periods
of time. You must safely escort each surviving man and his
crystals back to the Dropzone where the landing pad of the
moonbase is located. You must succeed, the future of mankind
depends on you alone.
THE CONTROLS
AND NOTES ON JOYSTICK TYPE
--------------------------
Dropzone is played with one joystick and to a lesser extent
the keyboard. To master DROPZONE you must learn the feel of
your back pack because you will have both INERTIA and GRAVITY
affecting your movement just as in everyday life on earth.
Your reactions to the screen, sound and the joystick position
are vital to your prolonged survival.
The best type of joysticks to use are ones with a firm
tactile feel to them such as the original Atari joysticks.
Some of the large springy types are less manageable since
they move too far and give little feel as to when the lever
switches have made contact. If you use auto-fire joysticks
you will not be able to fire precisely when needed and won't
pick up any bonus points. You will also destroy all the men
you are battling to protect!
Firing
------
One laser pulse is released for each up or down motion of the
fire button. Its direction is usually the one which you are
facing but it is possible to fire backwards by quickly
holding the joystick left or right at the instant of firing.
This makes it possible to blast aliens in hot pursuit of you
when trying to outrun them.
Horizontal Thrust
-----------------
To thrust you hold the joystick to the left or right. The
longer you thrust for, the faster you become. To reverse or
stop you thrust in the opposiite direction.
Vertical Thrust
---------------
To change your height above IO's surface you push the
joystick forwards for up or backwards for down. Because of
gravity you must continually adjust this to maintain your
altitude. If you don't thrust you will eventually fall to
the surface.
Strata Bomb Release
-------------------
One strata bomb is detonated for each press of the SPACE bar.
It destroys all aliens except Androids. Also if a spore is
released occasionally a few trailers will remain.
Cloak Activation
----------------
Your indestructable cloaking device is turned on and off by
pressing any key (other than the SPACE bar or the F1 key).
Pausing the Game
----------------
Pressing the F1 key will pause the game. To continue, press
any key or move the joystick.
Starting the Game
-----------------
When the title page or the Hall of Fame is being displayed
the game is begun by pressing the joystick fire button.
GAME OBJECT
-----------
Your mission is to protect the men on planet IO's surface
from being destroyed by the invading aliens and to return
them one by one to the Dropzone in which the moonbase landing
pad is located.
THE SCREEN DISPLAY
------------------
The main part of the screen shows the exact realtime side
view of the zone over which you are cruising. Below you lies
the time battered surface of IO with its deep crevasses, lava
filled trenches, active volcanoes, the Ionian sea and ancient
meteorite craters. In the far distance lie the twinkling
stars of other planetary systems that await men's visition.
The lower part of the screen shows your insturmentation and
status displays. These are man counts, current attack
direction indicator, cloaking time remaining, spare lives,
strata boms, score and most importantly a high speed planet
scanning viewer.
INSTRUMENTS
-----------
MAN COUNTS - These show how many men are currently on the
planet's surface and how many have actually been safely
returned to the moonbase.
ATTACK INDICATOR - This is an arrow that is displayed the
instant an android attack begins on one of the men still on
the surface or the moonbase itself. It shows the direction
and shortest route to the last attack detected.
CLOAK STATUS - Shows the amount of time left before the cloak
generator runs out of power. A warning signal is sounded 3
seconds beforehand.
SPARE LIVES - This shows up to 3 of the remaining lives.
STRATA BOMBS - This shows up to 3 of the remaining strata
bombs
SCORE - Your accumulated points score.
SCANNER - This is the most important information area. It
shows what is happening elsewhere on the entire planet's
surface and covers six times the area shown on the main
screen. Each member of the Dropzone cast has a distinct
colour key and size. The landing pad is shown as a bright
white cross in the surface detail.
THE CAST OF CHARACTERS
----------------------
MEN
At the start of each attack wave the 'Men Out' count will
show how many men are on the surface. They slowly move
towards the moonbase in the Dropzone, each carrying Ionian
crystals. Whenever the alien Planters lower an Android to
destroy a man, he lets out a whistle for help that echoes
around the atmosphere. You can rescue men by picking them up
one at a time and dropping them off on to the elevated
landing pad at the moonbase for bonus points.
PLANTERS and ANDROIDS
Planters are the most common alien. They are machines
piloted by Androids that drift across the surface rising up
over volcanoes and the moonbase. They are always on the look
out for the men. When you attack, the Android lowers itself
to the surface to chase the man, leaving the Planter machine
to become a Nemesite.
NEMESITE
Once an Android machine has landed, the Planter machine
becomes a Nemesite, a deadly homing missile set to crash into
you at all costs. They evade your pulse laser fire until
they are close enough for collision.
ANTI MATTER
If all the men on IO are destroyed, the Planters and Androids
fuse into gyrating Anti-Matter nodules which bounce towards
you. IO suffers an earthquake and becomes unstable and the
three volcanoes erupt lethal white hot magma lumps.
SPORE
Spores are fairly harmless until triggered off. When this
occurs they release four individual Trailers.
TRAILERS
Trailers are released from Spores and can be very awkward to
handle. Some will wiggle around in space, others will aim
straight for you and follow you everywhere you go. They are
hard to destroy and need a direct hit on the heads of their
bodies.
BLUNDER STORMS
These storms are a silent but deadly environmental hazard of
IO. They slowly float in the upper atmosphere over the
planet's surface sometimes retaining molecular acid, or they
will occasionally rumble and release an intense bolt of
proton lightning.
NMEYES (pronounced N-m-ie's)
If you have survived an attack wave for too long the aliens
send in an Nmeye as their ultimate weapon. Nmeye's watch
your every move and occasionally blink. Their motion is
erratic, they can move faster than you at full speed, they
continually launch boms at you and successive Nmeye's become
harder to destroy.
VOLCANOES
Generally the three active volcanoes are harmless. They
shoot small magma lumps out onto the surface. However, if
all men are lost the planet's surface becomes unstable and
the volcanoes erupt deadly white hot lumps.
BOMBS
Planters, Nemesites, Anti-matter and Nmeyes can shoot small
bright bombs at you. If you continue moving with the same
velocity these will destroy you.
OTHER FEATURES
--------------
You start with a consignment of eight men, 15 seconds of
cloaking power, 3 lives and 3 strata bombs. You get 1 bonus
life and strata bomb for every 10,000 point mark that you
reach, and 7 seconds extra cloak power for each wave. After
one million points has been achieved no more bonus lives or
strata bombs will be awarded. (But if you are that good you
shouldn't need them!). A wave is finished by destroying all
planters, spores, trailers, blunder storms and landing all
the men back at the moonbase. You receive a points bonus at
the end of every attack wave for the number of rescued men
multiplied by the wave number, up to a maximum of 500 points
per man. You also get this for landing each man during the
wave.
Every 5th wave a fresh consignment of men arrives. Prior to
this round youwill have to battle through a TRAILER INVASION
wave.
The game has attack waves numbering 1 to 99. After 99 waves
95 to 99 are repeated. Each wave is entirely random in
action and warp-on entry.
If you lose a life whilst carrying a man he will be replaced
on the surface.
If you save and land all eight men then no more android
attacks will occur for the rest of that wave. BUT if you
have saved less than eight men then every now and then one
android will actually invade the moonbase by descending onto
the landing pad and running into the moonbase.
HALL OF FAME
------------
If at the end of the mission if you have gained a
sufficiently high score you will be asked to enter your
initials into the Dropzone Hall of Fame. This will be
accompanied by a special dynamic colour sequence to signify
that you are one of the top eight heroes to attempt a
Dropzone mission. To select your initials push the joystick
to the left or right, to enter the letter press the fire
button. You are allowed 60 seconds in which to do this.
MISSION RATING
--------------
Depending upon your performance you will be awarded one of 10
ranks. A beginner might not achieve the 10,000 mark and will
not receive a rank. An average score might get you Moon
Cadet status. But for the mission to be considered a total
success you must achieve the rank of MEGASTAR. This is
universally regarded as the ultimate galactic distinction
possible and will be awarded to supreme warriors who fight
off the aliens to score 1,000,000 points or more.
STRATEGY
--------
The method you adopt is best found by experiencing the way of
life of IO and by mastering the co-ordination and reflexes
required to control your back pack with a firm joystick.
For example, you might find that waiting to destroy Androids
as they fall to the surface is the best way to build up a
score. Or you might rescue all the men as quickly as you
can. But remember, the Nmeye will be sent in to sort you out
if you take too long. Also the strategy you adopt will
partly depend on how far the men are from the moonbase at the
start of each wave. This is different for every round except
for the very first which is always fairly easy.
The newcomer to Dropzone will probably thrust too much,
reducing reaction time to oncoming aliens. It is best to
thrust only occasionally and to clear up each area of
activity as you find it.
Listen out for the whistles of help that echo around the
planet. On hearing them, use the direction indicator and
scanner to locate the trouble. If yoiu have to race halfway
across IO to protect a man then keep a watchful eye on the
scanners as this will forewarn you of any oncoming aliens.
Use your cloak if the attack zone is full of aliens firing
bombs at you.
The moment a Nemesite enters the main viewing area it lets
off a warning sound. They then zero in on you. To destroy
them will take some practice at out circling them, then
reversing and firing at exactly the point when they are level
with you.
Use of the cloak will help you in many situations such as
picking up a man just before he is about to be destoryed by
the Android, or landing men whilst being blitzed by a Nmeye.
Trailers have a personality of their own. Once learnt, the
Trailer Invasion waves can be quickly completed. The cloak
is useful here as well.
Always keep an eye on Blunder Storms. Before they strike
they rumble different colours for about a second giving you
the chance to get out of the way. When moving fast, check
that any oncoming storms are not raining so that you can use
your cloak or pass over them.
If all the men die and earthquake occurs and Anit-Matter
appears everywhere. Because the volcanoes are now dangerous
it is best to stay in one region between two volcanoes and
use your cloak if you have to pass over one. If you lose a
life from colliding with a lump of magma, you will re
materialise over the same space. So you must get out of the
way quickly or else you will lose another life.
If you use too many strata bombs in quick succession the
aliens will send in an Nmeye to retaliate.
SCORING
-------
Men 100-500 for rescuing during wave
Men 100-500 for each man surviving the wave
Men 0 if destroyed
Android 50 if shot while descending with Planter
Android 50 if shot whilst chasing a man
Android 500 if shot when falling from a destroyed
Planter
Planters 250
Spores 750
Nemesites 150
Trailers 250
Anti-Matter 150
Nmeyes 100
Blunder Storms 250
Loss of Life 10
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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)