Gridrunner
arcade game for Commodore 64, 1983
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By the year 2190 the Earth is a barren
and desolate wasteland. With all natural
resources used up, the human race's last
hopes rest with a huge orbiting solar
power station known as the GRID. Now the
GRID has been invaded by a race of evil
droids, intent on the total subjigation
of Earth. To combat these droids, and
incredibly powerful and manoeuverable
ship, the Gridrunner, was developed.
Your mission: stop the droids and save
the Earth! Gridrunner is an arcade game
requiring 1 joystick.
THE GAME
In the year 2190, the human race has set
up a huge solar power collecting power
station in earth orbit to beam power
down to earth. Because of its lattice
like shape, this power station is known
simply as "THE GRID"
Shortly after beginning operation, the
grid was found to be delivering less
power than predicted. Investigation
teams were sent into orbit. They
discovered that the grid had been
invaded by alien Droids, who were using
its power to reproduce themselves,
massing for an invasion of Earth. To
combat the Droids, a special combat ship
was developed. Small and incredibly
manoeuverable, the ship drew its power
from the grid and, with such vast
amounts of energy readily available, was
able to carry an awesomely powerful
plasma cannon.
This ship, known as the GRIDRUNNER, was
so fast and powerful that, with skilful
control, it could annihilate vast
amounts of hostile Droids.
The Droids have 3 main weapons:
GRIDSEARCH SQUADS, PODS and X/Y ZAPPERS.
1. GRIDSEARCH SQUADS.
These are linked droid segments which
traverse the grid horizontally,
descending whenever they encounter an
obstruction. Each squad has a rotating
"LEADER DROID". If the leader is hit
the Droid segment behind him takes over.
If the squad is hit in the body, it
splits into two independant squads.
Squads come in any size, from solitary
LEADER DROIDS to linked squads of many
Droids. Whenever a squad Droid is hit,
his body turns into a POD. Squad Droids
are vulnerable to their own X/Y ZAPPER,
and may be hit or split by them.
2. PODS
These small yellow devices lodge at the
nodes of the grid, periodically growing
in size and changing shape. When they
reach the end of their life cycle, they
hurl a single bolt of unstoppable,
lethal energy down the grid.
Hitting a POD regresses it one stage in
its life cycle. Repeated hits will
eventually destroy the POD.
3. X/Y ZAPPERS
These two ships run along the boundaries
of the grid. Periodically they, and the
Y-ZAPPER emits a plasma beam. The
X-ZAPPER fires a plasma pulse along the
grid, and where the two meet, a new POD
forms. It is not wise to get caught in
the plasma beam from the Y-ZAPPER, The
longer it is on, the more are your
chances of losing the ship. The
X-ZAPPER'S pulse is always lethal.
CONTROLLING THE GRIDRUNNER
Your GRIDRUNNER can move freely on the
bottom 7 lines lines of the grid. You
cannot move through PODS. You will be
destroyed if you are hit by a DROID, or
the charge from POD, or heavy plasma
beam. Use the joystick to manoeuvre
your GRIDRUNNER. The red button
activates your plasma cannon. As long as
you hold down the red button, your
cannon will repeat fire. This is useful
for quick annihilation of PODS close to
the GRIDRUNNER.
SCORING
For each POD successfully
destroyed : 10 points
For each DROID segment : 100 points
For each LEADER DROID : 400 points
For zapping 1 gridful of
droids : 1 extra GRIDRUNNER
ATTACK WAVES
There are 31 distinct attack waves. In
each wave an ever increasing number of
DROIDS are released onto the grid in
various attack patterns.
When one wave is entirely cleared, the
message GRID ZAPPED appears and an extra
GRIDRUNNER is awarded (up to a maximum
of 9)
After a short pause the next gridful
will appear.
STRATEGIES
1. Keep on the move. If you stay firing
in one place, PODS will form above you
and often explode while your attention
is elsewhere.
2. Remember to use your full mobility.
Don't just stay on the bottom line. When
GRIDSEARCH SQUADS reach the bottom, be
prepared for them to re-enter higher up
the grid.
3. Use rapid-fire to clear PODS in your
zone. GRIDSEARCHERS will then have to
travel right across the screen, giving
you more time to pick them off.
4. Learn the pattern of the X/Y ZAPPERS.
It never changes, and once you know it
you can avoid the potentiall lethal
Y ZAPPER'S beam.
5. Don't use rapid fire all the time.
You will survive better if you take the
time to aim.
6. DON'T PANIC
GRIDRUNNER is a very fast game. Don't
let the speed intimidate you. Good
players will be looking for scores over
100,000 and aces will be getting over
150,000.
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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)