Parallax
shoot'em up game for Commodore 64, 1986
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SCENARIO
The deadly game of rescue and escape the
zones of an alien world - a Deathstar,
intent upon destruction of Earth and
controlled by an all-powerful Computer
Intelligence.
THE GAME
A space probe has landed you and four of
the world's most experienced astronauts
on an artificial world divided into five
broad horizontal zones: Alpha, Beta,
Gamma, Delta and Epsilon.
The inhabitants seem hospitable and
friendly until you stumble across vital
information being switched across the
zones by a controlling computer
intelligence: Information revealing an
imminent attack upon Earth!
Contact your four allies in the other
zones in an attempt to break free and
destroy the computer with your
spacecraft IBIS. You begin in Alpha
zone and must proceed through each area
locating your colleagues and finally
reaching the Intergalactic Teleport at
the exit in Epsilon zone. The way is
fraught with many hazards - Good Luck!
CONTROLS
Use a Joystick in port two.
Press [RUN/STOP] to pause game, to
resume press fire (except in hangar).
IN FLIGHT
JOYSTICK:
UP ......... Dive
DOWN ....... Climb
LEFT ....... Turns Anti-Clockwise
RIGHT ...... Turns Clockwise
FIRE ....... Shoot Lazers
ON GROUND
JOYSTICK:
UP ......... Taxi Forward
DOWN ....... Blast Off
LEFT ....... Turns Anti-Clockwise
RIGHT ...... Turns Clockwise
FIRE ....... Initiate Leaving Sequence
KEYBOARD (IN FLIGHT & ON GROUND ONLY):
[SPACE] .... Landing Gear Up/Down
[F7] ....... Shields On/Off
[RETURN] ... Display Datacards/Passwords
ON FOOT
JOYSTICK:
UP ......... Move Up
DOWN ....... Move Down
LEFT ....... Move Left
RIGHT ...... Move Right
FIRE ....... Shoot Stun Gun (if carried)
OPERATE ON-BOARD COMPUTER
Use Joystick to move cursor over
required option - press fire to select.
Follow on-screen instructions for other
operations.
Warning - IBIS can only land on a clear
surface with the Landing Gear down. Any
other circumstances will incur damage
to the engines or the landing gear
itself.
SCORING
Points are scored for eliminating
Aliens, shooting Turrets:
Max.
/|\ Shoot Turrets
| Shoot Flying Aliens
| Shoot Surface Aliens
| Shoot Underground Aliens
Min.
GAME PLAY AND FEATURES:
SHIELDS AND LAZERS
Press [F7] to operate Shields - with
these in operation, the fuel is used
more quickly (when on the ground no
fuel is used at all).
EXPLORING
Activating the fire button when landed
indicates to the on-board computer that
you wish to leave the ship. You will be
asked what you want to take with you -
the left hand column shows the potential
inventory. Guiding the cursor over this
will transfer your selection to the
right hand column for exit.
UNDERNEATH ARE 3 STANDARD OPTIONS:
(a) Standard Kit: Supply of Oxygen,
Stun Gun and Ammunition.
(b) Stay Aboard. (c) Exit Craft.
The gun enables you to stun (one shot)
or kill (two shots) the alien scientists
or eliminate (one shot) the robots in
the hangars.
HANGARS
You can enter any hangar at any time.
To re-enter the ship, stand beneath and
press fire; you will materialize
inside IBIS.
Hangars are strategically important -
they are the principal areas for
locating computer data vital to the
mission's success. Scientists can often
be found in hangars (see below) as can
robots who must be shot on sight!
Several computers are situated inside
these hangars.
Computer Bank - Credits are drawn from
the computer bank using datacards
obtained from stunned scientists.
Computer Shop - From which items may be
purchased with credits. The inventory
will be automatically transported to the
IBIS for later use.
Central Intelligence Unit (C.I.U. or
'Big One') - The main alien control
mechanism planning the invasion of
Earth. To extract information from these
computers, you must obtain one datacard
from each grade of scientist on each
level. When you insert the relevant
card, the computer gives you a letter of
the password to enable you to progress
to the next level. The letter it gives
corresponds to the grading of the card
(and the scientist it is obtained from),
i.e. if a 3rd grade card is inserted
then you will be given the 3rd letter of
the password. The card is automatically
returned to you as it can then be used
to extract credits from the
Computer Bank.
There is one C.I.U. on each level which
cannot be accessed without having a
scientist with you. This is the computer
that requires the complete password. If
encountered early on, take note of
its position!
Datacards - These gather information for
passwords and enable you to gain credits
from the Computer Bank. They are
extracted from stunned scientists and
are of five different grades (denoted by
the first digit, as shown in the lower
information screen). Up to 2 cards can
be held at any one time.
SCIENTISTS
The Scientists hold the key to the
C.I.U.s in the form of datacards. To
extract a datacard from a scientist, you
must first stun him (with one shot) and
walk over him. You are then given the
option of taking his card. The first
scientist whose card you do take will be
automatically taken with you when you
return to your ship (kidnapped). He will
be useful later on when you need to
enter your password into the main
computer. If you do not need the
scientist you may shoot him again to
destroy him.
IMPORTANT - When you do achieve the
complete password (with the kidnapped
scientist accompanying you) and you
enter this into the main computer, the
scientist is transformed into one of
your 'Allies' who is then considered
rescued. This allows progression to the
next level.
ALIENS
These will impede your progress and
shoot at you - causing damage to the
IBIS. They must be avoided, or
eliminated with your lazer.
BLACK HOLES
These take the form of pairs of square
black openings with an arrow between
them on the surface. Passing over a
black hole, in the direction of the
arrow, you will be sucked in and shot
out of the adjacent one at a faster
velocity.
These help you build up extra speed
throughout the game; a necessity on
later levels as speed will be crucial
to fly through traps.
N.B. - Passing through against the arrow
results in your speed being halved.
HYPERSPACE PORTS
Appears similar to a black hole, but has
a flashing centre. If you pass over one
of these, you will be randomly
transported to a different location on
the same level.
HINTS AND TIPS
* Ensure landing gear is up when not
required.
* When on foot, if man gets shot by an
alien, he is stunned and his oxygen
level decreases.
* When entering your four-digit code
into the computer, ignore the hyphen
and do not press [RETURN] - wait for
response.
* You will be destroyed if you enter the
next level without having fulfilled
certain conditions - see Scientists.
* Scientists will not co-operate in
accessing the main computer unless
drugged.
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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)