THE JOURNAL OF BLAKE STONE
                    Operation: Aliens of Gold

FOREWARD

This is the Journal of Blake Stone which was written after his very
successful missions to seek out and destroy Dr. Pyrus Goldfire and
his deadly minions of lethal aliens and mutants. The journal has
been edited to remove references to intelligence data already
available from other sources. Only previously unknown information
is presented.

During discussions with Blake afterwards he felt that others who
might one day encounter Dr. Goldfire (who was never found, by the
way) might benefit from his experiences. Blake recognizes there are
those who would prefer to venture out to experience everything
first hand (without reading his journal) and he wishes them well.
The original intelligence data was gathered by 2 firms: Apogee
Software and JAM Productions. This journal is not a product of
either company and they do not support the data contained herein.
Please do not contact them if you have questions or disagreements.
Contact its editor instead.

It should be recalled that Blake Stone was forced to undertake 6
missions, each more difficult than the one before. Even the skills
of Veteran agents such as Blake would be taxed to their utmost
abilities in the last 3 missions. Of course Blake's journal is
written from the perspective of a Veteran agent.

The following then is related in Blake's own words with editor's
notes inserted here and there for clarification.



** Blake Stone : Aliens of Gold is a trademark of Apogee Software
and Jam Productions and owned by them.
THE STORY

Due to one screw-up or another, I always managed to begin each
mission with only an Auto Charge Pistol (ACP) as a weapon. I found
it to be useful, however, in a number of situations. But I get
ahead of my story.

The pre-mission intelligence briefings on the human adversaries I
was to meet were quite good, although I do have something to add to
the files on some of them, starting with the scientists, or BIO-
Techs, who were around almost everywhere I went. 

I tried not to kill any of the ones I could ID as "friendlies", but
sometimes it was either them or me. When they got in my way, which
was most of the time, my only choice was to try and move them when
there was time or let them suffer the consequences.

I've discussed the Bio-Techs with other agents after my return and
some said they wouldn't have bothered protecting them - they
shouldn't have been there in the first place. But they were the
source of good intelligence, extra charge packs, or tokens that I
could use at the various Food Units around which helped me heal
when I was careless and got shot up.

The Bio-Techs did slow me up because if I wasn't able to quickly
separate the ones who were loyal to Dr. Goldfire from the
"friendlies", I had to spend time interrogating them. The loyal
ones would usually give themselves away when I fired off a round of
ammo before entering a room. They would shout "Guards!" and them
come running to find me. Sometimes I was sure more of them came for
me than were in the room originally, probably coming from other
rooms on the floor along with the guards who had been summoned. But
this didn't always work and I then, as I said, I had to spend time
interrogating each one individually. If I found one who gave me a
suspicious answer when I nudged him, I immediately shot him. Turns
out I was right every time. Bio-Techs all carry pistols and didn't
hesitate to use them on me if I wasn't careful.

Editors note: On those occasions when Blake was forced to start
over at the beginning of a level, he often found that some of the
same Bio-Techs he had met earlier had now switched loyalties for
some reason. He couldn't depend on his previous experience.

Blake again: I found the information I got from the friendly
informants was worth considering as you will see later on.

The Star Sentinels usually took 2 shots from the Plasma Discharge
Unit (PDU) that I ultimately acquired, to kill them. If I stood
back some distance I could drop them with the Rapid Assault Weapon
(RAW), but usually used more ammo doing so. Their return fire was
too deadly to get close to them.

By far, the toughest human customers I ran into and learned to
respect early on, were the Star Troopers. The security vests these
guys wore did their job. I'd often knock one down, but after a few
seconds, he'd get back up and if I left the area too soon, he'd
hunt me down and inflict heavy damage! I usually stayed around
until I was sure he was dead. The only effective weapon I could use
against the Star Troopers was the PDU; usually took at least 3
rounds of plasma to finish them off. Sometimes I was lucky and
discovered one hiding around a corner waiting to ambush me. I could
then drop several plasma balls in his hiding place and put out his
lights before he could defend himself. Believe me, it was no picnic
with these guys. I'm just glad I didn't have to confront more of
them than I did.

By and large the human guards, while being a fairly effective
defense force, were a pretty surly lot. Once in a while, however,
I'd catch them in a room relieving themselves on the floor. I
couldn't resist taking advantage of them and quickly put them out
of their misery before they could return to duty.

THE ALIENS and OTHER HAZARDS

Editor note: There was little intelligence available on what Dr.
Goldfire had created to help him conquer the universe and defend
himself before Blake set out on his missions. He had to find out
for himself the hard way. Goldfire had been real busy it turns out.

Blake again: I ran into and had to fight some really weird and
dangerous creatures on all of my missions. Some were less of a
threat to me than others, but I could never let down my guard, as
you will see.

The processes Goldfire uses to create his nightmares apparently
generated a lot of toxic waste. I found it in bubbly puddles on the
floors here and there and I had to be careful not to find myself
standing in it for more than an instant.

A lot of the chemical waste was stored in Volatile Transports
(blue-green metal cylinders that I found on various levels on all
missions). I found it necessary to carefully destroy all those I
found.

Editors note: As far as Blake was concerned, these transports were
considered enemies when he went to total up the damage at the end
of each level.

Blake again: Because some of the transports were being moved, I had
to be careful not to destroy them around hibernating aliens or in
front of doorways I needed to use.

Goldfire used a lot of Personnel Scanners (Perscan Drones). Some
were stationary, but others could move and sound an alarm if they
sensed my presence. They would then move towards me to explode and
inflict damage if I wasn't careful to destroy them first. I didn't
dare enter a room where I knew them to be without tossing a plasma
ball in the doorway first because them suckers'd wait for me around
the corner of the doorway and explode when I started to go in.

One of the more irritating, but effective weapons arrayed against
me that I constantly had to look for and destroy quickly were
Armored Robot Turrets mounted on ceilings here and there. They
rotated to seek me out and seemed to have unlimited ammo. I found
the only weapons I had which could be used to destroy them were the
RAW and DND. The pistols didn't touch them, nor did the PDU.

Goldfire also had Plasma Spheres (I call them "zappers") patrolling
here and there. Whenever one touched me, I got hurt pretty bad.
Here's where I had a chance to use the ACP to take them out without
announcing my presence to anyone else who might be in the area.
Occasionally though, there were just too many, and I had to resort
to something more powerful, including the PDU, to get them.

Most of the rest of the creatures I encountered were on 2 legs and
I was mildly surprised to find out how well they could avoid my
fire until I learned to adjust to their evasive maneuvers.

The first of these were the Mech-Sentinels - blue and orange clad
metal robots. Whenever one of them spotted me, he'd shout, "Die,
Hu-mann!". It usually took 2 shots from my PDU to bring him down.
It turned out they were pretty vulnerable to the splatter effect of
the plasma balls from my PDU.

Some of the alien creatures and mutants would've been almost
comical if they hadn't been so lethal. First there was the High
Security Genetic Guard. He wore a red jacket and used a pistol.
They had keen hearing and would often jump me when I opened a door.
They'd yell, "You're Dead!". The funny part about it was he'd often
yell this just as he was dying because I'd gotten to him first. But
he was a pretty tough customer. It took 2 rounds from the PDU to
bring him down.

I learned that Goldfire had been experimenting with mutating
humans. They resembled large, but not lovable, slobbering bears.
They breathe a fire projectile which could cause considerable
damage but was fairly easy to move out of its way most of the time.
If I got too close they'd use their claws. Heard a lot of growling
from them. Took 2 PDU rounds to bring one down.

The human guards were not immune to Goldfire's insanity. He made
mutants of many of them too. I would often find the results on
tables under bloody sheets. If they were disturbed, they'd crawl
out from under the sheet and mutter some gobbledy-gook and come
after me with pistols. They moved pretty fast and usually took a
couple of PDU shots to fix their wagons. They were blue and red in
color.

One of the more curious creatures I ran into was a large, slow-
moving green alien that emerged from Pods that were lying here and
there. For all their slowness, they could also be quite dangerous
when they breathed fire and used their claws. If they had one
vulnerability, it was when they were in clusters. I could dispose
of them with less ammo than one at a time (normally 2 shots per
creature). The PDU puts a big hole in them!

Up until now, most of the defenders could've been considered more
of a nuisance than anything else. But the rest of what I found on
my missions were deadly, and difficult to destroy in the main.
Although one of them was pretty comical when he died.

I'm talking about a couple of Experimental Genetic Aliens.  One of
them was a small, and squat, but vicious, brown, bear-like creature
that breathed fire and moved faster than most of the other
creatures I encountered. Some of them were hibernating in metal
canisters and would be released if the canister was hit by an
explosion. The canisters were often located so close to one another
than a chain reaction of explosions could release many of their
contents at once. Then I really had my hands full. It took at least
3 PDU rounds to bring one down.

The other experimental alien can be described as green in color,
tall and gangly in appearance. He screeched a lot when he was
disturbed. These aliens also hibernated some, but were in tall
glass cylinders that I had to be careful not to disturb. These guys
also took at least 3 shots each to bring down. The comical aspect
of it was, when they died, they puffed up mightily and exploded in
apparent anger.

Editors note: Blake told us later that there were some cylinders
and canisters that apparently were duds as they could not be
damaged and their contents released. He said he wasted valuable
ammo on some of these.

Blake again: Previous intelligence had warned me about High Energy
Plasma Aliens which came out of large wall sockets and not to
linger in a room where they were. It was good advice. But it made
getting any treasure in such a room awfully hazardous to my health.
Quite often I'd find these aliens in rooms with no wall socket.
When I short-circuited them, they did not come back. I always knew
when they were in a room I was about to enter. They walked as if
they were in squeaky shoes on wet pavement. It was almost counter
productive to go into such a room if there were any Energy Packs in
their. I'd often use more ammo while in the room than I could
gather to replace it while in there. Sometimes I had no choice
because my path took me through the room to some other objective.

The most frustrating (to me) alien that I encountered on my
missions was a Fluid beast. They looked like ordinary pools of
water on the floor until disturbed, then would stand erect and fire
lethal balls of water at me. I couldn't damage them unless they
were standing up and they almost never stood up when I was close to
them. I wasn't hurt when I walked on them, however. I found that
the most effective way to dry them up was to wait until they stood
up around a corner. Then if I let loose a couple of PDU blasts,
they would be goners. Fortunately, I usually found sufficient first
aid kits and energy packs nearby (sometimes hidden) which I found
I had to use frequently when confronting these creatures.

That maniac, Pyrus Goldfire, was neither absent nor inactive during
my search and destroy missions. He would occasionally teleport in
from somewhere. I knew when he arrived even if I couldn't always
see him. I could hear the sound of a teleporter being used. Then
when he saw me, he'd laugh evilly and kept telling me I'd never
succeed. I wonder what he thinks now. If I wasn't quick enough, he
would open fire on me with his pistol. When I returned fire and hit
him directly with a couple of PDU rounds, he'd make his escape. If
I returned to the same area later, he would sometimes put in
another appearance. Mostly, all he did was make me waste ammo. I
could outrun him easily, but he had a habit of hunting me down if
he could.

It was an entirely different matter when I met him on the ninth
level of all my missions. He held a gold access key card that I had
to use to get any further. To get it, I had to be sure I had 100%
ammo and then I literally had to empty my PDU directly at him,
before he'd give up the card and leave me alone.

I learned there was a 10th level which needed a red access card and
which was always hidden somewhere. After finding it, I usually had
to go through the same room where I'd met Goldfire earlier. I could
almost always depend on him reappearing before I could get back to
the elevator to get up to the 10th level. Outrunning him turned out
to be the best strategy. But when I got back to the 9th level,
which was the only path to the exit, I'd have to out-maneuver him
again or be sure I had a full PDU to confront him with again. No,
he was no idle spectator watching from the sidelines. He could be
extremely deadly.

If I decided to go on to the 10th level, I soon found out it was
best that I take care of all my business on level 9 before going to
the 10th floor so that when I came back down, I wouldn't have to
delay my departure.

I also learned that after my confrontation with Goldfire on the 9th
level, I wasn't home free, even if I decided not to go to the 10th
level. Ahead of me each time was one of Goldfire's super Boss
aliens guarding the exit. They also held a gold access card I
needed. Once again, I needed a full PDU and lots of patience to get
them to cough up the card I had to have. I had to shoot and run a
lot before finally destroying them and going on.

Editors note: Blake said that in a couple of the later missions,
the PDU began to malfunction at the most inopportune times.
Sometimes it would work intermittently or not at all. He had to
resort to using other weapons in its place. He even had to confront
both Goldfire and a Boss alien with the PDU in this condition. He
said it was touch-and-go for awhile, but he managed to complete the
mission.

Blake again: I learned that it was not a good idea to try and shoot
it out with Goldfire or the Boss alien in a one-on-one direct
confrontation. I almost always lost those battles.

I guess that takes care of every type of enemy I had to deal with.
Judging by what I could see, Goldfire's people must've had problems
controlling his creations because there were dead guards in some of
the rooms where the aliens and mutants were being held. But
Goldfire sure didn't lack for help in defending his empire!

THE WEAPONS and AMMUNITION

Curiously, the least powerful weapon I carried would often be the
most useful in certain situations. It helped me conserve ammo first
of all and in an extreme emergency I could defend myself against
some of those I met.

But because it was quiet I didn't alert anyone to my presence when
I used it. There were many cargo crates lying around here and there
and some of them contained treasure, ammo, health items, and
weapons. Occasionally I found something ghoulish inside. But the
ACP was just made for breaking open the crates.

I also used the ACP to blink out the "zappers" (Plasma Spheres,
Ed.) that I mentioned earlier. Once in a while I could sneak up on
a human guard and put out his lights without alerting anyone else.
It was hard to do though because the target area is very narrow.

Of all the other weapons I was able to locate and use, the Slow
Fire Protector (SFP) was the least effective, but for a while was
all I had except for the ACP. The PDU was indispensable. The RAW
and DND both had their uses, the former for long range and close up
action, and the latter for closeup raw power. But the DND used up
my Energy packs in a hurry in it's auto-fire mode.

I was continually looking for supplies of Energy Packs - there
never seemed to be quite enough. I spent a lot of time looking for
hidden caches of ammo and weapons and trying to remember where I'd
seen some on previous floors. Of course the Bio-techs would give me
whatever they had available -- whether they wanted to or not.

OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION

There were many different kinds of doors used at the different
sites I visited. Most opened manually, but a few opened
automatically as I got close to the door. Occasionally, a whole
series of doors would open at once when I stepped on a hidden
sensor somewhere. These occurrences always taxed my abilities
because something deadly was always behind those doors. I quickly
learned to scout out rooms which had doors close together before I
moved toward them. This way I could be ready for the worst.

There were many locked doors (some from only one side). Most of the
locked doors required color-coded access cards to open them. I
spent a lot of time locating the cards and using them in the
correct sequence. I even found one case where some locked doors
obviously needed an access card, but I never found it. What I did
find was that the doors opened automatically when I least expected
them to. I had to do some quick footwork to avoid being killed.

All sites had many hidden areas. Wall cubes had to be pushed to
open into these hidden areas and there were hidden areas within
hidden areas - sometimes many rooms deep. Mostly I found treasure
in them, but frequently there were Energy Packs, food items, and
weapons available for the taking. There were also enemies lying in
wait for me in some of the hidden areas.

From time-to-time I'd come across Post and Arc barriers mentioned
in pre-mission intelligence. The Bio-techs warned me about dropping
the barriers prematurely. It was good advice. The barriers not only
served to secure an area, but also were used to fence in some of
the enemy aliens. The barriers didn't stop bullets but were pretty
effective against the PDU unless I stood back a ways and dropped
the Plasma balls right at the edge of the barrier so they would
splatter and injure the occupants behind. Sometimes I got too close
to the Arc barriers and got badly burned.

I wrapped up the final mission by destroying all 10 of Goldfire's
Projection Generators. Curious thing about those generators. They
burned pretty good when they were destroyed, but I found out I
could stand in the flames without being injured.

Editor: Thus ends Blake's personal journal entries. Blake was
approached by members of the video game industry who were
interested in developing a game about his adventures. While Blake
assented and agreed to be a consultant for them, he said his
adventure was no game for him.

SOME OF THE OTHER GAME DETAILS

SAVING GAMES 

Blake Stone didn't have this luxury, but you do. Some players of
the game have been observed going for long periods without saving
only to get caught several levels away from the last time they
saved. Here is a suggested strategy for saving games. 

Save when you first start any level, before leaving the elevator
(even the very 1st level of each mission, as it will save time if
you have to restart the mission). Save after killing 3 or 4
enemies. Save before entering a new room. Save before taking the
elevator to the next level as you may want to start a level over
again and this last save is a good starting point.

CHEATING

Blake didn't have any way to cheat. He had to rely on his own
resources and all the intelligence data he had. But the game's
creators have provided a method of cheating for the very desparate
player. However, the method exacts a heavy price for all but one
occasion. The method is described on screen 31 in the online game
instructions. For your efforts you will be rewarded with all
weapons, all access key cards, 100% health and ammo, and 0 points.
Yes, cheating will erase your score (but what's a score when you're
fighting for your life?). The cheat keys can be used repeatedly.

The only time you cannot be hurt by cheating is at the start of the
first level of each mission since you have no score yet, no weapons
(except the ACP) and very little ammo.

BONUSES

The game provides bonuses of 50,000 points each for killing all
enemies, collecting all points and keeping all informants alive.
Points are gained by finding all treasure and killing all enemies.
If you find all the treasure, but don't kill all the enemies, you
won't get the bonus for collecting all points. The reverse is true
too. There's also a one-time bonus during each mission for
achieving one million points. Blake will gain 100% health and ammo
and you will get an additional 500,000 points.

One of the easiest things to overlook is an item of treasure. They
are often found in out-of-the-way places which are easy to
overlook. Take your time and look everywhere, then take one last
look around before leaving a room. Don't forget to look under dead
guards or alien carcasses which may be covering some treasure you
can't see.

There are a few known bugs in the video game as of this writing. If
you discover one, check with Apogee software about it to see if it
is known. They are currently preparing an update to the game to
correct some or all of the known bugs.

Warren Buss 
CIS ID: 71044,3477