These are the memoirs of Nikki, an intergalactic space-pilot cum budgerigar, and inhabitant of the small bird-inhabited planet of Avia. Nikki shares the story of his quest...
"I first heard of the problems we were facing one day many years ago. Our relatively peaceful world was under attack from a rather vicious feline; that is to say, budgie babies were being captured and incarcerated in deep intergalactic prisons!
"The situation warranted immediate action, and I, being one of the most experienced astronauts on the planet, was commissioned by the World Government to join a team of pilots to rescue the hostages captured by the villain. In addition we were told that the most successful member of the team could have a shot at the cat itself!
"The cat wasn't stupid however. Rumours of our plan had somehow gotten through to him, and he consequently hired a ghost to guard the caves and sap the fuel of any intruder. Sounds weird, I know, but he needed something which could reach us quickly- and not many cats can go through walls!
"I was deeply honoured by my appointment. However, I knew that I couldn't afford to mess up too many rescue attempts- I wanted to have a go at the cat, and hey! I didn't want to get the sack!
"Anyway, my bubble-plane was ready, the hidden rescue rope had been attached, a ghost detector had been installed and my first hostage was crying out for help. I was prepared for the journey of my life!"
The Game
========
In this game you must guide the bubble-pilot through a series of underground intergalactic mazes, find the baby-budgie in captivity and get out, taking extreme care not to accidentally smash the hostage against a wall!
Use: Z - left
X - right
SHIFT - Thrust
(RETURN - Negative thrust)
P - Pause
CTRL+Q - Quit
F12 - Desktop } On title screen
SPACE - Start }
Z and X - Select start level: }
:- the level must have been
reached previously
:- to complete the game, you must start from level 1.
Each planet is timed to detonate after 400 time units, although this is normally not a major problem- fuel is sparse enough WITHOUT the gas-guzzling ghost. The craft however is quite tough and can withstand a couple of hits- do keep an eye out for damage though; you don't want to be left stranded- the AA (Avian Association) require higher premiums for interplanetary assistance!
Let's not be too morbid- once the budgie has been found, positioning the ship correctly over the cage will trigger a release mechanism and the hostage will become attached to the rescue rope. From here, leave the planet by returning to the cave surface.
Successfully rescue a bird and the bubble-pilot will be given another, more difficult, planet to negotiate. Kill a bird and the next planet is given anyway, but a 'life' is lost. A 'life' is also lost for leaving a planet without the hostage at all. Lose all the pilot's 'lives' and he will be sacked from duty. Get the pilot caught in a planet detonation and he will die horribly, losing all his lives!
The ghost detector can be found in the top left of the screen, and shows the direction in which the ghost can be found. A white arrow means that it's quite far away and a yellow arrow still denotes relative safety. See a red arrow however, and watch out- the ghost may soon appear and fuel will start draining from the craft!
If fuel is getting desperate, land on the planet surface (carefully) and special machinery in the craft's underside will search for minerals in the rock below. These will then be absorbed into the craft and will provide emergency power. Don't do this when the ghost is around however- he can drain fuel faster than you can collect it!
The game contains many extra features not documented here. Use the 'Set-up' option from the icon bar menu to alter various game settings, and allow the game to be more playable on slower machines.
Hints and tips:
- The budgie can always be found at Y coordinate 21.
- The ghost cannot go much above Y co-ordinate 7. Use this fact when in need
of fuel!
- You can hit all walls, but be careful when a hostage's in tow!
- When a budgie is located, a number is displayed. This is the time difference between now and the time at this point when the level record was set. A negative number, and you're on course for a new record!
- Most 'maze' planets are random! Tough luck if you're going for the level record and you're stuck with a difficult maze!
- All mazes are possible, it's just that some are more sneaky than others...
- The "basher" blocks are easily traversed, just stay near the middle, on the side going in your direction!
- Don't kill the hostage just because he squarks at you! We were all babies once!
- Later levels can only be accessed if you have been extra efficient earlier on!
- Don't be frightened if walls suddenly appear/disappear!
- Complete the game with no damage to your craft AT ALL to receive a
rather large bonus!
- The rocks around the cat's lair cannot damage your craft!
- The baby budgies have been surprisingly well-trained, although please bear their tender age in mind if they make slight errors.
- This game has been designed for faster Acorn machines, but it is still
playable (just) on the slower models.
- Although we strongly advise de-archiving the game, the game will not crash if run in an archived state. You may however get problems if you obtain a level record or high score. You have been warned!
- To reset all records/high scores, either reinstall the directory "!Avian.Data" from the original archive to your copy, or run the program "!Avian.Resources.ResetAll".
- No creatures were deliberately harmed for this game.
This game is freeware, whatever that means. The copyright remains mine at all times though. So there!
Uf you *do* use this game, just drop me a line to say so. I'll then send you any new versions of the game if and when they are released. Especially if they are accompanied by a cash/software incentive!!!
I can also forward on any fan mail for Nikki.
So, to contact me (or him)-
E-mail: mpl@cs.bham.ac.uk
http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~mpl -for the latest version
