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1991-10-13
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The Orion Odyssey
Ver. 3.0
The Search for the Magic Ankh
Billy Dalrymple
104 Miss Georgia Ct.
Cary NC 27511
Copyright (c) 1991 by Billy Dalrymple
Portions Copyright (c) Genus Microprogramming, Inc. 1988-1990
All Rights Reserved
I. Shareware:
Orion Odyssey is distributed under the shareware
marketing concept. Because Orion Odyssey is shareware you can
freely copy and share the shareware diskette with its programs
and manual.
Since the entire Orion Odyssey adventure contains over 3.5 Meg
of high resolution top quality graphics, it would be costly
to you, the user, just to obtain the software in order to
try it out. While most shareware disk distribution houses do
offer exceptional services at reasonable rates, the cost of
distribution of a game the size of the complete Orion Odyssey
adventure can be expensive. ie: The entire adventure takes a
minimum of four disks to distribute as shareware (Unarchived),
which could mean that you would pay $9.00 to $20.00 just to obtain
a non-registered version of Orion Odyssey through shareware
distributors. Thats more than the registration cost of only
$10.00 !
As a result, I have created a special shareware version which
contains one of the eight worlds which are needed to complete the
adventure. I have included all the resources needed to survive
(Fuel, Ammo, Gold, Oxygen, etc.) in this one world. Therefore, the
shareware version is a completely functional arcade version of the
entire adventure. The shareware version can be distributed
on one 1.2 Meg floppy and therefore the cost of obtaining a
shareware copy, experiencing the thrill of flying with a jetpack,
and deciding if you want to register Orion Odyssey is drastically
reduced.
Note to Shareware distributors: You are free to distribute this
program provided disk charges
do not exceed $5.00/disk. Please
send notification that you are
distributing this program.
The concept of shareware states that you are free to try the
software to determine if it suits your needs. If you decide
that you like Orion Odyssey, you may obtain the adventure
of eight worlds so you can complete the entire quest by
registering your copy and sending only $10.00 to Billy Dalrymple
at the above address.
When you register your copy of Orion Odyssey, you will receive
the complete adventure of Orion Odyssey 3.0... 8 worlds that you
can explore during your quest for the magic ankh.
II. Introduction
This revision of Orion Odyssey is a graphical arcade style
game which involves a space flier (Wally, as he has become
to be known) who flies around using a jetpack strapped to his
back and tries to accumulate as many points as possible while
destroying alien beings, finding and using artifacts, and
monitoring his life status, fuel consumption, ammo etc.
When you register your copy of Orion Odyssey 3.0, you will
receive the complete adventure of 'Wally' the space wanderer.
In it, you can transport to different remarkable worlds in the
Orion constellation. Explore eight (8) worlds in a quest
for the magic Ankh.
The Ankh has been stolen by the overlord Bytor. For it is said
that who so ever controls the powers of the Ankh, controls the
universe. Bytor has assigned his supreme wizards to the task of
unlocking its magical powers. Your job is to find the Ankh before
Bytor and his supreme wizards discover its powers.
The fate of the universe lies in your hands....
III. Registration
To register Orion Odyssey 3.0 fill out the following form and
send it along with a check or money order for $10.00 to:
Billy Dalrymple
104 Miss Georgia Ct.
Cary NC, 27511
Name: _____________________________ Age:______
Address: _____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
Obtained Orion Odyssey From:
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
Computer Information: 8086 286 386 486
Speed: 8Mhz 10Mhz 16Mhz 20Mhz 25Mhz 33Mhz Other _____
Size of Floppy: 360k 1.2M 1.44M
Comments: ____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
IV. Hardware Requirements:
Orion Odyssey requires the following minimum hardware
configuration:
100% IBM Compatible PC
512 K Ram
EGA/VGA Color Graphics
Hard Disk
Recommend minimum of 286 running @ > 10Mhz
V. Playing the Game:
Starting the Game:
All the Orion Odyssey files must reside in the same DOS directory.
Type ORION from the DOS prompt and you will see a 'loading'
screen which indicates that the game is loading.
After the loading gauge reaches 100%, press a key or wait for a
second. The main game screen will be displayed and you will be
ready to begin the game.
The Main Screen:
The main screen consists of a Title window (upper,upper left),
Three blue lights at the top of the screen which indicate how many
Wallys you have left. There is a main window in the middle of
which will be Wally. Wally will be standing in the transporter.
This main window is a scrolling window in which the game is played.
to the right of the main window are the status gauges which are
used to monitor various aspects of the game. Above the gauges is
the score and hit percentage readouts. Hint: Hit percentage is
calculated into the score so you should try to keep it high. Above
the score is the address to which you may mail your registration
forms to register your copy of Orion Odyssey. If you like playing
the game, Please Register.
GAUGES:
The main screen contains six gauges which give critical indication
as to the current status of the game. These gauges are described
below:
GOLD: Indicates how much gold you have remaining.
Gold is crucial for obtaining the resources
which are needed to play the game. (FUEL, AMMO,
OXYGEN) When you run low on gold you should look
for a treasure chest and walk into it to obtain
more gold.
AMMO: Indicates the amount of ammo left. When you
run low on ammo you need to find an ammunition
dump and walk into it to get more ammo.
Remember: you need to have plenty of gold
to buy ammo with.
HEALTH This indicates your current status. If your
status reaches 0, your Wally is destroyed.
There are many things that influence your
HEALTH: - Every time you fly into something
too hard, your health decreases. Everytime
you run into an alien (That doesn't kill you)
your health will drop. Resting or flying will
increase your health.
METER This is an altimeter, the green indicates
how close you are to landing on the ground.
This is crucial for learning to land safety.
Landing is difficult without it. Whenever
the meter gauge is almost completely green, you
are about to touch the ground.
OXYGEN The worlds you will explore are all capable
of supporting human life (to some degree).
However, some of the atmospheres may have a low
oxygen content. Therefore you need to always
have sufficient oxygen to survive. Should your
oxygen reserves become empty, your health status
will begin to drop rapidly and you must obtain
oxygen immediately. Be sure to keep gold for the
purchases of oxygen.
FUEL Indicates the amount of remaining fuel left.
When reserves get low, you need to head for the
nearest fuel depot (Make sure you have enough
gold) and buy some more fuel.
FLYING:
This can be tricky. Inertia and gravity play a big
role in fling with a jetpack. Since Wally does not have any
landing gear other than his legs, you must take some care
when landing and make sure that his landings are not hard,
or else his health may be reduced. Likewise care must be taken
while in flight so as not to run into cliffs or scrape the sides of
cliffs, or thrust into an overhang, etc. NOTE: You cannot fly into
entrances since entrances are dark and you cannot see where you are
going. Trying to fly into an entrance will get you killed
every time!
Use the UP arrow key to control the thrusters. This will
ignite the jetpack and send Wally rocketing toward the stars.
Wallys' inertia will increase proportionately to his velocity
making it take longer to slow down after the thrusters have been
shut off. Likewise, when falling (Thrusters off), Wallys
inertia will increase with distance making it harder to
stop the fall.
You should spend time learning how to fly before you venture too
far from home base. It will be time well spent.
Special Items:
There are various items which may be found which will
assist you with dealing with the aliens. Some of these items
will increase your plazma energy, some will help
improve your health, some will increase your jetpack
fuel efficiency. To USE these items, you must first have
obtained them by walking into them, then you need to activate them
by pressing the appropriate key. Once you have activated the item,
a flashing light will appear under the appropriate gauge on the
screen indicating that the item is activated. Once the item
has been used up, the flashing light will disappear.
Once you have obtained an item and it is in your
inventory, it will not reappear until you have activated it.
You may view your inventory of items by pressing the "I"
key.
1) SWORD - Increases your Plazma Energy.
once you have obtained the sword,
you may activate it by pressing the
"W" (Weapon) key.
2) SHIELD - Increases your Health recovery rate and
helps to protect you from harm.
Activate by pressing the
"P" (Protection) key.
3) GOLDEN GOOSE - Increases your fuel efficiency.
Activate by pressing the
"F" (Fuel) key.
4) BOMB - Blows up all aliens in a world
sector.
Activate by pressing the
"B" (Bomb) key.
5) KEYS - Some entrances may be blocked by a door
and may need a key the same color of
the door lock before you can enter
them. If you have the appropriate key
for a specific door, it will
automatically open whenever you touch
it.
Each time a Wally gets killed, one of the blue square lights
on the upper portion of the main screen will disappear. After
the third Wally has been destroyed, the game is over, you may
choose to start a new game or return to DOS.
Transporter
The transporter is the gateway between the eight worlds of
the Orion Constellation. Whenever you are standing on the
transporter, you may enter it by pressing the 'E' key. The
transporter screen will be displayed showing the Orion
constellation. A square will be around the star system of the
world that you currently occupy.
The Transporter has its own help menu which may be activated
by pressing the 'H' key while inside the transporter.
You select the world you wish to travel to by pressing the
space bar. The square will jump from world to world. If you
want the cursor to jump back to the world you currently
occupy, press the 'C' key.
Once the square is on the world you want to teleport to, press the
'Enter' key any the teleporter will engage and send your molecules
hurling to another transporter on the world you selected.
To exit the transporter, press the 'E' key.
NOTE: Since the shareware version cannot be distributed with
all the graphics, the transport function only displays
a message reminding you of such. You may however, enter
the transporter an see the transporter screen. The
transporter is completely functional in the registered
version.
HELP Screen:
You may obtain help anytime during the game by pressing the
'H' key. This will list all of the key commands and
their functions. The game will be paused while the help menu
is being displayed.
Main Menu:
You may access the main menu by pressing the ESC key. The game
is paused while the main menu is being displayed. This
menu will let you save the current game, restore the previously
saved game, start over, resume the game, or quit to DOS.
Since Orion Odyssey increases in difficulty as your score
increases, it is highly recommended that you save your game
frequently especially if you are in a high scoring game, and
you are about to try something which may destroy your last
Wally.
Misc Functions:
You may have a fast computer and wish to slow down the graphics
speed of the game. You can slow down or speed up the game by
pressing the '-' and '+' keys. The '-' key will reduce the
delay time and therefor increase the speed of the game and
the '+' key will increase the delay time thereby slowing the
game down.
You may toggle music on/off by pressing the 'S' key.
SPECIAL HINTS:
1) Flying horizontally requires toggling the thrusters on and
off while pressing one of the horizontal cursor keys.
2) When being chased by a flying alien, fly away from it to get
your inertia moving you away. You can then turn and fire on the
alien while you are moving away from it.
3) To shoot at an alien below you while you are flying can be
tricky. Since most aliens require several plazma blasts before
they are destroyed, you must fly toward the alien in a diagonal
path. ie: You must be falling and moving toward the alien, or
or you must be rising and moving away from the alien.
4) Keep a shield activated as much as possible. This will greatly
increase your chances of survival in this hostile environment.
