1,000 Game Manuals/1000gamemanuals.iso/Atari 5200/Space Dungeon.TXT

Text File | 2001-11-05 | 12KB | 244 lines

Space Dungeon
By Atari, Inc.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.  Legacy of a Distant Planet ------------ 1
2.  Game Play ------------------------------- 2
3.  Using the 5200 controller ------------- 5
4.  Scoring ----------------------------------- 6
5.  Strategies and Helpful Hints ---------- 7

1.  LEGACY OF A DISTANT PLANET

You're the commander of a space archaeological expedition to a planet that scientists
believe was a world virtually parallel to our own.  Now it's gone.  All gone -- except
for the widely scattered pieces of planetary rock that the archaeologists on board
consider their "treasures."  The information contained in those cosmic chunks could be
vital for earth's survival.

Your mission is urgent.  Collect the "treasures," process their valuable information
with your on-board computer, and send that data back to earth.  This crystal-powered
computer (code named "Collect Bonus") can decipher the molecular structure of the
rocks as easily as you can read a history book.

However, your task won't be that easy.  There are powerful cosmic enemies who are
quite determined that you never get back alive -- Deathsquares, Guards, Enforcers,
Thieves, Executioners, Spore Cases, and those hard-to-kill Pikers.  Psychic scientists
speculate that these enemies are the negative forces that eventually annihilated the
planet.  Now they are poltergeists -- evil ghosts trapped in a "space dungeon" that both
imprisons them in their own rage while storing the planet's secret treasures in multi-
tiered antechambers.

Be careful!  Here comes one of those multi-shielded, snowflake-shaped Pikers now.
Quick!  Shoot for the heart.  Don't collide with it, or else -- poof!  Just like that --
you're astral dust!

2.  GAME PLAY

As the Commander of the expedition, your goal is to score as many points as possible
by collecting the treasures of the planet and by destroying the enemies who get in your
way.

The space of the destroyed planet is divided into a series of antechambers, or
connecting rooms -- the "space dungeon" -- through which you travel on your search
for these treasures.  Some rooms are filled with treasure, some with enemies, some
with both, and some with nothing but space itself.

You guide your ship through the doorways of each room, looking for treasure and
destroying enemies with your laser cannon.  You pick up treasure by flying directly
over it.  As you do, a distinct sound will signal you that the treasure has been
automatically scooped up into your Treasure Box.

[Picture of the screen with pointers to:
Lives Remaining (below Depth Level, upper left),
Depth Level (Upper left),
Treasure Box (below Lives Remaining),
Doorway (around the edge of the "room"),
Map (Top center of the screen),
Piker (in room),
Doorway (around the edge of the "room"),
Signpost to Collect Bonus Room (right side of the screen),
Treasure (in room),
Executioner (in room),
Deadly Spore (in room),
Spaceship (looks just like your life meter - in room)
Figure 1 -- An Opening Game Situation:  The First Room]

TREASURE BOX

Your accumulated treasure are deposited in the red treasure box until you cash in their
point value by entering the three-dimensional cube of the "Collect Bonus" room.

"COLLECT BONUS" ROOM

Each level has only one "Collect Bonus" room.  The most direct route to the "Collect
Bonus" room is indicated by a signpost at the side of each room.  When you enter the
"Collect Bonus" cube (Figure 2), the point value of your treasure is counted and you
pass through a dimensional space warp and plunge into the next (and more difficult)
Depth Level.

Figure 2:  A picture of a room with the words "Collect Bonus" in a rectangle in the
lower right part of the room.

THE MAP

Your progress throughout the rooms is displayed on the bird's-eye-view map at the top
of your screen (Figure 3).  This overhead map depicts:

Outlined square (Black outline, white middle) - Your ship's present location
Filled square (Green) - The location of the "Collect Bonus" room
White square with a black X through it - The room in which you lost your treasure
during your last turn
Black square with a "funky" green X through it - The position of the Thief -- a slippery
character who burglarizes the treasures of Depth Levels 2 and beyond, before you can
get to them.

All the rooms you have visited thus far, and whether they are:

Filled Square (Red) - Rooms still containing live enemies when you exited, or
Outlined Square (Red) - Rooms "cleared" of enemies.

Figure 3
Shows all the items described above (you should see it!)
Figure 3 -- The Map

For every 10,000 points you score, you earn a bonus ship.  Completing a level and
then entering the "Collect Bonus" cube awards you 10,000 points and a new ship.  To
complete a level, you need to visit every room; you don't have to collect all the
possible treasures or destroy all the enemies.

You can never really eliminate all the enemies anyway.  A room once cleared of
enemies may surprise you when you pass through it a second or third time.  These
enemies can regenerate themselves spontaneously.  Like evil ghosts elsewhere, they can
pop into any room at any time -- even those that you had once "cleared!"

3.  USING THE 5200 CONTROLLERS

You must you two 5200 controllers simultaneously with SPACE DUNGEON -- one to
guide your ship through space, and one to operate your laser cannon.  Plug the
controllers into jacks 1 and 2 on your console.  The controller plugged into jack 1
controls all keypad button commands and starts the game.

CONTROLLER HOLDER

Packaged with your Space Dungeon cartridge is a Controller Holder to make it easier
for you to operate both joysticks simultaneously.  See the enclosed supplement for
details on it's usage.

PLAYER SELECTION

Moments after you turn the power on, a selection menu will display your game options.
With the controller plugged into jack 1, press button 1 on your keypad for a one-player
game.  Press Button 2 for a two-player game in which you take turns after one player
loses a ship.  Press button 3 for a computer demonstration game.

CONTROLLER ACTION

The joystick of controller 1 guides your spaceship through the antechambers of space.
Move it in the direction you want to go.  Your ship will travel at a constant speed,
slightly faster than the quickest enemy.

The joystick of controller 2 operates your laser cannon.  Point it in the direction you
want to fire.  The joystick will fire a continuous volley in any one of eight directions.

START, PAUSE, and RESET

Press START to begin the game when the selection menu is displayed.  Press PAUSE
to suspend a turn in progress or to freeze the action.  Press PAUSE a second time (or
press any other key on the keypad) to continue game play.  Press RESET to return to
the selection menu to start a new game.  If you hit RESET by accident, press button 4
on your keyboard to resume the game in progress.

4.  SCORING

Your score points for each enemy you destroy and for every piece of treasure you bring
into the "Collect Bonus" cube.  As you move from room-to-room to pick up treasure,
each piece is temporarily stored in the red treasure box at the top of the screen.  You
do not cash in on their point value until you enter the "Collect Bonus" cube.

If you collide with an enemy, or if a bomb destroys your ship before you can reach the
"Collect Bonus" cube, all your treasure will be transferred from the red treasure box to
the room where your ship was destroyed.  This room will be designated on the
overhead map by a white square marked with an "X" (Figure 3)

[Picture of the white X square]  This white square will remain visible only during your
next turn.  If you collect any treasure during your next turn, that white square will
disappear and will be replaced by another white square to designate the new room
where your ship was last lost.  Your treasure will remain in the rooms in which it was
deposited until you either cash it in for its point value and move on to another Depth
Level, or until you start another game.

Each Depth Level has a maximum degree of difficulty.  The longer you cruise your
ship at any particular level, the closer you get to that level's maximum difficulty.  The
more valuable treasures can only be found on the more difficult Depth Levels.
Likewise, more powerful enemies (like the Spore Cases who release three deadly
spores simultaneously!) appear only at these more difficult Depth Levels.

Points:
Iron Cross - 500
Copper Piece - 1000
Silver Star - 2000
Golden Fleece - 4000
Platinum Ark - 8000
[Figure 5 -- the treasures]
Piker (ship) - 100
Piker (shield) - 10
Corner Zapper - 25
Deathsquare - 25
Thief - 50
Guard - 125
Executioner - 125
Enforcer - 250
Spore Case - 500
[Figure 6 - the Enemies]

BONUS SHIP

You get a bonus ship and a musical salute for every 10,000 points you score.  You earn
a special bonus of 10,000 points for visiting all the rooms on any one level.

5.  STRATEGIES AND HELPFUL HINTS

There are a variety of strategies you can use -- some active, some passive.  You can
aggressively scour through space, fighting off enemies as you store treasure in the
Treasure Box.  Or you can isolate yourself in one of the rooms and blast to
smithereens, all those enemies who dare approach.

You can cash in the collected treasure without completing the entire level.  Or you can
try to visit all the rooms, collecting as much treasure as possible before you decide to
cash in your treasure for points.  Of course, you can use any combination of these
strategies, as the circumstances of the moment dictate.

SOME HELPFUL HINTS

-- In the beginning, try moving your ship around the rooms without shooting to get
familiar with the maneuverability of the ship and its speed in relation to the enemies.
-- Familiarize yourself with the eight different directions in which your ship can go and
where your laser cannon can fire.  This will help you from backing yourself in a corner
or trying to shoot an enemy along an angle that will not touch it.
-- When you exit a room, the doorway you pass through will "glow" for a few seconds.
This indicates that the doorway has become temporarily impenetrable, preventing you
from immediately passing back through it.
-- You can seal off portions of the wall by exiting a room, then returning to that room
through a different doorway, while the doorway you exited is still "glowing".
-- You never know what you'll see in the next room, but you can be sure that if it
moves, it won't be friendly.  SPACE DUNGEON, therefore, is one game where the
"Shoot first and ask question later!" tradition of the Old West will sever you well.  It is
best to have your laser cannon firing in front of you as you enter a room; it will help
clear a path for your ship as you navigate through the rooms.  Laser fire will not
penetrate nearby rooms.
-- Although the Corner Zappers always fire at random intervals, there is a detectable
patter in any one shooting session.  Sense the rhythm of the Corner Zappers and watch
that you don't cruise right into the middle of their line of fire.  If one Corner Zapper is
left alive when you exit a room, the other three will spontaneously regenerate
themselves to greet you if you decide to return.
-- You can't kill a Thief.  When you shoot him, he will drop any treasure that he might
be carrying.  He will also leave behind Guards who will try to prevent you from
picking up the treasure he dropped when you caught him red-handed.
-- For an interesting variation in game play, try playing SPACE DUNGEON with one
person guiding the spaceship while another is operating the laser cannon.

END