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- <HTML>
- <DIV align="center"><h1>
- <img src="images/4D.gif" alt="4D logo" align="left">
- <img src="images/Title.gif" alt="Drop Ship">
- <img src="images/4D.gif" alt="4D logo" align="right"></h1>
- <img src="images/Main.gif" alt="Screenshot"> <img src="images/shop.gif" alt="Screenshot">
- </DIV>
- <br> <br>
- <h4>Copyright</h4>
- <p><b><i>
- This program is Copyright © Fourth Dimension</i></b><br>
- Fourth Dimension is a Trade Mark of APDL.</p>
- <p><font size="+1"><b>
- A.P.D.L.<br>
- 39 Knighton Park Road<br>
- Sydenham<br>
- London<br>
- SE26 5RN<br>
- </b></font>
- <a href="http://www.apdl.co.uk">www.apdl.co.uk</a>
-
- <br> <br>
-
- <H1>Drop Ship - The Game</H1>
-
- The year is 2020.... The government proudly announces that the
- new fast breeder farm on the Mars colony is completely computer
- managed and totally safe; defended from attack at all times by a
- fully automated tactical defence system.
- <p>
- The year is 2030....Earth receives a transmission from the Mars
- colony. The radiation seems to have affected the management
- software at the fast breeder farm. The defence systems have
- gone haywire and the whole farm is rapidly approaching
- meltdown. If all the reactors are not shut down the Mars colony
- will be wiped out...
- <p>
- Shut down can only be achieved by removing and collecting the
- power crystals from each reactor. An almost impossible task
- made even harder by the fact that the defence systems are
- blowing away anything that moves.
- <p>
- What is needed is a craft which is supremely manoeuvrable,
- capable of great speed and possessing awesome firepower, and
- a pilot of extraordinary bravery to fly it.
- <p>
- The craft is the Drop Ship.....<br>
- The pilot is You.....
-
- <H1>Game Objective</H1>
-
- You start the game with 5 ships and the objective is to
- complete all of the 15 stages.
- <p>
- To achieve this you must collect the required number of
- crystals on each stage. A crystal is released each time a crystal
- base is destroyed. It is recommended that you also destroy as
- many other objects as you can because this not only increases
- your score, but also allows you to collect more valuable credits.
- Once you've collected enough crystals an exit will appear
- somewhere on the stage. Enter the exit and the stage is
- complete.
- <p>
- All this must be done before the time Emit for the stage runs out
- or it will automatically mean game over. An audible warning
- will be given when your time left is getting low.
- In addition you should also avoid running out of fuel; otherwise
- your ship will drop and crash. To get more fuel you should
- shoot the fuel canisters.
- <p>
- Your amount of fuel is shown by the green bar on the bottom
- of the panel. It flashes white when it is getting very low.
-
- <H1>Game Controls</H1>
-
- Firstly I recommend STRONGLY that you set the contrast on
- your monitor to maximum and the brightness to quite low. This
- shows the game graphics the way they should be seen.
- The Drop Ship can be controlled by keyboard, mouse or joystick,
- though keyboard control is recommended.
- <p>
- Keyboard controls are fully redefinable and you can also
- change the buttons for thrusting, firing and bombing on the
- mouse.
- <p>
- The default keyboard setup is as follows:<br>
- Z - Rotate ship left<br>
- X - Rotate ship right<br>
- SHIFT - Thrust<br>
- RETURN - Fire<br>
- SPACE - Bomb<br>
- <p>
- The buttons on the mouse or joystick are set up as thrust, fire,
- bomb from left to right.<br>
- F1 - Audio On<br>
- F2 - Audio Off<br>
- F3 - Speaker On<br>
- F4 - Speaker Off<br>
- <p>
- P - Pauses the game and the selected Fire key restarts<br>
- Escape - Aborts the game if pressed while the game is paused<br>
- <p>
- D - Starts a game demo when on main menu screen<br>
-
- <H1>Shopping</H1>
-
- Sometimes, when you shoot an object in the game, a spinning
- credit will be released. You should collect as many of these as
- possible because they allow you to buy upgrades for your ship
- at shops between stages. Press 4 on the main menu screen for
- information on the many upgrades available.
-
- <H1>Passwords</H1>
-
- When you have completed the first 3 stages you will be given
- a password at the beginning of stage D. This password win
- allow you to start from stage D in the future. Passwords will
- also be given when you complete stages F, I and L.
- A certain number of credits are given to you when you use a
- password and you are immediately taken to a shop. This makes
- it easier to survive when you start the game from a later stage.
-
- <H1>Playing Tips</H1>
-
- <ol>
- <li>Use the keyboard, it's much easier.
-
- <li>Try not to fly too close to gun emplacements. They are very
- accurate at close range but less accurate from a distance.
-
- <li>Nearly everything that moves scores.
- <li>Initially don't try to shoot things in one burst of fire. Take pot
- shots while maintaining control of your ship.
-
- <li>Until you're confident don't chase wildly after credits and
- crystals. Wait for them to come to you.
-
- <li>Use bombs to destroy artificial gravity generators facing
- upwards.
- <li>Turn guns off with switches (if there is one) while getting
- used to the game, but let them appear when you become more
- confident because you get lots of bonus points if you destroy
- them all.
-
- <li>When shooting Sporers fire a few more shots than are
- needed so as to destroy the spore that is released.
-
- <li>If you hear an explosion off screen, then some spores are
- heading your way. If there is enough space, fly one way, wait
- a short while and then fly in the opposite direction. This should
- stop the spores from hitting you as soon as they reach you, thus
- giving you more time to pick them off as they fly past.
-
- <li>Don't let yourself drop too fast or you won't be able to stop
- yourself from crashing into the floor.
-
- <li>Don't let the fast push scroll put you off.
- <li>Wink at the shopkeeper.
- </ol>
- <p>
- <hr width="85%">
- <p>
- Copyright 1990 The Fourth Dimension
- <p>
- <H3>More Game Info</H3>
- <p>
- Frame rate: 50 frames per second<br>
- Maximum objects on screen: 150 per frame<br>
- The game features completely custom-written
- screen handling routines<br>
- No use whatsoever is made of the
- operating system routines<br>
- - The ship movement in the game is accurate
- down to 0.0001 of a pixel
-
-
-