LSD Docs/LSD Docs.iso/FILEZ/lsdspr16.dms/lsdspr16.adf/TerPod.Scenario.pp/TerPod.Scenario

Text File | 1978-01-09 | 19KB | 433 lines

TERRORPODS

"Some missions have suicide written all over them.

And this was one.

Again I ask myself   'what the hell am I doing on Colian?!

Stuck out on the edge of System 7. Colian has never been the most
hospitable place in the Universe   the only thing this asteroid
has going for it is the fact that it is very very rich in mineral
deposits, the kind of deposits that people will kill for.
Detonite, a powerful explosive. Quanza, and energy giving crystal
capable of regenerating molecular structures. Zenite, a metallic
ore capable of storing immensely powerful magnetic fields and
Aluma, the hardest metal known to man, almost indestructible and
ideal for the construction of the weapons of war.

With stuff like this lying around trouble is never far away.

Over the years a sophisticated mining operation had grown on
Colian. Ten separate mining colonies, each with its mines, dumps,
stores and resource centers inter linked by a complicated system
of shuttles to transport the minerals throughout the network.

Mines extract   Resource Centers distribute   Manufacturing
centers build components   they all have a function, they all have
a purpose and they all depend on the shuttles.

Everything was going fine   new wealth being extracted daily. The
military arrived to make weapons from the precious Aluma at the
manufacturing centers. A track was constructed across the main
crater to carry defence and surveillance vehicles to protect these
valuable assets. Colian was running like clockwork.

Then it happened.

It literally dropped out of the sky to bring panic and fear to
everyone on Colian   an Empire Mother Ship   the enemy personified
  the most awesome invention of destruction ever imagined was in
stationary orbit around the most valuable asteroid in the
Universe. Things were bound to happen and they did.

Pinpoint missile attacks took out the defense systems, the
population cowered in fear as they waited for the final
destruction......it didn't come!

The Empire had other plans   deadly plans.

Operators were enslaved but otherwise left unharmed, installations
standing. Instead of destruction, occupation was their goal.
Occupation in order to manufacture the most deadly of weapons
fearsome Terrorpod fighting machines. Machines the Empire needed
for its program of planetary conquest. The purpose of the
Mother
Ship became clear   the Empire would only make components
in the
crater, final assembly would take place off the planet surface.

This was a chance the Federation could not miss, an opportunity to
discover the secrets of Terrorpod manufacture, if only we could
obtain the Terrorpod components.

And guess who was sent to get them? Yep, yours truly.

I arrived undercover with a fully functioning Defence Strategy
Vehicle (D.S.V.), a small trading drover and an incomplete map of
the main crater. Before the Empire took control the military
defence units only had time to transmit a section of map detailing
one of the colonies   this was a good place to land.

For the first few months I kept a low profile, trading with the
frightened operators, my initial goal to build up an arsenal of
mineral resources.

Then things started to go wrong, badly wrong. The Mother Ship had
learned of my existence   there was an immediate change of
strategy   they were determined to destroy the manufacturing base
and the secrets it holds   their next priority target will be me!

Things are now moving swiftly   The Empire has sent down
Terrorpods and Spoilers to blast and drain the installations of
their mineral wealth. The Mother Ship seems to have a fix on me
I'm out in the open   all around me mines, dumps, resource centers
and manufacturing units are being destroyed   I'm being starved of
the energy I need!

I must protect them, they alone can provide the resources I need.
I have to have somebody to trade with! I can defend them from
attack using phasers   blasting Terrorpods and Spoilers will only
buy me time   they will return.

Dare I risk loading a missile and taking out a Terrorpod for good?
Have I got enough Detonite to prime a missile?
Can I get a clean shot?
Will I destroy the installation if I miss?
Should I instruct the installation to explode on contact with a
Terrorpod?

All these thoughts flash through my mind in a split second. If
only the Mother Ship would stop the barrage of missiles. To make
matters worse it was now using homing missiles to take out the
shuttles. I have Zenite powered shields to protect me. The
installations are at the mercy of the Terrorpods.

Down goes another Aluma mine. That was the one I needed. One more
mining cycle and visit from the shuttle and the Terrorpod
component would be complete and ready for collection. Have I
enough Aluma to trade for it? What an opportunity!
Got it   now for the next component   but where? These colonies
are
difficult enough to locate with a complete map let alone this
scrap of paper.

Now it's me against them   'suicide missions' are getting to be my
specialty. As if my situation isn't desperate enough, they now
tell me that even if I do succeed there will be a massive
counterªattack form the Empire. Who do they think I am...Flash
Gordon!!

But the Federation knows I'm a survivor   the best survivor in the
Universe   and now they are making me prove it.

I'll show them, but.......

Can I complete the mission?

Can I survive the chaos of destruction?

I must master the Terrorpod construction technique   I must
collect ALL the components of the Terrorpod fighting machine.

Only one thing to do now......LET'S GO FOR IT!!"

CONTROLLING THE D.S.V.

The control functions of the D.S.V.  are as follows:

CURSOR KEYS   Movement left, right, forward and backward.
                    (Joystick corresponds to these)
SPACE BAR     Activates shields when held down or lock on to
                    target during missile launch sequence.
'E'           Loads DETONITE into a missile warhead.
'A'                 Commence missile launch sequence.
'D'                 Dispatches the surface drover.
'T'                 Commence trading operations whilst the drover is
                    in contact with an installation.
'M'                 Toggle high altitude mapping systems.
'R'                 Non target specific radio broadcast.
'S'                 Commodity status display.
'W & Return   Switch between weapon and information systems.
'N'                 Turn off Cabin background noise.
'F1' 'F10'    Warp movement to the selected sector.
'HELP'      Access the load, save and game management functions.

The mouse moves the sights. The interpretation of the mouse
buttons depend on whether the information system or weapon system
is selected, this is explained in detail below. In either mode
when the sights touch the left or right hand of the screen the
D.S.V. will start to accelerate in the corresponding direction.

SHIELDS
To activate the shields hold the space bar down, whilst active
they surround the D.S.V. with a semi opaque protective field. This
field will divert any incoming missiles and Terrorpod blasts. It
should be remembered that shields use vast quantities of ZENITE
and that they only need to be active when the missile strikes.

WARP MOVEMENT
By pressing F1 to F10 you will transport immediately to the
processing heart of each of the ten colonies. This technique uses
considerable quantities of fuel and you should check your fuel
level before attempting this operation.

MAPPING SYSTEMS
Mapping can be selected by pressing 'M'. The normal screen display
will transform into a high altitude scanner allowing you to view a
wide section of the crater around your position. Every activity
continues as normal but many of the D.S.V. functions are
inoperable in this mode (Shields, Weapons, Warp, etc... will not
work). However, this allows you to move more quickly about the
crater and the extended field of vision will enable you to
pinpoint Terrorpod activity and map your surroundings. This
mapping facility cannot be used when the Drover is active.

WEAPON/INFORMATION SYSTEMS
You may switch between weapon systems and information systems by
pressing 'W' or RETURN. The sights cursor will change
accordingly.
INFORMATION SYSTEMS

These enable you to both collect and distribute information. the
left hand mouse button will interrogate the object under the
cursor and report its identity, colony identity and purpose.

The right hand mouse button will activate the Radio Transmitter.
This allows you to send coded messages to the object you are
pointing at. (Object Specific) For non object specific broadcasts
the Radio Transmitter can be activated by pressing 'R'. Be careful
which messages you transmit and when you send them as they all
have limits as to haw many times they can be used. The list of
valid radio transmission codes is as follows:

'INDE'**    Installation indestructible.
'EFRS'      Emergency Fuel Rod Supply.
'RACO'**    Re activate current object.
'DMTO'**    Defensively mine the object.
'EDES'      Emergency DETONITE supply.
'EZES'      Emergency ZENITE supply.
'EQUS'      Emergency QUAZA supply.
  (** Object specific)

WEAPON SYSTEMS

PHASER SYSTEMS
Activated by the left hand mouse button. The phasers appear as a
pair of fast moving blasts of energy from the top corners of the
video screen accompanied by the shrill screech of the launch
systems. These are DETONITE driven and will destroy anything they
hit.

ENERGY BEAM
Appears as a flickering beam on the screen stretching from the top
of the D.S.V. to the sight position. It is activated by the right
hand mouse button. The beam can be used to rebuild installations
which have been blasted by the Terrorpods or by your stray phaser
fire. It operates by pumping QUAZA crystals into the object to
facilitate regeneration. The amount of QUAZA required is dependent
on the type of object you are trying to regenerate.

MISSILE SYSTEMS
Prior to launching you must ensure that primed missiles are
available. Do this by checking the missile counter status display.
If it is zero or blank you will need to prime a missile before you
can enter the launch sequence. To do this press 'E'. This removes
Detonite from your store and loads it into a warhead.
 ^

MISSILE LAUNCH
1.  Commence the launch sequence by pressing 'A'.
2.  The launch control screen will scroll in view followed by the
    sighting window in which horizontal and vertical sighting
    markers will appear.
3.  The upper sighting counter will start to count down. If you
    launch by mistake, just leave the sighting operation alone.
    When the counter reaches zero and the launch will abort.
4.  Before the sighting counter reaches zero, select a target by
    scrolling  the sighting window with the cursor keys or
    joystick until you have a clear view of your target and it is
    centered in the sighting markers.
5.  Press the space bar or joystick fire button to lock the sights
    on target and launch.
6.  The lower guidance counter will now start to count down and
    the horizontal and vertical drift indicators will appear in
    the sighting window.
7.  To keep the missile on course you must try to hold the drift
    indicators inside the sighting markers. You do this by using
    the cursor control keys or the joystick.

If you manage to keep the drift indicators inside the sighting
markers the missile will detonate and destroy the target. If you
have drifted off course the missile will self destruct.

TRADING
Trading represents the strategic element of the mission. The
purpose is to exchange commodities with other installation,
enabling both you and the installation to achieve the commodity
levels required to survive and ultimately complete your mission.
The colonies cannot complete their process without your
interaction and provisions.

TECHNIQUE
To trade with an installation you use the surface drover. The
drover is a small self contained tracked vehicle. It does not use
fuel as it moves about the crater, a useful technique for
scavenging. The instruction listed below cover the despatch,
docking and trading procedure:

1.   Despatch your surface drover by pressing 'D'. The drover will
     appear on the surface of the crater.
2.   Steer the drover to the installation you wish to trade with
     by use of the cursor keys or joystick.
3.   A message will report when you have made contact with the
     installation.
4.   Pressing 'T' will start the trading sequence. You will be
     presented with one of three options.


1.      The normal trading screen with two lists of
        commodities to be exchanged. With this option you can
        trade with the installation as detailed in 5 below.
2.      A status screen because the object you have
        contacted does not have trading facilities. j  3.  A
        component read screen when a Terrorpod component is
        available and the installation has checked to see that
        you have enough commodities to trade for it. All
        manufacturing installations have a constant supply of
        fuel. You must confirm or abort the exchange.
5.      Your commodities are shown on the left hand side and those
        of the installation you have made contact with are on the
        right. Each line contains the name, unit value and quantity
        of each commodity.
6.      Each commodity has a unit value, colonies will regard each
        commodity differently. For example, Colony 'A' may regard
        DETONITE as important and rare and therefore value it very
        highly i.e. a unit value of 8. However, when moving along to
        Colony 'B' there may be a surplus of DETONITE production
        facilities and therefore it will only warrant a value of 2.

Let us look at two examples of trading using the following unit
and quantity model. Say you wish to acquire ZENITE and you have a
surplus of FUEL.

OPENING POSITION   DETONITE        ZENITE          FUEL
                            U.Val   Qty     U.Val   Qty     U.Val
Qty
YOU...............  1      500       1     500      1      500
COLONY 'A' ......   8      500       2     500      4      500
COLONY 'B' ......   2      500       4     500      8      500

Example 1 (a good trading sequence)
STEP 1 Go to colony B and trade 10 units of Fuel for Detonite.
POSITION AFTER     DETONITE        ZENITE          FUEL
TRADE               U.Val   Qty     U.Val    Qty    U.Val   Qty
YOU...............  1      540      1       500     1      490
COLONY 'A' .......  8      500      2       500     4      500
COLONY 'B' .......  2      460      4       500     8      510

STEP 2 Go to colony A and trade the newly acquired 40 units of
       Detonite from colony B for Zenite.
POSITION AFTER      DETONITE        ZENITE         FUEL
TRADE               U.Val   Qty     U.Val    Qty   U.Val   Qty
YOU...............  1      500      1       660     1      490
COLONY 'A' .......  8      540      2       340     4      500
COLONY 'B' .......  2      460      4       500     8      510
This has resulted in the acquisition of 160 units of ZENITE for 10
units of FUEL.

Example 2 (opening position as above)

STEP 1 Go to colony A and trade 10 units of FUEL for ZENITE.
TRADE               U.Val   Qty     U.Val    Qty    U.Val   Qty
YOU...............  1      500      1       520     1      490
COLONY 'A' .......  8      500      2       480     4      510
This has resulted in the acquisition of 20 units of ZENITE for 10
units of FUEL.
 j Study the above examples carefully and make sure you are aware of
how the advantage was gained. This difference in commodity ratings
can be used to great advantage as each colony has a unique
commodity profile which should be studied carefully.


7.   To trade commodities select one line from each list by
pointing with the mouse and clicking the left button. When
you have selected the commodities you may increase the
quantities to be traded by pressing the '>' rectangle and
decreased by pressing on the '<'. You may change your
selection at any time and all quantities will be zeroed ready
for re calculation.

8.   When you have completed your selection click on 'CONFIRM' and
your drover will return to you with your new cargo having
deposited your traded commodity with the target installation.

9.   You may abort the operation at any time by clicking on the
'ABORT' rectangle.

10.  You may recall the drover whenever no trading is taking place
by pressing 'D'.

STATUS CHECK
To activate the status display press 'S'. The trading window will
scroll into view and you will be shown your commodity levels.

POINTS SCORING
Your success is measured in different ways each being interpreted
on a points scoring system as follows:

For each installation left standing             50 points
For each incoming missile shot down             100 points
For each Terrorpod hit with a phaser            100 points
For each intelligence coup                              unknown
For success in the end game                             5000 points
For each Tripod destroyed by missile            1000 points
For each Spoiler hit with a phaser                      30 points
For your residual 'ALUMA'                               50 points/unit

HELP SCREEN/PAUSE GAME

Accessed by pressing the 'HELP' key. This covers all game
management facilities. Whilst in this mode the game and its timers
are paused.

SAVE GAME               Saves the game on to the resident TERRORPODS
disk
LOAD GAME               Load the saved game
SHOW KEYMAP     Displays a list of the keys and their usage
SET DIFFICULTY Set the difficulty level. (1  easy 6  impossible)
               You cannot reduce the difficulty level once it has
               been set.
RE INITIALIZE   Loads an initialized game from disk and restart
RESUME GAME     Go back to TERRORPODS


 j SCREEN DISPLAY

The screen displays a number of useful readouts. These will be
updated every 2 seconds.

(See Terror.pic)

A.   Fuel and Detonite levels. The upper reading is Fuel and the
lower reading is Detonite.

B.   Damage indicators. Each one will turn red as you sustain a
direct hit from a missile or you are blasted by a Terrorpod.
(See Shields. 5 hits and you are destroyed.)

C.   Missile counter status display. This contains the number of
missiles which have been primed ready for launch.

D.   Points scored to date.

E.   X position in world co ordinates.

F.   Z position in world co ordinates. You are limited to 8000
units forward into the crater. At 8000 units a low level
defence barrier is operative impeding any further progress.

G.   Intelligence panel. These are important but you will have to
determine their function for yourself.