Introduction

In the year 2048, scientists detect giant space-dwelling creatures dubbed 'Star Dragons' which they observe stripping entire planets of all resources, and a swarm appears to be headed towards Earth.

The Governments of Earth cooperate on a defensive measure of unprecedented scale. They produce a huge battle space station, armed to the teeth and equipped with powerful space fighters.

The swarm descends on the Earth's solar system while construction of the battle station "Camelot" is yet to be completed, with only one operational prototype fighter on board. You have been selected to be its pilot.

Fight well. Earth depends on it.

Gameplay

Destroy all dragons to save the Earth. Each dragon is composed of multiple segments, but only the destruction of the head will destroy the dragon. Avoid bullets. Only the white cockpit of the player ship is vulnerable to enemy fire.

Many of the dragons takes the form of a head with two tails projecting out to either side. Destroying one of those tails should make the destruction of the head easier.

Some of the dragons have a single tail that follows their head around. Beware the sting in its tail!

Warning: A dragon with more than one head has been sighted. Nothing is known about this form, so you will need to determine how this is destroyed should you encounter it.

Energy Attacks

The dragons use various forms of energy attach to destroy any resistance they find. The following types have been observed:

1. Plasma Pulses:
   The primary attack used by the dragons appears to be balls of plasma fired in waves or streams. Don't let them touch your cockpit!
2. Dark Matter Rings:
   Some dragons have been recorded firing small rings of dark matter that collapse on proximity to a target, generating many balls of plasma dispersed over a wide arc in the process. The rings appear unstable and so it may be possible to trigger them prematurely.

Warning: There may be other attacks at their disposal; you will have to analyse these as they appear.

Game Menu Options

The following game settings can be changed:

1. Lives
   Select from 01 to 09 lives to have available during the game to adjust the difficulty. Default setting is 03.
2. Fire Mode
   Choose from Standard (hold fire to shoot), or Inverted (player autofires, only stopping if fire button is held). Default setting is Standard.

Game Controls

O - Left, P - Right, Q - Up, A - Down, SPACE - Fire

You may use the cursor keys or Multiplay Port 1 (if a Multiplay card is present).

You may use a joystick if you wish. Note that joystick is selected by default.

Scoring

Score is awarded for landing shots on a dragon, and destroying segments. When destroying multiple segments of dragon, the score is multiplied by the number of segments destroyed simultaneously.

A score bonus is awarded if a dragon is destroyed before the timer expires. In addition, a score multiplier is present and applied to all of the above scoring. It is increased by shooting dragons, grazing enemy fire, and destroying multiple segments of a dragon simultaneously.

The loss of a life by the player will have this score multiplier.

Loading

On tape:
|TAPE (ENTER)
CTRL-ENTER (ENTER)

On disc:
RUN"DISC.BAS (ENTER)

The version loaded by running "Disc" is exactly as the tape version, including the intro.

Because the intro was designed for the tape loading times, there is also a version, you can run called "Disc-ni" which will load faster with a single file but without the intro.

Game Credits

Code: Paul Kooistra
Graphics: Harris Kladis
Music/SFX: Herve Monchatre