Introduction

This fast arcade game is disc-based only and is made up of a massive 100K of superb graphics and game code. It is a fast sideways-scrolling shoot-'em-up which features eight levels of furious opponents and very varied and very, very detailed graphics.

You fly a spaceship which can attain immense firepower - more lasers, a ram, gun droid and highly destructive missiles which are released from the top and bottom of your ship, then ignite and shoot forwards.

During The First Great Space War of 2100 reserves of titanium, the chief metallic element involved in ship constructions, began to run out throughout the known universe. It was discovered by an alien race that the human colonised planet called Nevryon had large reserves of titanium ores. They sent a fleet of alien vessels to take over this planet. They brought a large base in the form of a mobile asteroid and a huge alien beast came to oversee the action, as well as a giant battle cruiser. After much resistance, alien bases were set up on Nevryon by the aliens.

You are the people of Nevryon's last chance. You must destroy the alien bases on the surface and caves of Nevryon and the asteroid, plus destroy from within both the alien beast and the battle cruiser. The aliens will attack you in every type of vessel they possess. And land-based defences will become ever more prevalent and sophisticated such as lasers, missile launchers, force field generators and fire launchers.

A 100K game which is a 100 carat experience!!

Game Objective

Basically, the object is to fly your Cavern Fighter over and through various types of terrain, shooting alien vessels in formations and larger weapon structures on the ground, roof and in the air. At the same time, extra weapons like increased firepower become available and bonus pods appear on the screen to be picked up.

When the end of each level is reached, there is quite a large alien fortress to be destroyed. This is initially quite easy but gets progressively harder when more different alien weapons are present.

There are eight levels in the game which fit into four scenarios:

1. The Giant Battle Cruiser
2. The Asteroid Base
3. The Planet Surface/Caves
4. The Alien Beast

There are two levels for each, the second being harder than the first.

Title Screen

After initial loading, you are presented with the title screen. Press the Spacebar and this will move up and present you with several options. These can be altered by pressing the relevant function keys:

f0 ... Skill level. This flips between five skill levels. These alter the number of power cells each of your ships is equipped with and your scoring rate.

1. Timid ... Each ship has six power cells 2. Rookie ... Each ship has five power cells (score*2) 3. Amateur ... Each ship has four power cells (score*3) 4. Pro ... Each ship has three power cells (score*4) 5. Ace ... Each ship has two power cells (score*5)

f1 ... Speed level. Slow, Medium or Fast.

f2 ... Start screen. The game is split into four main scenarios each of which has two levels to complete. To start on level 1, simply press the Spacebar. To start on a different scenario (i.e. on levels 3, 5 or 7) you must enter a password after pressing the Spacebar (See later for more details).

f3 ... Colour/Mono setting

f4 ... Resolution. Low or high. Low resolution is the normal way to play the game. High resolution reduces the size of the playing area dramatically but the graphics are in effect more detailed.

f5/f6 ... Set volume.

When you have chosen the options you require, press the Spacebar and you will be taken to the next screen.

Map & Icon Display Screen

There are five icons at the bottom of the screen with a small pointer above them. Pressing Z or X moves the pointer and RETURN selects an option.

The map above the icons shows the four main scenarios. A pointer shows where you are up to. Initially this will be above scenario 1 - the battle cruiser. On completing both levels of this first scenario the game will return to this screen - the point will have moved to above scenario 2 and a password will be printed over the battle cruiser which will allow you to skip scenario 1 in later games. Similarly, passwords will be printed when you complete scenarios 2 and 3.

Fighters, Energy And Credits

You start your mission with six ships. An extra ship is awarded on completion of each level. For each ship, six units of energy are given. Contact with anything alien depletes your energy and, when it has all gone, you lose a ship. When you lose all your ships (and you have not used a password - see below), you are given a continue play option which allows you to continue from where you left off with your score reset to zero.

This can only be done three times per game, after which time you will have to return to the beginning of the game again (unless you know any passwords, of course!). To continue, press Space firmly within the time limit allowed for you to choose. If you don't you are put back to the start of the game. The number of times you can continue is shown as "Credits" on the Map And Icon Display and Continue Play screens.

Please note: Credits are not given if you have used a password to start at one of the later scenarios. The credits and the passwords are features which allow you to progress further and practise later levels. The only way to truly save the people of Nevryon is to complete all eight levels in one go without using passwords or any of the extra three credits.

The Weapons

When ten aliens are killed a bonus pod will appear a short distance in front of you. The position it appears at is related to the position of the tenth alien you shoot. It is important to bear this in mind as the pod may appear over a land-based structure. This may makes its collection difficulty, costly (in terms of lost energy) or even impossible. When collected (by touching it) extra weapons are given. These occur in a preset order: Rapid Fire, Ram, Gun Droid and Missiles.

Except for Rapid Fire each weapon requires you to collect two bonus pods. Once a weapon is activated you keep it until the end of the level or until you are killed. To destroy the structure at the end of the level it is best to have all the weapons. Your collection of weapons is displayed on the bottom left of the scoreboard beside the word EQUIP.

1. Normal Lasers (Standard Equipment)
   These just fire slowly forwards and inflict one piece of damage on anything hit.
2. Rapid Fire Lasers (1 Bonus Pod)
   Rapid version of the above. A second gun pod opens and the two guns alternate, giving a faster stream of laser bullets.
3. Ram (2 Bonus Pods)
   This fits to the front of the fighter and rotates with it. It is fitted with armour which is capable of crushing alien vessels but cannot deflect alien laser bullets, energy missiles or fire.
4. Gun Droid (2 Bonus Pods)
   A small, indestructible floating gun droid which hovers near to your fighter and will home-in whe it gets too far away from it or if Space is pressed by yourself to attract it. It possesses a fairly rapid forward-firing laser which fires automatically when your fighter does. The droid spins to enable it to float freely and due to its shielding it cannot be destroyed.
5. Missiles (2 Bonus Pods)
   Twin forward-firing missiles which are released from pods on the top and bottom of your fighter. They float out from the fighter, then ignite and shoot forwards. They are highly destructive and four times more powerful than laser bullets. If you are too near the top or bottom landscape they will not fire in case the explosion damages your fighter's hull.

Alien Vessels

These come on from the right of the screen in a pre-set sequence of formations or just home in on you. To destroy them they must be hit twice with laser bullets, once with a ram or once with a missile. Every tenth destroyed alien releases a bonus pod.

Land-based Defences

Most background objects are harmless (unless you run into them - see below) but a few are weapons:

1. Guns
   These fire directly forward at you
2. Missile Launchers
   These fire small round energy missiles at you
3. Force Field Generators
   These cause a forcefield to appear between them. To get past unharmed you must shoot one of the generators at the top or the bottom and fly around the field
4. Fire Launchers
   These blow fire at you

These and other structures also cause damage (i.e. loss of power cells) if you run into them. It is possible to fly through (the faster the better!) any solid structures. However, this drains your energy reserves dramatically and may destroy you. When playing on the highest skill level "Ace" contact with almost any solid structure will ultimately (if not immediately) kill you. Generally, pieces of structure take 6 to 8 laser bullets or two missiles to destroy. The ram has no effect on them.

End Of Level Alien Fortresses

At the end of each level there is a large fortress which must be destroyed piece by piece, so missiles are very handy. The fortresses in the early levels are quite easy to destroy but become progressively harder when more different alien weapons are present. Once a fortress is destroyed an ever-increasing bonus will be awarded and you will also be given an extra fighter (maximum of 6). The next level will then be loaded.

Game Controls

Z - Left, X - Right, * - Up, ? - Down, RETURN - Fire (Hold down for constant fire)

A joystick may also be used.

SPACE - Causes your gun droid to come back to your fighter
P/O - Pause/Restart, ESCAPE - Quit Game

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Hold down SHIFT and tap the BREAK key.