Phaeton

A game of skill and logic for the ZX Spectrum

The Story

Scientific discoveries and technological progress never made people more moral.

In the 24th century humanity faced the same threats of crime and war as ever. They were just more serious as new technologies enabled more efficient mass destruction.

A powerful terrorist organisation managed to create highly radioactive isotopes of heavy elements, never synthetized before. Turning them into weapons could mean only one thing: total annihilation. A nuclear blackmail became real.

The isotopes were placed in abandoned spacebases, caves and old ruins, guarded by unmanned drone ships. All the radio contact to the area had been cut off, so any remotely controlled aircraft couldn't intrude the terrorist hideout. On the other hand, any human that would enter the area, would almost instantly die due to high radioactivity levels.

When all seemed lost, a secret counterplot was revealed. It involed a human pilot entering the death zone in an experimental aircraft and stealing the isotopes from terrorists. The aircraft name is PHAETON.

The mythical Phaeton was son of Helios, god of Sun, who rode a fiery chariot in the skies. Just like Phaeton was born of Helios, your ship was born of studies of helium, the most stable element in the universe. Just like the atom of helium has two electrons, spinning aroung the nucleus, your ship has two satellites spinning around central unit.

They create a protective field to separate the human pilot from deadly radioactivity.

You have been selected for the mission of retrieving the isotopes. Good luck, you will need it.

Gameplay

At each level you need to collect 9 boxes with radioactive content. The boxes can be collected only by your ship, and not by satellites.

There are also automatic gates, controlled by switches. To open a gate, you'll need to find the proper switch and touch it with your ship.

Your satellites are sturdy and can stand some damage which happens when they crash into enemies or scenery. Their energy, shown in the game menu on the right will decrease then. When it reaches zero, you'll lose a life.

Your ship is much more fragile. Any contact with scenery or enemy means instant death.

When you lose a life, you'll begin from the start of current level, but all the boxes you collected and all the gates you opened will be remembered, so you won't need to deal with them again.

Navigating through the maze isn't an easy job. There are many narrow passages which require skillful maneuvering. You will need to adjust your movement to the position and rotation of your satellites.

You can change the direction of satellites rotation with FIRE key. You will often need it to go through some obstacles. But remember that the number of such changes is limited and shown in the menu.

You will get one extra change for each box collected. When you made a direction change, some shot time must pass, before you will be able to make another change.

On easy difficulty level you have unlimited number of changes.

Tips

1. Entering a new screen with a proper satelites position is often a key to success, especially in case of screens with propellers. You may need to go out of the screen, adjust your position and go back.
2. There are many ways to go around the obstacles. Make your decisions wisely. You may need to choose between getting some damage on satellites or using up a rotation change.
3. If you find it too hard, use pokes and have fun ;)

Game Controls

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

You may use either a Kempston or Sinclair joystick if you prefer.

Game Credits

Idea, coding and graphics: Rafal Miazga
Music: Mister Beep
Music engine: Shiru