SOLE DEFENDER - Instructions - 6/5/92 NOTE: The demo version does not contain the required features to complete the game. If you would like to obtain a full working version, send your name and address along with $10 (cash, check or money order) to: Ken Veale 145 Northlake Drive Hendersonville TN 37075 Thanks! What's the situation? --------------------- You're in charge of defending one of the huge mechanized space platforms producing products for earth. Out here, if your platform isn't protected, it will quickly belong to someone else. The good news is your platform has an automated defense network to keep the wolves at bay. The bad news is someone has sabotaged it and the enemy is descending on the platform at a rapid pace. What do I do? ------------- You need to repair the defense network as quickly as possible while eliminating the enemy where you can. All you can hope to do is slow them down though, because they're too many of them and they're coming too fast. You also have to worry about supplies for your ship, because they're being rationed. How do I get back control of the platform? ------------------------------------------- Once the defense network circuit board is repaired, it will take over and eliminate the enemy. So as soon as the circuit board is repaired, you win. How could I loose the platform? ------------------------------- The enemy is rapidly deploying all over the place. There may be some enemy in every sector, but if the enemy FULLY occupies 5 sectors (shown in red on your ship's console display), then the enemy has taken over and you have lost the platform. What other problems do I face? ------------------------------ If you run out of fuel, or get hit too many times, your attempt to save the platform has ended. How do I use my ship? -------------------- Use your joystick to turn the ship left and right. Let your ship go off the edge of the screen to access the next sector(screen). Pull back on the joystick and press the fire button to access your ship's console. This displays the status of your ship, its supplies, and how much of the network has been repaired. From this screen you can also quit the game, restart the game, access on-line help, or return to the game. What is the console's sector map showing me? -------------------------------------------- The squares in this map represent the 80 sectors of the platform. The blue square is where your ship is located. Green squares indicate light or no enemy activity. Yellow squares show where the enemy is building up. Red squares show what sectors the enemy has fully occupied. If the enemy attains 5 fully occupied sectors, you have lost the game. Squares that show a dot in the middle indicate sectors that contain a supply dock. Numbers on the sector map indicate where the network nodes are. Each number corresponds to the position the node has on the IC board. If the dot or number in the sector is white, you have not accessed that item yet. Black indicates you have been there already. Where do I go first? -------------------- Your main task is to reach all network nodes in order to replace all IC's in the defense computer. (To see what network nodes look like on the platform, bring up the on-line help screen; the node image appears near the bottom). You must get to all the nodes while keeping control of the enemy hotspots and maintaining supplies. What do I do when I find a node? -------------------------------- Just as your ship crosses over the top of the node, pull back on the joystick and press the fire button. This will bring up the IC board that needs repair. Each IC on the board represents a different node in a different sector. The IC for the node in your sector is highlighted on the board. You can only change the IC for the sector your in. What do I do with the IC board? ------------------------------- You must choose the IC number for the IC by moving your joystick left or right. This number is used to calculate the sum for the row and column the IC is in. When the total of all the IC rows and columns matches the numbers around the edge of the IC area (the numbers in white on the board) then you have repaired the defense network. Press the fire button to exit the screen after you have made your choice. But I don't know what IC# to select yet --------------------------------------- That is true in the beginning; you can only make an educated guess. (Hint: The only numbers used are 0,5, and 10.) As you get more ICs on the board, you'll have more information to figure out what numbers are needed at what position to make the rows and columns add up right. You may have to revisit a node to change its IC number more than once. Sometimes when I hit an enemy dead on, my ordnance passes right over him -------------------------------------- Your weapons work differently than you might expect. There are 3 types of enemy weapons: floating attack probes, platform vehicles (crawlers) and gun placements. You have a specific ordnance for each type of enemy weapon. When you hit an enemy of that type, it is deducted from that supply. If you don't have that type of ordnance, the enemy won't be hit and the ordnance will be deducted from what you have the most supply of. If you miss the enemy altogether, your supply is deducted the same way as mentioned previously. I'm running out of supplies, how do I get more? ----------------------------------------------- Look on your console screen for a sector with a dot and head for that sector. When you arrive you'll see a red and blue dock with a light circling around it. You'll have to circle around until your timing is just right to cross into the center of the dock just as the light goes underneath your ship. If you do this correctly, the dock center will change to a down arrow. Pull back on your joystick and press the fire button. This will bring up the supply screen. How do I use the supply screen? ------------------------------- You can choose one of the supplies listed on the notepad. To select an item, move the joystick up or down, then press the button when the check mark is on the item you want. Your ship will be fully resupplied on that item (or fully repaired). EACH DOCK CAN BE USED ONLY ONCE, so plan your usage carefully. If you're always repairing damages, you won't have opportunity to get anything else, so watch those hits. HAVE FUN!