AMSOFT © A    L    I    E    N In space no one can hear you scream. Sometime in the future ... Commercial towing vehicle ‘The Nostromo’ Crew: seven Cargo: refinery processing 20,000,000 tons of mineral ore Course: returning to earth The factory starship ‘The Nostromo’ is deep within the depths of interstellar space on its long journey home. All is quiet on board, the ship seems deserted with all its main lights shut down — an eerie atmosphere pervades the Nostromo ... suddenly, the empty silence is broken by the electronic pulsing of the starship’s computer, affectionately named ‘Mother’. In the sleeping quarters of the Nostromo, the lights automatically come on and the transparent canopies are raised to awake the crew who have been in a carefully monitored deep sleep for months. Chatting sleepily together, the crew enjoy their first meal for a long time. Later, as an electronic signal goes off, Ash interrupts the conversation to tell Dallas ‘Mother is signalling. She wants to talk with you.’ Dallas finishes his coffee and proceeds to the Command Centre ... ‘Good Morning Mother ...’ Meanwhile, the crew take their positions on the bridge. ‘Plug us in’ commands Kane. Dallas returns from the Command Centre with ‘Mother’s’ orders, he quickly calls a crew meeting. ‘Well, some of you may have figured out that we’re not home yet. We’re only half-way there. Mother’s interrupted the course of our voyage.’ ‘Why?’, the crew asks. Dallas explains, ‘She’s programmed to do that if certain conditions arise. They have. Mother intercepted a transmission of unknown origin. She got us up to check it out.’ ‘Transmission? Out here? What kind of transmission?’ asks Ripley. ‘An acoustic beacon’, Dallas answers. ‘It repeats at intervals of twelve seconds.’ ‘Is it an SOS?’ Kane asks. Dallas shakes his head, ‘I don’t know.’ Later, as they approach the mysterious source of the signal ... ‘Equatorial orbit nailed’, says Ash on the bridge. The bridge team go through their well practiced individual sequences for disengaging the Nostromo starship and crew from its towing mode. The Nostromo leaves the refinery processing mother craft and heads towards the source of the signal, a mysterious planet ... After orbiting the mystery planet, the space craft makes a heavy landing on its inhospitable, rocky surface. ‘What the hell happened?’ Dallas screams. Reports from crew members then establish that it will take at least twenty-five hours before Nostromo is fully functional. Later, after checking the planet’s gravity and atmosphere; Dallas, Kane and Lambert prepare to leave the starship. On the planet’s surface, wind and dust drive down in sheets. ‘Can’t see a goddam thing!’ complains Lambert. ‘Quit griping!’ mutters Kane in annoyance, as they pick their way across the rock strewn landscape. As the crew members continue their exploration, dawn breaks over the planet. Then they see it ... The trio move towards what seems to be an entrance of sorts. Once through the entrance, the trio explores the seemingly endless cavern. Suddenly they come across a strange skeleton. ‘Amazing, what is it?’ gasps Kane. ‘Alien life form. Looks like it’s been dead a long time’ answers Dallas. ‘Strange’ says Kane. ‘Its bones are bent outward, like it exploded from the inside!’ ‘Let’s get out of here!’ replies a shaken Dallas. Later, after further exploration, Kane is lowered into the bowels of the alien structure. ‘The place is fully enclosed and is full of eggs or something!’ Kane moves towards them ... ‘The eggs appear to be completely sealed’. Kane pauses. ‘Wait a minute there’s movement. It seems to have organic life!’ The top of the egg begins to open, and Kane, both fascinated and repulsed, draws closer for a better view ... The egg’s tentacles unwind, and with lightning speed the pink octopus-like creature smashes upward through Kane’s helmet. ‘Ah h h h h h  h  h!’ screams Kane. Over an hour later, in the Nostromo, the urgent voice of Dallas is heard over the intercom, ‘Kane’s injured, let us in.’ ‘What’s happened’ asks Ripley. ‘Some kind of organism. It’s attached itself to him; we’ve got to get him to the infirmary!’ After heated discussions between Dallas and Ripley about 24 hours decontamination quarantine procedures and the ultimate dangers of possible infection if Kane is allowed into the ship straightaway, Ash, on board the Nostromo overrides Ripley. ‘Inner hatch open’, Ash says quietly. Kane is rushed to the infirmary, and, after a brief consultation, Ash and Dallas remove Kane’s mangled helmet with a laser. ‘My god, what the hell is that?’ cries Dallas. Ash decides to try removing the alien’s tentacles, one by one. As he applies pressure, the alien’s tail tightens around Kane’s neck. ‘Stop, it’s strangling him!’ shouts Dallas. He adds, ‘It’s not going to come off without pulling his whole face off at the same time! Ash relents, ‘We’d better do a body scan and take a look inside.’ ‘What’s it got down his throat?’ asks Dallas. ‘I suggest it’s feeding him oxygen’, guesses Ash. ‘It doesn’t make sense! It paralyses him, puts him into a coma, then keeps him alive!’ After lengthy argument, Dallas, well aware of the possible danger to Kane’s life, orders Ash to use the laser to cut away the alien’s tentacles. As Ash makes an incision into one of the alien’s tentacles, an acrid yellow liquid pours out and onto the floor, instantly eating its way through the metal floor and down to the next deck. ‘That’s going to eat through the hull!’ shouts Dallas. The crew rush down to the next deck. ‘Looks like it’s stopping’ says Ripley. ‘That thing uses it for blood’ Brett says in amazement. Parker agrees. ‘What a wonderful defence mechanism. You daren’t kill it! What do we do now?’ ‘Leave Kane to Ash’ says Dallas, exhausted. For the moment the ship is peaceful. Kane rests in surprising comfort. Ash leaves the infirmary and goes into the laboratory to try and analyse the alien’s cell structure. Hours later ... Ash’s startled voice over the intercom: ‘Dallas, I think you should have a look at Kane. Something interesting has happened!’ ‘On my way’, Dallas confirms. A few minutes later Dallas, Ash and Ripley stare at Kane’s naked face in astonishment. ‘Where is it?’ Dallas shouts. The hunt for the alien is on. A little while later, as they all probe carefully around the infirmary, Ripley screams with fright as something falls past her shoulder onto the floor — it’s the alien’s carcass! ‘It seems dead enough’ says Ash. ‘Good, let’s get rid of it!’ says a shaken Ripley. ‘No, it has to go back’ says Ash. A bitter argument ensues, but finally Ash, as Science Officer, is allowed his decision. Kane sleeps on. Finally, the Nostromo lifts off the planet’s surface, on course for earth. The following morning, to everybody’s astonishment, Kane awakens and joins the crew for breakfast ... He chats happily away for some time, then begins moaning, coughing and choking. He falls to the floor screaming. Then the unbelievable happens: Bursting out of Kane’s chest, covered in his blood, comes the alien! It disgorges itself from Kane’s body and, like lightning, slithers across the floor and disappears through the doorway. A few hours later, as Kane’s mummified body lies in the air locked hatchway, Dallas asks ‘Does anyone want to say anything, before I jettison Kane’s body?’ Finally, the depressurised hatchway opens and Kane’s body flies into infinite space – forever. ‘Now find that thing’ says Dallas ... The hunt is on ... A    L    I    E    N ────── THE GAME ───── Game-play ───────── The aim of the game is to destroy the Alien or drive it away from the Nostromo. For instance, you can evacuate with three crew members in the lifeboat, Narcissus, as long as you don’t leave any living crew behind you and if you set the ship onto auto-destruct it will kill the Alien. The action begins as the first crew member has been killed by the embryonic Alien hatching. This random start to the game is complicated by your not knowing which member of the crew is an android. You will be presented with a menu driven system of character control, once the Personality Control System has been set in motion. On completion of the game you will receive a rating for your performance, this is compiled from the final state of the Alien, the crew and the ship. Your crew will find throughout the three decks of the ship a number of tools and weapons which you can tell a crew member to use. They won’t necessarily obey you, it depends on whether they are capable of using them. Be extremely careful using the weapons, on being hit the Alien secretes an acid which eats through the hull of the ship, and anything else in its way. The perfect defence mechanism! ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Personality Control System (PCS): ───────────────────────────────── PCS is a unique programming technique. It is a form of multi-character control which allows you to instruct one character whilst the others are attempting to complete their tasks. The world of the Starship Nostromo is a world apart. It has become a trap, the opposite of its original design as a long range interstellar vehicle. Before you can enter this world you must first set the Personality Control System into action. Your role as Commander is a complicated and complex one. Each member of the crew has their own unique personality which you must learn to understand in order to predict their behaviour under stress. You will be asked in your role as Commander to make life and death decisions. You must minimise the risk of the characters not obeying your orders. This depends on your being able to understand the person concerned. You will be asked to help and advise one person at a time. The type of instruction you can give maybe ... GET ITEM LEAVE ITEM REMOVE GRILL ATTACK MOVE TO ... If you give a generalised instruction this will be interpreted by the person in the light of their personality and their experience during the game. Your orders aren’t necessarily obeyed, its up to you to put yourself into the persons situation. Once set in motion the character will try to complete his/her task. You may immediately begin to examine another crew-member’s behaviour. You must plan the movement of your crew well ahead. Its real-time action interacting with all the other members of the crew. The performance of a crew member will be effected by the turn of events. For instance, confidence will increase by the possession of a useful piece of equipment, or knowing that others of the crew are on their way to help. The reverse can happen. In fact, if you ask the person to try and achieve too much too soon, and its out of character you will cause a trauma and a nervous breakdown. You will have to shelter and allow shocked crew recover. Bear in mind some of the crew are nervous, some of them are terrified, and that if you put more than three crew members in a room or more than one in an air conditioning duct at a time you will give them claustrophobia and create havoc. Your problem is to define the characters along a number of personality traits. Remember these, your plan to defeat the Alien will depend on your skill. Screen Displays: ──────────────── Provided all your sensors are working, as Commander of the Nostromo you are presented with three types of information: 1) A Map of the ship where you can watch your crew members moving about. Each deck of the ship can be selected from the menu. You can also find your way around the ducting in the vicinity of one of the crew by removing grilles and climbing in. Likewise, you can call up any named area on the ship. Encounters with the Alien, the android, and with Jones are shown on the main map. 2) The Command Monitor gives you the options at any one time. By following these you can explore the ship with your crew and attempt to destroy the Alien. The menu is examined using a joystick, that is, pushing a joystick backwards and forwards will move the cursor up and down. Pushing the joystick sideways will give you the ‘quit’ option on each page of information. Pressing the ‘fire’ button will select the option each time. 3) The Report Monitor will show you the status of the crew and an area of the ship. Messages between crew members and from Mother, the ship’s computer, will also come through this port. It’s your real time information window, and, as such, is vital. ╭──────────────────────────┬─────────╮ │ │ 2) │ │ 1) Mapping of Nostromo │ Command │ │ │ Monitor │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ├──────────────────────────┴─────────┤ │ │ │ 3) Report Monitor │ │ │ ╰────────────────────────────────────╯ The Command Monitor Your starting point is the list of the crew, you can find the location of any one of them using the cursor control, as mentioned in the previous section. You will find three separate lists of different locations. There are some 35 rooms and 40 ducting areas in the Nostromo. ‘Quit’ will get you back to the control menu each time. Using this section of the Command Monitor you can select a crew-member, and display his/her position on the ship’s mapping system. The next level of command gives you the responsibility of instructing that crew-member in the overall strategy you have devised. Once you have selected the crew member and have found his/her position then more details can be found out about the available sites to move too. Again, using the cursor control you can move through the options and select your instructions. 1) Damage Reports: Before committing a member of your crew to a course of action you can examine the area for damage. Likewise any useful weapons or tools can be reviewed. If you need to get into the ducting the available grilles are displayed at this junction; now is the time to plan your next move. 2) Weapons and Tools: You can find out whether your crew have any possessions to hand using the cursor selection on the Item option. The most you can carry is two; the first in the list is ready to use, the second can be selected by using the cursor. If an item is found in a room the option to pick it up will appear automatically. You can always drop an item, the second one in the character list is always the one left behind. The tools and weapons are distributed throughout the ship. You have available: three lasers three incinerators three electric prods one net two large spanners one harpoon gun four fire extinguishers two trackers a cat box 3) Special Options: A number of special options are open to you. They will be displayed if the circumstances allow their use. For example, ‘remove grill’ will only appear if the grill is in place: open airlock launch Narcissus remove grille enter hypersleep seal airlock initiate auto-destruct catch Jones 4) Time out of Hypersleep (TOOH) The ships reserve of oxygen did not allow for unscheduled stops. You only have 7,500 units of oxygen available. Any crew not in Hypersleep when oxygen runs out will, of course, die! Hints For Survival ────────────────── In order to begin to understand the complexities of your role as Commander of the Nostromo it is suggested you play the initial set scenario as offered on the title page. As the scene unfolds move the cursor control to your crew list and begin to move them through the top deck of the ship. You must use the corridors to move to the other decks. Note the positions of the grilles, if one has already been removed the Alien has probably been there. The swooshing noise you will hear is a door opening and closing somewhere. The crew move independantly so don’t wait for any one crew to move after you’ve told it to, get on to the next task quickly. Pick up any tools and weapons you find on the way and you think might be useful. The starting game aim is to gather three crew and the cat and get them into the shuttle, Narcissus, start the auto-destruct and escape from the ship: without letting the Alien onto the shuttle! Watch the reports from Mother, they will tell you the state of mind of the crew, and thus the likelihood of their obeying your orders. After you have begun moving, the Alien will have sensed your presence, so be careful. Jones is a great sensor. You may want to track it through the ducting, some brave crew member might be willing, you will have to see what happens. Herding the Alien towards an airlock might help if you can blow it out into space. The pulsing sound you can hear is the heart beat of the few member you have selected, it will get noticeably faster as the situation worsens. You may find Mother might not respond on occasions, this might be because of damage to your sensors, likewise the cat might not like a particular crew member. The android will do its worst when you least expect to, as well. It all adds to the reality of the situation. This guide, is just that, a guide. Each time you play the game the crew and the Alien will behave differently, so take your time exploring all the options, then when the going gets rough you’ll know what’s at hand and what’s not. Your early moves are vital. Once you are in the game all sorts of events might happen, think about them and outwit the brute force of the Alien. The best of luck! A    L    I    E    N ────── THE FILM ───── THE FILM ──────── Twentieth Century-Fox started shooting the movie on July 15th 1978 at Shepperton Studios. The initial idea was conceived by Dan O’Bannon, a writer and special effects man, who had worked on ‘Star Wars’. The story was put together with the aid of Ronald Shusett. Then Brandywine Productions bought the options and sold the film rights to Twentieth Century-Fox. The three directors of Brandywine acted as co-producers (Gordon Carroll, David Giler, and Walter Hill) and direction was by Ridley Scott. The musical score was by Jerry Goldsmith. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved Acknowledgements ──────────────── The program was written and devised by Paul Clansey, aided and abetted by Roy Gibson and Concept Software. The product has been put together by the Alien fans at Argus. (Dallas Harris, Robyn Ripley, Farah Lambert, Martin Ash, Mike Kane, Helen Brett, Carole Jones and Alien Holme) Design by HGM from the planet Luton. Our thanks to Twentieth Century-Fox personnel for their help and enthusiasm. Argus Press Software Group A    L    I    E    N from MIND GAMES ╭─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮ │ │ │ The computer has opened up a whole new world of games. │ │ Go beyond the games of zapping and fast reflexes │ │ and you reach into that world. The computer takes on a │ │ life of its own. Adventure and strategy games start where │ │ arcade games finish. Here is the world of imagination and │ │ thought. MIND GAMES are a range of programs designed │ │ to stimulate that imagination and take you into new and │ │ strange worlds. │ │ │ │ Sophisticated graphics, and great presentation are all part │ │ of the package. │ │ │ │ AMSOFT © │ │ │ │ Brentwood House │ │ 169 Kings Road │ │ Brentwood │ │ Essex CM14 4EF │ ╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯