Some missions have suicide written all over them. This was one. . . Again, I ask myself ‒ “what the hell am I doing on Colian?” Stuck out on the edge of System 7, Colian has never been the most hospitable place in the Universe ‒ the only thing this asteroid has going for it is the fact that it is very, very rich in mineral deposits: the kind of mineral deposits that people will kill for. There’s Detonite, a powerful explosive that, paradoxically, is also capable of regenerating molecular structures if used appropriately, and Quaza, an energy-giving crystal capable of fuelling almost any craft designed by sentient beings. And there’s Aluma, the hardest metal known to man ‒ almost indestructible, it is ideal for making weapons of war. With stuff like this lying around, trouble is never likely to be far away . . . Over the years, a sophisticated mining operation was established on Colian. Six separate mining colonies were set up, each with its mines, dumps, stores and resource centres linked together by a complicated system of shuttles to transport minerals through the network. Everything was going fine ‒ new wealth was being extracted and stockpiled daily. Then the military arrived, to set up combined mining and manufacturing centres where they began making weapons from the precious Aluma. Defence and surveillance systems were constructed to protect the valuable assets and manufacturing plants on the asteroid. Soon all was running smoothly. TERRORPODS Destroying Terrorpods In the Spectrum and Amstrad versions, the laser cannon are used to kill off the rampaging Terrorpods. The first hit renders a Terrorpod inoperative, and the DSV readouts reveal the percentage damage sustained by the disabled Terrorpod. Further hits are required before it is destroyed completely — and watch out, Terrorpods that have not sustained 100% damage regenerate and are soon back on their three legs . . . Missiles are used to destroy Terrorpods in the C64 version ‒ press P to prime a missile by loading Detonite into its warhead and then L to launch the projectile. Select your target before the upper sighting counter reaches zero, and keep the drift indicators central until the lower tracking counter reaches zero. Rebuilding Installations The marauding Terrorpods destroy Detonite and Quaza mines as well as radar beacons and the manufacturing units that generate Terrorpod components. A mis-placed shot from the DSV is also likely to render an installation into scrap metal. There will be times when you desperately need to repair the damage ‒ providing you are locked on to a destroyed unit and its status is revealed on the DSV console, a press of the R key will rebuild it . . . if you have enough Detonite to do the job, that is. Bear in mind that if all the radar beacons are destroyed, it will prove difficult (no, impossible) to warp to the next colony once you have achieved all you need to in the current zone — and the map system may well cease functioning . . . Only fools attempt to regenerate a destroyed Terrorpod. Collecting Quaza Fuel, Detonite or a Terrorpod Component Move the DSV directly in front of the appropriate installation, check that you are locked on to it and then press B repeatedly until you have collected what you want. Don’t forget, a Terrorpod component can’t be collected until you have destroyed all the active Terrorpods in the current colony. Moving Around a Colony There are two ways to move around, and both consume Quaza fuel. On the ground, the vehicle is steered by moving the mobile crosshair sight around the screen, and a press of the Z key turns your vehicle on its axis through 180 degrees. Alternatively, you can traverse territory more rapidly by toggling the map screen (press M) and moving the cursor to the point on the map where you want to be. Be careful when using the map screen to move around ‒ you can eat up Quaza fuel without realising how quickly reserves are being depleted. Warping to the Next Colony Sector This can only be achieved once you have destroyed the Terrorpods Things are hotting up on the surface of Colian. Eight fully-operational Terrorpods are rampaging through each of the six colonies, blasting the installations and draining them of their mineral wealth. The Mother Ship seems to have a fix on my DSV, and periodically sends homing missles at me from out of the skies. I’m out in the open, surrounded by mining and manufacturing installations from which I draw fuel and explosive power. Terrorpods are on the rampage, destroying the sources I rely on for energy . . . I must protect the Detonite and Quaza mines from destruction else the DSV will grind to a defenceless halt and my misison will be over. Along with me. My mission objective has become suddenly clear. Working my way through the six colonies, I have to rid each in turn of the marauding Terrorpods, ensuring that the DSV is kept well supplied with Detonite and Quaza. Once the Terrorpods that patrol a colony have been destroyed, I must wait until one of the manufacturing units has completed a Terrorpod component, seize it and warp to the next colony to start over. Can I complete the mission? The Federation has faith in me ‒ it knows I’m a Survivor, but can I survive this . . .? Playing Terrorpods The overall aim of the game is to destroy all the Terrorpods that lurk in colony sector and then collect a Terrorpod component from one of the manufacturing units before warping to the next sector and continuing the mission. Success only comes when all six sectors have been cleared of Terrorpods and a full set of components collected for delivery to the Federation. Fuel (Quaza) mines and explosives/power mines (Detonite) are dotted around each colony sector, along with manufacturing units which slowly generate a Terrorpod component. Fuel and Detonite may be collected from mining units by approaching them in the DSV and locking on — a readout indicates that contact has been made and reveals how many units of Detonite or Quaza fuel are available for collection. Pressing the B key loads the Quaza fuel or Detonite onto the DSV, replenishing your stocks. Watch the on-screen meters ‒ run out of fuel and you can’t move, becoming a sitting target for the marauding Terrorpods. Run out of Detonite and the DSV’s weapon systems become inoperative — and it’s only a short while before a barrage of missiles from the Mother Ship hit home . . . Detonite is also used to maintain shields, lasers and the rebuild unit, and you need an adequate supply of Detonite both to secure a Terrorpod component from a manufacturing unit and to warp to the next colony. In the case of the Commodore 64 version, Detonite is also used to prime the missiles needed to destroy. Suddenly, it happened. An Empire Mother Ship arrived from deep space and set up a stationary orbit around Colian, the most valuable asteroid in the Universe. An Empire Mother Ship is the most awesome warcraft, the most powerful agent of destruction ever constructed. With this behemoth lurking in the skies above Colian, something dramatic was about to happen. And it did. Pinpoint missile attacks launched from the Mother Ship took out the defence systems and destroyed the automated shuttle systems that linked the mines and installations on the surface of Colian. The few humans who tended the automated mining, refining and construction systems cowered in fear, waiting for the end to come . . . but they were spared from painful deaths. The Empire had other plans — destruction of the installations on the surface of Colian would have been truly wasteful. Occupation was the goal of the Empire’s expeditionary force, not destruction. Human personnel were enslaved, rather than killed. The mining and weapon manufacturing systems set up by the military were taken over and modified. Modified so that they could make components for the most deadly of surface weapons ‒ fearsome Terrorpod fighting machines. Machines the Empire requires to bring about its avowed aim ‒ conquest of every planet in space that supports intelligent life. Very soon, the purpose of the Mother Ship became clear: the Empire planned to make Terrorpod components on the surface of Colian, and then effect final assembly on board the Mother Ship. This was a chance the Federation could not afford to miss, an opportunity to discover the secrets of Terrorpod manufacture. All that had to be achieved was the collection of acomplete set of Terrorpod components . . . Guess who was sent to get them? Yes, right in one: Yours Truly. I arrived undercover with a fully functioning Defence Strategy Vehicle ‒ known to us special agents as a DSV. For the first few months, I kept a low profile, exploring the trading colonies and mapping their layout with some assistance from the frightened colonists who had been enslaved by the Empire. I had just committed a full set of maps to the computerised memory of the DSV’s scanner system and patched its sensors into the network of radar beacons dotted around the asteroid’s surface, when things started to go wrong. Badly wrong. The Mother Ship had learned of my existence, and immediately changed strategy. Terrorpods were despatched to the surface, programmed to start destroying the manufacturing units and the secrets they hold. Their next priority target will be me . . . roaming around the current sector and collected a Terrorpod component from one of the manufacturing units. (Approach a manufacturing unit, lock on in the usual way and press the B key if the readout reveals that a 100% complete Terrorpod component has been made.) You need 1500 detonite units to prime a radio beacon ‒ approach one and lock on, then follow the prompts. Once a beacon has been primed, you need 1500 fuel units on board the DSV to effect the warp. Shields Shields are pretty finite, and are depleted by contact with active Terrorpods or hits from the missiles launched by the Mother Ship. If Shield levels start going down during play, move ‒ a Terrorpod has probably sneaked up from behind. Missiles can be taken out with the laser cannon in flight (Press W to move the sight into the air and then fire on the approaching projectile.) If a missile hits home, a large chunk of shield energy is removed ‒ this loss can be reduced if you activate the shields manually at the critical moment by pressing the space bar. Information W on the Commodore and I on the Spectrum and Amstrad take you into supplementary information screens. Explore . . . Loading Connect your computer, monitor and tape deck together according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Plug in a joystick if you intend using one (port 2 on the C64). SPECTRUM Press LOAD "" followed by RETURN and then start the tape. AMSTRAD Press RUN"ATP followed by RETURN and then start the tape. COMMODORE 64 Press SHIFT and RUN STOP together and then start the tape. COMMODORE 64 DISK Type LOAD "*",8,1 and press RETURN.