CROSS FIRE The game where the most dangerous thing on the screen is you. Jason Charlesworth with a froody freaker for the CPC464. CROSS FIRE is a totally new game which should zap the mega zappers, freak out the froodies and generally blow your mind - and hopefully several alien nasties. The game follows the normal shoot-'em-up idea of zap, maim or destroy everything in sight and as such requires fast reflexes. But what do the aliens do while all this is going on? Do they fire back with super deadly plasma bolts? Do they mercilessly hunt you down? Or do they set hideous traps for you? No, all they do is continue wandering round the screen blundering into your bases. With no enemies this may sound like a simple game but unfortunately you do have something far worse to contend with - yourself. Not only can you shoot aliens, you can also shoot holes in your tracks or even worse, you can shoot yourself. This is all due to the layout of your bases. These are mounted on tracks on each of the four sides of the screen and the controls move each pair of bases simultaneously. That means you cannot just move your left laser without also moving the right as well. The fire button works on all four lasers at once. However if you shoot an opposite track a hole forms in it and your laser on that track cannot go past it. The object of the game is to shoot all the aliens, there are eight screens - Space Invaders, Balls, Helicopters, centipedes, Dumbells, Ultra friendly aliens, Suitcases and a Scottish snake. All these move in smooth pixel graphics. On each screen eight of 16 aliens appear - depending on the round - though when you have wiped out that batch, another batch appears. Each shot earns you a number of points corresponding to the level you are on and this number of points is deducted from score titled "Needed". This amount must be reduced to zero before you are allowed on to the next screen and on each new screen, the amount of points needed increases. If you do not get enough points within the time limit - the bar at the bottom of the screen counts off 60 seconds - you restart the same screen. You can only go onto the next screen when you have lasted the 60 seconds and reduced the "needed" score to zero. The game ends when all four bases have been destroyed - you do, however, get four new bases every four rounds. If you want to see each of the levels, don't press any key when it lists out the keys and after about 10 seconds it gives a demo moe. To get out of this mode press 0. To type in the game type in listing 1 and save it to tape with SAVE "CROSS FIRE" Next type in listing 2 and run it. This Pokes in all 5K of code and checks it. If it finds an error it will tell you which lines the error could be in. It should be noted that the program only uses a simple checksum and so care should still be taken when entering the code as it cannot detect every error. When the program gives a "no errors found" message, save the code directly after Cross Fire with SAVE "CODE",B,34000,5000 The game should now be ready. To run the game rewind the cassette and type RUN Finally a few tips for playing the game. At the start of the game you should move your base very rapidly otherwise you may find the aliens wipe some out. When you fire, if you move the base whilst firing, it spreads the bullets out and so they are more likely to hit an alien. Perhaps the most important tip is to turn the sound down otherwise the constant tick of the clock may drive you mad.