Intensity C64 Instructions

Intensity Manual.txt

Intensity

Playguide
Commodore 64/128

By Graftgold Ltd
Intensity © Graftgold Ltd

Copyright subsists in all Telecomsoft and Telecomsoft affiliated software, documentation and artwork. All rights reserved. No part of this software may be copied or transmitted in any form or by any means. This software is sold on the condition that it shall not be hired out without the express permission of the publisher.

Published by Telecomsoft
First Floor
74 New Oxford Street
London WC1A 1PS

A free catalogue of all Telecomsoft products is available on request from the above address.

Credits
Intensity designed and programmed by Andrew Braybrook
Music and sound effects, composed and created by Steve Turner
Font and tape loader and disk demo by John Cumming
Disk loader by Graeme Ashton
Tape loader and disk demo by AB
Helpful ideas by John Cumming and Dominic Robinson

Telecomsoft is a registered trademark of British Telecommunications plc.
INTENSITY INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE COMMODORE 64

LOADING THE GAME
Remove any cartridges from your C64 or C128. Put your C128 into C64 mode if appropriate. Plug your joystick(s) in. A single joystick may go into either port.

Tape
Ensure the SHIFT LOCK key is not depressed, and press SHIFT and RUN/STOP together. Insert the rewound cassette into your cassette player and press PLAY. The game will turbo load in about three minutes. A demo sequence of some of the game elements is shown while loading. After the demo sequence the screen will go blank for about 10 seconds, then ‘Intensity’ will begin.

A blank red screen indicates a loading error, please try again using the other side of the tape. Try cleaning your playback head and checking the head alignment if you have loading problems.

Disk
Put the Intensity disk in your drive and enter LOAD“*”,8,1
You may then select either to load and play ‘Intensity’ or see the demo sequence shown in the tape loader. You may exit the demo sequence at any time by pressing the fire button.
Press ‘1’ to play ‘Intensity’.
Press ‘2’ to see the demo. Leave the demo and Intensity will load.
Please leave the disk in the drive if you wish to save your high scores.

THE SCENARIO
The objective is to rescue colonists from the space station under siege by hordes of alien creates that can mutate to several deadly forms. The colonists are to be transported to any one of five escape shuttles by picking them up with the remote control drone. This is guided by the surface skimmer which you control. Rescuing sufficient men from a particular screen or platform allows both craft to progress in one of three directions. This depends on how many men are rescued.

SEQUENCE OF PLAY
Press fire to start and the game begins by showing your position on the station. The greek letter of the layer and the platform number are shown. You always start at gamma layer one, with three skimmers and three drones available. The number of vehicles ready for use is shown by the “ready” figure. Further vehicles ordered and paid for, but still being built are shown as “pending”. These will become available in later time segments.

The game screen is then played until the screen is exited or any vehicle destroyed. If the platform was successfully completed, the update progress map is displayed flashing the completed platform.
Then the number of drones and skimmers ready and pending are shown and you can buy more vehicles with collected resource units. Exiting from this phase will take you to the game screen.

The game will be completed if the last platform is reached or any of the five layers, at which point the escape shuttle will launch. The game ends prematurely if there are no skimmers or drones ready and available to replace losses. In this case, pending vehicle do not count as they are not build and cannot be used.

PRE-GAME CONTROLS
F1 - One player, one joystick, either port.
F2 - Two players, sharing one joystick, either port.
F3 - Two players, two joysticks, player one in port one.
F5 - Music volume louder.
F6 - Music volume quieter.
F7 - Colour mode.
F8 - Monochrome mode.
RUN/STOP and RESTORE - resets the machine and returns to BASIC.
Press fire on either joystick to play.

GAME CONTROLS
Move skimmer - joystick direction
Call drone - press fire whilst over a suitable landing site until the skimmer touches the ground.
Pause game - press RUN/STOP
Quit game - press CLR/HOME while in paused.
Restart game - press fire or RUN/STOP
Return to BASIC - press RUN/STOP and RESTORE.

TWO PLAYER MODES
In either of the two player modes players play alternatively and independently, swapping when a skimmer or drone is destroyed. They each have their own timers, queues of skimmers and drones, and may choose their own routes to the escape shuttles.

HIGH SCORE ENTRIES
Joystick up - alter the flashing letter back through the alphabet.
Joystick down - alter the flashing letter forward through the alphabet.
Joystick left - select the previous letter.
Joystick right - select the next letter.
Fire - enter the current letter and select the next one.

Entering the third letter completes your high score entry.

THE SKIMMER
The skimmer is a converted mining vehicle equipped with rotating cutters. These can be used to destroy aliens in some of their converted forms by driving into them.
Three classes of skimmer are available:

				Gamma	Beta		Alpha
Maximum speed		115 m/s	125 m/s	135 m/s
Maximum skim height		6 m		10 m		15 m
Cost				8-12 RU	13-17 RU	18-22 RU
Time to build			1 segment	2 segments	3 segments
Identifying light bands		1		2		3

Skimmers can land on any flat area. Do not attempt to land too close to walls or other hazards or the craft may be destroyed.

The skimmer will swing round to more if the desired direction. If will glide to a halt if the joystick is centred. It hovers a few metres above the surface normally but will climb automatically to try and clear obstacles. The cheapest skimmers are unable to climb over many obstacles however and must be steered around them.

A warning sound will be heard if the skimmer is flying below the recommended height to clear a particular obstacle.

The skimmer and drone are destroyed if they collide, so be careful to fly out of the drone’s way after it has been called.

THE DRONE
The drone is a slave device carrying basic navigation and flight control equipment. It waits on the surface until called by the skimmer to a landing site. Then it will take off and attempt to fly directly to the landing site. Drones cannot fly over walls and must be guided round by several calls.

Escaping colonists will head for the front landing site, wait at a safe distance for it to land, then board it as quickly as possible.

The drone will run its engines periodically if left in one place to keep them warm. This lifts the drone and will destroy the skimmer if it is over the drone at the time.

There are three drone types:

				Gamma	Beta		Alpha
Maximum speed		105 m/s	115 m/s	125 m/s
Maximum skim height		10m		10 m		10m
Cost				4-8 RU		7-11 RU	10-14 RU
Time to build			1 segment	2 segments	3 segments
Identifying light bands		1		2		3

HAZARDS
There are various surface features to be avoided due to their height by gamma and beta skimmers and all drones.
protective walls			- 11 metres
Hangar				- 8 metres
radar towers				- 8 metres
monorail				- 7 metres
escape shuttle				- 4 metres
short range explorer modules		- 3 metres
posts					- 2 metres

COLONISTS
Colonists quickly emerge from the airlocks with a limited oxygen supply so they must be rescued as quickly as possible. They will use the bridges where available. They will try to go around obstacles in an attempt to reach the drone or its intended landing site if it is in flight. They will wait just clear of the landing site and board the drone as soon as it has settled.

The colonists are prey to the stalkers and very vulnerable to explosions. They will sacrifice themselves to destroy nucleons in order to save the drone.

COLLECTING RUs
For every colonists that boards the drone, an ‘R’ symbol is released from the exit point. This may be collected by the skimmer, and increases your funds by one RU, or Resource Unit. These can later be used to purchase new skimmers and drones. You can carry up to ninety-nine RUs are any one time. Any further ‘R’ symbols collected will give you a 1,000 point bonus.

Uncollected ‘R’ symbols will burn up in time, or will be destroyed by the aliens.

SPECIAL BONUS
Occasionally, a key symbol will be released. These should be collected by the skimmer. These will instantly upgrade your skimmer and your drone. E.g. a gamma skimmer would become a beta skimmer. If you have an alpha drone you receive a bonus of 5,000 points, an alpha skimmer would give you five bonus RUs.

BRIDGES
Some platforms have bridges to allow colonists to get from one section to another. These bridges are retracted so they cannot be crossed until the drone is landed exactly on the bridge control arrow. This extends the bridge and the men will then be able to walk across. The bridge will stay open while a man is on it and automatically retracts after use. Some bridges only have one control arrow and must be operated from that end.

STATION LAYOUT
The space station is divided into five rows of platforms, each sixteen platforms wide. The layers are labelled Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Epsilon. The layers are ranked in order of difficulty, Alpha being the hardest.

Each platform has the greek letter of the layer shown at the centre of the exit ring. On the earlier screens this is the place the skimmer starts at. To leave the screen pick up enough men in the drone to start the exit flashing and call the drone to land

on the exit letter. The letter will change depending on how many men are rescued and which exits are available. There is up to three choices of exit, activated in this order.

the easier platform to the side.
the more difficulty platform to the other side.
the next platform towards the escape shuttles.

All exits are one way, so platforms cannot be visited twice in a game, and some platforms are so destroyed already that they can not be visited at all.

When five colonists are in the drone, if there is an exist to an easier platform then the exit ring will light up, and the greek letter indicating the layer to which the player can move will flash in the centre. You may then leave the current platform by landing the drone in the exact centre, or continue to rescue colonists.

As the first exit opens, the message ‘Exit available’ appears briefly at the bottom of the screen, with a sonic. The next two exits are triggered when ten and fifteen men have been rescued, if they are available from the screen.

The message ‘exit now’ and a warning sound signal when fifteen men have been rescued. Then it is time to leave as no more will come out of the airlocks.

There are five different shuttles to reach, one at the end of each layer. Paths between layers get rarer as the game progresses to the higher layers. You must choose which layer you wish to play from the novice epsilon layer to the elite alpha layer. You may have to switch layers to complete your path to the shuttle.

SEGMENTS
Game time is divided up into segments. The mutant attack began at segment zero and the game begins at segment two, with three Beta-class skimmers and drones available. One segment equates to about forty-five seconds of gameplay. After segment fifty, no more skimmers or drones can be built.

When a segment passes, a message is shown at the bottom of the screen to show the current segment. Any pending skimmers or drones due for delivery at the new segment are then delivered. Only one skimmer or drone can be delivered on any one segment.

THE ALIENS
The aliens undergo several mutations with very different properties.

SPORES
The aliens approach as spores that circle in clouds until they can enter the station through any gap in the structure. They will hover over the surface for a while looking for a suitable landing site, taking less time to land as time goes on. They are most vulnerable in this form and may be destroyed by colliding with the skimmer or the drone or each other. They are very wary of the skimmer and will try to escape from it.
Initially spores fly close to the surface and cannot cross high parts of the platform. On later platforms they fly higher and can cross the highest protrusions.

STALKERS
A spore that lands on the surface becomes a stalker immediately. It will bounce around slowly causing damage to the surface until it spots a colonist leaves or mutates. Stalkers can leap small gaps and low obstacles with limited success but are vulnerable to attack from the skimmer or the drone.

Should a colonist be unlucky enough to be caught by a stalker, a nucleon will be produced.

Stalkers may also transform into a podule.

PODULES
The podule is an intermediate stage between a stalker and a tracker. The transformation occurs within a shell. A fuse wire is thrown out from the shell as it forms, which ignites and burns down. When it reaches the shell, the tracker bursts out. The podules are vulnerable to attack from the skimmer or drone.

TRACKERS
Trackers are single-minded homing creatures which are the last resort of the aliens, attempting to destroy the skinner or the drone so that the remaining aliens may survive. The skimmer is the prime target but the drone may also be selected. Collision with a vehicle will cause it to be downgraded or destroyed. The trackers skim the surface of the platform and have limited altitude control in the early stages. As time passes they learn to cross walls.

NUCLONS
Nuclons are the resident fireball produced when a stalker explodes after catching a colonist. They burn until they run out of oxygen. They move jerkily towards the drone. The y have taken on the instinct of the absorbed colonist to reach the drone. Contact with the drone or skimmer will cause it to be downgraded or destroyed.

SCORE TABLE
	Spore						- 100 points
	Stalker						- 150 points
	Podule						- 250 points
	Tracker						- 500 points
	Nuclon						- 1,000 points
	Save Colonist				- 100 points on Epsilon layer.
								- 200 points on Delta layer.
								- 300 points on Gamma layer.
								- 400 points on Beta layer.
								- 500 points on Alpha layer.
	Extra RU trade-in			- 1,000 points
	Alpha drone special bonus	- 5,000 points

PROGRESS MAP
At the end of each game a progress map of the station is shown. This details the platforms covered. The start platform is on the middle left and the escape shuttles are at the right-hand end of each of the five routes, on the right. All platforms tackled are shown flashing and fanned out. The progress map or maps for the previous game are shown during the attact sequence.

For a two player game the two maps are shown alternatively.

BUYING PHASE
Upon completion of a platform or the destruction of any of your vehicles, you are given the opportunity to order new equipment. Your current total funds are displayed at the top of the screen. You may order one or more new vehicles provided you have the funds available. Use the joystick to move the arrow to point at your required choice. The cost of each item is shown in RUs in the table. Press fire to select the item of your choice. A message at the bottom shows how long it will take to prepare the vehicle, in segments. Better equipment takes longer to build.

It should be noted that the prices of the various vehicles is dependent on which side of the station you are on. Buying equipment on the Alpha side is more expensive than on the Epsilon side. You may therefore wish to plan your purchases carefully to get the required craft for the best price.

Since only one drone can be delivered in any one segment then further drones of the same type ordered will be delayed until the next segment. The same applies to skimmers. Faster built vehicles ordered can be delivered earlier provided a spare delivery slot exists.

Move the joystick to ‘DONE’ when you have completed all your purchases and press fire to resume the game. The ‘AUTO’ function is also available to give you a recommendation of what to buy. This costs you one RU to use, and will move the arrow to its recommended action.

Possible error messages from this phase are:

Insufficient RU.	- You do not have enough RUs to purchase the selected item.
Stocks exhausted	- There are no more vehicles of the required type that can be built before the final segment.

GAME VARIANTS
The disk edition of Intensity will configure itself accordingly for use on US (NTSC) or European (PAL) systems during loading. The gameplay on each is identical.

USER FRIENDLINESS
All text screens may be skipped quickly by pressing and releasing the fire button. Repeated presses will skip multiple screens. They may also be paused by pressing the RUN/STOP key.