Astrocade Tape Program Archive Record
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Program Name:  STAR BASE I
Filename:      starbase_i_[greg_miejski].wav
Released by:   Greg Miejski
Appearance:    Michigan Astro Bugs Tape 2 (Mar 1983)

Program Instructions
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This is a 'Defender' or 'Stargate' based game in which the player destroys mountain cities and starbases. Player controls Defender style ship with hand control using the trigger to fire laser. Pushing the 'RED' button on the computer <Bally> keyboard will initiate 'Hyper-Space' sequence.

The game takes place on the unstable planet of Cyphus IV, where the surface is constantly changing, causing mountains to appear and disappear. On every mountain there are three cities, with one being in the center on top, and two others lower on the sides. The same configuration exists for the starbases.

The game starts with the player being on the left side of the screen in the center. The player's reserve ships are shown at the top on the left side, with the 'hyper-space' bars on the upper-right. Player's score is shown in the lower-left corner, while the High-score is shown in the lower-right. Player always starts out on the surface of the planet with two reserve ships and three 'hyper-space' bars. A free 'bonus ship' is awarded for every five-hundred points scored, along with a free 'hyper-space' bar.

To move, push joystick horizontally in direction desired. This will initiate constant movement of the player's ship. Moving joystick up and down positions ship vertically. The laser will always fire in the direction that the ship is moving. If the ship is still, the laser will fire to the right. To move the ship to the next screen, move all the way right or left.

If the player does not destroy any part of the cities or starbases, he may move on to the next screen, But if the player destroys a city or a starbase, a force field is set up on the boundaries of the screen preventing the escape of the ship. If this happens, the only way to "turn it off" is to destroy the other two cities or starbases. When a force field is on there is a time limit for the player to destroy the other two targets. If the time limit expires, an inescapable laser hits the player and kills him. The time limit can only be turned off by destroying the other two targets or by using 'hyper-space' bar.

Using a 'hyper-space' bar will transport the player into space to fight the starbases. Only the center city and center starbase will fire at the player. The game gets progressively harder as the player destroys more mountains and starbase packs. The game is over when all ships have been destroyed. Pull trigger to restart game.

All cities and starbases are worth twenty points each when destroyed. The player will also be killed if he crashes into a mountain, a city, or a starbase.

Description
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This is a 2000 baud BASIC program for use with a Bally Astrocade and Astrobasic.

Loading Instructions
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Plug audio cable into Astrobasic cartridge and headphone jack of computer speakers, then load program from Astrobasic with

:INPUT

Press GO.  Then start playing the wav file; the program will start to load.  After the program finishes loading, type RUN and then press GO.

END OF FILE
