CAPTAIN BLOOD DOX ================ The Story --------- Trapped in a universe of your own creation- a world populated by strange creatures in unlikely scenarios, extensions of your own over-active imagination- but it's only a game, right ? Wrong. It's every hacker's worst nightmare..and you're living it! As the erstwhile programmer who calls himself Captain Blood, you're in one heck of a predicament. The Hyper-space warp that sucked you into the game also fragmented your genetic structure, creating five exact dupli- cates of yourself that are now hiding somewhere in the galaxy of Hydra. You must find your clones and assimilate them to replenish the vital fluids you so desperately need. Playing The Game ---------------- When the game begins you will see the interior of your spaceship, fol- lowed immediately by a view of the nearest planet. The arm you see on the screen is your own - use the joystick to move the arm around the screen. Because you lack necessary vital fluids, you start to shake, making it difficult to select options from the control panel. An on-board clock keeps track of elapsed time in minutes and seconds. You have approximately 2.5 real-time hours to find a clone and get back some vital fluid before your arm becomes completely uncontrollable. If you do find a clone, you gain another 2.5 hours of playing time. The first planet that comes into view each time you begin a new game will ALWAYS be inhabited. After that, you're on your own. NOTE: The program recreates the galaxy each time you begin a game. This means that coordinates of inhabited planets are not valid from one game to the next. PLANET VISION SCREEN -------------------- The Planet Vision Screen is the first screen that appears when you begin a new game. The planet that you see is the one nearest to your present location. Several options are available to you on the Planet Vision Screen: GeoPhoto Vision, Planet Destruction, and OORXX Landing Mission These options are described below. The Control Panel ----------------- The control panel in front of you contains various buttons, only a few of which are active at any one time. Six control buttons are positioned diagonally on either side of a large central button. These buttons will be referred to (from left to right) as Buttons 1-6. Unless otherwise instruc- ted, select an option by pointing your hand's index finger to it and pressing the fire button. GeoPhoto Vision --------------- To get a close-up view of the planet surface, activate the GeoPhoto Vision mode by selecting Button 6. Flashing points of light indicate enemy mis- siles on the planet surface. Select this button again to get an even clo- ser view. Select Button 2 to return to the Planet Vision Screen. Planet Destruction ------------------ To destroy the planet on the Vision Screen, select Button 5(the one marked with an 'X'). NOTE: You may exit the Planet Destruction sequence at any point by simply pressing the INST/DELkey. OORXX Landing Mission --------------------- To activate an OORXX landing mission select Button 4 (the one marked with a down arrow) from the Planet Vision Screen. An OORXX will be transported immediately to the planet surface and a vector image of the landscape will appear on your viewing screen. FLYING THE OORXX ---------------- Because you ship is too large to land on a planet, you must view the planet's surface through the eyes of an OORXX- creatures designed for just such missions. You guide the OORXX as it flies across the planet surface. The two markers on either side of the screen indicate your altitude above the planet surface. The horizontal dotted line along the bottom of the screen indicates your speed- the longer the line, the greater your speed. To decrease speed, hold down the fire button and pull back. To increase speed, hold down the fire button and push forward. Landing Sites ------------- Each planet has a designated landing site, located at the end of a long narrow valley. As you fly, an onscreen sight indicates your current position. If you are headed in the right direction, the sight will appear as a flashing diamond shape. If you are off target, an arrow on the left or right side of the sight will point you in the direction you should turn. When you reach the landing site, the OORXX will land automatically and the resident alien (if there is one) will appear. Avoiding Missiles ---------------- If enemy missiles are present on the planet surface, they will begin homing in on the OORXX immediately; a continuous beeping noise lets you know that you've been sighted. To avoid the missiles, you must fly as low as pos- sible without crashing. When a missile locks in on yourposition, arrows appear on either side of the screen and begin moving toward each other. The closer the arrows get to one another, the closer the missile is to the OORXX; if the arrows meet in the center of the screen, the OORXX will be destroyed and you will be re- turned to the ship's interior. THE UPCOM --------- To communicate with aliens, you must use the UPCOM (Universal Protocol of Communication) icon system. Once you land, the UPCOM Module appears auto- matically on the sceeen if an alien is present. Receiving A Message ------------------- As the alien speaks, icons will appear on the left side of the UPCOM Module. To receive a translation of a certain icon, simply point to the icon in question; the translation will appear on the right side of the screen If the central mouth is still moving, it means the alien has more to say. Point to the 'mouth' and press the fire button to read the rest of the message. Sending A Message ----------------- You may respond to the alien using any of the highlighted icons shown in the UPCOM window. The window shows only a small portion of the available icons. To scroll left or right, simply point to one of the scroll selectors located on either side of the icon window. To scroll more quickly, point to the scroll bar located at the bottom of the window and hold the fire button; then move the joystick left or right to move the icons in that direction. To select an icon, simply point to it and press the fire button. That icon will then appear on the right side of the UPCOM Module. You may select up to eight icons for each sentence. When your message is com- plete, point to the 'mouth' and press the fire button to transmit your mes- sage to the alien. The left-arrow shaped button on the right side of the UPCOM Module lets you delete an icon, and you may also insert an icon into an existing sentence. Teleporting ----------- If an alien agrees to be teleported the Teleport icon will appear on the bottom left of the screen. Select this button to teleport the alien onto your ship. To teleport an alien from your ship onto a planet's surface, select the Teleport icon button once you land Returning To The Ship --------------------- Select the triangular-shaped button on the right side of the Module to return to the ship. THE SHIP'S INTERIOR ------------------- To return to the ship's interior from a planet surface, select the triangular-shaped button located on the right side of the screen. From the Galaxy Map or Planet Vision Screen, select any INACTIVE button to return to the ship's interior. The main control panel is shown at the bottom of the screen. Interior Controls ----------------- Buton 1 is used to save your game to disk. Complete instructions are given below. To activate the Planet Vision Screen for a view of the near- est planet, select Button 2; select any inactive button to return to the ship's interior. To view the Galaxy Map, select Button 3 (the one marked with a 'nebula' shape); select any inactive button to return to the ship's interior. The Fridgitorium ---------------- If you have teleported an alien (or clone) onto theship, it will appear in the Fridgitorium on the left side of the screen. While in the Fridgitor- ium, the alien will not be able to communicate. To disintigrate creatures in the Fridgitorium, select the button directly below the Fridgitorium. When a creature is disintigrated, you recover its vital fluids. However, only the clones' vital fluids are compatible with your system. OORXX Reactivation ------------------ Once you guide an OORXX to a planet's landing site, the OORXX remains there and may be reactivated at any tiem. If you have already landed on the planet whose coordinates are shown at the top of the screen (i.e. the nearest planet), a question mark will appear on the right side of the screen Select the question mark to reactivate the OORXX on that planet's surface. THE GALAXY MAP -------------- To view the Galaxy Map, select Button 3 from the ship's interior. The horizontal and vertical lines superimposed on the Galaxy Map allow you to select a specific planet from among 32,768 possible choices. Coordinates ----------- The location of each planet in the galaxy is expressed by a set of coor- dinate numbers, X/Y. The vertical line is the 'X' coordinate and the horizon tal line is the 'Y' coordinate line. The nearest planet is the one located at the intersection of the two lines.The coordinates of this planet are displayed at the top of the screen. Selecting A Planet ------------------ As you move your hand around the MAP, the coordinates of the planet you are pointing to at any given moment are shown in the box at the upper left side of the sceeen. To select a destination planet, point to the vertical ('X') coordinate line and press and hold the fire button; then move the joystick left or right to move the coordinate line. As the coordinate line moves, the for the 'X' coordinate will change accordingly in the box on the upper right side of the screen. When the desired 'X' coordinate appears in this box, release the fire button to lock in that coordinate number. To select a new 'Y' coordinate, point to the horizontal ('Y') coor- dinate line and press and hold the fire button; then move up or down to move the coordinate line. As the coordinate line moves, the value for the 'Y' coordinate will change accordingly in the box on the upper right side of the screen. When the desired 'Y' coordinate appears in this box, release the fire button to lock in that coordinate number. Hyperspace ---------- To travel to the new planet you have selected on the Galaxy Map, activate the Hyperspace option by selecting the central control panel button (the one marked with an up-arrow). When the Hyperspace sequence is over, the new planet will appear on the viewing screen. NOTE: You may exit the Hyper- space sequence at any point by simply pressing the INST/DEL key. SAVING A GAME ------------- You may save your game to disk any time AFTER five minutes of play. To save game, return to the ship's interior and select Button 1(the disk icon) The saved file will be called BLOOD CPT. If the game was not successfully saved, the disk icon will flash for several seconds; in this case, check your disk and try again. Each time you save to disk, the new saved game will replace the old saved game. Although you cannot pause the game during play, you may save your progress at any point and return to your game at a later time. Loading A Saved Game -------------------- You may load a saved game ONLY DURING THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES OF GAME PLAY. To load a saved game, first begin a new game. When the Planet Vision Screen appears, select any inactive button to proceed to the ship's interior. Then select Button 1(the disk icon). If the game did not load successfully, the disk icon will flash for several seconds; in this case, check your disk and try again. Should you wish to load a saved game after five minutes have expired, you will have to reboot the program. THE END ------- To survive, you must find all five clones and disintigrate them in your ship's Fridgitorium. The last clone should give you the coordinates of the planet where Torka - the beautiful alien Ondoyante - is waiting. Once you go there and teleport her onto your ship (note that she does NOT stay in the Fridgitorium!), you've won. Now all you have to do is figure out how to get yourself out of the game.....