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Cosmic Ark - Imagic - Atari 2600     HTML Manual   

Cosmic Ark
COSMIC ARK

(c) 1982 IMAGIC All Rights Reserved

GAME PROGRAM INSTRUCTIONS

The sun of Alpha Ro is fading fast! Soon it will flicker out.
The Cosmic Ark races to save creatures from doomed planets in
that solar system. Meteor showers bombard the Ark, threatening
its Atlantean crew - and planetary defense systems make this
mission of mercy doubly treacherous! Time and energy slip away
- work fast or these defenceless little beasties will
disappear for all time.

*****

The Cosmic Ark has travelled thousands of light years in order
to preserve the many exotic species peculiar to the Alpha Ro
solar system. When that sun novas, life on planets there will
wither and die.

Nothing about this mission is easy. Heavy meteor activity
throughout the system makes travel hazardous. And each planet
has an automatic defense system that cannot be knocked out.
Can the Ark succeed in saving the many helpless creatures of
Alpha Ro? Can the Cosmic Ark survive? How many planets can you
reach?

GAME OBJECTIVE

Pilot the Cosmic Ark through dangerous territory. Destroy
meteors that come too close. You score each time you eliminate
a meteor. If you survive the meteor shower, launch a
shuttleship to the surface of each planet. Try to capture 2
skittish beasties in your tractor beam in order to gain fuel
and points. Be quick about it! Return to the Ark before it
undergoes another meteor barrage. But be careful - automatic
planetary defense systems attempt to disable the shuttleship,
releasing your precious cargo before you can safely transport
them to the Ark. Reach as many planets as your fuel reserves
allow. Game ends when you've exhausted your store of fuel.

CONSOLE CONTROLS

*    Insert cartridge in console, label up. Turn power switch
     to on. 
*    Flip Game Select Lever to choose one of the six Cosmic
     Ark games.
*    Game number appears at the bottom centre of the screen.
*    Hit Game Reset Lever to begin action. Game begins again
     whenever Reset Lever is tapped.
*    Red button on left joystick will reset game when current
     game ends.

GAME PLAY

Cosmic Ark moves through 2 distinct sections:
*    Meteor shower
*    Shuttleship rescue
     Meteor Shower:
     *    The Cosmic Ark battles its way through a meteor
          shower.
     *    You control Cosmic Ark weapon fire with your
          joystick.
     *    To fire: lean joystick in the direction you wish to
          fire. Note: red button does not fire weapon.
          *    To fire up: push joystick away from you.
          *    To fire down: pull joystick toward you.
          *    To fire left: move joystick left.
          *    To fire right: move joystick right.
          *    Joystick must be returned to centre upright
               position between each shot.

     Shuttleship Rescue:
     *    If you survived the meteor shower, the Cosmic Ark
          proceeds to the nearest planet.
     *    Once the Ark is in position, use your joystick to
          launch the shuttleship to the planet surface.
     *    To launch shuttleship from Cosmic Ark: pull joystick
          toward you.

          The shuttleship manoeuvres easily.
          *    To approach the planet surface: pull joystick
               toward you.
          *    To move back toward Ark: push joystick away
               from you.
          *    To move left: move joystick left.       
          *    To move right: move joystick right.          
          *    To move at an angle, tip joystick in the
               direction desired.
          Line up the shuttleship over the little creatures.
          To capture them, use tractor beam.
          *    To operate tractor beam: press red button.
          *    When you capture a creature, keep it in the
               tractor beam until it arrives onboard the
               shuttleship, or it will slip from the beam and
               return to the planet surface.
          *    A blip sounds when the creature is safely
               aboard.
          Try to catch both beasties and return to the Ark
          before a warning blast alerts you to renewed meteor
          activity.
          *    If both beasties are caught, the Ark moves to
               the next planet. The pace picks up.
          *    If the warning sounds before you've captured
               both beasties, get back to the Ark and defend
               it against bombardment.
               *    If the Ark survives the assault, it will
                    return to the same planet surface in order
                    to complete rescue operations.
          Note: You cannot fire at meteors while the
          shuttleship is away from the Ark. To do so would
          endanger any creature already captured and on the
          shuttleship.
          Beware! Automatic planetary defense systems will
          fire at the shuttleship.
          *    Located on either side of the planet surface,
               they move up and down and fire at intervals.
          *    If hit, you lose valuable energy, and the
               shuttleship releases one creature you have
               captured on that planet.
          *    The shuttleship will have returned to the Ark.
               You must manoeuvre it back toward the planet
               surface.

FUEL

*    The game ends when Cosmic Ark runs out of fuel.
*    The red bar in the box at the lower centre of screen
     represents fuel supply. It only appears during meteor
     shower.
*    You begin with the equivalent of 40 fuel units.
     *    Cosmic Ark destroys a meteor: gain 1 fuel unit.
     *    Capture a beastie: gain 10 fuel units.
     *    Capture both beasties and return to the Cosmic Ark
          before the warning sounds: regain all fuel units.
     *    Meteor hits Cosmic Ark: lose 10 fuel units.
     *    Cosmic Ark fires at meteors: burn 1 fuel unit.

     Note: When struck my a meteor, Cosmic Ark disappears
     momentarily. It will reappear as long as you still have
     energy.

SCORING

Your score appears to the right in the box at the bottom
centre of screen.
*    Destroy a meteor: 10 points.
*    Destroy a special wavering meteor: 30 points.
*    Reach planet, capture both beasties and return to Cosmic
     Ark: 1000 points.
*    Cosmic Ark will return to a planet's surface as long as a
     beastie remains.

GAME VARIATIONS

1-Player Games
Game 1: Regular Cosmic Ark Mission
Game 2: Meteor Shower
Game 4: Advanced Cosmic Ark Mission
Game 5: Advanced Meteor Shower

2-Player Games
Game 3: Regular Ark Mission
Game 6: Advanced Ark Mission
In 2-player games, one player battles meteor showers while the
other controls the shuttleship.
*    The Right Difficulty Lever controls joystick options:
     *    Position A:    Right joystick battles meteor shower
                         Left joystick controls shuttleship
     *    Position B:    Left joystick: shuttleship
                         Right joystick: meteor shower
*    The Left Difficulty Lever controls the width of the Ark:
     *    In position A, the Cosmic Ark is wider, and so, more
          difficult to defend.
     *    In position B, the Cosmic Ark is narrower and more
          easily defended.-------------------Atari 2600 Instructions Archive-------------------

This document obtained from the History of Home Video Games Homepage, �1997-1998 by Greg Chance