|
|
|
|
RESCUE ON FRACTALUS!
BY ATARI/LUCASFILM
WANTED: AIR PILOTS
All right! Listen up! you've got a right to know why you're here --
why they suddenly need us Air Pilots.
A life and death struggle is raging throughout this grubby galactic
quadrant. It's us against the Jaggies and they've just upped the
stakes. They've dug in on Fractalus, the most inhospitable planet
this side of the Kalamar system. It's a neat trick. Our highly
trained Ethercorp pilots were holding their own in space battles, but
down on Fractalus it's a different story. We're losing anywhere from
five to fifty Space Pilots at a clip. Our job's to rescue those
spacers.
Go ahead--laugh. I admit it's funny. Five years ago, the Corps
couldn't phase us out fast enough. "No need for Air Pilots in
Ethercorps," they said. "Those dogs have had their day." Well,
great, but those Space Pilots can ONLY fly space. To be fair,
they'll save us in the end, but now we have to save THEM--especially
those golden "Ace Pilots." We can't win without them!
Here's how it works. They've rigged up a Mother Ship to ferry us
within booster range of Fractalus. That's where it gets sticky. The
Jaggies have got defenses on that planet--gun emplacements, saucers--
the works. And Fractalus is one hot cauldron of craggy mountains and
canyons, covered by the worst air you've ever flown in. It's thick
cyantric acid--it'll dissolve your flight suit within minutes.
Finally, there's the planet's hyper rate of rotation. The nine
minute days have driven more than one pilot nuts.
But there's good to go with the bad. You'll have Valkyrie Fighters,
the best pure flyers we've got. And don't call them V-Wings--that's
not correct terminology. To make room for those Space Pilots they
had to strip out a lot of the offensive weaponry. But they did
install a Dirac Mirror Shield. It can take a big hit, but you pay
for each one out of your energy reserve.
The one offensive weapon they left us is hot: the AMB -- Anti-Matter
Bubble -- Torpedo. It'll destroy a target if it hits anywhere near
it!
Finally, each Valkyrie's been fitted with the Etheric Navigation
System, a computer-enhanced viewscreen which overlays your forward
main window. It lets you see where you're going in Fractalus' acid
fog atmosphere.
That's it. Get going. Forget the past--just go get us a future.
YOUR MISSION
Sorry. No time for a briefing now. Ethercop pilots are down--out of
action. They need help--fast!
First, we toss you out of the Mother Ship, straight down to
Fractalus. That part's all automatic. But you're on your own when
you hit the atmosphere.
Your job is to fight through the Jaggi defenses and find stranded
pilots. They won't be jumping up and down waving at you. So, use
your instruments and viewscreen to find their crashed ships. They'll
wait inside until you land in range.
The rescue's a snap. As son as you shut down your engines, the pilot
will come running and knock on your rear airlock door. Let the
spacer in.
When you pick up your quota of pilots, or run out of energy it's back
to the Mother Ship. As you get better, we advance you to higher
Levels--the more hellish parts of Fractalus.
Got it? Prepare for Mother Ship Launch.
CODE RED!
1. Insert your cartridge for Rescue on Fractalus! into your Atari
5200 SuperSystem. Turn on your system and TV. Place the overlay
on your controller and plug it into jack 1.
2. Set the difficulty level: Use the Level # key to raise the
level; the Level * key to lower it.
3. Press START to begin the game. Your ship will be launched
automatically.
4. Use the joystick to fly the Valkyrie Fighter when you enter the
atmosphere of Fractalus. You'll know you're on your own when the
message MANUAL appears at the top of the screen.
5. Jaggi Gun Emplacements appear as green domes on the mountain
peaks. Watch for cross hairs to appear on the Main Window when
an enemy is near. Line the enemy up in the cross hairs on the
Main Window or Targeting Scope. Launch a torpedo by pressing
any of the red fire buttons.
6. Locate a pilot by watching for a "blip" on the Long Range Scanner
or a flashing green beacon on the surface of Fractalus. Fly
towards the pilot keeping your ship's altitude low.
7. Pilot in range: Watch the Long Range Scanner on your instrument
panel. When the pilot "blip" is centered near the bottom of the
Scanner, press the LAND (1) key to land the ship. Press the
SYSTEMS (2) key to turn off your engines and shields. The
screens will display: PILOT IN RANGE. If the pilot is not in
range the screen displays: PILOT TOO FAR. Take off again by
pressing THRUST (6) and move your ship closer.
8. Rescue the pilot: Press the AIRLOCK (3) key to open the airlock
when the pilot knocks on the door. The air lock automatically
closes after the pilot climbs safely inside.
9. Take off: Press THRUST (6), and search for the next downed pilot.
10. The Mother Ship will return to your sector to check on your
progress. If you're in trouble--low on energy, taking a lot of
heat--the Mother Ship will try to show up sooner. When it's
near, the Mother Ship light on the control panel will begin
flashing and the message MOTHER SHIP! will appear at the top of
the screen. If you've rescured your quota of pilots or are low
on energy press the BOOSTERS (7) key to fire the boosters. Your
ship will automatically leave Fractalus and dock with the Mother
Ship.
SCORING
Event Point Value
Each second of flight.......................1
Gun emplacement destroyed.................100
Saucer destroyed..........................250
Pilot picked up...........................200
Ace picked up............................2000
Pilot returned to Mother Ship (bonus).....500
Pilot returned over quota (bonus)........1000
Level Completed...................Level X 200
Note: If you return to the Mother Ship before you have rescued your
quota of pilots you may continue at the same level, but you will not
receive a bonus for completing that level. If you continue at a
lower level, you forfeit your previous score.
INSTRUMENT DETAIL
1. Score
Resets automatically when you begin a new game.
2. Compass
Gives you a sense of direction when making turns or finding your
way back to an overflown pilot.
3. Wing Clearance Bars
Shows how far the nearest mountain is to the tips of your wings.
Helpful for making tight turns in canyons.
4. Thrust Level
Shows your engine thrust level. The more lights turned on, the
higher the thrust.
5. Dangerous Altitude
This column lights up when your ship moves close to the ground.
All lights are lit when you land.
6. Artificial Horizon
Indicates your ship's current bank (left/right) and climb
(up/down)
7. Altimeter
The red bar represents the attitude of the terrain. The light
blue bar shows your ship's altitude. Your altitude above the
ground is determined by the amount of light blue showing. If
there isn't any light blue, you've either landed or crashed
(or you're about to).
8. Targeting Scope
Targets Jaggi gun emplacements and saucers, and downed ships.
When there is more than one object, the cross hairs target the
closest one.
9. Main Window
Enhances visible light with computer imagery.
10. Cross hairs
Appear on the Main Window to target any visible enemy. A second
set of cross hairs on the Targeting Scope is always displayed.
11. Enemy Lock-On Indicator
These lights flash while the lock-on system is analyzing stray
radiation. When an enemy gun emplacement begins to lock up on
to your ship, these lights go out, then turn on again one by one,
starting at the left. When all six lights are on, the gun
emplacements will fire. You can cause the gun emplacements to
"lose lock" by evasive maneuvering.
12. Energy Level Indicator
Displays the energy level and changes color as your energy level
is depleted; flashes and beeps when it gets critically low.
Additional energy is available from each rescued pilot's energy
cell. Your energy cells will be completely recharged each time
you return to the Mother Ship.
13. Long Range Scanner
The Scanner picks up the pilot's emergency beacon and displays it
as a blip. The V shape on the Scanner shows the field of view in
front of your ship; your position is at the bottom of the V.
When you are within two units of a downed pilot the Scanner will
begin flashing and beeping continuously. Then you can pick up
the pilot.
14. Shields On
This light indicates when your Dirac Mirror Shields--a low power
version of the Mother Ship's invisibility shield--are activated
and drawing power. The shield surrounds your craft with a
powerful Dirac wave which reflects all known forms of energy--
however, it can't handle the side of a mountain at full throttle!
15. Mother Ship
This light flashes, a bleep sounds, and a MOTHER SHIP! message
appears at the top of the display when the Mother Ship is in
range. You should pick up more than half your quota of pilots
before the ship reappears.
16. Air Lock Open
Light indicates when the air lock is open.
17. Range to Pilot
Shows the relative distance to the pilot indicated on the Long
Range Scanner. When no pilot is sensed, "0" is shown.
18. Enemies Destroyed
Shows the number of gun emplacements and saucers you have
destroyed.
19. Pilot Quota/Rescued
Shows the number of pilots you must rescue and bring back to the
Mother Ship in order to advance to the next level. Every time
you pick up a pilot, this number is decreased. It flashes when
you've reached your quota and counts the number of pilots you've
rescued beyond your quota. An admirable feat!
FLIGHT CONTROLS
JOYSTICK
You control your Valkyrie Fighter with the joystick and number keys
on the controller. Since your ship is a true flyer, go easy on the
joystick. Experienced pilots make small adjustments with the
joystick rather than forcing it from side to side.
- START Starts the game
- RESET Restarts the game from the beginning. The current score is
lost. During the game, RESET only works after pressing PAUSE.
- PAUSE Freezes the screen during a mission.
6 THRUST INCREASE
You can select eight different engine thrust levels. The faster you
fly, the faster the Valkyrie Fighter responds to flight control.
And the higher the game level the faster you fly! After you've
landed, this key becomes your "launch key"--press it and your engines
will lift you off the surface.
9 THRUST DECREASE
Decreases your ship's thrust, but doesn't turn off the engines.
7 BOOSTERS
Fires the booster rockets to return to the Mother Ship if it's
orbiting in your planetary sector. You can't leave Fractalus without
firing your boosters--you will only get as far as the upper reaches
of the planet's dense cloud cover.
1 LAND
When a pilot is in range, this key will put the ship into an
automatic landing maneuver. If your altitude is too high, the
message TOO HIGH will appear. Fly to a lower altitude and try again.
2 SYSTEMS
After you land, use this key to turn all systems on and off. If you
leave your shields and engines on, the powerful energy field around
your ship will burn any nearby life forms to a crisp. Knowing this,
the downed pilots will not leave their ship until your engines are
off. Don't turn the engines on again until the pilot is safely
inside and the air lock door is closed.
3 AIR LOCK
You must open the air lock doors to let the pilot inside. The air
lock will automatically close when the pilot is safely inside the
ship, or if the engines are turned on.
0 DEMO
Press this key to observe video recordings of missions flown by
Droidcraft (the screen message will read DEMO DROID). These droids
are not skilled enough to rescue pilots. They are only used to
clear out the dreaded Jaggi gun emplacements.
Good luck!
*
Increases starting level of game.
#
Decreases starting level of game
JOYSTICK
All FIRE buttons = Launch AMB Torpedo
Dive
^
|
Bank Bank
Left <-- --> Right
|
v
Climb
THE GOOD STUFF
AIR PILOT'S CRIB SHEET
LANDING
When you first land, you will hover on your shields a few centimeters
above the ground. While "hovering" you can turn your ship towards
the pilot's crashed ship. If you've managed to land in range, turn
your systems off and you'll get the message PILOT IN RANGE. The
downed pilot will now run towards your ship, even if you can't see
him (if you can see his ship, you'll see the pilot). If you turn
your systems on again before the pilot is safely inside your ship,
the shield's high energy field will vaporize him!
If you land beyond a downed ship, the message SHIP OFF SCOPE will
appear on the screen. If this happens, turn your systems back on--
don't lift off--note the current heading on the compass, and execute
a 180 degree turn. If you are still too far away, use the thrusters
to move within range.
Before taking off with your pilot, it's a good idea to destroy the
wrecked ship. This will keep the Jaggies from stealing our
technological secrets.
ACE PILOTS
If you see a pilot wearing a purple helmet running towards you,
you've just rescued an Ace Pilot. Ace Pilots are worth ten times
more than a regular pilot--2000 points vs. 200 points. They are also
packing more power in their energy cells. And they're rare--not many
get shot down. After all, they ARE Aces!
LEVELS
When you first begin the game, you may select a level from 1 through
16. After you complete a mission, you will continue at a higher
level; in fact, you may skip up to three levels at a time if you are
extremely brave. The bonus for completing a level will be higher if
you skip levels.
Levels 1 through 3 are training levels. For Level 1, you enter a
sector of Fractalus that has been cleared of the dreaded Jaggies by
our Droidcraft.
On Levels 2 and 3, you enter the planet's atomsphere above a region
which has only a few Jaggie gun emplacements.
The higher levels (4 and above) you have more emplacements, saucers,
and pilots, and the Jaggies become even more aggressive, tenacious,
and accurate.
Levels 1 through 15 will take place near Fractalus' South Pole where
it's summer during this time of year. This will save you from the
mindshattering short day ordeal since the sun never sets on that part
of the planet.
JAGGI GUN EMPLACEMENTS
On Levels 2 and above, you will find Jaggi Gun Emplacements on the
peaks of some mountains. These automated emplacements fire
high-energy ion beams at your ship. You can avoid being hit with
some slick evasive flying or by knocking out the emplacements. Your
Dirac Mirror Shield will reflect most of the enery from a direct hit
but your energy level will drop and you will be thrown off course.
Since gun emplacements will still be able to hit your ship while you
are on the surface, be sure to destroy any in the vicinity before
landing to rescue a pilot.
SAUCERS
On Levels 4 and above, the enraged Jaggies will fly their inertialess
saucers directly into you. These "suicide" saucers can either be
shot down with your AMB torpedoes or dodged. If they hit your
shields, they will drain off more energy than a gun emplacement hit.
The saucers tend to occupy the higher altitudes, although they have
been known to dive into the canyons when especially irritated.
NIGHT FLYING
On Level 16 and above, you'll be dropeed closer to Fractalus'
equator. Here--as you streak through the nine minute days and
nights--you'll have a chance to work on your NIGHT FLYING skills.
When night flying, you're "flying blind," so to speak--there's not
enough light to activate your Main Window viewscreen. So, you'll
have to rely upon your instruments and wits alone.
MODIFIED VALKYRIE CLASS FIGHTER
Powered by: Twin 27,000 kg F-27 Firedrake
afterburning turboject engines.
Boosters: Twin 80,000 kg ARD/VARC anti-
matter reaction drives.
Wing span: 12.8 meters
Wing area: 67.1 square meters
Length: 18.4 meters
Mass: 20,315 kg
Max Cruising
Speed: 8,640 km/h (mach 7.2)
Range: 2,150 km at mach 3.4 cruise/climb
Accomodation: Crew of 1; 20 passengers
Shields: Dirac Mirror Shield
Sensors: Long Range Etheric Navigation
System
Armament: Anti-Matter Bubble (AMB) Torpedo
generator.
First Flight: February 29, 2184
Progressive development of the F-27 Firedrake yielded a small family
of twin-engined, twin tailed, V-Wing designs. The largest of these,
the Valkyrie Class Fighter, was originally used as a light bomber and
ground attack craft, but has been modified for behind-the-lines
combat in the Jaggi War of '84.
IMPORTANT!
Flying rescue missions means defeating the stubborn Jaggi defenses.
So, you may wonder: "Who are the Jaggies? What are the like? What
if I'm captured by them?"
First, the name Jaggi is a short, pronounceable word for J'hagga Ri
Kachatki--an "intelligent" life form from the star system Tepdi Vad
Neroleil Rahcre, located in the distant, outlying dark sector of our
galaxy.
Second, don't worry about being capture--they don't take prisoners.
That much we do know about them. Experience also teaches us they're
tenacious, suicidal fighters, choosing to do battle in the most
inhospitable environments. Fractalus is an ideal example.
Although the Ethercorps have yet to capture or recover a complete
Jaggi, we do have this report from Ethercorps intelligence.
Twenty hours ago, Lieutenant Ace, Yolea Malura, crashed on Fractalus.
This morning, her Commander made Etherwave contact with her. This is
a transcript of her final transmission:
"Lieutenant Malura to Mother Ship. Hope you can read me. I've been
down here in this atmosphere so long it's starting to get to me. I
kept the air locks closed as best I could, but they were pretty torn
up.
"During the nights I see brief flashes of other ships fall to the
surface, but during the days there's nothing to see but this awful
yellow acid--smog. I had my shields on for awhile, until I realized
the Jaggies could still track me. I'd fry anyone trying to rescue
me... so I turned them off and waited. You'll never believe how
LONELY it is down here, waiting--but it's not quiet. The acid makes
a continuous sizzling sound, very faint but always there, as it eats
away at the hull of my ship.
"Hey, what's that! I think I see a pilot running towards me! I knew
you guys wouldn't let me down! Wait. There's something weird here.
He doesn't look quite right--his helmet's green? Commander! We
don't have any...MY GOD! What the...it's a...it's going to....
[scream]."
There was nothing more except Etherwave static. And we haven't been
able to raise her on the Emergency Frequency. Get those spacers off
that hellhole and fast!
CREDIT
RESCUE ON FRACTALUS! was created by the Lucasfilm Computer Division
Games Group. David Fox directed the project and created the concept,
transition scenes, animation, and documentation. Loren Carpenter of
the Lucasfilm Computer Graphics Project did the 3-D fractal landscape
image generation and co-created the concept. Charlie Kellner was
responsible for animation, music, sound, and flight dynamics; Gary
Winnick provided animation; David Levine provided support; and Peter
Langston, the Games Group Leader, contributed to the concept and
designed night flying, music, and sound. Special thanks to George
Lucas.
* Trademark of Lucasfilm Ltd. and Atari Corp.
(c) 1984 Lucasfilm Ltd. and Atari Corp. All Rights Reserved.
Rescue on Fractalus!, Fractalus, Ethercorps, Etheric Navigation
System, Etherwave, Jaggi, Jaggies, J'hagga Ri Katchatki, Tepdi Vad
Neroleil Rahcre, Modified Valkyrie Class Fighter, V-Wing, Firedrake,
Droid, Droidcraft, ARD/VARC, Dirac Mirror Shield, Anti-Matter Bubble
(AMB) Torpedo, Kalamar and the names of all their characters and game
elements are trademarks of Lucasfilm Ltd. Atari, Corp. authorized
user.
Trademark and (c) 1984 Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Atari 5200 and 7800 are trademarks of Atari, Corp., Sunnyvale, CA
94086.
END
Typed by Keita Iida
Used with permission from Atari Gaming Headquarters
|
|
|
|
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord