DEFENDER / PANETOID

Your laser ship is patrolling the surface of the planet. The scanner in
the top section of the screen shows the whole planet surface, and can be
used for long-range reconnaissance. The lower part of the screen
displays the section over which the laser ship is flying. The raiders
can be seen hovering around the surface on the look-out for life-forms
which they can drag off into space. As a raider ascends with a
life-form, you can destry it with your lasers, or with the smart bombs,
which disintegrate everything hostile within sight. Having annihilated
the raider, you can intercept the plummetting life-form and set him back
down on the surface. If you do not rescue a life-form before the raider
carrying him reaches the top of the screen, the raider will mutate. You
will then have to contend with a mutant, while also being attacked by
bombers, spores and megacytes, all of which are to be avoided at all
costs, and killed before going on to the next wave. Cruisers are also
dangerous, but don't have to be destroyed before you move on to the next
wave. When megacytes are destroyed they release a cloud of spores - use
the smart bombs wisely, as you only have 3 to begin with. Look out when
only one life-form remains, since if the raider abducting him reaches
the top of the screen the planet explodes and all the raiders become
mutants. However, after every 5 attack waves you get a new planet, and a
new set of life-forms to defend. You start off with 3 ships, but for
every 10,000 points you score, you gain a ship plus a smart bomb.

SCORE 500 for each life-form caught in flight, and 500 for each one
safely returned to the planet surface. Bonuses for each surving
life-form at the end of each wave are 100 at wave 1 end, 200 at wave 2,
etc to 500 for wave 5, and 500 each subsequent wave. Score 150 for each
of Raider, Mutant, Bomber and Cruiser. 250 for a Spore, and 1000 for a
Megacyte.

Characters : Raiders and Mutants are bug eyed, three legged, and when
Mutant, they flash colours. A Bomber is a square, a Cruiser is a
horizontal cigar. a Spore is a small flat bottomed blob, a Megacyte is
similar, but rounded both top and bottom,


Three numbers are displayed at the top of the screen ; the first shows
your score and the second and third show the nunbers of remaining laser
ships and smart bombs repectively.


CHEAT : Press <ESCAPE> after loading all the parts and type ?&263B=&99 :
GOTO 200 <RETURN> directly. This will give you 99 lives and smart bombs.
(for Planetoid, use ?&276B=&99:GOTO 200 instead).


CONTROLS :
 
                A / Z        Up / Down
                SHIFT        Move forward
                SPACE        Reverse Direction
                RETURN       Fire Laser
                H            Hyperspace - randomly places you on another part of the screen.
                TAB          Smart Bomb - destroy all 'baddies' on the screen. You have 3 only.


THE CAST :

Green Alien / Raiders: They try to pick up humanoids and go to the top
of the screen, where they change into Mutants.

Flashing blueish Alien Mutants.: Fast moving suicidal types who try to
crsh into your fighter plane.

Cigar shaped Baiter / Cruiser: Chases you all,over the place firing
missiles rapidly. Fast movers with no brakes !

Square Mine Layer / Bomber Leave: minefields into which they try to lure
your fighter. They appear after the first attack wave has been
destroyed.

Pods / Megacytes: If you hit these they break up into a cluster of
suicidal Swarmers / Spores.

Swarmers / Spores: Clouds of small disamond shapes which try to crash
you.

Humanoids / Life Forms: You have to protect and rescue them.