Defender(TM) by Atari--Cartridge for Atari 400/800

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--The Defender of Worlds!

Decades past, your leaders learned that aliens lusted for your world.  At once, they set
your most brilliant scientists, your most farseeing warriors, to design the ultimate
spaceship--something to defend your beleaguered planet.

Now, that ship is in your hands...

-Inserting the Cartridge

Turn on your ATARI(R) Home Computer by pressing the power switch on the right side of the
console to ON.  Pull the release lever toward you to open the cartridge door. (Whenever
you do this, the computer automatically turns itself off.)

Insert the DEFENDER game cartridge in the cartridge slot (the left cartridge slot in the
ATARI 800(TM) Home Computer) with the label facing you.  Press down carefully and firmly.
Close the cartridge door and the computer turns on again.

[picture of cartridge being inserted into Atari 800]

-The Joystick Controllers

For one player, plug a joystick controller into Controller Jack 1. For two players, plug a
second joystick into Controller Jack 2.  Hold the joystick so that the red button is in the
upper loft corner.  Press the button to fire missles.

[picture of joystick being plugged into Port 1 of Atari 800]

-The Select Key

When you first turn on your computer, the selection screen lists a version of DEFENDER and
a level of difficulty (One Player Easy).  Press the SELECT key as often as necessary to
choose the version and level you want.  To return to the selection screen while the game is
in play, press ESC and then SELECT. Pressing SELECT alone has no effect while the game is in
play.

NOTE: In addition to the six games you can play, there's a demonstration game to show new
players the various possibilities of DEFENDER.

[picture of Select key]

-The Start Key

Press the START key to begin the game.  To begin again while the game is in play, press ESC
and then START.  Pressing START alone has no effect while the game is in play.

[picture of Start key]

-The ESC Key

Press the ESC key to pause in the middle of a game.  Press it again to pick up where you
left off.

[picture of ESC key]

-The Space Bar (Smart Bomb)

Press the space bar on your computer keyboard to detonate a Smart Bomb.

[picture of Space Bar]

-Any Standard Key (Hyperspace)

Press any standard key except ESC, CTRL, SHIFT, or BREAK to activate Hyperspace.

[picture of entire Atari 800 keyboard]

-----

-Evil From the Far Stars!

The alien attack has come!  Before your planet's defenses could react, their Landers were
besieging you on the foulest mission an alien mind could ever concieve.  They're kidnapping
your humanoids and transforming them into mutants who will then strike at YOU!  Backing
their Landers are Baiters, Swarmers, Bombers, and the dread Pods.  But you have the most
advanced ship your world has ever devised--Defender!

They're going to have to FIGHT!

As the battle begins, Defender has three lives and three Smart Bombs.  When Defender
collides with an alien ship or is hit by an alien mine, it explodes with a spectacular
blast.  If that's its last life, the game is over; if any lives remain, another Defender
appears to continue the war.

When Defender destroys all the aliens in the first wave, another wave moves in.  The longer
Defender survives, the more dangerous the attacking waves become.

[screenshot of game screen: player shooting lander]

Defender responds quickly to its controls, but may be hard to reverse after prolonged
thrust, due to its momentum.  It fires missles in the direction it's facing.

There are two last-resort options:  SMART BOMBS and HYPERSPACE.  SMART BOMBS destroy all
aliens in sight (earning you points for every one), but you have just three Bombs at the
start; you earn another Bomb for each 10,000 points you score.  Use Smart Bombs sparingly
and strategically--it's a good idea to keep one in reserve for emergencies.  HYPERSPACE
temporarily sends you into a space warp, but you never know where you'll reappear.  Use
Hyperspace sparingly, too, because overuse can cost you a Defender life.

-----

 *
***
***
*0***0 *
000**0 00
*0000********
000******
*0****

Each of the alien ships has a different function.

LANDERS, the first to appear, kidnap humanoids and fire white charges.    ***
                                                                         ** **
                                                                         ** **
                                                                          ***
                                                                           *
                                                                          ***
                                                                         * * *
                                                                        *  *  *

BOMBERS lay mines to trap you--you can't shoot mines, so you must avoid them.   *****
                                                                                *****
                                                                               0000**
                                                                               0@@0**
                                                                               0@@0**
                                                                               0000**
                                                                               *****

BAITERS appear if you take too long to finish off a wave--they move faster than Defender
and fire white charges as they home in on him.

     ****
    ======
  ==========
**************

MUTANTS--transformed humanoids--are very dangerous.  Once a humanoid is lost to you, spare
no effort in trying to destroy it.  They'll fly directly above or below you (where you can't
hit them) and then charge.

**                                  * *
@0   <---Humanoid                  *000*
@0                                 *000*
 $                 Mutant--->       000
 $                                  * *
                                   * * *

The POD is the most dangerous, because when it's destroyed it releases Swarmers.

SWARMERS track you closely, so zap them as quickly as you can.

* * *                                    *
 000    <---Pods                        ***
00*00                                  *****
 000                Swarmer--->         ***
* * *                                    *


All aliens except Landers can exit at the bottom of the screen and emerge from the top, or
vice versa.

-----

Your viewscreen shows your immediate area, but the Scanner at the top of the screen shows a
much wider view.  The area covered by your viewscreen is bracketed in the center of the
Scanner, so you can see what's happening to your right and left--a crucial factor with so
many aliens around.  By using your Scanner you can tell which kinds of aliens are where,
and--more important--which of your Humanoids are in danger.  Humanoids and the different
types of alien ships are distinguished by different colored blips.

                  ______________________________________________
  Smart Bombs--                     ----------
              |     .        '  .  '.      .'    .     '
              |   '.  .    '.  '      .              '     
  SCORE       V        '                       .         .
    |        ==X  \               __                           _
    |        ==X   \  '          /  \        /\       '       /   <---Scanner
    V        ==X    ~~\_________/    \_/\___/  \__/~~~~~~~~~~~
   875                              ----------
   ___________________________________________________________________________


You begin the game with ten humanoids.  When a humanoid is kidnapped, it cries out for
help--go to its rescue immediately!  The Scanner is the fastest way to spot its position.

There are two ways of rescuing a humanoid:  either destroy the Lander and let the humanoid
fall back to the planet; or destroy the Lander, catch the falling humanoid, and carry it
back to the planet.  Letting the humanoid fall only works if it's low enough to fall
safely--you'll have to experiment to find out how low that is.  If the humanoid falls
safely, you score 250 points, plus 150 points for destroying the Lander.  If the humanoid
dies, you score only the 150 points for the Lander.

Catching a humanoid in midair is more difficult and earns you more points.  To catch a
humanoid, shoot the Lander and maneuver Defender to touch the planet.  This earns you 1000
points, plus 150 for the Lander.  If you catch the humanoid but don't return it safely, you
still earn 500 points, plus 150 for the lander.

If a Lander succeeds in carrying a humanoid to the top of the screen, the humanoid becomes a
Mutant and returns to attack Defender.  When all of the humanoids become mutants, or are
destroyed, the planet explodes and vanishes.  You continue to play and score points.  With
every fifth wave, a destroyed planet reappears and all ten humanoids are replaced.

-----

--STRATEGY

DEFENDER is one of the most complex games ever devised, but your control over the action is
made simple by the ATARI joystick.  Using this one device, you can thrust, reverse, and
change Defender's altitude--giving you unmatched freedom of the skies as you battle the
invaders.

Fly low.  Good DEFENDER players seldom fly more than two inches above the planet, in order
to protect their humanoids.

Listen to the game sounds.  Most of the time you'll hear a humanoid cry for help before you
see it.  Use the Scanner to find it.  Try playing DEFENDER using the Scanner alone a few
times to get a good idea of how it works.

Mutants are not as hard to destroy as it might appear.  Thrust, then reverse direction and
adjust your height simultaneously, and fire.

Don't thrust too much.  If you do, your momentum will carry you too far and you'll miss a 
shot or collide with an alien.  Also, if you're too close to the edge of the screen you're
facing, you'll have less time to react to whatever comes your way.

When you're thrusting, move up and down continuously to sweep your area clean.  But use your
Scanner to check what's ahead--don't blast a kidnapped humanoid by mistake!

You can carry a humanoid around with you so that the aliens can never destroy all ten of
them without destroying you.  But if you touch the planet, the humanoid will immediately
jump free.

Aliens become confused if you quickly reverse twice, giving you time to blast them.

Use Smart Bombs only in extreme emergencies, or if there are enough aliens on the screen to
push you past a 10,000 point mark.

-----

--SCORING

Scores appear at the top of the screen.  The score for Player 1, or a single player, is on
the left; the score for Player 2 is on the right.  How many lives and Smart Bombs Defender
has left is displayed next to the scores.

At the end of each of the first five waves, you score 100 bonus points for each surviving
humanoid, multiplied by the number of the wave.  At the end of each wave thereafter, you
score 500 bonus points for each surviving humanoid.  The wave number and the number of 
bonus points appear in the center of the screen.  Any humanoid you're carrying returns to
the planet.

-Point values

Aliens destroyed:

Lander:  150
Mutant:  150
Swarmer:  200
Baiter:  200
Bomber:  250
Pod:  1000
Defender Destroyed:  25 each life

Humanoid Rescue Mission

150 points for the Lander plus:

Humanoid falls and lives:  250
Caught but not brought back:  500
Caught and brought back:  1000

[legal stuff deleted]

(C)1982 Atari, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
Defender is a trademark of Williams Electronics, Inc.

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Manual typed up by The Morbid Guy
morbid@best.com  http://www.best.com/~morbid