MERCENARY: A FLIGHT SIMULATOR ADVENTURE


ESCAPE FROM TARG:

INTRODUCTION

TARG is a planet in trouble, the peaceful, native palyars are fighting 
for their very existence against the invading mechanoids, a race of 
robots who have siezed the planet.

In the militarily secure colony craft that orbits the TARG, the palyar 
council plans and waits, while brave palyar resistance-fighters oppose 
the mechanoids in the central city, TARG's one major area of habitation.

You are a 21st century space cowboy whose intergalactic craft has 
crashed on TARG. The ship is beyond repair, so you must find another way 
off the planet. Your interface with the world around you is benson, an 
almost-human, ninth-generation, artificially intelligent portable Atari 
computer. Benson, who is always with you, monitors and reports your 
status, conducts communications between you and the aliens, and displays 
information on his control panel.

Almost as soon as you arrive, Benson displays a message regarding a ship 
for sale. You can buy the ship or just take it. But keep in mind that 
stealing has its consequences!

The next message you receive is from the Palyar Resistance. They have 
work for you. If you're willing to be a mercenary, meet them in the 
briefing room of their underground headquarters. later, you also have an 
opportunity to meet the mechanoid reps, so don't make any hasty 
decisions.

CRUCIAL INFO

Fly anywhere on TARG; There are no constraints or penalties, even if you 
crash! if ** shows on your location indicator, good luck! no one knows 
where you are. but there are a few places of interest, even in the 
wilderness; you only have to find them!

It's hard to resist zapping things! if you fire at the base of a 
structure and score a direct hit, the result is an awesome collapse! 
however, if someone owns the site you zapped; take cover. Unless you 
knock out the droid missile fired in retaliation, it will find you and 
will home in for the kill!!! try rapid flight backwards to keep it in 
view while you aim and fire.

One of the things you notice from the surface of targ is a dot in the 
sky above the planet. this is the colony craft and you need a special 
key to get into this stronghold. the key is somewhere on targ.

The Colony Craft has three floors to explore. any room you enter that 
benson names (other than hangar, bank, briefing rooms, and 
communications room) offers an "earning" opportunity. for example, gold 
delivered to the exchequer yields 100,000 credits.

You can build your credits on your visit to the colony craft; but, 
before commiting yourself, consider that the Mechanoids have an interest 
in some of your goodies and may pay more than the Palyars.

As much fun as fighting and exploring may be, don't lose sight of your 
ultimate goal: Escape from TARG! There are three ways to accomplish 
this, but it's up to you to figure them out. just before escaping, be 
sure to save the game. any winning situation can be used as a starting 
point for MERCENARY II.

TRANSPORTATION

There are two types of ground-based vehicles (gbvS) and four varieties 
of aircraft, plus one ship capable of intergalactic flight.

Board a vehicle by walking to its center and pressing B.
Leave a vehicle by pressing L.
Forward speed is controlled by the number keys 1 (low) through 9 (0 is 
top speed). adjust the power level by pressing the > key to increase and 
< to decrease.
brake by pressing the space bar (in flight, this lets you hover).
flying an airship requires sufficient speed to take off. to gain 
altitude, pull back on the joystick. dive by pushing forward. landing 
too heavily results in a crash!
reverse thrust (flight only) by holding down the shift key while 
pressing a number key.
Weapons are provided on many vehicles. press the fire button to shoot.
steering is by use of the joystick. steering in flight is slightly 
different than when walking or using GBV'S.

JOYSTICK CONTROLS

       FORWARD             DIVE
          ^                  ^
          |                  |
   TURN<--+-->TURN    TURN<--+-->TURN
   LEFT   |   RIGHT   LEFT   |   RIGHT
          v                  v
       BACKWARD            CLIMB

ELEVATORS

In several locations on targ's surface, there are three-sided cages 
(elevators) which provide access to underground complexes. an elevator 
is activated when you stand in the center and press E. Press E again to 
return to the surface.

OBJECTS

Most of the objects found on TARG are in the underground complexes. 
Certain objects enhance your capabilities or allow you to perform 
functions. others have an obvious sales value and some may even seem 
useless. objects are only identified when they are picked up (not all 
are identified). it's a good idea to keep a list of items in the order 
you pick them up. you can carry up to 10 objects at a time.

Take objects by pressing T.
Drop objects by pressing D (the last object taken will be the first 
object dropped). dropping too many items in one are slows down the 
graphics.

CONTROL PANEL

Below is an explanaTion of Benson's control panel. colors mentioned may 
vary depending on your computer or monitor.

EL - elevation indicates whether your airship is gaining altitude (blue) 
or losing it (green).
SPEED - speed shows how fast you're going in any type of vehicle.
LOC - location displays your co-ordinates on the planet. negative co-
ordinates let you know you're on the opposite hemisphere of the planet 
from the city.
ALT - altitude gives your flying height in feet.
COMP - compass helps you determine which direction you're going. red and 
green indicate north; red is the western quadrant and green the eastern. 
black and blue are south; black is the eastern quadrant and blue the 
western.

SAVING AND LOADING

Save a game by pressing CTRL-S. Remove the game disk from the drive and 
insert the save-game disk. choose a number from 0-9, as prompted, and 
press return. CAUTION: never try to save a game on the MERCENARY GAME 
DISK! You may leave the same-game disk in the drive for easier saving 
and loading as you play. reusing a save-game number saves the new game 
and wipes out the one previously saved under that number (it's a good 
idea to keep a list of game numbers you don't want to lose).

Load a save game during game play by pressing CTRL-L. Be sure the save-
game disk is in the drive, select the number of the game you want to 
load, and press return.
attention: a saved game on the 64k version will only work on th e64k 
version. the same goes for the 48k version. to avoid confusion, it is 
best to either keep a list of the games saved from each version, or have 
a separate character disk for each version.

Pause game by pressing CTRL-RETURN. Press RETURN to resume play.


QUITTING A SITUATION

It's in the spirit of the game that your character is never killed. 
however, certain circumstances could leave you stranded in the 
wilderness or in a genuine no-win situation. to opt out of a tight spot 
without restarting the game, press CTRL-Q. you are then transferred back 
to the central city, but any objects in your possesion are scattered 
around the planet (scattered objects are often visible as "dots" from a 
considerable distance away).

SUBTLE HINTS

If you're the kind of rugged adventurer who likes to figure things out 
for yourself, skip this part!!!
*  when first learning how to use aircraft or GBV's around TARG, It's 
easier to travel on the ground rather than in the air (walking isn't 
recommended if you want to get somewhere before the turn of the 
century). flying is faster, but finding specific places from the air 
takes an aviator's skill and a lot of practice.
*  When you crash-land, you're automatically on foot. unless your ship 
is destroyed, press B to re-board.
*  There are eight types of doors in the underground complexes. some 
lead into darkness(but there is a way to see the light). enter marked 
doors with caution - you may find yourself in totally unfamiliar 
surroundings when you emerge! with a little exploration, you can 
distinguish between the doors.
*  Often, the names of objects you pick up give important clues to their 
use.
*  even when you discover one method of escaping from targ, you haven't 
exhausted all the possibilities. you could conceivably play the game 
forever!


CRYPTIC CLUES

*You've found some cheese - utterly incredible!
 it's quite useful, but not very edible.
*There are no nasty spiders on TARG to see;
 but a curious web just could be the key.
*The colony craft is a wonderful place,
 and getting there takes an extremely fast pace;
 Once you are there, it's great fun if you let it,
 for here there are ways to earn heaps of credit.
*Go to the kitchen for much more than cleaning;
 Pick something up that gives objects more meaning.
*The friendly palyars have a serious flaw:
 The commander's unfriendly brother in law;
 he isn't pleased with your sudden arrival;
 Don't mess with him if your goal is survival!
*When leaving the planet, if there's one more "lock",
 you need to find something to turn back the clock.


KEYBOARD SUMMARY

B - BOARD VEHICLE          0-9 - FORWARD SPEED
L - LEAVE VEHICLE          SHIFT 0-9 - REVERSE THRUST
E - OPERATE ELEVATOR       > - INCREASE SPEED
T - TAKE OBJECT            < - DECREASE SPEED
D - DROP OBJECT            SPACE BAR - STOP
Y - YES                    CTRL-Q - QUIT SITUATION
CTRL-RET - PAUSE GAME      CTRL-S - SAVE GAMEPLAY
RETURN - RESUME PLAY       CTRL-L - LOAD GAME


DOX COURTESY OF ECKS

