Difference between revisions of "Tombstone City"

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| state =  
 
| state =  
 
| italic title =  
 
| italic title =  
| title = TI Invaders
+
| title = Tombstone City
| image = TI Invaders Manual Cover.jpg
+
| image = Tombstone City Manual (New).jpg
| alt = TI Invaders Manual Cover
+
| alt = Tombstone City Manual Cover
| caption = TI Invaders Manual (Front Cover) <ref>{{cite web|title=TI99ers On-Line User Group: TI-99 Cartridge Listing|url=http://ti99ers.org/timeline/cartbytitle.html}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|title=TI-99/4A Video Game House: TI Invaders|url=https://www.videogamehouse.net/tiinvaders.html}}</ref>
+
| caption = Tombstone City Manual (Front Cover) <ref>{{cite web|title=TI99ers On-Line User Group: TI-99 Cartridge Listing|url=http://ti99ers.org/timeline/cartbytitle.html}}</ref> <ref>{{cite web|title=TI-99/4A Video Game House: Tombstone City|url=http://www.videogamehouse.net/tombstone.html}}</ref>
 
| publisher = [[Texas Instruments|Texas Instruments (TI)]]
 
| publisher = [[Texas Instruments|Texas Instruments (TI)]]
| part = PHM 3053
+
| part = PHM 3052
| programmer = [[Garth Dollahite]]
+
| programmer = [[John Plaster|John C. Plaster]]
| format = [[:Category:Solid State Software Command Module|Solid State Software<sup>TM</sup> Command Module]], Floppy Disk
+
| format = [[:Category:Solid State Software Command Module|Solid State Software<sup>TM</sup> Command Module]]
 
| released = [[:Category:1981 Software|1981 (4th Quarter)]]
 
| released = [[:Category:1981 Software|1981 (4th Quarter)]]
| genre = [[:Category:Shooter|Shooter]], [[:Category:Space|Space]]
+
| genre = [[:Category:Shooter|Shooter]]
 
| price = $39.95 (USD)
 
| price = $39.95 (USD)
 
}}
 
}}
  
'''TI Invaders''' is a [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Invaders Space Invaders] clone (perhaps the most cloned video game in history),<ref>{{cite web|title=TI-99/4A Video Game House: TI Invaders|url=http://www.videogamehouse.net/tiinvaders.html}}</ref> that was produced for the TI-99/4A home computer system. TI Invaders was programmed by [[Garth Dollahite]], and was released in the 4th quarter of [[:Category:1981 Software|1981]] via [[:Category:Solid State Software Command Module|Solid State Software<sup>TM</sup> Command Module]] with part # PHM 3053. The original retail cost for TI Invaders was $39.95 (USD). It was distributed and published by Texas Instruments.
+
'''Tombstone City''' is a single-player shooter video game created for the TI-99/4A home computer system. It was released by [[Texas Instruments|Texas Instruments (TI)]] during the 4th quarter of  
 +
1981. It was created by programmer [[John Plaster|John C. Plaster]] and released on [[:Category:Solid State Software Command Module|Solid State Software<sup>TM</sup> Command Module]] cartridge with Part #3052 retailing originally for $39.95 (USD).
  
 
==Gameplay==
 
==Gameplay==
Like all [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Invaders Space Invader's] clones, the player in TI Invaders controls a laser cannon that moves back and forth, horizontally on the bottom of the screen shooting at an army of descending aliens. Occasionally during the game, a space saucer will hover across the top of the screen which is worth varying points, depending on how close to center it's hit, if hit by the player's laser cannon.
+
The player in Tombstone City controls a spaceship referred to in the literature as a schooner. The object is to destroy the primary targets which are green aliens referred to in the manual as Morgs, and secondary targets which are purple tumbleweeds. The purpose of the game is to woo others back to live at an unnamed southwestern town in the United States by reducing the number of aliens and destroying these tumbleweeds. The score is labeled as "population in the game. The game is over when the player loses all his/her schooners.
  
TI Invaders presents several unique features not found in the original Space Invaders arcade game. First off, after a player defeats a wave of enemy aliens, TI Invaders inserts a bonus level where the player shoots at a UFO. With each hit, the saucer changes directions and increases in point value, shrinks in size, and moves upward away from the laser cannon.  
+
The player's schooner starts out in the center of sixteen blocks right in the middle of the screen. This structure of blocks represents a safe zone where the Morgs cannot enter and kill the player. The player can kill either Morgs or tumbleweeds within the range of the safe area of blocks, however, most of the targets will require the player to leave the safety of the blocks and venture outside, making the player much more vulnerable. Each tumbleweed destroyed earns the player 100 points of population. Each Morg earns 150 points. Morgs spawn wherever two Saguaro Cacti touch, either side-by-side, above one another, or vertically. Generally, when a Morg is shot, it creates a new catus. When a Morg is killed while touching a producing pair of cacti, however, it will destroy the cacti and produce a single new Morg. The object of the game is to destroy all producing pairs of cacti. Doing so will pass a level of the game called a day, and move onto the next level or day with cacti regenerated in a new random position and earning the player a new schooner.  
  
Another change from the original is that the aliens change from wave to wave of enemy attacks. The bottom row is replaced on each level with the level above it, and a new top level alien appears. Each different alien type fills two rows of identical aliens. As the game progresses, the newer aliens become more difficult to hit either by becoming slimmer or by becoming invisible at times, only being able to be hit while visible.
+
One caveat while killing the Morgs is to be aware that killing a Morg within one space of a single cactus will produce a new producing pair of cacti. Producing adjacent cacti pairs will extend the day or level. Also, kill Morgs at the exits/entrances of the safety zone of blocks prevents the player from leaving or entering that entrance or exit. If the player blocks all exits/entrances, and the player is within the safety zone, the player's schooner is transported to a random spot outside the zone where he/she must continue the game with no safe place to hide from the Morgs. If the player is killed at this point, new schooners will generate outside the safety zone in a random spot. The player can open up entrances/exits into the safe zone by killing Morgs adjacent to two Cacti where one happens to block the entry/exit, but this can be a lengthy and difficult process.
  
 
==Advertising Blurbs==
 
==Advertising Blurbs==
 
===Front Cover of Manual===
 
===Front Cover of Manual===
Numerous downright nasty space creatures challenge your survival instincts when they attack your world. Try to destroy these swarming invaders before they demolish your missiles.  
+
Your survival instinct is challenged immediately as you find yourself in a 21st Century-Old West ghost town threatened by an invading hoard of green alien monsters.
  
 
===Back Cover of Manual===
 
===Back Cover of Manual===
Your world is under attack by downright nasty creatures from Space. It's up to you - can you save your world from this hostile horde? Use your wit and skill to destroy the multi-colored creatures with your missiles.  
+
It's the 21st Century and you're faced with stopping a hoard of green alien monsters before they take over and Old Weest ghost town and the world! Points are added to your score as you and your security force of prairie schooners stop these villainous creatures called morgs.  
  
'''TI Invaders''' challenges you to:
+
'''Tombstone City: 21st Century''' module features let you
* attack and destroy the invaders.
+
* Destroy alien morgs.
* shoot down the yellow control ship.
+
* Eliminate generating pairs of saguaro cactuses.  
 +
* Wipe out tumbleweeds.
  
<gallery mode="packed">
+
===Triton Catalog - Spring 1984===
File:1981 TI Invaders Cartridge (Prototype).png|1981 TI Invaders Prototype Cartridge
+
You against the computer, testing your strategy and your skill. In a future Old West ghost town, you face an invading hoard of - yuk! - green alien Morgs. They live off two things - people and tumbleweeds. Stop 'em before they take over Earth! (Wired Remote Controllers recommended.)
File:1981 TI Invaders Cartridge (Black label on Black).png|1981 TI Invaders Cartridge (black cartridge with black label)
 
File:1982 TI Invaders Cartridge (Red Label on Black).png|1982 TI Invaders Cartridge (black cartridge with red label
 
</gallery>
 
 
 
===Triton Catalog - Fall 1984===
 
Your world is under attack . . . by an armada of nasty creatures from outer space. Use your wits and aiming skills to destroy the multi-colored monsters with your missiles. A one-player game. (Joysticks recommended.)  
 
  
 
<!--        Manual        -->
 
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<h2 id="mp-tfp-h2" style="margin:0.5em; background:#cef2e0; font-family:inherit; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #afa3bf; color:#000; padding:0.2em 0.4em">Manual<span style="font-size:85%; font-weight:normal;"></span></h2>
 
<h2 id="mp-tfp-h2" style="margin:0.5em; background:#cef2e0; font-family:inherit; font-size:120%; font-weight:bold; border:1px solid #afa3bf; color:#000; padding:0.2em 0.4em">Manual<span style="font-size:85%; font-weight:normal;"></span></h2>
 
<div style="padding:0.6em">
 
<div style="padding:0.6em">
 +
===Introduction===
 +
If you 're looking for an exciting new way to test your game-playing skills, then the Tombstone City game is the answer. Your survival instinct is challenged immediately as you find yourself in the 21st Century in an Old West ghost town threatened by an invading hoard of green alien monsters. These villainous creatures called morgs live off of only two things - tumbleweeds and people.
 +
 +
It's up to you and your security force of prairie schooners to stop the morgs before they infest the earth. In accomplishing this goal, you can score points by:
 +
 +
* Destroying alien morgs.
 +
* Watching for adjacent pairs of saguaro cactuses. (It's from here that a new morg is generated!}
 +
* Wiping out tumbleweeds.
 +
 +
A one-player game, Tombstone City is designed to test your strategy, as well as your skill. Movement on the screen can be controlled by the Wired Remote Controllers or from the keyboard.
 +
 +
Tombstone City: the 21st Century is available as either a Solid State Software<sup>TM</sup> Command Module or a diskette-based game. Note that the diskette-based version requires the TI Disk Memory System, the Memory Expansion unit, and must be used with either the TI Extended BASIC or Editor/Assembler Command Module (all sold separately}. Follow the set of directions that applies to your version of the game.
 +
 +
===Getting Started===
 +
 +
To start the game, choose the level of skill on which you want to play: Novice, Master, or Insane. For information on the keys used to play the game and on the point values of the targets, press '''AID'''. (Once play begins, '''AID''' is no longer available.)
 +
 +
* ''Novice level'' - The schooner moves twice as fast as the more. Also, one new morg is generated when you hit a morg that is next to two adjacent saguaro cactuses.
 +
* ''Master level'' - The schooner's speed is the same as that of the morg. Once again, one new morg is generated when you shoot a morg that is next to adjacent saguaro cactuses.
 +
* ''Insane level'' - The schooner's speed is the same as that of the morg. On this level, two morgs are generated when a morg is hit next to two adjacent saguaros.
 +
 +
To select the level of skill, press '''1''', '''2''', or '''3''' when the selection list or the '''AID''' information is displayed. If you press '''AID''' and want to return to the selection list, press any key other than '''1''', '''2''', or '''3'''.
 +
 +
===Playing the Game===
 +
 +
After you select the skill level, the game begins with a playing field of blue squares surrounded by saguaro cactuses and tumbleweeds. A schooner is in the center of the square, and all of the saguaros are in pairs. The pairs of saguaros are generators of the alien creatures called morgs.
 +
 +
The squares encompass the remnants of Tombstone City's deteriorating cemetery, a safe area into which the morgs will not venture. The bottom of the display keeps track of the day, the population (your score), and the number of remaining schooners.
 +
 +
You can stop a game at any time and return to the skill selection display by pressing '''BACK'''. To start a game over with the same skill level, press '''REDO'''.
 +
 +
====Object of the Game====
 +
The object of the game is to score as many points as possible, while eliminating generating pairs of saguaros. The more points you score, the greater the population of Tombstone City.
 +
 +
You start the game with a supply of 10 schooners. Play continues until the schooner supply is exhausted. A New Day begins when all morgs and all morg generators (pairs of saguaros) have been destroyed. Saguaros are destroyed when a missile hits a morg next to two adjacent saguaros.
 +
 +
The schooner moves and fires horizontally and vertically. To move the schooner, press the arrow keys ↑ (E), ←(S),→(D), and ↓ (X) or '''I''' (UP), '''J''' (LEFT), '''K''' (RIGHT), '''M''' (DOWN). To fire the schooner's missile, press '''Q''', '''Y''', or '''ENTER'''. If the Wired Remote Controllers are used, move the lever to direct the schooner, and press the FIRE button to fire the schooner's missile. Position your schooner as rapidly and accurately as possible in order to fire its missile at morgs and tumbleweeds. If a morg is hit, it becomes a saguaro and adds points to your score. If a tumbleweed is hit, it disappears and also increases the score.
 +
 +
Remember, morgs cannot enter the area of the blue squares. However, if a schooner is surrounded by saguaros while in this safe area, the schooner dies, and a new schooner (if any are left) is placed randomly outside the safe area. If your schooner is in danger of being attacked outside these borders and the area is not entirely surrounded by saguaros, press the '''SPACE BAR''', and the schooner reenters safe territory, and 1,000 points are deducted from your score.
 +
 +
Normally, a morg is produced every 10 seconds. However, if you fire a missile and there are less than 10 tumbleweeds and no morgs left, a new morg is generated immediately. If a missile hits a morg next to two adjacent saguaros, these saguaros instantly become either one or two morgs, depending on the level of play. So be ready to fire again!
 +
 +
''Note:'' There is a limited amount of time to destroy any remaining morgs after all generating pairs of saguaro cactuses have been eliminated. If you find yourself in this limited time period, you must destroy the remaining morgs as fast as possible. Otherwise. the computer will time out, and you will have to restart by turning your computer off and then on again.
 +
 +
====Scoring====
 +
The population (score) increases by 150 for each morg you destroy, and that morg becomes a saguaro. Tumbleweeds are worth 100 points each, and a fresh supply of 20 is generated each time the current 20 are eliminated.
 +
 +
If all adjacent pairs of saguaros and all morgs are destroyed, a New Day begins and the player is awarded an additional schooner and 1,000 bonus points. Each New Day begins with more generating pairs of saguaros than the day before, until a maximum of 30 pairs is reached.
 +
 +
====Strategy====
 +
 +
To plan your next move, be on the lookout for the generation of a new morg. This occurs when the safe area lights up and a white background is placed around the saguaro from which the morg will be produced. As your skills increase, you'll note a definite pattern of morg generation.
  
 +
===End of the Game===
  
 +
The game is over when there are no schooners left. To play another game with the same skill level, press '''REDO'''. To play a game at a different skill level, press '''BACK''', and the program returns to the skill selection list. To end a session with the module, press '''QUIT''' to return to the master title screen.
  
 
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<div id="mp-tfp" style="margin:0.1em 0.4em 0.6em;"></div>
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==Downloads==
 
==Downloads==
 
<gallery>
 
<gallery>
1981 TI Invaders Cartridge (Prototype).png|1981 TI Invaders Prototype Cartridge (Black on Black and Yellow)
+
1981 Tombstone City Cartridge (Black Label on Black).png|1981 Tombstone City Cartridge (Black Label on Black Cartridge)
1981 TI Invaders Cartridge (Black label on Black).png|1981 TI Invaders Cartridge (Black on Black)
+
1982 Tombstone City Cartridge (Red Label on Black).png|1982 Tombstone City Cartridge (Red Label on Black Cartridge)
1982 TI Invaders Cartridge (Red Label on Black).png|1982 TI Invaders Cartridge (Red on Black)
+
Tombstone City Manual (Old).jpg|Old-Style Tombstone City Manual Cover
1981 TI Invaders Manual Cover.jpg|1981 TI Invaders Manual Cover (Old-Style)
+
Tombstone City Manual (New).jpg|Modern-Style Tombstone City Manual Cover
TI Invaders Manual Cover (European).jpg|TI Invader Manual Cover (European-Style)
+
Tombstone City Shooting Aliens.mp3|Tombstone City Shooting Sound
TI Invaders Manual Cover.jpg|1982 TI Invaders Manual Cover (Modern-Style)
+
Tombstone City Theme.mp3|Tombstone City Theme Song
TI Invaders Title Screen.jpg|TI Invaders Title/Options Screen
+
Tombstone City Manual (New).jpg|Tombstone City Manual Complete (pdf format)|link=https://4apedia.com/manuals/Tombstone%20City%20Manual.pdf
TI Invaders Manual Cover.jpg|TI Invaders Manual Complete (pdf format)|link=https://4apedia.com/manuals/TI%20Invaders%20Manual.pdf
+
1982 Tombstone City Cartridge (Red Label on Black).png|Tombstone City MAME/MESS Rom (rpk format)|link=https://4apedia.com/roms/Tombstone%20City%20-%2021st%20Century.rpk
1982 TI Invaders Cartridge (Red Label on Black).png|TI Invaders MAME/MESS Rom (rpk format)|link=http://4apedia.com/roms/TI%20Invaders.rpk
 
 
</gallery>
 
</gallery>
  
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<references/>
 
<references/>
  
==External links==
+
==External Links==
 +
* [https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/ti99/947061-tombstone-city-in-the-21st-century GameFAQs: Tombstone City in the 21st Century]
 +
* [https://www.mobygames.com/game/ti-994a/tombstone-city-21st-century MobyGames: Tombstone City:21st Century]
 +
* [http://www.pixelatedarcade.com/games/tombstone-city-21st-century Pixelated Arcade: Tombstone City: 21st Century]
 +
* [https://thegamesdb.net/game.php?id=37806 The Games DB: Tombstone City]
 
* [http://www.videogamehouse.net/tombstone.html TI-99/4A Vidoe Game House: Tombstone City]
 
* [http://www.videogamehouse.net/tombstone.html TI-99/4A Vidoe Game House: Tombstone City]
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tombstone_City:_21st_Century Wikipedia: Tombstone City:21st Century]
+
* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tombstone_City:_21st_Century Wikipedia: Tombstone City: 21st Century]
  
 
[[Category:1981 Software]]
 
[[Category:1981 Software]]

Revision as of 17:23, 1 December 2020

Tombstone City
Tombstone City Manual Cover
Tombstone City Manual (Front Cover) [1] [2]
Publisher(s) Texas Instruments (TI)
Original Retail Price $39.95 (USD)
Programmer(s) John C. Plaster
Part# PHM 3052
Format(s) Solid State SoftwareTM Command Module
Release 1981 (4th Quarter)
Genre(s) Shooter

Tombstone City is a single-player shooter video game created for the TI-99/4A home computer system. It was released by Texas Instruments (TI) during the 4th quarter of 1981. It was created by programmer John C. Plaster and released on Solid State SoftwareTM Command Module cartridge with Part #3052 retailing originally for $39.95 (USD).

Gameplay

The player in Tombstone City controls a spaceship referred to in the literature as a schooner. The object is to destroy the primary targets which are green aliens referred to in the manual as Morgs, and secondary targets which are purple tumbleweeds. The purpose of the game is to woo others back to live at an unnamed southwestern town in the United States by reducing the number of aliens and destroying these tumbleweeds. The score is labeled as "population in the game. The game is over when the player loses all his/her schooners.

The player's schooner starts out in the center of sixteen blocks right in the middle of the screen. This structure of blocks represents a safe zone where the Morgs cannot enter and kill the player. The player can kill either Morgs or tumbleweeds within the range of the safe area of blocks, however, most of the targets will require the player to leave the safety of the blocks and venture outside, making the player much more vulnerable. Each tumbleweed destroyed earns the player 100 points of population. Each Morg earns 150 points. Morgs spawn wherever two Saguaro Cacti touch, either side-by-side, above one another, or vertically. Generally, when a Morg is shot, it creates a new catus. When a Morg is killed while touching a producing pair of cacti, however, it will destroy the cacti and produce a single new Morg. The object of the game is to destroy all producing pairs of cacti. Doing so will pass a level of the game called a day, and move onto the next level or day with cacti regenerated in a new random position and earning the player a new schooner.

One caveat while killing the Morgs is to be aware that killing a Morg within one space of a single cactus will produce a new producing pair of cacti. Producing adjacent cacti pairs will extend the day or level. Also, kill Morgs at the exits/entrances of the safety zone of blocks prevents the player from leaving or entering that entrance or exit. If the player blocks all exits/entrances, and the player is within the safety zone, the player's schooner is transported to a random spot outside the zone where he/she must continue the game with no safe place to hide from the Morgs. If the player is killed at this point, new schooners will generate outside the safety zone in a random spot. The player can open up entrances/exits into the safe zone by killing Morgs adjacent to two Cacti where one happens to block the entry/exit, but this can be a lengthy and difficult process.

Advertising Blurbs

Front Cover of Manual

Your survival instinct is challenged immediately as you find yourself in a 21st Century-Old West ghost town threatened by an invading hoard of green alien monsters.

Back Cover of Manual

It's the 21st Century and you're faced with stopping a hoard of green alien monsters before they take over and Old Weest ghost town and the world! Points are added to your score as you and your security force of prairie schooners stop these villainous creatures called morgs.

Tombstone City: 21st Century module features let you

  • Destroy alien morgs.
  • Eliminate generating pairs of saguaro cactuses.
  • Wipe out tumbleweeds.

Triton Catalog - Spring 1984

You against the computer, testing your strategy and your skill. In a future Old West ghost town, you face an invading hoard of - yuk! - green alien Morgs. They live off two things - people and tumbleweeds. Stop 'em before they take over Earth! (Wired Remote Controllers recommended.)

Manual

Introduction

If you 're looking for an exciting new way to test your game-playing skills, then the Tombstone City game is the answer. Your survival instinct is challenged immediately as you find yourself in the 21st Century in an Old West ghost town threatened by an invading hoard of green alien monsters. These villainous creatures called morgs live off of only two things - tumbleweeds and people.

It's up to you and your security force of prairie schooners to stop the morgs before they infest the earth. In accomplishing this goal, you can score points by:

  • Destroying alien morgs.
  • Watching for adjacent pairs of saguaro cactuses. (It's from here that a new morg is generated!}
  • Wiping out tumbleweeds.

A one-player game, Tombstone City is designed to test your strategy, as well as your skill. Movement on the screen can be controlled by the Wired Remote Controllers or from the keyboard.

Tombstone City: the 21st Century is available as either a Solid State SoftwareTM Command Module or a diskette-based game. Note that the diskette-based version requires the TI Disk Memory System, the Memory Expansion unit, and must be used with either the TI Extended BASIC or Editor/Assembler Command Module (all sold separately}. Follow the set of directions that applies to your version of the game.

Getting Started

To start the game, choose the level of skill on which you want to play: Novice, Master, or Insane. For information on the keys used to play the game and on the point values of the targets, press AID. (Once play begins, AID is no longer available.)

  • Novice level - The schooner moves twice as fast as the more. Also, one new morg is generated when you hit a morg that is next to two adjacent saguaro cactuses.
  • Master level - The schooner's speed is the same as that of the morg. Once again, one new morg is generated when you shoot a morg that is next to adjacent saguaro cactuses.
  • Insane level - The schooner's speed is the same as that of the morg. On this level, two morgs are generated when a morg is hit next to two adjacent saguaros.

To select the level of skill, press 1, 2, or 3 when the selection list or the AID information is displayed. If you press AID and want to return to the selection list, press any key other than 1, 2, or 3.

Playing the Game

After you select the skill level, the game begins with a playing field of blue squares surrounded by saguaro cactuses and tumbleweeds. A schooner is in the center of the square, and all of the saguaros are in pairs. The pairs of saguaros are generators of the alien creatures called morgs.

The squares encompass the remnants of Tombstone City's deteriorating cemetery, a safe area into which the morgs will not venture. The bottom of the display keeps track of the day, the population (your score), and the number of remaining schooners.

You can stop a game at any time and return to the skill selection display by pressing BACK. To start a game over with the same skill level, press REDO.

Object of the Game

The object of the game is to score as many points as possible, while eliminating generating pairs of saguaros. The more points you score, the greater the population of Tombstone City.

You start the game with a supply of 10 schooners. Play continues until the schooner supply is exhausted. A New Day begins when all morgs and all morg generators (pairs of saguaros) have been destroyed. Saguaros are destroyed when a missile hits a morg next to two adjacent saguaros.

The schooner moves and fires horizontally and vertically. To move the schooner, press the arrow keys ↑ (E), ←(S),→(D), and ↓ (X) or I (UP), J (LEFT), K (RIGHT), M (DOWN). To fire the schooner's missile, press Q, Y, or ENTER. If the Wired Remote Controllers are used, move the lever to direct the schooner, and press the FIRE button to fire the schooner's missile. Position your schooner as rapidly and accurately as possible in order to fire its missile at morgs and tumbleweeds. If a morg is hit, it becomes a saguaro and adds points to your score. If a tumbleweed is hit, it disappears and also increases the score.

Remember, morgs cannot enter the area of the blue squares. However, if a schooner is surrounded by saguaros while in this safe area, the schooner dies, and a new schooner (if any are left) is placed randomly outside the safe area. If your schooner is in danger of being attacked outside these borders and the area is not entirely surrounded by saguaros, press the SPACE BAR, and the schooner reenters safe territory, and 1,000 points are deducted from your score.

Normally, a morg is produced every 10 seconds. However, if you fire a missile and there are less than 10 tumbleweeds and no morgs left, a new morg is generated immediately. If a missile hits a morg next to two adjacent saguaros, these saguaros instantly become either one or two morgs, depending on the level of play. So be ready to fire again!

Note: There is a limited amount of time to destroy any remaining morgs after all generating pairs of saguaro cactuses have been eliminated. If you find yourself in this limited time period, you must destroy the remaining morgs as fast as possible. Otherwise. the computer will time out, and you will have to restart by turning your computer off and then on again.

Scoring

The population (score) increases by 150 for each morg you destroy, and that morg becomes a saguaro. Tumbleweeds are worth 100 points each, and a fresh supply of 20 is generated each time the current 20 are eliminated.

If all adjacent pairs of saguaros and all morgs are destroyed, a New Day begins and the player is awarded an additional schooner and 1,000 bonus points. Each New Day begins with more generating pairs of saguaros than the day before, until a maximum of 30 pairs is reached.

Strategy

To plan your next move, be on the lookout for the generation of a new morg. This occurs when the safe area lights up and a white background is placed around the saguaro from which the morg will be produced. As your skills increase, you'll note a definite pattern of morg generation.

End of the Game

The game is over when there are no schooners left. To play another game with the same skill level, press REDO. To play a game at a different skill level, press BACK, and the program returns to the skill selection list. To end a session with the module, press QUIT to return to the master title screen.

Downloads

References

External Links