Dark Side The Story Centuries ago, Earth pioneers colonized the planet Evath. In an effort to avoid the serious social problems on their home planet, these transplanted Earthlings developed one simple punishment for any crime: banishment. The exiled convicts called themselves Ketars and set up their own motley colony on Evath's moon, Mirtral. By ignoring the ecology, the Ketars mined Mitral to destruction. After this devastation 200 years ago, the Ketars tried to re-establish themselves on Evath, but were driven out. So they took over Evath's second moon, Tricuspid. Tricuspid's surface was too soft to build on, so the Ketars constructed a geometric platform around the moon (as they had originally done on Mitral). All activities take place on this artificial surface. Since the criminal elements are forbidden to live on Evath, they have decided to blow it up! The Ketars now have a network of Energy Collection Devices (ECDs) around Tricuspid. A suspended solar cell at the apex of each ECD collects energy from Evath's sun. This energy is then transmitted through a power line matrix to an awesome weapon. This weapon, the Zephyr One, is aimed directly at Evath. When enough solar power is generated by the ECDs, the Zephyr One will annihilate Evath. Evath's leaders have learned of the Ketars' dastardly plan and have dropped you into a safety zone on Tricuspid from a routine patrol ship. Your top-secret mission is to destroy all the ECDs, thus disabling the Zephyr One and saving Evath from destruction. Loading the Game Amiga users must save games to the game disk. Amiga Loading Instructions Connect mouse and joystick (if desired). Turn on computer and monitor (load Kickstart if required). Insert Dark Side disk at the Workbench prompt and the game loads automatically. Caution: Make a backup copy of your game disk. Keep the original in a safe place and play with your backup. This is important, since saved games are stored on the game disk. Gameplay and Controls Below are illustrations and explanations of the Dark Side game screens. The Action Screen shows the gameplay graphics. A walking cursor (+) helps you guide your steps. A Box at the top of the Action Screen records your score. To the right of the score box is an indicator showing the percentage of ECDs that are currently active. To the left and right of the Action Screen are indicators for your attitude (your up or down direction) and the weapon charge timer (when this is full, Evath explodes and you lose!). The Message Window indicates your current sector location. The compass lets you see which direction you're heading. Other boxes indicate your shield level and fuel amount; the degree of your angle when turning; the size of your step; the co-ordinates (and altitude) for the section you're in; whether your Jet Pack is on or off; and whether you're in movement or firing mode (MS-DOS and C-64/128 only). Joystick Controls The joystick is useful when walking around. Push Up to go forward, pull Down to go backward; push Right to turn right and Left to turn left. To move forward at maximum speed, push up on the joystick while holding down the ^ key on the keyboard. In firing mode, the joystick movements control the sights; press the fire button to fire the gun. The gun sight (><) in the Action Window is controlled by the mouse. Slide the mouse up, down, left, or right to move the sight. Press the left mouse button to fire the gun. Slide the mouse out of the action screen to return to movement mode. You can play Dark Side using the mouse alone, or combine keyboard play with a mouse or joystick. Mouse Controls You can use a mouse for most of the functions in Dark Side by clicking on various areas of the game screen. Use either mouse button, unless specifically told to do otherwise. Move Forward - ^ or O Move Back - V or K Turn Left < or Q Turn Right - > or W U-Turn - U Increase Step - S Decrease Step - X Increase Angle - A Decrease Angle - Z Look Up - P Look Down - L Rise - R Fall (Crouch) - F Jet Pack ON/OFF - J Sights ON/OFF - SPACE Tilt left - N Tilt right - M Fire Gun - 0 Music ON/OFF + Sound FX ON/OFF - - Interrupt Game - I (Save, load, & abort) Game Commands Below is an explanation of the commands used in Dark Side. Movement Moving around in the game is accomplished with the keyboard, joystick, or mouse. Move Forward, Move Back, Move Left, Move Right are for walking around anywhere in the game. When the gun is in use in the C-64, and MS-DOS games, these direction move the gun sights (press the SpaceBar to toggle between attack and movement modes). In the Amiga, the mouse is used to draw the gun and move the sights. U-Turn is used to make a complete 180° turnaround with one stroke. Increase/Decrease Step lets you change the length of the steps you take. When you are walking around in wide open spaces or in large rooms, you may want the longest step length for the greatest speed. In really tight spaces, such as narrow halls or doorways, the shortest length is probably the best selection. Increase/Decrease Angle lets you change the angle at which you turn left or right. When you need to turn in a hurry, use the widest angle. For more precision turns, use the tightest angle. Look Up, Look Down lets you see the ceiling and floor of the room you are in. This can be important for seeing objects, pitfalls, or booby-traps. Rise/Fall lets you crouch or stand while walking. When your Jet Pack is on, this selection controls altitude and landing. Jet Pack is worn on your back and lets you fly. Sights lets you aim and shoot at targets. Tilt Left, Tilt Right lets you angle your point of view as though the entire room was tipping over. Objects To enter doors or collect items, walk into them head on. Keep using forward movement until shield is completely collected or fuel is full. ECDs are the Energy Collection Devices you must destroy. Shoot to disable one. If an ECD is connected between two other active ECDs, the device will immediately regenerate. Powerporter is a suspended slab that acts as an immediate teleportation device. Plexors are a sort of tank defense machine. They will attack if you are in close range. Telepods & Telepod Crystals are used by the Ketars to gain access to restricted areas. A Crystal is necessary to activate a Telepod. Shields help protect you against attack. Fuel is necessary for your Jet Pack. Interrupt Game When you use this command, the game is paused and a box appears in the Action Screen. In the box are three selections: SAVE [S] Load [L] Abort [ESC] To make a selection from the box, press the key in brackets or click on [S], [L], or [ESC]. After selecting Save or Load, type the name of the game you're saving or restoring (it appears in the Message Window as you type); press RETURN (make a note of the names you give your saved games). If you decide against saving or restoring a game, press RETURN before typing a name. Note: Amiga users must save games on the game disk. When you select Abort, the game ends and the demo game begins. Press any key to start a new game. Game Hints Read these hints if you need a little help playing Dark Side. There is no limit to the amount of ammunition you have. So go ahead, shoot everything in sight! There are occasions where shooting something in one location affects things somewhere else. Reduce step size to 100 for climbing in and out of tunnels. Every plexor is unique. Use different tactics for destroying each one. Use the map of Tricuspid, located below, to find your way around. Mark anything significant you find on this map (use a photocopy if you don't want to mark up the original).