COLLECTED AND DISTRIBUTED BY: X-CELLENT RATED PRODUCTIONS AMIGA--PUBLICDOMAIN/SHAREWARE/FREEWARE--I.B.M DREAM WEAVER/GRIFFEN P.O. BOX 544 DEARBORN HIEGHTS MI, 48127 Brought to you by Possom, Seattle, WA Raider Loading Instructions To load game, please turn on your Amiga, then insert the RAIDER disc into your disc drive. The game will then load automatically. To start game, press the left mouse button once music has begun to play, and then follow on-screen instructions. If you have any problems loading the game, please return the disc to your local computer dealer. In case of difficulty, please return the disc to us for a replacement disc. RAIDER The Empire faces its most perilous times ever, following the death of the Glasctic Emperor at the hands of rebel murderers. The Emperor's murder has sparked off a vast rebellion amongst the Border Navies, which have seized the defence systems of numerous planets in the Empire. Worse still, the rebels are holding each captured colony to ransom, and are threatening to destroy each unless their demands are met! Each colon generates its own power from an artificial 'sun', or Powerplant. Each Powerplant can yield unlimited energy and heat, using reactions produced by the interaction of four separate pods and fissile material. The pods contain a uniques compound which has been extracted from deep within G-type stars - now extinct, meaning that the pods cannot simply be replaced. Without the pods, the colonies' Powerplants are useless - and the fissile material within each will Nova unless brought into use. The rebels have removed all four pods from the captured star systems, and are threatening to allow each Powerplant to Nova, which would destroy billions of Empire Citizens. The General of the late Emperor's personal Guards Brigade has summoned you, Commander Greg Simpson, for a crucial rescue mission. You must fly to each captured star system, penetrate its defences, and seek out and collect the four pods. Once collected, you must hten manoeuvre your Raider class fighter craft through the automated Powerplant, and reposition each pod in its correct place. The mission will not be easy - the Border Navy rebels have seized the star systems' defence batteries, and are expecting a rescue attempt - you are expected!! And once ]you have all four pods, you will be on your own - no ship has ever been into a Powerplant before, and lived! But you have to do it - you are the only pilot left alive who can be trusted with a mission of this importance. MISSION BRIEF Your RAIDER craft ishighly manoeuvrable, and is armed with a heavy-duty laser cannon. Your first task will be to destory all rebel gun batteries that you see - you are to show no mercy! Once the defences have been penetrated, the colonists will be able to turn off the electronic cloaking units, and you will be able to see the cog-shaped Pod. You collect this with your craft's tractor beam. Each Pod has been hidden on a separate planet within each solar system, so you will need to fly up towards the next planet once you have collected the Pod. The same procedure will apply at each planet. Once ]you have all four Pods, your RAIDER on-board computer will automatically warp you to the PowerPlant. Time is limited here, since the Powerplant's self-destruct mechanism is activated by the presence of any metallic moving objects. Inside the Powerplant, you should fly to each of the four receptacles, and tractor the Pods into place. Once this is done, you have a few seconds to escape from the Powerplant before it begins its power generation again - and no substances known to hunanoid would survive that! A password will be given you at this point, to enable subsequent mission attempts to miss out this Star System if you wish. You will also need to watch out for fuel and shield levels, both of which are strictly limited on your small combat craft. You may renew your supplies of each by tractoring fuel capsules to be found on each planet surface. EMPIRE GEOGRAPHY Each star system consists of a cluster of stars and moons; you will need to visit just four planets for this mission. Unfortunately, not only do the planets differ considerably between star systems, but you will also find that the atmosphere, gravitational forces, and visibility conditions vary a great deal. At this stage, there is insufficient power for the Empire computer to access detailed system details, but the following is known about the systems under threat: Alpha System: Normal conditions Beta Syste: Normal conditions Gamma System: Inverse Gravitational fields Delta System: Inverse Gravitational fields Zargoid System: Normal gravitational fields; restricted vision Urgon System: Normal gravitational fields; restricted vision Karthide System: Inverse gravitational pull & restricted vision Vertigon System: Inverse gravitational pull & restricted vision In view of the potential visibility hazards, Empire engineers have equipped your RAIDER craft with an external visibility torch, which you can activate when needed; however this requires a special fuel to operate, and you only have space for limited supplies of this fuel. More 'Visibility fuel' will be found in the fuel pods on each planet. RAIDER COMBAT CRAFT: OPERATING MANUAL Your RAIDER craft has been assigned the following controls: Thrust - right shift Fire - return Shield/Tractor - space bar Rotate Left - z Rotate Right - x Visibility Torch - right alt Pause Mode - P All these controls may be redefined at the start of the mission. The following may not be redefined, and it is recommended that you do not use the keys for any other purpose: Sound on/off - F1 Abort Mission - ESC (while in PAUSE mode only) STATUS PANEL INDICATORS (From left to right) Fuel - extreme left, top counter Vis Fuel - extreme left, bottom counter Ships Left - Craft icons next to counters Powerplant Timer: - cyan light beneath Ship Left indicator; flashes increasingly quickly as time gets shorter inside the Powerplant Score & Hi-Score - to the right of Powerplant Timer Pod Ready - the top light (of 3); blue; lights up once Cloaking Device is turned off Fuel Indicator - the middle light; green; remains lit for as long as there are fuel capsules available on the current planet surface. Bonus - the bottom light; orange; remains lit while end of level bonus still available. Pod Counter - on the far right is a counter showing how many Powerplant Pods you are holding