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The Project 64 etext of the DropZone manual
Converted to etext by Neil Tomlinson.

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DROPZONE
--------


MISSION BRIEFING
----------------
It  is the  year  2085, and  only a  handful  of people  have
survived  the devastating  robot  wars. In  a  final bid  for
human  survival the peoples of the earth unite to develop the
ultimate  transportation, a  Tacheon propelled  star cruiser,
capable  of  overcoming relatavistic limitations to fresh new
star systems.

The  Tacheon  drive relies  on  bombarding  very rare  Ionian
crystals  with quarks.  But  all the  earth's resources  were
used up developing a prototype and so a consignment of men is
despatched  to the  hostile young planet of IO, Jupiter's 2nd
inner  most  moon. It is here  that the crystals are found in
abundance   scattered  all   over  the   surface.  They   are
continually  thrown  up from the  depths of the planet by the
elemental   forces  of  the  three  active  volcanoes,  first
discovered way back in the 1980's.

Not long after building a moonbase in the flat bed of a large
crater  the  first wave of  aliens arrive from Jupiter to rid
their moon of the human invaders.

It is your mission to protect the men and their crystals from
the marauding aliens.  You have been equipped with the latest
pulse laser back pack system capable of carrying an extra man
and  becoming  invisible and indestructible for short periods
of  time.  You must safely  escort each surviving man and his
crystals  back  to the Dropzone  where the landing pad of the
moonbase is located.  You must succeed, the future of mankind
depends on you alone.


THE CONTROLS
AND NOTES ON JOYSTICK TYPE
--------------------------
Dropzone  is played  with one joystick and to a lesser extent
the  keyboard. To  master DROPZONE you must learn the feel of
your back pack because you will have both INERTIA and GRAVITY
affecting  your  movement just as  in everyday life on earth.
Your reactions to the screen, sound and the joystick position
are vital to your prolonged survival.

The  best type  of  joysticks to  use are  ones  with a  firm
tactile  feel  to them such  as the original Atari joysticks.
Some  of  the large  springy types  are less manageable since
they  move too  far and give little feel as to when the lever
switches  have  made contact.  If you use auto-fire joysticks
you  will not be able to fire precisely when needed and won't
pick  up any  bonus points. You will also destroy all the men
you are battling to protect!


Firing
------
One laser pulse is released for each up or down motion of the
fire  button. Its  direction is usually the one which you are
facing  but  it is  possible  to  fire backwards  by  quickly
holding  the joystick left or right at the instant of firing.
This  makes it possible to blast aliens in hot pursuit of you
when trying to outrun them.


Horizontal Thrust
-----------------
To  thrust  you hold the  joystick to  the left or right. The
longer  you thrust  for, the faster you become. To reverse or
stop you thrust in the opposiite direction.


Vertical Thrust
---------------
To  change  your  height  above IO's  surface  you  push  the
joystick  forwards  for up or  backwards for down. Because of
gravity  you must  continually adjust  this to  maintain your
altitude.  If  you don't  thrust you  will eventually fall to
the surface.


Strata Bomb Release
-------------------
One strata bomb is detonated for each press of the SPACE bar.
It  destroys  all aliens except  Androids. Also if a spore is
released occasionally a few trailers will remain.


Cloak Activation
----------------
Your  indestructable cloaking  device is turned on and off by
pressing any key (other than the SPACE bar or the F1 key).


Pausing the Game
----------------
Pressing  the F1  key will pause the game. To continue, press
any key or move the joystick.


Starting the Game
-----------------
When  the  title page or the  Hall of Fame is being displayed
the game is begun by pressing the joystick fire button.


GAME OBJECT
-----------
Your  mission  is to  protect the men  on planet IO's surface
from  being  destroyed by  the invading  aliens and to return
them one by one to the Dropzone in which the moonbase landing
pad is located.


THE SCREEN DISPLAY
------------------
The  main  part of  the screen shows  the exact realtime side
view of the zone over which you are cruising.  Below you lies
the time battered surface of IO with its deep crevasses, lava
filled trenches, active volcanoes, the Ionian sea and ancient
meteorite  craters. In  the  far distance  lie the  twinkling
stars  of  other planetary systems that await men's visition.
The  lower part  of the screen shows your insturmentation and
status   displays.  These  are  man  counts,  current  attack
direction  indicator, cloaking  time remaining,  spare lives,
strata  boms, score  and most importantly a high speed planet
scanning viewer.


INSTRUMENTS
-----------

MAN  COUNTS  - These show  how many  men are currently on the
planet's  surface  and how  many  have  actually been  safely
returned to the moonbase.

ATTACK  INDICATOR  - This  is an arrow  that is displayed the
instant  an android  attack begins on one of the men still on
the  surface  or the moonbase  itself. It shows the direction
and shortest route to the last attack detected.

CLOAK STATUS - Shows the amount of time left before the cloak
generator  runs  out of power.  A warning signal is sounded 3
seconds beforehand.

SPARE LIVES - This shows up to 3 of the remaining lives.

STRATA  BOMBS  - This shows  up to  3 of the remaining strata
bombs

SCORE - Your accumulated points score.

SCANNER  -  This is  the most  important information area. It
shows  what is  happening  elsewhere on  the entire  planet's
surface  and covers  six times  the  area shown  on the  main
screen.  Each member  of  the Dropzone  cast  has a  distinct
colour  key  and size. The  landing pad  is shown as a bright
white cross in the surface detail.


THE CAST OF CHARACTERS
----------------------

MEN
At  the  start of each  attack wave  the 'Men Out' count will
show  how many  men  are  on the  surface.  They slowly  move
towards  the  moonbase in  the Dropzone, each carrying Ionian
crystals.  Whenever the  alien Planters  lower an  Android to
destroy  a  man, he lets  out a  whistle for help that echoes
around the atmosphere.  You can rescue men by picking them up
one  at a  time  and dropping  them off  on  to the  elevated
landing pad at the moonbase for bonus points.

PLANTERS and ANDROIDS
Planters  are  the  most  common  alien.  They  are  machines
piloted  by Androids  that drift across the surface rising up
over volcanoes and the moonbase.  They are always on the look
out  for the  men. When you attack, the Android lowers itself
to  the surface to chase the man, leaving the Planter machine
to become a Nemesite.

NEMESITE
Once  an  Android machine  has  landed,  the Planter  machine
becomes a Nemesite, a deadly homing missile set to crash into
you  at all  costs. They  evade your  pulse laser  fire until
they are close enough for collision.

ANTI MATTER
If all the men on IO are destroyed, the Planters and Androids
fuse  into  gyrating Anti-Matter nodules which bounce towards
you.  IO  suffers an earthquake  and becomes unstable and the
three volcanoes erupt lethal white hot magma lumps.

SPORE
Spores  are fairly  harmless until  triggered off.  When this
occurs they release four individual Trailers.

TRAILERS
Trailers  are released from Spores and can be very awkward to
handle.  Some  will wiggle  around in  space, others will aim
straight  for you  and follow you everywhere you go. They are
hard  to destroy  and need a direct hit on the heads of their
bodies.

BLUNDER STORMS
These  storms are a silent but deadly environmental hazard of
IO.  They  slowly float  in  the  upper atmosphere  over  the
planet's  surface sometimes retaining molecular acid, or they
will  occasionally  rumble and  release  an  intense bolt  of
proton lightning.

NMEYES (pronounced N-m-ie's)
If  you have  survived an attack wave for too long the aliens
send  in an  Nmeye as  their ultimate  weapon. Nmeye's  watch
your  every  move and  occasionally  blink.  Their motion  is
erratic,  they  can move faster  than you at full speed, they
continually  launch boms at you and successive Nmeye's become
harder to destroy.

VOLCANOES
Generally  the  three  active volcanoes  are  harmless.  They
shoot  small  magma lumps  out onto  the surface. However, if
all  men  are lost the  planet's surface becomes unstable and
the volcanoes erupt deadly white hot lumps.

BOMBS
Planters,  Nemesites,  Anti-matter and Nmeyes can shoot small
bright  bombs  at you.  If you continue  moving with the same
velocity these will destroy you.


OTHER FEATURES
--------------
You  start with  a consignment  of eight  men, 15  seconds of
cloaking  power, 3  lives and 3 strata bombs. You get 1 bonus
life  and  strata bomb  for every 10,000  point mark that you
reach,  and 7  seconds extra cloak power for each wave. After
one  million points  has been achieved no more bonus lives or
strata  bombs will  be awarded. (But if you are that good you
shouldn't  need them!).  A wave is finished by destroying all
planters,  spores,  trailers, blunder  storms and landing all
the  men back  at the moonbase. You receive a points bonus at
the  end  of every attack wave  for the number of rescued men
multiplied  by the wave number, up to a maximum of 500 points
per  man.  You also get this  for landing each man during the
wave.

Every  5th wave  a fresh consignment of men arrives. Prior to
this  round youwill have to battle through a TRAILER INVASION
wave.

The  game has  attack waves numbering 1 to 99. After 99 waves
95  to 99  are  repeated.  Each wave  is  entirely random  in
action and warp-on entry.

If  you lose a life whilst carrying a man he will be replaced
on the surface.

If  you save  and land  all eight  men then  no more  android
attacks  will  occur for  the rest  of that  wave. BUT if you
have  saved  less than eight men  then every now and then one
android  will actually invade the moonbase by descending onto
the landing pad and running into the moonbase.


HALL OF FAME
------------
If   at  the  end  of  the  mission  if  you  have  gained  a
sufficiently  high score  you  will be  asked  to enter  your
initials  into  the  Dropzone  Hall of  Fame.  This  will  be
accompanied  by  a special dynamic colour sequence to signify
that  you are  one  of  the top  eight  heroes  to attempt  a
Dropzone  mission.  To select your initials push the joystick
to  the  left or  right, to  enter the  letter press the fire
button.  You are allowed 60 seconds in which to do this.


MISSION RATING
--------------
Depending upon your performance you will be awarded one of 10
ranks.  A beginner might not achieve the 10,000 mark and will
not  receive a  rank. An  average  score might  get you  Moon
Cadet  status.  But for the  mission to be considered a total
success  you  must achieve  the  rank  of MEGASTAR.  This  is
universally  regarded as  the  ultimate galactic  distinction
possible  and  will be awarded  to supreme warriors who fight
off the aliens to score 1,000,000 points or more.


STRATEGY
--------
The method you adopt is best found by experiencing the way of
life  of  IO and by  mastering the co-ordination and reflexes
required to control your back pack with a firm joystick.

For  example, you might find that waiting to destroy Androids
as  they  fall to the  surface is the best  way to build up a
score.  Or  you might  rescue all  the men  as quickly as you
can.  But remember, the Nmeye will be sent in to sort you out
if  you take  too  long.  Also the  strategy  you adopt  will
partly depend on how far the men are from the moonbase at the
start of each wave.  This is different for every round except
for the very first which is always fairly easy.

The  newcomer  to Dropzone  will  probably  thrust too  much,
reducing  reaction time  to oncoming  aliens. It  is best  to
thrust  only  occasionally  and  to clear  up  each  area  of
activity as you find it.

Listen  out for  the whistles  of help  that echo  around the
planet.  On hearing  them,  use the  direction indicator  and
scanner  to locate  the trouble. If yoiu have to race halfway
across  IO  to protect a man  then keep a watchful eye on the
scanners  as  this will forewarn  you of any oncoming aliens.
Use  your  cloak if the attack  zone is full of aliens firing
bombs at you.

The  moment  a Nemesite enters  the main viewing area it lets
off  a  warning sound. They  then zero  in on you. To destroy
them  will take  some  practice at  out  circling them,  then
reversing and firing at exactly the point when they are level
with you.

Use  of  the cloak will  help you  in many situations such as
picking  up a  man just before he is about to be destoryed by
the Android, or landing men whilst being blitzed by a Nmeye.

Trailers  have  a personality of  their own. Once learnt, the
Trailer  Invasion  waves can  be quickly completed. The cloak
is useful here as well.

Always  keep an  eye on  Blunder Storms.  Before they  strike
they  rumble different  colours for about a second giving you
the  chance  to get out  of the  way. When moving fast, check
that  any oncoming storms are not raining so that you can use
your cloak or pass over them.

If  all the  men die  and earthquake  occurs and  Anit-Matter
appears  everywhere.  Because the volcanoes are now dangerous
it  is  best to stay in  one region between two volcanoes and
use  your cloak  if you have to  pass over one. If you lose a
life  from  colliding with  a  lump  of  magma, you  will  re
materialise  over the  same space. So you must get out of the
way quickly or else you will lose another life.

If  you use  too many  strata bombs  in quick  succession the
aliens will send in an Nmeye to retaliate.


SCORING
-------
Men           100-500   for rescuing during wave
Men           100-500   for each man surviving the wave
Men              0      if destroyed
Android         50      if shot while descending with Planter
Android         50      if shot whilst chasing a man
Android         500     if shot when falling from a destroyed
                        Planter
Planters        250
Spores          750
Nemesites       150
Trailers        250
Anti-Matter     150
Nmeyes          100
Blunder Storms  250
Loss of Life    10



-------------------------------
Manual copied by Neil Tomlinson