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The Project 64 etext of the Sentinel manual, converted to etext by
by Chris Rogerson <chris@offthewall.demon.co.uk>, taken from British
Cassette version. Sentinal by Synsoft (c) 1984, distributed in the UK
by US Gold. Zzap 64 Tips, Issue 16.

SENTIN10.TXT, March 1997, etext #181.

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Sentinel, by Brian Brandenberg
Commodore 64 Instructions

Joystick
Joystick should be plugged into port 2

To Start Playing
When the title page is on the screen, use (f7) or the fire button to
start the game.

Difficulty Level (Skirmish, Attack, Battle, Invasion, Armageddon) can
be selected with vertical joystick movements. Then push the fire
button once and a message from Starfleet Command will appear. Pressing
the fire button again brings up the Stellar Grid to start the game.

Controls and Options
 f1      pause the game. Any joystick movement will resue play
 f7      Starts or re-starts the game.
 C=      Press this key to manually pull up the Stellar Grid
 Crsr    This key aborts the hyperspace jump
 W       Hold this key to engage booster engines for warping
 A       If you have warped manually, this key toggles between Short
	 Range Scan and Long Range Scan
 Space   Launches Proton Helix Charges, from an initial supply of
	 eight.

The Stellar Grid

The 60 sector Stellar Grid is yoour map of the galaxy, with the world
of Jaraloba at its centre. The Grid displays both friendly and enemy
forces.

Orange Disks are Enemy Base Stars, stationary space forts that
periodically launch Gamma Fighter squadrons until they are destroyed.
To neutralise a base star, wait until an entrance portal appears and
then launch a Proton Helix charge. Note: in advanced levels the
devious Garganitor will warp their Base Stars in and out of your
continuum. You must time your attacks carefully since Base Stars are
not vulnerable at all times.

Blue Disks are friendly Base Stations, mighty fortresses that have
been tele-transported to your sector by Starfleet. They serve as
refuelling and repair bases in your fight against the Gorganitor peril,
and are prime targets for concentrated enemy attack. When you dock at
a Base Station you will get a ship status report before any repairs
are made. The Readout will consist of:

  1.      Phaser Cannons
  2.      Long Range Scanner
  3.      Short Range Scanner
  4.      Stellar Grid
  5.      Automatic Tracking Computer
  6.      Hyperspace Coordinator
  7.      Long Range Scan Sequencer
  8.      Communications Module

Your ship will then be refuelled and repaired, and one proton helix
charge will be added to your armament.

Light Blue Ships are swift and stealthy Gamma Fighters with no
protective shields. Their mission is to weaken your resolve and
destroy you, so if you linger in an empty sector Gamma Fighters will
warp in and attack. You must be ever vigilant.

Light Green Ships are cruisers. They travel at medium speed and are
equipped with Xanthalian sheilds. These are the older variety,
relatively weak shields, and can be destroyed by a direct hit from
your Phasor Cannons. The Cruisers mission is to track down and destroy
Starfleet Base Stations. When a Base Station is destroyed, all
Cruisers in that quadrant will mutate into Saucers at a 2:1 ratio, due
to the massive radiation imbalance.

Purple Ships are Saucers, slow moving and very heavily armed warships
with modern Neo-Sophoric Demi-shields. They generally require multiple
hits at extremely short range to be destroyed. Monitor Saucer
movements carefully, for their objective is total destruction of the
planet Jaraloba.

Each Icon in a sector represents an enemy squadron of 1-3 ships. The
status control panel is at the top of the screen.

Shields indicates how many energy shields you have left. Shields can
be lost in hyperspace when meteoriods collide with your ship, and
enemy Phasor attacks and contact with mines in Base Sectors also
destroy them. When your shields are depleted, the next hit blasts you
into oblivion.

Protons tells you haw many Proton Helix charges remain. They are
launched by pressing the Space Bar. You must use Proton Helix Charges
to destroy enemy Base Stars, and they can be used to annihilate all
enemy ships visible on your screen.

Energy displays fuel/energy status. Energy is used for travelling
within sectors and making Hyperspace Jumps. Using the meteoroid
shield in Hyperspace consumes mass quantities of energy.

Sector tells you wheere you are by column and row of the Stellar Grid.

Time indicates elapsed time from the start of the mission.

Targets displays the number of enemy ships remaining in your sector.

At the very centre of the Stellar grid is the world of Jaraloba, which
you must protect at all costs. The planet symbol will flash when its
surrounded by the Garganitor. If no action is taken, all will be lost.

To move around the Grid, use the Interstellar Tracking device
designated by a darker square outline. Use the joystick to position
the device  on your destination sector, then press the Fire button to
engage the Hyperspace engines. The Interstellar Tracking Device will
automatically plot the flight path to your destination and make the
necessary Hyperjump calculations.

When your ship reaches the speed of light, the Long range Scanner is
engaged. Since the Hyperspace continuum can affect your ships control
systems there are two things to remember when you make the intersector
jump.

1) your Automatic Deflector System is inoperative in hyperspace
because the energy drain is too great to maintain the deflectors
continuously,

2) Due to null time variances,the Automatic Navigation Computer cannot
function in the altered timewarp of Hyperspace. Therefore, you must
manually control direction and deflector shields.

When you enter Hyperspace, targets in the destination sector will
appear in the Long Range Scanner. You must centre the selected
squadron on the Long Range Scan circle and keep it there.
Unfortunately, the interstellar meteoriods make this difficult, so
navigating in Hyperspace becomes a tradeoff between keeping your
destination centred and avoiding meteoroids. You may also use the
deflector shields if collision becomes inevitable. To do this, press
the Fire Button, which will switch on the deflectors and neutralise
the meteoroid on impact. However, this causes severe energy drain. If
a meteoroid collides with your ship (without deflection) you will lose
a shield. If the meteoroid is deflected, your viewport will turn BLUE
rather than RED on impact and you will continue unscathed.

Note: to abort the Grid display, once it is on the screen, position
the Interstellar Tracking Device over the square indicating your
current sector and press the Fire Button. In effect, you stay where
you are.

Long Range Scan Sequencer.

Once in an enemy sector, position the long range scanner (flashing
brackets) over the squadron you wish to attack by pressing Fire Button
until the desired squadron is selected. This will target the cross
hair range readout (under the cross-hair), the X, Y, Z readout (on the
bottom of the screen in the message panel) and the tracking cross-hair
(in the radar panel to the enemy squadron selected.

Long Range Scanner

The message panel displays the X,Y,Z coordinates of the squadron you
are tracking. The cross-hair gives a range readout from your ship to
the target. A WHITE cross-hair indicates that the squadron is in front
of you, and GREEN means that it is behind you. Th radar panel displays
your position as viewed from above, and it indicates the enemy
squadron's position relative to your ship. Use the X,Y,Z coordinate
panel to zero out the X and Y readouts (reading from left to right,
the first two markers on the message panel). When the squadron is in
front of you (Z is +ve) Warp Drive is engaged and your ship swoops in
on the unsuspecting enemy.When they are in tracking range, you will
automatically shift into Short Range Scan mode and the Auto Tracking
Computer will engage. Your radar panel will then display the
individual ships in the sector.

Short Range Scanner

You are in short range scan mode when the radar panel is tracking
individual ships. you can simultaneously observe all enemy ship
movements and thereby anticipate attacks.

Auto Tracking.

Auto Tracking locks your ship onto an individual enemy vessel. If not
already in the Auto Tracking mode, press the (A) key. When an enemy
ship is destroyed, your computer will lock onto the next ship in the
squadron. When the entire squadron is destroyed, Auto Tracking will
disengage and jump back to Long Range Scan. Note, if there are no more
enemy units in your sector, the Stellar Grid will re-appear. Remember,
pressing the Fire Button will abort the Stellar Grid if you have not
selected a new destination sector. To recall the Stellar grid, press
the COMMODORE (C=) key. If your auto tracking unit is damaged, you
will have to pilot the ship yourself. This is very dificult, and a
novice should head for the closest Base Station immediately.

Phasors and Proton Helixes

Phasors are your normal tactical weapons and are activated by pressing
the Fire button while you are in short range scan mode. The Proton
Helix charge is the ultimate defence weapon, and the only way to
destroy an enemy base star. Pressing the Space Bar fires a Proton,
which will destroy all ships visible on the screen.

Minefields

Both the enemy base stars and friendly Base Stations are surrounded by
protective minefields. These mines can be avoided by adroit flying ,
or destroyed by phasor fire.

Winning the Game

All enemy ships and Base Stars must be cleared from the Stellar Grid
in order to triumph oover the Garganitor.

Warning Messages

When Jaraloba is threatened, you will receive an urgent warning
message. You must engage the attacking units immediately in order to
save the planet.

When a base station is surrounded by enemy ships you will also get a
warning message, and you only have a short time to respond.

Ratings

At the end of each mission, you will be rated on your performance. The
rating system takes into account time, amount of energy used, shields
lost, number of shots fired, enemies destroyed, Base Stations
remaining and level of play chosen (Skirmish, Attack, Battle, Invasion,
Armageddon). There are eight classes in each of the rankings, from
Space Droid to Star Sentinel.

Playing Tips.

When entering either a Base Station or Base Star sector, make sure
that the X and Y coordinates of your Long Range Scanner are Zero, and
Z is positive. Once this occurs, you will be locked into your objective 
and unable to deviate. Note, this applies only in Base Star and Base
Station sectors.

The message panel will display damage reports as damage occurs.
Remember, all your instrumentation is vulnerable. You must decide when
repairs would be helpfful, and when they are absolutely mandatory. 

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End of the Project 64 etext of the Sentinel manual.

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