SHADOWFIRE Beyond 1985 CONTROLS : Keyboard, Kempston, Cursor Note : It is recommended that you play this game at about 150%-180% speed, as it is rather slow at normal speed. (A variable-speed emulator like Z80 is highly recommended.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- AIM : The treacherous General Zoff has captured Ambassador Kryxix of the Empire. Unfortunately, the Ambassador is carrying the plans for a revolutionary new kind of spacecraft, the Shadowfire. With it, Zoff would be able to ravage the Empire at will. The crack Enigma team - whom you control - must rescue the Ambassador before he cracks under interrogation and gives away the location of the plans! GAMEPLAY : You have one hour and forty minutes to carry out your mission. There are three main objectives for you to fulfil: 1. Rescue Ambassador Kryxix. 2. Capture General Zoff 3. Capture or destroy his ZOFF V starship. You can accomplish these tasks in any order. The game opens with the Enigma craft moored alongsie the ZOFF V. Your first task is to beam some or all of your team aboard using the abilities of the droid Manto. CHARACTERS : Having selected your means of control (joystick or keys), you will see the Enigma team screen, showing the surviving members of the Enigma team. From left to right, the characters are: 1. SYLLK - Insectoid; excellent fighter; wears armour; very strong. 2. SEVRINA MARIS - Human; crack locksmith; excellent markswoman 3. MANTO - Transport droid; weak self-defence; only team member with transporter ability 4. MAUL - Weapons droid; excellent self-defence; tough fighter; well armoured; slow moving 5. ZARK MONTOR - Human; team leader; expert in close combat; strong 6. TORIK - Avian; good fighter; very fast; quite weak STATUS SCREEN : When you select a character, you will see a screenful of icons. Each Enigma character has four screen: Status, Objects, Movement and Battle. The first you will see when you select a character will be the Status screen. The icons show: 1. Running figure - Agility; shows speed of movement 2. Strong arm - Strength; shows strength (or weakness); may change length during the mission 3. Heart - Stamina; shows physical endurance; will change if character is injured or tired. 4. Scales - Weight; when a character picks up an object a green bar appears; if the object is too heavy the bar will turn red. Simply drop something to restore the bar to green. 5. Green monitor - Gives access to character's Movement screen. 6. Yellow monitor - Gives access to character's Object screen. 7. Red monitor - Gives access to character's Battle screen. 8. Arrow/Screens - Quit; select this when you want to return to a previous screen. This icon can also be used to cancel a command. OBJECT SCREEN : This screen is entered by selecting the Yellow monitor icon and enables you to manipulate objects. At the left of the screen are the objects in the same location as the character. In the middle are the objects (if any) carried by the character. Along the bottom a bar registers the weight of objects carried. On the right of the screen are the icons which allow you to manipulate objects: 1. Finger on Button - Activate weapon, transporter pad, etc. 2. Gun/Knife - Ready for use; selects which object will be held for immediate use. Move the cursor over the icon desired and press ENTER. (Make sure you use this icon when you arm a character!) 3. Hold briefcase - Pick up object; move cursor over this icon and press ENTER; the item will then appear in the middle of the screen as a carried object. 4. Drop briefcase - Drop object; move cursor over this icon and press ENTER, then select the object carried and press ENTER again; the item will reappear on the left of the screen as an object in the same location as the character. The remaining icons on this screen are the Green monitor (Movement), Red monitor (Battle) and Quit. Tools are normally activated using the Activate icon; however, specialist objects such as the Self Destruct Unit may require an additional command icon. Such objects are activated using this command icon. Weapons are automatically activated in combat situations, but only if the character has a weapon held at the ready. MOVEMENT SCREEN : This screen is entered by selecting the Green monitor icon and enables you to move characters from location to location. At left are a number of arrows. The filled arrow(s) show possible directions for the character to move. In the middle of the screen is a text descriptio of the character's current location. At right are three other icons: Red monitor (Battle), Yellow monitor (Objects) and Quit. To command a character to move simply place the cursor over any of the filled arrows and press ENTER. You can only move a character in the direction(s) indicated by a filled arrow. Occasionally a character may refuse to respond. Either they are faced by a locked door and require a keycard or they are about to be attacked. BATTLE SCREEN : This screen is entered by selecting the Red monitor icon and enables you to command a character to do battle. At left will be displayed characters standing in the location selected. In the middle of the screen are the attack/retreat indicators. On the right are the icons which allow you to command a character to fight or retreat: 1. Right arrow - Attack; commands character to do battle; if they win they will advance into the enemy's location. 2. Left/right arrow - Defend; commands a character to stand fast and do battle. 3. Left arrow - Retreat; commands character to retire to next location. 4. Square with detail - Location scan; enables you to look into current or adjacent locations; then you can count or identify other characters, who appear on the left of the screen. (The eight directional arrows are used to choose the direction of attack.) MISSION COMMAND SCREEN : This appears above the character screens at all times. It shows (from left to right) Status icons; View screen; and Character in play. The Status icons change colour according to a character's status: White - Inactive, ready for command Blue - Moving Magenta - Attacking Cyan/Brown - Defending Yellow - Retreating Green - Picking lock (Sevrina) Flashing - Character weak Black - Character dying The View screen will show the current location of the character, plus any other characters within sight. The Character in play screen shows the character currently in play. OTHER CHRARACTERS : 1. Ambassador Kryxix - appears as a green icon; must be rescued! 2. General Zoff - magenta icon; must be captured alive. 3. Captain Churl - white/grey icon; Zoff's second in command. 4. Marshall - Marshall icon; humanoid or robotic officer. 5. Squad Leader - Squad Leader icon; both humanoid and robotic. 6. Trooper - Trooper icon; both humanoid and robotic. OTHER ITEMS : 1. Projectile Pistol - light short range weapon 2. Laser Rifle - medium weapon, effective at medium range 3. Rocket Launcher - very effective when fired at adjacent location 4. Smoke Bomb - very effective when used in current location 5. Time Delay Unit - freezes time for all except the activator 6. Tool Kit - allows Sevrina to open locked doors 7. Key Card - colour coded; opens certain locked doors 8. Self-Destruct Card - activates the ZOFF V's Self-Destruct Unit 9. Self-Destruct Unit - when activated, begins a 4-minute countdown (in real-time) until self-destruction. 10. Transport Beacon - can only be operated by Manto; can only be used after it has been dropped in a location. COMMENTS : "A state of the art game" RATING : 96% (CRASH #17, June 1985) NOW : "The world's first-ever icon-driven adventure" is still quite a nice game to play, even if it is a bit shallow. It was an influential game in its day and was one of the stepping-stones towards entirely icon-driven games. --------------------------------------------------------------------- KEYS : Up - Q to P Down - A to L Left } Alternate bottom Right } row keys Fire - 1 to 0