Ghost Mine By Albert Baggetta (Shareware Game 1990) "Ghost Mine" is my first game in STOS. I wrote it with the hopes of becoming familiar with the basic power of STOS BASIC. Production in the fruitful alabaster mines of Septeebo have been brought to a screeching halt. It seems that during excavation in the lower pit of the mine an ancient tomb was ruptured releasing a deadly mirror ghost and a fleet of spider guards. The combination has made it impossible for miners to once again work the catacombs for precious jewels. You, the bravest miner of the lot, have volunteered to drop into the mine with a special vaporizing weapon. If you can vaporize all of the spiders before your energy supply runs out the mirror ghost will be destroyed and the mines can again reopen. A word about the mirror ghost. It is really only one demon, but it sends out an image in front of it, on the other side of its prey. Both the image and the ghost close in on its target, hoping to embrace it in a deadly gnawing feast. If you are caught in the middle the flesh is flayed from your body, leaving only a limp skeleton hanging from the mine's ladder. If you are fast enough you might be able to maneuver up or down the ladder, avoiding the razor sharp teeth of the ghost and its reflection. As you work to destroy all of the spider guards that keep appearing in the mine's tunnels, your energy is used up. Your friends up above work furiously to get you more energy. Unfortunately they are only able to supply you with one extra energy pod that hangs precariously from the rope ladder in the mine. You may use this pod only once to replenish your power. Hopefully you will have enough strength to last the fight. ---------------------------------------------------------------- GHOST MINE -- GAME PLAY ---------------------------------------------------------------- "Ghost Mine" is a low resolution game. You must boot up your computer in LOW RESOLUTION for the game to work and end properly. On boot you will be presented with a title screen and a musical background. Select a ard or asy game by pressing either of the respective letters. You will need a joystick, plugged into port #1 to play the game. You will drop down the rope ladder to the floor of the mine. A spider guard will appear somewhere in one of the mine shafts and the mirror ghost will hone in on you from the start. Move your man up or down the ladder by pressing the joystick forward or back, which ever is called for at the moment. Line up with a spider guard and press the joystick left or right to fire your weapon. Some spider guards are stronger than others, so you might have to fire several times before you score a hit. Do not hold the fire stick because the projectiles will keep repeating, not going very far. Just push the stick and wait for contact to be made. Sometimes, at close range, holding the stick in the fire position is effective. Be sure to keep an eye on the mirror ghost, because he always knows where you are and will set on your path as soon as he travels a shaft in the mine. Also keep an eye on your energy. As it gets near the end you will want to replenish it. Remember, you can only do this once. To replenish your energy, move up to the E pod, when it appears. Then, while on the pod, hold the fire button in. Your energy will be restored to full (100) when this process is completed. After this you must work fast. Even though the pod remains, it is drained of all its force. If you selected the ard option at the beginning, you will have to defeat 20 spider guards. If you selected asy you will only have to take on 10 spider guards. The indicator at the top of the screen tells how many spider guards are left to get. Either way, win or lose, you will be brought to a final screen which tells you of your success or failure. You will then be given the option to play again or end. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ghost Mine -- Tips ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Take the Easy game if you are new at playing. 2. To gain time, set your man in a tunnel above or below a spider guard until the mirror ghost appears, then move to the spider's tunnel. This distracts the ghost and gives you time to shoot at the guard. 3. Save your energy. Wait until the meter gets as slow as possible before going for a refill. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------- This game is offered as shareware so if you would like to make a donation $5.00 to sponsor further work on the ST, send it to: A. Baggetta P.O. Box 351 Feeding Hills, MA 01030