OPERATING YOUR SKYFOX FIGHTER Getting Started After Kickstarting your Amiga, insert Skyfox disk in the drive. It will boot automatically. NOTE: requires Kickstart v. 1.1 Press the mouse (or joystick) button to begin> Whether you use the mouse or joystick, make sure it is plugged into Port One. Choosing Ranks (Skill Levels) and Scenarios Click the right or left arrows to go to the next higher or lower rank or scenario. The 5 ranks range from Cadet (the easiest) to Ace of the Base (the hardest). Of the 15 scenarios, the first seven are Training Missions, some with enemy tanks only, some with enemy planes only, some with both. Training missions contain no enemy Motherships and the enemy cannot destroy your home base. The remaining eight scenarios are invasions. You must protect your home base or lose your computer and whatever fighters you still have there. The different scenarios will be discussed later. When you wipe out all the enemy forces or when the enemy wipes out all of your planes, you will be returned to base. When you reach the end of the game, press any key then press the mouse or joystick button to start a new game at the same level and scenario. To start over before the end of a game, press Control R. Launching a Skyfox Fighter After you choose rank and scenario, the base computer will appear on the screen. To launch automatically against the nearest target, press the mouse or joystick button to enter the launch tube. If necessary, then use the mouse or joystick to select low (for launching against tanks) or high (for launching against planes). Press the button again to launch. Your launch speed depends on your rank. Flying a Skyfox Fighter Move the mouse (or joystick) right and left to turn the plane. Move it forward and back to change altitude. Press and hold down the spacebar to engage the afterburners for quick thrust. Release it to return to your pre-thrust speed. 1 Using the Skyfox Weapons Systems Press the mouse or joystick button to fire the laser cannons. Press H on the keyboard to arm a heat seeking missile and G to arm a guided one. (Press again if you want to disarm an armed missile which you haven't yet fired.) Press the button to send an armed missile against an enemy target. You must have a target visible on your on-board radar scanner to fire a missile. Using Automatic Pilot to Find More Enemy Targets When no enemy targets are in view, press A on the keyboard to engage the automatic pilot. Your onboard computer will locate the nearest enemy target and send you to their location. Using the Base Computer The base computer displays a tactical map which shows the location of all your installations and of all enemy vehicles. While flying the Skyfox, press C to bring up a visual display of that map, transmitted from your base computer. Use the cursor keys to move the cursor to the sector you want to fly to, then press A to engage the automatic pilot. You may also follow this procedure to choose your own target to launch against from the base. Switching between the High and Low Combat Arenas Skyfox provides you with two different combat arenas - High (30,000 to 40,000 feet) and Low (below 1000 feet). You can switch between the two by flying up or down accordingly. You can speed up this process by pressing U to go to high altitude combat and D to go to the low altitude one. Either way, flying up to 30,000 feet results in heavy fuel consumption. Look for enemy planes between 30,000 and 40,000 feet. They will only fly in that range. Landing a Skyfox Fighter You may land at home base to recharge your shields and take on fuel. You may not land at any installation other than your home base. (You can locate your home base by looking at the tactical map). To land: 1) enter the sector containing your base; 2) reduce your speed to 0 by pressing 0 on the keyboard; 3) reduce altitude to 0 by pushing forward on the mouse or joystick. Once you've successfully landed, the base computer will appear on the screen. 2 The Scenarios Tank Training 1 -- You are launched flying due east toward three consecutive waves of tanks. When you destroy the last one, you will automatically be returned to base. Launch again to face even more tanks. Use your overhead radar scanner to spot your targets. Tank Training 2 -- Sectors all over the map will be occupied by tanks, all advancing on your base. When you clear out the tanks in your immediate area, press A on your keyboard to engage the automatic pilot. This will take you to the nearest target and top speed. Plane Training 1 -- You will be launched onto the tail of an enemy plane. Shoot fast or it will circle and attack you. The forward scanner will help to locate planes which are in range and will help you determine whether they are above or below you. (Press ALT to toggle between forward and overhead scanners). Try your guided and heat seeking missiles. (Press G or H to arm the mouse or joystick button to launch). Succeed and you can relaunch against successively more planes. Plane Training 2 -- Launches you nose to nose with the enemy. The slow don't live. Plane Training 3 -- Like Tank Training 2, but with planes. High/Low Training -- Alternate waves first of tanks, then planes. You'll automatically be returned to base after each successful mission. Combo Training -- Like High/Low but a wave consists of both tanks and planes. You may fly between the high and low arenas. Small Invasion -- One Mothership to defeat, before it launches enough planes and tanks to destroy your base. Protect your base and the outlying installations containing your friends and relatives. Be sure to save some missiles to use against Motherships (When a mothership launches a plane against one of your installations, the message "Launch Detected" will appear on the radar scanner display in your cockpit. Full Invasion -- A three Mothership invasion. Massive Onslaught -- Six Motherships. 3 Halo, Alamo, Advancing Wall, Chess and Cornered -- Each a multiple Mothership invasion, each with its own shape and pressure. (Note: To study enemy movement patterns in the scenarios, choose a scenario and press the button to enter the base, then don't launch. Just watch the enemy movement on the tactical map.) Link With Computer's Tactical Map C brings up the computer map. Pressing C again removes it. With the map on the screen: The cursor keys move the cursor (blinking square). Z zooms in on square under cursor. Z again returns to the normal map. A engages automatic pilot, targeting square under the cursor. (If tactical map is not up when automatic pilot is engaged, computer will automatically select nearest enemy occupied square). S brings up score summary. R brings up an installation status report. T brings back the tactical map. Guided Missile Count - press G to arm (and G again to disarm) and the joystick button to fire. You must have a target on your radar scanner to fire. Clock - Shows elapsed time since invasion onset. Fuel Indicator - Fuel consumption increases with speed. Thrust boosts and climbing to high combat arena are especially expensive. Land at home base to refuel. Running out of fuel in flight is fatal. Speed Indicator - In miles per hour. Press a number on the keyboard to set a new speed. 0 stops, 1 sets 10% of maximum, 2 at 20%, etc. Press + to increase speed by 100 mph and - to decrease speed by 100 mph. Maximum speed is 3000 mph. Each square on the base computer's tactical map is one mile on a side. X Coordinate -- Your current position in miles from the left of the tactical map. 4 Y Coordinate -- Your current position in miles from the bottom of the tactical map. Compass Heading -- 0 is north, 90 is east, 180 is south and 270 is west. Control S -- Toggles sound on and off. Control R -- Restarts the game. ESC -- Pauses the game. Hit any key to resume. Help -- Gets help when you are at the base or flying with the computer up. Radar Scanner Display -- ALT toggles between overhead and forward radar screens. Overhead radar shows installations as well as enemy targets. Enemy targets blink. Watch for messages to appear here during battle. Heat Seeking Missile Count -- Press H to arm (and H again to disarm) and the mouse or joystick button to fire. You must have a target on your radar scanner to fire. Auto Pilot Indicator -- Will show either AUTO or nothing depending on your flying mode. Press A to engage. Shield Indicator -- When your shield is gone, so are you. Land at home base to recharge. Altitude Indicator -- Be careful. Above the rank of Cadet, hitting the ground hard costs some shield strength. 5 ============================================================================ DOCS PROVIDED BY -+*+-THE SOUTHERN STAR-+*+- for M.A.A.D. ============================================================================