textfiles/apple/DOCUMENTATION/capblood

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CAPTAIN BLOOD DOX
================
The Story
---------
Trapped in a universe of your own creation- a world populated by strange
creatures in unlikely scenarios, extensions of your own over-active imagination- but it's only a game, right ? Wrong. It's every hacker's
worst nightmare..and you're living it!
As the erstwhile programmer who calls himself Captain Blood, you're in
one heck of a predicament. The Hyper-space warp that sucked you into the
game also fragmented your genetic structure, creating five exact dupli-
cates of yourself that are now hiding somewhere in the galaxy of Hydra. You
must find your clones and assimilate them to replenish the vital fluids you
so desperately need.
Playing The Game
----------------
When the game begins you will see the interior of your spaceship, fol-
lowed immediately by a view of the nearest planet. The arm you see on the
screen is your own - use the joystick to move the arm around the screen.
Because you lack necessary vital fluids, you start to shake, making it
difficult to select options from the control panel.
An on-board clock keeps track of elapsed time in minutes and seconds.
You have approximately 2.5 real-time hours to find a clone and get back some
vital fluid before your arm becomes completely uncontrollable. If you do
find a clone, you gain another 2.5 hours of playing time.
The first planet that comes into view each time you begin a new game
will ALWAYS be inhabited. After that, you're on your own.
NOTE: The program recreates the galaxy each time you begin a game. This means
that coordinates of inhabited planets are not valid from one game to the
next.
PLANET VISION SCREEN
--------------------
The Planet Vision Screen is the first screen that appears when you
begin a new game. The planet that you see is the one nearest to your present
location. Several options are available to you on the Planet Vision
Screen: GeoPhoto Vision, Planet Destruction, and OORXX Landing Mission
These options are described below.
The Control Panel
-----------------
The control panel in front of you contains various buttons, only a few
of which are active at any one time. Six control buttons are positioned
diagonally on either side of a large central button. These buttons will be
referred to (from left to right) as Buttons 1-6. Unless otherwise instruc-
ted, select an option by pointing your hand's index finger to it and pressing
the fire button.
GeoPhoto Vision
---------------
To get a close-up view of the planet surface, activate the GeoPhoto Vision
mode by selecting Button 6. Flashing points of light indicate enemy mis-
siles on the planet surface. Select this button again to get an even clo-
ser view. Select Button 2 to return to the Planet Vision Screen.
Planet Destruction
------------------
To destroy the planet on the Vision Screen, select Button 5(the one marked
with an 'X'). NOTE: You may exit the Planet Destruction sequence at any
point by simply pressing the INST/DELkey.
OORXX Landing Mission
---------------------
To activate an OORXX landing mission select Button 4 (the one marked with a
down arrow) from the Planet Vision Screen. An OORXX will be transported
immediately to the planet surface and a vector image of the landscape will
appear on your viewing screen.
FLYING THE OORXX
----------------
Because you ship is too large to land on a planet, you must view the
planet's surface through the eyes of an OORXX- creatures designed for just
such missions. You guide the OORXX as it flies across the planet surface.
The two markers on either side of the screen indicate your altitude
above the planet surface. The horizontal dotted line along the bottom of
the screen indicates your speed- the longer the line, the greater your
speed. To decrease speed, hold down the fire button and pull back. To
increase speed, hold down the fire button and push forward.
Landing Sites
-------------
Each planet has a designated landing site, located at the end of a long
narrow valley. As you fly, an onscreen sight indicates your current position.
If you are headed in the right direction, the sight will appear as a
flashing diamond shape. If you are off target, an arrow on the left or right
side of the sight will point you in the direction you should turn. When
you reach the landing site, the OORXX will land automatically and the
resident alien (if there is one) will appear.
Avoiding Missiles
----------------
If enemy missiles are present on the planet surface, they will begin
homing in on the OORXX immediately; a continuous beeping noise lets you know
that you've been sighted. To avoid the missiles, you must fly as low as pos-
sible without crashing.
When a missile locks in on yourposition, arrows appear on either side
of the screen and begin moving toward each other. The closer the arrows get to one another, the closer the missile is to the OORXX; if the arrows meet in
the center of the screen, the OORXX will be destroyed and you will be re-
turned to the ship's interior.
THE UPCOM
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To communicate with aliens, you must use the UPCOM (Universal Protocol of
Communication) icon system. Once you land, the UPCOM Module appears auto-
matically on the sceeen if an alien is present.
Receiving A Message
-------------------
As the alien speaks, icons will appear on the left side of the UPCOM
Module. To receive a translation of a certain icon, simply point to the icon
in question; the translation will appear on the right side of the screen
If the central mouth is still moving, it means the alien has more to say.
Point to the 'mouth' and press the fire button to read the rest of the
message.
Sending A Message
-----------------
You may respond to the alien using any of the highlighted icons shown in
the UPCOM window. The window shows only a small portion of the available
icons. To scroll left or right, simply point to one of the scroll selectors
located on either side of the icon window. To scroll more quickly, point
to the scroll bar located at the bottom of the window and hold the fire
button; then move the joystick left or right to move the icons in that
direction.
To select an icon, simply point to it and press the fire button. That
icon will then appear on the right side of the UPCOM Module. You may
select up to eight icons for each sentence. When your message is com-
plete, point to the 'mouth' and press the fire button to transmit your mes-
sage to the alien. The left-arrow shaped button on the right side of the
UPCOM Module lets you delete an icon, and you may also insert an icon into
an existing sentence.
Teleporting
-----------
If an alien agrees to be teleported the Teleport icon will appear on the
bottom left of the screen. Select this button to teleport the alien onto your
ship. To teleport an alien from your ship onto a planet's surface, select
the Teleport icon button once you land
Returning To The Ship
---------------------
Select the triangular-shaped button on the right side of the Module to
return to the ship.
THE SHIP'S INTERIOR
-------------------
To return to the ship's interior from a planet surface, select the
triangular-shaped button located on the right side of the screen. From the
Galaxy Map or Planet Vision Screen, select any INACTIVE button to return
to the ship's interior. The main control panel is shown at the bottom of
the screen.
Interior Controls
-----------------
Buton 1 is used to save your game to disk. Complete instructions are
given below. To activate the Planet Vision Screen for a view of the near-
est planet, select Button 2; select any inactive button to return to the
ship's interior. To view the Galaxy Map, select Button 3 (the one marked
with a 'nebula' shape); select any inactive button to return to the
ship's interior.
The Fridgitorium
----------------
If you have teleported an alien (or clone) onto theship, it will appear
in the Fridgitorium on the left side of the screen. While in the Fridgitor-
ium, the alien will not be able to communicate. To disintigrate creatures
in the Fridgitorium, select the button directly below the Fridgitorium. When
a creature is disintigrated, you recover its vital fluids. However,
only the clones' vital fluids are compatible with your system.
OORXX Reactivation
------------------
Once you guide an OORXX to a planet's landing site, the OORXX remains
there and may be reactivated at any tiem. If you have already landed on
the planet whose coordinates are shown at the top of the screen (i.e. the
nearest planet), a question mark will appear on the right side of the screen
Select the question mark to reactivate the OORXX on that planet's surface.
THE GALAXY MAP
--------------
To view the Galaxy Map, select Button 3 from the ship's interior. The
horizontal and vertical lines superimposed on the Galaxy Map allow you to
select a specific planet from among 32,768 possible choices.
Coordinates
-----------
The location of each planet in the galaxy is expressed by a set of coor-
dinate numbers, X/Y. The vertical line is the 'X' coordinate and the horizon
tal line is the 'Y' coordinate line. The nearest planet is the one located
at the intersection of the two lines.The coordinates of this planet are
displayed at the top of the screen.
Selecting A Planet
------------------
As you move your hand around the MAP, the coordinates of the planet you
are pointing to at any given moment are shown in the box at the upper left
side of the sceeen.
To select a destination planet, point to the vertical ('X') coordinate
line and press and hold the fire button; then move the joystick left or
right to move the coordinate line. As the coordinate line moves, the for the 'X' coordinate will change accordingly in the box on the upper
right side of the screen. When the desired 'X' coordinate appears in this
box, release the fire button to lock in that coordinate number.
To select a new 'Y' coordinate, point to the horizontal ('Y') coor-
dinate line and press and hold the fire button; then move up or down to
move the coordinate line. As the coordinate line moves, the value for the
'Y' coordinate will change accordingly in the box on the upper right side of
the screen. When the desired 'Y' coordinate appears in this box, release
the fire button to lock in that coordinate number.
Hyperspace
----------
To travel to the new planet you have selected on the Galaxy Map, activate
the Hyperspace option by selecting the central control panel button (the one
marked with an up-arrow). When the Hyperspace sequence is over, the new
planet will appear on the viewing screen. NOTE: You may exit the Hyper-
space sequence at any point by simply pressing the INST/DEL key.
SAVING A GAME
-------------
You may save your game to disk any time AFTER five minutes of play. To
save game, return to the ship's interior and select Button 1(the disk icon)
The saved file will be called BLOOD CPT. If the game was not
successfully saved, the disk icon will flash for several seconds; in this
case, check your disk and try again. Each time you save to disk, the new
saved game will replace the old saved game. Although you cannot pause the
game during play, you may save your progress at any point and return to
your game at a later time.
Loading A Saved Game
--------------------
You may load a saved game ONLY DURING THE FIRST FIVE MINUTES OF GAME
PLAY. To load a saved game, first begin a new game. When the Planet
Vision Screen appears, select any inactive button to proceed to the
ship's interior. Then select Button 1(the disk icon). If the game did not load successfully, the disk icon will flash for several seconds; in this
case, check your disk and try again. Should you wish to load a saved game
after five minutes have expired, you will have to reboot the program.
THE END
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To survive, you must find all five clones and disintigrate them in your
ship's Fridgitorium. The last clone should give you the coordinates of the
planet where Torka - the beautiful alien Ondoyante - is waiting. Once you
go there and teleport her onto your ship (note that she does NOT stay in
the Fridgitorium!), you've won. Now all you have to do is figure out how
to get yourself out of the game.....