Space Wrek

The game has been designed to 'talk' when used with the Radio Shack Speech-Sound Cartridge. If you have a cassette version of the game, simply turn off the computer, unplug everything from the Rom Pak expansion port and insert the Speech Sound Cartridge in that same slot, then simple load and play the game.

TO START THE GAME PRESS THE FIRE BUTTON ON THE RIGHT JOYSTICK. This may be done anytime a game is not in progress.

The display

During play, the lower part of the screen displays a view of the Alien Ships and your Bases as it would be if you were looking out of the front of your ship. The upper left section of the screen shows a radar of the Alien Ship and your Bases in the area. Your ship is always at the centre of the radar. The upper right section of the screen shows your score at the top and the status of the systems in your ship below it.

The player's ship

The right joystick controls the movement of your ship. Moving the joystick right or left turns your ship in that direction. Moving the joystick forward starts the ship moving in the direction it is facing. The speed of your turning and movement forward is determined by how far you move the joystick and the status of the SPEED and TURN systems on your ship.

Weapons

Your ship is equipped with three weapon systems:

PHASERS:
The phasers are fired by pressing the fire button of the joystick. Each time the phasers are fired the phaser system loses energy. During the later waves of alien ships, it may require two phaser hits to destroy an alien ship, especially if you are low on Phaser energy. Because the Phasers are sensitive they may not be fired repetetively. Holding the fire button down will give the maximum fire rate.
PHOTONS:
A Photon is fired when the spacebar is pressed. The Photon will explode at a distance and destroy all ships within a certain radius. If your ship is within a certain radius it will be damaged. At the beginning of the game you do not have any Photons.
MINES:
A Mine is released when the break key is pressed. The Mine is stationary and is set to explode in a short time after it is released. As with the Photon, your ship will be damaged if you are too close when it explodes. At the beginning of the game, you do not have any Mines.
WARP DRIVE:
Your ship is also equipped with Warp Drive capabilities (the system has no power at the beginning of the game). Pressing the enter key starts the Warp Drive and will move your ship very rapidly. Your weapons system will not operate while your Warp Drive is engaged. The Warp Drive loses energy when it is engaged.
SHIELDS:
The Shield is the first system to take damage. When it reaches zero, all other damage is inflicted on a single, active system in a random fashion. Since the Photons and Mines are fragile systems, any damage to these systems will destroy all of the Photons or Mines in storage.
RADAR SYSTEM:
The Radar System is fully operational when the game begins. If it is damaged your radius of detection on radar is reduced. If it is totally destroyed, only your ship will appear on the radar.
ENERGY SYSTEM:
The Energy System is the most important one on your ship. When it reaches zero, your ship has been destroyed. Movement uses energy and causes damage to your ship when your Shields have been destroyed.
REPAIRING YOUR SYSTEM:
Docking with one of your bases will give you Shield energy, Phaser energy and either repair a system on your ship or give you a Photon or Mine. Your bases are the squares on your radar. You can only receive repairs once from each Base during each wave of Aliens.

Alien ships

The Alien ships attack you and your bases. A base is destroyed when the Alien Ship shoots it four times. The lasers from the Alien Ships damage your ship. Ramming an Alien Ship destroys the Alien but causes double the damage from an Alien Laser to be inflicted upon your ship. There are many different types of Alien Ships including ones that are cloaked from your radar and ones that transport to another place when you turn toward them.

Asteroid field

Every few waves of aliens you will find yourself in an Asteroid Field. Only your Phasers will fire in this field. The playing field is also reduced to one-fourth its normal size. You must shoot the Asteroids with your Phasers. The Asteroids will divide twice before they are small enough to be destroyed by your Phasers. Ramming an Asteroid with your ship will cause considerable damage.

Mine field

Every few waves of aliens you will find yourself in a Mine Field. As before, only your Phasers will fire. A small Alien Ship will be laying Mines on the playing field. Your object is to destroy this Ship. The Mines will damage your ship if they explode near you. When you enter a Mine Field after the first time, the Mines will not remain stationary.

Dragon 32/64, Tandy Colour Computer 32K

Type "CLOADM". The game will start automatically.