Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future (c) 1986 Virgin Games Ltd ------------------------------------------------------- Dan Dare the original Super Hero was being featured on the Earth Broadcasting Corporation "This is Your Life" programme. The invited guests who spoke glowingly of Dan's achievements, his bravery and compassion, included his faithful friend Digby who had shared so many of Dan's adventures, Professor Peabody, Fleet Commander Sir Hubert Guest, Sondor the Venusian ambassador along with his equivalent from every planet in the known universe. It seemed that the whole world had turned out to honour Dan. Dan Dare, embarrassed but deeply moved by these accolades, stepped forward to speak, suddenly the picture on every Vidi-screen in the solar system changed into a series of multi-coloured horizontal stripes, slowly clearing to reveal none other than the evil green face of the Mekon. The Mekon proceeded to tell of his dastardly plan to propel a hollowed out asteriod the size of a minor planet on a collision course with Earth. If the powers that be did not give into his terms Earth would be eliminated! If they agreed the asteriod would be harmlessly detonated, earth would be safe and the Mekon would take over as commander of the universe. They could not give in to the Mekon's threats but what was the alternative? In the studio the assembled gathering turned their gaze to one man, Colonel DAN DARE knew what he had to do...!! (c) 1986 IPC/DAN DARE Ltd Part of the Dan Dare Nostalgia Collection licensed Worldwide by Dan Dare Ltd Taking Digby as co-pilot. Dan heads for Spacefleet HQ and his trusty spaceship, the Anastasia. Soon, they are flying towards the Asteroid, leaving an anxious Earth behind them. As they approacg the Asteriod, they see pieces of machinery and small building upon its surface. Is it inhabited? With only two hours to go before the Asteroid reaches the point of no return, they arrive at the Asteroid. Dan asks Digby to stay with the ship, in case he needs to make a quick getaway. A few tests reveal there is a supply of oxygen surrounding the Asteroid so Digby lowers Dan to the surface, and his solitary quest begins. As he lands gently on the surface, he notices a disguarded laser gun lying nearby. It works! Dan takes it...just in case. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a laser blast shoots past Dan. He looks up...a Treen, one of the Mekon's faithful followers, stands poised to shoot again. Dan returns the fire, hitting the Treen squarely on the chest. The Treen vanishes. Not far away, Dan can see some sort of entry point into the Asteroid. Dan heads for this, not knowing what lies before him...and only two hours to go... It is your task to guide Dan around the Asteriod from the moment of his arrival, in order to initiate the self-destruct sequence and escape back to the Anastasia. There are 5 parts to be collected and inserted into a control panel to do this. These Dan will find in various parts of the Asteroid. You can make Dan run left and right, make him leap gaps, or duck beneath laser bolts fired by the Treens. You can also make him fire back, but be careful as the laser gun is not too accurate. The Treens have devastating effects on Dan if they catch him. Some will merely sap his strength, some will take him to prison. However, the Asteroid has been damaged in its travels. The prison door mechanism has completely shut down, so Dan cas easily escape if captured. But most likely, the Treen that caotures him will knock him unconscious, and Dan will lose vital minutes. And the Treens are not Dan's only problem...the Mekon may be here too...and what else? SPECTRUM LOADING INSTRUCTIONS The game will load by the usual LOAD "" Once loaded, the title screen will be displayed. Pressing '1' on this screen allows selection of the following control options. 1) Keyboard...Q up A down O left P right and any key from the following to fire...b n m Symbol-Shift Space. 2) Cursor keys (5, 6, 7, 8) and 0 to fire, also compatible with any cursor type joystick. 3) Standard Kempston Joystick. After selecting 1, 2, or 3, press ENTER to return to the title screen. Pressing FIRE will start the game. The key/joystick controls are... UP/JUMP | | | LEFT--------+---------RIGHT | | | DOWN/DUCK The game can be paused at any point, by pressing CAPS-SHIFT and SPACE (also called BREAK) and the game can be aborted by pressing CAPS-SHIFT and 3 (also called TRUE-VIDEO). Scattered around the Asteroid. Dan will find some useful objects, such as a re-charger to keep the laser gun at full power, and energy booster pills to build his strength. These are picked up by jumping on them. As Dan finds them, he can decide either to take them or leave them until later if he is not in need of them at the time. The five pieces of self-destruct mechanism must be assembled one at a time, in the control room. You will recognise this as it will show five empty sockets at the start. As Dan returns each piece to this location, he can insert it into the correct socket, and it will start to glow. Doing this also opens a door leading to the next place of the mechanism. Eventually, Dan will have collected the five pieces, and must make his way back to the surface where Digby will be waiting. Note that this may not be the same place as where he first landed. Good luck...the Earth is depending on you... DEDICATION This game is dedicated to the memory of Frank Hampson, the creator of Dan Dare who sadly died on 8th July 1985. We hope he would have approved of our treatment of his characters. All rights of the producer and the owner of the work being produced are reserved. Unauthorised copying, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting of this cassette is prohibited. The publisher assumes no responsibility for errors, nor liability for damage arising from its use. WARNING These programs are sold accordinf to VIRGIN GAMES LTD'S terms of trade and conditions of sale. Copies of which are available on request (p) 1986 VIRGIN GAMES LTD, (c) 1986 VIRGIN GAMES LTD Complete Instructions typed in by Paul Thompson, March 2003