Captain Kelly

The job was described by the advert in the Space Gazette like this:

SEE THE UNIVERSE AND
MAKE MEGA CREDITS!
If you're stuck in a rut and want to see
more of the galaxy then we have just the
job for you! Interesting and unpredictable
journeys for those with a clean
intergalactic licence class 3, iii. Training to
class 4 licence available for better
candidates. Send a sub-ether transfer to
IGTD-379 Beta Epsilon for further
details.

  Seemed to be ideal for a space hopper like me - moon and back, moon and back
day after day.

  I applied and to my surprise was accepted without even a full pilot demo. I should
have known something was wrong when I saw the letter heading - Inter-Galactic
Transporter Deliveries. But I ignored it and only fully understood the job after my first
day.

  I had just become a space ship delivery man. Pick them up from the orbital parking
zone, check out the main instrumentation and engine operation and then deliver them
to the shadiest looking traders you have ever met

  I suppose I did see more of the "universe" than before and that my flying
experience has been extended considerably but the condition of some of the ships
that I have had to fly would make you swear never to step off the soil of your home
planet again!

  The worst experience of my new career, the very worst, was with one of the
robot-protected, BET class of mining traders, Obsidian 2. Normally just the insertion of
the security code would disable all protections and hand control back to the pilot.

  Not on this occasion, all attempts to enter the code were rejected However, I
found that I could still enter the ship and so I wandered in. What a mistake!

  No-one had told me that the security system allowed intruders in but not out. No
one had explained that there were robots on every one of the seven floors or even
that there were robot repair bays. This was the start of a nightmare...



Gameplay

Aim:
To take control of the ship from the robots

Tactics:
You have only one life so protect it carefully. Vital supplies are your oxygen, surprise surprise, your ammunition supply
  You can refill your portable oxygen supplies from the various dumps around the ship They are denoted by the
tank and mask symbol.
  Energy can only be increased by visiting one of the the infirmaries at regular intervals. You have to increase the
energy level by rotating the man in the healing rays. You do this by pressing left and right quickly or by circling the
joystick.
  Visiting an armoury, as shown by the rifle symbol, allows you to gain more laser ammunition. You stop the flashing
symbols showing the number of laser shots available by pressing FIRE and gain the number shown on the bright
display.
  Unfortunately, one of the extra security measures that protect the ship is a "visit counter" that only allows certain
numbers of visits per creature. In order to extend the number of visits you are allowed, you have to find the Radio room
and lock onto the laser satellite which will transmit extra energy to your ship. When you leave the Radio room this
energy is turned into extra visits to the infirmary and armouries. You move your cursor to the required satellite and try to
keep it over that position as long as possible.


Security System Detail:

Your aim is to gain admission to the Master Control Room.
  In order to do this you have to destroy all the robots on each of the seven levels.
  You can check your progress by accessing a computer terminal, there is one on each level. Walking up to this
symbol will give you a read out of your current level, number of visits left, damage status and the number of robots still
to be destroyed.
  If you destroy all the robots on a particular level then all the functions on that level will be closed down, ie the
computer terminal, infirmary, armoury and Radio room will be closed to you.
Certain levels contain a robot repair bay. Robots who have been damaged in combat on these levels will break off
and make for the repair bay. If you fail to destroy the robots on these levels they will always be stronger when you
return.
  You move around the ship using teleports. These differ from lifts in that they always take you from one level
directly to another, you cannot stop at any intermediate levels, eg one teleport may move from level 1 to level 4 but
you cannot get out at levels 2 & 3. They are linear however, which means that if you teleport from the stern of one level
you will arrive at the stern of another level. You would be well advised to map the levels and their associated teleports.


Robot Design
Although there are three types of robot design their strength and firepower is not fixed between types. Therefore a
design that is found to be fairly harmless in one position may be deadly elsewhere.
  Robots will fight as long as they have any energy and when they have none at all they disintegrate If their energy
level falls beyond the repair threshold they will break off the fight and try to get to a repair bay, if one is present on that
level.


Master Control Room:
When you have destroyed all 35 robots the control room will be open to you and you should go to it immediately.
  You will see two satellites and two gauges. By locking your sight onto each satellite in turn you can increase your
energy in each gauge and you need to have each powered beyond the 3/4 level before the time runs out to succeed
in gaining full control of the ship you will see this level indicated by the gauge turning white from its normal red colour.

  Good luck Captain Kelly, you are going to need it!