Beamrider

BEAMRIDER


Activision (r)


By Dave Rolfe





You are the Beamrider. You must clear the sinister Restrictor Shield that surrounds the


Earth. Demolish an onslaught of aliens as you dodge from beam to beam.





BASICS





1.


Load Beamrider into your system (see instructions on reverse)





2.


When loading is complete, the controller menu will appear. Press the numeral key that


corresponds to your selection.





3.


N, choose the number of players by pressing the corresponding key.


Finally, select your difficulty level by pressing the appropriate numerical key.











Level Begins at Sector


1 1


2 5


3 10





4.


The Keyboard screen will now appear, displaying all controls.





5.


You will immediately be in the Space Station. It displays the sector, number of enemy


saucers in sector, reserve ships, your score and three torpedoes.





6.


To start the action, pull the Joystick back or press ENTER on the keyboard.





7.


Your ship follows the left and right movements of the Joystick; on the keyboard, O is


left and P is right.


To fire laser lariats, press the Joystick button or press Z on the keyboard.


To launch torpedoes, move the Joystick forward or press Q on the keyboard.





8.


Pause the game at any time by pressing H on the keyboard. The screen will go dark.


Resume the action by pressing H again.





9.


To reset the game you have just played, press CAPS SHIFT and ENTER. To reset back to


controller menus, press SYMBOL SHIFT and ENTER.





ORIENTATION





Enemy saucers. There are 15 saucers in each sector. They all must be destroyed before


you can go to the next sector. Each time a saucer is hit, the number in the left corner


of the screen will count down by one.





The sector Sentinel. When all 15 saucers have been destroyed in a sector, their


Sentinel ship will be defenseless and will cruise across the top of the beams. Only a


torpedo can destroy it.





Weapons. Laser lariats are only effective against certain invaders. Torpedoes, however,


will destroy any first object they meet on a beam. You are only given 3 torpedoes per


sector, so use them sparingly.





A Yellow Rejuvenator occasionally floats down the beams. Allow it to land on your deck


as each connection will add a bonus ship to your fleet. If you shoot a rejuvenator by


mistake, it will turn red and its wreckage will destroy you on contact.





SCORING





Points are awarded whenever an enemy saucer, chirper ship or Sector Sentinel is


destroyed. An added sector bonus increases as you progress to higher sectors.





The exact point value for each hit appears in red, briefly replacing your score, the


moment an enemy craft is destroyed.





If you can destroy the Sector Sentinel, you�ll receive an additional bonus for every


ship in your fleet.





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Please print in BLOCK CAPITALS





NAME__________________________________________________________________





ADDRESS_______________________________________________________________





________________________________________________________________________





________________________________________________________________________





POSTCODE _____________________________________________________________





AGE ___________________________________________________________________





Beamrider Spectrum





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Who are you?? We�d love to know!! Fill out the reverse side, and mail it, in a stamped


envelope to the address below. Feel free to include a letter describing your software


interests as well. In either case, we�ll keep you informed of upcoming innovations from


the Activision designers.





ACTIVISION UK INC.


15 Harley House,


Marylebone Road,


London NW1 (UK)





URK-001


(c) 1983, 1984 ACTIVISION, INC.





LOADING INSTRUCTIONS





1. Be sure that the EAR socket of the Spectrum is connected to the EAR socket of the


tape recorder.





2. Place the cassette in the recorder and rewind to the beginning.





3. TYPE LOAD�� (using the J key for LOAD, and the P key and SYMBOL SHIFT for


the � quotes).





4. Press the ENTER key.





5. Press PLAY on the recorder.





6. After several seconds, the program title should appear. After a minute or so, a full


title screen will appear, surrounded by a moving, static-like background, and lasting


approximately 4 minutes. If this loading sequence does not occur, adjust the volume on


the recorder and repeat this entire procedure.





DANGEROUS ENCOUNTERS





As you progress through the Restrictor Shield, a sinister collection of aliens will


materialize. A new danger is added with every other sector, up to sector 14.





SECTOR CRAFT VULNERABLE?





1 White Enemy Saucers Yes





2 Red Space Debris No





4 Yellow Chirper Ships Yes





6 Green Blocker Ships No





8 Green Bounce Craft No





10 Blue Chargers Yes





12 Orange Trackers No





14 Red Zig Bombers Yes





Only �vulnerable� objects are affected by laser lariats (saucers and chirpers are


destroyed; chargers and zig bombs are deflected). Everything else can only be dodged or,


in extreme cases, torpedoed.





TIPS FROM DAVE ROLFE





Designer of Beamrider





�If you want to make it to the other side, pay attention to these tips.�





�Maintain precise control by learning to TAP the Control Stick to move a single beam at


a time. Stay near the center beams so you won�t get boxed into a corner.�





�When the Sentinel is about to approach, don�t sit on the beam you want to shoot from �


green blockers will swarm onto it immediately! Instead, wait on a beam you�re not going


to shoot from. As soon as the Blockers are �locked� onto that beam, go over to an


unblocked beam and torpedo the ship.�





�Take time to notice the enemy attack movements. They generally follow a pattern of


motion that allows you to anticipate many of their moves.�





�Good Luck!�