Introduction
If only you had known what you were letting yourself in for, when, seduced by
the uniform, camaraderie, promises of willing damsels in every colony, and under
the influence of more than a few beers, you signed up for a three year stint with
Damocles. Now, you're having second thoughts...
The game
Trade vessels of the Terran Merchant Fleet have been disappearing with alarming
regularity in a spacial backwater known only as Delta and marked as 'unmapped'
on the charts.
Rumours suggest the cause is the dreaded Hsiffan Khanate, and guess who control
has 'volunteered' to find out if the rumours are true...
Yet again Terra is in deadly peril as diplomatic relations with the Hsiffan
Khanate disintegrate into tatters. The Hsiffies - nasty yellow, buck-toothed,
slimy aliens, who cheat at poker, mistreat their mothers and jump red lights
- are hell-bent on destroying the Terran empire. To combat this insidious
alien threat, Damocles has been reformed. As a member of that elite squadron,
your mission is to obliterate as much of the Hsiffan attack as possible.
You are adviced to enhance your ship's abilities so as to improve your chances
against the Hsiffan threat. Most of the attacking formations yield a credit
if they're completely destroyed, and, depending on how many credits have been
earned, extra weaponry can be bolted onto the ship.
The Armament may be acquired in the 'weapon collection screens', which are
a group of icons that frequently cross your path between alien attacks. Each
icon has its price, and the extras you can afford are highlighted in blue, while
items out of your price range are in grey. Just fly over the desired icon, and
within seconds more death power is at your disposal.
Remember, though, that the weapons are not permanent. After a pre-set time,
they start to fade away, quite possibly leaving you in a nasty situation.
Attack waves do not always give credits - some may even take them away;
so always keep a close eye on the credit counter in the bottom left-hand corner
of the scanner.
Extras
Below are detailed explanations of available extras. New pilots are advised
to acquaint themselves with their respective icons and capabilities (as copied
from the Cale Industries armament sales catalogue).
Extra speed: Defending Terra is a speedy
business and without extra velocity you may soon be pushing up daisies in a war
grave. But be careful not to overdose on speed, because the ship's engines soon
overload and will then go slower than before. Only one credit.
More bullets: The rudimentary firepower
accredited to the basic ship is sufficient for dealing with the namby-pamby front-line
attack force, but you really ought to be better equipped when entering later levels.
With grade three gunnery hugging the ship's hull, fool be the Hsiffite who messes
you around. To you John, two credits.
Multiple fire: Those sneaky devils will
attack from all sides, so guard your back, port and starboard sides with super
multiple-fire - ideal for dealing with the spinning wheel of death that's sure
to be encountered once you've acquired some space skill. A snip at a mere three
credits.
Fish Weapon: For four credits, extra pulse-lasers
from the amphibian planet Zlot can be yours. Blow away the enemy with impressive
ease and take away the strain from alien encounters. Experience surprise as previously
invulnerable space monsters boil away into their component molecules.
Protector: Lacerate any fool Hsiffy trying
to encroach on your personal air-space with this ball of razorsharp, spinning
shrapnel and glass. It chops, it mashes, it winds and grinds, and apart from all
that, it looks good. Astound your enemies and amaze your friends with the style
and elegance that five credits will make yours.
Warper: This little gadget does things
to space-time that would have any self-respecting scientist breaking out into
a rash of puzzled frowns. Once attached to your sturdy space steed, a near total
reversal of the time-flow quotient occurs every pico-second. In layman's terms,
all time slows down. Even the most enthusiastic Hsiffan would have a job beating
a Reliant Robin from 0 to 60 when the warper's in action. This makes them very
easy to avoid and easy to shoot, especially considering your ship still moves
at normal speed. To your squire, only six credits.
Supa Shield: The champagne of armament,
the crème de menthe of the weapons world. Makes Hsiffans look like the
lager-shandy of the alien threat league. But excellence costs, and a Supa Shield
carries the not-immodest price tag of seven credits. Not cheap. Still, if you
want to put the wind up the enemy there's nothing finer than a Supa Shield to
do it with.
Controls
Once Delta has loaded, press space bar for options.
F1: Toggles between one player and two player.
F3: Toggles between Joystick and Keyboard.
F5: Toggles between soundtrack and sound effects.
Joystick in either port (although this allows you to hinder your opponent in two
player games!) or keyboard controls:
W:
Up
X:
Down
A:
Left
D:
Right
Return:
Fire
To pause, press the Run/Stop key. To exit to the title screen, press Run/Stop
followed by 'T'.
Loading instructions Cassette: Insert tape in the player, making
sure that it is rewound. While holding down the Shift key, press the Run/Stop
key. When the screen prompts you, press play on the player. Delta will now load
automatically. Note: If you are having problems loading, please remove any peripherals,
such as disk drive, printer, cartridges etc, you may have attached, and repeat
the above procedure.
Disk: Insert disk in disk drive, type
Load"*",8,1 and press the Return key. Delta will now load automatically.
Note: Delta will not load if there is any form of cartridge present.
Product information and credits
Delta is the second leisure release from Thalamus, the first being Sanxion which
is available for the Commodore 64 computer on disk and cassette and which has
no catalogue number.
Audiovisual concept, label and program are copyright of Thalamus Limited, Front
Office, 1st Floor, Advance Works, 44 Wallace Road, London N1 1 PQ. In the unlikely
event of faulty product, please return it to the original place of purchase. Unauthorised
copying, lending, eating, public performance and broadcasting of this cassette
are unquestionably prohibited.
Thank you.
'I have my pride.'
This has been number two in an ongoing series to stun, captivate and entrance.
Occasioned by Thalamus, executed by Stavros Fasoulas and assisted by...
Rob Hubbard: Music, Sound FX
'Clumsy' Colin: Testpilot
John Twiddy: Cyberload
David Rowe: Artwork
Oli Frey: Layout
Franco Frey: Financial guidance
Gary Liddon: Technical guidance, production
Andrew Wright: Practical guidance, production
