Menace - Manual

MENACE THE GAME
---------------
Your mission orders are simple, you must destroy the planet Draconia.
In theory possible, in practice a little more difficult.

The planet Draconia, an unnatural planet, formed over many centuries
by six of the most feared rulers that have ever existed. These rulers,
exiled from their home galaxies, have ravaged and plundered space,
using the worlds they have destroyed, and the lifeforms they have
created to build this planet of fear and death.

Now an end must be put to their reign of terror. A large scale attack
will prove too costly to our space fleets. Draconia has many orbiting
defense systems, the cost may be in thousands of lives. A single
fighter craft, undetected approaching the planet, may have a chance.
You will have that chance.

Briefing
--------
Draconia consists of six zones, each controlled by it's guardian.
Destruction of a guardian will weaken Draconia's defense systems,
destruction of all six of the guardians will leave the planet totally
vulnerable to our attack. Be warned, as you progress so will the
guardians know of your aims. They will counter your attack with
more and more fearful weapons. All will have their weaknesses,
destroy or be destroyed.

To get you onto the planet undetected we have captured and harnessed
a giant space slug from the Aldabran galaxy. These creatures
frequently roam near to Draconia. You will be placed inside the
mouth of this creature in a standard short range fighter. The slug
will then be remotely guided to the planet, and at a convenient
location the mouth will be opened to allow your escape to the planet.
From here on it will be up to you. We hope the slug is not used for
target practice by the Draconians, as has been known to happen.

Weapons
_______
To remain undetected for as long as possible you will be attempting
your mission in a standard short range fighter, with one notable
exception. You will have on board the latest matter converter weapons.
These weapons allow you to change the molecular structure of space
debris by continually bombarding it with high energy shots. By then
picking up the debris when it is in a usable form, you may build and
replenish extra weapons. Your computer will generate images for you,
showing you when to pick up the debris for specific weapons.
Remember the more Draconians you destroy, the more debris, and the more
weapons.

It only remains for me to wish you luck. We will be waiting...

Playing instructions
--------------------
Select <F1> for the normal game. All collisions with the aliens and
guardians will reduce your ships shield. Once your shield has gone
and you are in a collision your ship will be destroyed. Remember you
only have one chance.

Select <F2> for the expert game. Collisions with the scenery will
reduce your shield, although not as much as a collision with an
alien. If you have outriders attached they are not affected by the
scenery.

If you fail in your mission, you will be given the option to restart
on the level you were destroyed on. You will however be without any
of the weapons systems you had collected and you will find this is
a very serious disadvantage.

Control the craft with either the mouse or joystick.

The following keys may be pressed at any time during play.

<Esc>     Abort the game.
<Space>   Pause the game, press fire to restart.
M         Toggle the music on/off.
E         Toggle the sound effects on/off
If your disk is not write protected the high score table will be
saved to it automatically.

HOW TO COLLECT NEW WEAPONS
--------------------------
Destroying a complete attack wave will produce a bonus icon on the
screen. The last alien of any wave that you destroy will will turn
into this bonus icon. Every five times you shoot this it will change
into a different bonus feature. Collect the bonus you want by flying
over the icon whilst it's pictorial representation depicts the
feature you require.
