NEWSFLASH

"1st January 2099. The Earth is chronically over populated. The Government has decreed that the Colonization Program be put into force. Shipments have already begun. Pack up your belongings and be ready to go as soon as you are notified."

The world's food resources can no longer cope with the massive increase in population. It has become necessary to colonise distant planets and send people there to live and work.

Most of the planets are bleak, cold, and generally not very pleasant. This one is no exception. It has been selected because it is rich in iron ore. The intention is to get the humans to mine it whilst they are there, after all they may as well be occupied doing something useful!

However the major drawback on this particular planet, as far as the human are concerned, is that the planet is inhabited by distinctly hostile alien animals. A fence has been erected to keep them out of the compound where the humans live, but they are determined to gnaw their way through the fence to eat the crops, which the humans must grow in order to survive.

You play the vital role of the maintenance droid who must constantly patrol the colony ensuring that the fence is kept in good repair to prevent the aliens from intruding and also harvest the crops when they are ready, after all the humans do need to eat occasionally!

Whilst the colony is still developing, a ship from Earth arrives when ordered to deliver extra food, guns, fencing and other miscellaneous useful items, just so the humans don't think they've been neglected entirely, but as the colony grows and becomes more independent the visits become less frequent.

GAMEPLAY

Keep the aliens out of the colony and off the crops, which isn't quite as easy as it may sound. As you gather in the crops be sure to plant more seeds, otherwise you could end up with a colony of starving humans!

Fences

These come in three types of varying strengths, steel mesh is the strongest, then wooden and finally barbed wire. As they become damaged you can repair them in their store rooms by dropping them and picking them up again.

Buildings

There are seven of these around the compound. Three fencing stores, a general supply room, storage room for organic supplies, droid charger room and control centre. You must use the control room for ordering supplies and switching the beacon on and off.

Supplies

You can order extra supplies, such as fences, seeds and death traps from the ship. Everything arrives in crates which must be taken to the appropriate rooms and dismantled. When the ship is close to landing you must return to the control centre and activate the landing beacon. A word of warning -- this uses a lot of power so its best to leave it till the last possible moment, but whatever you do don't forget it!

Power Source

Power is needed to run the beacon, the death grids on the main gates, the portable death traps and the charging room. If you use too much then things will start to switch off, if you use too little the generator will overload - with disastrous consequences.

Remote Droid

Just to give you a bit of assistance, the remote droid once fitted with a battery will go around quite independently helping you keep the aliens at bay.

Aliens

Although they prefer your mushrooms, the aliens will gnaw away at anything that happens to be in their way: fences, seeds, crates, solar panels, you name it and they'll eat it!

Crops

Mushrooms - what every humanoid likes best! These only grow in grassy areas when you have planted the seeds and cannot be gathered until fully grown.

Solar Panels

The more solar panels you have out absorbing the sun's rays, the more power you have.

Display Panel

At the top of the screen is the display panel. This gives you your shield level and laser level both of which can be recharged by going into the droid charger room. There is also a clock, E.T.A. display to let you know when the ship is about to land, and a status readout for the beacon. Four boxes display what your droid is carrying, the remote droid's battery level and the generator power level. A radar grid gives your position on the map and the mode indicator shows whether you are in fire or pick up mode.

Controls

Select the drop mode in order to harvest your crops of mushrooms and solar panels.

Stay in this mode to pick up and drop seeds and fencing. Keep an eye on the display panel and as soon as the four boxes which indicate what you're carrying are full you will start to drop things!

Fire operates your laser against the aliens.

Joystick or keyboard.

Keys are redefinable.