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The Project 64 etext of the ~Defender manual (Atari Version)~, typed
up by The Morbid Guy <morbid@best.com>, Retrieved from Morbid Guy's
Atari 8-bit Manual Archive http://www.best.com/~morbid/manuals/
defender.txt

DEFEND10.TXT, September 1997, etext #294#

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Defender(TM) by Atari--Cartridge for Atari 400/800


--The Defender of Worlds!

Decades past, your leaders learned that aliens lusted for your world.
At once, they set your most brilliant scientists, your most farseeing
warriors, to design the ultimate spaceship--something to defend your
beleaguered planet.

Now, that ship is in your hands...

-Inserting the Cartridge

Turn on your ATARI(R) Home Computer by pressing the power switch on
the right side of the console to ON.  Pull the release lever toward
you to open the cartridge door. (Whenever you do this, the computer
automatically turns itself off.)

Insert the DEFENDER game cartridge in the cartridge slot (the left
cartridge slot in the ATARI 800(TM) Home Computer) with the label
facing you.  Press down carefully and firmly.  Close the cartridge
door and the computer turns on again.

[picture of cartridge being inserted into Atari 800]

-The Joystick Controllers

For one player, plug a joystick controller into Controller Jack 1. For
two players, plug a second joystick into Controller Jack 2.  Hold the
joystick so that the red button is in the upper loft corner.  Press
the button to fire missles.

[picture of joystick being plugged into Port 1 of Atari 800]

-The Select Key

When you first turn on your computer, the selection screen lists a
version of DEFENDER and a level of difficulty (One Player Easy).
Press the SELECT key as often as necessary to choose the version and
level you want.  To return to the selection screen while the game is
in play, press ESC and then SELECT. Pressing SELECT alone has no
effect while the game is in play.

NOTE: In addition to the six games you can play, there's a
demonstration game to show new players the various possibilities of
DEFENDER.

[picture of Select key]

-The Start Key

Press the START key to begin the game.  To begin again while the game
is in play, press ESC and then START.  Pressing START alone has no
effect while the game is in play.

[picture of Start key]

-The ESC Key

Press the ESC key to pause in the middle of a game.  Press it again to
pick up where you left off.

[picture of ESC key]

-The Space Bar (Smart Bomb)

Press the space bar on your computer keyboard to detonate a Smart
Bomb.

[picture of Space Bar]

-Any Standard Key (Hyperspace)

Press any standard key except ESC, CTRL, SHIFT, or BREAK to activate
Hyperspace.

[picture of entire Atari 800 keyboard]

-----

-Evil From the Far Stars!

The alien attack has come!  Before your planet's defenses could react,
their Landers were besieging you on the foulest mission an alien mind
could ever concieve.  They're kidnapping your humanoids and
transforming them into mutants who will then strike at YOU!  Backing
their Landers are Baiters, Swarmers, Bombers, and the dread Pods.  But
you have the most advanced ship your world has ever devised--Defender!

They're going to have to FIGHT!

As the battle begins, Defender has three lives and three Smart Bombs.
When Defender collides with an alien ship or is hit by an alien mine,
it explodes with a spectacular blast.  If that's its last life, the
game is over; if any lives remain, another Defender appears to
continue the war.

When Defender destroys all the aliens in the first wave, another wave
moves in.  The longer Defender survives, the more dangerous the
attacking waves become.

[screenshot of game screen: player shooting lander]

Defender responds quickly to its controls, but may be hard to reverse
after prolonged thrust, due to its momentum.  It fires missles in the
direction it's facing.

There are two last-resort options:  SMART BOMBS and HYPERSPACE.  SMART
BOMBS destroy all aliens in sight (earning you points for every one),
but you have just three Bombs at the start; you earn another Bomb for
each 10,000 points you score.  Use Smart Bombs sparingly and
strategically--it's a good idea to keep one in reserve for
emergencies.  HYPERSPACE temporarily sends you into a space warp, but
you never know where you'll reappear.  Use Hyperspace sparingly, too,
because overuse can cost you a Defender life.

-----

  *
 ***
 ***
 *0***0 *
 000**0 00
 *0000********
 000******
 *0****

Each of the alien ships has a different function.

LANDERS, the first to appear, kidnap humanoids and fire white charges.

   ***
  ** **
  ** **
   ***
    *
   ***
  * * *
 *  *  *

BOMBERS lay mines to trap you--you can't shoot mines, so you must
avoid them.

  *****
  *****
 0000**
 0@@0**
 0@@0**
 0000**
 *****

BAITERS appear if you take too long to finish off a wave--they move
faster than Defender and fire white charges as they home in on him.

      ****
     ======
   ==========
 **************

MUTANTS--transformed humanoids--are very dangerous.  Once a humanoid
is lost to you, spare no effort in trying to destroy it.  They'll fly
directly above or below you (where you can't hit them) and then
charge.

 **                                  * *
 @0   <---Humanoid                  *000*
 @0                                 *000*
  $                 Mutant--->       000
  $                                  * *
                                   * * *

The POD is the most dangerous, because when it's destroyed it releases
Swarmers.

SWARMERS track you closely, so zap them as quickly as you can.

 * * *                                    *
  000    <---Pods                        ***
 00*00                                  *****
  000                Swarmer--->         ***
 * * *                                    *


All aliens except Landers can exit at the bottom of the screen and
emerge from the top, or vice versa.

-----

Your viewscreen shows your immediate area, but the Scanner at the top
of the screen shows a much wider view.  The area covered by your
viewscreen is bracketed in the center of the Scanner, so you can see
what's happening to your right and left--a crucial factor with so many
aliens around.  By using your Scanner you can tell which kinds of
aliens are where, and--more important--which of your Humanoids are in
danger.  Humanoids and the different types of alien ships are
distinguished by different colored blips.

                 ______________________________________________
 Smart Bombs--                     ----------
             |     .        '  .  '.      .'    .     '
             |   '.  .    '.  '      .              '
 SCORE       V        '                       .         .
   |        ==X  \               __                           _
   |        ==X   \  '          /  \        /\       '       /
   V        ==X    ~~\_________/    \_/\___/  \__/~~~~~~~~~~~
  875                              ----------          Scanner
  _______________________________________________________________


You begin the game with ten humanoids.  When a humanoid is kidnapped,
it cries out for help--go to its rescue immediately!  The Scanner is
the fastest way to spot its position.

There are two ways of rescuing a humanoid:  either destroy the Lander
and let the humanoid fall back to the planet; or destroy the Lander,
catch the falling humanoid, and carry it back to the planet.  Letting
the humanoid fall only works if it's low enough to fall safely--you'll
have to experiment to find out how low that is.  If the humanoid falls
safely, you score 250 points, plus 150 points for destroying the
Lander.  If the humanoid dies, you score only the 150 points for the
Lander.

Catching a humanoid in midair is more difficult and earns you more
points.  To catch a humanoid, shoot the Lander and maneuver Defender
to touch the planet.  This earns you 1000 points, plus 150 for the
Lander.  If you catch the humanoid but don't return it safely, you
still earn 500 points, plus 150 for the lander.

If a Lander succeeds in carrying a humanoid to the top of the screen,
the humanoid becomes a Mutant and returns to attack Defender.  When
all of the humanoids become mutants, or are destroyed, the planet
explodes and vanishes.  You continue to play and score points.  With
every fifth wave, a destroyed planet reappears and all ten humanoids
are replaced.

-----

--STRATEGY

DEFENDER is one of the most complex games ever devised, but your
control over the action is made simple by the ATARI joystick.  Using
this one device, you can thrust, reverse, and change Defender's
altitude--giving you unmatched freedom of the skies as you battle the
invaders.

Fly low.  Good DEFENDER players seldom fly more than two inches above
the planet, in order to protect their humanoids.

Listen to the game sounds.  Most of the time you'll hear a humanoid
cry for help before you see it.  Use the Scanner to find it.  Try
playing DEFENDER using the Scanner alone a few times to get a good
idea of how it works.

Mutants are not as hard to destroy as it might appear.  Thrust, then
reverse direction and adjust your height simultaneously, and fire.

Don't thrust too much.  If you do, your momentum will carry you too
far and you'll miss a shot or collide with an alien.  Also, if you're
too close to the edge of the screen you're facing, you'll have less
time to react to whatever comes your way.

When you're thrusting, move up and down continuously to sweep your
area clean.  But use your Scanner to check what's ahead--don't blast a
kidnapped humanoid by mistake!

You can carry a humanoid around with you so that the aliens can never
destroy all ten of them without destroying you.  But if you touch the
planet, the humanoid will immediately jump free.

Aliens become confused if you quickly reverse twice, giving you time
to blast them.

Use Smart Bombs only in extreme emergencies, or if there are enough
aliens on the screen to push you past a 10,000 point mark.

-----

--SCORING

Scores appear at the top of the screen.  The score for Player 1, or a
single player, is on the left; the score for Player 2 is on the right.
How many lives and Smart Bombs Defender has left is displayed next to
the scores.

At the end of each of the first five waves, you score 100 bonus points
for each surviving humanoid, multiplied by the number of the wave.  At
the end of each wave thereafter, you score 500 bonus points for each
surviving humanoid.  The wave number and the number of bonus points
appear in the center of the screen.  Any humanoid you're carrying
returns to the planet.

-Point values

Aliens destroyed:

Lander:  150
Mutant:  150
Swarmer:  200
Baiter:  200
Bomber:  250
Pod:  1000
Defender Destroyed:  25 each life

Humanoid Rescue Mission

150 points for the Lander plus:

Humanoid falls and lives:  250
Caught but not brought back:  500
Caught and brought back:  1000

[legal stuff deleted]

(C)1982 Atari, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
Defender is a trademark of Williams Electronics, Inc.

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End Project 64 etext Defender manual.

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