THE SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE



THE SENTINEL



PUBLISHER

Firebird



AUTHOR

Original by Geoff Crammond



YEAR

1987



CATEGORY

Strategy Puzzle



CONTROLS

Keyboard, Cursor, Kempston



 KEYS :   Pan left        - S

          Pan right       - D

          Pan up          - K

          Pan down        - M



          Create Tree     - T

          Create Boulder  - B

          Create Robot    - R

          Sights on/off   - SPACE



          Hyperspace      - H

          U-turn          - U

          Absorb          - A

          Transfer        - Q



          Quit            - BREAK

          Pause           - P

          Unpause         - ENTER

          Music on/off    - Z





INISTRUCTION

The object of the game is to absorb the Sentinel and replace

him as ruler of the landscape. Once achieved, you may hyperspace

into a new world to begin the struggle afresh.



Once you have loaded the game, the title screen will be

displayed. Press any key and you will be asked to input a

landscape number from 0000 to 9999. After you have entered the

landscape number and hit return, you will be prompted for an

8-digit secret entry code, unless you choose landscape 0000,

which does not require an entry code.



After a short delay you will be shown an aerial view of the

selected landscape which shows the relative positions of the

Sentinel (standing on the tower - he may be a little difficult

to spot, owing to the monochrome graphics!) and the Sentries, if

any. Pressing any key will take you onto the landscape's surface.

The Sentinel and sentries will be inactive until you expend or

absorb energy. This allows you to have a look around and plan

your assault on the Sentinel.



Once activated, the Sentinel and Sentries slowly rotate, scanning

the landscape for squares which contain more than 1 unit of

energy. This means you! The various objects contain different

amounts of energy:



 TREE     - 1 unit      - Will not be absorbed by Sentinel/Sentry

 BOULDER  - 2 units

 ROBOT    - 3 units     (you!)

 SENTINEL - 4 units     }  Will not be

 SENTRY   - 4 units     }  absorbed by

 MEANIE   - 1 unit      }  Sentinel/Sentry



If they can see a square with more than 1 unit of energy, the

Sentinel or Sentry will reduce the energy to 1 unit by absorbing

1 unit at a time and creating a Tree at some random point on the

landscape. Therefore a Robot will be reduced to a Boulder, and

a Boulder to a Tree.



The total amount of energy in a landscape remains constant, so

if a unit of your energy is absorbed, a Tree will be randomly

place on the landscape.



You can also absorb and create objects. You do this by turning

on your sights and centering them on the square surface below

the object to be absorbed or created. Boulders, however, act as

an extension of the square surface and the sights should thus be

aimed at the side of the Boulder. Boulders can be stacked and

have things placed on top of them. This means that you can gain

height by creating a stack of Boulders with a Robot on top, and

then transferring yourself to that Robot. (See moving, below).

From those high vantage points, you can absorb the Sentries and

maybe even the Sentinel himself.



The amount of energy you have is shown at the top left of the

screen in the form of Robot, Boulder and Tree icons. A coloured

(non-blue) Robot icon is worth 15 energy units.



To move around the landscape, you must create a Robot and then,

with the sights still on, press the transfer key. You will now

be in the new Robot, facing your old Robot, which you can now

absorb.



The indicator on the top right of the screen is the scan

warning. If a Sentinel or Sentry spots you, this indicator will

be filled with specks and you will hear a warning buzz. You have

about 5 seconds to move out of view before your energy is drained

1 point at a time. Once all of your energy has been drained, then

you have been absorbed and the game ends.



If the warning indicator is only half-filled with specks, this

means that the Sentinel or Sentry can see you but cannot see the

square that you are stading on, which means that it cannot absorb

your energy. In this situation, it looks for a Tree near you and

turns it into a Meanie.



The Meanies' job is to flush you out, which it does by forcing

you to Hyperspace. The Meanie rotates quickly, making a low

clicking sound, until it can see you. You will then Hyperspace

to a new location.



Hyperspacing effectively wastes 3 units of energy, so try to

avoid using it. It creates a new Robot in a random position and

automatically transfers you to it, leaving your old Robot behind.

You will end up at the same height or lower but never on your

original square. If you Hyperspace will less than 3 units of

energy, you are destroyed.



Once the Sentinel has been absorbed, you can no longer absorb

energy, although you can still create objects and transfer to

other Robots. When you Hyperspace while standing on the

Sentinel's tower, you will be given the 8-digit entry code for

a new landscape. Which one it is depends on the equation:

Landscape given = present landscape number + energy left



SCORES RECEIVED

"Highly playable and addictive, The Sentinel is one of those rare

games that makes owning a computer a delight." 97% (CRASH #40,

May 1987)



GENERAL FACT



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