THE SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE



BACKPACKERS GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE, PART 1



PUBLISHER

Fantasy



AUTHOR

Bob Hamilton with Darren Hamilton



YEAR

1984



DESCRIPTION

A boring maze game with no sound and poor graphics. Fun for

mappers.  It came in two parts - a guide and the game. The guide

gave descriptions of all of the creatures you could find in a

sub-Douglas Adams style; it contained some information useful for

protecting the creatures in your backpack.



CONTROLS

Q - up, A - down, O - left, P - right, bottom row - fire

Symbol Shift - status

Break (Caps Shift and Space) - return to start / repair backpack

Interface II, Kempston and cursor joysticks supported.



INSTRUCTIONS

Fly around the caverns searching out the exit key and collecting

exotic creatures in your backpack. Shoot the ring-wraiths with

your flame-thrower; collect keys to get through doors; use

explosives to get through the maze.



INLAY CARD TEXT

[inlay card]

Not just a game...

...more a way of life



BACKPACKERS GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE PART 1

by Bob Hamilton with Darren Hamilton

 

Ziggy, still tired from his epic adventures in the Pyramid and

Doomsday Castle, has decided to take a vacation. To get away from

it all he has gone to explore the wilderness of one of the

remoter corners of the Universe. Armed with the latest edition

of 'The Backpackers Guide To The Universe' he hopes to do some

sightseeing, visit a few of his latest eccentric friends and

perhaps do a bit of adventuring on the way.



Ziggy is quietly perusing the guide, trying to satisfy his ever

inquisitive mind, when a message suddenly flashes up on his

communication console. Our super-hero finds himself trembling as

he absorbs the deadly content of the text scrolling down the

screen.



The infinitely evil Scarthax who was assumed destroyed in the

cataclysmic destruction of Doomsday Castle is still very much

alive. He is seeking revenge for the ruin of his plans of

absolute Universal domination and has discovered the means to

inflict this revenge in the most devastating way possible.



Scarthax has unfortunately located what countless adventurers had

failed to find through aeons of exploration - the legendary GREAT

PLUG. Scarthax has given the Universe just 24 hours before he

pulls out the Great Plug and lets the whole of space-time, and

every creation and moment in history contained within, swirl down

the plug-hole. Ziggy cannot let the Universe go down the drain

just like that! He has a single day to thwart Scarthax for a

second time - the fate of us all lies in his hands.



Backpackers Guide To The Universe Part 1 is a unique action

packed blend of adventure and strategy. Not just a game ... more

a way of life!



Backpackers Guide To The Universe Part 2 coming soon...



(C) 1984 FANTASY SOFTWARE LIMITED



[reverse of protection table]

THE BACKPACKER'S GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE PART 1



INTRODUCTION

Ziggy realises that this is one adventure where he will need some

help but in this remote area of the universe there is just one

place where he can find assistance, the CAVERNS of EXILE of the

planet Thallis. Here is found a colony of weird and wonderful

creatures, most of them secured for their own protection,

although some for the protection of others. You as Ziggy must

read the references contained in the Backpackers Guide and use

the information to collect as many creatures as possible to help

in your mission. If you are particularly resourceful you may also

be able to retrieve the two halves of the Talisman of Noria which

will be of great use in the second half of the game.



THE BACKPACK

You travel to the cavern entrance in your exploratory capsule but

to negotiate the caverns you have at your disposal the latest in

backpack technology. This remarkable piece of equipment enables

Ziggy to cope with any environmental conditions and acting as a

total life support system. It compacts itself while he is walking

but converts to a full jet-pack for flying, a buggy for rapid

exploration on the flat and to a mini-sub for underwater

exploration. The backpack also has an amazing capacity, using the

latest space-time compaction techniques to allow storage of an

almost limitless number of objects and creatures in its

relatively small volume.



THE GAME

The creatures are locked up in their cages which act as their

life support system. Once you remove a creature from its cage it

is up to you to feed it and look after it. The Caverns of Exile

consist of open chambers where you can fly around in jet-pack

mode and narrow passages where the jet-pack cannot operate. These

passages are always short so walking through these sections is

 adequate. Although the backpack is capable of converting to a

buggy or a mini-sub these two facilities won't in fact be of use

to you in Part 1 (you'll have to buy Part 2 to see them).

 

Your sole means of defence is your flamethrower. Ziggy chose this

weapon to combat the ring-wraiths that fly aimlessly around the

caverns. It is not possible to destroy these phenomenon but with

the flamethrower you can deflect them away. If they make contact

with you and your backpack they will draw precious energy away.



If your backpack energy drops below a certain level you will be

automatically beamed back to your capsule. Backpack repair time

will be added in to your real playing time. You can choose this

option at any stage during the game by pressing the CAPS SHIFT

and SPACE key together. There is a drawback to this facility

however, for the hyperspace jump involved in beaming back causes

a terrific shock to the body and even super-hero, Ziggy, can't

immediately bounce back into action. A recovery time will be

added in to your real playing time. You have just 12 hours to

complete this first half of your mission so you can't afford to

beam back too often.



When you are walking the flamethrower cannot be used (it is

dangerous to use it near surfaces because of flare-back!). The

fire-button or key is used to pick-up creatures and objects from

cages or cells in this mode. The backpack will easily consume

anything that is put in it but to retrieve anything from the

space-time compaction system it is necessary to input a great

deal of gravitational energy. Ziggy has only enough to retrieve

the backpack contents 5 times so it is certainly not possible to

bring out the creatures one at a time.



In the short passages you will come across brick cells, many of

which contain useful objects. These can be picked up and put in

your pocket but you can only carry 4 objects at a time. You will

find a whole variety of keys which can be used to open stalactite

gates. You should note that the colour of the keys is significant

and that there are secret chambers which can only be entered by

placing 4 keys in sequence in the cell, one after the other

(perhaps 4 keys of one type, perhaps 4 of one colour). It should

also be noted that in many cases it is a good idea to take the

key with you after using it to open a gate since it can lock

behind you and trap you in. You will also find special

transformation crystals which enable you to beam around the maze

but take care again of getting yourself trapped. Explosive can

be useful to get at objects that appear inaccessible (just make

sure you use the right amount!). Finally, you will find indicator

discs which will help you to find the location of the exit key.

You will need the exit key to leave the maze (without beaming

back) and you will find that once used to open the exit gate it

will deviously disappear to be hidden in the maze once more.



There are two means of scoring. Firstly by a percentage related

to the number of creatures you have brought out alive and the

finding of the talisman. The game is so complex that it is not

even known if 100% is possible. In the author's opinion it will

require a tremendous amount of dedication to get near it.

Secondly, the game can be played at a less esoteric level by

trying to visit as many different screens as possible in one

'life'. This may be fun while you spend time familiarising

yourself with the layout of the caverns.

On return to your capsule your backpack is unloaded and the score

is updated.  At this point it is possible to save the state of

the game to tape. When you have a creature in the backpack you

will be able to find out how it is getting on by pressing SYMBOL

SHIFT. Next time you leave the current screen the status will be

displayed. To return to the game press SYMBOL SHIFT again.

Although it was very tempting to keep the clock running we're

kind enough to stop the real time clock while you're looking at

the status. The game can also be paused at any time by pressing

ENTER and then restarted the same way.



Finally, your game will finish after 12 hours or after the

backpack contents have been retrieved 5 times.



CHEATS



SEQUELS/PREQUELS

This is the sequel to The Pyramid and Doomsday Castle.  There

were plans for Part 2 - it was advertised in the inlay card.



SCORES RECEIVED



URLs



GENERAL FACTS

The game was protected against piracy by the inclusion of a table

of 1152 two-digit hex codes, one of which had to be entered

before the game could be played.



NOTES















































