Computer + Video Games - Commodore Is Awesome

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Pete Cooke's Tau Ceti, released
last year, was a classic. And this
sequel is simply brilliant. No
Spectrum owner should be
without it. Simple as that.
Academy puts you back at the
controls of your Gal-Corp
Skimmer. But this time there
are 20 yes 20! — missions to
complete. You can design your
own Skimmer panel using the
built in "constructon-set'
option, And there's even a
freebie Star Map program
thrown in.
All the addictive excitement
of Tau Ceti plus a whole lot
more. You'd be mad to miss it!
Let's take a look at the game
that will knock your socks
off
. After an incident on Cygnus
in 2197 when a rookie pilot
selected the wrong gear when
docking with the main central
ractor and reduced half the
planet to molten lava, Gal-Corp
decided that a special training
centre was needed to provide
an elite corps of pilots for the
advanced military Skimmers
used in colonisation and
reconnaisance work.
The Gal-Corp Academy for
Advanced Skimmer Pilots
(GASP) was founded to meet
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this requirement. * 1 - Only a few
meet the exacting
requirement of flying and
combat skills. In order to
graduate from the Academy,
cadets must complete 20
missions, grouped in five
levels of four, successfully.
On loading you'll see the
main menu which offers you
seven different options, all of
which lead you on to different
sub-menus.
The first thing to do is to enter
your name. Move the pointer to
your a New Cadet" and press
fire. The screen will clear to the
New Cadet sub-menu. Type in
your name and your date of
birth. Having entered your
name the next task is to choose
one of the four level missions.
Move the pointer to "Select a
Mission" and press fire. The
screen will clear to the mission
sub-menu. A list of four
missions will be shown.
To select a mission simply
move the pointer to it and press
fire. Below the mission list is a
set of options:
Info on this mission will
explain the task required and
ships and buildings that you are
likely to meet on a mission. You
can also call up information on
the planetary system where the
mission is set to find out about
conditions on the surface. The
program will also recommend a
suitable Skimmer.
Having chosen a mission you
will need to choose a Skimmer.
Move the pointer to "Select a
Skimmer" and press fire. The
screen will clear to the
"Skimmer" sub-menu where a
list of six Skimmers are shown.
Three are already constructed
and named. Three more are
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build and equip them.
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Below the list of Skimmers
are more options. "Info on this
Skimmer" gives a list of the
equipment carried on the
Skimmer. "View Panel" allows
you to see the panel layout.
"Design Skimmer" allows you
to put together a customised
craft for a particular mission.
The recommended Skimmer
for the first mission —"If it
Mov.s ..." is GCS Lenin. Select
this Skimmer and return to the
main menu. You are now ready
to try a mission! Move the
pointer to "Accept Mission".
The screen will clear to show
the Skimmer's instrument
panel. On the top line is a
"Status bar" which will show
the ship's state (docked), the
mission score and the mission
time. Below this is the
viewscreen, various gauges and
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dials and a small blue rectangle
the computer window.
You are now in one of the
game's two modes. This is
ground mode where you can
communicate with the
Skimmer's computer by using
the commands you'll remember
from Tau Ceti plus a couple
of new ones.
Type HELP, if you are unsure,
and all the correct words scroll
up in your Skimmer's message
window. Type LAUNCH when
you're ready and you're off!
And just hope you've selected
the right Skimmer for the right
mission
The missions range from
complicated Tau Ceti style
puzzles, to out and out shootem-ups
which test your firefighting
and flying skills.
Just to give you a taste, here
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