Hive (c) 1987 Firebird Software ------------------------------- Myrtle Rowbottom always enjoyed the summer months in the Oxfardshire village of Upper Slaughter. Ever since she had been evacuated there from London during the War, she had set her heart upon spending her retirement years within this perfect setting. Thirty five years as Post Mistress in Tooting had left her tired, jaded, and in need of a little peace. Fridat, May 13th, 1988, was set ti shatter that peace. It was a day Myrtle would remember for a very long time. Shortly before tea-time, Myrtle left her cottage and crossed the lawn to her apiary. Just watching the hectic activity of the thousands of bees always filled her with a sense of calm, as the insects hummed their way towards the hives, their bodies swollen with nector. But today seemed different, Myrtle wasn't sure how or why, she just sensed that all was not as it should be. It was curious, but the buzz sounded louder today, more insistant and somehow ominous. As she stood and watched, she was sure that the noise was getting louder. And the sky, was it getting darker? Surely not; it wasn't even time for tea, and dusk was some way off. It was then that Myrtle looked up. She paled and a mask of fear draped itself across her face. Above her was a monsterous sight, it was a hive, a bee-hive, but it wasn't of this world. It filled half the sky and was getting bigger by the moment. It was falling to earth. Myrtle ran as fast as her legs would carry her back to the cottage. Once inside, she slammed the door behind her and moved across to the window. She almost died of fright. Sitting in the fields beyond her apiary was the Hive, a fearsome, metallic structure, the size of a tower block. The, with a noise akin to thunder, they emerged. Insects the size of pantechnicons came bursting from the sides, and zoomed across the fields and over the hills. Myrtle was in no doubt. The Authorities must be informed. At a remote desk in the London offices of MI9 the calls were coming in. It was 20.47 hrs. and within thirteen minutes the evacuation of Oxfordshire would start. Only one vehicle was going into the area, the lorry that contained the only hope, the only chance of safety. The Grasshopper Ship would soon be arriving in Upper Slaughter. As they approached the last junction on the M40 Agent Brabham clenched his teeth. It was only his second mission in the field and he was as nervous as hell. Tipping his head back, he drained his beer can. He was only too aware that it could be his last. On the seat beside him lay a buff folder containing the sparse intelligence details that the military had made available; he'd always believed that military intelligence was a contradiction in terms. The situation was critical. Thermo-sonic scans had only been able to reveal the structural periphery of the hive. They knew that it was made up of eight layers, but they could only piece together a plan of Strata 0. It was painfully inadequate. The only encouraging factor was the indication of available weapon and fuel supplies within the Hive. Brabham knew that the Grasshopper Ship on its own would not be enough; it was the supplies that would hold the key. Not that there were any inadequacies in the craft itself, but it just hadn't been built with this sort of operation in mind. It was a S.E.A.C. Mk.II, specifically designed to cope with an attack situation in a hostile environment, its jumping and crouching abilities earning its nick-name of Grasshopper. Brabham was wishing it had been dubbed 'Locust'. He'd need all the help he could get, and even a small measure of psychological barbarity would have been useful. Myrtle was at the Banbury Evacuation Centre. It was 22.04. The insects whirred overhead. Brabham leant forward and pressed the yellow button marked 'Start'. The Grasshopper burst into life and lurched forward, carving careful wheels in Myrtles' lawn. He had spotted the entry point and the mission was under way. The objective - locate and destroy the control centre. Terminate the Queen. LOADING INSTRUCTIONS Type LOAD"" Press the ENTER key. Press the PLAY button on your recorder. ENGERY The Grasshopper ship is powered by electronic 'Pylons' which are to be found scattered around the Hive and can be easily picked up. These Pylons are gradually used up until there are none left, at which point, energy will be taken from you internal life force. If your life force reaches zero, you will die. The rate of energy drain is dependant on how much equipment you are carrying and how fast you are running. If you carry two or more Pylons, your life force will increase up to a maximum of 99 units. MANOEUVERING Your craft will automatically travel down the tubeways irrespective of which direction you are looking. While moving, the directional controls only move your head and are used to either aim your laser/pick-up sights or to choose which tube to enter a junction. But once you are stationary, you can turn around. Throughout the Hive, you will encounter various obstacles such as stings, spikes, webs and trip-wires. These should be jumped over, crouched under or shot as seems appropriate. Certain tubeways are blocked by portcullises and can only be opened with the correct key. EQUIPMENT You are provided with three markers, which can be dropped anywhere in the Hive in order to help you map the tortuous tubeways. Scattered around the Hive, there are various pieces of equipment which you can pick up and use. To pick something up, press Q and a square sight will appear. Keep the object that you wish to pick up within the sights and once you are close enough to the object, it will be picked up and added to the 'Icon Selection Display'. To use an item, press L. This freezes the ship's controls and enables you to move the cursor in the 'Icon Selection Display'. Now place the cursor over the icon you wish to use and press L again to get control of the ship again. Certain items such as keys will work automatically once selected, while others, like markers, should be dropped, weapons on the other hand are used by pressing A/Fire. Note: only one object can be selected at a time so you cannot open a gate and blast away at insects simultaneously. THE ENEMY Many different types of electronic insects are flying around the Hive which become more numerous and tougher as you progress through the strata. To tackle these, you will need to find powerful lasers and heavy armour to protect yourself. There are also Jailers roaming the Hive, which look like gigantic demonic faces which approach you slowly. They do have a weak spot, but this spot must be hit repeatedly in order to kill them. If a Jailer swallows you, you eill find yourself locked in prison somewhere on strata 1. You can only escape if you have a prison key (found on strata 2) otherwise you will have to abort the game by pressing 1 then 2. SAVE AND LOAD Instead of loading and saving your position to tape/disk, you simply have to write down the code shown in the 'Code Display'. This code is updated whenever you go through a gate. To input an old code, simple press 1 to pause the game and then press 3. You can now type in the code. Space will move the cursor on one position. CAPS will escape from code entry and resume the game. Once you are satisfied that your code is correct, press ENTER/RETURN. 10 |--------------/----------------------------------------------------| |-------------/-----------------------------------------------------| ||---------| O |-----| |-----| |---/\---|--||--| | || | O | 2 | | 3 | | 5 | ||__| |--8 || | O |_____| |_____| |________| ||--||--||--||--||--||--|| || 1 | O |-----------||--------------||__||__||__||__||__||__||\ || | O | ||_______6_______| | \9 ||_________| O | 4 ||---------------| | / | O |___________||_______7_______| |/ |___________________________________________________________________| 1. CODE DISPLAY 2. REAR ATTACK INDICATOR This flashes red whenever an insect is behind you. 3. JUCTION INDICATOR This lights up if there is a junction behind you. To enter this juction, turn back on yourself. 4. YOUR SHIP This shows graphically if you are stationary, running or crouching. 5. LIFE FORCE INDICATOR 99 is very healthy and 0 means that you are dead. 6. HIGH SCORE 7. CURRENT SCORE 8. ARMOUR DISPLAY Shows how much front and rear armour you are carrying. The colour of the armour indicates how heavy it is. A glowing red ball indicates that you are carrying a shield. 9. ICON SELECTION DISPLAY Indicates what items you are carrying and what is currently selected. 10. STRATA INDICATOR KEYLIST Left N or B Crouch/Stand up K or H Right M or N Rear/Front view Z Up S or C Accelerate SPACE Down X or D Decelerate V Fire A Icon/ship control L Pick up Q Drop W Jump J or G Freeze mode 1 While in freeze mode: Abort 2 Code entry 3 Unfreeze 4 move cursor SPACE Reverse X&Y U enter code Return Normal X&Y I escape code Reverse X P entry CAPS Reverse Y O MAP OF STRATA 0 Hive was written, designed and programmed by ODRACIR ltd. Amstrad loading screen LYNSOFT Ltd. Spectrum loading screen Kevin Wallace. Illustration RICHARD SHENFIELD GUARANTEE If this program is faulty and fails to load, please return it to the address below and it will be replaced free of charge and postage refunded. This offer does not effect your statutory consumer rights. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright subsists in all Firebird Software, documentation and artwork. All right reserved. No part of this software may be copied, transmitted in any form or by any means. This software is sold on the condition that it shall not be hired out without the express permission of the publisher. Firebird is a Registered Trade Mark of British Telecommunications, plc. (c) Britsish Telecommunications plc, 1987 Complete Instructions typed in by Paul Thompson, March 2003