=======
Mutants
=======
Document created by rstuart@ukonline.co.uk on 20th Dec 99 for
World of Spectrum: http://www.void.demon.nl/spectrum.html

Taken from the Ocean compilation 'Chartbusters'.

The game is set in a distant future, when man has colonised the remote
star systems and matter can be manipulated with ease. Unfortunately man's
political and moral development has remained stagnant since the second
millenium and Inter-stellar War has raged for the last 600 years.
You are a member of a thinly spread group of dissenters who are opposed to
the weapons research carried out by the Survivor Zero Corporation; have
discovered that the weapons used by all sides in the war are supplied by
the Corporation, and that they are currently experimenting with a new
generation of weapons called Macro-Genetic Mutoids.
MGM's are the first scale biological weapons capable of mutating into ever
more virulent and robust species, hance the name "Mutants" - your task is to
eliminate this deadly system... it will not be easy.

Controls
--------
The game may be controlled by the keyboard which is redefinable.
Kempston or sinclair joystick.

Joystick
--------
Moves the ship (or cursor)

  UP LEFT     UP      UP RIGHT
          \    |    /
            \  |  /
              \|/
     LEFT -----+----- RIGHT
              /|\
            /  |  \
          /    |    \
DOWN LEFT     DOWN    DOWN RIGHT

FIRE - Emits the selected weapon from the ship OR selects the icon under the
cursor.

Keyboard
--------
FIRE   - SPACE BAR
UP     - Q          LEFT    - O
DOWN   - A          RIGHT   - P

To select an icon move the cursor over the top of it and press FIRE.
To leave a zone place the ship on the pad in the middle and press FIRE.

The Game
--------
You control the "Rainbow Warrior", a single man patrol ship.
Your task is to enter the 15 deep-space test zones of the Survivor Zero
Corporation and find the components of a self destruct mechanism.
All 15 of these components must be collected and assembled in a 16th zone
called the control zone to destroy the system, and gain access to level 2
of the game.
Each test zone contains a different strain of mutants.
You have four lives and no time limits to complete your task.
The game begins with your ship coupled to the mothership, waiting to be
telebeamed into a zone of your choice.

Mothership Menu
---------------
The menu on the left of the screen contains four icons.
The first three icons are weapons available.
To select an icon move the cursor over the top of it and press FIRE.
The white arrow points to the weapon currently selected.

Missiles
--------
These are high-yield explosive devices that have an effect over a large area,
but can only be fired one at a time.

Barriers
--------
These are degradable defensive weapons that can be used to erect a temporary
shield against the mutants. They have no effect on the ship.
The supply of these devices is limited, so after ejecting the full load the
ships weapon systems automatically switches to photon torpedos.

Photon Torpedos
---------------
These are rapid fire low yield optical weapons. (The weapon system classifies
these as the default selection).
The last icon is a picture of the ship and electing this icon switched to the
Zone Map. Holding down fire instead of releasing it will bypass the zone map
and switch directly to the zone last visited.

Zone Map
--------
The zone map is a 4 by 4 grid representing the 16 zones of the research
establishment.
The top left zone is the control zone, the others are the test zones.
Pressing fire with the cursor in one of the zones telebeams the ship into
that zone.

Test Zones
----------
The ship materialises on a telepad in the centre of the zone.
The zone is bounded by a high energy barrier, collision with the barrier will
destroy the ship.
You must battle your way through the mutant collony to collect the self-
destruct component.
Any number of conponents may be carried at once, but will of course be lost
at the end of the game.
Landing on the telepad in the centre of the zone and pressing FIRE telebeams
the ship back to the mothership.

Control Zone
------------
The ship materialises on a telepad in a maze of corridors.
You must find your way to the assembly point for the self-destruct mechanism
without coming into contact with any of the walls.
Flying over the assembly point will automatically deposit any components
you are carrying. A successful delivery of any number of components will
give you BONUS LIVES up to a full complement of 3 lives.

Zone Status Displays
--------------------
While in the test or control zones the screen displays the following
information:-
Chemical Analysis of mutant components.
Score this game.
Highest score since loading.
Number of lives left.
Direction to centre of mutant colony.
Shield energy level.
Size and energy level of mutant colony.
Status and self destruct components.
Circle   - still in test zone.
Triangle - being carried
Square   - assembled in control zone.
NOW ON WITH THE MISSION!

Hints And Tips
--------------
* Certain screens can only be completed by using one specific weapon -
  determin which is the best to use.
* Collect as many tokens as you can until you have only one life - these can
  then be deposited in the maze and your lives replenished.

Mutants
-------
Its program code, graphic representation and artwork are the copyright of
Ocean Software Limited. All rights reserved worldwide.

Credits
-------
Game concept by Denton Design.
Programming by Choice Software.
Produced for Ocean by D.C. Ward.
(c) 1987 Ocean Software Limited.
