********* Welcome to Project 64! The goal of Project 64 is to preserve Commodore 64 related documents in electronic text format that might otherwise cease to exist with the rapid advancement of computer technology and declining interest in 8- bit computers on the part of the general population. If you would like to help by converting C64 related hardcopy documents to electronic texts please contact the manager of Project 64, Cris Berneburg, at 74171.2136@compuserve.com. Extensive efforts were made to preserve the contents of the original document. However, certain portions, such as diagrams, program listings, and indexes may have been either altered or sacrificed due to the limitations of plain vanilla text. Diagrams may have been eliminated where ASCII-art was not feasible. Program listings may be missing display codes where substitutions were not possible. Tables of contents and indexes may have been changed from page number references to section number references. Please accept our apologies for these limitations, alterations, and possible omissions. Document names are limited to the 8.3 file convention of DOS. The first characters of the file name are an abbreviation of the original document name. The version number of the etext follows next. After that a letter may appear to indicate the particular source of the document. Finally, the document is given a .TXT extension. The author(s) of the original document and members of Project 64 make no representations about the accuracy or suitability of this material for any purpose. This etext is provided "as-is". Please refer to the warantee of the original document, if any, that may included in this etext. No other warantees, express or implied, are made to you as to the etext or any medium it may be on. Neither the author(s) nor the members of Project 64 will assume liability for damages either from the direct or indirect use of this etext or from the distribution of or modification to this etext. Therefore if you read this document or use the information herein you do so at your own risk. ********* The Project 64 etext of the Ace of Aces documentation. Converted to etext by Chris Rogerson , taken from Ace of Aces British cassette version (Distributed by US Gold), disk version has high score save facility. ACE10.TXT, December 1996, etext #147. ********* Ace of Aces for Commodore 64 Control Functions + You may see your current status and pause the game by pressing space bar or f7 + Restart the game by pressing f1 or the RESTORE key + Toggle the sound on and off with the f3 key + Use f5 key to abort the mission and set compass marker to return to home base. Selecting a mission Once the load is completed your Group Captain will offer you the choice of PRACTICE or MISSION(S). Make your selection by moving the joystick up or down. Push the fire button to confirm your choice. Practice If you select PRACTICE the program will immediately load the game. When the load is completed you will be airborne over the English Channel. You must engage and destroy the enemy aircraft. When you are out of ammunition or fuel, or badly damaged return home to base. Use the practice mode to familiarise yourself with the aircraft and its controls. To successfully complete PRACTICE, return to home base intact. Missions As a perspective Ace of Aces, you may select any number of missions. Choose a mission with the pointer (joystick up/down, fire to select). After highlighting the adjacent box, move pointer to "Begin Game" and hit firebutton. You will then be presented with "Accept" or "Reject". If you choose to "Accept" you will then be presented with the INTELLIGENCE REPORT. Intelligence Report CID (Central Intelligence Division) has prepared your Intelligence Report. Top secret information from secret agents, resistance organisations and aerial reconnaisance will locate the exact positions of enemy targets. Intelligence will also provide you with information on weather conditions, recommended weapons and target sequence. Following the intelligence report, a Mission Map wil display the location of major cities and targets. After you leave the Mission Map, you will be presented with the Bombardier's View of an empty bomb bay, ready for weapons loading. Loading your Plane with Ammunition and Fuel. Now you are ready to arm your Mosquito based on your choice of targets and the Intelligence Report, i.e. if you choose to engage only enemy bombers and their fighter support, you'll want your Mosquito to be light and manoeuvrable. Therefore, concentrate on a maximum load made up of rockets and cannon. Weapons Selection: If your targets are U-Boats and Trains you'll want to beef up your bombload with a minimum of cannon and/or rockets. If you want to take a crack at Ace of Aces status by choosing all four missions, then you'll want to carefully select your choice of weapons based on your bombing and dogfight capabilities and the Intelligence Report Move the yellow box around to select areas by pressing up or dwn on the joystick. If you wish to add or subtract bombs, rockets or cannons, move the yellow box to adjacent "plus" or "minus" signs. Once you have reached maximum load, the program stops you from adding further weapons. Use the + and - signs to add fuel tanks for long-range missions, i.e. U-Boat. Once you're armed, hit "done" and takeoff sequence begins. Now you're airborne on a real mission. First check with your navigator to make sure you're on course.... * While in the air, change views by giving the fire button two quick taps. Then push the joystick in one of the directions as outlined below. you may also press the relevant number key. Double Click and Up - Pilot view or press #1 Left - Port View or press #2 Right - Starboard View or press #3 Down - Navigator View or press #4 Centre - Bomb bay or press #5 {Note from etexter : this actually works well!!} Aircraft Controls Pilots View (Front) < diagram as follows: Gauges, top, left to right: Compass, Airspeed, Artificial Horizon, Altimeter Others, bottom, left to right: Intercom Icon, Yoke, Enemy altitude radar, Radar > Compass. Your initial compass heading is South. Change course by pushing joystick left or right. the compass reading will relect your new direction. The dark line on the compass indicates the correct heading for the next target. After all targets have been eliminated, the final heading will be to your home base. Radar. There are two radar indicators: i) The radar "sweep screen" on the extreme right indicates the enemy aircraft's relative distance from you. ii) The vertical dial indicates the enemy aircraft's relative altitude to you. Intercom your "Intercom" icon indicates trouble spots in the aircraft. When the intercom blinks, hit fire button twice and move joystick towards troublespot as described above. Practice cycling through the positions. Learn how to move smoothly to the different positions in your aircraft. Alternatively, press corresonding numeric key to select desired position. Centre Icon blinking indicates a call from the bombardier that enemy ground target is now in sight. Airspeed. The dial indicates your airspeed. In the above diagram it is set at 100mph. Adjust from the engineers view with boosters and throttle or careful use of flaps. Altitude This dial indicates your altitude. The above diagram shows it set at 2000 feet. Adjust by pushing up or down on the joystick from the pilot's position. Artifical Horizon This dial represents your angle relative to the fixed horizon. When the plane is angled, you will turn. When the plane Icon is black, you are descending. when icon is white, you are climbing Engineers View (Port/Starboard side) The engineer/navigator controls the engines and propellers of the Mosquito. < diagram as follows: Gauges and levers, top, left to right Fire extinguisher button, Fuel, Gear, Trim, Flaps, RPM gauge, Boost gauge. Levers, bottom, left to right Intercom Icon, Throttle, Boost Note, this diagram port side. Starboard side reversed > Throttle (RPM) To change throttle settings, place the joystick diamond above the RPM dial. Hold firebutton and push joystick up or down to select setting. Booster (Pitch) Place joystick above the booster dial and adjust similar to throttle. The throttles and boosters function together, The throttles are like the accelerator on a car. The boosters (which control the angle or pitch of the propeller blades) are like the gear of a car. Set both high for top speed. They must be in balance for efficient use of power and to avoid over-revving. An engine is over-revving if the RPM needle is in the red zone.Reduce throttle immediately. If it won't reduce, then the engine is on fire. to prevent the fire spreading, use the fire extinguisher. If the booster does not match the throttle then the engine will either run away (over rev) or get bogged down (too high a gear) Fire Extinguisher Place the joystick diamond over the fire extinguisher. Hold fire button down and move joystick to the right. Use extinguisher with care. Once an engine is dosed, it's permanently out. After you have lost an engine you must adjust trim to maintain an even course. Trim Trim controls the rudder and therefore the direction of the aircraft. Place joystick diamond over trim lever and move the joystick up or down with firebutton pressed trim and setting and maintain desired compass heading. Landing Gear Landing gear will always be in the up position unless you want to reduce speed suddenly. This is a useful tacting in trying to evade enemy fighters. Once selected, with joystick down and firebutton depressed drop the gear and the Mosquito will slow down. Fuel. This indicates the amount of petrol remaining. Check status frequently, especially on long range missions. When a tank is empty, move to bomb bay view. Using the joystick move diamond cursor over the fuel tank registering empty and with the firebutton down, throw drop lever. Reducing the load by dropping empty tanks saves remaining fuel. Flaps. To move flaps up and down, place joystick diamond over flap lever, press firebutton and move joystick up or down. Use the flaps to lose speed quickly. Caution, this may cause damage to the aircraft. Navigators View The map will reflect the information provided in the intelligence report. This includes target locations, enemy strenghts strategies and theis destinations. < Diagram, map screen. Icons as follows: | | --+-- 3 Bombers | 3 V1's | -#- -+- | ####\ 5 Trains \###\ 6 Subs oo oo\ ******* + ********* Storm clouds ---o0o--- Your Plane \\\\\ \ \ Solid black lines are railway tracks, red diamond is home base > Strategy Check map frequently. Watch icon movement. Get familiar with their respective speeds. Your challenge is to intercept the Train, Bombers and V1 rockets before they reach their destinations and to destroy the Uboat pens before the enemy subs set out to attack Allied convoys in the North Atlantic. Note: The fastest route is always a straight line from takeoff to target. The black marker line on the pilots compass indicates the correct heading and therefore the fastest route. Keep that marker centered on your compass and follow your progress on the navigators map. Bombardiers view The bombardier's view will tell you how many of each weapon you have remaining. < diagram, Bombardiers view. > Fuel drop switches Drop when indicating empty to improve fuel consumption. Guns/Cannon Switch Select weapons choice depending on target. Bomb Bay door. Switch open to see enemy target. Tactics. Bombing U-Boats/Trains Check navigators map to determine whether you are in the general area of enemy target. Decrease altitude to 1000 ft or less and set airspeed to 100mph or less. Open bomb bay doors when you are over the target, you should see enemy target - if not, circle back and try again. Joystick up/down moves the bombsight correspondingly in order to line up target. Joystick left/right moves the target into view under your cursor. When target is in sights, press firebutton to drop bomb. Train The P.O.W. train is enroute to Berlin. You must stop it and free the POWs on board. Aim at cars labelled with an Iron cross. Avoid Red Cross P.O.W. cars. Points are deducted if POW cars are bombed. Note: you only get one crack at POW trains so be precise about altitude and air speed. U-Boat The U-boats are preparing an attack on North Atlantic shipping. Stop them before they launch. Once you have opened your bomb bay door, th U-Boats will be alerted to your presence and begin diving. Consequently, each of th eU-Boats will be successively smaller and harder to hit. Note: Once underwater, they will not re-surface for the duration of your mission, so be certain of your correct airspeed and altitude. Dogfight/Bombers tactics Cross hair turns red when in range of enemy target. Push juystick up/down/left/right to centre target in sight. (i.e. fly your plane until nose points at enemy) To switch from cannons to rockets go to bomb bay screen and push switch right or left - you get double points for destroying enemy air targets with rockets. Enemy fighters attack randomly without warning. Once an enemy target turns up on radar, your plane icon will freeze on the map. You MUST down the enemy fighter before he gets you. And make it quick, you're burning up fuel. Enemy fighters will attack in greater numbers after you have struck at their Train and U-Boat targets. V-1 Buzz Bombs stop the V-1s before their launch on London. V-1's are slower than fighters but if they're too close to your aircraft when exploded, the shrapnel may damage your Mosquito. Bombers Stop the bombers before they reach London Tips Don't double-click when firing, you may accidentally change screens. With a full load of bombs, you may need extra speed in order to climb. Your airplane will speed up as you drop bombs and fuel tanks. the extra weight and drag is removed. Keep this in mind when bombing U-boats and Trains. Status screens You may see your current status and pause the game by pressing the space bar. Scoring Bomber = 100 Rocket Kills = Double Cannon Kills V-1 = 150 Safe Return = 2000 U-Boat = 250 Extra Bombs = 50 Train Cars = +200 Extra Rockets = 30 POW Cars = -200 Extra Fuel = 10 Engine = 500 Extra Cannon = 10 ********* End of the Project 64 etext of the Ace of Aces documentation. *********