Space Runner (Temporary Name)     

Genre: Science Fiction adventure combined with Arcade action. 

Technology: The game features flying over a terrain, displayed in a realistic 
3D representation of a very large area. Extremely high maneuverability combined 
with high graphic quality create an exciting, realistic flight experience, 
comparable to top of the line flight simulators.

Story Line: The Lynx corporation, founded in order to develop commercial space 
travel, has become the strongest power in the Solar System. Its ruthless 
executives are willing to do anything in order to maintain their power.

Professor Ralwin, a well-known scientist, has invented a revolutionary 
propulsion method, which allows for instantaneous transfer between "Teleporters". 
However, because of  the characteristics of space-time, the distance of each 
jump is limited, so that multiple hops are needed in order to travel across 
the entire Solar System. 
Additionally, the entry and exit gate at each location must be on the opposite 
sides of the planet/moon.

The professor, helped by his assistants Bishop and Tess, has completed the 
construction of an experimental spacecraft, and has sent Bishop away to set up 
the teleporters and test the entire system.

Unfortunately, shortly before Bishop has completed the pre-flight testing, 
the plan has reached the ears of Daniken, the ruthless Lynx chairman and his 
hatchet-man Thurgeson. 
The couple, feeling that their power is about to crumble, will stop at nothing 
in order to stop Bishop and get hold of the invention.

Bishop, on the other hand, must get back to Earth alive, passing through a 
number of planets/moons, and fighting everything that the Lynx people can bring 
up against him.

In his mission, Bishop has three assets: The first one is the spacecraft, armed 
with Phaser Cannons and radar guided missiles. The second asset is the probe - 
A remotely controlled ground vehicle with a robot arm, which allows Bishop to 
penetrate the enemy's installations, steal their secrets and disrupt their 
plans.
The third asset is Tess, the professor's assistant, who is as smart as she is 
beautiful. She has succeeded in obtaining some information about the intentions 
of the bad guys, and provides Bishop with occasional warning and advice through 
a video communication unit.

Armed with these, as well as his flying skills, Bishop sets out on a run for 
his life. On the way, he must also obtain evidence, which will send the Lynx 
executives to court, thus causing the downfall of the evil empire.  
His success in obtaining this evidence determines the development of the plot, 
including the outcome of the story.


Purpose: You, Bishop, must use all your faculties to survive the Lynx forces. 
You must combine your flying skills with a lot of cunning (and some help from 
Tess) in order to stay ahead in this deadly race.

Flying your experimental vehicle, you must fight your enemies and reach the  
Teleporter, which will take you to your next target.
On each planet, you will have to complete some missions, which (if successful) 
will help you survive and proceed to the next world.
Some of this missions require the use of the Probe - a remotely controlled 
ground vehicle with a robot arm.

Technical Highlights: 

- High quality, real time rendering of 3D terrain.
- High frame rate with full maneuvering capability (including full roll and 
  loop).
- Very large terrain (2 orders of magnitude larger than comparable games), rich 
  with features, such as cities, bases, lakes, etc.
- Smart enemies with high maneuverability and sophisticated group tactics.
- Multiple display modes, including high-res true color (64k colors). 
- Over 30 minutes of 3D animation sequences with integrated live video.
- CD music and full digital speech.
- Multiple sound effects channels with 16 bits stereo sound.
- Ability to use ground based probe increases range of missions.
- Terrain features can change during game play (e.g. volcano erupts, mountain 
  opens to reveal rebel base).

User Interface: Joystick (or alternatively keyboard) is used to control the 
                aircraft.

Minimum Requirements: A 486 with 4 Mb of memory, Super-VGA display, CD-ROM 
                      drive and a sound card.

Recommended Configuration: Pentium with 8 Mb of memory, double speed CD-ROM 
                           drive, joystick.

Options: High/Low resolution, 256/32k/64k colors (32k and 64k require a 16 bit 
         display card).


Game Play


Locations/Levels:

The game takes place on six worlds in the Solar system, each one featuring a 
different type of landscape:

- Mars.
- Asteroid ZX5.
- IO (Moon of Jupiter).
- Mars (Revisited in the future).
- Mimas (Moon of Saturn).
- Miranda (Moon of Neptune).


Enemies:

The Lynx security forces deploy many types of vehicles, each having its 
strengths and weaknesses:

In the Air:

- Hovercraft: Weakest type of enemy. Armed with only Phaser Cannons. Does not
  employ coordinated tactics.
- Fighter: Smart, highly maneuverable, armed with missiles and Phasers, can work
  together.
- Fighter/Bomber: Inferior maneuvering ability, but can carry heavier missiles 
  (which cause more damage to the shield).
- Troops Transport: Use to move Lynx troops, cannons and ground  vehicles.

On the Ground:

- Radar guided Phaser Cannon: Used to defend point targets. May be either 
  stationary, mobile or track mounted. 
- Missile carrier: Vehicle armed with ground to air / ground to ground missiles. 
  Use to patrol around special sites.
- Radar: Radars have various ranges. Their detection capability is also limited 
  by terrain features.

In the Sea :

- Barges: Used to carry commercial loads. Not dangerous.
- Boats with Phaser Cannons.

Weapons:

- Phaser Cannon: Line of sight weapon, which shoots energy bolts. Always 
  available.
- Missiles: Can be used against airborne or ground-based targets. Radar guided. 
  Limited in quantity, but can be replenished at designated locations.
- Shield: Both you and your enemies have a directional shield system, 
  protecting your vital systems from damage. When you lock your radar on an 
  enemy, you will get information about the relative force of shield sectors, 
  so that you may (if you are good enough) focus on the vulnerable parts.
  Note: This feature is not yet implemented.
- Probe: A remote controlled ground vehicle available to Bishop. Has a 
  retractable arm, which can be used to lay land mines.
- Additional types of weapons are found during the game.

Missions: The following are samples of the missions which the player is 
          expected to accomplish during the game. Some are mandatory (required 
          for survival). Others are not, but will influence the outcome of the 
          game.

- Sneak into the Lynx Comm. Center on Mars and steal information from the
  computer. To accomplish this mission, you must:
  * Destroy all airborne enemy fighters in the area, without alerting other 
    areas.
  * Approach the radar at low altitude so as to avoid detection, then destroy it.
  * Release the probe and use it to destroy missile carrier patrolling the 
    site.
  * Enter the building.
  * Retrieve the probe after completion of mission.

- Discover the secret base of the Underground and use the probe to replenish
  your munitions.

- Bomb the volcano on IO, causing it to erupt. The eruption then destroys the
  neighboring enemy base.

- Search the mines of Mimas to discover a rare mineral used in the manufacturing 
  of medicines. The availability of this mineral serves to prove the complicity 
  of Daniken and Thurgeson in certain plots.

Enemy's behavior: The enemy displays complex behavior patterns, which may be 
used to your advantage. The following examples illustrate the rich spectrum of 
behavior displayed by the enemy:

- Enemy fighters must go back to base in order to refuel and re-arm. If you 
  catch them on the ground, they are helpless, and can be easily destroyed.
- If you create a distraction at a certain point, enemy troops will be attracted 
  to the disturbance, thus allowing you easy access to your target.
- If you destroy all aircraft defending a ground target without being detected 
  by ground based radar, the enemy will not have time to alert fighters from 
  other locations.
- If you succeed in penetrating the Communications Center on Mars, the enemy 
  on the ZX5 Asteroid will not be alerted. Thus, you can surprise their fighters 
  on the ground and destroy them.

Demo Contents: This disk contains a playable demo of the game, consisting of 
               the introduction, and one of the worlds (Mars), with full 
               playability.


Copyright (C) 1995 by Compro Games (1994) Ltd.
All Rights Reserved