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Way out in the uncharted depths of the universe lies
a remote planet, its populace terrorised and terrified
by a huge tyrannical computer. Built to govern, it turned
renegade and used its creators as pawns in its own diabolical
chess game. As you can imagine, everyone became pretty
cheesed off and it was universally decided that it was
time for revolution. So, a plan was drawn up to destroy
the computer.
Over
the following months components were stolen from a robot
assembly line and a little android, a robot seeker,
was developed specifically to enter and shut down the
computer. This is where you come in. Playing the part
of the robot seeker you have to complete the monumental
task laid down and save the planet.
The
computer network is split into three sections: the area
just under the surface of the huge complex of caves,
the middle section being the machinery part and the
bottom of the complex consisting of machinery and the
computer itself. The three sections each have 14 levels,
making 42 levels in all.
Seeing
Treble? The robot seeker (the eyeball to the far left)
going for the rocket and getting hassled by three alien
nasties instead.
The
journey to the heart of the computer is a tricky one
and the computer's automatic defence system, robot guards
and photon thrusters try to thwart progress whenever
they can. Photon thrusters open and shut quickly, forcing
the robot seeker to stealthily dodge through them. If
they close upon the poor droid the game ends and the
computer continues its macabre game.
Rather
than having 'lives' the robot seeker hat PSYCHE, a life
force shown on-screen which constantly ticks away during
the game. Even the slightest touch from the computer's
minions seriously depletes this supply, but luckily
there are rooms within the computer complex where psyche
can he replenished.
The
robot seeker has two modes of operation: sphere mode,
when it fires bullets to defend itself, and defenceless
mode when it is able to travel unharmed through the
acid raindrops that fall from the ceiling in some locations.
Changing from one mode to the other is done by using
SWAP boxes which are scattered throughout the computer
system.
To
stop an intruder's progress the computer has put up
barriers which are removed by dropping bombs on them.
When you find a bomb, pressing the space bar adds it
to your supply and pressing the D key drops it.
There are other hazards too, like the gas chambers which
are passed only by using a rocket, but the fuel has
to be found first ...
Nonterraqueous
has over 1,000 screens which 'flick' as you move
from location to location, so quite a bit of exploration
is needed before the game can be solved. There's no
score given, but at the end of a game you are given
an overall game completion percentage so you can gauge
how well you did.
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