Games Database Commodore 64 Skyfox Fighter Instructions
- June 4, 2024
- Games Database
Table of Contents
Games Database Commodore 64 Skyfox Fighter
Getting Started
Turn on the disk drive, turn on the computer, and put the game disk in the drive. Type LOAD”EA”,8,1 and press Return. This disk uses fast disk routines generously provided by Commodore Business Machines, Inc., to speed up the program loading process. if you encounter any loading problems, start over and type LOAD “SLOWER EA”,8,1 instead. When the program finishes loading. press your joystick button to begin. (Your joystick should be plugged into port 1.)
Choosing Ranks (Skill Levels) and Scenarios
Move the joystick right and left to select scenarios and forward and backward to select ranks (skilllevels). Press the joystick button when you have the ones you want. There are 5 ranks from Cadet (the easiest) to Ace of the Base (the hardest). There are 15 scenarios. The first 7 scenarios are Training Missions, some with enemy tanks only, some with enemy planes only, some with both. Training missions contain no enemy Motherships and the enemy cannot destroy your home base. In the 8 invasions you must protect your home base or lose your computer and whatever fighters you still have there.When you wipe out all the enemy forces or when the enemy wipes out all your planes, you will be returned to base. When you get to the end of the game, press any key, then press the button to play a new game with the same rank and scenario, or use the joystick to change the settings first. To start over before the end of a game, press Control R.
Flying a Skyfox Fighter
Move the joystick right and left to turn the plane. Move it up and down to
change altitude. Press the spacebar to engage the afterburners for quick
thrust. Release it to return to your pre-thrust Speed. (Note: If you plug a
2nd joystick into port 2, you may use the button on that stick instead of the
spacebar to control thrust.)
Using the Skyfox Weapons Systems
Press the main joystick button to fire the laser cannons. Press H or f5 on the
keyboard to arm a heat seeking missile and G or f3 to arma guided one. (Press
again if you want to disarm an armed missile which you haven’t yet fired.)
Press the button to send an armed missile against an enemy target. You must be
pointed toward a target visible on your on-board radar scanner to fire a
missile or you will get a ‘no targef message on the scanner.
Using Automatic Pilot to Find More Enemy Targets
When no enemy targets are in view, press f7 or A on the keyboard to engage the
automatic pilot. Your on-board computer will locate the nearest enemy targets
and send you to their location. If there are no enemies left, it will send you
to your home base.
Using the Base Computer
The base computer displaysa tactical map which shows the location of all your
installations and of all enemy vehicles. While flying the Skyfox, press C to
bring up a visual display of that map, fransmitted from your base computer.
Use the arrow keys (or I, J, K and M) to move the cursor to the sector you
wanf fo fly fo, then press A to engage the automatic pilot. You may also
follow this procedure to choose your own target to launch against from the
base. Pressing C again disengages the base computer.
Fiying Through the clouds
There is a cloud barrier that stretches between 1,000 and 10,000 feet. You
must fly through it each time you switch between ground and air combat. Flying
up to 30,000 feet results in heavy fuel consumption. Look for enemy planes
between 30,000 and 40,000 feet. They will only fly in that range. You can
speed up the process of flying through the cloud barrier by pressing U to go
to the high altitude combat arena and D to go to the low altitude one.
Landing a Skyfox Fighter
You may land at home base to recharge your shields and take on fuel. You may
not land at any installation other than your home base. (Your home base is
shown on the tactical map as a white checkered square. All other installations
are shown as solid white squares.) To land: 1) enter the sector containing
your base; 2) reduce your speed to zero by pressing zero on the keyboard; 3)
reduce altitude to zero by pushing forward on the joystick. Once you’ve
successfully landed, the base computer will appear on the screen.
The Scenarios
- Tank Training 1 You are launched flying due east toward three consecutive waves of tanks. When you destroy the last one, you will automatically be returned to base. Launch again to face even more tanks. Use your overhead radar scanner to spot your targets.
- Tank Training 2- Sectors all over the map will be occupied by tanks, all advancing on your base. When you clear out the tanks in your immediate area, press A or f7 to engage the automatic pilot. This will take you at Mach 2 to the next nearest target. Note: When using the keyboard, depress the key and hold it down long enough to see its effect. Do nof simply give the key a quick tap
- Plane Training 1 – You will be launched onto the tail of an enemy plane. Shoot fast or it will circle and afack you. The forward scanner shows planes which are in range and will help you determine whether they are above or below you. (11 toggles between forward and overhead Scanners.) Try your guided and heat seeking missiles. (Press G or 13 or H or f5 to arm and the joystick buton to launch.) Succeed and you can relaunch against successively more planes.
- Plane Training 2- Launches you nose to nose with the enemy. The slow don’t live.
- Plane Training 3 – Like Tank Training 2, but with planes.
- High/Low Training- Alternate waves first of tanks, then of planes. You’ll automatically be returned to base after each success.
- Combo Training Like High/Low but a wave consists of both tanks and planes. You may fly through the cloud layer that separates air and ground wars.
- Small Invasion 1 Mothership to defeat, before it launches enough planes and tanks to destroy your base. Protect your base and the outlying installations containing your friends and relatives. Be sure to save some missiles to use against Motherships. When a mothership launches a plane on a bombing run to one of your installations, the message “launch detected” will appear on the radar scanner display in your cockpit.
- Full Invasion – A 3 Mothership Invasion. Massive Onslaught- 6 Motherships.
- Halo, Alamo, Advancing Wall, Chess and Cornered – Each a multiple Mothership invasion, each with its own shape and pressure. To study enemy movement patterns in the scenarios, choose a scenario and press the button to enter the base, then don’t launch. Just watch the enemy movement on the tactical map to understand their strategies.
Link With Computer’s Tactical Map
C brings up the computer map. pressing again removes if. With the map up:
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I, K, M or the cursor keys move the cursor (blinking square).
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Z zooms in on the square under the cursor.
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A or f7 engages automatic pilot, fargeing square under the cursor. If the tactical map is not up when the automatic pilot is engaged, the computer will automatically select nearest enemy-occupied square instead.
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S brings up the score summary.
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R brings up an installation status report. Check the shields on each installation. When they reach zero the installation is destroyed.
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T brings back the tactical map.
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Guided Missile Count- press G orf3 to arm (and G or 13 again to disarm) and the joystick button to fire. You must be facing a target on your radar scanner to fire.
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Clock- Shows elapsed time since invasion onset.
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Fuel Indicator- Fuel consumption increases with speed. Using afterburners for thrust boosts (with the spacebar) and climbing to fight planes are especially expensive. Land at home base to refuel.
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Running out of fuel in flight is fatal.
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Speed Indicator In miles per hour. Press a number on the keyboard to set a new speed. 0 stops, 1 sets at 10% of maximum, 2 at 20%, etc. Press +fo increase speed by 100 mph and fo decrease speed by 100 mph. The maximum is 3000 mph.
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X Coordinate Your current position in miles from the left of the tactical map.
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Y Coordinate Your current position in miles from the bottom of the tactical map.
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Control R- Restarts the game.
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Run/Stop Pauses the game, any key resumes it.
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H-Gets help when you are at the base or flying with the computer map up.
Note: When using the keyboard, depress the key and hold it down long enough to see its effect. Do not simply give the key a quick tap. -
Radar Scanner Display toggles between overhead and forward radar screens. Overhead radar shows installations as well as enemy targets. Enemy targets blink. Watch for messages to appear here
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Heat Seeking Missile Count – Press H or t5 to arm (and H or 15 again to disarm) and the joystick button to fire. You must be facing a target on your radar scanner to fire.
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Auto Pilot Indicator – Will show either AUTO or nothing depending on your flying mode. Press A or 17 to engage.
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Shield Indicator- When all the red is gone, so are you. Land at home base to recharge.
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Altitude Indicator Be careful. Above the rank of Cadet, hiting the ground hard costs some shield strength.
LIMITED WARRANTY
Electronic Arts warrants to the original purchaser of this computer software
product that the recording medium on which the software programs are recorded
will be free from defects in materials and workmanship for ninety days from
the date of purchase. Defective media returned by the purchaser during that
ninety day period will be replaced without charge, provided that the returned
media have not been subject fo misuse, damage or excessive wear. Following the
initial ninety day warranty period, defective media will be replaced for a
replacement fee of $7.50.
Defective media should be returned to:
- Electronic Arts
- 390 Swift Avenue
- South San Francisco, CA 94080
in protective packaging, accompanied by (1) proof of purchase, (2) a brief statement describing the defect. (3) a$7.50 check (if beyond the initial ninety-day warranty period). and (4) your return address.
WHAT IS NOT COVERED BY THIS WARRANTY
This warranty does not apply to the software programs themselves. The programs
are provided “as is” This warranty is in lieu of all other warranties, whether
oral or written, express or implied. Any implied warranties, including implied
warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, are imifed
in duration to ninety days from the date of purchase. Electronic Arts shall
not be liable for incidental or consequential damages for breach of any
express or implied warranty. Some states do not allow the exclusion or
limitation of incidental or consequential damages or limitations on how long
an implied warranty lasts, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply
to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have
other rights which vary from state fo state. Address all correspondence to:
Electronic Arts, 2755 Campus Drive, San Mateo, CA 94403. Unless identified
otherwise, all programs and documentation are @1984,1985 Electronic Arts.
Printed in the U.S.A.
Skyfox Theme Song by Douglas Fulton. Graphic art and design by Ray Tobey and
Kelley Reference card design by William Gin.