GAME DOCUMENTATION


John A. Reder Presents 
Vectrex UFO! v1.0.2
© 2020 John A Reder, all rights reserved.
TacticalNeuronics.com

Vectrex UFO was inspired by "UFO!" for the Odyssey2 System which was developed by Ed Averett 
and released in 1981. Vectrex UFO is not a direct port of UFO!. Another version of UFO was 
also written for the Atari 2600 and is available in cartridge form from 2600connection.com.

Vectrex UFO! 

1) You are now in command of one of Earth Federation's robot-controlled battle cruisers. 
It is displayed at the center of your screen. 

2) Your ship is armed with a laser cannon and protected by an energized force field. 

3) Press button 1 on the player 1 control to fire your laser cannon. It will fire 
in the direction indicated by the bright white dot in your force field. The white dot 
will rotate to aim in the direction your ship is traveling. You have an unlimited 
supply of ammunition. 

Controls:
---------
 - Joystick	Move Player's spaceship
 - Button 1	Shoot laser (also serves as shield when not fired)
 - Button 4	Game Menu / Pause (Press [1] Return or [2] Reset)

4) Use the joystick to maneuver your ship on the screen. Move the joystick in the direction 
you wish your ship to travel. 

5) You will encounter three types of UFO’s. The first simply drifts randomly in space. 
A more sophisticated version seems have sensors that detect your spacecraft. The result 
is an infinitely more dangerous hunter-killer UFO with search and destroy capability. 
The third kind of UFO has been tentatively identified as a light-speed starship armed 
with computer-guided buzz-ball energy missiles. 

6) All three types of UFO’s will disintegrate if hit by your lasers or if they come 
in contact with your force field. 

7) Your force field is based on the same technology as your lasers they both use the 
same power source. When your force field is fully charged your spaceship will be brighter 
and you are completely protected from collisions or buzz-balls on every side! While 
charging only the visible energy ball circling your craft will defend you. Your force 
field will be drained of energy when you fire your laser or if it comes in contact with 
any object. Buzz-ball's fired by light-speed starships drain your force field more than 
other objects and it will take longer to recharge if hit by one. 

8) Your ship will disintegrate and your game is over whenever your ship comes in contact 
with any UFO while your protective force field is not strong enough to protect you.

9) The score of the current game is shown at the lower left hand corner of the screen 
when paused or when the game is over. 

10) To pause the game: Press button 4. From the pause screen you have the option to 
resume the game or reset the game.


11) Scoring:
BOMB UFO		1  point
HUNTER-KILLER 		3  points
LIGHT-SPEED STARSHIP 	10 points

12) Game progression as you play:

Skill level 1 (Start):
 - 4 Normal speed BOMBS
 - 1 HUNTER-KILLER 
 - LIGHT-SPEED STARSHIP fires short Range Homing Buzz-Balls

Skill level 2 (begins at after you’ve destroyed 3 LIGHT-SPEED STARSHIPS):
 - 5 Normal speed BOMBS
 - 1 HUNTER-KILLER 
 - LIGHT-SPEED STARSHIP fires short Range Homing Buzz-Balls

Skill level 3 ((begins at after you’ve destroyed 6 LIGHT-SPEED STARSHIPS)):
 - 5 Normal speed BOMBS
 - 1 HUNTER-KILLER 
 - LIGHT-SPEED STARSHIP fires middle Range Homing Buzz-Balls

Skill level 4 ((begins at after you’ve destroyed 9 LIGHT-SPEED STARSHIPS)):
 - 6 Normal speed BOMBS
 - 1 HUNTER-KILLER 
 - LIGHT-SPEED STARSHIP fires middle Range Homing Buzz-Balls

Skill level 5 ((begins at after you’ve destroyed 12 LIGHT-SPEED STARSHIPS)):
 - 5 Normal speed BOMBS
 - 1 Fast speed BOMB
 - 1 HUNTER-KILLER 
 - LIGHT-SPEED STARSHIP fires long Range Homing Buzz-Balls

Skill level 6 (maximum) ((begins at after you’ve destroyed 15 LIGHT-SPEED STARSHIPS)):
 - 5 Normal speed BOMBS
 - 2 Fast speed BOMBS
 - 1 HUNTER-KILLER 
 - LIGHT-SPEED STARSHIP fires long Range Homing Buzz-Balls

13) Strategy tips:
 - Stay away from edges if your shields are down you could die from a UFO entering 
   the screen!
 - You cannot shoot down buzz-balls fired by the Killer UFOs, Run!
 - If you shoot a Killer UFO its buzz-ball dies with it! Get to the Killer UFO first!
 - Hide behind a UFO to shield you from buzz-balls fired by the light speed starship!
 - When not fully charges, your shield is strongest relative to the laser dot circling it!
 - Your shield is down when you fire the bullet, and it will not start the recharge 
   cycle until the bullet has ran its course!
 - UFOs explode when shot and they can cause chain reaction destruction if other UFOs 
   are nearby!

Vectrex UFO!