DESERT HAWK
===========

Picture the scene, your mission is to fly deep into enemy territory to retrieve 
comrades stranded in the war zone. You have use of the most sophisticated 
fighting machine available 'Desert Hawk' but rescuing your platoon will require 
much more than the latest technology. Your skill and flying expertise will 
decide the fate of these helpless soldiers of war.


LOADING

To load DESERT HAWK type LOAD"" (ENTER)


CONTROLS

The keys are user definable with the added facility of defining the keys to 
allow the use of either a PROTEK, DKTronics, AGF, Sinclair or KEMPSTON II. For 
use of these joysticks the following procedure must be followed:

For PROTEK, AGF and DKTronics, define the cursor controls ie 5=left, 8=right, 
6=down, 7=up and 0=fire.

For Sinclair 6=left, 7=right, 8=up, 9=down and 0=fire.

For KEMPSTON II either of these options can be used.

Keys can be defined at the start of each game if required. (They are defined 
on loading as Q=up, Z=down, U=left, O=right and P=fire).

H=Halt Game, S=To Re-start.


PLAYING THE GAME

The game starts with your helicopter preparing for it's mission. You must take
off and rescue the soldiers who have been stranded at a nearby oasis. 
Unfortunately this oasis is deep into enemy territory. To complete a 
successsful mission you must enter this war zone and pick up the survivors 
(try not to shoot them all). DESERT HAWK is a sophisticated and highly 
manoeuverable aircraft. In order to keep speed and manoeuverability at a 
maximum, armament and defense plating are low. (Flying skill will be of much 
more aid to you than powerful armaments any way!) Despite this the copter is 
armed with a fairly powerful antitank launcher. This can only destroy a tank 
if you can hit it at exactly the right point on the turret since they are very 
well defended elsewhere.

To pick up a man, land close by him and allow him to enter (since all the 
soldiers are armed with high explosives, landing on top of them will result in 
the premature termination of the mission). DESERT HAWK can only take three men 
at a time and more than this means that the landing apparatus will collapse. 
For later missions more than three men will be needed to complete the sortie 
BUT only three may be carried at a time. When a full complement has been 
rescued, they must be returned to the home base.

The temperature of the engine rises sharply while in the air and should it 
reach the critical point the engine will cease. DESERT HAWK has been fitted 
with an emergency override which will gently drift the helicopter down to 
earth should this occur. However, this drift cannot be controlled and if the 
enemy is beneath you, you will be destroyed on collision. The temperature can 
only be reduced while on the ground or on return to base.

Most enemy installations are too well armoured for the light weight cannon 
that DESERT HAWK carries to do any damage. The installation can be recognised 
as below:

1) Shrapnel Launchers - These are semi-spherical domes which open and launch 
armour piercing projectiles.

2) Tank - This looks remotely like a tank! It cannot fire to any great height 
but can destroy you if you land too near to it. Also it can destroy the men.

3) Cannon - This is a dome with a single gun which fires random parabolic 
shells - AVOID AT ALL COSTS. The shells are very difficult to see, so be wary.

4) Missile base - This is a rotating missile launcher which fires heat seeking 
missiles which will follow you until they are past you or have destroyed you.

These various installations appear at successive stages of the game. With each 
new level, two more men must be rescued starting at three, ie three at first 
level, five at second etc. 


LANDING COMPUTER

This takes up the right part of the instrument panel. It's use is detailed 
below.

When DESERT HAWK is in the correct position for landing the word LANDING will 
flash and the colours around the edges will stop rotating. If landing is not 
absolutely perfect, you will be splattered all over the base. It is well worth 
your while to try landing before a cargo of men have been picked up, since if 
you crash while they are on board they will die too.


SCORE

The only way a score can be made is by rescuing and returning soldiers because 
this is the only reason for DESERT HAWK's existence.


TIPS

1) Keep an eye on the temperature.
2) Try landing between the shrapnel launchers and waiting for them to launch.
3) PRACTISE landing a lot before a mission.
4) Use the landing computer.
5) The best way to avoid a missile is to stay at the top until it appears then 
   dive straight down (avoiding the ground).
6) WATCH the cannon recoil.


WRITTEN BY MICHAEL BARNARD AND STEPHEN BOUGH 
PRODUCED BY RICHARD PAUL JONES
©1986 PLAYERS