Aliens TCG (Software Studios)

Warrant Officer Ripley, the sole survivor of the star freighter

Nostromo, is picked up floating in deep space in a hyper-sleep

capsule. She is taken to Gateway Station, a giant space station

complex floating high above the Earth - here she is interrogated by

a hostile committee of top Company Administrators. Her account of

the alien creature which gestates inside a living human host is

received with disbelief, and the committee ignores Ripley's frantic

warning of an alien space ship containing thousands of unhatched

alien eggs.

Ripley is horrified to learn that the remote planet on which the

crew of the Nostromo encountered the deadly extraterrestrial is

only inhabited by the Company's space engineers and their families,

who have set both colony base and a mighty Atmosphere Processor to

produce a breathable atmosphere within the base.

When all contact is lost with the colony, Ripley reluctantly agrees

to accompany the elite squad of Space Marines to the distant planet.

On arrival they find an eerie, deserted base bearing signs of a

savage struggle. Then, as night falls, the Aliens come out...

The top of the screen shows you the view through the selected crewman's helmet camera, with their smart gun sights prominently marked. You can move the sights with the Joystick or cursor keys the view will pan to follow them.

Beneath this there are various function monitors. The crew member's portrait is displayed in the centre of the display, with his name immediately above it. To the left there is the bio-function trace and to the right his ammunition level.

Beneath the portrait there are two numbers, the room number to the left and your credit bonus to the right. The bonus is only payable if you succeed in clearing the base.

You must issue orders to each crewman individually, each will react in his own, way.

Ripley (R) - Flight Officer, sole survivor of the first mission, terrified of the aliens, but a fighter.

Gorman (G) - Lieutenant no previous experience, likely to crack up.

Hicks (H) - Corporal, tough and fag, with a talent for survival,

Bishop (I) - Executive 0fficer,an android faster than any human, totally dependable.

Vasquez (V) -Private, tough, reliable, reacts well to pressure.

Burke (B) - A Company man, more interested in money than in other people's lives.

You command a crewman to move though up to nine rooms in a given direction. Just enter his letter, then the number of rooms (1-9) followed by the direction.

N (North), S (South), E (East), W(West)

Now select another crewman and the order will be carried out. However if the crewman reaches a locked door, acid blood, or becomes exhausted, he will stop, You can also move a crewman within a room by aiming the smart gun sights and pressing SPACE. If any crewman is in a room with an alien his proximity meter will sound and his name will be highlighted on the M.T.O.B. display.

Doors can be sealed shut by blasting the lock, however if you want to go through them again you will need to blast away the whole door. The atmosphere outside the base is poisonous to humans, so do not order any crewman outside the base, the aliens however can leave and re-enter the base at will.

The more you explore the base the more active the aliens become, the blast shutters will close at the start of each attack wave, as a warning, press fire, to continue. Bio-mechanical growth will appear in rooms that the aliens have passed through, you must control it before it spreads through the air ducts and creates Face Huggers and Alien Eggs.

Dead alien bodies vaporise quickly, but acid may ooze from their mouths when blasted. This is extremely corrosive, so do not try to send a crewman through it, but small amounts will vaporise quickly.

Aliens can capture crewman and try to impregnate them, as the process begins the bio-monitor bar turns yellow you cannot order the crewman during this period, you can get another crewman there and kill the alien guard, the captive will be freed, if you are too late, communication will be lost, and the crewman's face will be replaced by that of an alien.

Newt is a little girl, the only surviving colonist. Any time you see her your credit rating will rise, she is likely to be frightened and will not move, however if you take your eyes off her, she will run and hide again.

Try to get as many crewmen as possible to the Queen's chambers, this is where she lays her eggs, success here is vital.