Xenos Manual

Introduction

XENOS
A 32K Disk Adventure for the TRS-80 Model I/III
Catalog Number 25-1955

At first, you bury your head under the pillow, hoping it will go away. But no — RRRRIIIINNNNGGGG! There it is again. What idiot could possibly be calling at this unholy hour?

You search your nightstand in the dark, clumsily grabbing the receiver. "Yeah?" you mumble, hoping to convey extreme crankiness and anger. "Dr. Sands?" the voice asks.

"Nah, it's Mary Poppins. Of course it's Dr. Sands! Who is this and what do you want?"

"Dr. Sands, it's General Thatcher, U.S. Air Force, at the Pentagon. Sorry to wake you, but I have an urgent situation here." The general's voice sounds close to panic.

"Oh yeah? What happened? Somebody push the button by mistake again? Don't worry. Just tell them to unplug the blasted computer. The missiles won't launch for at least another five minutes. You're safe till then." You're ready to hang up and get back to sleep, but the general won't let you.

"Dr. Sands, I'm trying to be serious. We have a major incident on our hands."

Before you have time to say another word, the general is spilling out his tale of woe. He tells you of the sighting made yesterday by one of his top pilots — first the flash, then the strange glow coming from the canyon just outside of Purgatory, New Mexico — the Air Force investigators who were sent in — the lone survivor who managed to get out, though not with his sanity intact.

Somehow, they've managed to convince themselves that you're the only one who can help them out. Before you hang up, visions of immortal fame, riches beyond compare, a made-for-TV movie, and a ticker-tape parade flash through your mind. This is it. Your big chance to be a hero!

A USAF jet is waiting to wing you to New Mexico. Could it be a radioactive meteor? A bonafide UFO? A secret test of a nuclear device gone wrong? And is a ticker-tape parade really worth putting your life on the line?

Turning to the driver, you ask "Did the general give you any instructions to wait for me?"

"Are you kidding?" the edgy private squeaks. "I'm getting out of here as fast as I can!" The jeep does a 180 and roars off in the direction from whence it came.

Looking down the road you can see that you've made the mistake of your life. The air seems oppressive as you begin walking toward town. There are no signs of life — you should have known better than to get mixed up in this. "Next time I'm leaving the phone off the hook," you say aloud, to be answered by the ominous howl of the arid wind.

Xenos is an intriguing and complex adventure. Your mission is to explore Purgatory and its surrounding desert, find whatever has left the town deserted, and destroy it before it wreaks havoc on anything else. You could become a hero — or a small pile of ashes. What happens is up to your skill in logic and your ability to make use of any equipment you find.

Your TRS-80 will help you discover what you need to survive. It will perform commands you might give, like TAKE THE SHOVEL or GO NORTH (directional commands may be shortened to N, S, E, and W). You may use commands containing more than two words, like PUT JACK ON CAR. Each time you give the computer a command, press [ENTER] to see what happens next.

To find out how well your mission is progressing, type SCORE and press [ENTER]. You will be told the percentage of the mission completed so far. If you forget where you are, type LOOK and press [ENTER].

Other useful commands are I (Inventory) to see a list of the equipment you currently possess, and DIAGNOSE to see your physical condition. By the way, it will help you to have linguistic talents, as you could encounter a few hieroglyphs to decipher.

By no means should you become so discouraged that you QUIT, unless you are going to save the exploration and return to it later. Who knows? If you keep going, there has to be a way out, right?

You can now start your investigation, and perhaps even wind up world famous, if your powers of logic are tuned finely enough. Good luck!

Loading Instructions

It is assumed you have reviewed the general operational procedures for your equipment as explained in your TRS-80 Owner's Manual and your TRSDOS and Disk BASIC Reference Manuals. You should now be familiar with how to power up your computer and load your disks.

Model I

Insert your Xenos disk in Drive 0. The square notch should be at the top and the label to the right. Close the drive door.

Press the [RESET] button. The screen will show:

Type XENOS and press [ENTER]. In a moment, this message will appear at the bottom left of the screen:

Press any key to start the adventure.

Model III

Insert your Xenos disk in Drive 0 (the built-in drive closest to the keyboard). The square notch should be at the left and the label to the top. Close the drive door.

Press the [RESET] button (the orange button on the keyboard). The Model III TRSDOS logo and copyright paragraph will be displayed. At the bottom, you are asked to enter the date. Type today's date in MM/DD/YY format and press [ENTER]. Press [ENTER] to answer the time question.

TRSDOS Ready will appear on the screen. Type XENOS and press [ENTER]. In a moment, the bottom left corner of the screen will show:

Press any key to start the adventure.

Saving a Game

If your investigation is interrupted and you must stop for a while, you can save your progress thus far. When you return to the mission, you'll start off where you quit, with all the equipment you've collected intact.

To save an investigation, type SAVE and press [ENTER]. A message will be displayed: SAVE DISK IS IN WHICH DRIVE <0-3>? If you are using only one disk drive, save the game on your Xenos disk by pressing [0] (you do not have to press [ENTER]). You can continue playing or exit the game to TRSDOS by typing QUIT and pressing [ENTER].

If you are using a computer with more than one disk drive, you can save the game on a formatted disk in any drive. With your Xenos disk in Drive 0, place the formatted disk in Drive 1 (for example), type SAVE, and press [ENTER]. When asked which drive, press the number of the drive in which your formatted disk resides.

Returning to a Previous Game

You can return to a game stored on disk as easily as you saved it, even if you have been killed. Load Xenos and get ready to play. For your first command in the adventure, type LOAD and press [ENTER]. A message will ask: SAVE DISK IS IN WHICH DRIVE <0-3>?

If you are using only one drive, press [0]. If you are using extra drives, place the disk containing your saved game in Drive 1 and press [1] (or the number for the drive in which your data disk resides).

In a moment, you will see the location at which you left off. All the equipment you previously collected will still be with you, and you can continue your investigation.

Helpful Hints

Since Xenos is such a complicated adventure, not all clues and objects you'll need are obvious. For instance, to find the place where a useful explosive is waiting, you must DIG.

The Anomaly is particularly intriguing — although you might begin to think you've come upon an impossible situation, it's not hopeless! There is a way out, if you use logic and see the pattern developing.

If you make it to the spaceship (your ultimate goal), you'll soon discover that directional commands are of little use. You must ENTER rooms (or holes in the wall) and proceed with caution. Once again, look for patterns developing, and you'll have the mystery unraveled!