Accepted! But can you explain the game a bit, it looks like a cross between battleship and Star Wars.

Hey Master-Make sure to start catching Settle it on the Screen, either at TG facebook page(I don't F/B...), or occasionally they provide a wall link here-you'll be tickled when they show yur stuff/records live, and I'm sure they will dig the Intellivision stuff-there was one on their desk late last week during the show!

10 PM eastern time, Monday thru Fri. Records are in the first couple segments, early, but watch whole show, is pretty good.

Originally Posted by Patrick Fenton

Accepted! But can you explain the game a bit, it looks like a cross between battleship and Star Wars.

This was the flagship game of the Intellivoice games when they introduced the Intellivoice in early 1984.

Theres a chess board (where their fleets move towards your star bases every 5 seconds.

You have to get into that grid and kill off their ships before they get into your star base.

You get one ship. You die and the game is over. You can repair your systems at your star bases.

I have The world high score...

This attempt is a sample of game play to see if anyone in the world can beat it for the world record. I can go much further... but no point if no one else will challenge me.

Accepted
Space Spartans Game Starts at :40 of the video

Intellivision Shows Hardware, Console System, Intella Voice from 11:36 to 11:54 of the video

Space Spartans Game Settings Begin at :37-38 of the video On the Keyboard Al Presses V which Represents the ROMAN NUMERAL Number 5

Intellivision - Space Spartans - NTSC/PAL - Default Settings - 21,480 Final Score from 10:02 to 11:32 of the video

JJT_DEFENDER

VERIFIED

HONORED VETERAN

Credibility: 21,446

Submission Points: 11,552 + 60 for Sponsor = 11,612


I JJT Dominate Presently the Modern Arcade Games 51 with First Place & Highest Scores & Fastest Times
in 41 cities

especially Fast & Furious Super Cars Undefeated against Players in a Best of 3,5,7 with 2,379 Victories in 6 years with only 36 Loses I live in Austin,Texas

I live in Austin,Texas I JJT Johnny

Play at Main Event, on Monday Night Madness 3 Specials for $10.95 UnLimited Game Card from 4pm to 2am in the Morning ,

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some times Austin Park Amusement on Tuesday & Thursday $12.00 + $5.00 for Buffet & Unlimited Game Card


I JJT Have No Problem Mastering Video Games. In Austin,Texas

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The Managers, Tech & Workers Know Me Really well for Getting Highest Score & Fastest Times on different Modern Arcade Games.

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Adjudicated Video Submissions I JJT Johnny Got Wrong a Total of 30 in Twin Galaxy in Accepted, Rejected & Cancel Adjudication Archives &

I JJT Johnny Correctly Adjudicated 11,612 at .99742312317% Accuracy

http://www.intellivisionlives.com/bl...e/spartans.txt
SPACE SPARTANS

GAME INSTRUCTIONS

In 480 B.C. a small Spartan force held off Xerxes and the entire Persian
army, in the famous Battle of Thermopylae.
The Spartans chose to die defending the pass into Greece, to give their allies time to prepare for attack.

SPACE SPARTANS reenacts this battle in space, in a heroic
adventure that pits you against overwhelming alien odds. You are the
elite force.
Stop the first alien onslaught and a new alien force appears.

Hold the aliens back as long as you can and give your home galaxy time
to prepare for attack!

OBJECT OF THE GAME

Score as many points as possible by shooting down alien ships, before your
ship is destroyed or you run out of energy.

Repair damaged ship systems and re-energize at your 3 starbases.

Destroy all aliens on the Sector Grid and a new round starts with more aliens.

YOU HAVE ONE SHIP AGAINST A CONTINUOUS ONSLAUGHT OF ALIEN ATTACKERS.

CONTROLS IN BRIEF

SHIP SYSTEMS [Numbers in brackets refer to corresponding key on the
NUMERIC KEYPAD]:


BATTLE COMPUTER [1]: Automatically fires laser torpedoes on any alien
ship that the Tracking Computer locks on to.

Controls accuracy of fire, by
directing it toward center of cross hairs.


IMPULSE DRIVE [2]: Allows you to manually pilot your ship, using the Disc.
Can be used only in Battle View.


SHIELDS [3]: Partially protects ship systems from alien fire.


TRACKING COMPUTER [4]: Locks your ship onto alien, once alien makes
contact with cross hairs of weapon sight.


HYPER DRIVE [5]: Permits travel between space sectors.

Activation possible when the cursor is in a different sector than your ship (Battle View or
Sector Grid).


ALL SYSTEMS [6]: Press before Repair On/Off key [9], to repair all damaged
systems, one at a time.

Press before Status key [8], for report on all ship systems that are off, damaged or under repair.


ON/OFF [7]: Turns any ship system on or off.

(Press system key [1 - 5], then On/Off key [7].)


STATUS [8]: Reports on status of ship systems.

(Press system key [1 - 5], then Status key [7].)


REPAIR ON/OFF [9]: Activates or cancels repair order. Used with individual
system key or All Systems key [6] (see CANCELLING REPAIRS, below).


ENERGY LEVEL [Clear]: Reports on ship's energy level.


NUMBER OF ALIENS [0]: Reports on number of aliens present in sector
occupied by your ship.


CHANGE VIEW [Enter]: Switches screen from Sector Grid to Battle View and
back.


To move cursor or ship up, use the ARROW KEYS. Cursor will move only as
long as you press a key.

Ship continues moving even after key is released.

Cross hairs of sight always remain in the center of the screen, since your
perspective does not change.

GAME VOICES

There are 4 different game voices. Each gives vital game information which
you do not receive in any other form.


CENTRAL COMPUTER (male voice):

1. Ship's energy level.
(Automatic warning if level drops below 1000 units.)

2. Number of aliens remaining in sector occupied by your ship.

SHIP'S COMPUTER (female voice):

1. Condition of ship systems (Shields, Impulse Drive, Hyper Drive, Battle
Computer and Tracking Computer).

Automatic report of damage -- system 1/3 down, 2/3 down or destroyed.

2. Progress of repairs.


STARBASE COMPUTER (robot voice): Automatic alert when your starbases
are attacked.


ALIEN COMMANDER: Heard only at the end of the game. Announces "THE
BATTLE IS OVER."


SELECT GAME SPEED

Press any key. Screen will instruct you to select game speed, from 1 to 5.

Press 1 to play at slow speed.

Press 2 to play at medium speed.

Press 3 to play at medium fast speed.

Press 4 to play at fast speed.

Press 5 to play at the fastest speed.

All game action speeds up when you select a faster speed.

Game speed also affects rate of energy use and gain, speed of repairs and rate of alien
growth.


Game speed may automatically increase one speed level each round,
beginning with Round 2.

* Slowest speed possible for Round 2 is speed 2.

* Slowest speed possible for Round 3 is speed 3.

* Slowest speed possible for Round 4 is speed 4.

* Slowest speed possible for Round 5 is speed 5.

If you play a round faster than the slowest possible speed for that round,
game speed will not increase at the beginning of the next round.

Example:
If you play Round 2 at speed 4, the game will not go to speed 5 until
Round 5.

GAME SPEED DOES NOT INCREASE AFTER ROUND 5.

FASTEST SPEED POSSIBLE FOR ANY ROUND IS SPEED 5.


SECTOR GRID -- GAME START

Sector Grid appears after game speed is selected. There is no game action
until you place your 3 starbases.

Each square on the grid represents 1 sector of space.


ALIEN STARBASES & FLEES

Each colored square with a BLACK BASE SYMBOL is an alien starbase. The
game starts with:

* 3 alien starbases, randomly placed,

* 1 defensive alien fleet stationed at each starbase,

* 1 offensive fleet per starbase, which may be located at the starbase or in
any other sector.

Sectors occupied by one or more offensive alien fleets are colored but do
not contain the black starbase symbol.


The NUMBER OF SHIPS in an alien occupied sector is indicated the COLOR of
the sector.

GREEN = 1 to 4 alien ships.

YELLOW = 5 to 8 alien ships

ORANGE = 9 to 16 alien ships.

RED = 17 to 32 alien ships.

PURPLE = 33 or more alien ships.


MAXIMUM ALIEN SHIPS at game start is 16 per fleet or 96 total.

If the grid shows fewer than 3 alien starbases or offensive fleets, 2 or
more may be located in the same sector.


YOUR STARBASES

You have 3 starbases. The cursor automatically appears in the center of the
Sector Grid, after you select game speed. You can place starbases in any
sector. (If you place a starbase in an alien-occupied sector, it will be
attacked as soon as the game starts.) You can place 2 or more bases in the
same sector.


TO PLACE A STARBASE:

1. Use the ARROW KEYS to move the starbase with the cursor to any sector.

2. Press ENTER to lock the starbase in position.

The next starbase will automatically appear in the center of the Sector Grid, with the cursor on
top of it.

STARBASE FUNCTIONS:

1. Repair damaged or destroyed ship systems.


2. Restore ship's energy.

GAME ACTION BEGINS after ALL of your starbases are placed. Game begins
with all ship systems, except Hyper Drive, ON.

(Hyper Drive must be turned on each time you use it.)

GAME PLAY IN BRIEF

1. PLACE YOUR STARBASES. Press ARROW KEYS to move cursor and base to
desired sector.

Press ENTER.

Repeat for all 3 starbases.

2. MOVE SHIP TO ALIEN-OCCUPIED SECTOR.

Press ARROW KEYS to move cursor to sector.

Press HYPER DRIVE [5], then ON/OFF [7].

Ship symbol moves to that sector.
(Hyper Drive turns off automatically after use.)

Battle begins, even if you remain on Sector Grid.

3. SWITCH TO BATTLE VIEW AFTER SHIP SYMBOL APPEARS IN SECTOR.
Press CHANGE VIEW key [Enter on the KEYPAD, or press RETURN].

In Battle View, you see "space" through the cockpit of your ship.

The cross hairs always remain in the center of the screen as you maneuver your ship
through space.

4. ZERO IN ON ALIEN SHIP (blue). Press ARROW KEYS to move ship so cross
hairs are centered on alien ship.

Hold down KEY(S) to accelerate.

Press KEY(S) in opposite direction to decelerate.

TRACKING COMPUTER ON -- ship automatically pursues any alien that comes into contact with cross hairs of weapon sight.

5. FIRE!

Press FIRE [space bar] when cross hairs are centered on alien ship.

Hold down to fire continuously.

BATTLE COMPUTER ON -- ship fires automatically when cross hairs touch alien ship; computer directs fire to center of cross hairs.

6. AVOID ENEMY FIRE (orange or yellow spirals).

If your ship is hit, Ship's Computer automatically reports damage (system hit and extent of
damage).

7. REPAIR DAMAGED SYSTEMS.

* Press system key for damaged system [1 - 5], then REPAIR ON/OFF [9], or

* Press ALL SYSTEMS [6], then REPAIR ON/OFF [9].


Damaged systems can only be repaired in Battle View.

Damaged OR destroyed systems can be repaired at starbase.

Switch to Sector Grid and return ship to starbase.


Once repairs are on, they remain on until you turn them off. To turn
repairs off, repeat the exact procedure used to turn them on.


8. CHECK NUMBER OF ALIEN SHIPS LEFT IN SECTOR OCCUPIED BY YOUR
SHIP (Battle View or Sector Grid).

Press NO. OF ALIENS key [0].

Central Computer gives verbal report.

9. CHECK STATUS OF SHIP SYSTEMS.

Press individual system key or ALL SYSTEMS key [6].

Then press STATUS [8], for report on ship systems that
are off, damaged or under repair.

10. DEFEND STARBASE UNDER ATTACK.

Starbase Computer gives verbal alert when alien fleet moves into sector occupied by your starbase.

Press CHANGE VIEW key [Enter].

Visually locate starbase under attack (colored starbase sector).

Move cursor to threatened starbase.

Press HYPER DRIVE [5], then ON/OFF [7].

Press CHANGE VIEW [Enter] to return to Battle View.

11. MONITOR ENERGY USE. Press ENERGY LEVEL [Clear] key. Central
Computer gives verbal report.

(Automatic report when energy falls below 1000 units.)

If energy is low, return to starbase to re-energize.

Ship will not re-energize during repairs.

12. END OF ROUND. When all aliens on Sector Grid are destroyed, a new
alien force appears with 2 offensive fleets per alien starbase.

3rd round -- 3 offensive fleets per alien starbase.

Keep playing, as many rounds as possible, until all ship systems are destroyed or you run out of energy.


SPECIFICS ON BATTLE VIEW

SHIP MOVEMENT.

When in Battle View, you see "space" through the cockpit of your ship.

Press the ARROW KEYS and your ship appears to move through space (though the cross hairs of your weapon sight remain in the center of the screen).

Release the KEYS and your ship continues to move in the direction pressed.

Hold the KEYS down to accelerate.

Press KEYS in opposite direction of movement to decelerate.

IMPULSE DRIVE MUST BE ON TO MOVE YOUR SHIP WITH THE DISC.

If Impulse Drive is damaged, you will be unable to control your ship
effectively.

If Impulse Drive is down or off, you will lose all manual control of your ship.


IT IS HARD TO ZERO IN ON AN ALIEN SHIP WHEN MOVING AT HIGH SPEED.

Make small, tight movements (easier to control) and let the alien ships find
you.

(Alien ships cannot find you when you are moving at high speed.)

Alien ships can outrun your ship. Intercept them -- don't try to chase
them.

Alien fire is also faster than you.

Evade it -- you can't outrun it.


HYPER DRIVE.

You can Hyper Drive while in Battle View, provided the
cursor is in a different sector than your ship.

Simply press HYPER DRIVE [5], then ON/OFF [7].

Your ship will move to the sector in which the cursor
is located and the screen will automatically switch to Sector Grid.


FIRING. Battle Computer fires "laser torpedoes" automatically and operates
a guidance system that directs your laser torpedoes to the center of the
cross hairs.

If the Battle Computer is damaged, your aim will be off.

(The amount your aim is off depends on the amount of damage sustained.) In
this case, you will need to fire slightly ahead of an alien ship, in order to
hit it.

If the Battle Computer is destroyed or off, you will have no
automatic guidance system at all.

TO MOVE SHIP TO A DIFFERENT SECTOR

* You must use Hyper Drive.

* Cursor must be in a different sector than ship.

* You can be in Battle View or Sector Grid.


AFTER BATTLE

1. Press CHANGE VIEW [Enter] to return to Sector Grid.

2. Use ARROW KEYS to move cursor to new sector.

3. Press HYPER DRIVE [5], then ON/OFF [7]. Wait until ship symbol appears
in new sector.

4. Press CHANGE VIEW [Enter] again if you have moved to an alien-
occupied sector.

STRATEGY TIP:

After you have COMPLETED your Hyper Drive to a new sector, move the cursor only (not your ship) to one of your starbases, before you go into battle.

You can then Hyper Drive to that starbase while
in Battle View, if necessary.

DETAILS ON ALIENS


GROWTH OF ALIEN FLEETS.

Alien starbases build new ships.
Every 6 seconds (fastest game speed) to 14 seconds (slowest game speed), each
starbase MAY build a new ship.

The chances of a starbase building a new ship increase with each round played.

Any time an offensive alien fleet is
destroyed, a new fleet will be dispatched by its home starbase.


MOVEMENT OF ALIEN FLEETS.

Alien fleets move, 1 sector at a time, every
6 to 14 seconds (depending on game speed).

Fleets do not move while engaged in battle.


ALIEN FLEETS WILL AUTOMATICALLY MOVE TOWARD
YOUR STARBASES OR SHIP -- WHICHEVER IS CLOSER.


IF AN ALIEN IS EQUALLY DISTANT FROM ONE OF YOUR STARBASES AND YOUR SHIP, IT
WILL MOVE TOWARD THE STARBASE.


STRATEGY TIP: Use your ship to lure alien fleets away from your starbases.
Move your ship closer to a threatening alien fleet than it is to your
starbase.

Then hold your position until the alien fleet moves in pursuit.

Alien starbases are fixed for the duration of a ROUND. They can and do
appear in different sectors from round to round.

DETAILS ON YOUR STARBASES

YOUR STARBASES DO NOT CREATE NEW SHIPS. You have only one ship with
which to play the game.

YOUR STARBASE POSITIONS ARE FIXED for the duration of a round. You can
move any existing starbases at the start of a new round.

STARBASE SHIELD RATINGS. The strength of your starbases is measured
by SHIELD RATING.

Each starbase begins with a shield rating of 255.

The shield rating of a starbase determines the rate at which energy is
regained and repairs are made at that starbase, the duration of attack
which the starbase can withstand, and the number of bonus points gained
at the end of a round.

STARBASE UNDER ATTACK.

If an alien fleet moves into a sector occupied by one of your starbases, that starbase comes under attack.

You are warned of the attack by the Starbase Computer. (Example: "Starbase 1 under attack!")

An attack DECREASES A STARBASE SHIELD RATING by the number of attacking ships, every 6 to 14 seconds, depending on game speed (roughly every time you hear the attack warning).

If a starbase shield rating drops to 0, that starbase is destroyed.


STARBASE RECOVERY.

For every 50,000 points you earn, you get 50 additional shield rating units.

These are distributed among Starbases 1, 2 and 3 (in that order), according to need.

For example, if Starbase 1 is at 250 units and Starbase 2 is destroyed, then Starbase 1 will be restored to full shield rating and Starbase 2 will reappear with a shield rating of 45.

If shield rating units are not needed by your starbases, they are multiplied
by 10 and added to your point score.

ENERGY LEVEL

SHIP BEGINS WITH 10,000 ENERGY UNITS.

The rate of energy use or gain depends on game speed (except energy used in firing or in Hyper Drive).

Rates shown are for FASTEST game speed.

At SLOW game speed, rates are about 1/2 the rates shown here.


ENERGY USE

HYPER DRIVE:

* Fully operational -- 8 units/sector for horizontal or vertical movement.
Approx.

11 units/sector for diagonal movement.

* 1/3 down -- double above rate.

* 2/3 down -- 4 x above rate.

* Destroyed -- 8 x above rate. 50% chance of destroying ship.



IMPULSE DRIVE -- 20 units/second for Disc use.

Rate doubled when Tracking Computer moves ship.

SHIELDS -- 10 units/second with Shields ON.

FIRE -- 1 unit/shot (manual or Battle Computer -- any game speed).


REPAIRS IN SPACE (manual) -- approximately 5 units/second during repair.

Starbase repairs use no energy.


The Central Computer reports on your energy level when it drops below 1000.

It reports again when the level reaches 500, 400, 300, etc.


TO REGAIN ENERGY, YOU MUST:

1. Return ship to one of your starbases.

2. Remain on Sector Grid. (You will not gain energy while in Battle View at a starbase.)

3. Complete or turn off repairs first.


The rate of energy gain depends on game speed and starbase SHIELD RATING.

At fastest game speed, with full shield rating of 255, energy is gained at 300 units/second.

As shield rating drops (and at slower game speeds), rate of energy gain drops.


SHIP'S MAXIMUM ENERGY LEVEL IS 10,000 UNITS.

NO ENERGY WILL BE ADDED BEYOND THIS LEVEL.


DAMAGE TO SHIP

Your ship is damaged when hit by alien fire (orange and yellow spirals).

The amount of damage incurred from 1 hit depends on the condition of your shields.

* SHIELDS FULLY OPERATIONAL -- 1 unit of damage.

* SHIELDS 1/3 DOWN -- 2 units of damage.

* SHIELDS 2/3 DOWN -- 3 units of damage.

* SHIELDS DESTROYED OR OFF -- 1 system destroyed plus 3 additional units
of damage. (If the shields are off, the screen border changes from brown to
black.)


1 UNIT OF DAMAGE = 1 SYSTEM DOWN 1/3.
(2 units can be 1 system down
2/3 or 2 systems down 1/3.)

Ship's computer automatically reports on system damaged and extent of
damage (1/3 down, 2/3 down or destroyed).

NOTE: You cannot escape alien fire coming directly at you by changing to
Sector Grid.

If you press the CHANGE VIEW key [Enter] in this case, your
ship will incur an automatic hit.

Likewise, if you switch from Battle View
to Sector Grid while still in an alien-occupied sector (even if you are at one
of your starbases), your ship will still be engaged in battle and will
continue to sustain damage from time to time.


REPAIRS TO SHIP

Damage can be repaired:

* IN SPACE (damaged, not destroyed systems).

* AT A STARBASE (damaged or destroyed systems).


THERE ARE 2 WAYS TO ORDER REPAIRS. Both are possible either in space or

at a starbase.

1. INDIVIDUAL SYSTEM REPAIR -- Press a system key, (such as Shields)
then REPAIR ON/OFF [9]. Only that system is repaired.

2. ALL REPAIR -- Press ALL SYSTEMS [6], then REPAIR ON/OFF [9]. All
damaged systems are repaired, one at a time.

SPECIAL CONDITION -- HYPER DRIVE DESTROYED.

A destroyed system can only be repaired at a starbase.

This requires the use of Hyper Drive. If
Hyper Drive is destroyed, you must specifically place it under repair,
before attempting to use it to return to starbase. Press HYPER DRIVE [5],
then REPAIR ON/OFF [9].

Your Shields and Impulse Drive will be used to rig a temporary Hyper
Drive system.

You then have a 50% chance of reaching your destination
safely.

If you succeed, your Hyper Drive, Shields and Impulse Drive will be
destroyed. If you do not succeed, your entire ship will be destroyed.


CANCELLING REPAIRS. Once a repair order has been given (either
individual or All Systems), it remains stored in the computer's memory
until you cancel the order.

To cancel a repair order, repeat the procedure used to give the order. Press
System key, then REPAIR ON/OFF [9], or ALL SYSTEMS [6], then REPAIR
ON/OFF [9].

Ship's Computer reports "REPAIRS ON" or"REPAIRS OFF" when
ship is in All Repair mode.

DOWN TIME. A system under repair IN SPACE will be OFF approximately
1/2 of the repair time.

System "flickers" on and off.


DOWN TIME WARNING:

* SHIELDS -- screen border changes from brown to black. Border flashes
between 2 colors during Shield repairs.

* TRACKING COMPUTER -- Cross hairs are smaller. Cross hairs appear to
pulse during repair, when Tracking Computer is 2/3 down.

SPACE VS. STARBASE

SPEED

Manual: Approx. 30 seconds to 2 minutes per unit of damage, depending
on game speed.

Starbase: Depends on starbase SHIELD RATING. High rating -- under 5
seconds per unit of damage. Low rating -- approx.

10 seconds per unit of damage.


ENERGY USED

Manual: Approx. 2 to 5 units per second of repair time, depending on game speed.

Starbase: None, but energy gain halted during repairs.

(Energy required to Hyper Drive back to starbase.)


DETAILS

Manual: System under repair is shut down approx 1/2 of repair time.

Starbase: Starbase repairs cannot be made while in Battle View at a starbase.

Screen must show Sector Grid.



PROGRESS REPORT

Manual or Starbase:

Each new stage of repair (destroyed, 2/3 down, 1/3 down, repaired) automatically reported by Ship's Computer.


ADVANTAGE

Manual: May continue battle during repairs.

Starbase: Faster repair of damaged OR destroyed systems.


DISADVANTAGES

Manual:

(1) Too slow on repair of essential battle systems (i.e. Impulse Drive).

System down 1/2 of repair time.

(2) Uses ship's energy.

(3) Cannot repair destroyed system.

Starbase: (1) Stops battle.

May allow alien starbase to build fleet back up.

(2) Requires use of Hyper Drive unless ship already at starbase.


NEW ROUND

A round ends when you destroy all alien fleets and starbases on the Sector Grid.

You see the Sector Grid with 3 new alien starbases, plus 3 offensive fleets times the round number.

Example: In Round 2, you are opposed by 3 alien starbases and 6 offensive fleets.

In Round 3, you are opposed by 3 alien starbases and 9 offensive fleets.

At the start of a new round, you may REPOSITION your remaining starbases.

Use the ARROW KEYS to move the starbase where the cursor is
located.

When starbase is in desired sector, press ENTER to lock in position.
Cursor automatically moves on to the next starbase.


If you DO NOT want to reposition a starbase, wait until the cursor appears
over it, then press ENTER.

Game action for the new round begins only after all your existing starbases
are positioned (either in present sector or in new sector).

Alien movement on the Sector Grid speeds up with each new round.

The speed of alien movement in Battle View remains the same for all rounds.

SCORING

STARTING POINTS

You are given points at the start of each round in the game.

Round 1 = Number of alien ships times 20.

Round 2 = Number of alien ships times 40.

Round 3 = Number of alien ships times 60...and so on.

POINTS GAINED

For 1 alien ship destroyed, 100 times the round number.

For 2 ships destroyed with 1 shot, 300 times the round number.

For 3 ships destroyed with 1 shot, 600 times the round number.

For 4 ships destroyed with 1 shot, 1000 times the round number.

For 5 ships destroyed with 1 shot, 1500 times the round number.

For an alien starbase destroyed, 1000 bonus points times the round number.


END OF ROUND BONUS POINTS --

10 times Shield Rating for all your surviving starbases times the round number.

BONUS STARBASE "SHIELD UNITS." Every 50,000 points, you receive 50 shield rating units.

Shield units are added to starbases,in the order in which they were placed.

They may be used to restore a destroyed starbase

(see STARBASE RECOVERY, above).

If units are left after all 3 starbases are
brought to full strength, you receive 10 points per unit left.

POINTS LOST

Time Use:

Round 1: 20 points subtracted every 6 to 14 seconds (depending on game speed).

Round 2: 40 points subtracted every 6 to 14 seconds.

Round 3: 60 points subtracted every 6 to 14 seconds...and so forth.

(Score will never drop below 0.)

Aliens Left: 20 points times round number times number of aliens left at
end of game, subtracted from final score.

GAME OVER

The game is over when:

1. You run out of energy.

2. The ship is destroyed.


Your ship will be destroyed:

1. If all 5 ship systems are destroyed.

2. If Hyper Drive blows the ship up. (There is a 50% chance of this occurring if you use Hyper Drive when destroyed.)

At the end of the game, the screen returns to Sector Grid.

The aliens continue moving toward any of your remaining starbases.

Screen displays

GAME OVER and your final score. The Alien Commander announces: "THE BATTLE IS OVER!"

---------------------------------------------------------------

1982, 1997 Intellivision Productions, Inc.

The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel Electronics in 1979. The name Intellivision is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". Development of the console began in 1978, less than a year after the introduction of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. In 1984 Mattel sold the Intellivision business to a former Mattel Electronics executive and investors that would become INTV Corporation. Games development started in 1978 and continued until 1990 when the Intellivision was discontinued. From 1980 to 1983 over 3 million Intellivision units were sold.^[1][2][3]
In 2009, video game website IGN named the Intellivision the No. 14 greatest video game console of all time.^[9] It remained Mattel's only video game console until the release of the HyperScan in 2006.

History and development[edit]

Master Component[edit]

The Intellivision was developed at Mattel in Hawthorne, California along with their Mattel Electronics line of handheld electronic games. Mattel Electronics becoming a subsidiary in 1981.^[3] The Intellivision was test marketed in Fresno, California in 1979 with a total of four games available.^[10] It was released nationwide in 1980 with a price tag of US$299, a pack-in game: Las Vegas Poker & Blackjack and a library of ten cartridges.
Mattel's Design and Development group began investigating a home video game system in 1977. It was to have rich graphics and long lasting gameplay to distinguish itself from its competitors. Mattel identified a new but expensive chipset from National Semiconductor and negotiated better pricing for a simpler design.^[11] Their consultant, APh Technological Consulting, suggested a General Instrument chipset,^[12] listed as the Gimini programmable set in the GI 1977 catalog.^[13] The GI chipset lacked reprogrammable graphics and Mattel worked with GI to implement changes. GI published an updated chipset in their 1978 catalog.^[14] After initially choosing National in August 1977, Mattel waited for two months before ultimately going with the proposed GI chipset in the fall of 1977.^[11] A team at Mattel, headed by David Chandler began engineering the hardware, including the famous hand controllers.^[3] In 1978, David Rolfe of APh developed the executive control software (Exec) and with a group of Caltech summer student hires, programmed the first games. Graphics were designed by artists at Mattel that included Dave James.^[15]
Though not the first system to challenge Warner Communications' Atari, it was the first to pose a serious threat to the market leader. A series of advertisements featuring George Plimpton were produced that demonstrated the superiority of the Intellivision's graphics and sound to those of the Atari 2600, using side-by-side game comparisons.^[10] One of the slogans of the television advertisements stated that Intellivision was "the closest thing to the real thing"; one example in an advertisement compared golf games. The other console's games had a blip sound and cruder graphics, while the Intellivision featured a realistic swing sound and striking of the ball, and graphics that suggested a more 3D look. There was also an advertisement comparing the Atari 2600 to it, featuring the slogan "I didn't know". In its first year, Mattel sold out its initial 175,000 production run of Intellivision "Master Components". In 1981, over 1 million Intellivision consoles were sold.^[16]

Super Video Arcade

The Intellivision Master Component was branded and distributed by various companies. Before Mattel shifted manufacturing to Hong Kong, Mattel Intellivisions were manufactured by GTE Sylvania.^[11] GTE Sylvania Intellivisions were produced along with Mattel's with the brand name the only differentiation. The Sears Super Video Arcade,^[10] manufactured by Mattel in Hong Kong, has a restyled beige top cover and detachable controllers. The Sears Intellivision also has a modified Exec removing "Mattel Electronics" from the default titlescreen. In 1983 Radio Shack marketed the Tandyvision One,^[17] similar to the original Intellivision but with the gold plates replaced with more wood trim. In Japan Intellivisions were branded by Bandai in 1982,^[18] and in Brazil there were Digimed and Digiplay Intellivisions manufactured by Sharp in 1983.

Software[edit]

See also: List of Intellivision games
Inside every Intellivision is 4K of ROM containing the Exec software. It provides two benefits: reusable code that can effectively make a 4K cartridge an ** game, and a software framework for new programmers to develop games more easily and quickly. It also allows other programmers to more easily review and continue another's project. Under the supervision of David Rolfe (APh) and graphics supplied by Mattel artist Dave James, APh was able to quickly create the Intellivision launch title library using mostly summer students.^[19] The drawback is that to be flexible and handle many different types of games the Exec runs less efficiently than a dedicated program. Intellivision games that leverage the Exec run at a 20 Hz frame rate instead of the 60 Hz frame rate for which the Intellivision was designed. Using the Exec framework is optional, but almost all Intellivision games released by Mattel Electronics are 20 Hz. The limited ROM space also meant there was no room for computer artificial intelligence and many early games required two players.
Initially, all Intellivision games were programmed by the outside firm, APh Technological Consulting,^[10] with 19 cartridges produced before Christmas 1980. Once the Intellivision project became successful, software development would be brought in-house. Mattel formed its own software development group and began hiring programmers. The original five members of that Intellivision team were Mike Minkoff, Rick Levine, John Sohl, Don Daglow, and manager Gabriel Baum. Levine and Minkoff, a long-time Mattel Toys veteran, both came over from the hand-held Mattel games engineering team. During 1981 Mattel hired programmers as fast it could. Early in 1982 Mattel Electronics relocated from Mattel headquarters to an unused industrial building. Office renovation work happened as new staff moved in. To keep these programmers from being hired away by rival Atari, their identity and work location was kept a closely guarded secret. In public, the programmers were referred to collectively as the Blue Sky Rangers.
Most of the early games were based on traditional concepts such as sports and other games, with an emphasis on realism and depth of play (allowed by the technology of the day). The Intellivision was not marketed as a toy and as such the games were not pick-up-and-play like arcade style games (e.g. Sea Battle, B-17 Bomber). Reading the instructions was often a prerequisite to play. Every cartridge produced by Mattel Electronics included two plastic controller "overlays" to help navigate the 12 keypad buttons, although not every game made use of the keypad. Mattel organised their games into networks: Major League Sports, Action, Strategy, Gaming, Children's Learning and later Space Action, and Arcade. The network concept was dropped in 1983, as were the convenient gate-fold style boxes for storing the cartridge, instructions, and overlays.
Starting in 1982 programmers looking for credit and royalties on sales began leaving both APh and Mattel Electronics. They joined Activision, Imagic, and Atari to create Intellivision games for third party publishers. Cheshire Engineering was formed by a few senior APh programmers including David Rolfe, author of the Exec, and Tom Loughry who created one of the most popular Intellivision games Advanced Dungeons and Dragons.^{[citation needed]} Cheshire would create Intellivision games for Activision. Third party developers Activision, Imagic, and Coleco started producing Intellivision games in 1982. And then Atari, Parker Brothers, Sega, and Interphase followed in 1983. The third party developers, not having legal access to Exec knowledge, often bypassed the Exec framework to create smooth 30 Hz and 60 Hz Intellivision games (e.g. The Dreadnaught Factor). Cheaper ROM prices also allowed for larger games as **, 12K, and then 16K cartridges became common. The first Mattel Electronics Intellivision game to run at 60 Hz was Masters of the Universe in 1983.^[20]Marketing dubbed the term "Super Graphics" on the game's packaging and marketing.
Mattel Electronics' team of programmers was diverse in experience and talent, proving to be an advantage. As competitors were often depending on licensing well known trademarks to sell video games, Mattel would have to focus on original ideas. Don Daglow was a key early programmer at Mattel and became director of Intellivision game development. Daglow created Utopia, a precursor to the sim genre and, with Eddie Dombrower, the ground breaking sports simulation World Series Major League Baseball. Daglow was also involved with the popular Intellivision games Tron Deadly Discs and Shark! Shark!.^{[citation needed]} After Mattel Electronics closed in 1984, their programmers would go on to make significant contributions to the video game industry. Don Daglow and Eddie Dombrower went on to Electronic Arts to create Earl Weaver Baseball, Don Daglow founded Stormfront Studios. Bill Fisher, Steve Roney and Mike Breen founded Quicksilver Software and David Warhol founded Realtime Associates.^[19]

Keyboard Component[edit]

The Keyboard Component code-named the Blue Whale also known as the Intelliputer^[21]

From the beginning, Intellivision's packaging and promotional materials as well as television commercials, promised the addition of a soon-to-be-available accessory called the "Keyboard Component". The Intellivision was designed as a modular home computer. The Master Component could be purchased as a stand-alone video game system and the Keyboard Component could be added, providing the computer keyboard and tape drive. Not meant to be a hobbyist or business computer, the Intellivision home computer was meant to run pre-programmed software and bring "data flow" (Videotex) into the home.^[11]
The Keyboard Component added an 8-bit 6502 processor making the Intellivision a dual processor computer. It had 16K 10-bit shared RAM that could load and execute both Intellivision CP1610 and 6502 program code from tape; a large amount as typical cartridges of the day were 4K. The cassettes have two tracks of digital data and two tracks of analog audio completely controlled by the computer. Two tracks are read only for the software, and two tracks for user data. The tape-drive was block addressed with high speed indexing. A high resolution 40x24 monochrome text display could overlay regular Intellivision graphics. There was an input for a microphone and two expansion ports for peripherals and RAM expansion.^[22] The Microsoft BASIC programming cartridge used one of these ports. Expanded memory cartridges could support 1000 8KB pages. A third pass-through cartridge port was for regular Intellivision cartridges. It uses the Intellivision's power supply. A 40-column thermal printer was available, and a telephone modem was planned along with voice synthesis and voice recognition.^[23]
David Rolfe of APh wrote a control program for the Keyboard Component called PicSe (Picture Sequencer) specifically for the development of multimedia applications. PicSe synchronized the graphics and analog audio while concurrently saving or loading data to tape.^[24] Productivity software for home finances, personal improvement, and self education were planned. Subject experts were consulted and their voices recorded and used in the software.
Three applications using the PicSe system were released on cassette tape:

• Conversational French
• Jack Lalanne's Physical Conditioning
• Spelling Challenge

Five BASIC applications were released on tape: Programs written in BASIC did not have access to Intellivision graphics and would be sold at a lower price.

• Family Budgeting
• Geography Challenge
• Crosswords I, II, and III

While the Keyboard Component was an ambitious piece of engineering for its time it was repeatedly delayed as the engineers tried to overcome reliability issues and reduce manufacturing costs. In August 1979 the Intellivision Keyboard Component, in breadboard form, was successfully entered into the Sears Market Research Program. In December 1979 Mattel had production design working units but decided on a significant internal design change to consolidate circuit boards. In September 1980 it was test marketed in Fresno, California but without software, except for the BASIC programming cartridge. In the fall of 1981 design changes were finally implemented and the Keyboard Component was released at $600^[3] in Seattle and New Orleans only.^[11] Those that complained in writing could buy a Keyboard Component directly from Mattel. The printer, a rebadged Alphacom Sprinter 40,^[25] was only available by mail order. However, reliability problems continued and the Keyboard Component proved to be expensive to produce.
The keyboard component's repeated delays became so notorious around Mattel headquarters that comedian Jay Leno, when performing at Mattel's 1981 Christmas party, got his biggest titter of the evening with the line: "You know what the three big lies are, don't you? 'The check is in the mail,' 'I'll still respect you in the morning,' and 'The keyboard will be out in spring.'"^[21]
Complaints from consumers who had chosen to buy the Intellivision specifically on the promise of a "coming soon" personal-computer upgrade, eventually caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), who started investigating Mattel Electronics for fraud and false advertising. In mid-1982 the FTC ordered Mattel to pay a monthly fine (said to be $10,000) until the promised computer upgrade was in full retail distribution^[21]. To protect themselves from the ongoing fines, the Keyboard Component was officially canceled in August 1982 and the Entertainment Computer System (ECS) module offered up in its place. Part of Mattel's settlement with the FTC involved offering to buy back all of the existing Keyboard Components from customers. Mattel provided a full refund but without a receipt paid $550 for the Keyboard Component, $60 for the BASIC cartridge, and $30 for each cassette software^[26]. Any customer who opted to keep theirs was required to sign a waiver with the understanding that no more software would be written for the system and absolved Mattel of any future responsibility for technical support.^[27] They were also compensated with $1000 worth of Mattel Electronics products^[26].
While approximately four thousand Keyboard Components were manufactured, it is not clear how many of them actually found their way into the hands of Intellivision customers. Today, very few of them still exist. Many of the units were dismantled for parts. Others were used by Mattel Electronics programmers when it was discovered that a slightly modified Keyboard Component could be interfaced with an Intellivision development system in place of the hand-built Magus board. Data transfer to the Keyboard Component RAM had to be done serially and was slower compared with the Magus board parallel interface.^[21]
The keyboard component debacle was ranked as No. 11 on GameSpy's "25 dumbest moments in gaming".^[28]

Entertainment Computer System (ECS)[edit]

Main article: Entertainment Computer System
In mid-1981, Mattel's upper management was becoming concerned that the keyboard component division would never be able to produce a sellable product. As a result, Mattel Electronics set up a competing internal engineering team whose stated mission was to produce an inexpensive add-on called the "Basic Development System", or BDS, to be sold as an educational device to introduce kids to the concepts of computer programming.
The rival BDS engineering group, who had to keep the project's real purpose a secret among themselves, fearing that if David Chandler, the head of the keyboard component team, found out about it he would use his influence to end the project, eventually came up with a much less expensive alternative. Originally dubbed the "Lucky", from LUCKI: Low User-Cost Keyboard Interface, it lacked many of the sophisticated features envisioned for the original keyboard component. Gone, for example, was the 16K (8MB max) of RAM, the secondary CPU, and high resolution text; instead, the ECS offered a mere 2KB RAM expansion, a built-in BASIC that was marginally functional, plus a much-simplified cassette and printer interface.
Ultimately, this fulfilled the original promises of turning the Intellivision into a computer, making it possible to write programs and store them to tape, and interfacing with a printer well enough to allow Mattel to claim that they had delivered the promised computer upgrade and stop the FTC's mounting fines. It even offered, via an additional sound chip (AY-3-8917) inside the ECS module and an optional 49-key music synthesizer keyboard, the possibility of turning the Intellivision into a multi-voice synthesizer which could be used to play or learn music.
In the fall of 1982, the LUCKI, now renamed the Entertainment Computer System (ECS), was presented at the annual sales meeting, officially ending the ill-fated keyboard component project. A new advertising campaign was aired in time for the 1982 Christmas season, and the ECS itself was shown to the public at the January 1983 Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas. A few months later, the ECS hit the market, and the FTC agreed to drop the $10K per day fines.
By the time the ECS made its retail debut as the Intellivision Computer Module, an internal shake-up at the top levels of Mattel Electronics' management had caused the company's focus to shift away from hardware add-ons in favor of software, and the ECS received very little in terms of furthering the marketing push. Further hardware developments, including a planned Program Expander that would have added another 16K of RAM and a more intricate, fully featured Extended-BASIC to the system, were halted. In the end a half-dozen software titles were released for the ECS; a few more were completed but not released.
The ECS also offered four player game-play with the optional addition of two extra hand controllers. Four player games were in development when Mattel Electronics closed in 1984. World Cup Soccer was later completed and released in 1985 by Dextel in Europe and then INTV Corporation in North America. The documentation does not mention it but when the ECS Computer Adapter is used, World Cup Soccer can be played with one to four players, or two players cooperatively against the computer.

Intellivoice[edit]

Main article: Intellivoice

The Intellivoice add-on

In 1982 Mattel introduced a new peripheral for the Intellivision: the Intellivoice Voice Synthesis Module. A speech synthesizer which produces speech with compatible cartridges. The Intellivoice was original in two respects: human sounding male and female voices with distinct accents, and the speech-supporting games were designed with speech being an integral part of the game-play.
Like the Intellivision chip-set, the Intellivoice chip-set was developed by General Instrument. The SP0256-012 orator chip has 2KB ROM inside, and is used to store the speech for numerical digits, some common words, and the phrase "Mattel Electronics presents". Speech can also be processed from the Intellivoice's SP650 buffer chip, stored and loaded from cartridge memory. That buffer chip has its own I/O and the Intellivoice has a 30-pin expansion port under a removable top plate. Mattel Electronics planned to use that connector for wireless hand controllers.^[29]
Mattel Electronics built a state of the art voice processing lab to produce the phrases used in Intellivoice games. However, the amount of speech that could be compressed into an ** or 12K cartridge and still leave room for a game was limited. Intellivoice cartridges Space Spartans and B-17 Bomber did sell about 300,000 copies each, priced a few dollars more than regular Intellivision cartridges. However, at $79 the Intellivoice did not sell as well as Mattel expected, and Intellivoices were later offered free with the purchase of a Master Component.^[27] In August 1983 the Intellivoice system was quietly phased out. A children's title called Magic Carousel, and foreign language versions of Space Spartans were completed but shelved. Additional games Woody Woodpecker and Space Shuttle went unfinished with the voice recordings unused.
The four titles available for the Intellivoice system, in order of their release, were:

• Space Spartans
• B-17 Bomber
• Bomb Squad
• Tron: Solar Sailer

A fifth title, Intellivision World Series Major League Baseball, developed as part of the Entertainment Computer System series, also supports the Intellivoice if both the ECS and Intellivoice are connected concurrently. Unlike the Intellivoice-specific games, however, World Series Major League Baseball is also playable without the Intellivoice module (but not without the ECS).

Intellivision II[edit]

The Intellivision II redesign was much smaller and cheaper to manufacture than the original.