Subterranea (by Hewson)

Subterranea
Title Screen Commodore 64
Developer	Hewson
Publisher	Rack-It Prism Leisure
Release date	1988
Platforms	Commodore 64

First Release: 1988, Commodore 64

Story

Proceed trough the Caverns to "rescue trapped miners and destroy rogue mining droids"
---Game Box Cover ^{Commodore 64}

Gameplay

Goal

• shoot droids to score high
• fly to the Caverns end
• optional: kill the Guardians
• end goal: rescue the miners

Rules

• avoid, destroy or deactivate obstacles
• avoid/kill droids

Player

"Ship"
	FEATURES: - attack: single or double fire - defense: few seconds shield at start, then none; obtained by shooting "E" Box Object - 5 ships at start (additional earned by destroying every Cavern Guardian)

Moves

Basic Moves

• Attack (single or double fire)
• Fly: up/down/forth/back

Special Moves

move	image	description	how to perform
double fire
open barriers		temporarily deactivate some barriers	shoot the Control Box (switch "C")
gaining shield		obtain temporary shield	shoot the Shield Box (switch "E")

Forbidden Moves

• fly backwards the whole map

Weapons

• Basically one cannon is used.
• It is possible to shoot with two cannons simultaneously [add info: how?].
• One type shoots.
• Single fire.

Game Environment

Levels

There are 16 levels, each one consist of 2 parts: main Cavern and bonus round with Guardian chamber.

Main Caverns are long tunnels with obstacles that need be avoided, destroyed or deactivated. There are also rouge Mining Droids. The Guardian chamber is 60 seconds time limited and the Guardian constantly builds up a barier towards the Ship. Destroying the Guardian grants additional Ship (+1 life).

no.	name	map/map start/minimap	theme	objective	code

Items

None.

Interactable Objects

name	icon	type	characteristics
Shield	[lv.3]	smashable	- shooting "E" Box Object gains energy shield - temporary, few seconds shown on HUD meter - immunity to wall and droid collisions
Control Box	[lv.3]	mechanism	- activated by shoot - opens force field barriers temporarily

Enemies

• ATTACK: do not perform any direct attack, damage on contact
• DURABILITY: destroyed with one shoot
• appear always in a group of 5, in a chain formation
• fly on a rout, can be avoided
• color order in formation: blue, orange, green, purple, pink
• SCORE: level dependent

Mining Droid					level encounter
					lv.1, ...
					lv.1, ...
					lv.1, ...
					lv.1, ...
					lv.1, ...

Bosses - obligatory

There are no typical bosses that need to be defeated to proceed farther. After each level we encounter a Guardian in additional chamber. I can be destroyed in a time given of 60 seconds to gain additional ship (life), but it is not obligatory to proceed.

name	image	attack	durability	loot/score	level encounter
Guardian		non direct, growing barier can reach the ship	one shot kill, but it constantly build a barier we need to brake trough	+ 1 ship (life)

Dangers

name	image	mechanics	level encounter
Wall		destructable	Walls brakes only in shoot area, so appropriate amount must be shoot do let the Ship through.
Force Field Barier		mechanism	Opens temporarily by shoot in the Control Box (switch "C")

Characters

None.

UI

Menu

main menu		submenu
image	options

Save Options

None.

HUD

name	image	description

Controls

peripheral	button/key	action

Scoring

score	action

Releases & Credits

platform	first release
	box cover		date	developer	publisher	authors
Commodore 64			1988	Hewson	Rack-It Prism Leisure

OTHER RELEASES:

platorm	box cover		date	publisher	country

Manual

language	file
English [EN]

Additional Info

• Do not confuse with the game of the same title developed for Atari 2600 by Imagic: see Subterranea (by Imagic)