Title: Minefield
System: Commodore 64
Authors: Sean Igo
Publication: Compute!, Issue 037, June 1983
Page Scans: 260, 266, 268, 269
Preserved By: eboy71 [bryon.thur@gmail.com]
Recommended Emulator: VICE [https://vice-emu.sourceforge.io/]


Loading the application:
* Mount the disk image (Compute 037 - Minefield.d64) in your emulator. In VICE, this is done by selecting File → Attach Disk Image
* Load the app by typing LOAD”MINEFIELD”,8,1
* Once loaded, type RUN to start


Game Instructions:
* Minefield is an action game where you are driving a truck to gather and defuse time bombs before they explode. The goal is to get the highest score possible across multiple waves.
* Your truck is represented by a white diamond that appears in the middle of the screen.
* The time bombs (your goal) are represented by orange circles. They go through two phases as they get closer to exploding: first they turn white, and then they begin flashing.
* Mines are depicted as green X characters. Avoid them.
* When a bomb blows up, it is replaced by a white * character. This represents a crater. Avoid these too.
* A wave is cleared when the time bombs are gone, either by being collected, and/or because they explode.
* Once your truck starts moving, it does not stop.
* The easiest way to move your truck is via the keyboard in port 1
* Alternatively, you can use the following keys to move:
	* UP    -- 1
	* DOWN  -- <- (left arrow, top left of the C64 keyboard)
	* LEFT  -- CTRL
	* RIGHT -- 2
* Then number of lives you have is dependent on the skill level you select at the beginning of the game. You get 4 lives at skill level 0, and the number of lives decreases as the skill level increases; at skill level 3, you get one life. You lose a life if you hit a mine, a crater, or get caught in an explosion from one of the time bombs.
* Points are awarded for defusing a bomb (the closer it is to exploding, the more points you get), and points are lost when a bomb explodes.


Article Text:
Your job is to get your trucks in quickly, defuse the bombs (especially the flashing ones which are about to go off), and get out as fast as you can. This game has four skill levels, and there are versions for VIC, 64, Apple, and PET.

Playing the Game
You find yourself in the center of a small minefield with several bombs, represented by circles, and a generous number of mines, shown as X's. Your truck is a diamond. To defuse the bombs, just run over them with the truck.

When the bombs first appear, they are innocent-looking little circles. After a short time the rate varies from bomb to bomb - they turn reverse-field. This means watch it. Soon they begin to blink and you have only a few blinks to defuse them before they explode. Any mines (or heroic defusing teams) caught in the explosion will be instantly lost. Bombs caught in the explosion will explode, whether they were ready to or not.

Your truck can move in only four directions. It can "wrap around" all four edges of the screen. Don't run it into the mines or the craters (*) left by the bombs or your truck will be destroyed. Once you begin moving, your truck cannot stop until it is blown up or until the current minefield is cleared of bombs.

Skill Levels and Scoring
Minefield has four skill levels. Skill levels differ only in the number of trucks you get. Level 0, the easiest, has four trucks. Level one has three. Level two has two and level three has one.

Scoring: 
10 points for a normal bomb
20 points for a reverse-field bomb 
30 points for a blinking bomb
-10 points at the end of an explosion for every bomb that went off. This is incentive to defuse more than one or two bombs in the later explosions.

Notes for the VIC-20, C-64, And Apple Versions of "Minefield"
The VIC version will run on any VIC with at least a 3K expansion. Both the VIC and 64 versions are designed to be used with a joystick although the 64 also can be played using certain keys on the keyboard (see the instructions within the program). Since the Apple computer doesn't have a realtime clock, a loop is incremented and checked in this version to provide the necessary delay before the bombs explode. The familiar "I," "K," "J," and "M" keys are used in the Apple version to move the truck around the screen.


Editor’s Notes:
* Sean Igo authored at least one additional COMPUTE! game (Laser Barrage, Issue 29, October 1982). He also is credited as "additional help" on the SNES game, Dirt Trax FX, which was published in November, 1995.
