Title: Richthofen’s Revenge
System: Commodore 64
Author: Chris Metcalf, Marc Sugiyama
Publication: COMPUTE!’s First Book of Commodore 64 Games
Page Scans: 151-167
Preserved By: Bryon Thur [eboy71]
Recommended Emulator: VICE [https://vice-emu.sourceforge.io/]


Loading the application:
* Mount the disk image (Richthofens Revenge - COMPUTE!s First Book of Games.d64) in your emulator. In VICE, this is done by selecting File → Attach Disk Image
* Load the app by typing LOAD”RICHTHOFENS”,8
* Once loaded, type RUN to start
* *NOTE* Set the color to white prior to RUNning to play as intended; the text colors in the game will not be correct otherwise.


Article Text:
"Richthofen's Revenge" is an arcade-style game that even the most experienced game players will find challenging. This program requires special care to enter correctly; please see the section "Typing in the Program"


The airborne forces of Richthofen, the dreaded Red Baron, have been mobilized. Because of your reputation as a swift pilot and accurate gunner, you have been chosen to defend the front line. Only a few planes are available, with no time to build more. Prepare yourself to meet the hordes of Richthofen.


As you encounter each succeeding wave of the enemy, another airplane will be delivered to the front. Once all the planes have been destroyed, however, there will be nothing to stop the enemy from an all-out invasion. Your skills are all that stand between Richthofen's forces and your country.


Typing in the Program


This program is written entirely in machine language, so it should be entered using the Machine Language Editor (MLX) found earlier in this chapter.


The steps to typing in a machine language program using MLX are simple, but they must be followed exactly in order to get a playable copy of the game. Once you have a copy of "Richthofen's Revenge" saved on disk or tape, you will be able to LOAD and RUN it just as you would any BASIC program even though it is machine language.


The steps for typing in Richthofen's Revenge are:


1. Reset the computer by turning it off, then back on.


2. Type this line:


POKE 44,23:POKE 23*256,0:NEW


3. LOAD the Machine Language Editor into memory.


(If you have not typed in and SAVEd MLX, you will have to do that first.)


4. RUN the MLX program.


5. Answer the prompts


START ADDR: 2049 
END ADDR: 5817


6. Type in the data.


7. MLX will prompt you for a filename.


8. Before you load the program, reset the computer. That's all there is to it. It is not necessary to type in all the data in one session. The instructions for using MLX are at the beginning of this chapter. If you do decide to enter the data in more than one session, it will be necessary to follow the above steps each time you begin a session.


Preparing for Battle


When you first RUN the game, the screen will come up with a landscape, a status line, and the message RICHTHOFEN'S REVENGE. The information given in the status line is the high score, the score of the current game, and the number of backup planes remaining. A short time will play to prepare you for the combat.


When the message PRESS FIRE TO BEGIN appears, you may begin playing or move to a higher level. By moving the joystick up or down, you can pick any level from 1 to 30. Levels 31 through 40 are reserved for expert players, and the levels above that are only for the true masters.


Once you have selected a level, or at any point after the music begins, you may press the fire button and begin playing. Every time you enter a level, or when a new plane is called up, you begin at the very top of the screen. This area is off-limits to Richthofen's forces due to their limited flight ceilings. However, once you go down into their midst, you too are sealed off from this high-altitude bracket for the duration of the level.


Your Opponents


Richthofen is employing three types of aircraft. Surveillance balloons patrol the areas they have been assigned to in accordance with random wind currents. These have been judged least important by the Air Force (50 points each). The remainder of the enemy forces consists of two types of aircraft: the main attack force, consisting of blue-green planes which always fly west, and the equally important red spy craft. Both types are worth 75 points each.


Some strategies and tips have been given to you by Air Force command. Although your aircraft can dodge mountains and the like without any danger, a number of civilian residences are scattered throughout the combat area. These present a very definite threat to navigation. You can neither fly nor fire through them. Furthermore, the explosions of the enemy craft are deadly to you.


Air Force Briefing


The Air Force has also given you a short list of pointers for fighting the enemy. You will find that balloons are often extremely difficult to hit. This problem may be at least partially remedied by the use of the rapid-fire aspect of your controller. Holding down the fire button will cause your machine gun to fire rapidly after a slight initial delay. At times you may find yourself dying on and on without encountering any enemy craft. Often the problem is that the few surviving enemy fighter planes are going in the same direction as yourself. In such cases, simply turn and wait for them. To determine how far you are from the end of a level, consult the table below.


One final item is of some importance to you as a fighter pilot. The first planes sent out to you were of undeniably high quality and workmanship. The components were all painstakingly handformed, and the result was an airplane that could achieve an unusually high speed — enough, in fact, to overtake even the enemy fighter pilots. But as the production of these airplanes increased, the quality declined. Thus as you continue to play, you will find that your planes lose efficiency, until after a number of levels your top speed is barely that of the enemy planes.


Several keyboard controls have been included in the program. Pressing F7 causes all game action and sound to stop until the key is pressed again or the fire button pushed. RUN/ STOP has the same effect. F8 ends the program, leaving your country to Richthofen's mercy. F3 turns the sound of your engines on and off, but leaves the noise of shooting and explosions as always. F1 functions as a reset key, checking for a high score then returning you to the initial display.


A variety of melodies has been included in the program. All of them may be skipped by pressing the fire button on your joystick.




Editor’s Notes:
* Metcalf & Sugiyama developed an additional program that appeared in COMPUTE!: MusicMaster for the Commodore 64.
* As noted above in the “Loading the Application Section”, the text color should be set to WHITE (CTRL-2) prior to RUNning the program. Some of the text on the title screen and for the score/status display will not be correct otherwise. It will actually be set to whatever color you RUN the game in, but it was intended to be white and looks strange otherwise.