Hawkmen of Dindrin, The (Estaban V. Aguilar Jr.)

Title – Hawkmen of Dindrin, The
System – Commodore 64
Author – Estaban V. Aguilar Jr.
Publication – COMPUTE! Issue 037, June 1983
Page Scans – 1 2 3 4 5 6
Preserved by – eboy71
Recommended Emulator – VICE

Download ROM

Loading the Game –

• Mount the disk image (Compute 037 – Hawkmen of Dindrin.d64) in your emulator. In VICE, this is done by selecting File → Attach Disk Image
• Load the app by typing LOAD”HAWKMEN”,8,1
• Once loaded, type RUN to start

Game Instructions –

• The Hawkmen of Dindrin is an action game where your goal is to score 10,000 points before running out of lives or energy.
• Make sure your joystick is in Port 1
• After the game initializes, your character will begin in the upper left part of the screen. Moving your joystick will determine the direction it travels. Note that moving up and down will be diagonal, due to the high winds on the planet.
• Your energy starts at 500 and decreases as the game is played. You can replenish energy by gathering golden stones or eliminating enemies.
• To gather stones (500 points and 50 energy each), move your character over one of them. Avoid the green lizards.
• To eliminate enemies, press the fire button in the adjacent space; if you bump into them, you will die. Note that your character doesn’t animate or make a sound when you press the button. Floaters are worth 15 points and 20 energy, while the skimmer (the large creature flying near the bottom) is worth 5 points and 10 energy.
• The game ends when you lose all of your men or run out of energy. There is no victory state for reaching 10,000 points – it just keeps going, even though you’ve “won” at that point.

Article Text

Fly down through the dangerous skies of the planet Dindrin to collect golden stones. Retrieve enough of them and you can win the game, but beware of the floaters, skimmers, and lizards. There are versions here for VIC, 64, and Atari. Several special Atari and 64 animation, multicolor sprite, and sound effects techniques are described in the accompanying notes

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There’s a strange planet named Dindrin where multicolored floaters and a giant sky skimmer drift through the daytime skies. On the surface of the planet, vicious land hunters come up from the ground and set polished, golden stones in the sun. It’s a form of worship too obscure, too alien to describe.

Suddenly a strange looking hawk-like creature dives down and snatches a stone. With this program and your VIC, you can experience what it’s like to be one of the Hawkmen of Dindrin.
The “Hawkmen of Dindrin” is divided into two programs. The first program makes custom characters and automatically loads the main game program. When the game begins, you (the hawkman) start off on the upper left corner of the screen under the cloud layer. You will move across the screen and move lower after every line.

Maneuvering is accomplished with your joystick. You may move backwards by pulling left on the joystick. Whenever you want to go into a dive or fly upwards, you must pull down or up (respectively) on the joystick. One thing to keep in mind when ascending or descending is that you will move diagonally rather than straight up or down. The winds are powerful on Dindrin. Flying is an art form there.

Once in a while, an obstacle such as the sky skimmer (moving above the surface) or a floater (dominating the skies) will get in your way. When this happens, you can press the red button on the joystick to extend the hawkman’s tongue to snap up its prey. You can also do this to obtain points and energy. The skimmer is worth 5 points and 10 energy credits. The floaters are worth 15 points and 20 energy credits.

There are a couple of things to consider before playing the game. As time passes, you will lose energy. If your energy gets too low, the screen border will disappear. If your energy runs out, the game will end. If you have sufficient energy, the border will remain on screen. Second, when you’re flying don’t run into anything or you’ll lose one of your lives. Third, when the game starts after the program is loaded from tape, press the stop button on the cassette player. Otherwise, the joystick will not respond to your commands. To win, you must obtain 10,000 points.

Editor’s Note:

• This appears to be the only game that Estaban V. Aguilar Jr. is credited with.