Invasion in Tau-4 (Free demo available)

Invasion in Tau-4 (Drone Attack 2)

An Atari 2600 game

Introduction

In the year 2147, Earth was attacked by an alien race from the fourth planet of a distant system, Tau. The Aerospace Forces successfully repelled the attack. With diplomatic efforts failing to prevent further assaults, humanity's only chance for survival is to invade their home planet and destroy the Core.

Controls

• Joystick: Moves the Aerospace Forces' spaceships.
• Fire button: Activates the fire power.

Game mode

• Single-player: Controls the Aerospace Forces' spaceship and must face the invading alien forces.

Game objective

Complete three missions by eliminating all enemy defense forces.

Scoring

• Each destroyed enemy grants a certain number of points.
• Every 100 points, the player earns an extra spaceship.

Extra difficulty

For more experienced pilots, the difficulty can be increased. Switching the left difficulty switch to position "A" significantly increases the aggressiveness of the enemies.

Tips and strategies

• Keep moving to avoid becoming an easy target.
• Align your shots with enemy movement to maximize accuracy.

Console setup

1. Press the fire button to start the game.
2. Press Reset to go to the initial screen.
3. Adjust the left difficulty switch.
4. The star field can be disabled by setting the Color switch to B/W.

Limitations of the demo version

• Only mission 1 and 2 are available
• Only easy mode available

Acknowledgments

• https://bataribasic.com/
  • Awesome easy to learn basic-like language
• https://www.randomterrain.com/ 
  • Amazing documentation on how to program the Atari 2600
• AtariAge member RevEng for his code on how to trigger the TIA glitch to create the starfield effect used in this game.
• https://www.labelmaker2600.com/
  • Easy to use and flexible Atari 2600 label generator
• OpenAI image generator
  • Cool label image at the first attempt!