....Parsec Manual-------------------------......................................................    ..    .. Texas Instruments
. ... .Manual
 

 
Parsec                                            Parsec Cartridge


                                                     Parsec Icon
 

Great Shot Pilot!
 

Alien Saucers Advancing!


Watch out! An Urbite Ship is onto you! 


Those look like some angry Astroids! 


  MANUFACTURER:  TEXAS INSTRUMENTS

 PRODUCT NUMBER:  PHM 3112

  . RELEASED:  3Q/1982

  PROGRAMMERS:  JIM DRAMIS E-mail Programmer / PAUL URBANUS E-mail Programmer

 ORIGINAL RETAIL PRICE:  $39.95


SOUND CLIPS:

"Press Fire to Begin"

Enemy Craft Approaching

Asteroid Belt


REVIEW:  Grade A-: Like most space games, Parsec puts you in command of a fighter equipped with a laser for defense. But, unlike others, the enemies in Parsec change often, in both design and skill.

You control the speed and altitude of your ship. Two waves of enemy fighters are launched, and you must eliminate them and avoid being rammed. Attack cruisers, firing lasers, and torpedoes vary in accuracy, and enemy saucers sneak up from behind at random. These do not fire, but they will crash into your craft. If you survive these challenges, you must then fly through a rapidly changing asteroid field, and enter narrow ground tunnels for refueling. The game ends if you lose your five ships.

When you reach the asteroid belt, the screen background changes to green. This is level two of Parsec; the enemy ships look the same, but you must hit one twice to destroy it. Survive the wave of enemy ships and asteroids, and you proceed to the next level where an enemy craft is vulnerable only to three hits.

Parsec's graphics are excellent. The colors are varied, and the enemies appear in a variety of shapes and move quickly. A standard joystick doesn't respond quickly enough, however. 3rd party joysticks are recommended for this game.
                                                                                               -Brian Starfire (The Best Texas Instruments Software)



TOUCAN'S TRIVIA: Matthew Doucette, a crazed Parsec fan, has his own page dedicated to the game called Rare Parsec Facts (The TI-99/4A Video Game). It's an incredible piece of work and definitely worth a visit if you are a fan of this great classic!

TOUCAN'S TRIVIA: This is the most popular TI-99/4A cartridge out there, and definitely a "must play" for anyone that has a TI-99/4A console or emulator. Parsec can be found in almost everybody's collection and deservedly so, as many claim it to be their favorite TI video game. In fact, many people associate the TI-99/4A with Parsec because it's they game they can remember the most from their childhood! 

TOUCAN'S TRIVIA: This was the first game to use bit map graphics on the TI-99/4A, which is one of the reasons for the big leap in graphics quality over many earlier games.

TOUCAN'S TRIVIA: There are two different cartridge labels for Parsec, the earlier Purple label and the later Red label. Originally, TI was going to use Purple labels on video games and then ended up going with the Red label scheme for reasons unknown.  Only 3 titles are known to exist in both Red and Purple label variations: Parsec, Alpiner, and Othello (all of which were among the first titles to be released with colored labels).

TOUCAN'S TRIVIA: Secret Alert! After the game says "Press Fire to Begin", crash one of your ships into the ground instead of firing. This will cause the first wave of enemies to appear and if you can blast through them without losing any lives there is a random chance of being warped to a further stage in the game. Note that the Warp Cheat does not work every time, so it may take a few tries before you manage to actually warp. This cheat was discussed over on rec.games.video.classic in a great story about someone's addiction to Parsec (in addition, the follow ups to the original thread also contain some neat stories!).
 
TOUCAN'S TRIVIA: Secret Alert! Here's a little secret sent in to the Videogame House by Tim Flavin. If you hold down the fire buttons on both joysticks simultaneously your ship will never overheat. However, this can prove to be a little tricky if playing by yourself! Your best bet is to play Parsec with a friend where both you and your friend hold down the fire buttons on the joysticks.

TOUCAN'S TRIVIA: Easter Egg Alert! On the scrolling ground of Parsec the initials JED and URB can be seen (see the second screen shot on this page). JED stands for programmer James E. Dramis, while URB is the nickname of Paul Urbanus who helped Jim Dramis program the game as a college intern at TI. 

TOUCAN'S TRIVIA: Easter Egg Alert! The Urbite and Dramite enemy ships that you battle against in the game are named after the programmers Paul Urbanus and Jim Dramis. The Bynite ships, on the other hand, get their name from Don Bynum who was head of 99/4A development.


ADDITIONAL ITEMS:

Parsec Manual Text  .Click Here for Parsec's Instructions



PARSEC COMMENTS:



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