How to play Shuttle Orbiter online
- Choose a game (0–3): up and down arrow keys before lift-off
- Lift off: Space bar
- Raise or lower your orbit: up arrow raises it, down arrow lowers it
- Fire the side manoeuvring thrusters: left and right arrow keys
- Switch between the shuttle and the astronaut: Space bar
- Pause: F2 (the Colour/B&W switch; set it to B&W to pause)
- Start a new game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
Gameplay
The screen shows the Earth below and three objects in orbit: the gold space station under construction, the red factory and the green fuel depot. Altitude bars and readouts at the bottom show your height, the time since you reached orbit and the fuel left on board. Your job is to complete the station as quickly as possible.
To fetch a section, bring the shuttle alongside the factory and press the button to take control of the astronaut. He floats out, on a tether, to the door at the top of the factory and collects a section. Take him back and press the button again to stow it and return to the shuttle. Then fly the section to the station and install it. The shuttle can carry two sections, but it burns more fuel that way.
You can take on more fuel at the depot by steering the shuttle’s nose into the slot on its left side without bumping it. The tank holds at most 9,000 kg. Any collision with the factory, the depot, the station or space debris damages the shuttle and makes it leak fuel, and every extra hit makes the leak faster. You win when all ten sections are in place, and you lose if the fuel runs out first. Either way, the game shows how long you spent in orbit.
Game levels
Game 0 is a practice mode with no orbital debris. Games 1 to 3 add debris that circles the Earth in the opposite direction to the shuttle and get harder as the number goes up.
Tips
- Think like an orbit, not a car. A lower orbit is a faster orbit. To catch up with something ahead of you, drop below it, let yourself gain on it, then climb back up to its height.
- Start with game 0. Learn the orbital movement and the astronaut routine without debris hitting you.
- Dock gently. Every bump causes a leak, and leaks get worse with each hit.
History
Avalon Hill released only five Atari 2600 cartridges: Death Trap, London Blitz, Out of Control, Wall Ball and Shuttle Orbiter. The game’s shuttle is named Challenger, after one of NASA’s real orbiters. AtariAge rates the cartridge as very rare today.
