+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                             | S T A R G A T E |
                             +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

              GAME:  STARGATE
          PLATFORM:  ARCADE
             GENRE:  ARCADE SHOOTER
           CREATOR:  WILLIAMS Copyright 1981
AUTHOR OF THIS FAQ:  Kevin Butler AKA War Doc
            E-MAIL:  kevinb(at)technologist(dot)com
       FAQ VERSION:  1.0

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                              TABLE OF CONTENTS

    UNIT   I:  INTRODUCTION

1.  Legal Stuff
2.  Version Information
3.  Acknowledgements
4.  Welcome
5.  Overview

    UNIT  II:  GAME INFORMATION

6.  The Game

    6.1  The Controls
    6.2  The Playing Fields
    6.3  Scoring
    6.4  Changes from Defender

    UNIT III:  STRATEGIES

7.  Playing the Game

    UNIT  IV:  CONCLUSION

8.  Conclusion

_______________________________________________________________________________

To find a particular chapter or subchapter do the following:

1.  Highlight the chapter or subchapter name you wish to find.
2.  Press CTRL-C
3.  Press CTRL-F
4.  Press CTRL-V
5.  Press CTRL-F
5.  You will arrive at the desired chapter or subchapter.

_______________________________________________________________________________

                                **************
********************************* U N I T  I **********************************
                                **************
+=================+
| 1.  LEGAL STUFF |============================================================
+=================+

This guide may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal
private use.  It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advanced permission from the author.  Use of this guide on
any other web sit or as part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and
a violation of copyright.  All content in this guide is Copyright 2003 by
Kevin Butler.  Only the sites listed below have permission to publish this
work or to display it:

www.gamefaqs.com
www.cheats.de
faqs.ign.com

If you wish to put this guide on your site, e-mail me and ask.  Save yourself
the headache of putting up with lawsuits and whatnot because you failed to ask
a simple "Can I post your guide on <insert site>?".  If you wish to use info
in this guide, please acknowledge that you have done so.

If you see this guide on any other site then the one listed above, please
e-mail me.  If you wish to ask questions or give input to this guide, please
e-mail me.  Just have Stargate as the subject so I know it isn't another kooky
vendor trying to sell me hair gel or another XXX site telling me I have new
friends.

+=========================+
| 2.  VERSION INFORMATION |====================================================
+=========================+

Version 1.0   9/ 1/03:  A guide is born.

+======================+
| 3.  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |=======================================================
+======================+


The following are a list of people or organizations that have made this FAQ
possible:

My wonderful family (who has had to put up with the tapping on the keyboard)
Williams for making a great arcade game
GameFAQ's for putting up this FAQ

+=============+
| 4.  WELCOME |================================================================
+=============+

Welcome to my FAQ for Stargate.  Since the game has you continuously playing
through waves until all your men are killed, there is no walkthrough per se.
Instead it will be broken up into the game itself and strategies for survival.
Input is appreciated along with constructive criticism.  If you wish to e-mail
me thoughts on this FAQ, better ways of doing things, other strategies, etc.,
feel free.  Make sure you put Stargate as the subject.  If you don't, I'm
liable to discard the e-mail as spam.

+==============+
| 5.  OVERVIEW |===============================================================
+==============+

Williams had created a runaway hit in 1980 with Defender.  Williams was still
known as a company more for its pinball machines then electronic arcade
machines.  Defender helped to start to dispel this illusion about Williams.
Defender was noted for the large number of controls that the player had to use
to survive.  Sequels to games can be a roll of the dice.  Taito successfully
made a sequel called Space Invaders Part II.  Atari, on the other hand, failed
in their sequel of Asteroids with Asteroids Deluxe.  Williams had no such
problems, however, as Stargate was enthusiastically received even with the
addition of an extra control.  This game, along with Robotron 2084 the next
year, firmly established Williams as a major force in the arcade market.  The
premise of the game was the same as Defender:  Make sure that you keep the
humans safe on the planets surface.  In addition to the seven original enemies
in Defender, Stargate added another eight enemies to make your life even more
miserable.  Stargate still featured the wrap around screen plus it added a
couple of new things.  See Chapter 6.4 for difference from the original
Defender.  Good luck at dealing with the hazardous in keeping the humans safe.

                               ***************
******************************** U N I T  II **********************************
                               ***************

+==============+ 
| 6.  THE GAME |===============================================================
+==============+ 

Stargate is a two-dimensional, shooter style game.  You have at your fingers
the most advanced fighter in the arsenal.  With its array of weapons and the
ability to maneuver quickly, this fighter is ideal for dealing with the enemy
threats.  In addition, you can respond quickly to any threats by either going
through the warp or quickly reversing your motion and taking the quickest route
to deal with said threat.  You also can fly continuously in one direction or
the other to make yourself a harder target to hit.  Be warned, though, that if
you lose all ten humans, the planet will explode and you will be out in space
against some pretty aggressive enemy units.  This is definitely a game of only
the fittest survive.  To think, you volunteered for this duty.
 ____________________
/ 6.1  The Controls /__________________________________________________________
--------------------

The controls on this game are pretty hard.  It will take a lot of practice to
get used to them.  That is because you have six buttons you must keep track of
and use at all times.

-  A two-way joystick for moving up and down

-  A thrust button

-  A fire button

-  A reverse button

-  A smart bomb button

-  An invisio button

-  A hyperspace button

 __________________________
/ 6.2  The Playing Fields /____________________________________________________
--------------------------

Stargate involves battling either on the planet or in space if you lose all the
humans.  The screen itself is a never-ending world since it "wrap-around" so
there are no edges.  You only see what is within your limited view but you can
see everything else via your radar.  I have included an example of what the
playing screen looks like:

    +---------------+-----------+-------+----------------+--------------+
    |\_\_ FIGHTERS LEFT         |  --   |                |              |
    ||- SMART BOMBS LEFT        YOUR VIEW                |              |
    |__ INVISIO LEFT|\      /\     /\_/\   /\_         _/|              |
    |         250   | \/\__/  \/\_/     \_/   \/\/\___/  |              |
    |_______________|___________|_______|________________|______________|
    |                                                                   |
    |                                                                   |
    |                                      +-----+                      |
    |           /\_____                    | +-+ |<-WARP                |
    |           +-----/                    | +-+ |                      |
    |                                      +-----+                      |
    |                            +--+                         +--+      |
    |                           /    \                       /    \     |
    |                          /      \                     /      \    |
    |                         /        \                   /        \   |
    |                        /          \                 /          \  |
    |                       /            \_______________/            \ |
    |                      /                                           \|
    |                     /                                             |
    |                    /                                              |
    |                   /                                               |
    |__________________/                                                |
    |                                                                   |
    |                                                                   |
    |                                                                   |
    |                                                                   |
    +-------------------------------------------------------------------+

You control your fighter through this screen.

 _______________
/ 6.3  Scoring /_______________________________________________________________
---------------

Scoring in this game is relatively simple.

Lander :   150 points
Mutant :   150 points
Bomber :   250 points
Pod    :  1000 points
Bomber :   250 points
Baiter :   200 points
Swarmer:   150 points

NEW ENEMIES:

Firebomber          :  250 points
Fireball            :  100 points
Dynamo              :  200 points
Space Hum           :  100 points
Yllabian Space Guppy:  200 points
Phred               :  200 points
Big Red             :  200 points
Munchies            :   50 points


5,000 points for saving a human from a Lander.

500 points for safely putting them back on the planets surface.

Bonus at the end of each wave of Humans Left X 100.

2,500 point bonus for getting through the Yllabian Dogfight or Firebomber Show-
down waves.

You start with three fighters, smart bombs, and three seconds of Invisio time.
You get a bonus ship, smart bomb, and 1 second of Invisio time for every 10,000
points.

 _____________________________
/ 6.4  Changes from Defender /_________________________________________________
-----------------------------

The game play for Stargate is pretty much like Defender.  The strategies in
Chapter 7 still apply.  There, however, are still a few notable differences
that are worth mentioning.

-  The addition of eight more enemy units.

-  The addition of the warp.  Going through the warp allows the player to
   either:

   -  Go to the opposite side of the planet when no humans are being
      threatened.

   -  Arrive at the exact spot if a Lander is abducting a human.

   -  In addition, before Wave 10, if you fly through the warp while holding
      onto four humans, you will go forward three waves.  You will get a bonus
      of 5,000 points for this achievement.

-  The Invisio button allows you to cloak your fighter in an anti-matter field.
   While cloaked, your fighter is indestructible and you can destroy all
   objects (including humans) just by flying through them.  You will see your
   fighter as a dull shimmer on the screen.  Remember, you only have a few
   seconds of Invisio total.

-  There are now bonus waves in the game.  After completing these bonus waves,
   you start again with ten humans on the planets surface.  The bonus waves
   are:

   -  Starting at the 5th wave and every 10th wave thereafter, you will go
      through the Yllabian Dogfight.

   -  Starting at the 10th wave and every 10th wave thereafter, you will go
      through the Firebomber Showdown.

-  When you are down to three humans left on the planets surface, the planet
   will start flashing.  This is a hint that there are very few humans left and
   that planetary explosion is coming soon.

-  There is now a timer on the pods located in the lower right of the game
   screen.  If you don't do anything about the pods within that time, they will
   break open on their own to release their swarmers.

                               ****************
******************************** U N I T  III *********************************
                               ****************


+======================+
| 7.  PLAYING THE GAME |=======================================================
+======================+

You start the game in the middle of the screen.  You can look at your radar to
see where the various enemies are.  Get to learn the sounds of the game because
they are an important clue as to what is going on out of your viewing range.

-  First of all, learn how to use the buttons with proficiency.  You don't want
   to be hunting around for the smart bomb or thrust button when you are in the
   middle of a firefight.  Practice is what will make you proficient.

-  Learn to use your radar screen and after a while you will only look at the
   viewable area briefly to take care of business.  Each enemy has a unique
   color on the radar so you should be able to easily identify what they are.
   In addition, you will also learn how each enemy moves around.  This will
   definitely become a great benefit in the later waves.

-  As I've already mentioned, listen to the sounds of the game.  When you hear
   a high-pitched chatter, that means a Lander has picked up a human in order
   to create a mutant.  Use your radar and look for the green shape going
   straight up; that's the lander.  Try to get over there as quickly as
   possible.  Just shoot the Lander, not the human it has taken.  When you hear
   what sound like something being put together, that means a Lander has become
   a Mutant.

-  Once you shoot the Lander, your job isn't over yet.  If the height is too
   great, the human will fall and die on impact.  Fortunately, your fighter is
   equipped for such emergencies.  All you have to do is fly over the human and
   your fighter will pick them up.  Anytime you scrape against the ground, you
   will set the human down.  Some players continuously ride around with a human
   like this to prevent the planet from exploding.

-  The planet will only explode when all ten humans are dead.  Then you will
   have to go through waves of nothing but mutants and the other regular
   enemies until you make it to a bonus wave.  After that, you will have 10
   humans and a new planet again.  Mutants are very dangerous to deal with be-
   cause they not only tend to swarm, they also fire a lot of shots toward your
   fighter.  Of course, real good players just shoot all the humans so they can
   have the challenge of going through these "mutant" waves.

-  If you take too long on a wave, a saucer shaped enemy called a Baiter will
   appear.  The Baiter is much quicker then your fighter and it has the
   tendency to fire pretty accurate shots.  Try to clear waves as fast as
   possible.  Also, Phred, Big Red, and Munchies will make an appearance to
   help out the Baiter to ensure your fighter doesn't survive.

-  Use your smart bombs only when your viewing area is crowded with enemies.  A
   lot of players like to get all the Pods into their viewing screen then touch
   off the smart bomb.  A quick way to get a few thousand points.  Another use
   is to break open the pods so that Swarmers are all over then touch off the
   smart bomb.  Again, more points.

-  Speaking of Swarmers, they can outrun your fighter.  One of the tactics to
   "throw" them off is to reverse quickly a couple of times.  This disorients
   briefly and may even give you a chance to pick off a few of them.

-  In addition to smart bombs, use your Invisio sparingly.  A good tactic is to
   find a lot of enemy units bunched up.  Fly fast toward them and at the last
   minute, activate your Invisio until you are clear (should amount to less
   then a second of time).  You can destroy quite a few enemies this way and
   you conserve your Invisio energy.

-  Use hyperspace only when you are in a totally desperate situation (like
   getting swarmed by Mutants or Swarmers).  More times then not, the hyper-
   space will put you somewhere else but destroy your fighter in the process.

-  Watch out for the bombers.  Although they travel slowly, they have a bad
   habit of leaving strings of bombs.  If you are not paying attention, you may
   become another statistic if you attempt to fly through them.

-  The firebombers have a tendency to shoot a lot of fireballs at your fighter.
   Fortunately, you can destroy these fireballs.  This can become complicated
   if there are four or five firebombers firing at the same time.  The fire-
   balls don't track your fighter.

-  You can fly through and under the terrain (but you cannot exit the screen at
   the top and come up through the bottom or vice-versa).  Use this to your
   advantage when maneuvering around.

-  Since you "wrap-around" the screen, this gives you a little more maneuvering
   room.  However, keep looking at your radar because the enemy that disappears
   off the left side will show up on the right side.  Also, shots do not wrap
   around the edge.

-  In addition to using the "wrap-around", keep in mind that you can also use
   the warp to your advantage.  Some players hang around the warp until a human
   is abducted.  They go through the warp, save the human, and go back to the
   warp again to await the next rescue.  Also, the warp is great if being
   pursued by a lot of enemies who are intent on vaporizing your fighter since
   it transports you to the opposite side of the planet.

-  Since you get a free fighter, smart bomb, and Invisio time at 10,000 points,
   that should be    your constant goal.  As the waves get higher, though,
   things move a lot    faster making even getting 10,000 points a challenge.
   The most free    fighters and smart bombs you can have is 256.

                               ****************
********************************  U N I T  IV *********************************
                               ****************

+================+
| 8.  CONCLUSION |=============================================================
+================+

After playing Defender for some time, we actually started to get pretty good at
the game.  None of our scores were close to what the record holders were
making, but they still were somewhat respectable.  As burnout, though, seemed
to be happening with Defender, along comes Stargate.  The apprehension wasn't
as great with this game because we had been "broken" in by Defender to expect a
lot of controls.  We weren't disappointed as we had to learn yet another
control in the complicated array.  With the addition of all the different
features, Stargate definitely proved itself as a worthy successor to Defender.
As with Defender, it wasn't enough just to have an idea of where the controls
were, you had to instinctively be able to use them without even thinking.  This
was part of the mystique of this game, hard enough to keep you interested but
not so hard as to make you give up.  Replayability was great because the same
things didn't happen twice even though the basic premise of the game remained
the same.  One could spend a lot of quarters just to get comfortable with this
game and a lot more to at least get a degree of proficiency.  Williams
definitely made a great successor game to Defender.  Unfortunately, it is very
rare to find this machine anywhere.  However, through the miracle of emulation,
a whole new generation is realizing what we "old" folks enjoyed those many
years ago.  In addition, www.shockwave.com is bringing many of these classic
games back.  Check out their site to see what ones are there.  I hope this
guide helps you in being able to get the most amount of gameplay for this
game.  If you do have other ideas or thoughts, please e-mail me and share
them.  Who knows, maybe I'll start a Q&A Chapter in this guide if enough
people ask the same questions.  Anyway, thank you again for reading this guide.

To see other FAQ's I have written please go to:

           http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/32691.html

           ~~~  No trees were harmed in the making of this FAQ ~~~