Armor Alley
Armor Alley is a computer game for DOS and Mac OS, with gameplay patterned after the Apple II game Rescue Raiders. Play is against either the computer or other humans in a LAN environment. The game supports cooperative multiplayer of up to two players per side.
The player controls a helicopter armed with limited munitions, such as missiles, bombs, machine guns, and napalm. As the player requisitions them, computer-controlled tanks, infantry, engineers, mobile missile platforms, and vans round out available firepower.
Objective
The objective is to assist deployed units, with the player's helicopter, in their efforts to destroy an opposing base at the opposite end of the play area. The enemy possesses the same arsenal as the player, so tactics and convoy composition are vital. Only the van, which contains electronic warfare equipment, can achieve victory by coming into contact with the enemy base. Its armor is quite weak, so these units must be protected at all times.
Gameplay
The two-dimensional battlefield is a long strip of ground, with the player's base on the left end and the enemy's base on the right. Every map has these two bases, but each map has a different pattern of fixed terrain features. The game ends when one of these two bases is captured.
The player's view is always focused on the central unit, the helicopter. The helicopter carries bombs and has a machine gun. The helicopter's fuel is limited, so each player has to return to base before there's insufficient fuel left for the trip back. The helicopter is very vulnerable to enemy fire and so relies on its agility and the player's control to survive on the battlefield.
Budget
War funds slowly trickle into a spending account that allows purchase of units. Each unit has an associated cost. For example, a spare helicopter costs 20 and a van 2. The player must spend carefully to ensure the purchase of equipment as needed. The farther the helicopter is from its landing pad, the higher the rate of funding.
All units must be purchased by the player, but once bought, blindly advance to the right towards the enemy base. Extra lives may be purchased by buying more helicopters.
Terrain elements
- bunkers - Players may use infantry to capture bunkers to secure progress, either by landing or via paradrop.
- pillbox bunkers - tougher than regular bunkers, with guns on the sides. Infantry simply walking up to the pillbox will be killed by the guns on the side of the pillbox, and instead must be paradropped directly above the pillbox door. Infantry holding the pillbox will be killed by tank flamethrowers.
- gun emplacement - automatically fires upon enemy helicopters, causing a fatal amount of damage within a small amount of time. Guns may be "converted" by engineers, being "fixed" to shoot upon enemy units. Some maps start with a number of gun emplacements that are broken, and must be claimed by an engineer.
Mobile Units
- The most important weapon on the battlefield is the player's helicopter. Armed with limited machine gun rounds, several freefall-bombs as well as 2 guided missiles, the strategies and skills of the player play a decisive role in the outcome of the battle. The relative expensiveness of helicopters necessitate care in the use of this unit, though suicide attacks are a viable tactic in the game. To this end, there is a "eject" function, where the helicopter is discarded and the crew (one, or sometimes two) escapes in a parachute, henceforth acting as infantry.
- vans are required to destroy the enemy base. As they have no weapons, they are very vulnerable, able to be destroyed by even a single soldier. Besides destroying the enemy base, vans will jam the enemy helicopter's radar when sufficiently close.
- Tanks are the most powerful mobile ground unit. They are armed with machine guns, cannons, and on higher levels, flamethrowers. Their main gun, the cannon, can destroy a van or missile truck with a single shot. The machine gun kills soldiers with no damage to the tank. The flamethrower is used to clear enemy-held bunkers. The tank may only be damaged by another tank or helicopter.
- Missile launchers are automated vehicles armed with one smart missile each. When an enemy helicopter that is not already targeted by a missile comes into range, the vehicle will launch its missile and self-destruct. The missile is guided and follows the helicopter, but may be shot down. Eventually the missile runs out of fuel, crashing to the ground and destroying anything it falls upon.
- infantry are soldiers on foot. Individually weak, they are however cheap and may destroy larger, more expensive units with their simple guns. Infantry may be carried by the helicopter and released with parachutes. Soldiers will attempt to capture bunkers, but will be killed by guns protecting pillboxes. Soldiers can also capture the enemy base, which will not end the level, but will steal some of the enemy funds for the player.
- Engineers will not attempt to occupy bunkers, but can repair destroyed gun emplacements. Transporting engineers by air forces them to abandon their equipment, turning them into regular infantry.