Rescue on Fractalus!

• EASTER EGG: Select the following levels, followed by pressing key "5" each time (ex. select level 5, press #5, select level 12, press #5, etc): 5, 12, 15, 16, 11, 13, 14.  After entering the last level and #5, the screen shows “BY D.FOX L.CARPENTER C.KELLNER P.LANGSTON” (picture #1).  {František Houra}

• EASTER EGG: The writing on the alien’s suit is actually the initials of the programmers (picture #2), written sideways – “LC DF CK PL” (for Loren Carpenter, David Fox, Charlie Kellner, and Peter Langston).  This is also in the early prototype versions. {Peter Langston}

• At least 3 different prototype versions exist.  The earliest, dated 1-20-84, doesn’t have a name (either on the cart or on the title screen), and is simply called “#3”.  The next version, dated 2-13-84, has the original name, Beyond Jaggi Lines (picture #3), which lacks some of the final touches that RoF has, such as the Lucasfilm Games splash screen (picture #7), the custom copyright symbol on the level screen (picture #8), and the stranded ‘ace’ pilots (picture #10).  At startup, it goes right to the level select screen instead of the launch bay, and you have the option to start at any level (from 1 to 99!) - RoF only allows you to start up to level 16; however, you can’t skip ahead levels after completing a mission – RoF allows you to skip up to 3.  Also, it refers to ‘systems’ as simply ‘engines’, the demo droids are numbered starting with #1 (picture #5); each time you run the demo, this number increases, instead of RoF’s random designations (picture #9).  The latest version, dated 2-29-84, is the same as the released version, except that the title (“Rescue on Fractalus”) is shown on the Atari “Fuji” splash screen (picture #4); the final version doesn’t have this (picture #6).

• The computer versions are different from the 5200 version in that they have an animated intro of the mother ship, a high score screen, and a full custom text font.  See the 400/800 RoF entry for more info.

• Other early names for RoF were Star Mission and Rescue Mission.

• In the higher levels, you’ll sometimes come across an ace pilot (picture #10), and usually near the end of a mission.  Although aliens are capable of impersonating ‘normal’ pilots, it’s unknown whether or not they can impersonate aces.

• The manual mentions controller overlays, but none were ever produced.  It also has the message “7800 is a trademark of Atari” on the back!