Hint Sheet
Players who purchased the registered version of the game from Apogee received a hint sheet with secret tricks and cheats that they could use if desired. It was originally provided as a printed page, which has since been scanned to PDF and distributed by various sources online. There is also a text copy of this information that was presented via an executable file distributed on some versions of the game disks.
This page contains a copy of these documents in both formats, along with a text transcription of the scanned PDF.
Printed Version
The printed hint sheet looked like this:
There are a few different versions of the information in this document floating around online. This page is an attempt to reconcile the different versions while preserving the original content, errors and all. When contradictory information appears in the source documents, alternate versions of the content appear inside square brackets. Mistakes marked with “sic” have been transcribed directly without correction.
Apogee Software Productions
Cosmo’s Cosmic Adventure
Story, Hints and Cheat Mode!
Designed by Todd Replogle and Steven [sic; should be Stephen] Hornback
Copyright 1992 Apogee Software
P.O. Box 496389 • Garland, TX 75049 [in some versions: Box 476389 … TX 75047] • Hints line: (214) 278-5655
The Story of Cosmo
Cosmo is a young alien on his way to visit Disney World with his parents. That is, until their ship is struck by a blazing comet, forcing them to land on an uncharted planet.
While his Dad repairs the ship, Cosmo heads off to explore the strange planet. Upon returning, both his Mom and Dad are gone–and big, scary alien footprints are all around his ship! Oh no…has Cosmo’s parents been captured? Possibly to be eaten? Well, Cosmo is off to the rescue.
Cosmo’s Cosmic Adventure is an exciting journey across a forbidden planet full of dangers and surprises. Can he save his parents before they’re lightly seasoned and devoured?
Cosmo is a lovable extra-terrestrial with a special ability: He has hands that work like suction cups! He can cling to walls, ledges, and all sorts of things. Using his suction hands, Cosmo is able to avoid dangers, scale cliffs and get to places other aliens can’t reach. (This ability has never been seen in a game before–it’s really fun!)
Starting the Games
You must first install each of the three volumes before playing. Type INSTALL to get further instructions. After installation is complete, the three volumes may be played by typing either “COSMO1”, “COSMO2” or “COSMO3”.
General Hints
- Use the up and down arrow keys (or push up and down on your joystick) to view areas above and below Cosmo. The playfield will scroll up and down allowing you to see new areas. Many times, prizes such as stars are hidden in high places, and will fall down to you if you look upward and spot them.
- Use three bombs to destroy Monuments (black walls that throw you backward when touched).
- In Adventure One, at the end of level three, there is a scooter hidden at the top of a tree that can be used to grab all the prizes hidden in the trees.
- In Adventure Two, in level seven, you can rescue Duke Nukum [sic; this was the official spelling for a brief time], who will reward you with a hamburger.
- In Adventures Two & Three, jump on the large red legged creatures to earn extra stars.
- In Adventures Two & Three you can jump on big yellow flying bugs to get to secret areas.
How to Earn Extra Points
- There are three secret 50,000 point bonuses you can earn in Cosmo: 1) Jump on ten creatures and/or barrels/baskets [sic; barrels/baskets do not contribute to this bonus] without touching the ground. 2) Blow up 15 Eye Plants on a level. 3) Jump on all the barrels and baskets on a level.
- Blow up the hint globes to get 12800 points.
- Grabbing a power up module (which adds to your health) while you are already at full health will earn you 12800 pts.
- Jumping on a falling parachute creature is 12800 pts.
- You can blow up just about any moving object for points, including spikes and most plants that move.
Secret Tricks
- In Adventure One, on level seven, you’ll see three robots that shoot an electric beam upward. If you blow up this robot the beam will turn into stars.
- Blowing up an Eye Plants [sic] will give you an extra bomb. Therefore, blow up an enemy on top of an Eye Plant, and you have not lost a bomb.
- In Adventure One, on level six [sic; should be five], there is a hidden satellite. Use two bombs on this satellite to earn a hamburger, which gives you greater health capacity.
- After every two levels there’s a “Bonus Stage” that you can go to if you collect enough stars. Grab 25 stars to go to the first bonus level, and collect at least 50 stars to go to the better bonus level.
- A line of bombs on the ground will act like a fuse if you blow up the first bomb from either side.
Secret Cheat Keys
We don’t recommend anyone cheating when playing Cosmo, but sometimes we all get so stuck that we need a bit of help. If you press these three keys [C] [0] [F10] (the middle key is zero) simultaneously, you will receive full health and a complete supply of nine bombs (the most Cosmo can carry at a time).
- Programming note: Cosmo has 24500 lines of code!
The Cosmo’s Cosmic Adventure On-Disk Hint Sheet
The on-disk hint sheet is contained in an executable file dated April 15, 1992 and called COSHINT.EXE, which is a small text file viewer that displays a single embedded document when run.
The executable was created by a program called “TXT2COM Conversion utility” version 2.06 by Keith P. Graham. He shared an interesting anecdote about this particular utility on a Hacker News thread1 in 2016.
The Apogee copyright message embedded with the document reads:
This document is the copyrighted work of Apogee Software Productions, 1991. All rights reserved. The text of this catalog may be reprinted in reviews of Apogee products, or by any entity wishing to promote Apogee’s games, such as shareware libraries.
The content of the document is substantially the same as the printed sheet, with some of the aforementioned errors fixed. Some of the sections have been expanded as well, indicating that this revision of the hint sheet is probably more recent than the printed sheet.
░░▒▒▓▓██ THE "COSMO" ON-DISK HINT SHEET ██▓▓▒▒░░
Copyright 1992 Apogee Software Productions
P.O. Box 496389 ■ Garland, TX 75049 ■ Hints line: (214) 278-5655
Game designed by Todd Replogle and Steven Hornback
===========
ABOUT COSMO
===========
Cosmo is a young alien on his way to visit Disney World with his parents. That
is, until their ship is struck by a blazing comet, forcing them to land on an
uncharted planet.
While his Dad repairs the ship, Cosmo heads off to explore the strange planet.
Upon returning, both his Mom and Dad are gone, and big, scary alien footprints
are all around his ship! Oh no! Have Cosmo's parents been captured? Possibly
to be eaten? Well, Cosmo is off to the rescue.
Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure is an exciting journey across a forbidden planet full
of dangers and surprises. Can he save his parents before they're lightly
seasoned and devoured?
Cosmo is a lovable extra-terrestrial with a special ability: He has hands
that work like suction cups! He can cling to walls, ledges, and all sorts
of things. Using his suction hands, Cosmo is able to avoid dangers, scale
cliffs and get to places other aliens can't reach. (This ability has never
been seen in a game before--it's really fun!)
==========================
INSTALLING & PLAYING COSMO
==========================
You must first install each of the three volumes before playing. Place disk
one in the appropriate disk drive. Select the drive from the DOS prompt.
Type "INSTALL" and press the <ENTER> key. The installation program will prompt
for the drive and then for the directory into which the software will be
copied. Press <ENTER> to accept the defaults or type the destination of your
choice. The installation program for multiple disk sets will prompt for
additional disks as needed. After installation is complete, the three games
may be played by typing either "COSMO1", "COSMO2" or "COSMO3".
=============
GENERAL HINTS
=============
■ Use the up and down arrow keys (or push up and down on your joystick) to view
areas above and below Cosmo. The playfield will scroll up and down allowing
you to see new areas. Many times, prizes such as stars are hidden in high
places, and will fall down to you if you look upward and spot them.
■ Use three bombs to destroy Monuments (black walls that throw you backwards
when touched).
■ In adventure one, at the end of level three, there is a scooter hidden at the
top of a tree that can be used to grab all the prizes hidden in the trees.
■ In adventure two, in level seven, you can rescue Duke Nukum, who will reward
you with a hamburger.
■ In adventures two & three, jump on the large red legged creatures to earn
extra stars.
■ In adventures two & three you can jump on big yellow flying bugs to get to
secret areas.
====================
EARNING BONUS POINTS
====================
■ There are three secret 50,000 point bonuses you can earn in Cosmo:
1) Jump on 10 creatures and/or barrels/baskets without touching the ground.
2) Blow up 15 Eye Plants on a level.
3) Jump on all the barrels and baskets on a level.
■ Blow up the hint globes to get 12800 points.
■ Grabbing a power up module (which adds to your health) while you are already
at full health will earn you 12800 points.
■ Jumping on a falling parachute creature is 12800 points.
■ You can blow up just about any moving object for points, including spikes
and most plants that move.
=============
SECRET TRICKS
=============
■ In Adventure One, on level seven, you'll see three robots that shoot an
electric beam upward. If you blow up this robot the beam will turn into
stars.
■ Blowing up an Eye Plant will give you an extra bomb. Therefore, blow up
an enemy on top of an Eye Plant, and you have not lost a bomb.
■ In Adventure One, on level five, there is a hidden satellite. Use two
bombs on this satellite to earn a hamburger, which gives you greater
health capacity.
■ After every two levels there's a "Bonus Stage" that you can go to if you
collect enough stars. Grab 25 stars to go to the first bonus level, and
collect at least 50 stars to go to the better bonus level.
■ A line of bombs on the ground will act like a fuse if you blow up the first
bomb from either side.
=================
SECRET CHEAT KEYS
=================
If you press these three keys [C] [0] [F10] (the middle key is zero)
simultaneously, you will receive full health and a complete supply of nine
bombs (the most Cosmo can carry at a time). Please note that this cheat can
only be used one time in a game.
====================================
ADDITIONAL HINTS & TECHNICAL SUPPORT
====================================
As a registered user of Cosmo's Cosmic Adventure, you are welcome to contact
our Technical Support and Hints Department for any assistance required.
Technical support and hints may be received by phoning (214) 278-5655,
Monday through Friday, between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 pm Central Standard Time
or writing to Apogee Software at P.O. Box 496389, Garland, TX 75049-6389.
To assist us in providing you with faster service, please be at your computer
system when calling. Written inquiries should include your order number,
system type and accessories, and any 'terminate and stay resident' (TSR)
programs you happen to be running.
Please do not call the 800 line for technical support or game hints as this
information will not be given there.
==================
THANKS FROM APOGEE
==================
A sincere thanks for purchasing this software package. Much time, effort, and
expense goes into the development of our software, and your support helps
ensure that we will be able to continue bringing you high quality, enjoyable
software. Enjoy the game!