BLASTEROIDS 3-D


INTRO

	Blasteroids 3-D is a fast paced 3-D space simulation game in which 
you must shoot your way through a series of asteroid belts.  It requires 
lightning fast reflexes and a sharpshooter's eye to make your way through.  
Hostile spacecraft are patrolling the belt, and their energy blasts can 
finish you off quickly if you don't watch out.  If you are skillful enough 
to make it to level 12, you come face to face with the dreaded alien 
mothership.


SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

		386 SX with 640K RAM
		VGA card
		Hard Disk Drive with 4MB free space
		SoundBlaster compatible sound card (optional) 
	

INSTALLATION

	Installation is simple, just put the disk in your floppy 
drive, change to that drive and type INSTALL.  After the files have been 
copied over, go into the c:\BLAST directory and type BLAST.  Blasteroids 3-D 
will start up and autodetect your hardware. If you have a joystick you will 
be asked to calibrate it when the game starts.


THE GAME

	When BLASTEROIDS 3-D starts, you will see the opening screen.  
If you wait, a sequence of screens showing  instructions and your opponents 
will be shown. To start the game, simply hit any key or press a joystick 
button. 


YOUR COCKPIT

	In front of you you will see your control panel, with two radar
screens, a central shield status panel, and gauges for your laser charge 
level, hyperspace charge level, and your ship's speed.

	The front and rear radar screens show objects that are in the front 
and rear hemispheres surrounding your ship. Asteroids show up as green dots, 
and enemy spacecraft as yellow dots. If an object is in the center of the 
front radar screen, then it is directly in front of you.     

	The shield status panel shows a spacecraft symbol surrounded by 
shields. The color of the shields shows their current charge level:

		BLACK  - shields down, any hit will destroy you
		RED    - shields dangerously low
		YELLOW - shields low
		GREEN  - shields OK
		BLUE   - sheilds supercharged one level
		WHITE  - shields fully supercharged 
		
	Your shields will only show the last two levels if you have picked
up a shield power-up.

	The laser indicator shows the current charge of your lasers. The 
higher the charge, the more rapidly your lasers fire. If the charge is low, 
your lasers will fire at a very slow rate.  However, they continously 
recharge while you're not firing.  If you pick up the speed laser power-up, 
your lasers will charge four times as fast.   

	The hyperspace level indicator shows the charge on your hyperspace 
unit.  When it is at full power, pressing 'h' or pushing joystick button 2
will initiate a hyperspace jump, transporting you out of harm's way.  A 
hyperspace power up will drastically increase the rate at which your 
hyperspace unit recharges. 

	The speed indicator shows your relative speed. Your ship always moves 
in the direction that you are facing, thanks to an excellent flight control 
system and auto-thrusters.   

	The crosshairs in the center of your screen show the point where your
shots will hit.  They will turn red when you have a firing solution on an
asteroid or enemy spacecraft, allowing you to lead your target for a perfect 
shot, even at long range.

	The silver ship in the center of your panel will flash red, and you 
will hear 'COLLISION ALERT' whenever an asteroid is detected on a collision 
course with your ship.  If you don't thrust forward and turn quickly, you 
will be wiped out.


CONTROLLING YOUR SHIP

	Using a joystick is simple. The direction your ship faces is 
controlled by the stick, button 0 fires your lasers, and button 1 starts a  
hyperspace jump.  If the up-down control of the joystick seems backwards,
just press 'c' to reverse it.  Use + to speed up, and - to slow down. 

	If you are using the keyboard, the numeric keypad controls your ship's 
direction. Make sure the NUM LOCK is on.  The space bar fires your lasers, 
and 'h' initiates a hyperspace jump. If the controls don't seem to be working,
check that your CAPS LOCK is OFF.


BLASTING ASTEROIDS

	Asteroids come in three sizes: huge, medium, and small.  Blasting 
a huge asteroid takes three shots, and breaks it into three medium sized 
asteroids. 
	
	Blasting a medium sized asteroid takes two shots, and breaks it 
into three small ones.  Small asteroids only take one shot to completely    
destroy.  All asteroids in a level must be destroyed to complete that level.
	
	Higher levels have more asteroids that move faster.  Taking a hit 
from a large or medium sized asteroid can be fatal, even at full shield power,
so don't get overzealous and go diving into one.   


THE BAD GUYS

	Enemy spacecraft will appear periodically, shooting red energy blasts
at you.  Each hit from these blasts will drop your shields a level, and will 
kill you if your shields are down. 

	There are two types of enemy craft: big slow saucers, and small fast
ones.  The big guys aren't too hard to hit, but take a few direct hits to 
kill.  The small ones are much harder to hit, but can't take as much damage. 
These craft will track you relentlessly until you can destroy them.

	After level 5, killing an enemy ship may leave a power-up floating in 
space for you to grab.  Just fly over it to pick it up.  The power ups and 
what they do are shown in the intro, but here is a quick recap. 

	S - Shield power-up.        Supercharges your shields an 
				    extra two levels. 
					
	H - Hyperspace power-up.    Makes your hyperspace unit recharge    
				    four times faster.    
				    
	L - Laser power-up          Makes your lasers recharge more quickly.

	SL - Speed Lasers           Doubles the velocity of your shots.    
	

WRAPPING
			
	Once an object gets too far from you, it wraps around to the other 
side of your ship, so when an asteroid disappears in front of you, it
pops out behind you.  After a while you will get used to finding those last    
few small asteroids and blasting them.

-----------------------  HAVE FUN ------------------------------------------