HPAVC/HPAVC CD-ROM.iso/GALAXY.ZIP/GB.TXT

Text File | 1989-12-20 | 13KB | 312 lines

                                 GALACTIC BATTLE



 GENERAL DESCRIPTION

    GALACTIC BATTLE is a space shoot-em up arcade game for one player. Its
 setting is an interplanetary spaceship which is controlled by its captain --
 you! -- against attacks by hordes of evil aliens. Your object in the game is
 to defeat as many of the enemy as possible, while enhancing the features of
 your ship, and maximizing your score.

    The game features an infinite number of levels, each consisting of 11
 different waves of aliens. If you survive all 11 waves in one level, you
 proceed to the next level of play. Each succeeding level is increasingly
 difficult.

    You must maneuver your ship around the lower quarter of the game area and
 try to shoot the aliens overhead, while dodging multiple alien shots fired at
 you as they approach.

    Throughout game play, you can earn "medals" which you can use during
 designated waves to "purchase" defensive and offensive enhancements for your
 ship. This feature, a vital tool especially for the higher levels of play,
 requires strategic planning and preparation early in the game.

    Before the game begins, the stick on your joystick must be centered. If you
 intend to use the joystick during play, you should also select it as your
 input device.


 THE SHIP

    The ship is controlled by either JOYSTICK, MOUSE, or KEYBOARD. It can be
 moved anywhere in the bottom quarter of the playing area in all eight compass
 directions, or it may remain stationary if you wish. Its main offensive weapon
 is its fire power; its primary defense is its energy shield, which protects it
 from alien shots.

    To control the ship with your JOYSTICK, move the stick in the desired
 direction of movement, or leave the stick in the centered position if the ship
 is to remain stationary. Fire shots by pressing button 1, and activate the
 energy shield by pressing button 2.

    MOUSE control is similar to joystick control. Using smooth, slow motions,
 just move the mouse in the direction you want the ship to move. Fire shots by
 pressing the left button. Activate the energy shield by pressing the right
 button.

    The number keypad on the KEYBOARD is analogous to joystick movement: the
 [8] key is up, [3] is down and right, [5] is no movement, and so on. Press the
 [Ins] key, or keypad [0], to operate the energy shield, or the space bar to
 fire shots.

    When firing shots, it is important to keep in mind that the next shot
 cannot be fired unless:

  1) the fire button has been released, and/or
  2) the maximum number of shots does not currently appear on the screen.

    The shield button can be held down continuously. It will work until the
 button is released, or until the ship's energy supply is exhausted.

    When in combat, the ship utilizes a unit of energy every few seconds. (The
 actual rate depends on the ship's current energy reduction capability. See
 "Ship Enhancements.") Firing a shot expends one unit of energy. Using the
 shield consumes energy until the shield is de-activated.

    Be careful! If the ship's energy supply is ever entirely drained, the ship
 will explode! However, when the energy reserve is at twenty units, a warning
 message will appear, and an alarm will sound.


 THE ALIENS

    There are 100 different animated aliens you must battle. Like your ship,
 the aliens'offensive weapon is their fire power. Their defense lies in the
 complex formations of their attack waves, which make them difficult targets to
 hit.

    The aliens confront the ship in groups of ten. They will continue their
 current formation pattern until all aliens in the group are destroyed, or the
 player's game has ended.

    In the beginning levels, one hit is all that is required to destroy an
 alien. Alien destruction in higher levels requires multiple hits and/or
 increased shot damage capabilities (see "Ship Enhancements").


 THE BONUS WAVE

    Every fifth wave of aliens in each level is a "bonus" wave.  The aliens go
 through a "follow-the-leader" type of formation and fire no shots. However,
 they go through this pattern only once! This wave is completed when all the
 aliens are destroyed, or they have completed their pattern.


 THE MOTHER SHIP

    The eleventh wave in every level is a "mother ship" wave. In order to
 advance to the next level, you must face and defeat this alien mother ship.
 Conquering it requires numerous "successful" hits, the number of which
 increases with each higher level of play.  A hit is "successful" only if it
 hits the pulsating energy blob on the bottom of the mother ship when it is
 red. Any other hits to the mother ship cause no damage.

    The two thrusters accompanying the alien mother ship do not need to be
 destroyed by your ship in order for you to advance to the next level. If the
 mother ship explodes, these thrusters will self-destruct. However, you may
 wish to destroy the thrusters since their primary purpose is to protect the
 mother ship by intercepting shots fired upon it. The thrusters can be
 destroyed by multiple "successful" hits from your ship.


 SMART SHOTS

    On higher levels, the aliens acquire a "smart shot" capability. Smart shots
 track your ship,i.e., they follow it as it moves to the left or right. Fortu-
 nately, their range is limited, but it increases with each higher level of
 play. Smart shots eventually follow a straight-line trajectory.

    Aliens do not obtain the smart shot powers until level 3, but the mother
 ship and thrusters always have smart shot capability.


 THE STARBASE

    The starbase aids the ship by appearing after each wave is completed and
 allowing you to dock with it to re-energize your ship if you want to. To dock,
 move your ship horizontally across the starbase and allow it to be caught in
 the starbase's tractor beam. If you do not want to dock, you can move the ship
 along the bottom of the screen and keep it out of the tractor beam's reach. By
 choosing not to dock with the starbase, you can earn an "efficiency bonus."

    To avoid docking, you may choose to do one of the folowing: (1) Wait for
 the starbase to leave on its own, or (2) Press the fire button to inform the
 starbase that you do not wish to dock. If you do not dock and re-energize, you
 will have to complete the next wave with whatever ship's energy remains.

    After completing the bonus wave or the mother ship wave, a special starbase
 appears to allow the re-energizing and customizing of your ship (see "Ship
 Enhancements"). The efficiency bonus can also be earned if you choose not to
 dock with this starship.


 SHIP ENHANCEMENTS

    The opportunity to customize the ship by buying enhancements is allowed
 after the completion of either the bonus wave or the mother ship wave. Your
 ship must first dock with the starbase; then, after re-energization, the
 "enhancement menu" is presented.

    Three ship enhancements are available: reduced energy use, increased fire
 power, and increased shot damage. Each enhancement can be purchased and added
 to your ship a maximum of three times.

    The "Reduced energy use" enhancement does just what you might assume: it
 reduces the rate at which your ship consumes the energy necessary to power
 itself. Using your shield also consumes less energy.

    The "Increased fire power" enhancement allows you to fire multiple shots
 simultaneously, e.g., purchasing increased fire power the first time allows
 double fire power, or two shots on the screen at once.

    The "Increased shot damage" enhancement causes the shots to inflict more
 damage to an alien when hit. Because the aliens have greater strength,this
 enhancement is extremely valuable when you are battling the mother ship,
 especially on higher levels.

    The enhancement menu also allows you to skip from one to three levels, if
 you are willing to pay the price. Although game play will become more
 difficult, higher scores are attainable.

    Enhancements are also purchased through the enhancement menu. Moving the
 selection arrow to the desired enhancement will show its current status: (1)
 its price in medals (see "Earning Medals"), (2) whether it is currently on the
 ship (denoted by a check mark) and (3) its current availability for purchasing
 (indicated by a green arrow). A red arrow means an enhancement is not
 currently available. If a selected enhancement is available, it may be
 purchased by pressing the fire button.

    After an enhancement is purchased, it cannot be purchased again until the
 next presentation of the enhancement menu, e.g., if you buy the increased fire
 power enhancement, you cannot purchase it again until you see the next
 enhancement menu.

    To exit the enhancement menu, move the selection arrows to "resume game
 play," and press the fire button.


 EARNING MEDALS

    Medals are awarded for 1) hitting seven consecutive aliens in the same wave
 without missing, 2) destroying a mother ship thruster, or 3) defeating the
 mother ship. A maximum of nine medals can be possessed at any one time.

    When game play begins, you receive the number of medals equal to the level
 on which you began play, e.g., if you begin on level 3, you are awarded three
 medals.

    The number of medals you currently possess is always displayed at the
 bottom of the screen next to the medal icon.


 GAME MESSAGES

    During game play, various text messages informing you of upcoming
 situations are displayed at the top of the screen.


 SCORING

               Alien   -     100 * Multiplier   (See below.)
            Thruster   -     100 * Level
         Mother Ship   -    1000 * Level
    Efficiency Bonus   -    2500

    Extra ships are awarded for perfect shooting, i.e. hitting all ten aliens
 in a wave without missing.

    The multiplier is increased every time an alien is destroyed. The
 multiplier is reset to 1 if:

          (1) A shot misses completely and doesn't hit anything,
          (2) Your ship is destroyed, or
          (3) The wave is completed.


 THE GAME KEYS

              <1>-<5>  -  Start game play at level 1-5
    Spacebar/Button 1  -  Fire a shot
         Ins/Button 2  -  Activate energy shield
                  <J>  -  Play using joystick
                  <K>  -  Play using keyboard
                  <M>  -  Play using mouse
                  <P>  -  Pause/Unpause game
                  <S>  -  Toggle sound on/off
                 <F1>  -  Help
                 <F8>  -  Game speed menu
                 <F9>  -  Increase game speed (See below.)
                <F10>  -  Decrease game speed (See below.)
            <Ctrl><R>  -  Restart game
                <ESC>  -  Quit to DOS

    "Game speed" refers to the playing speed of the computer. Medium speed is
 the default speed, or the speed at which a game will automatically begin. A
 slower speed may be selected by pressing <F10>. A faster speed may be selected
 by pressing <F9>.

    If the game moves too slow in EGA mode on a 4.77 Mhz machine, you can use
 the CGA mode for the game by typing "GB C" to run the game.


 THE HIGH SCORE LIST

    GALACTIC BATTLE keeps a list of the top ten "Galactic Warriors," a current
 list of the ten highest scores and the initials of the players. Each time a
 new name and score are added to the list, it is saved to disk on the current
 drive.

    To erase the high score list, use DOS to delete the .HSC file on the disk.
 When the game is played again, the high score list file will not be found, and
 the default list will be used.


 THE DEMO MODE

    When the game is not being played, the demo mode will run continuously. In
 demo mode, you can toggle the sound on/off and also toggle between joystick or
 keyboard mode.

    To begin game play in the demo at levels 1-5, press the corresponding <1>-
 <5> key. To start the game at level 1, press the fire button.


****  TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION  ****


 SYSTEM SUPPORTED

    GALACTIC BATTLE will run on IBM PC/XT/AT/PS2 and 100% compatible computers.
 It requires one floppy disk drive, 256K of memory, and one of the supported
 graphic adapters below.


 GRAPHIC ADAPTERS SUPPORTED

    GALACTIC BATTLE will run on the supported systems above which use a CGA,
 EGA, VGA, Hercules in simulated CGA mode, or Tandy 1000 graphics adapter. The
 resolution used is 320 x 200.

    The EGA, VGA, and Tandy 1000 utilize all 16 colors. The game was developed
 on the EGA and looks its very best in any of the 16 color modes.

    The CGA utilizes all four colors to the best of its abilities. The game
 contains special graphic images colored especially for the CGA, i.e., they are
 not used with the other graphic adapters. There should be no visual problems
 with the mapping of the 16 colored images for EGA, VGA, and Tandy to the four
 colors of CGA.

    The Hercules display mode is in a dithered (but not garbled) format to
 adjust to the lower screen resolution, accomplished by simulating the CGA
 adapter.


 SOUND EFFECTS

    All sound effects are designed and implemented as background sounds, i.e.,
 they will not disturb game play.