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- DRONE - Shareware Version 1.01
-
- Copyright (c) 1997, Pixelsplash Software, All Rights Reserved.
-
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- CONTENTS
-
- 1. System Requirements for DRONE Shareware
- 2. DRONE Shareware Version
- 3. How to Load and Run DRONE Shareware
- 4. Don't Forget to Run Sound Setup!
- 5. How to Play DRONE
- 6. Game Play Suggestions
- 7. Cheat Keys
- 8. Any Problems?
- 9. Customer Service
- 10. Credits
- 11. Copyright & Trademark Information
-
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- 1. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS FOR DRONE SHAREWARE
-
- Here's what you need to run DRONE Shareware:
-
- - IBM PC or fully compatible
- - Pentium required, 100MHz or faster recommended
- - DOS 4.0 (or Windows 95, Windows NT, Windows 98)
- - 16 MB RAM
- - Hard drive with 18 MB free space for the shareware version (The
- registered version requires 30 MB free space as well as a CD-ROM drive.)
- - 256 color (VGA) graphic capability
- - Keyboard (default controller) or joystick
- - Suggestions: Sound Blaster(tm) or compatible sound card; most others
- are supported.
-
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- 2. DRONE SHAREWARE VERSION
-
- DRONE Shareware is a smaller version of the registered version
- of DRONE. The shareware version of DRONE contains two levels;
- the full, registered version contains seven.
-
- While the shareware version of DRONE is full-featured, fun and exciting,
- you do get loads more in the complete, registered version of DRONE. This
- includes more boss ships that get bigger, nastier, and more challenging to
- destroy. Plus, if you can successfully disarm all six of the deadly alien
- nuclear missiles, you'll meet the alien Mothership! There are more strange
- and wild stounds, beautifully rendered scenery, and a culminating
- battle that is sure to provide hours of gaming fun. So call 1-800-242-4775*
- ext. 15426 and order the registered version now!
-
- *Please note that the above 1-800 number is for credit card ORDERS ONLY.
- Pixelsplash Software cannot be reached at this number. To talk to us about
- anything other than a new order, contact us directly at:
-
- email: drone@pixelsplash.com
- website: www.pixelsplash.com
-
-
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- 3. HOW TO LOAD AND RUN DRONE SHAREWARE
-
- If you're reading this file, you've already done all of the work! Simply
- switch to the directory that you unzipped the DRONE_SW.ZIP file in and then
- type: DRONE_SW and press ENTER.
-
-
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- 4. DON'T FORGET TO RUN SOUND SETUP!
-
- DRONE Shareware downloads assuming that no sound card is present. In
- order to hear the awesome sounds in DRONE, you must first configure
- the sound information.
-
- To configure DRONE's sound information for your computer, you must run the
- SETUP.EXE program in the directory where DRONE was unzipped. This SETUP
- program is very self-explanatory. If you know the settings for your
- particular sound card, you can specify them manually. If you aren't sure
- about which sound card you have, or what the settings are, then you should
- run the Auto Detect option:
-
- - From the main menu, choose Auto Detect. This is the first option in the
- main menu.
- - On the next screen, choose Detect. Once it has reported that it has
- detected your sound card, choose Test. Make sure your speakers are
- turned on and at a sufficient volume. If you hear the test announcement,
- everything is OK. Choose OK to return to the main menu.
- - From the main menu, choose OK, and then choose OK (again) to save the
- current settings. This ends the SETUP program.
- - DRONE is now ready to play! Run the DRONE_SW.EXE file from the directory
- where you unzipped the game.
-
- NOTE: If you do not hear any sounds from the test, or if DRONE's sounds are
- still not audible after this SETUP program has been run, please contact us
- at: drone@pixelsplash.com
-
-
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- 5. HOW TO PLAY DRONE
-
- DRONE is a top-view, vertical-scrolling shootout. Your ship is at the
- bottom of the screen. You can move left and right using the left and
- right arrow keys (or the joystick). You have two types of weaponry:
- exploding-tip, rapid-fire missiles, and the larger probe and stinger
- missiles. The exploding-tip, rapid-fire missiles are fired using either
- of the CONTROL keys (or the joystick's FIRE button). The blue probes and
- red stinger missiles must be loaded first by using the down-arrow key.
- Once you have loaded one of these, you can toggle back and forth between
- either type by pressing the down-arrow key. You launch the probes and
- stingers by pressing the up-arrow key.
-
- The red stingers will be the ones used most often. These home in on
- enemy ships and detonate larger explosions than your rapid-fire missiles.
-
- The blue probes are used to disarm the alien nuclear missiles (Drones).
- When a Drone appears, toggle to the blue probe and keep launching them
- until a probe attaches to the Drone. This begins the decoding process,
- and then the actual disarming process. This can take a while, depending
- on which skill level you selected. During that time, the alien ships will
- attempt to shoot the probe off of the Drone. When this happens, launch
- another one.
-
- Note that the target-tracking system can only communicate with one probe
- or stinger at a time... which means that while a blue probe is on a Drone,
- you cannot launch red stinger missiles!
-
- The boss ships that appear right before the Drones are more difficult to
- destroy. If you're at your wit's end, visit the Pixelsplash website
- (www.pixelsplash.com) for tips on destroying the boss ships.
-
- ***
-
- THE BAD NEWS
- An evil alien race has penetrated earth's security system. They
- have launched six deadly nuclear missiles - called DRONES - now on
- their way towards major population centers. All previous attempts
- to stop DRONES have been thwarted by the myriad of alien ships
- escorting these nuclear hell-raisers!
-
- THE GOOD NEWS
- Earth's brilliant scientists cracked the encrypted codes that guide
- these DRONES and have constructed devices which will decode them.
- Implanted into homing missiles - called probes - these devices can
- home in on and attach themselves safely to the DRONES. From there
- they interact with the DRONES on-board circuitry to trick it into
- thinking it received a "disarm" signal from the alien mothership.
-
- You have a number of high-performance ships loaded with exploding-tip
- missiles found to be quite effective in piercing the armor of the
- various alien ships. Your ship is also equiped with proximity-detecting
- "stinger" missiles that automatically chase enemy ships. When these
- go off, they burst into larger explosions and can wipe out several
- alien ships at a time.
-
- YOUR MISSION
- Disarm all of the DRONES, destroying as many alien ships as possible
- along the way.
-
- CONTROLS
- LEFT & RIGHT Arrows - Moves Left & Right
- CTRL - Fires
- DOWN Arrow - Toggles Stingers & Probes
- UP Arrow - Launches Stingers & Probes
- ESC - Ends Current Game
- P / R - Pauses / Resumes Current Game
- SPACE BAR - Activates Shield
- L Key - Grants Nine Lives!
-
- SO HOW DO I PLAY?
- Your mission is to disarm the DRONES, not to destroy them. Do not
- hit the DRONES with your ships weaponry. When launched, blue
- probes home in on and attach themselves to the DRONES. Once
- attached, they decode and disarm the DRONES. Also be watchful
- - the enemy ships will try to shoot the probe off the DRONE. If
- this happens, just launch another!
-
- When launched, red stinger missiles attempt to home in on the
- nearest enemy ship. Upon impact, they detonate a powerful explosion.
-
- The probe's status is displayed in the lower left corner of the
- Heads-Up-Display.
-
- THE TARGETING SYSTEM
- When red stingers are loaded, the targeting system will attempt
- to lock onto the nearest, most threatenting enemy. When red stingers
- are then launched, they will home in on the locked target.
-
- When blue probes are loaded, the targeting system will attempt
- to lock onto the DRONE, even if it's not yet visible on the
- screen. When blue probes are then launched, they will home in
- towards the DRONE.
-
- HEADS-UP DISPLAY (HUD)
- The HUD shows six DRONE icons. The "current" DRONE is outlined
- by a box. Blue DRONE icons represent disarmed DRONES; red ones
- represent detonated ones.
-
- When a DRONE is approaching, you will hear a warning beep. This
- is a good time to ease up on firing - otherwise you may detonate
- the approaching DRONE.
-
- SCORING
- Your score appears in the lower right corner of the screen,
- right under your remaining lives. For every ship you destroy,
- for every blue probe you attach to a DRONE, and for every DRONE
- you disarm, you'll get some points. BUT, for all the ships you
- let slip by you, you lose points.
-
- Destroy Small Enemy 1
- Destroy Medium Enemy 25
- Destroy Boss 100
- Attach Probe 10
- Disarm DRONE 500
-
- If Small Enemy Escapes -1
- If Medium Enemy Escapes -25
- If DRONE Is Detonated -1000
-
- For every 500 points you earn, you'll get another life.
-
-
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- 6. GAME PLAY SUGGESTIONS
-
- Performance:
-
- DRONE will run in either pure DOS or a DOS shell under any 32-bit
- version of Windows (Windows 95, Windows NT, Windows 98). However, unless
- you are running a rather fast processor (200 mhz or higher, as of this
- writing 10/97), you will get noticeably better performance running
- DRONE under pure DOS.
-
- If you are noticing performance problems such as slow graphics,
- "hiccups" or skipping in the sounds, it generally means you are
- suffering from the limitations of Windows' DMA bandwidth. Try
- running it under pure DOS and things should improve.
-
- Joysticks:
-
- DRONE supports any standard joystick that plugs into your sound card.
- If your joystick does NOT plug into your sound card, but instead
- plugs into a game card, you can try it, but there is no guarantee
- DRONE will recognize it.
-
- DRONE does not begin recognizing the joystick until you configure it.
- To do this, simply make sure the joystick is plugged in and then
- select "Configure Joystick" from DRONE's main menu (using the arrow
- keys on your keyboard).
-
- First, DRONE will ask you to press the button for FIRING. This will
- be the button that shoots your rapid, normal fire.
-
- Next DRONE will ask you to press the button for LOADING the probes
- and stinger missiles. This will be the button which loads the two
- types of missiles, and then toggles back and forth between them.
-
- Next you will be asked to press the button for LAUNCHING the probes
- and stinger missiles. This will be the button that fires off the
- probe or stinger missile once you have loaded it.
-
- Next DRONE will ask you to press the button for activating your ship's
- shields.
-
- Finally, DRONE will ask you to center the joystick and press the FIRE
- button. This is where DRONE will calibrate your particular joystick
- for your particular computer.
-
- Suggestion: Loading and launching probes and stinger missiles is
- an integral part of playing DRONE. Since standard joysticks do not
- support the registering of more than one button at a time, it is
- recommended that you use the "top-hat" for loading and launching
- probes and stingers. The top-hat (if your joystick has one) is the
- little knob which can be pushed (with your thumb) in any of the
- cardinal directions.
-
- Since the top-hat has a higher priority than all the other buttons,
- this will enable you to hold the FIRE button down while simultaneously
- loading and launching probes and stingers at the enemy squadrons.
-
-
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- 7. CHEAT KEYS
-
- You can pause the game at any time using the P key. The R key will
- resume the game.
-
- Pressing the L key will automatically grant nine lives, however, you
- will then be disqualified from the high-scores list.
-
- Pressing the TAB key will toggle the "vertical retrace sync." Turning
- this off will cause the game to run much faster. This is amusing but
- serves no real purpose. See how far you can get with the vertical
- retrace sync off without using the L key!
-
-
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- 8. ANY PROBLEMS?
-
- If you have any problems installing and/or running DRONE Shareware, make
- sure that you carefully read this entire file. Double-check to make sure
- your computer meets the system requirements listed in the "System
- Requirements" section of this file. If everything seems to be in order,
- contact Pixelsplash by emailing us at: drone@pixelsplash.com.
-
-
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- 9. CUSTOMER SERVICE
-
- If you have questions or problems with this product, please e-mail us at
- drone@pixelsplash.com. We will respond!
-
- Visit the Pixelsplash website (www.pixelsplash.com) for tips, hints,
- and up-to-date information.
-
-
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- 10. CREDITS
-
- Concept & Programming: John Amato
-
- 3D Modeling & Sound Mixing: John Amato & Cindy Vogan
-
- Graphics Design: Cindy Vogan
-
- Business: Cindy Vogan & John Amato
-
- Technical Consultant: Matt Archer
-
- Keyboard Handler: Lee Hamel: hamell@cs.pdx.edu
-
-
- Special thanks to:
-
- Jamie Amato
- Todd Barlow
- Gary Engle
- Kevin Price
- Pamela Ram
- Todd Walderman and his sons, Jake and Ryan
- Rob Warner
- Danny Weiss
-
-
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
- 11. COPYRIGHT & TRADEMARK INFORMATION
-
- DRONE Shareware Version 1.01
- Copyright (c) 1997, Pixelsplash Software. All Rights Reserved.
- DRONE is a trademark of Pixelsplash Software.
-
- Pixelsplash Software encourages you to distribute the shareware version
- of DRONE to all of your family, friends, acquaintances, enemies, and even
- those you're not sure about! To ensure the integrity of this software,
- please distribute only the DRONE_SW.ZIP file. The complete shareware
- version of DRONE will unzip from the DRONE_SW.ZIP file.
-
- Re-distributing this software, in whole or in part, with altered
- or tampered files (including but not limited to graphic, sound, or
- executable files) is a violation of Federal copyright law.
-
- Pixelsplash website: www.pixelsplash.com
- E-mail: drone@pixelsplash.com
-
-
- ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
-
-