PHOTON STORM...BY JEFF MINTER.. ------------------------------- ORIGINAL SUPPLIED BY SCOOTER/SCOOPEX...CRACKED BY NOMAD OF SCOOPEX ------------------------------------------------------------------ DOX TYPED IN BY SCOOTER/SCOOPEX......27/7/90 MISSION OVERVIEW. TO KILL ALL THE ENIMIES IN AN ATTACK WAVE, THEREBY OPENING UP YOUR STARGATE AND ENABLEING YOU TO WARP THROUGH HYPERSPACE TO THE NEXT LEVEL. TO COLLECT AS MANY PLUTONIUM PODS AS POSSIBLE, WHICH CAN BE USED AS EXTRA SHEILDING WHILST NEGOTIATING THE HYPER SPACE TUNNELBETWEEN LEVELS AND TO PREVENT ENEMIES FROM COLLECTING PLUTONIUM PODS(WHICH ARE USED TO BUILD AND ACTIVATE THE ENEMY BATTLESTAR). IF THE BATTLESTAR IS ACTIVATED YOU MUST DEFEAT IT IN MORTAL COMBAT TO END THE WAVE AND OPEN THE STARGATE. TO STAY ALIVE, GET FURTHER INTO THE ATTACK LEVELS, AND AMASS A TRULY AWESOME SCORE. HOW TO PLAY PHOTON STORM. ONCE THE GAME HAS LOADED, THE PHOTON STORM TITLE PAGE IS DISPLAYED, FROM THE TITLE PAGE YOU MAY PRESS THE LEFT MOUSE BUTTON TO COMMENCE A ONE PLAYER GAME. OR THE RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON FOR A TWO PLAYERS. IN TWO PLAYER MODE, PLAYERS COMPETE FOR THE HIGHEST SCORE:WITH PLAY AOLTERNATING BETWEEN PLAYER ONE AND PLAYER TWO EACH TIME A SHIP IS DESTROYED. IF THE GAME IS NOT STARTED FROM THE TITLE PAGE, IT WILL DISPLAY VARIOUS INFORMATION AND DEMONSTRATION SCREENS. PRESS THE LEFT MOUSE BUTTON TO INTERRUPT ANY OF THESE AND RETURN TO THE TITLE SCREEN TO START A NEW GAME. HOW TO CONTROL YOUR SHIP WHEN YOU BEGIN THE GAME, YOUR SHIP WILL APPEAR ON THE SCREEN, FOLLOWED SHORTLY BY THE ENEMIES AND STARGATE. (THE STARGATE IS THE LARGE GLOWING TRIANGULAR OBJECT YOU SEE ALMOST STRAIGHT AWAY WHEN YOU BEGIN THE GAME. ITS FUNCTION WILL BE EXPLAINED FURTHER ON ). YOUR SHIP IS IN THE CENTER OF THE SCREEN; IT REMAINS THERE THROUGHOUT THE GAME AND AS YOU FLY AROUND THE GAME WORLD MOVES RELATIVE TO YOUR SHIP. THE SHIP AND ITS WEPONRY ARE CONTROLLED BY A COMBINATION OF MOUSE AND KEYBOARD COMMANDS; FIRING: FIRSTLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE LEFT HAND MOUSE BUTTON IS YOUR FIRE BUTTON. HOLDING THIS DOWN RESULTS IN A TRIPLE BEAM OF LASER FIRE, AND TO BE BRUTALLY HONEST, THERES NO REASON EVER TO LET UP FIRING UNTIL EVERYTHING IS DESTROYED AND THE STARGATE IS OPEN..SO KEEP FIRING!! LOOKING AT YOUR SHIP, YOU`LL SEE A SMALL WHITE BLIP NEXT TO IT. THIS BLIP REPRESENTS THE AIMING POINT: YOU CAN CONTROL ITS POSITION BY MOVING THE MOUSE.IF YOU HOLD DOWN FIRE WHILST DOING THIS. YOU CAN FIRE IN ANY DIRECTION ALL AROUND YOUR SHIP-EVEN DIRECTLY BEHIND , IF THATS WHERE THE THREAT LIES. THRUST: YOUR SECOND MOUSE BUTTON, THE RIGHT HAND MOUSE BUTTON CONTROLS THRUST, IF THRUST IS NOT PRESSED, YOUR SHIP DRIFTS THROUGH SPACE AT WHATEVER ANGLE IT HAPPENS TO BE TURNED TO.PRESSING THRUST CAUSES TWO THINGS TO HAPPEN: YOUR SHIP ACCELARATES, AND IT ALSO TURNS TO FACE THE AIMING POINT. THUS BY COMBINATION OF MOVING THE AIMINBG POINT AND USING THE THRUST BUTTON, YOU CAN TURN THE SHIP TO GO WHEREVER YOU WANT, AND CONTROL THE SPEED OF TRAVEL. WHITH A LITTLE PRACTISE YOU`LL FIND THE SHIP CONTROL BECOMES SECOND NATURE, AND YOU`LL BE ABLE TO PERFORM VERY FAST MANOEURVRES AND EVEN MOVE IN ONE DIRECTION WHILST FIRING IN THE OTHER-AN ESSENTIAL SKILL IN PHOTON STORM.. BOOST THERE IS A KEYBOARD CONTROL WHICH ALSO AFFECTS THE WAY YOUR SHIP FLIES. THATS THE BOOST BUTTON - THE LEST SHIFT KEY ( NEST TO THE SPACE BAR ). HOLDING DOWN BOOST DOUBLES THE SPEED OF YOUR SHIP, IN WHATEVER DIRECTION YOU ARE TRAVELLING. USING BOOST TAKES ENERGY; YOUR AVAILABLE BOOST ENERGY IS SHOWN BY ONE OF THE TWO LINEAR GAUGES IN THE SCORE AREA, TH EONE WITH THE SMALL FLAME BY IT. ALL THE WHILE YOU HOLD DOWN BOOST, THE GAUGE COUNTS DOWN, WHEN IT REACHES ZERO, YOU CAN CAN BOOST NO LONGER. HOWEVER, WHILE YOU ARE NOT BOOSTING, THE ENERGY RECHARGES, ALBEIT SLOWLY. IF COMPLETLEY DEPLETE YOUR BOOST RESERVE, YOU MUST ALLOW IT TO RECHARGE,BEYOND A CERTAIN THRESHOLD ( ABOUT A QUARTER OF THE GAUGE) BEFOUR BOOST BECOMES AVAILABLE AGAIN. SMART BOMBS PRESSING THE CONTROL KEY RELEASES A SMART BOMB ( WHICH DESTROYS ALL ENEMIES AND MISSILES ON THE SCREEN). YOU BEGIN THE GAME WITH A STOCK OF FOUR SMART BOMBS; THEY ARE SHOWN AS PURPLE SPHERES IN THE BOX TO THE LEFT OF THE CENTRAL SCANNER IN THE SCORE AREA ( TO THE RIGHT, IF YOUR PLAYER TWO). EXTRA SMART BOMBS CAN BE COLLECTED, WILL GIVE YOU EITHER A SMART BOMB, SOME INVINCIBILITY, OR AN EXTRE LIFE. SINGLE BEAM SINGLE BEAM IS PURLEY FOR THE CONFIDENT PLAYER. IT REDUCES THE TRIPLE LASER BEAM TO A SINGLE BEAM; ANYTHING SHOT WITH THE SINGLE BEAM YIELDS DOUBLE POINTS. THUS,YOU CAN TAKE A RISK AND IF YOUR SKILLFUL ENOUGH YOULL BE REWARDED WITH EXTRA POINTS. TO OBTAIN SINGLE BEAM, HOLD DOWN THE ALTERNATE KEY WHILST FIRING. PHOTON STORM YOUR MISSION OBJECTIVES HAVE ALREADY BEEN OUTLINED..IN ORDER TO CARRY OUT YOUR MISSION, YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO FLY AND FIRE CONFIDENTLY AND TO USE THE SCANNER AND HEAD UP DISPLAY. THE SCANNER IS CENTRALLY LOCATED IN THE SCORE AREA, IT DISPLAYS OBJECTS IN THE GAMEWORLD WHICH ARE NOT IMMEDIATELY VISIBLE ON YOUR SCREEN AS DIFFERENTLY COLOURED BLIPS, YOU CAN USE IT TO FIND OUT WHATS LEFT OUT THERE, AND TO WARN YOU OF INCOMING ATTACKERS.EFFECTIVE SCANNER USE IS ESSENTIAL TO SURVIVAL. THE SCANNER IS CAPABLE OF COVERING THE WHOLE GAMEWORLD. THE CENTRE OF THE SCANNER REPRESENTS WHERE YOUR SHIP IS. AS THE GAMEWORLS IS QUITE LARGE, THE SCANNER FEATURES AUTOMATIC RESOLUTION SWITCHING. IF YOU ARE A LONG WAY FROM ANY OTHER OBJECTS THE SCANNER ZOOMS OUT UNTIL IT PICKS UO AN OBJECT. AS YOU APPROACH AN OBJECT, THE SCANNER STEPS DOWN ITS RESOLUTION TO GIVE YOU A MORE LOCALISED VIEW OF THE IMMEDIATE REGION AROUND YOUR SHIP. THE SCANNER ZOOM FACTOR IS DISPLAYED UNDERNEATH THE SCANNER;X8 IS THE MAXIMUM ZOOM OUT(COVERS THE WHOLE GAME WORLD)X1 IS THE AREA IMMEDIATE TO YOUR SHIP. ALWAYS KEEP AN EYE ON THE SCANNER IF YOU WANT TO SURVIVE. IF YOU DO NOT YOU WILL DIE!!! THE OTHER IMAGING SYSTEM IS THE HEAD UP DISPLAY.THIS CONSISTS SIMPLY OF RUDIMENTRY GEOMETRIC OBJECTS SUPERIMPOSED UPON THE FEILD OF PLAY: A GREEN TRIANGLE REPRESENTS THE LOCATION OF THE STARGATE, THE RED CIRCLE REPRESENTS THE ENEMY BATTLE STAR. THE DISPLAY REPRESENTS A SCALED DOWN VERSION OF THE REAL GAME WORLD WITH RESPECT TO YOUR SHIP.THUS, FLYING FLYING TOWARDS THE GREEN TRIANGLE REPRESENTING THE STARGATE WOULD EVENTUALLY BRING YOU TO THE ACTUAL,REAL.(OR AT LEAST IN AS MUCH AS A SPRITE ON A VIDEO SCREEN CAN BE CONSIDERED TO BE ACTUAL OR REAL) STARGATE. THE HEAD UP DISPLAY IS USED IN TWO MAIN SITUATIONS: WHEN YOUR LOOKING FOR A STARGATE TO DO A WARP, AND WHEN AN ENEMY SHIP HAS STOLEN A PLUTONIUM ROD AND IS CARRYING IT BACK TO THE BATTLESTAR..ENEMY SHIPS CARRYING PLUTONIUM APPEAR AS WHITE CROSSES ON THE HEAD UP DISPLAY. YOU CAN EASILY PLOT ITS PROGRESS TOWARDS THE ENEMY BATTLESTAR, AND SET COURSE TO INTERCEPT AND DESTROY. DESTROYING SUCH LADEN ENEMY SHIPS YEILDS A BONUS, AND THE STOLEN PLUTONIUM IS RELEASED FOR YOU TO COLLECT-ANOTHER BONUS. SHOULD THE BATTLESTAR RECEIVE TO MUCH PLUTONIUM IT WILL ACTIVATE. WHEN THIS HAPPENS ALL THE ENEMIES ,IN THE LEVEL DISAPPEAR EXCEPT FOR THE BATTLESTAR, AND THE BATTLESTAR COMES TO GET YOU..UNLEASHING HORDES OF FERRETS IN YOUR GENERAL DIRECTION..TO COMPLETE THE LEVEL AND OPEN THE STARGATE. YOU THEN HAVE TO DESTROY THIS MONSTROSITY. A TASK INVOLVING LOTS OF HITS AND SOME NIFTY USE OF BOOST. YOUR ENEMIES NOW YOU KNOW HOW TO FLY THE SHIP AND USE THE SCANNERS AND THAT YOU MUST COLLECT THE PLUTONIUM. BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR OBJECTIVES STAND(OR IN MANY CASES,OOZE,GLURP AND SLITHER) AN EMETIC HERD OF PSYCOPATHIC ALIENS GUARANTEED TO GIVE ANY SANE MINDED SENTIENT BEING THE SCREAMING XENOPHOBIC HEEBIE JEEBIES.DEFYING ALL NATURAL LAWS AND WITHOUT BENEFIT OF A SPACESHIP,THESE CREEPS PROPEL THEMSELVES THROUGH SPACE INTENT UPON A SINGLE AIM:TO SPLATTER YOUR ATOMS. SOME MERELY ATTEMPT TO COLLIDE WITH YOUR SHIP.OTHERS LAY MINES OR FIRE BULLETS:OTHERS UNLEASH STREAMS OF FIREBALLS:AND MANY DO MORE THAN ONE OF THESE THINGS AT A TIME :OPPONENTS RANGING FROM SEMI-SENTINENT LUMPS OF ROCK TO BEINGS OF PURE ENERGY AND COLOUR,BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL BUT WITH A BLACK HOLE FOR A HEART AND HOMICVIDE ON THEIR MINDS..MOST INSIDIUS OF ALL(OR AT LEAST ON LATER LEVELS) ARE THE GREEN ORB LIKE ABDUCTORS, WHICH SEEK OUT AND CAPTURE FLOATING PLUTONIUM PELLETS AND TAKE EM BACK TO THE BATTLE STAR. TO MAKE YOUR LASERS MORE POWERFUL...SHOOTING ONE OF THE STARFLAKE ENEMIES RELEASES A PELLET WHICH SOMETIMES WILL BE BLUE WITH A `W` ON IT..COLLECT IT BEFORE IT GOES AND YOU`LL HAVE ULTRA-PURPLE LASERS..WHICH LAST 30 SECONDS OR SO..THEN THERES SMART BOMBS..THESE PINK ORBS ARE THE MOST COMMON FOR SHOOTING A STARFLAKE AND THEY LET YOU VAPORISE EVERY ENEMY ON THE SCREEN..AND ALL PLUTONIUM PODS ARE COLLECTED AUTOMATICALLY..PLUS YOU GET 5 SECONDS OF SHEILD..DONT HESIATE IF YOU HAVE ONE USE IT!!! YOU CAN ALSO GET 30 SECONDS OF SHEILD BY PICKING UP GREEN ORBS..RELEASED BY THE STARFLAKES..WHEN YOU HAVE ONE USE THE TIME ,TO DESTROY THE TRICKIER TARGETS TO GAIN EXTRA POINTS..BY SHOOTING WITH THE SINGLE BEAM WITHOUT RISK.. ALL ABOUT PLUTONIUM YOU ARE TO TRY TO GET/COLLECT UP THIS STUFF AND TAKE IT BACK TO STARGATE FOR A BIG BONUS..YOU COLLECT IT BY JUST RUNNING RIGHT OVER IT,YOU CAN COLLECT MORE THAN ONE PIECE AND THEY ALL STREAM OUT BEHINJD YOUR SHIP,,IN FACT THE MORE YOU CARRY THE MORE POINTS YOU`LL COLLECT!!..PICK UP AS MUCH AS YOU DARE AND GET BACK TO THE STARGATE,,YOU WILL BE REWARDED BY MULTI COLOURED BONUS POINTS TINY IN STATURE BUT FAT IN NATURE.FLYING THROUGH SPACE, YOU`LL NOTICE HITHERTO MYSTERIOUS OTHER GAUGE UNDERNEATH NTHE BOOST GAUGE INCREASING..THE PELLETS YOU COLLECT THE BETTER,AS YOU FIND OUT ON FINISHING A LEVEL. FINISHING A LEVEL OTHERWISE KNOWN AS OPENING A STARGATE..THIS OCCURS WHEN ALL THE ENEMIES(APART FROM THE BATTLESTAR WHICH CANNOT BE DESTROYED IF IT IS ACTIVATED) ARE KILLED THE MESSAGE THE GATE IS OPEN--THE WAY IS CLEAR APPEARS ON THE HEAD UP DISPLAY..THIS IS THE SIGNAL TO HEAD FOR THE STARGATE..FLYING THROUGH LEADS YOU TO THE WAY.A MULTI COLOURED HYPERSPATIAL TUNNEL DOWN WHICH YOU MUST FLY YOUR SHIP TO REACH THE BONUSES AND THE WARP TO THE NEXT LEVEL..THE FIRST FEW WAYS ARE VERY VERY EASY..BUT THE LATER ONES CAN BE TRICKY..YOU MUST AVOID FLYING OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF THE WAY..YOU CAN SUSTAIN A NUMBER OF HITS DENOTED BY THE NUMBER OF GREEN PIXELS IN THE OSCILLATING CHAIN SUPERIMPOSED ON THE BOTTOM OF THE DISPLAY.EACH COLLISION WITH THE WALLS RESULTS IN THE LOSS OF ONE PIXEL..TO MANY COLLISIONS RESULTS IN EXPLOSION AND ALTHOUGH YOU DONT LOSE A LIFE YOU ARE RESET TO THE BEGINNING OF THE LEVEL AND LOSE YOUR BONUS POINTS..FLY DOWN SUCCESFULLY AND YOU`LL GET A BONUS FOR EVERY SHEILD REMAINING. THE OTHER WAY OF OPENING THE GATE OCCURS WHEN THE BATTLESTAR IS ACTIVATED..DESTROY THE BATTLESTAR AND ITS DELUGE OF FERRETS TO OPEN THE GATE AND ENTER THE WAY. MORE ON STARGATE IF THERE IS ANYWHERE IN THE GAMEWORLD, A PLUTONIUM PELLET BEING ABDUCTED THE GATE TELEPORTS YOU TO THE VICINITY IF NO ABDUCTION IS OCCURING, THE STARGATE TRIES TO WARP YOU ONTO A FREE FLOATING PELLET IF THERE ARE NO PLUTO-PELLETS, THE STARGATE TRIES TO PUT YOU NEAR A STARFLAKE IF THERE ARE NO STARFLAKES, THE STARGATE TRIES TO PUT YOU NEAR ANYTHING AT ALL STILL ALIVE IN THE GAMEWORLD IF THERES NOTHING AT ALL AROUND..THE STARGATE JUST WARPS YOU ON DOWN THE GALAXY A BIT GENERAL GAME HINTS TRY TO LEARN TO MOVE IN ONE DIRECTION AND SHOOT IN THE OTHER..THUS YOU CAN RUN AND STILL DISH OUT PHOTONS!!! DEVOLP A SQUINT SO YOU CAN KEEP AN EYE ON THE SCANNER, SCANNER USE IS ESSENTIAL. USE THE STARGATE..PRESERVE BOOST FOR THE CRITICAL MOMENTS IN A DOGFIGHT RESCUE THE PLUTO-PELLETS FOR BINUSES..LONG CHAINS MEAN BIG BONUSES!! OPEN STARFLAKES AND COLLECT THE BONUSES THEY YEILD..NEVER HESITATE TO USE A SMART BOMB USE GENTLE MOTIONS WITHIN THE WAY UNTIL YOU ARE USED TO IT.. PAUSE MODE. THERE IS A PAUSE MODE..PRESS RIGHT SHIFT KEY DURING PLAY TO HALT THE ACTION.PRESS Q TO QUIT THE GAME(AS USUAL)..AND GIVE EM HELL!!! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------