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V-Wing
Summary
File | V-Wing | |
Version | 1.95 | |
File size | 329 KB | |
Released | 1997 | |
Type | DOS game | |
OS / requirements | 386+, VGA compatible video card, DOS | |
License | Shareware | |
Article | V-Wing |
README
ÛÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÜÜÛÛÛ Ë Ë Ë ÛÛÛÛÛÛ É» Ë ÉÍÍ» º Ë º º ÛÛÛÛ ºÈ»º º Ì» ÈÍÊͼ Ê ßß Ê È¼ ÈÍͼ VERSION 1.95 Documentary Documents compiled by Kalle Ojala Table of contents: I. Introduction II. Requirements III. Game Controls i. Menus ii. Bars iii. Control Keys IV. Weaponry i. Main Weapon ii. Auxiliary Weapons V. Survival i. Levels ii. Criticals iii. Gun-Turrets iv. H-wings v. Pilot VI. Options VII. Winning i. Who's the winner? ii. Hints iii. Single Player Game VIII. Troubleshooting IX. Why Register??? X. Why Read Documents ;-) XI. Creators' Comments What's New? This section was created so that those of you that have already read the documents can figure out the changes to this version without having to read all these 30+ pages, again. New things in version 1.91: -Two more levels added (Duh Cave, Sky City) -Gun Turrets added -Five more Auxiliary Weapons (see Weaponry) -New graphics mode (320*200) option -Some options moved to the function keys (see Controls sec- tion) -You now can make six helicopters with a full hold (was three) -Wraithcannon does less damage (was a huge spoiler) -Megabomb explosion changed a bit (bigger!). -Smoke (missiles, both types, produce smoke). Also, if you have an Engine Core critical, your MECU will create smoke whenever you thrust forward (see Criticals) -Pilot doesn't die in water (he/she can swim and dive; yipee!) -New documents (some vital elements were left out from the last ones: see Controls section for function keys and the new heading; VII. Options) -New effects like splashing! New things in version 1.95: -Sound effects (wohoo!) -Additional pilot effects (rope use, digging: see Pilot and Control Keys) -Five more Auxiliary Weapons (see Weaponry) -One new Critical Hit (see Criticals) -Wide Screens option -Playable one-player game -H-wings I. Introduction --------------- Greetings, and congratulations, it seems you are about to read the documents :-). V-wing (The Game) is a game that has basically a simple idea (even though some weapons can make this hard to believe), and concentrates purely on action rather than strategy, roleplay or something like that. You just get yourself in your V-wing (ex- plained in the next chapter) and take off and shoot your friend(s) until there is nothing that moves in space except you (and maybe a few birds). V-wing (The Ship) is the latest and greatest of all MECUs (Multi Environmental Combat Unit). It is fast, tough and maneuverable, and can move (like all MECUs) in space, air and water. Besides, V-wing is the MECU which ended the Galactic War I (read the text at the beginning of the game). II. Requirements ---------------- 386+ (for good game play 486/33+) VGA compatible video card. 2.0 meg Hard Disk, or any other space (HD disk etc.) 0.7 meg XMS memory 595 Kb conventional memory III. Game Controls ------------------ i. Menus In menus: arrow up and down, moves through menu options. Arrow left and right, or ENTER changes current selection. Sometimes numeric keys alter some option too (like player number). In the WEAPONS and LEVELS menus, pressing 'r' will generate random auxiliary weapons and levels, respectively. BACKSPACE or ESC returns you to previous menu. (In the game, there is no place from where you could not get out by pressing the ESC key.) To save the options, press 's' key. -You can have up to nine sets of options saved. Option set number one will be loaded automatically when you start the game. To load the options, press 'l' key. If you want to set the default options, press 'd' key. ii. Bars There are two bars under each players' screen. The green and the white. The green bar shows the general condition of your craft. When the bar is still green, it means you still have some shields left to protect you. When the bar changes to yellow, all of the shields are gone, and the following hits start pounding at your armor. When you sustain armor hits, there is a small (usually: the chance can be altered from the MISCELLANEOUS menu) chance that the hit penetrates the armor and damages one or more of the internal systems of your V-wing (critical hits explained later). When you have one or more critical hits, this bar is red. The lower bar, the white one, shows the amount of stuff there is left in your cargo hold. Using your auxiliary weapons system most often uses some of this ... um ... duh ... stuff. Basically it is the amount of ammo, mines, soldiers, or whatever you have left for the use of your auxiliary weapon. When you eject, both of the bars will drop to zero. That is, they will both be all black. Now if the lower bar starts filling with light blue, it means that your pilot has started using up his in-suit air supply. If the blue line fills up the whole bar, you have no more air and your lungs will explode (literally). The lower bar may also start to fill if you are covered with napalm (see Weaponry). If it fills up, your pilot is fried to crisp. iii. Control Keys Each player has five (5) buttons, or a joystick for controlling his/her ship: Pl 1 Pl 2 Pl 3 Pl 4 Turn left: A Arrow lft J 6 Turn Right: D Arrow rght L T Thrust: W Arrow up I U Main Weapon: TAB Rght Shft B F Auxiliary Weapon: S Arrow Dwn K Y (Note: If you are experiencing trouble in the form of the key- board not responding, try changing the keys for players 1 and 3. In some cases, their keys may cause trouble. Specifically, you can test this by holding down both the thrust and auxiliary weapon buttons. These have been know to jam the keyboard.) These keys can be altered from the CONTROLS menu. There is an access to the joystick options too, and in three or four player game the usage of at least one joystick is recommended. In some situations it is necessary for even a good pilot to eject and travel in the play area without a V-wing. Ejection may take place when your ship is a wreckage (gray colored, and rolls somewhat). Just push your auxiliary weapon button. A pilot ejects from your ex-ship, and you are now in control of a small, (but troublesome) pilot. Controlling him/her differs from the controlling of a V-wing, even though the keys are still the same. Following shows the controls of a pilot: Keys: TL=Turn Left, TR=Turn Right, THR=Thrust, FIR=Fire Normal, AU=Auxiliary Joyst: JL=Turn Left, JR=Turn Right, JU=Thrust, B1=Fire, B2= Auxiliary, JD=Joystic Down. When the pilot is on the ground: Key: Joystick: Walk left............................TL JL Walk right...........................TR JR Jump left............................AU+TL JD+JL Jump right...........................AU+TR JD+JR Shoot (if target in range)...........FIR B1 Shoot left(no target in range).......FIR+TL B1+JL Shoot right(no target in range)......FIR+TR B1+JR Throw rope up........................THR JU Throw rope up-left...................THR+TL JU+JL Throw rope up-right..................THR+TR JU+JR Dig..................................AU B2 When the pilot is in the water: Swim left............................TL JL Swim right...........................TR JR Dive up..............................THR JU Dive down............................AU JD Shoot (if target in range)...........FIR B1 Shoot left (no target in range)......FIR+TL B1+JL Shoot right (no target in range).....FIR+TR B1+JR Throw rope up........................THR JU Throw rope up-left...................THR+TL JU+JL Throw rope up-right..................THR+TR JU+JR When the pilot is in the air: Shoot (if target in range)...........FIR B1 Shoot left (no target in range)......FIR+TL B1+JL Shoot right (no target in range).....FIR+TR B1+JR Throw rope up........................THR JU Throw rope up-left...................THR+TL JU+JL Throw rope up-right..................THR+TR JU+JR Open parachute.......................AU JD When the pilot is on parachute: Glide left...........................TL JL Glide right..........................TR JR Shoot (if target in range)...........FIR B1 Shoot left(no target in range).......FIR+TL B1+JL Shoot right(no target in range)......FIR+TR B1+JR When the rope is in air: Draw the rope back...................AU B2 When the pilot hangs on the rope: Swing left...........................TL JL Swing right..........................TR JR Climb up.............................THR JU Climb down...........................AU JD Shoot (if target in range)...........FIR B1 Shoot left(no target in range).......FIR+TL B1+JL Shoot right(no target in range)......FIR+TR B1+JR Release the rope.....................(TL/TR)+THR B2 When the pilot on a V-wing: Drop down on the rope................FIR+AU B1+B2 Note: The pilot cannot shoot or use his/her rope UNDER water. That is, he/she can still shoot or throw the rope as much as he/she likes when on the surface. There are certain in-flight controls that can be accessed through the function keys. Here they are: F1: Eject player number one. This can be useful if you want to leave your ship, before it is a wreckage. If your ship is not destroyed, it will just lie there, empty. It can then be taken over by ANY pilot. F2: Same as above for player 2. F3: Same as above for player 3. F4: Same as above for player 4. F5: Changes the graphics mode (from 320*200 to 320*400 or vice versa). May speed up the game. F6: Turns the "radar" on/off. It will reveal the location of other MECUs. Small colored lines originating from your MECU will point towards the MECU of each respective color. The line disappears if you are close enough to see the MECU in question. F7: Causes the bases to start/stop glowing. This will great- ly assist in finding bases in a new or unfamiliar level. F8: Turns the cross-hair on/off (Note: The cross-hair points to where your craft's nose is pointing. When aiming, you still have to take speed into account). F9: Pause. F10: Aborts the game. Useful when you, say forgot to change one option, and remember it when playing the first level of a total of eight (ESC only quits the current level). IV. Weaponry ------------ i. Main Weapon The V-wing fighter is fitted with one liquid-cooled, fast-firing high-powered automatic cannon. It fires a stream of bullets, each equipped with a small explosive warhead. Upon impact, these will create sizeable holes into the landscape, or inflict con- siderable damage to other crafts' shields and armor. ii. Auxiliary Weapons In addition to the main weapon, a V-wing has room enough for one additional weapons system (well, not necessarily a weapon...). Various options are available. These are called auxiliary weap- ons. A great many have been developed, most of them adding to the destructive power of the V-wing. Being a small MECU, the V- wing doesn't have all that much free space inside it. So, the effectiveness of certain weapons is limited by the amount of ammunition (or battery cells for energy weapons or whatever the system uses) that can fit into the V-wing. Following is a list of the most common and widely available auxiliary weapons systems. They are not in any particular order, so weapon number one is NOT the best and so on... 1. Grenade Launcher This is a basic MECU weapon. In addition to them main weapon, this MECU has a larger cannon-type weapon. The Grenade Launcher fires small shells, that have great destructive potential. The muzzle velocity of these shells is even greater than that of the main weapon's bullets'. The ammo storage in the V-wing can hold 16 shells for the Grenade Launcher. The shells will explode when they impact. The explosion creates a high pressure shock wave in the immediate area. It also cre- ates extreme heat in the vicinity. The exploding shell also creates some shrapnel that shower the ground around the explo- sion. This makes the weapon hazardous for nearby troops. The total effect creates a hole the size of a house, or severely damages a MECU. The V-wing, for example, can only withstand a few direct hits before turning into scrap metal. 2. Missile The missile is a basically a big warhead fitted onto a propul- sion system. It is much faster than the V-wing, and it's turning rate is also superior. The missile is dropped from a MECU, and after a moment it will start speeding towards the nearest tar- get. It only tracks MECUs, and not infantry or helicopters. If no targets are present (=no enemy MECUs around), it will start speeding in the direction the MECU was facing when it dropped the missile. It has enough fuel to run for hours on at a time. The only problem is that it goes straight at its target, ignor- ing everything else. So, it is possible to lure the missile into crashing into the ground. The fact which makes the missile even more dangerous is it's ability to travel underwater. And it can outrun (swim?) all MECUs underwater, where avoiding it is even harder than it is normally. The V-wing can 9 missiles. 3. Waypoint Missile This weapon is a missile, one that differs a lot from the "usu- al" missile. It does have a guidance system, or rather not. The ship has the guidance system, and the missile only has a receiv- er that takes orders from the MECU's computer. When you use the weapon, your MECU's computer will mark the spot in space that you are in. Actually it just saves the coordinates of the spot. (This will show on your screen as a flashing red dot. It will not, of course, show on the other players' screens). You can designate as many spots in space as you wish. These are the way-points of the missile. It is a good thing to remember the order you left them in, for it does not show from the dots themselves. When you fire the missile, it will start flying the path that the computer has calculated for it, traversing the way-points starting from the one you left last, and going in reverse order until it gets to the one you left first. If it has not hit any- thing by then, it will continue in a straight line. While your missile is in the air, you cannot leave more way-points, or fire more missiles. The ship's computer is concentrating on guiding the existing missile. (The missile is fired by pressing the main gun and auxiliary weapon buttons at the same time. If it does not work, be patient, and press them both down for maybe two seconds. If you just quickly press them, you might not have pressed the two buttons at the same time, and thus your missile will not fire.) The missile itself has a large warhead, and an engine that has an afterburner (see below). Thus, it has a lot of destructive potential. The lack of a guidance system has allowed for more fuel and explosives. The V-wing can have up to 16 missiles in it's cargo hold. 4. Megabomb This weapon is the most powerful, as far as destructive poten- tial goes, available to the MECUs. Intended primarily for use against immobile ground targets, it is dropped from a MECU fly- ing over the target. The bomb itself has horizontal velocity stabilizers, which enables the bomb to drop straight down, re- gardless of the horizontal velocity of the MECU dropping it. This goes a long way to ensuring that the bomb hits it's target. The drawback, of course, is that you have to get above your target, which is more hazardous than bombarding it from afar. The explosion itself is HUGE. Not only does the blast and heat wave burn everything in sight, but the sheer number of shrapnel and explosive particles flying around tears everything apart. The effects of the explosion reach far, as the shrapnel are thrown with great force. Soldiers located anywhere near the blast are as good as dead, unless they have a thick protective cover or are EXTREMELY lucky. In the unlikely event that a V- wing will be hit by a falling bomb, the V-wing will be destroyed instantly, even if it's shields and armor were at full strength. The hole created by the blast is extreme. The explosion can easily demolish even a large building or a medium sized base. The hole is so deep that it will blow up the roof of even a deep bunker, and it will uncover underground tunnels. The bombs are not of great size, but they weigh a lot. This is why only 4 of them can be fitted into the V-wing. 5. Shotgun Another basic MECU weapon, this one is similar in use to the Grenade Launcher. The effect, however, is totally different. This weapon's shots are similar to the landmine (see below). It shoots a concentrated burst of micro-explosives to the front of the MECU. Because the initial charge that gives the explosives their speed is detonated inside the MECU instead of in the ground, the effect is smaller than that of the landmine. Other- wise the MECU would be torn apart. Still, the recoil created by this weapon is substantial. The V-wing's hold has room enough for 12 shots. The weapon is extremely effective at close range, where the small explosives are still in a tight group. The damage inflict- ed upon other vehicles lessens quickly as the range grows. Aim- ing is not as important as with other weapons, because the area of effect is larger. 6. Targeting System This device was specifically developed for the V-wing, and does not fit very well into other MECUs. The V-wing's main gun is not firmly attached, but rather mounted on a mechanism that can turn it around into any direction. The ships computer constantly monitors the nearest enemy MECU. It calculates the direction the gun should point to, in order to hit the enemy. All this while the gun points forward, like in all other MECUs. Now, when the device is activated, the gun instantly swings to the predetermined position and starts firing away. The computer adjusts the gun as the enemy moves. The problem with the targeting system is the ammo feed of the main gun. While it is in its standard position, everything is ok. But when it is swinging around in myriad of directions, the rate of fire has to be slowed, because otherwise the gun might jam. Technicians are constantly trying to improve the ammo feed system, so that the swivelling gun might also fire at full speed. While the system is active, it requires additional energy. This is to move the heavy gun around, and to make precise adjust- ments. Not much energy, but none the less so much that one can't use it for ever. If there are no targets, the gun will swing to a preset position (rear) when the targeting system is used. 7. Firebomb This weapon fires command-detonated shots that burst into blaz- ing infernos when they explode. The shots travel in a straight line, at a certain speed, regardless of how or where they were fired. As said, they detonate on command or when they impact with ground or water. Firebomb shots are somewhat similar to mines. They contain an anti-gravity system, as well as a small propulsion system that keeps the speed of the shot steady. They are armed with a small explosive, and filled with thick fuel, that burns at an extreme- ly high temperature. The shots are covered with a layer of gas that is constantly undergoing a chemical reaction, that keeps it very hot. This further enhances the destructive potential of the weapon. It also gives the bombs their flaming appearance. This weapon does not function underwater, because water ruins the ammunition (bombs). And also, what good is a flame weapon under- water? When the bomb detonates, the fuel is lit. The shell of the shot shatters, and the fuel reacts with the layer of gas. The result is hot flames bursting into the surrounding area, spread even further by a pressure wave. The farther from the detonation point one is, the more dispersed the flames will be. The flames will damage any MECU, or fry any infantry or helicopters that are caught in the blast. The blast is very destructive, but even a thin layer of inflammable material will protect any units from harm. The ship's computer constantly tracks the bombs, or rather, bomb. Each MECU can only have one shot in the air. If you try to fire the weapon when you still have a bomb flying about some- where, you'll only succeed in detonating the existing shot. The bombs are quite heavy, and also take up a lot of space. A V-wing can carry eight bombs of this type. 8. Electro-Zapper This is a close range weapon. The MECU has a machine that cre- ates a powerful electrical discharge in front of the MECU. While it's range is indeed limited, this compensated by the massive damage that it inflicts. The V-wing, for example, is fried to crisp in just a few seconds. This weapon will char the land- scape, and set fire to anything flammable. The drawback is, that the V-wing's hold can only fit so many batteries. In effect, you can't zap very long before you have to go to a base to get some more power. 9. Wraithcannon This weapon is a spectacular, if not rather odd weapon. The MECU is fitted with an additional cannon, in addition to the main weapon, that is. This cannon does not fire conventional bullets, though. Instead it fires small bursts of energy. The good thing is that these bullets can travel unhindered by terrain or gravi- ty. So, you can shoot at enemy MECUs from, say, behind a wall or some other obstacle. The bad thing about them is that they to- tally ignore terrain. Huh? Well, you can't use these to blast open any blocked corridors, just to make an example. These bul- lets also totally ignore helicopters, infantry, and the like. They are only usable against other MECUs. The MECU uses small amounts of energy to generate the bullets. I say small amounts, because a V-wing's hold can have enough energy stored to shoot 144 shots. These also a bit less damaging than the normal shots. The technology it uses has not been perfected yet. 10. Sonic Bomb Unlike most other weapons, this one does not rely on explosives or enormous impact force to destroy it's targets. It is quite unique, and still undergoing testing. The bombs themselves are filled with energy cells. They also contain a small high-tech device. This device converts energy into powerful ultrasonic vibration. When the bomb impacts, all of the energy is channelled through the device. The pulse the follows disintegrates the microstructure of all nearby material. Well, at least, almost. The pulse weakens dramatically as it expands, and all too soon, it disappears. Even though it's range is limited, the effect is rather spectacular. MECUs in the area of effect suffer immense damage, depending on how near the point of impact they are. All ground, buildings, and such turn into fine dust, that gently floats down and settles into heaps. What is left is a sizeable hole with smooth edges. Because the bombs do not create explosions, they can be used to eliminate targets without endangering nearby friendly troops. Well, almost (see next paragraph). Unlike megabombs, sonic bombs do not have any sort of movement stabilizers. They are just released from their holding rack within the MECU. Thus, aiming with these is more difficult than with the megabomb, and requires some practice. Sonic bombs also weigh a lot less, and take up less space. A whole dozen can be loaded aboard a V-wing. 11. Soldiers These fighting machines are the result of hundreds of years of genetic engineering. Their fighting capabilities are raised to incredible heights (at the cost of some brain power). Only through their incredible strength and endurance is it possible for them to carry their battle gear for days on. Protected by the latest heavy combat armor, they are armed with an anti- vehicle, harness-mounted cannons. They also carry single-shot missile tubes, with which they can decimate the enemy. They are, unfortunately, unable to survive even one hit from a MECU scale weapon. Their suits have pincers on the arms, which enables the men to grab onto enemy crafts. Unfortunately, the suits weigh a lot, and have not life-support mechanism. So, the men drown in water. The MECU carrying these men is actually an armored personnel carrier. When commanded, the soldiers jump out of the MECU and start patrolling the area. With the help of their stealth abili- ties and their detection deterring suit, they are able to hide from the sensors of MECUs, and are only seen from close by. The men don't have parachutes, only small thrusters in their suits, so dropping them from too high an altitude may prove fatal. The V-wing has room for 24 soldiers and their equipment. 12. Helicopter The MECU is fitted with a small flightbay where helicopters can be assembled. These are loaded onto the MECU in parts, compo- nents which take up less room than the final product. They have robot pilots. The V-wing has room enough in its cargo hold for 6 complete helicopters. Only one will be assembled at any time, because it takes up a lot of space. After assembly, the helicopters can be launched from the flight- bay. They will then proceed to patrolling the area, attacking enemy in sight. The helicopters are armed with one cannon, much the same kind as the one on the V-wings, only it's firing rate is considerably smaller. 13. Landmine This MECU is equipped with a device that plants command-detonat- ed mines into the landscape. These mines are planted to the rear of the craft. The MECU will refuse to plant the explosive if its sensors indicate that the ground is too far away. Once in the ground, the mines can be detonated a will. They will explode into a concentrated burst of micro-explosives, capable of in- flicting lethal damage to V-wing, for example. The V-wing can carry 9 of these explosives. (The mine is planted just to the rear of the craft, six pixels to be exact. It will be "facing" the direction the craft was facing when is was planted. Pressing the auxiliary weapon button a second time will detonate it. Thus, you can only have one mine planted at any given time. Hint: To try this one out, land the V-wing on any bigger piece of land. Press the auxiliary weapons button. Move a bit to ei- ther side. Press the button again. KABOOOOOM!!! In time, you will learn to plant these mines while in flight, and so it will be extremely difficult for the enemy to notice where you have left them.) 14. Mine This MECU has a device that drops off floating mines. These mines have a limited cloaking ability, and can only be seen from close up. After they are dropped, the mines will be inactive for a few moments. This is to allow the ship that dropped them to get to a minimum safe distance. Once they are active, they will explode when in the vicinity of ANY ship. They will not, howev- er, be set off by helicopters. The device will refuse to drop off mines if the MECU is in wa- ter. Water destroys their cloaking systems and short-circuits them. The V-wing can fit up to 16 of these mines. 15. Dividing Mine (Destroyer of Worlds) Though it may not be obvious at once, this mine is the most destructive of them all. It is not actually a mine, but rather an alien life-form, that has been stolen from a galactic storage (jail). Once the MECU releases this thing, it will immediately start to reproduce. So, from one comes two, then four, then eight... you get the picture. If these creatures are disturbed in any way, for example a MECU crashes into them or they are shot, they explode into many small fragments, which themselves may incite others to explode. Fortunately, they are unable to survive underwater. The V-wing can have up to 6 of these aboard, but you only need one... 16. Magnetic Mine This craft has yet another kind of gadget that lays mines. These mines, unlike all others, come to you. They have a powerful electro-magnet inside them, and will start accelerating towards any craft that comes too near. So that the MECU may lay them safely, they have a short activation time. They are also shot some distance to the rear on the MECU. They float like normal mines, but they can be seen at all times. This is because the cloaking system has been torn out to fit the magnet in. But, if can see them, you are usually close enough for them to start homing towards you... These mines are the same size as the conventional ones, so the V-wing can carry 16 of them. They can't dropped in water, and will be rendered inactive if they come into contact with water. Water tends to mess up the electrical systems in them. 17. Grav-Mine This weapon leaves a sort of floating gravity well in the air. It is actually a mine-like device, just without any explosives inside. There is a mechanism inside that burns special fuel to generate a strong gravitational pull. Once the fuel is all used up, this "mine" will simply disappear, being a useless, empty shell. This pull it exerts is stronger than the normal gravity of the planet, and so it will "lift" MECUs of the ground. Like normal gravity, it also affect all sorts of shots, and severely hampers aiming in the nearby area. These mines are unaffected by each other, or by the shots of the grav-gun (see below). Once left, they will stick to the position oblivious of all happenings around them. They will, however, create a combined pull. Sometimes this pull is so strong that it is impossible for a MECU to break free. When this happens, the only thing possible is to wait for the grav-mines to burn up all their fuel. Unlike most other mines, these can be left underwater. They will function there just the same as in air. The V-wing can hold 12 of these devices. 18. Grav-Gun This weapon shoots a gravity concentration, very much like the one created by the grav-mine. There are some very distinct dif- ferences though. This grav-shot is fired to the rear of the craft, and travels slowly throughout the world. It does NOT affect the MECU that fired it, although it does affect ALL bul- lets. The grav-shot is not really a shot, but rather a ball of energy. It can, thus travel through water, earth, stone, and everything else. It will fly straight, no matter what, and is not affected by other grav-shots or grav-mines. The reason this weapon does not affect the MECU using it is that the ship's computer constantly "concentrates" on the shot. The gravitational pull is so focused that it completely ignores the MECU, having a sort of "blind spot" there. This is why there can only be one shot in the air at any time (per MECU using this weapon, of course). Computing the energy flows of two shots is simply impossible. So, if one shot is in the air, and the same MECU fires again, the first one will cease to exist. When fired, the amount of energy dumped into the shot is enough to last several minutes, so once in the air, no additional ener- gy is required. The V-wing's storage can hold batteries enough to fuel 8 shots of this type. 19. Antigrav-Shield Because MECUs get fired at a lot, it has been necessary to de- velop some sort extra protection beyond that which is offered by the MECU's normal shields and armor. This device uses immense electrical currents to generate anti-gravitational "push". When active, all other MECUs and all bullets will be pushed away from the MECU. Please note that there is a small circle in the middle of the field where everything is normal. This is to allow the MECU using this device to fly about unhindered. This also cre- ates another interesting effect associated with this device. The effect is only on the others, so to say. The MECU with the shield is not pushed anywhere, if for example an enemy is pinned to wall. There have been some allegations that the system used is unsta- ble. Some say that using such massive amounts of energy is haz- ardous, because an overload might cause the device to collapse. There is no proof of such failure. It is true, though, that the shield sucks up huge amounts of energy, and so suffers from the same power shortage problems as the electro-zapper (see above). 20. Worm-Hole Generator This is one of the latest inventions in MECU technology. A rela- tive of those gravity weapons (Grav-Gun, Grav-Mine, Antigrav- shield), this too creates a kind of gravity distortion vortex. It does not, however, draw or push anything to or from it. This one creates an effect which is called a wormhole between two places (yes, you need to use this weapon twice, for it to have an effect). Ships can move between these two vortices faster than light, almost instantly. Because this thing was not developed by the travelling agencies but by the military, it is tuned precisely for the V-wing that created it. Nothing other than a V-Wing can even pass through the hole, and V-Wings other than the one that originally created it suffer a small amount of damage, for each passage. The MECU uses small energy charges to create these vortices. Luckily only small amounts (relatively) are needed, which means that a larger number of them can be created with the amount of energy that can fit into the V-wing. The V-wing's cargo hold has enough room for 12 charges (six complete worm-holes). 21. Ghostship This device is one of the few MECU systems, which is defensive rather than offensive. It somehow alters the dimensions in which the MECU is located. When it is on, the MECU can travel through any solid matter, or could if the device could totally change the dimension in which the V-wing is located. Actually it only shifts a bit this dimension, so the V-wing still remains par- tially in the actual dimension, and so it can still be hit by some things, in the real space (bullets, for example...). The designer of the system didn't want to take any chances. Because the MECU is not totally out of this dimension, bullets might detect it, and detonate themselves INSIDE the MECU. This could cause some serious and irreparable damage. So, whenever the MECU is about to be hit by a bullet, the device materializes a part of the MECU's shields or armor to block it. This prevents severe internal damage. Like most all energy-based systems, this one consumes a lot of power. So, the small V-wing can only maintain the "out-of-phase" status for a limited time before it's energy supplies run out. 22. Afterburner This device gives the MECU momentary bursts of speed. The in- crease in speed depends on the MECU type, but at least the V- wing can outrun almost everything else, with the exception of the D.A.R.T. The afterburner accomplishes this by injecting additional fuel to the exhaust of the MECU's engine. This causes a small explosion that shoots the MECU forward. The afterburner leaves a trail of fire behind it. The fuel used by it is a special mixture. The gel-like fuel burns long, and a lot hotter than normal fire. It can damage MECUs or instantly kill any infantry, or other small units that get too close. This aspect of the afterburner was invented by mistake: While developing the device, the testing crew once accidentally got a batch of fuel meant for the construction of firebomb munitions (see above), instead of the normal fuel. When they fired up the afterburner, the sky lit up with bright lines of fire. Some unfortunate nearby birds were instantly incinerated. Seeing that the wrong fuel had no adverse effect, the designers decided to develop the idea further. The result is what we have today. The MECU's storage is filled with the thick, near explosive fuel. The afterburner doesn't use up much fuel, so one can use it a lot before having to go to a base for a refill. And, con- trary to common belief, the afterburner can be used underwater. The fire is instantly doused, but the speed increase is still there. 23. Magnetic Disrupter This weapon fires energy pulses to the front of the MECU. These pulses are very strong initially, but weaken dramatically as the distance grows. The pulses disperse quite quickly, creating a cone-shaped area of effect. Once again, being an energy weapon, this one is unaffected by gravity, or by the speed of the MECU while firing. The purpose of this weapon is to indirectly damage an enemy MECU. The bursts of energy pass right through shields and armor and create short-circuits and overloads in the electric systems of the enemy MECU. This will result in small explosions in the control systems, and will shut down or seriously damage one or more of the controls. Erratic behavior of the MECU will follow. Unlike other energy-based weapons, this one uses up relatively small amounts of energy. So the V-wing can fit enough batteries to generate up to 36 pulses without a refill. 24. Remote Control This MECU has an antenna, and an device that jams and overloads an enemy MECU's control system. The antenna is normally inside the MECU, because knowing most pilots' flying habits, it would be broken within a day if not protected. When used, the antenna moves out of the MECU, and attempts to make contact with another MECU. If an enemy MECU is with a cer- tain range (which is not quite far, I'm afraid), the jamming device will come to effect and the target MECU's pilot will loose control. Next, the device will establish a link and you are now in control of the other MECU. Note that maintaining the link is REALLY difficult. First of all, the remote control device eats up a lot of energy. You won't have much time fool around with the other guy's ship (you really don't need that much time). Second, you will loose con- trol of your own ship because all of the commands are relayed to the other ship. Thus, commonly your own ship will fall down (no engine power) and sustain some damage. Third, firing the other MECU's auxiliary weapon will break the contact. This is because the computer you have can only control so much information. 25. D.A.R.T. This MECU has a retractable metal spike in its bow. All of the MECU's engines and turning thrusters are built so that they can be activated for a maximum forward velocity. The Dart is a weap- on that fires a very special missile: the MECU itself. When activated, the spike will jump out and all of the MECU's engine power will be spent on forward movement. The speed of the MECU is far greater that achieved by any other means. Acceleration is almost instant. If impact with another MECU occurs, horrendous damage will be inflicted. The speed and force of the impact is so great that only a few lucky V-wings will be able withstand to two direct hits. There is a down side, though. While darting, the MECU is not maneuverable. It will go in a straight line, until it hits some- thing solid. This something is way too often ground. This will, of course, inflict some damage to the MECU using the Dart. Some people have gone so far as to say that is a suicidal device. Well ... um ... it is. But the huge amount of damage it inflicts has ensured that it is still in use today. The MECU uses a small amount of fuel to generate this extra burst of speed. The MECU's hold is full of this fuel. The V-wing has enough fuel to dart 24 times (though usually it turns to scrap a long time before this limit is reached). 26. Plastic Explosives This weapon is quite extraordinary. It coats the ground sur- rounding the MECU with a highly volatile explosive. This explo- sive is in the form of compressed goo, and when released will harden upon the ground. When it is hit, even by the smallest of bullets, it will explode into many small shrapnell, which, by the way, will explode any nearby patches of this explosive. To "plant" the explosive, the MECU must move close to the ground and spray the ground with the stuff. The ground will change color to indicating that it is now covered with explosives. The explosive will remain there until someone sets it off by firing at it. The V-wing can hold quite a lot of the stuff, because it is efficiently compressed. For example, if you were to dump all of it in one location, the following explosion would be the biggest ever seen. 27. Claybomb This weapon shoots small packets of highly pressurized and com- pressed clay. Upon impact, with either the ground or an enemy MECU, the clay will instantly decompress, creating a huge mound of dirt. The shot is big enough to ignore helicopters. It simply sweeps them along with it. Infantry who are unlucky enough to be caught within this clay will perish. This is due to the fact that their combat suits do not have a breathing device, and so they will suffocate. The pilot is different in this respect. His suit does have a breathing device, so he'll just be stuck inside the mound of clay. Due to the fact that the shots are made of compressed matter, they weigh quite a lot. For this reason, the V-wing can only stock eight shots. 28. Snowball The snowball is actually the name invented by the pilots for the shots of this weapon. It shoots small spheres, made of an ex- tremely fragile material. These spheres contain an instant freeze agent, so powerful that it can turn men into solid ici- cles. When the shots hit anything, even water, the agent is released. As a result, ground near the spot of impact is covered with a frosting, water freezes, and so on. When a MECU is hit with this weapon, it is instantly covered with a layer of ice. This prohibits the use of thrusters, en- gine, and any weapons what so ever. This unfortunate MECU is then a sitting (or actually a falling) duck. When the MECU hits a solid surface, the ice is broken and the rest of the agent drains off. This weapon relies on pressure to propel the projectile (the "snowball"). This takes up some space. So, the V-wing can only hold 12 shots for this weapon. 29. Repair Droid (RD-22) This droid is a rather new invention, not so because of the technology required, but because of the way of thinking. Before, all pilots (and most of them still today), thought it only rea- sonable to create and research more weaponry, in order to make MECUs more destructive. Only recently, somebody dared mention that it could pay off to be able to repair the MECU outside of bases, and not just hope that you'll be able to kill the enemy before it kills you. So, the repair droid was created. The newest model of this droid is the model 22. It uses up ener- gy to create localized deflector shields, to patch up places where the armor is blown off. It is also hooked onto the MECU's shield system. Whereas the shield does not normally replenish itself, with this droid, you can use energy to strengthen it. A really big advantage of the droid is that it fixes critical hits, all by itself. The droid has long extendable arms with which it can reach out and do repairs on the ship. As said, this does not consume any energy. The only problem with the droid is that it is quite slow. With the MECU's hold filled with energy cells, there's enough energy for the droid to operate a long time. It slowly patches up the bullet holes on your ship, an reaches out with it's arms to make repairs. Only, the enemy is NOT going to just wait there until you can get your right turn thruster operational again. 30. Watercannon This weapon is, well, as it's name states, a watercannon. It has a very powerful mechanism that propels water into a long arc in front of the MECU. Well, so what, you ask. It can, um, uh, ... distract opponents. The watercannon causes physical pressure on opposing (or friend- ly) MECUs it hits. This may cause the MECU in question to flip around, hampering it's maneuverability. This may even cause the MECU to crash into the ground. The good thing about the watercannon is that it can be refilled really easily and really fast. Just plunge into any body of water and fill 'er up. Even with the MECU's tanks all empty, the refilling only takes a few seconds. 31. Pulse Laser This weapon is, as it's name states, a laser. It "shoots" a short-lived laser beam, from the tip on one of the MECU's wings. This distracts the pilot less than if it were fired from the tip of the craft, and is just as accurate. After being fired, it is inactive for a short while. This allows the device to cool down, for generating the powerful beam also generates a lot of heat. Thus, when the weapon is used in battle, it will look like a multitude of sequential streaks across the sky. This has caused it to be named Pulse Laser, instead of the original Laser Mod. #817-A. The Pulse Laser is, as one might expect, a very accurate weapon. There is no need to lead, to take into account your own move- ment, and the like. Just point and shoot. The beam hits it's target at exactly the same time that you press the trigger. The beam is also very destructive, and burns holes into the ground, AND inflicts serious damage to a MECU (not to mention helicop- ters or infantry). The big problem with this weapon is the heat it generates. It's use is regulated, which causes it to pulse, but experience has shown that this is not always enough. Therefore, until a better solution is come up with, the laser trigger overrides the main weapon fire control. That is, if you are using the laser, your main weapon will cease firing. This is to prevent accidents, like ammunition explosions, which were too frequent before this limit was imposed. This weapon does not use much energy, for the laser pulses are short lasting. The V-wing can hold enough batteries to generate 72 pulses. 32. Napalm Spray Now HERE is REAL weapon! The famous words of an U.P.G. command- er, when he first saw this weapon in action. He was, though, standing in the middle of a blazing inferno that had just a few seconds ago been a target practice field. Anyway, he was im- pressed, and in two weeks time the device started mass produc- tion for the U.P.G.'s combat MECU. The weapon propels super-heated napalm (a special mixture) in a long cone in front of the MECU. The napalm will stick to any MECUs it hits, and will set ablaze anything it contacts. Infan- try and helicopters are slowly fried, and MECUs will continue to take damage as long as they are covered with the stuff. It will burn out eventually, but in the meanwhile the damage it inflicts is horrendous. Because of it's long range, the weapon can be use to rain fire (literally) on ground targets or bombard MECUs from a distance (less effective since the spray is more dispersed). The best use of the weapon, is, however, in close combat, dog- fight. There, you can flood your enemy with the napalm, cover him/her with it. This spells almost certain doom. The only way to rid yourself of the burning slime is to dunk yourself in water. The water cools down the napalm, which needs a high temperature to burn. The V-wing's tanks can hold quite a lot of napalm, for it is stored in a compressed form. When heated, it expands, and this further increases the speed with which it is propelled from the MECU. 33. Shadowdancer This device was first discovered in a wreckage of an alien ship. The ship had been buried in ice on the far off Qatarr world of R'Qahga. No one knew how long it had been there. No one cared. No one knew how to operate the ship, so it was looted, stripped of anything that was potentially valuable. It took a long time for the Qatarr scientists to learn how to operate this device, and only recently did they manage to manu- facture duplicates of it. They are still at loss at how the device does what it actually does. When the device is activated, it will produce a shadow image of the MECU using the device. This shadow, as we shall call it, will drift about, doing absolutely nothing. It cannot be harmed in any way. After a while, it will disappear. Now, when the second function of the device is used, something spectacular will happen. The MECU will switch places with a random shadow, so to speak. That is, the real MECU will appear where there was a shadow, and it's previous location will be replaced by a shadow. There is talk that the device creates additional dimensions, one for each shadow, so that by manipulating probability, the MECU can appear where it is not (was not) supposed to be. However, this is all just speculation. No one knows the truth. All the scientists know is how to feed energy to the device. It consumes a certain type of biomass. Anyway, the only fact that interest pilots, is that the V-wing can fit enough "fuel" to create 9 shadows. (When you press the Auxiliary Weapon button, a shadow will ap- pear (if you have enough energy). By pressing both turn buttons, or pulling the joystick down, you will swap locations with one of your shadows.) 34. Inertia Nullifier This device is a rather interesting one. It was just recently developed by the Qatarr, and in the eager fuss, no one remem- bered to ask, why. The scientists are proud of inventing some- thing new, and the military commanders are happy to have a "weapon" that does something spectacular and is not available to the enemy. And so, the pilots that are made to use it, have no idea what to do with. Okay, so what does it actually do? The Inertial Nullifier, when used, releases a charge on nullifying energy, that sucks up all of kinetic energy in the surrounding area. This has the effect of stopping all movement. Bullets stop in midair, MECUs stop moving, everything "freezes". After the discharge of the Nulli- fier, particles that cannot propel themselves will start to drop, as the gravity starts accelerating them. Other things, like MECUs and missiles, will continue their movement, acceler- ating normally. You can use the Nullifier to protect yourself. If, for example, a Shotgun blast is heading for you, you can stop it, after which it will drop harmlessly to the ground. Clever pilots often use the device for other things, but those have to be figured out individually for each case. This is (obviously) an energy "weapon". But, it does not use a lot of power, so the V-wing can have enough energy to generate 9 discharges. 35. Death Spinner The MECU that houses this machine is modified so as to facili- tate (or actually enable) the use of the Death Spinner. The cockpit is built into a ball, that has a gyroscope. So, the Spinner is activated, the cockpit will always be upright, an enable the pilot to control the MECU. The Spinner itself creates a plasma shield, or actually a blast, around the MECU. This gives the MECU enormous speed. It also causes the MECU to spin wildly. Because of this, the cockpit is stabilized. If the spinning MECU hits ground, it will take no damage, as the plasma shield dampens the impact and protects the MECU from harm. If the MECU hits other MECUs, or helicopters or the like, it will cause a lot of damage to them. Unlike the Dart, this does not causes the Spinner to go off. The device will be on for as long as the one "charge" lasts, regardless of what it hits on the way. The "charges" that the device uses are a mixture of reaction fuel, and energy to start the whole thing. The fuel is measure so that the effect last a 10 seconds. The V-wing has enough room for 12 of these charges. V. Survival ----------- i. Levels Surviving requires a lot of knowledge, not only of your ship, but of the flying areas too. Here are all of them explained shortly (not that the information helps all that much). City Greyend: This city is the capital of the United Planets of Greyend. As in every big city, here too you get lost all the time. In the middle of the park, there is a statue honoring the Emperor. There is a military zone in the city. It is said that they are testing a new kind of mine here, but no one knows, what kaaargg... Twilight Zone: This zone is between the ex-Qatarr imperium, and the U.P.G. area. There are few things of human make here, and few people want to come here anyway. There are few stabilized bases in the area, and no civilians, not counting one certain Count Twilight, who complains about MECUs flying over his castle. Twin Cities: A former free state, now two free states. The former was known as the city of Q'an. The water level of the nearby ocean started to rise, and the people were forced to move to the upper islands. Two warring factions rose, and so were founded two cities: Zhur and Zh'äx. After a brief war, a ceasefire was agreed on, and buoys water made to mark the border. Each city sports a spaceport, and both have lower status citizens living on the lower islands. A church is built between the two cites, in a neutral area. The ruins of Q'an are still there. Colossus: The greatest, and most remarkable landmark in the area is the Colossus, financed by the citizens of Winorg. By looking at this monument, you can guess that the crystal mines near the city are profitable (the Colossus happens to be about ten times as big as the whole city). Abyss: This level is a bit different from the others: it is almost totally immersed in water. There is a U.P.G. military deep sea research base, and a small town for the crew of the sta- tion. There is also a massive underwater mountain, and there are rumors of humans living in confined air "holes" and other underwater civilizations who may have advanced technology. This is the reason for the U.P.G. government interest. Jungle: Like the Twilight Zone, this area is quite lightly inhabit- ed. The U.P.G. has founded only one base in the area, but it is told that deep in the jungle, there are a few research stations, examining the weird kind of funguses growing there. In the middle of the jungle, is one primitive village. It is told that its inhabitants fear MECUs. Citadel of Yoqu: This place is owned by the Emperor's cousin. He has built a small keep to demonstrate the power he wields. He owns a small qerztite mine and has a number of serfs working for him. He treats his subjects quite badly, and so they have re- belled once already. Because of this, a small tower and a moat have been built to guard the serfs' village. The serfs have permission to try out lighter-than-air platforms. They are, however, secretly developing a MECU base deep in the mines, in order to overthrow their tyrant. It is rumored that he has built secret passageways under his keep. Old Space Station: In the early years of the GW I one spacestation crashed on this planet. Luckily, it did not explode, as is usual in these situations. Nowadays, some rich guy has developed a tourist trap out of this station. There are hotels, space- stations and all that kind of stuff above the station. The station itself, however is not actually stable. Some scien- tists say, that it can still explode, but as long as the tourists are paying, who cares? Duh Cave: The Qatarr are building an underground MECU base on the desert moon of Duh, in a single-planet system near the heart of the U.P.G. empire. They are trying to disguise the base as a simple village of serfs. This, of course is against their peace treaty with the U.P.G. While digging, they ran into an advanced civilization living underground. The Qatarr promptly decided to wipe them out, being a "serious threat" to their project. They managed to destroy the city of Ngar, but the other two cities are putting up a respectable resistance. The Qatarr also want access to the ground water supply, as trans- porting food and water to the planet (without arousing suspi- cion) is getting to be quite costly. Sky City: Another insanely rich man got to fulfill his dream. Yes, this whole thing started with one man who wanted a flying castle, that looked like it was floating on a cloud. This has become a fad, and people are inventing new and original floating homes (or summer cottages), like the ones that look like huge trees. All of them have gathered into a flying city, that in- cludes a park, and lots on other cool things. One more float- ing home is currently under construction, alas, it is just another boring keep. The U.P.G. military wanted to make sure that the flying platforms wouldn't be used to do anything "unsuitable". Thus, they sent a light carrier to "protect the civilians of the town". ii. Criticals To survive, you need to know your weaknesses too, so read care- fully the following list of possible critical hits, and their effects. Criticals with "*" are cumulative: Critical: Effect: Turn Left/Right:......................Lft/Rght thruster ceas- es to operate. *Control:..............................Turning thrusters start to operate erratically. *Engine:...............................Engine damaged, engine power is diminished. *Engine Core:..........................Fusion engine shielding is breached. Whenever you thrust your ship is damaged. *Fuel Control:.........................Fueling system gives sudden bursts of fuel to the engine, creating a hiccup-like effect for your ship. *Main Weapon:..........................Main weapon damage makes the gun unreli- able. Auxiliary Weapon:.....................Auxiliary weapon be- comes useless (does not function). Firing System:........................Both your weapons sys- tems start firing them- selves at will (their own). *Hold:.................................The latest hit blasted open your cargo hold, causing everything inside to slowly drop out. Ejection Seat:........................Your ejection system is broken. The hatch is jammed shut. The seat won't launch. You have to BREAK out. If your ship has an Engine Core critical, it will produce smoke whenever you thrust forward. We feel that this is perhaps the single most dangerous critical, and so you will be additionally warned if you have it. For the sake of playability, it has been set so that you cannot have BOTH Turn Left and Turn Right criticals. It didn't take all that much playtesting to see that having both turn criticals isn't fair, nor is it fun. iii. Gun Turrets The gun turrets are, well, just that. They are designed to pro- tect the area where they are deployed. They will fire at ALL nearby MECUs. They will, however, ignore infantry and helicop- ters (who in turn ignore them). Most turrets can be seen before they start firing, but some are more devious. There are the five types of turrets: Type 1: This is the weakest of them all. This turret fires normal bullets, at a slow rate. Doesn't pose much of a threat, unless deployed in large numbers or your MECU is in bad shape to begin with. Type 2: This is your basic turret. It has a high velocity anti-vehicle gun, quite similar to the one that the V- wing is equipped with. Can cause noticeable damage, and is usually quite troublesome. Type 3: This turret is has a big gun for weaponry. It fires at a reasonably slow rate, but its shots are large explo- sive shells, similar to the one fires by the Grenade Launcher. Can pose a serious threat, and can inflict lots of damage. Type 4: This one is a missile launcher. It cannot be seen from far away, because it is situated underground. When a MECU come near, a missile tube will rise from the ground and fire a SAM. The missile will track the MECU until it impacts. It causes a lot of damage. That combined with the fact that this turret can not be seen from afar, makes it very dangerous. Type 5: This turret has the biggest damage-inflicting capabil- ity. It has a high power particle beam projector as a weapon. The blast inflicts enormous damage. Luckily, this weapon has to track the MECU, and is quite slow at that. Turrets of types 1,2,3 and 5 look the same. There are differenc- es in the barrels of types 1,2 and 3. Type 5 doesn't have a bar- rel. You'll recognize type 4 when you see it. In time you will be able to tell the turret type quite easily. That which kinds of turrets appear, can be changed from the MISCELLANEOUS|ENEMIES menu, from the option TURRET ARMAMENT. There are five different settings for this option: Feeble: Only type 1. Weak: Type 1 and 2. Normal: Types 1,2 and 3. Strong: Types 2,3 and 4. Killer: Types 2,3,4 and 5. The amount of beating that the turrets can take can altered from the same menu as above, from the option TURRET ARMOR. When the damage limit is exceeded, the turret will explode. Note that this affects ALL types of turrets. The number of turrets can also be changed. This is done from by toggling the AMOUNT OF TURRETS option. You can vary it anywhere from 1 to 40. The turrets will be randomly placed in the levels. They can be on the ground, on cliffs, on even hang upside down. They also can appear in some weird or stupid-looking places. iv. H-wings H-wings are a new type of MECU, developed by the U.P.G. Their primary function is to act as guards. They are unmanned, piloted by an artificial intelligence. A bit lighter in build and a bit slower than V-wings, but much more maneuverable. With guns AND thrusters built on two sides, they make formidable enemies. Options for the H-wings can be found in the MISCELLANEOUS| ENEMIES menu. Here is explained what they do. Note that they do not do anything if you only have one player. See "Single Player Game". AMOUNT OF H-WINGS: determines how many H-wings there will be in each level. The range is one to eight. H-WING ARMOR: is a flexible option that determines how much beating each H-wing can take before it is destroyed. The color of the H-wings will change according to how much damage they have taken. H-wings can have anywhere from 33 to 190 points of armor (for reference: V-wings have 144 armor). H-WING WEAPONRY: chooses how deadly the H-wings are. There are three settings for this option: poor, normal and good. Poor H-wings have twin guns, with a slow rate of fire. Normal H-wings have twin guns with a reasonably high rate of fire. Good ones have the mentioned guns, and a Grenade Launcher. Ugh! v. Pilot This section describes the pilot, what he/she can do, cannot do, and will never ever get to do. Just kidding. But seriously, the reason this section is under "Survival", is because life as a pilot is a constant struggle to stay alive. Some pilots have even shot down enemy MECUs, but these are not-so-very-likely happenings. The controls of the pilot are in the "Controls" section. Read them carefully, because different keys do different things de- pending on where the pilot is or what he/she is doing. The con- trols also tell you what the pilot CAN do in different places, for example on the parachute. All pilots have a full body combat armor suit. This suit, unlike the ones the soldiers have, has a built-in life support system. This allows the pilot to survive inside a claybomb "blast" and in water. The armor has a harness-mounted cannon that is slung to one side so that it can be operated with one hand. In the other hand the pilot has pincers and controls for the rope the he/she uses to move around. The rope can be used to swing around or to CATCH ONTO other MECUs. The pincers are used to grab onto enemy, and friendly, MECUs. The armor suit also has a jetpack, that allows the pilot to make those incredible jumps. You first see your pilot (yourself?) when he/she ejects from the wreckage that used to be your ship. The ejection seat will launch the pilot up, and if your wreck was moving horizontally, in the opposite direction. This is all to help the pilot sur- vive. Still, by far the most common cause of death for ejected pilots is the explosion caused by their own ship when it hits the ground. When a V-wing explodes, it creates a huge amount of shrapnel. And, if by some miracle, the pilot survives the first onslaught, another wave will be coming soon from the ones that flew up (what goes up, must come down). So, if at all possible, eject long before the wreck hits the ground and/or use the para- chute to steer away from the explosion. Okay, so now your pilot is safely on the ground. He/she needs to avoid enemy HELICOPTERS and INFANTRY. They spell DOOM. Gun tur- rets are a pilot's friends, since they don't shoot at him/her. The nastier the turret, the better. Try to get the pilot into places where stray shots or shrapnel flying by won't hit him/her. This can be acomplished by DIGGING. A hole won't shield the pilot from the wrath of an angry V-wing, but it will protect him/her from random shots. And, make sure your pilot is not underwater for too long, because he/she will suffocate. Usually, it is faster to travel by jumping, rather than running. This does, though, make your pilot much easier to hit than if he/she were on the ground. VI. Options ----------- This section describes what the various options in the various menus actually do. MAIN MENU From here you can access all of the options and menus. The nu- meric keys here will alter the number of players (range 1-4). See "Single Player Game" for further info. WEAPONS Menu Here you can choose an auxiliary weapon for each of the four players, even if you are playing a with fewer people. You can alter the amount of damage inflicted by the main weapon. The range 1-20. The default is four. This affects all normal bullets, like the one fired by soldiers and choppers, shrapnel, turret shots (and most of all, the Shotgun). From here it is also possible to change the main weapon to semi- automatic. That is, you have to press the button once for each shot. This is probably a good idea if the main weapon damage is high. Pressing the 'r' key in this menu will generate random auxiliary weapons for each of the four (possible) players. LEVELS Menu Here you can choose eight different levels, in order of play (number one is the first one, and so on). Again, you can choose all of the eight levels even though you are playing with less. Here the numerical keys will change the amount of levels (range 1-8). Pressing the 'r' key here will generate random levels for each "slot". CONTROLS Menu From this menu you can alter the keys for each of the four play- ers. This may be necessary to ensure a good game (see trouble- shooting). Also, having NumLock on may cause some trouble. You can also calibrate both of the two possible joysticks. Do this before you assign the joystick(s) to a certain player. You can also change the manual eject keys. By default, they are side by side, so in the midst of combat it is possible to accidentally eject someone else. MISCELLANEOUS Menu Whereas the other menus have been rather straight forward, this one is a jumble (jungle?). You can find all sorts of weird op- tions here, including three sub-menus. The three flexible options are GROUND COLLISION DAMAGE, NUMBER OF CRITICALS, and SHIP TURNING RATE: -The collision damage is quite self explanatory. If at the highest setting, the damage done by a crash is more than half the maximum damage that the V-wing can withstand. -The Critical switch actually affects the chance to get a critical, every time damage is inflicted after your shields are gone. So, it does indirectly affect the number of crit- ical hits a ship has at any given point. -The turning rate affects how fast ships turn. No matter how high this is, when you first start turning, the ship will turning slowly for a short while. This is to allow precise adjustments. The other options are as follows: -SHIP WRECKAGE: If this is off, there will be no gray spin- ning wreckage. Ships will explode when their damage thresh- old is crossed. If wreckage is off, the EJECTION SEAT option is automatically set to inactive. -CRITICAL HITS: This option determines whether or not ships sustain (or at least have a chance to) critical hits. If off there will be no critical hits. -GUN TURRETS: This option determines if there are turrets in the play areas (affects all of the eight levels). -H-WINGS: Determines if there H-wings in the world. -GRAVITY: This changes the gravitational pull exerted by the planet. Affects all ships and bullets (not energy weapons). -AIR VISCOSITY: Changes how much air slows down ships (does not affect bullets of any sort). -EJECTION SEAT: To have this active, you must also have wreckage on. If active, your pilot may eject from the gray remnants of your V-wing and continue the fight (although at this point your chances of winning are quite low). If inac- tive, the wreck will just continue spinning and will explode when it hits the ground. -TEAMS: There are two team options. Both are two against two. If you set the teams on, the number of players will automat- ically be set to four. The team options are players 1&2 vs 3&4 and 1&3 vs 2&4 (top screens vs bottom; left vs right). MISCELLANEOUS|RANDOMIZING Menu This menu deals with the randomizing of weapons and levels. There are four yes/no options: -RANDOMIZE WEAPONS AT BEGINNING: This determines if random auxiliary weapons are generated for each player when the game starts. -RANDOMIZE LEVELS AT BEGINNING: Same as above, but for levels for each of the eight "slots". -RANDOMIZE WEAPONS BEFORE LEVELS: If this is on, a random auxiliary weapons will be generated for each player before each level. If this is off, the game will ask you before each level (except the first one) whether you would like to change weapons. You can bypass this screen by pressing any other key but 'y'. -ALLOW SAME WEAPONS AT RANDOMIZING: This determines if it is possible for the random weapon generator give two or more players the same auxiliary weapon. The last option, which we call banning (BAN SOME WEAPONS FROM RANDOMIZING), removes auxiliary weapons from the list which the random weapon generator uses. That is, those weapons will never show up when random weapons are selected. This does not deter you from choosing them manually from the WEAPONS menu. MISCELLANEOUS|BASES & ENEMIES Menu This menu contains the options concerning bases and gun turrets and H-wings. Only the base options are discussed here. The turret options are covered in the "Turrets" section and options for H-wings in their own section. BASE WORKING RATE: This option affects how fast the techni- cians (or robots, or whatever you like) working at a base do their job. It determines how fast a craft is repaired of damage and criticals, and how fast the hold is refilled. The following options determine what the bases actually do and don't do: -BASES REPAIR: This determines if the base fixes damage or not. -BASES RESUPPLY: This determines whether the base refills the ship's hold with whatever is needed for the auxiliary weapon to function. -BASES FIX CRITICALS: Well, this is quite obvious. Yours truly urges you to keep this option a 'yes'. Otherwise the game becomes rather ridiculous. The last option is not really related to the bases, but is here anyway. Well, it is related, but rather indirectly. If it is set to "WINNER MUST LAND TO WIN", the last pilot needs to get to a base, with or without a craft, to win. Otherwise the winner is determined instantly when there is only one pilot alive. MISCELLANEOUS|DETAILS & EFFECTS Menu This menu has, well details in it. Also some environmental ef- fects, and such. Changing some of these may speed up the game. So, here they are: -FIRE: Whether or not flammable things burn. Fire looks rath- er nice, but may slow down the game. -SNOWFALL: Well, if this option is on, there will be constant snowing in all of the levels. Given enough time, the snow will pile up into big banks. -SLIPPERY LAND: Determines if the land (terrain) is slippery or not. If yes, ships will slide on along surfaces (really irritating!). -STARS: Turns the background stars on/off. Stars look nice. -BIRDS: Allows/disallows birds. Birds generally do nothing, except explode into feathers and blood when shot. They will, however, peck your ship if you shoot at them (that is, if they survive). They can also be used for travelling purposes (huh? ;). -BLOOD: This option determines how much blood is splattered when birds or infantry bite the dust. There are three set- tings: no thanx, normal, a lot. Try it out, you'll see the difference. -PELLET HOLE: This changes the size of the hole created by a normal bullet. If you have set to small, the landscape will be less beaten, but it will be considerably harder to make holes, tunnels, and the like. -RESOLUTION: Changes the resolution between 320*400 and 320*200. The later mode is faster, but the first one is looks a LOT nicer. Can be toggled during the game by press- ing F5. -WIDE SCREENS: If this is on, in one or two player game, the screens will be twice their normal size. This looks a lot nicer, but slows down the game. VII. Winning ------------ i. Who's the winner? The winner is the pilot who has one unique characteristic: he/she lives. Usually it is required that he/she (but not necessarily his/her ship) gets to a base (this requirement can be turned off from MISCELLANEOUS|BASES menu). In team play, (set from the MISCELLANEOUS menu) there can be two winners, assuming that they are from same team of course. Anoth- er difference between team play and normal play is, that some weapons count your team mate as a friend, for example missile and soldiers. ii. Hints Here are a few hints for winning: In non-team play: -Fly fast. -Avoid bullets. -Aim. -Kill everything in sight. -Visit bases whenever it is safe. -Trust no one. -Try to get the other players to kill each other. In team play: -Fly fast. -Avoid bullets (yes, the ones which are from your team mate too). -Aim (but not at your team mate). -Kill everything in sight (except your team mate, his chop- pers or soldiers). -Visit bases whenever it is safe, and if possible protect your team mate. -Gang up against one enemy, so that you are two against one. -Trust not too much on your team mate. -Some weapons are really great when they are combined, here are just a few examples: SNOWBALL+MEGABOMB. CLAYBOMB+ZAPPER. REMOTE CONTROL+PLASTIC EXPLOSIVES. etc. iii. Single Player Game If you chose only one player, the game will differ quite a lot from the multi player mode. A lot of the options will be rendered useless. The game will automatically set up most of the options. About the only option that works in one player mode is the choice of weaponry, and the details. You can mess around with the options, they just won't do anything. The weapon you choose will be the same for all of the levels. The idea in the single player game is to destroy gun turrets and shoot down H-wings. You advance through different levels, with both turrets and H-wings getting tougher as you go on. You get points for destroying enemies, for time, and for completing a level. If you eject, and make it to a base, you will advance to the next level, but will be awarded no points for time or level completion. If, for some unfanthomable reason, you need to visit a base, it will cost you. Repairing will drain your points. At higher levels, bases may not even repair. VIII. Troubleshooting --------------------- Problem: V-Wing sometimes runs too slowly. Solution: Some situations in the game require a great amount of the processor speed. You can make these situations less frequent by: -Turning the Fire off ( MISCELLANEOUS|DETAILS & EFFECTS menu). (flammable things do not burn anymore) -Turning the SnowFall off ( MISCELLANEOUS|DETAILS & EFFECTS menu). (no more snowfall) -Turning the Birds off, or by killing them ( MISCELLA- NEOUS|DETAILS & EFFECTS menu). (no more birds, or feathers) -Changing the graphics mode. The 320*200 mode will be faster (especially in three or four player game), but at least yours truly thinks the 320*400 mode is MUCH better looking (press F5 or go to the MISCELLANEOUS| DETAILS & EFFECTS menu). -Removing the Old SpaceStation from your level selec- tions (LEVELS menu). (this level explodes when there is too much shooting, and the explosion does require a really fast processor so as not to slow down the game) -Not using these two special weapons: Dividing Mine (usually if one player has this, it does not slow the game so much, but when multiple players have it, it can slow the game quite a lot) Grav-Mine, when snowfall is on. Problem: When I am choosing my keys, the do not work! Solution: Quit the game, turn NumLock off, and try again. Problem: The keyboard is not responding!!!!! Solution: Change the control keys. This may differ from comput- er to computer, but at least the default keys for players 1 and 3 have been known to cause trouble. Try holding down the thrust and auxiliary weapon keys for these players. This may cause trouble, and will let you know if you need to alter the keys. This can be done from the CONTROLS menu. Problem: I do not get the weapon that I chose from the WEAPONS menu. Solution: You either chose wrong, and did not notice it, or you have forgotten the option RANDOMIZE WEAPONS BEFORE LEVELS on, from the MISCELLANEOUS|RANDOMIZING menu. Turn it off. Problem: I put that RANDOMIZE WEAPONS BEFORE LEVELS on, and now I got a weapon about which I haven't the slight- est idea of what it does, it seems to do nothing!!! Solution: Watch your energy bar (the white one). If it does not drop, when you use your gun (and you are not in wa- ter) then it is either landmine, plastic explosives, or the repair droid. (Read their descriptions. Besides, it is a good idea anyway.) Problem: The game has sounds, or so I hear. Not my game though. What gives?!?! Solution: Buy a GUS. If you already have one, then we cannot help you. IX. Why Register ---------------- You get much more out of the game, for example: - 30 special weapons, 26 of which are not in the shareware version. - 10 levels, 8 of which are not in the shareware version. - You don't need to watch the credits every time you quit the game (just press ESC). - You can alter gravity, ground collision damage, and all of those cool other options ;). - You can have awesome, feathered, flying birds! - You get to control gun-turrets. To register, send 50 FIM or $ 13 to: Simo Siiriä, **********tie 6 A 13 Fin 00*** Helsinki, Finland. Make sure your name (the one you want to read from the main menu) and your address are included. X. Why Read Documents --------------------- Hmm.. that's a tough one ;-). How about this: you get some idea of those weird weapons and of the game in general. You could for example read the "Controls" chapter and check out why your pilot took a dive just after he landed. XI. Creators' Comments ---------------------- Hi there! The game has been thoroughly playtested, however, it might be, that some weapons seem overpowered. So, pleeeease do not immedi- ately start complaining that "Ghostship is unfair!" or something like that. We know. Please notice, that, if you don't like some weapon, or other thing or effect, you can turn it OFF or BAN it!!! Simo Siiriä. ******@rock.helsinki.fi
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