Amiga Format CD 40/Amiga Format CD40 (1999-05-11)(Future Publishing)(GB)(Track 1 of 3)[!][issue 1999-06].iso/-screenplay-/shareware/starbirds/s/starbirds.lha/starbirds_e.txt

Text File | 1999-02-27 | 26.5 KB | 775 lines

Table of contents
-----------------

 1. Introduction
 2. Special features of STARBIRDS
 3. Making a backup of the STARBIRDS disk
 4. Loading instrutions
 5. The title screen
    5.1. Start
    5.2. 1 Player / 2 Players
    5.3. Difficulty
    5.4. Sound Mode
    5.5. Highscores
        5.5.1 The menu items of the highscore table
        5.5.2 The format of the highscore table
        5.5.3 Clearing the highscore table
    5.6. Soundmenu
 6. The selection screen
    6.1. Primary and secondary weapons
    6.2. The selection screen in the 1 player mode
        6.2.1 The choice of the space ship
        6.2.2 The weapon slots
        6.2.3 The random generator
        6.2.4 An overview of all weapon systems
        6.2.5 End of the choice
    6.3. The selection screen in the 2 player mode
        6.3.1 The choice of the space ship
        6.3.2 The choice of the weapon category
        6.3.3 The weapon slots
        6.3.4 The random generator
        6.3.5 An overview of all weapon systems
        6.3.6 End of the choice
 7. The game
    7.1. The playfield
    7.2. The information panel
    7.3. The control
    7.4. The enemies
    7.5. The weapon symbols
    7.6. The weapon systems
    7.7. The game statistics
    7.8. Credits
 8. Enter yourself into the highscore table
 9. Hints to the game
10. The team behind STARBIRDS



1. Introduction
*-------------*

STARBIRDS is a shoot'em up-game for 1 or 2 players. The player takes the place
of a pilot who fights against the forces of darkness. With the help of his
space ship, called STARBIRD, he has to fight trough 4 levels, filled with an
enormous number of enemies. At the end of every zone, the level boss awaits
the pilot, a very powerful enemy, who has to be destroyed to reach the next
level.

This mission would be probably hopeless without the STARBIRD, a fast and
powerful ship, equipped with the most modern weapons. The STARBIRD is the
final trump card in a desperate battle. Controlled by a capable pilot it has
the chance to destroy the evil forces.



2. Special features of STARBIRDS
*------------------------------*

-  2 player simultan mode: Fight against the evil together with a friend.

-  4 different difficulty levels

-  4 levels, each 75 screens large

-  The player can decide himself which way to take through the zone. There
   are many ways through each zone.

-  16 weapon systems with 5 powerups each.

-  Up to 100 animated objects on the same screen.

-  Parallaxing background

-  Over 200 colours on every AMIGA

-  11 songs. Every song can be played in the sound menu.

-  Separate highscore tables for the 1-player-mode and the 2-player-mode.
   A highscore table can manager up to 50 entries.

-  Asynchrone loading routines for very short loading times.

-  STARBIRDS runs on every AMIGA with 512 KByte RAM.



3. Making of a backup of the STARBIRDS disk
*-----------------------------------------*

Before you play STARBIRDS for the first time, you should make a backup of the
original STARBIRDS disk. The STARBIRDS disk is completely AMIGA-DOS compatible,
you can copy this disk with every copy program available.



4. Loading instructions
*---------------------*

1. Switch your AMIGA off for at least 10 seconds.

2. Insert the STARBIRDS disk in the AMIGA's internal drive.

3. Switch the AMIGA on. The game will be loaded automatically.



5. The title screen
*-----------------*

After the game has been loaded, the title screen appears. On the right side
there is the main menu. The current menu item is written in red colour. You
can choose the menu items by moving your joystick up resp. down. Now every
menu item will be explained.


5.1. Start

When you press the button, the title screen is faded out and you get into the
selection screen (see chapter 6).


5.2. 1 Player / 2 Player

This menu item is a switch. You can activate the 2 player mode resp. the
1 player mode by pressing the button.


5.3. Difficulty

The menu item is a switch. You can select one of the 4 difficulty levels by
pressing the button. Press the button multiple times to skip through the
difficulty levels. The difficulty levels are as follows:

- Easy:

This is the easiest mode. It is suited for the beginners. In this mode the
enemies are very weak and not very aggressive.

- Normal:

This is the defauld mode. It's suited for those people who already have a bit
experience with shoot'em up games. The enemies are a bit stronger than in the
EASY-Mode.

- Hard:

This mode is suited for the shoot'em up professionals, who are looking for a
new challenge. The aggressivity of the enemies increases very much. The player
hast to give his best.

- Very hard:

For all those people who completed all shoot'em up games without any problems,
the VERY HARD mode was built in. The enemies are extremly strong and very
aggressive. Only shoot'em up experts have a real chance.


5.4. Sound Mode

This menu punkt is also a switch. You can choose here what kind of sound mode
should be active. Skip through the 4 possibilities by pressing the button
multiple times. The sound modes are the following:


- Music - FX

This is the default mode. During the game the song will be played as well as
the explosion effects.

- Music

When this mode is activated, only the song will be played during the game.

- FX

When you chose FX, only the explosion effects will be enabled during the game.
The explosion samples will be played through all 4 audio channels.

- None

If you don't want any sound to be played, choose this menu item.


5.5. Highscores

When you activate this menu item, the main menu will be faded out and the
highscore table will be faded in. First you will see the ranks 1 to 10 of the
1 player highscore table. Move the joystick down resp. up to see the other
highscore entries. The highscore table can contain up to 50 highscore entries.

STARBIRDS manages the highscore tables separately for the 1 player mode and the
2 player mode. The title, situated at the top of the highscore table, shows
which of the two tables is currently displayed. You can switch between these
two tables (see below).


5.5.1 The menu items in the highscore table

Below the highscore table there are some menu items. The current menu item is
displayed in red colour. Move the joystick to the left resp. right to choose
the different menu items. They have the following functions:

- Save

The menu item does only appear, if the highscore table has got new entries.
If you activate this menu item, the highscore list is saved to the STARBIRDS-
disk. Check first, if the write protection of the disk is disabled. Otherwise
a message will appear to inform you.

- Exit

Activate this menu item to go back to the main menu.

- 1 player scores / 2 player scores

The menu item is a switch. Press the button to switch between the 1 player
highscore table and the 2 player highscore table.

5.5.2 The format of the highscore table

The highscore table has the following format:

RANK SCORE   NAME                DIFFICULTY
-------------------------------------------

- RANK:

Here the rank of the entry is displayed.

- SCORE:

This is the score.

- NAME:

Here is the name of the player who made the score. In the 2 player mode the
names of both players are displayed. The player who actually made the score
is displayed at the left.

- DIFFICULTY:

This was the difficulty level of the game in which the player made the score.

5.5.3 Clearing the highscore table

The highscore table can only be cleared if you have a backup of the STARBIRDS
disk which contains an empty highscore table. In this case just copy the file
'Highscores' of the backup disk to the STARBIRDS disk. See you AMIGA manuals
for a detailed description of how to copy files.


5.6. Soundmenu

If you activate this menu item the main menu will be faded out and you get into
the soundmenu. Here the names of all songs are displayed. Move your joystick
down resp. up to choose a song. Press the button and the selected song will be
loaded and played.
Activate the menu item 'EXIT' to go back to the main menu.



6. The selection screen
*---------------------*

After you activated the menu item 'START' in the main menu you reach the
selection screen. Here one of two ships is chosen and the ship is equipped with
the desired weapons. The format of the selection screen depends whether you
activated the 1 player mode or the 2 player mode. Thus the handling is
explained separately for both modes.

First you will be made familiar with the concept of the primary and secondary
weapons:


6.1 Primary and secondary weapons

The weapon systems in STARBIRDS are divided into two groups: into primary and
secondary weapon systems. The 16 weapon systems are divided into 8 primary and
8 secondary weapon systems. When you play in the 1 player mode you have access
to two weapon systems at the same time, one of the primary and one of the
secondary weapon systems.


6.2 The selection screen in the 1 player mode

The selection screen consists of several fields. The current field ist marked
with a red border. Move the joystick to move the border to another field.

The selection screen consists of three parts: the upper part serves to choose
the space ship. The lower part is divided into a left and a right half. In the
left half all modifications concerning the primary weapon systems are made, in
the right half those of the secondary weapon systems.

The meaning of the fields:

6.2.1. The choice of the space ship (1)

Here you can choose between two space ships by pressing the fire button. There
is no difference between the two ships except for their look.

6.2.2. The weapon slots (2)

The space ship contains 8 weapon slots, 4 for the primary (left) and 4 for
the secondary weapon systems (right). The current slot is highlighted. You can
exchange the weapon system which is situated in the current weapon slot (see
point 4). Move the border to another weapon slot and press the button to
activate another slot.

6.2.3. The random generator (3)

If you activate this field, the weapon systems are chosen randomly. In the
weapon slots of the appropriate weapon category (primary or secondary)
question marks appear. You won't know until the game has started what weapon
systems you got.

If you activate this field a second time, the old state will be restored. You
can use the random generator separately for the primary and the secondary
weapon systems.

6.2.4. An overview of all weapon systems (4)

Here you can see all 16 weapon systems, the 8 primary to the left and the 8
secondary to the right. If you activate one this field the appropriate weapon
system will be put into the current weapon slot. After that, the next weapon
slot will be activated automatically. Now you can choose the weapon systems
you want.

The different weapon systems will be explained in chapter 7.6.

6.2.5. End of the choice (5)

Activate this field to leave the selection screen. Then the first level will
be loaded and the game can start.


6.3 The selection screen in the 2 player mode

The selection screen is divided in a left and in a right half. The left half
is for the player 1, the right half for the player 2. In the 2 player mode the
space ships only have 4 weapon slots each.

The handling is identical for both players except for the choice of the space
ship. The border for the player 1 is red while the border of the player 2 is
green. The player 1 can only access the field on the left side, the player 2
only the fields on the right side.

The meaning of the fields:

6.3.1. The choice of the space ship (1)

The player 1 can choose his space ship by pressing the button. The other ship
is automatically given to the player 2.
The player 2 can't choose the space ship himself. Both players have to discuss
how to distribute the two space ships.

6.3.2. The choice of the weapon category (2)

Due a space ship has only 4 weapon slots in the 2 player mode, the player has
to decide for a weapon category. This field shows a switch with three different
positions. Move your joystick to the left resp. right to reach the three
positions. The meaning of the positions:

a) Switch to the left

The primary weapon systems are available. The AutoFire is off, the appropriate
weapon will be fired by repeatedely pressing of the fire button

b) Switch in the middle

The primary weapon systems are available. The AutoFire is on, the appropriate
weapon will be fired by holding down the fire button.

c) Switch to the right

The secondary weapon systems are available. The AutoFire is on, the appropriate
weapon will be fired by holding down the fire button.

6.3.3. The weapon slots (3)

In the 2 player mode the space ships contains 4 weapon slots which can hold
the weapon systems of the weapon category chosen at point 2. The current slot
is highlighted. You can exchange the weapon system which is situated in the
current weapon slot (see point 5). Move the border to another weapon slot and
press the button to activate another slot.

6.3.4. The random generator (4)

If you activate this field, the weapon systems of the weapon category chosen at
point 2 are chosen randomly. In the weapon slots of the appropriate weapon
category (primary or secondary) question marks appear. You won't know until the
game has started what weapon systems you got.


6.3.5. An overview of all weapon systems (5)

Here you can see the 8 weapon systems of the weapon category chosen at point 2.
If you activate one this field the appropriate weapon system will be put into
the current weapon slot. After that, the next weapon slot will be activated
automatically. Now you can choose the weapon systems you want.

The different weapon systems will be explained in chapter 7.6.

6.3.6. End of the choice (6)

Activate this field to end the selection. As soon as both players have
activated their 'START' field, the selection screen will be left. The 1st level
will be loaded and the game can start.



7. The game
*---------*

7.1. The playfield

STARBIRDS is a horizontal scrolling shoot'em up game. The playfield is auto-
matically scrolled to the left. Due every level has a height of approx. 3
screens you can move freely in vertical direction. As soon as you approach
the upper resp. lower border of the screen, the playfield will be scrolled
automatically in vertical direction.

You can choose yourself what way you want to take through the level. There are
easy ways and there are difficult ones, which often contain valuable rewards
in form of weapon symbols (see chapter 7.5).

Note that you should never move your space ship into the foreground, because
your space ship would be destroyed.

7.2. The information panel

Over the playfield there is the information panel. Here is displayed the current
score and the number of remaining space ships. The left side is reserved for the
player 1, the right side for the player 2.

At the beginning of the game every player has 6 space ships.

Every 150'000 points you get an extra space ship.


7.3. The control

The space ship is fully controlled with the joystick. Move your joystick to
move the space ship into the desired direction.

In the 1 player mode your space ships contains 8 different weapon slots. Two
of them are active at the same time, one of the primary and one of the secondary
weapon category. You can fire the primary weapon by repeatedely pressing the
fire button. As soon as you hold down the fire button, you will fire the
secondary weapon. Hold the button down as long as you want to fire the
secondary weapon.

Try to learn the concept of controlling both weapons simultaeously. This com-
bination of two weapon systems is a very efficient way to fight the enemies
successfully. It depends on the situation whether you should use the primary
or the secondary weapon systems.

In the 2 player mode every player has only 4 weapon systems accessible. When
you chose the weapon category (see chapter 6.3.2) you could specify the Auto-
Fire mode. If you switched on the AutoFire, you have to press the button
repeatedly to fire the weapon. If you switched off the AutoFire you have to
hold down the fire button to fire the weapon.

There are two keys on the keyboard with special functions:

P  : Activates the pause mode. If you press this key a secon time, the game
     will resume.

ESC: The game is ends. But you still have the possibility to use the remaining
     credits (see chapter 7.8)

7.4. The enemies

During the battle you will encounter many different enemies which have only one
goal: to destroy your space ship. Every collision with an enemy or every hit
of an enemies shot costs you a space ship. Your only chance to survive is to
shoot as much enemies as you can. Every successful destruction is honored with
bonus points. The bigger the destroyed enemy the bigger the bonus.

Many enemies attack in formations. If you succeed to destroy a complete
formation you get special bonus points. Additionally the probability is very
high that the formation leaves behind one or more weapon symbols. You can use
them to power up your weapons (see chapter 7.5)

At the end of every level there is the level boss which needs a lot of hits
until it will be destroyed. You must destroy it to reach the next level.

7.5. The weapon symbols

Every weapon system consists of 5 weapons of different power. At the beginning
of every level your ship is equipped with weapons of the lowest power
(level 1). But you can power up these weapons during the game. You can also
change the weapon system.

Many enemies leave some weapon symbols behind, after they have been destroyed.
These symbols are square formed and are coloured blue or red. Move into such
a symbol to collect this weapon. There are two kind of symbols:

The blue symbols are weapons of the primary weapon systems.
The red symbols are weapons of the secondary weapon systems.

If you collect a blue symbol, the secondary weapon system of your space ship
remains unmodified (and vice versa).

There are 16 different weapon symbols, one for every possible weapon system.
In the game there appear only those weapon systems which you have chosen in the
selection screen (see chapter 6). The different weapon systems are explained
more detailed in chapter 7.6.

If you collect a weapon symbol there are two cases:

1. The collected weapon system is the same as one of your currently active
weapon systems. In this case your weapon is powered up by one level. If you
already have reached the best level (level 5) nothing happens.

2. The collected weapon system is not the same as one of your currently active
weapon systems. Then the collected weapon system becomes active (this way you
can change the weapon system). The power of the weapon decreases by one level.
If you already had the lowest level before the change, the power of the weapon
remains unmodified.

So if you collect several equal weapon symbols of the same weapon category
you can power up you weapons. But if you collect many different weapon symbols
of the same category your weapon power is decreased.

If you lose a space ship, the weapon power is decreased by one level.

You get an extra bonus of 2000 points for every collected weapon symbol. These
bonus points are calculated at the end of every zone (see chapter 7.7)


7.6. The weapon systems

Here follows the description of the 16 weapon systems. You will find at every
description two symbols: the left one corresponds to the symbols at the
selection screen, the right one to the weapon symbols in the game.

The primary weapon systems:


1. Multiple shot

This weapon system has a low power, but a very good width effect.

2. Fireball

The fireball is an allround weapon with a good power. Beginners will like the
strong 2. level of this weapon system.

3. Impulse wave

This weapon system is very weak in the lower levels. But it has a great
advantage: The shots are able to break through walls and enemies. The impulse
wave is very suitable for bigger enemies and for enemies that are hidden behind
walls, for example.

4. Laser

A very strong weapon system with a very good effect on bigger enemies. Due to
its low shot frequency it is rather difficult to handle. You should only change
to the laser if you already had a good powered weapon before. The lower levels
of the laser are very weak.

5. Energy discs

The energy discs shoot to the front as well as to the back. The power is not
very high, but the width effect is good.

6. Rear shot

Just like the energy discs the rear shot shoots to the back as well as to the
front. The rear shot is the primary weapon with the highest power to the back.
The width effect is worse than that of the energy discs.

7. Burst ball

If you shoot a burst ball, it bursts into several smaller balls, dependent on
the weapon power (except for the lowest level). This is the perfect beginners
weapon system because the lowest level has already a good power. But the power
does not increase very much at the higher levels.

8. Chain shot

The chain shot has a very weak lowest level. But the levels 4 and 5 have an
absolutely lethal power. This weapon system has a good width effect.


The secondary weapon systems:

9. Side shot

The power is just normal, the width effect good. It is suitable to fight
against stationary enemies.

10. Side laser

In opposition to the side shot this weapon system has a very good power. It
needs a better hit accuracy, but it can also cause more damage than the side
shot.

11. Homing missiles

Just after they were activated, the missiles seek a target and hunt it until
they hit the enemy. Basically, they attack weaker targets. The missiles are
very easy to handle. The advantage: you don't have to aim at the target your-
self.

12. Rear beam

This weapon systems creates one or more permanent beams to the back. It has
a very good width effect to the back. The rays can break through walls and
enemies.

13. Mines

The mines are the most powerful weapons. There are few enemies which can
survive a hit of a mine. The handling is very diffcult and it needs a lot
of practise. Yoy can throw the mines into every direction. You just have to
move the space ship into the desired direction while shooting the mines.

14. Satellites

The satellites rotate around the space ship and hit all enemies very near to
the space ship. They can break through walls and enemies.

15. Front beam

Similar to the rear beam this weapon system creates one or more permanent beams
to the front. The power is low. The from beam can break through walls and
enemies.

16. Energy balls

The energy balls are the most powerful weapon system to the back. Already the
lowest levels have a very good power. It has a good shoot frequency and a good
width effect.

7.7. The game statistics

If you have completed a level, a game statistic appears. At the left side there
are the values for the player 1, at the right side those of the player 2. The
statistics look as follows:

1. Extras collected

Here you can see how many weapon symbols you collected in this level. After a
few seconds this value is counted down and you get 2000 points for each weapon
symbol.

2. Score

This is your actual score.

3. Rank

This is your actual rank in the highscore table

4. Credits

This is the number of the remaining credits. Every credit allows you to repeat
a game. Then you can restart at the level where you have lost your last space
ship. If in the 2 player mode there is only one credit left, only one player
can repeat the game.


7.8. Credits

If you have lost all your space ships you get the chance to restart the game
in the level where you have lost your last ship. If there are no credits left,
the game is definitively over.

After you have lost your last life, the continue screen appears. Now you have
10 seconds to decide whether you want to restart the game. Press the joystick
button if you want to restart the game. You can press the ESC-key if you don't
want to wait until the 10 seconds are over.

At the beginning of the game you have 3 credits in 1 player mode resp. 6
credits in 2 player mode. In the 2 player mode the credits may not be divided
into two equal groups. The weaker player will maybe need more credits than
the better one.

8. Enter yourself into the highscore table
*----------------------------------------*

If you have reached a high score during the game, the title screen will appear
after the game and you are asked to enter your name. In 1 player mode the name
can contain up to 16 characters while in the 2 player mode every name can only
contain up to 8 characters.

If you don't know anymore if you are the player one or the player two, just
look where your joystick is connected. If it is connected to the joystick port
(Port 1) it belongs to the player 1, if it is connected to the mouse port
(Port 0), it belongs to the player 2.

After you entered your name, the highscore table appears. All new entries are
highlighted in white colour. Maybe you have to page up resp. down to see all
new entries. Note that all high scores are in the highscore table, not only
the score you made with your last credit.



9. Hints to the game
*------------------*

Hints for beginners:

- Don't change the weapon system too often, otherwise you will never get the
  real good weapons.

- As long as you don't know the game, you always should take the same way
  through the level.

- Only use the random generator in the selection screen, when you are familiar
  with the weapon systems. At the beginning you should always choose the same
  weapon systems.

- If you fight with your partner in the 2 player mode: talk to eachother which
  way you want to take through the zone. Otherwise you could block eachother.

- You can make the game in the 2 player mode easier, if both players choose the
  same weapon systems in the selection screen. In the game many equal weapon
  symbols will appear und you can power up your weapons much faster.

Hints for advanced players:

- If you have a very strong weapon (i.e. level 5), it is often good to change
  the weapon system. The new weapon system will still be strong and you get
  bonus points for every weapon symbol collected. Don't forget: you get an
  extra ship each 150'000 points.

- Try to destroy whole formations. Don't shoot around without any system.
  If you destroy whole formations, you often get valuable weapon symbols.

- Be cautious if you move in vertical direction. Maybe you're flying directly
  into a (still unseen) shot.

- Think of the next level if you change your weapon systems at the end of a
  level. At the new level you will have the same weapon systems as at the end
  of the previous level, but only the lowest power (level 1)!

- Don't risk too much. If a weapon symbol is situated at a dangerous position
  it is often better to let the weapon symbol be. Your weapon power decreases
  if you lose a space ship.

- Always try to keep an overview of the situation (keep cool). Don't fix your
  space ship (or the partner's one) with your eyes.



10. The team behind STARBIRDS
*---------------------------*

STARBIRDS was developed from october 1993 until july 1996 in Switzerland. Our
team:


Sam Jordan
            - programming
            - game design
            - musik and explosion effects

Dario Hardmeier
            - graphics and animations
            - game design