home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
-
- ╔═══════════╗
- «∙─∙─╫** DECAY **╫─∙─∙»
- ╚═════╤═════╝
- ┌────────┴────────┐
- │Proudly Presents│
- └─────────────────┘
- ╔╒┴╪─╬╛╦┴═╪└╗
- ·⌠ S.P.A.S.M ╤
- ╘╤└╪─┬╬╨┌╛╤«╝∙
-
- ∙≡ SPecial Air Space Marines ≡∙
-
-
-
- --------------------
- SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
- --------------------
-
- A Few Kb Of RAM.
- Minimum 286 10MHz (Recommended: 386 10MHz and over).
- About 1 Meg of Hard Disk Space.
- VGA colour screen.
- A Second Player (It's Much More Fun).
-
-
- ---------
- CONTROLS:
- ---------
-
- Player 1 :
- Up : 'w'
- Down : 'x'
- Left : 'a'
- Right : 'd'
- Fire : 'space bar'
- Competitive/Co-operative Mode : '3'
-
- Player 2 : (Numeric Keyboard)
- Up : '8'
- Down : '2'
- Left : '4'
- Right : '6'
- Fire : '0 (Ins)'
- Competitive/Co-operative Mode : '*'
-
-
- -------------
- INTRODUCTION:
- -------------
-
- Once upon a time there were two big guys with big guns who went around shoot-
- ing stuff. They shot aliens, walls, barrels, doors and each other. And they
- were a force to be reckoned with. This release features ten levels of differ-
- ing scenarios that will keep you entertained for hours. It is a top-down,
- scrolling VGA shoot-em-up action game with mode X graphics.
-
-
- -------------
- INSTRUCTIONS:
- -------------
-
- The aim of the game is very simple. Activate all the switches in the level
- and go to the exit to get to the next level. THAT'S IT!. Oh and don't forget
- to shoot the aliens if they get in your way!
-
- SWITCHES : A switch can take the form of anything which looks like a lever,
- button or switch, and can be activated by simply walking over it. There are
- usually a lot of switches scattered around a level and you cannot leave the
- level, via the exit, unless EVERY switch is activated.
-
- EXIT : Once all of the switches have been activated, you can leave the level
- by going to the exit. And to leave a level, simply stand on the exit sign,
- and wait a few seconds for the loading of the next level. In two player mode,
- BOTH of the participants much reach the exit. The exit is usually easy to
- identify. The word 'EXIT' is pretty common, or just plain 'X', is a good sign
- that you have reached the exit.
-
- ALIENS : These bastards not only get in your way and not make good conversa-
- tion but they take off your health. They are pretty smart (they can work
- their way through obstacles), and whenever there is contact between you and
- the alien(s), you will lose Hit Points. But don't worry, they are not armed-
- but they're dangerous...Oh yeah, there is an unlimited amount of aliens in
- SPASM.
-
- HEALTH : This is a measure of your strength and endurance. It is measured in
- Hit Points. When your Hit Points reach zero (or less), you will be dead. But
- since you can pick up health during the playing of a level, there is no
- maximum limit to your Hit Points...cool. It is also possible to buy health at
- the Shop Screen.
-
- MONEY : As the name suggests, there is a lot of money to be collected in this
- game. You can obtain money in two ways. One way is to collect the money that
- lies around a level, and the other way is to shoot aliens. The more aliens
- you shoot, the more money you get. The more money you get, the more you can
- spend at the Shop Screen.
-
- AMMUNITION : Your weapon requires ammo to kill aliens or to spray around a
- bit. You can hold an unlimited amount of ammo but be careful not to run out..
- ..it's a hell of a situation which will require the help of your partner (if
- you have one). Ammo can be collected in any level as well as bought from the
- Shop Screen. Note, that the gun you start off with in the beginning of the
- first level takes off only one ammo units....more on this later.
-
- SCORE : The more aliens you shoot, the greater the score. That's all. It
- plays no part whatsoever in the game. It is just an indication of how much
- alien blood you are spilling.
-
- SHOP SCREEN : Every few minutes or so, the Shop Screen will appear, and you
- can buy a whole lot of goodies. Health can be bought for $5000 as well as the
- ammunition. Weapons, too can be bought here. Back Fire costs $5000, Bounce
- Fire costs $10,000 and the Laser costs $15,000. You can buy your life (and
- your partners, if they're dead too) for $100. To Reset Players Position, you
- must fork out $500. And lastly, a Switch Map will cost you $5000.
-
- BACK FIRE : The odd weapon which shoots backwards as well as forwards. It is
- a very useful gun but it uses two units of ammo.
-
- BOUNCE FIRE : The neat weapon which bounces off walls at 180 degrees. It uses
- four units of ammo.
-
- LASER : The coolest weapon which kills a heap of aliens in a straight line.
- It requires six units of ammo.
-
- RESET PLAYERS POSITION : This option which can be bought from the Shop
- Screen, will transport both players (if you are in two player mode), to their
- respective starting position. This option is good to escape out of a sticky
- or messy situation.
-
- SWITCH MAP : Bought at the Shop Screen, this map, will show you the remaining
- switches left in a level. The reduced map will not show players movement and
- it is only good for one level only. Of course, you can keep buying these maps
- for every level...but what's the fun in that.
-
- DEATH FLOOR : Found frequently in all levels, the Death Floor, which can be
- walked on, takes off a varying amount of Hit Points when standing on it.
-
- COMPETITIVE & CO-OPERATIVE MODE : I forgot to mention that another way to get
- yourself some major points and an enemy, in two player mode, is to shoot your
- partner by turning on the Competitive mode. It is now possible to shoot
- the other player and inflict some damage, depending on the weapon used. When
- in Competitive mode, a little 'c' will appear on the bottom of all the other
- statistics, so it IS possible to see if you opposite number has it in for
- you. Remember this option only works in two player mode. It could work on one
- player mode, but who the hell cares...
-
- KEYS : Keys can be found in specific places on each level that are required
- to open doors to new areas. There are usually a few of the same key, and a
- maximum of four keys in any one level.
-
- DOORS : Look out for these things, they can animate really well sometimes.
- Doors act as walls if you do not possess a key.
-
-
- --------------
- HINT AND TIPS:
- --------------
-
- * Avoid Death Floors if possible.
- * Shoot barrels, walls and other inanimate objects to reveal hidden passages,
- hidden health, ammo or money, or switches....
- * The more aliens you shoot in a short amount of time, the more points you
- can earn. For example, if you shoot 10 aliens in 5 seconds, you will get
- more points than if you shot 10 aliens in 10 seconds.
- * Remember where the Exit is located. (If you find it.)
- * In two player mode, try to share out the health and ammo equally.
- * Try to work as a team.
- * Some switches are hidden.
- * Buy some different weapons to achieve a combined action with your bullets.
- * Admire the animations.
- * Do not expect any great sound effects, music or anything else which may
- involve a sound card. The only sound you can expect to hear, is the PC
- sound when shooting your bullets.
- * Also, do not expect a load and save option. This game is best played from
- start to finish. (Besides, we couldn't be bothered.)
- * BUY THIS GAME. (PLEASE!) Read the screen after you quit the game for more
- information on payment.
-
-
- -------
- CHEATS
- -------
-
- When starting spasm start with the command line
-
- spasm [level] laser
-
- where [level] is the level number from 1-8 you want to play.
- eg;
-
- spasm 4 laser
-
- starts you on level 4 with invincibility mode on (keyword laser gives
- invincibility).
-
- -----------------------------
-
- Author's note - please read.
-
- -----------------------------
-
- This is a beta test version, it has 8 levels which are fully operational.
- it is freeware. It was written over a year ago and we just dusted off the
- cobwebs to put it out so that you could maybe have some fun with it. The
- only thing we ask is that you email us to tell us something about it - eg
- that you played it, thought it was crap/okay, any bugs you noticed, want
- more levels - whatever. Also it may be nice to know if you would pay for it
- if it had say 30 extra levels and was shareware. Anyway the two of us
- playing co-operatively took about hours to complete it, so there should be
- a lot of gametime/hours to waste in it.
-
- What we are working on now is a full screen smooth scrolling shoot-em-up
- in gauntlet style - with a view to selling a shoot-em-up constructor as
- shareware. It should be fully featured as all the designers we are using
- are our own and cool. We have tried several scrolling techniques and have
- chosen what seems to be the best, as well as using RLE and compiled sprites
- which are very fast. On my 286-16Mhz it was scrolling (reasonably
- unoptimized) at 30 frames per second with 40 spaceships onscreen and 100
- medium sized bits of fire onscreen. It was reasonably fast according to what
- we wanted, but should be good for a game and construction kit.
-
- please email for a beta or a copy, whatever is done when I hear from you
- (if anyone wants it - remmember it isn't 3D), and even for encouragement -
- or if you want to market or distribute it via shareware then definately! and
- thanks.
-
- bye.
-
-
- 'DECAY' is made up of Joel "The Anarmal" Utting and Roger Hunt.
-
- the email address is
-
- st956feb@echidna.cowan.edu.au
-
- and snailmail is
-
- 102 Bungaree Road
- WILSON WA 6107
- AUSTRALIA
-
-
- ...DECAY - WE ROT YOUR BRAIN...
-