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*   SECTOR SHOCK   *
*     BY: RYAN     *
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Program: SECTOR SHOCK
Release: 11-19-07
Version: 1.0

Introduction:

The Hershen alien horde is advancing on your sector, but you are well equipped
to deal with their menace. Your ship has adapted to draw power from the constant
solar flares giving you a faster speed, boost abilities, and a shock cannon.
Take advantage of your ship's special characteristics to beat back the horde
before it consumes your home.

Controls:

Arrow Keys - Movement
W,A,S,D    - Fire shock cannon
Space bar  - Boost jump (dodge/mount)
Shift      - Hold to probe an enemy when mounted
           - With a charged ion cannon, shoots ion charge on Shift + W,A,S,D
Ctrl       - Hold + W,A,S,D to deploy a turret in the specified direction
Esc        - Pause/Quit

Troubleshooting:

If you can't start the game up, it may be due to a video mode incompatible with
your graphics card.  Please open up settings.ini and adjust the video settings
and try again.

You'll notice the .ini file contains some other debug utilities you can use to
check your FPS, see a bullet/portal/enemy counter, start on any game level, and
more.  Feel free to play around with it.

Background:

I don't have all the details ironed out yet, but an alien invasion that has been
ravaging the neighboring sectors in your star system has finally come to your
sector.  Not content to keel over and die, you decide to show them what it feels
like to invade SECTOR SHOCK.

You are a special race of alien ship that is small and mobile.  You can move
faster than your enemies and apply a boost that effectively "jumps" over your
enemy.  Jumping keeps you safe from attack, but it also prevents you from firing
while jumped and for a split second after you land while your shock recharges.
Furthermore, your ship is constantly charged by your sun's solar flares,
so you can shoot shock charges to disable the enemies.  Disabled enemies' ships
are defenseless against the solar flares and will explode a little while after
they are disabled.

An enemy turns dark when it is disabled.  If you jump and land on a disabled
ship, you have mounted it.  When mounted, you can hold shift to extend your alien
proboscis and suck the ion core out of the invaders.  With enough power in your
ion cannon, you can shoot out an ion charge by holding shift and firing in any
direction.  These shots are a little slower but much more powerful.

In waves containing brown repair drones, using this probe move on a disabled
drone will repair your ship instead of charge your ion cannon.

Your ship's status is the measure of its defenses.  You have shields (green),
a reinforced hull (yellow), and a little bit of life running on just your core
systems (red).  Each level of defense is weaker than the last, and when you're
all out you are dead.  Enemy ships right now just have a leech life ability, but
improved AI and attacks are in the works.  You are most vulnerable when extending
your proboscis, since enemies can leech from your proboscis up until you actually
start retrieving the ion core from the disabled ship.

As the game progresses and the waves get tougher to beat, you'll need to take
advantage of some special auto-firing turrets.  An indicator will appear beneath
your status bar when you have a turret available.  The turrets will last longer
and longer as you go farther in the game.

Level Advancement:

SECTOR SHOCK consists of 25 waves of attacks that get progressively harder, with
the last 5 being all out assaults on your home sector.  If you should last
to defeat all the enemies, you will be able to live in relative peace for the
rest of your alien life.

As you complete waves, your ship's attributes will increase.  Enemies will also
get harder, but you will receive faster shot rates, ion cannon upgrades, and more
to make sure you have a sporting chance.

Special bonuses:

As long as you complete waves with full health, you will receive a perfect clear
bonus equal to the wave completed * 50 points.  Furthermore, at the end of the
game, you will receive a fat bonus based on your hit rate (which is calculated by
dividing the total number of hits by the total number of shots fired by you or
by a turret).  Use these bonuses to boost your high score!

And for crying out loud... post those high scores online!

Contact:

Ryan Szrama - ryan.szrama@gmail.com

http://freebasic.tracker.net (a W.I.P. FB site)
http://www.bywombats.com/blog/ryan (my blog)
http://www.ubercart.org (my day job and uber-hobby)