     PHOTON STORM...BY JEFF MINTER..
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     DOX TYPED IN BY SCOOTER/SCOOPEX......27/7/90


     MISSION OVERVIEW.

TO KILL ALL THE ENIMIES IN AN ATTACK WAVE, THEREBY OPENING UP YOUR
STARGATE AND ENABLEING YOU TO WARP THROUGH HYPERSPACE TO THE NEXT LEVEL.

TO COLLECT AS MANY PLUTONIUM PODS AS POSSIBLE, WHICH CAN BE USED AS EXTRA
SHEILDING WHILST NEGOTIATING THE HYPER SPACE TUNNELBETWEEN LEVELS AND TO
PREVENT ENEMIES FROM COLLECTING PLUTONIUM PODS(WHICH ARE USED TO BUILD AND
ACTIVATE THE ENEMY BATTLESTAR). IF THE BATTLESTAR IS ACTIVATED YOU MUST DEFEAT
IT IN MORTAL COMBAT TO END THE WAVE AND OPEN THE STARGATE.

TO STAY ALIVE, GET FURTHER INTO THE ATTACK LEVELS, AND AMASS A TRULY AWESOME
SCORE.

    HOW TO PLAY PHOTON STORM.

ONCE THE GAME HAS LOADED, THE PHOTON STORM TITLE PAGE IS DISPLAYED, FROM THE
TITLE PAGE YOU MAY PRESS THE LEFT MOUSE BUTTON TO COMMENCE A ONE PLAYER GAME.
OR THE RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON FOR A TWO PLAYERS. IN TWO PLAYER MODE, PLAYERS
COMPETE FOR THE HIGHEST SCORE:WITH PLAY AOLTERNATING BETWEEN PLAYER ONE AND
PLAYER TWO EACH TIME A SHIP IS DESTROYED.
 
IF THE GAME IS NOT STARTED FROM THE TITLE PAGE, IT WILL DISPLAY VARIOUS
INFORMATION AND DEMONSTRATION SCREENS. PRESS THE LEFT MOUSE BUTTON TO INTERRUPT
ANY OF THESE AND RETURN TO THE TITLE SCREEN TO START A NEW GAME.
  
    HOW TO CONTROL YOUR SHIP

WHEN YOU BEGIN THE GAME, YOUR SHIP WILL APPEAR ON THE SCREEN, FOLLOWED SHORTLY
BY THE ENEMIES AND STARGATE. (THE STARGATE IS THE LARGE GLOWING TRIANGULAR
OBJECT YOU SEE ALMOST STRAIGHT AWAY WHEN YOU BEGIN THE GAME. ITS FUNCTION WILL
BE EXPLAINED FURTHER ON ). YOUR SHIP IS IN THE CENTER OF THE SCREEN; IT REMAINS
THERE THROUGHOUT THE GAME AND AS YOU FLY AROUND THE GAME WORLD MOVES RELATIVE
TO YOUR SHIP. THE SHIP AND ITS WEPONRY ARE CONTROLLED BY A COMBINATION OF MOUSE
AND KEYBOARD COMMANDS;

   FIRING:

FIRSTLY AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE LEFT HAND MOUSE BUTTON IS YOUR FIRE BUTTON.
HOLDING THIS DOWN RESULTS IN A TRIPLE BEAM OF LASER FIRE, AND TO BE BRUTALLY
HONEST, THERES NO REASON EVER TO LET UP FIRING UNTIL EVERYTHING IS DESTROYED
AND THE STARGATE IS OPEN..SO KEEP FIRING!!

LOOKING AT YOUR SHIP, YOU`LL SEE A SMALL WHITE BLIP NEXT TO IT. THIS BLIP
REPRESENTS THE AIMING POINT: YOU CAN CONTROL ITS POSITION BY MOVING THE
MOUSE.IF YOU HOLD DOWN FIRE WHILST DOING THIS. YOU CAN FIRE IN ANY DIRECTION
ALL AROUND YOUR SHIP-EVEN DIRECTLY BEHIND , IF THATS WHERE THE THREAT LIES.

   THRUST:

YOUR SECOND MOUSE BUTTON, THE RIGHT HAND MOUSE BUTTON CONTROLS THRUST, IF
THRUST IS NOT PRESSED, YOUR SHIP DRIFTS THROUGH SPACE AT WHATEVER ANGLE IT
HAPPENS TO BE TURNED TO.PRESSING THRUST CAUSES TWO THINGS TO HAPPEN: YOUR SHIP
ACCELARATES, AND IT ALSO TURNS TO FACE THE AIMING POINT. THUS BY COMBINATION OF
MOVING THE AIMINBG POINT AND USING THE THRUST BUTTON, YOU CAN TURN THE SHIP TO
GO WHEREVER YOU WANT, AND CONTROL THE SPEED OF TRAVEL. WHITH A LITTLE PRACTISE
YOU`LL FIND THE SHIP CONTROL BECOMES SECOND NATURE, AND YOU`LL BE ABLE TO
PERFORM VERY FAST MANOEURVRES AND EVEN MOVE IN ONE DIRECTION WHILST FIRING IN
THE OTHER-AN ESSENTIAL SKILL IN PHOTON STORM..

   BOOST

THERE IS A KEYBOARD CONTROL WHICH ALSO AFFECTS THE WAY YOUR SHIP FLIES. THATS
THE BOOST BUTTON - THE LEST SHIFT KEY ( NEST TO THE SPACE BAR ). HOLDING DOWN
BOOST DOUBLES THE SPEED OF YOUR SHIP, IN WHATEVER DIRECTION YOU ARE TRAVELLING.
USING BOOST TAKES ENERGY; YOUR AVAILABLE BOOST ENERGY IS SHOWN BY ONE OF THE
TWO LINEAR GAUGES IN THE SCORE AREA, TH EONE WITH THE SMALL FLAME BY IT. ALL
THE WHILE YOU HOLD DOWN BOOST, THE GAUGE COUNTS DOWN, WHEN IT REACHES ZERO, YOU
CAN CAN BOOST NO LONGER. HOWEVER, WHILE YOU ARE NOT BOOSTING, THE ENERGY
RECHARGES, ALBEIT SLOWLY. IF COMPLETLEY DEPLETE YOUR BOOST RESERVE, YOU MUST
ALLOW IT TO RECHARGE,BEYOND A CERTAIN THRESHOLD ( ABOUT A QUARTER OF THE GAUGE)
BEFOUR BOOST BECOMES AVAILABLE AGAIN.
  
    SMART BOMBS

PRESSING THE CONTROL KEY RELEASES A SMART BOMB ( WHICH DESTROYS ALL ENEMIES AND
MISSILES ON THE SCREEN). YOU BEGIN THE GAME WITH A STOCK OF FOUR SMART BOMBS;
THEY ARE SHOWN AS PURPLE SPHERES IN THE BOX TO THE LEFT OF THE CENTRAL SCANNER
IN THE SCORE AREA ( TO THE RIGHT, IF YOUR PLAYER TWO). EXTRA SMART BOMBS CAN BE
COLLECTED, WILL GIVE YOU EITHER A SMART BOMB, SOME INVINCIBILITY, OR AN EXTRE
LIFE.

    SINGLE BEAM

SINGLE BEAM IS PURLEY FOR THE CONFIDENT PLAYER. IT REDUCES THE TRIPLE LASER
BEAM TO A SINGLE BEAM; ANYTHING SHOT WITH  THE SINGLE BEAM YIELDS DOUBLE
POINTS. THUS,YOU CAN TAKE A RISK AND IF YOUR SKILLFUL ENOUGH YOULL BE REWARDED
WITH EXTRA POINTS. TO OBTAIN SINGLE BEAM, HOLD DOWN THE ALTERNATE KEY WHILST
FIRING.

    PHOTON STORM

YOUR MISSION OBJECTIVES HAVE ALREADY BEEN OUTLINED..IN ORDER TO CARRY OUT YOUR
MISSION, YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO FLY AND FIRE CONFIDENTLY AND TO USE THE SCANNER
AND HEAD UP DISPLAY.

THE SCANNER IS CENTRALLY LOCATED IN THE SCORE AREA, IT DISPLAYS OBJECTS IN THE
GAMEWORLD WHICH ARE NOT IMMEDIATELY VISIBLE ON YOUR SCREEN AS DIFFERENTLY
COLOURED BLIPS, YOU CAN USE IT TO FIND OUT WHATS LEFT OUT THERE, AND TO WARN
YOU OF INCOMING ATTACKERS.EFFECTIVE SCANNER USE IS ESSENTIAL TO SURVIVAL.

THE SCANNER IS CAPABLE OF COVERING THE WHOLE GAMEWORLD. THE CENTRE OF THE
SCANNER REPRESENTS WHERE YOUR SHIP IS. AS THE GAMEWORLS IS QUITE LARGE, THE
SCANNER FEATURES AUTOMATIC RESOLUTION SWITCHING. IF YOU ARE A LONG WAY FROM
ANY OTHER OBJECTS THE SCANNER ZOOMS OUT UNTIL IT PICKS UO AN OBJECT. AS YOU
APPROACH AN OBJECT, THE SCANNER STEPS DOWN ITS RESOLUTION TO GIVE YOU A MORE
LOCALISED VIEW OF THE IMMEDIATE REGION AROUND YOUR SHIP. THE SCANNER ZOOM
FACTOR IS DISPLAYED UNDERNEATH THE SCANNER;X8 IS THE MAXIMUM ZOOM OUT(COVERS
THE WHOLE GAME WORLD)X1 IS THE AREA IMMEDIATE TO YOUR SHIP.

ALWAYS KEEP AN EYE ON THE SCANNER IF YOU WANT TO SURVIVE. IF YOU DO NOT YOU
WILL DIE!!!

THE OTHER IMAGING SYSTEM IS THE HEAD UP DISPLAY.THIS CONSISTS SIMPLY OF
RUDIMENTRY GEOMETRIC OBJECTS SUPERIMPOSED UPON THE FEILD OF PLAY: A GREEN
TRIANGLE REPRESENTS THE LOCATION OF THE STARGATE, THE RED CIRCLE REPRESENTS THE
ENEMY BATTLE STAR. THE DISPLAY REPRESENTS A SCALED DOWN VERSION OF THE REAL
GAME WORLD WITH RESPECT TO YOUR SHIP.THUS, FLYING FLYING TOWARDS THE GREEN
TRIANGLE REPRESENTING THE STARGATE WOULD EVENTUALLY BRING YOU TO THE
ACTUAL,REAL.(OR AT LEAST IN AS MUCH AS A SPRITE ON A VIDEO SCREEN CAN BE
CONSIDERED TO BE ACTUAL OR REAL) STARGATE.

THE HEAD UP DISPLAY IS USED IN TWO MAIN SITUATIONS: WHEN YOUR LOOKING FOR A
STARGATE TO DO A WARP, AND WHEN AN ENEMY SHIP HAS STOLEN A PLUTONIUM ROD AND IS
CARRYING IT BACK TO THE BATTLESTAR..ENEMY SHIPS CARRYING PLUTONIUM APPEAR AS
WHITE CROSSES ON THE HEAD UP DISPLAY. YOU CAN EASILY PLOT ITS PROGRESS TOWARDS
THE ENEMY BATTLESTAR, AND SET COURSE TO INTERCEPT AND DESTROY. DESTROYING SUCH
LADEN ENEMY SHIPS YEILDS A BONUS, AND THE STOLEN PLUTONIUM IS RELEASED FOR YOU
TO COLLECT-ANOTHER BONUS.

SHOULD THE BATTLESTAR RECEIVE TO MUCH PLUTONIUM IT WILL ACTIVATE. WHEN THIS
HAPPENS ALL THE ENEMIES ,IN THE LEVEL DISAPPEAR EXCEPT FOR THE BATTLESTAR, AND
THE BATTLESTAR COMES TO GET YOU..UNLEASHING HORDES OF FERRETS IN YOUR GENERAL
DIRECTION..TO COMPLETE THE LEVEL AND OPEN THE STARGATE. YOU THEN HAVE TO
DESTROY THIS MONSTROSITY. A TASK INVOLVING LOTS OF HITS AND SOME NIFTY USE OF
BOOST.

YOUR ENEMIES

NOW YOU KNOW HOW TO FLY THE SHIP AND USE THE SCANNERS AND THAT YOU MUST COLLECT
THE PLUTONIUM. BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR OBJECTIVES STAND(OR IN MANY
CASES,OOZE,GLURP AND SLITHER) AN EMETIC HERD OF PSYCOPATHIC ALIENS GUARANTEED
TO GIVE ANY SANE MINDED SENTIENT BEING THE SCREAMING XENOPHOBIC HEEBIE
JEEBIES.DEFYING ALL NATURAL LAWS AND WITHOUT BENEFIT OF A SPACESHIP,THESE
CREEPS PROPEL THEMSELVES THROUGH SPACE INTENT UPON A SINGLE AIM:TO SPLATTER
YOUR ATOMS. SOME MERELY ATTEMPT TO COLLIDE WITH YOUR SHIP.OTHERS LAY MINES OR
FIRE BULLETS:OTHERS UNLEASH STREAMS OF FIREBALLS:AND MANY DO MORE THAN ONE OF
THESE THINGS  AT A TIME :OPPONENTS RANGING FROM SEMI-SENTINENT LUMPS OF ROCK TO
BEINGS OF PURE ENERGY AND COLOUR,BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL BUT WITH A BLACK HOLE
FOR A HEART AND HOMICVIDE ON THEIR MINDS..MOST INSIDIUS OF ALL(OR AT LEAST ON
LATER LEVELS) ARE THE GREEN ORB LIKE ABDUCTORS, WHICH SEEK OUT AND CAPTURE
FLOATING PLUTONIUM PELLETS AND TAKE EM BACK TO THE BATTLE STAR.

TO MAKE YOUR LASERS MORE POWERFUL...SHOOTING ONE OF THE STARFLAKE ENEMIES
RELEASES A PELLET WHICH SOMETIMES WILL BE BLUE WITH A `W` ON IT..COLLECT IT
BEFORE IT GOES AND YOU`LL HAVE ULTRA-PURPLE LASERS..WHICH LAST 30 SECONDS OR
SO..THEN THERES SMART BOMBS..THESE PINK ORBS ARE THE MOST COMMON FOR SHOOTING A
STARFLAKE  AND THEY LET YOU VAPORISE EVERY ENEMY ON THE SCREEN..AND ALL
PLUTONIUM PODS ARE COLLECTED AUTOMATICALLY..PLUS YOU GET 5 SECONDS OF
SHEILD..DONT HESIATE IF YOU HAVE ONE USE IT!!!

YOU CAN ALSO GET 30 SECONDS OF SHEILD BY PICKING UP GREEN ORBS..RELEASED BY THE
STARFLAKES..WHEN YOU HAVE ONE USE THE TIME ,TO DESTROY THE TRICKIER TARGETS TO
GAIN EXTRA POINTS..BY SHOOTING WITH THE SINGLE BEAM WITHOUT RISK..

ALL ABOUT PLUTONIUM

YOU ARE TO TRY TO GET/COLLECT UP THIS STUFF AND TAKE IT BACK TO STARGATE FOR A
BIG BONUS..YOU COLLECT IT BY JUST RUNNING RIGHT OVER IT,YOU CAN COLLECT MORE
THAN ONE PIECE AND THEY ALL STREAM OUT BEHINJD YOUR SHIP,,IN FACT THE MORE YOU
CARRY THE MORE POINTS YOU`LL COLLECT!!..PICK UP AS MUCH AS YOU DARE AND GET
BACK TO THE STARGATE,,YOU WILL BE REWARDED BY MULTI COLOURED BONUS POINTS TINY
IN STATURE BUT FAT IN NATURE.FLYING THROUGH SPACE, YOU`LL NOTICE HITHERTO
MYSTERIOUS OTHER GAUGE UNDERNEATH NTHE BOOST GAUGE INCREASING..THE PELLETS YOU
COLLECT THE BETTER,AS YOU FIND OUT ON FINISHING A LEVEL.

FINISHING A LEVEL

OTHERWISE KNOWN AS OPENING A STARGATE..THIS OCCURS WHEN ALL THE ENEMIES(APART
FROM THE BATTLESTAR WHICH CANNOT BE DESTROYED IF IT IS ACTIVATED) ARE KILLED
THE MESSAGE

THE GATE IS OPEN--THE WAY IS CLEAR

APPEARS ON THE HEAD UP DISPLAY..THIS IS THE SIGNAL TO HEAD FOR THE
STARGATE..FLYING THROUGH LEADS YOU TO THE WAY.A MULTI COLOURED HYPERSPATIAL
TUNNEL DOWN WHICH YOU MUST FLY YOUR SHIP TO REACH THE BONUSES AND THE WARP TO
THE NEXT LEVEL..THE FIRST FEW WAYS ARE VERY VERY EASY..BUT THE LATER ONES CAN
BE TRICKY..YOU MUST AVOID FLYING OUTSIDE THE WALLS OF THE WAY..YOU CAN SUSTAIN
A NUMBER OF HITS DENOTED BY THE NUMBER OF GREEN PIXELS IN THE OSCILLATING CHAIN
SUPERIMPOSED ON THE BOTTOM OF THE DISPLAY.EACH COLLISION WITH THE WALLS RESULTS
IN THE LOSS OF ONE PIXEL..TO MANY COLLISIONS RESULTS IN EXPLOSION AND ALTHOUGH
YOU DONT LOSE A LIFE YOU ARE RESET TO THE BEGINNING OF THE LEVEL AND LOSE YOUR
BONUS POINTS..FLY DOWN SUCCESFULLY AND YOU`LL GET A BONUS FOR EVERY SHEILD
REMAINING. THE OTHER WAY OF OPENING THE GATE OCCURS WHEN THE BATTLESTAR IS
ACTIVATED..DESTROY THE BATTLESTAR AND ITS DELUGE OF FERRETS TO OPEN THE GATE
AND ENTER THE WAY.

MORE ON STARGATE

IF THERE IS ANYWHERE IN THE GAMEWORLD, A PLUTONIUM PELLET BEING ABDUCTED THE
GATE TELEPORTS YOU TO THE VICINITY

IF NO ABDUCTION IS OCCURING, THE STARGATE TRIES TO WARP YOU ONTO A FREE
FLOATING PELLET

IF THERE ARE NO PLUTO-PELLETS, THE STARGATE TRIES TO PUT YOU NEAR A STARFLAKE

IF THERE ARE NO STARFLAKES, THE STARGATE TRIES TO PUT YOU NEAR ANYTHING AT ALL
STILL ALIVE IN THE GAMEWORLD

IF THERES NOTHING AT ALL AROUND..THE STARGATE JUST WARPS YOU ON DOWN THE GALAXY
A BIT


GENERAL GAME HINTS

TRY TO LEARN TO MOVE IN ONE DIRECTION AND SHOOT IN THE OTHER..THUS YOU CAN RUN
AND STILL DISH OUT PHOTONS!!!

DEVOLP A SQUINT SO YOU CAN KEEP AN EYE ON THE SCANNER, SCANNER USE IS
ESSENTIAL.

USE THE STARGATE..PRESERVE BOOST FOR THE CRITICAL MOMENTS IN A DOGFIGHT

RESCUE THE PLUTO-PELLETS FOR BINUSES..LONG CHAINS MEAN BIG BONUSES!!

OPEN STARFLAKES AND COLLECT THE BONUSES THEY YEILD..NEVER HESITATE TO USE A
SMART BOMB

USE GENTLE MOTIONS WITHIN THE WAY UNTIL YOU ARE USED TO IT..


PAUSE MODE.

THERE IS A PAUSE MODE..PRESS RIGHT SHIFT KEY DURING PLAY TO HALT THE
ACTION.PRESS Q TO QUIT THE GAME(AS USUAL)..AND GIVE EM HELL!!!
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