ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» .  º GRAVITATION º . . ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ  v1.3 . . by  James Shaughnessy . (C) 1998 BACKGROUND ---------- This game is intended to provide an extreme skill challenge, for one or two players. It is kept deliberately simple in visuals and control, in order to maximise the intricacies of the hand-eye coordination required to beat your opponent or that record time, and to pay hommage to the retro style of gravity games of the 8 and 16-bit era. A major feature of this game is its pixel-perfect collision detection, which is required to test your precision flying skills to the maximum -- be it taking a corner in a race within a pixel of the apex, or dodging an opponent's onslaught of bullets with pinpoint accuracy. There's very little room for luck, but for the PODS that randomly deploy powerups around a course which can either impede or enhance your chances of suvival. It is based around two main types of game, a RACE mode where 1 or 2 players race around one of nine circuits in a bid to be the first to complete three laps in the shortest possible time (using as many devious tactics as you can!), and a DOGFIGHT mode where it's purely a battle to the death. Record time-trial times are loaded on startup, which can be witnessed by watching the DEMO mode, giving hints as to the style you'll need to adopt in order to become a Gravitation master. KEYS: Thrust : Cross Primary Fire : Up / Circle / L1 / R1 Secondary Fire : Down / L2 / R2 Reverse Thrust : Triangle Airbrake : Square Steering : Left + Right (digital or analog) Pause game : Start Quit to menu : Select [ *** NOTE! To start in NTSC mode, hold down the TRIANGLE button upon startup, (until you hear a 'ping'). Alternatively, the video mode can be changed freely in the options menu. NOTE also that the physics are identical in PAL and NTSC (new for v1.3) so race record times CAN be compared worldwide ***] To run type SIOCONS AUTO at the DOS prompt. Once ran, type SIOCONS QUICK to save loading in all the maps/sfx etc. again. This game takes the concept of gravitational games one step further, something like a cross between Thrust/Bomberman/MicroMachines. The main inspiration was a 1987 public domain game called Gravity Force on the Amiga, so thanks to Stephan Wenzler for creating my favourite game of the time! Two different game modes can be selected, RACE or DOGFIGHT. In RACE mode you have to complete three laps of the course, the path being marked out by eight gate pairs (and displayed on the menu screen by a green line on the map icon). You have infinite lives, but get put back to the starting point if you crash. Weapons can be turned off for a more pure racing experience if you wish, and in one-player mode it serves as a time-trial. There are some special race tactics to perfect as it's the person with the best time that wins -- not necessarily the first to finish. BUT, when the first player finishes 3 laps they can go on a man-hunt and kill the opponent who now has to finish WITHOUT crashing. (Your timer starts when you choose to set off -- a novel twist in racing history!) My current time-trial course records are loaded by default on startup (these can be reset). You can see these actual times take place (if you're in PAL mode), just wait in the menu screen for the demomode to activate (20 seconds), or you can force a map's demo by pressing the CIRCLE on the MAP n menuitem. Beat these times and you are officially a Gravitation expert! Each map has a recorded demo. [Note: demomode will not begin if you are on the CD PLAY menuitem with a CD playing (so can just enjoy the music obviously!). Note also that there are 2 different demos for each map, PAL and NTSC versions.] In DOGFIGHT mode the aim of course is simply to rid your opponent of all their lives. You will do this mainly by shooting them or causing them to crash. By picking up special PODS that appear randomly throughout the game you can upgrade your weapons (rapid fire, backshot, laserfire, spiralshot bulletmines etc.) or cause something nasty to happen to your opponent (or you! see * below) (reverse-G, high-G, reverse steering, single-shot, weapon loss etc.) Extra lives and Invulnerability are available too. You can land your ship almost anywhere, as long as the ground under the landing pads is level. When invulnerable you can't use any of your weapons and your airbrake will temporarily cease to work, but you'll find out that it's worth having, just keep an eye on the time bar! See the in-game HELP screen for a full POD listing. The CROSS thrusts your ship forwards, TRIANGLE thrusts backwards (new for v1.3!) and the SQUARE acts as a VERY useful airbrake. There's only two main firebuttons, a standard single shot fire (POD upgradable), and a special fire (upon POD collection), to avoid being over-complicated; but you can of course use the actual PAD button that best suits the moment. I guess a lot of beginners will find controlling the ship quite difficult at first but stick with it and you should discover a classic game format with some all-new features, making it game, I hope, everyone will want! [* Odds are 1 in 6 against the ship collecting the pod.] [ Do you feel lucky, punk? Well, do you? ] Cheers, Jim 20th August (c)1998 ----------------------------------------- James Shaughnessy james@manc.u-net.com http://www.netyaroze-europe.com/~shaughnj -----------------------------------------