PHOENIX FIGHTERS Manual (1.5) What is Phoenix Fighters? System Requirements Installation Controls Game Modes Game Details Fighter Ships Weapons and Equipment Hints and Tips Credits Contact Bitwise Contact Alive Mediasoft (C)1999 Bitwise / Alive Mediasoft Ltd. WHAT IS PHOENIX FIGHTERS? Phoenix Fighters is a "gravity" game in the style of the classics like Gravity Force and Thrust. There have many games in this genre in the past and we have played them all - we feel that we have taken the best bits of them all and compiled them in one great game! You are one of the elite Phoenix Fighters pilots and are required to do all kinds of dangerous missions; Destroy enemies, make investigations, navigate narrow passes, prove your ship handling skills, carry reactors... You will receive rewards from completed missions which can used to buy new ships or update your old ones. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS An Amiga computer with minimum of 1MB RAM and KS1.3. PAL display mode. Supports hard disk and takes advantage of extra RAM and faster processors. INSTALLATION The installation of Phoenix Fighters is done using the standard installer utility. Double click the install icon on the CD/disk1 and follow the instructions. If dos.library v36 or greater is present there is no need of any assigns. For earlier ROM's an assign will be needed if the game is started from workbench icon or if it's started in a shell from a directory other than the directory containing the files (like "pf/phoenixfighters"). As assigns, both "PhoenixFighters:" and "PF:" will be searched. You may also run Phoenix Fighters directly from the CD or the disks. The configuration and race record file will be saved upon exiting. GAME CONTROLS You can control the game with joysticks and/or keyboard. The game also supports 2-button joysticks and joypads. Menu Controls In-Game Controls Equipment Screen Docking Moving Power Units MENU CONTROLS The menus are controlled with a Joystick or the keyboard. For a keyboard, the cursor keys plus return and escape keys are used. For entering mission codes and a name for the race record table, the keyboard must be used. IN-GAME CONTROLS MISC CONTROLS P Pause game <Del> Player one self destruct <Help> Player two self destruct <Esc> Exit to menu JOYSTICK CONTROLS Left Rotate left Right Rotate right Forward Fire with current weapon ¹ Back Change to next weapon ¹ Fire Thrust ¹ These are the default configuration for joystick. It is possible to configure the joystick actions for fire weapon, change weapon and thrust. Default configuration is set to control the ship with a joystick. We feel it might be easier to use the keyboard though. ¹ Assignable to one of button 1, button 2, forward or back. PRESET KEYS When controlling the ship with the keyboard it is possible to configure which keys to use. Due to hardware limitations it is hard to find suitable keys for both players on an A1200 keyboard. This is because most keys will lock up other keys on the same row on the keyboard. Because of this, there are two presets to choose from too. One which will work on A1200 keyboards and one which is better for keyboards without the unfortunate restrictions of the A1200. Normal keyboard keys Player one: Z Rotate left X Rotate right R Fire weapon (up) F Change weapon (down) D Thrust (select) Player two: , Rotate left . Rotate right [ Fire weapon (up) ' Change weapon (down) ; Thrust (select) A1200 keyboard keys Player one: Left Alt Rotate left Left Amiga Rotate right E Fire weapon (up) S Change weapon (down) Z Thrust (select) Player two: Right Amiga Rotate left Right Alt Rotate right ( ¹ Fire weapon (up) ) ¹ Change weapon (down) 7 ¹ Thrust (select) ¹ Numeric keyboard Words in parenthes are the respective key's action when you are in docking mode. There should normally not be any need to use any other key configuration than one of the two presets above - they really gives the best control over the ship. If you decide to use other keys, keep in mind to pick them so that they also have a meaningful placement when they are used in docking mode. Also, it is strongly recommended to control rotation of the ship with one hand and fire, change weapon and thrust with the other hand. EQUIPMENT SCREEN When you dock with your ship you are presented with an equipment screen looking something like this: _____________________________________________________ / ____________ ___________________________________ \ Action box ----->(____________) | | | / __________ | 4 | | / | | |___________________________________| | Object box ---->| | ___________ ___________ _________ | | |__________| | | | | | | | Ship copies ----------->(_) | | | | | | | | / \ | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | Ship box -------->| | | | | | | | | | \____/ | | | | | | | \________ |___________| |___________| |_________| | \______________________________________________/ Forward/back on joystick selects between ACTION BOX, OBJECT BOX and SHIP BOX. The currently active box is shown in brighter colours. ACTION BOX Here you select one out of nine possible actions. Left on joystick changes the left word between buy, sell and repair. Right changes the right word between equipment, weapon and ship. That way there are self-explanatory combinations like "Buy Ship" or "Repair Weapon". You can buy fuel under the "Repair Ship" command. More ammunition can be bought under the "Buy Weapon" command and by selecting one of the weapons (in Object Box) that you already have. OBJECT BOX Left and right chooses between different equipment, weapons, ships and so forth depending on what is selected in the action box. Pressing fire in the object box will perform the action which is set in the action box. For example, repair a damaged weapon which is shown in the object box or sell your currently active ship(s). SHIP BOX Left and right selects the active ship to use from your ship storage. Pressing fire in this box leaves the equipment screen. SHIP COPIES This shows how many copies of the selected ship you have. Everything you buy or sell affects all copies of the ship. When you buy a ship you always get three copies. OTHER BOXES The other boxes contains text information. Box (1) shows the name of the active ship and what engine it uses. It also shows the number of weapons that can be mounted to the ship and which weapons are currently mounted. Box (2) shows a list of equipment that the ship have. Box (3) tells you how much cash you have and the physical specifications of your ship. The information in box (4) contains specific information regarding your selected action. For example, information about a weapon that you want to buy. DOCKING You can dock your ship at your base to buy, sell and make repairs. To dock you need to: o Land on your base. o Pull joystick back (or use the same key as for changing weapon) for a few seconds. If your ship is equipped with a functional docking computer (all ships have this equipment by default) the landing will be easier. Don't land too hard or you will suffer damage from the impact! In one player missions, the time will stop as soon as the player has docked. This means that repairs and upgrades can be carefully planned without running out of time. In two player missions, the time will stop if both players are docked. MOVING POWER UNITS (or reactors) WITH GRIP CLAW The power unit is a small electrical ball which are mainly used in missions. You can attach your ship to a power unit if your ship is equipped with a grip claw. To attach you need to: o Position your ship near the ball. o Pull joystick back (or use the same key as for changing weapon) to send out the grip claw. o When the grip claw is attached to the ball, fly away. Power units can (and usually must) be dropped in special power unit holders. To leave a power unit, simply descend slowly towards the holder. There is an attraction force between the power unit and holder, which will simplify the process. Some mission only have a limited amount of Power Units, so be careful with them! GAME MODES Phoenix Fighters has several types of game modes for one and two simultaneous players. You get unlimited continues on missions. The mission timer will not start before lift-off - that way you can do all the shopping you like with no hurry! You will get a password after three completed missions. ONE PLAYER MISSION For each mission you are first given a short briefing on your task. Each mission must be accomplished within the given time before you can proceed to the next. When you complete a mission, you will receive bonus cash for the level and cash depending on how much time you had left in the mission. ONE PLAYER GATE RACE You should make two laps in the shortest amount of time. The goal is to get a good time and a place in the race record table. There are three modes for the race, slow, normal and fast, each with a respective record table. There will not pop up any goodies in the race and you will not be able to dock your ship. When the race is over, you will also see information about the distance flown and what the average speed was. ONE PLAYER GEM RACE This is a race pretty much like one player gate race. But it is mainly for the really skilled pilots. Instead of passing gates you should pick up, or shoot, diamonds that pops up. TWO PLAYER MISSION Like one player missions, but these missions will require cooperation between the two players. TWO PLAYER GATE RACE AND TWO PLAYER GEM RACE For two player races, you do not compete for a place in the record table, but against you opponent.