Smashteroid (c) 2001 NewCreature Design
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    Info

        Smashteroid is a clone of the old Intellivision game
        Astrosmash.  Your job is to defend Earth from the onslaught of
        asteroids.  Features three game modes with exciting new twists.

    Requirements

        A 486 or higher PC
        VGA or better graphics card
        DOS or Win9x/Me operating system

    Optional

        Joystick
        Sound card

    Controls

        Keyboard

            Space/Ctrl:  Fire laser
            Up:          Toggle autofire
            Down:        Hyperspace
            Left/Right:  Move laser turret
            Escape:      Pause

        Joystick

            Button 1:    Fire laser
            Button 2:    Hyperspace
            Up:          Toggle Autofire
            Left/Right:  Move laser turret

    Playing the Game

        Controlling Your Laser Turret

            The laser turret can be moved from left to right using the
            left/right buttons mentioned above.

            Pressing the fire button generates a laser that fires
            straight upward.

            The hyperspace button warps you to a random location on the
            screen.  Pressing left+hyperspace makes you warp to a
            random position to the left of where you are.  Pressing
            right+hyperspace does the same but to the right.

            Pressing the autofire button toggles autofire.  This isn't
            very useful, but since Astrosmash had this feature, we
            included it.

        Game Object Descriptions

            When the game starts, objects will begin falling from the
            top of the screen.  Most of the objects are asteroids.
            When shot they give you some points (amount depends on what
            level you're on).  When big asteroids are shot, sometimes
            they will split into smaller ones.

            Spinners are one of the more dangerous objects in the game.
            These must be shot before they hit the ground or else you
            lose a life.  If you think you won't be able to get to one
            in time to shoot it, use the hyperspace button.

            Guided missiles pose another threat.  These missiles hunt
            you down.  You can shoot them or try to dodge them.  If one
            gets too close to you, you can use hyperspace to avoid
            being hit.

            When you reach level 3 a new object is introduced into the
            game, the UFO.  These move across the top of the screen and
            fire bombs at you.  Try to shoot them down, unless it's too
            risky, because they give you lots of points.

            In deluxe mode there are also bosses every couple of
            levels.  Each boss follows a certain pattern so you might
            find it helpful to discover the patterns.

        Game Screen

            The upper portion of the screen is the gameplay area.  This
            is where the action takes place.  At the bottom there are a
            few different indicators which you need to be aware of.

            Score

                Your score is indicated by the big white numbers on the
                leftmost part of the status bar.

            Lives

                Your amount of lives is displayed just to the right of
                the score.  This is indicated by the green turrets and
                numbers.

            Level

                Your current level is displayed at the far right of the
                status bar.  Level changes occur depending on the score
                and the game mode.

                Deluxe Mode

                    Level 1 - Start
                    Level 2 - 2,500
                    Level 3 - 7,500
                    Level 4 - 15,000
                    Level 5 - 25,000
                    Level 6 - 37,500
                    Level 7 - 50,000
                    Level 8 - 62,500
                    Level 9 - 75,000

                Survival/Classic Mode

                    Level 1 - Start
                    Level 2 - 1,000
                    Level 3 - 5,000
                    Level 4 - 20,000
                    Level 5 - 50,000
                    Level 6 - 100,000
                    Level 7 - 200,000
                    Level 8 - 500,000
                    Level 9 - 1,000,000

    Game Modes

        Deluxe

            This is the main attraction.  Play through 9 levels and
            defeat the 4 bosses to complete the game and unlock the
            secrets.

            Rules

                Start with 4 lives

                1-ups awarded every 4000 points

                Turret upgraded after each level (you can move faster)

                Can't lose points

        Survival

            See how long you can survive.

            Rules

                Start with 10 lives

                No 1-ups awarded

                Can't lose points
               
        Classic

            The classic gameplay you remember from Astrosmash.

            Rules

                Start with 4 lives

                1-ups awarded every 1000 points

                Lose points when asteroids hit the ground and when life
                is lost
                 
    Command Line Arguments

        -v:     Display the current version number

        -c:     Go to configuration screen (DOS version only)

    Changing Configuration (DOS verion only)

        If you're using the DOS version it may be necessary for you to
        configure the game to get it to work the way you want it to.
        The first time you run the game, the configuration screen will
        come up.  Here you can change the sound configuration.  Your
        choices are Off, Mono, Stereo, and Reverse Stereo.  The only
        sound mode that might need explanation is Reverse Stereo mode.
        Some sound cards when trying to emulate the Sound Blaster will
        swap the left and right channels.  Use this mode if the sound
        effects are coming from the wrong direction.  If you need to
        get back to the configuration screen, use the above mention
        command line argument or just run the included SETUP.BAT.

    Contacting NewCreature Design

        If you have general questions about our programs or anything
        else you can contact us via e-mail.  Please report any bugs you
        find in our software as well.  Please visit our web site for
        for our latest updates and releases.

        E-mail Address

            todd@ncdgames.com

        Web Address

            http://www.ncdgames.com