Star Ferret Deluxe Instruction Manual

          =====================================

 

Contents:

1.     Welcome/Features

2.     System Requirements

3.     Installing/Repairing/Uninstalling

4.     What’s the Story?

5.     Controls

6.     Characters/Objects

7.     Hey, man! What am I supposed to do?

8.     On screen info

9.     Cheats

10.         Contact Info

 

1. Welcome/Features

===================

 

Hi! Thanks for your interest in Star Ferret Deluxe! This is my first Windows game. Here are some of the features (features with a *s are ones I added and were not in the original version written by Andre LaMothe):

 

Ø      640x480 resolution with 256 colors

Ø      *Sound effects pan according to where they are on the screen*

Ø      A plethora of sound effects and voices

Ø      Fast paced action reminiscent of classics such as Asteroids and Galaga

Ø      Dodge and blast through fields of asteroids and *alien spacecraft*

Ø      *Fearsome bosses*

Ø      *Cool scaling effects*

Ø      And other cool things that I can’t remember right now

 

2. Requirements

===============

 

Please see the readme for system requirements.

 

3. Installing/Repairing/Uninstalling

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Please see the readme for details.

 

4. What’s the Story?

====================

 

(Ok, there’s not much of a story right now. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.)

 

In the year 4242, there arose a great evil known only as the Dark Master. A being born from the souls of the evil and corrupt, the Dark Master’s one undying goal is to eradicate all life and then time itself. Having possessed the knowledge of all the mad scientists and evil geniuses to ever live, he built a series of powerful robots known as Dedys (pronounced “dead-is”). He also recruited a greedy and bloodthirsty race of aliens known as the Zyvx (pronounced “ziv-icks”) by promising them control over all things if they would aid him. He gave them the ability to pass through the asteroids that littered his realm without harm. Little did they know that after eliminating everything else, he would do the same to them.

 

Enter Star Ferret. You are the brave, star-hopping, hero. You alone have the power to intercept the Dark Master in his own realm before he unleashes chaos upon the world. You are given a single laser cannon that can penetrate the Dedyses thick armor (and hopefully the Dark Master’s, too) and a handful of neutron bombs (budget cutbacks, you know).

 

You enter into the Dark Master’s realm and await the first wave of resistance…

 

5. Controls

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The controls are very simple. Here they are broken up into mouse, keyboard and joypad sections

 

Keyboard

--------

Arrow keys: moves Star Ferret

Space or left ctrl: Fire blasters

Left shift: set off a bomb (destroys all enemies on screen. Does not affect the bosses)

Escape: Skip the intro; Exit game

P: Pause the game

 

Mouse

-----

Moving the mouse: moves Star Ferret

Left mouse button: Fire blasters

Right mouse button: set off a bomb

 

Joypad

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Directional pad: moves Star Ferret

Button 1: Fire blasters

Button 2: set off a bomb

 

The mouse and joypad are a bit more responsive, so I recommend using one of them.

 

6. Characters/Objects

=====================

 

Star Ferret

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This is you, the mighty hero. It is your job to brave the asteroid field and save the world from the Dark Master.

 

Bomb

----

 

This is your trusty bomb. One of these will clear the entire screen of Zyvxes and asteroids. Beware, though, because they have no effect on bosses! You’ll be tossed an extra bomb every 40,000 points.

 

Asteroids

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Big dumb rocks. They split into smaller pieces when shot with your blasters. The bigger they are, the more damage they do.

 

Zyvxes

------

 

These alien ships bound around the screen at great speeds. However, they aren’t very strong. One shot will bring them down. The damage they do is proportional to the speed they’re traveling.

 

Hellfire

--------

 

Drawn from the Dark Realm itself, these are the only means of attack that the bosses have. However, they do MAJOR damage, so steer clear of them!

 

Dedys (boss)

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These make up the Dark Master’s elite front line. They become more powerful as you progress.

 

The Dark Master (final boss)

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???

???

???

 

He’s waiting for you…

 

 

7. Hey, man! What am I supposed to do?

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Fly around and shoot everything you see! Don’t run into anything except extra bombs! That’s about it.

 

8. On screen info

=================

 

In the top left of the screen is your score and the high score. At the top in the middle is the damage you have sustained. If it hits 100% or more, you lose a life. In the top right there is the current level you are on and the number of points you need to get an extra life. In the bottom left there is the number of lives you have left (represented by the number next to the small Star Ferret ship) and the number of bombs you have (the number next to the small bomb).

 

9. Cheats

=========

 

Yep, there are cheats. But you have to beat the game to learn how to enable them! When enabled, “Cheats Enabled = “ and a number will appear in the center of the top of the screen. The number is the number of cheats enabled.

 

NOTE: If you disable cheats, any cheats you’ve turned on will be turned off!!!

 

(NOTE: For the convenience of you beta testers, cheats are on by default. The function keys F1 through F11 activate the individual cheats)

 

10. Contact Info

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PLEASE send feedback, suggestions, bug reports, hate mail, etc., to jcharr1@bellsouth.net