Panic! Shooter readme v1.21 (Yes, this changed too!)

====Getting Started

To play this game, you need the .NET Framework installed.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=262D25E3-F589-4842-8157-034D1E7CF3A3&displaylang=en

This version fixes several bugs with v1.2, such as Player 2 not being able to Panic Attack properly at times, and bosses hitting nonexistant bullets.



===Buttons

==General

Esc		Exits the game or returns to the config screen.
F12		Takes a screenshot without all the messy blurriness. (.PNG format)
F1 or F3		Pause the game.


==Player 1 controls

W		Foreward thrust.
S		Reverse thrust.
A		Turn counterclockwise.
D		Turn clockwise.
Space		Fire
Q		"Where am I?" button.
F		Panic Button (Story mode only)


==Player 2 controls

Up		Foreward thrust.
Down		Reverse thrust.
Left		Turn counterclockwise.
Right		Turn clockwise.
Numpad 0	Fire
Numpad .		"I'm looooooooost!" button.
Numpad Enter	Panic Button (Still story mode only, player 2 isn't special :p)



===Gameplay

==Control

This game controls like this: You turn, and you go foreward and backward. You can't strafe. If you have played games like Asteroids, Space Duel, Graviton, and Recwar before, you know what this is like.


==The point

THESE SHIPS HAVE GUNS. BLOW STUFF UP.



===Configuration Screen

Open up Fig 1.bmp for reference.

1. Use these buttons to select your ship.
2. These show you the currently selected ship's statistics.
3. Control style button. Press this to change your control style.

	Brake:	The ship stops upon release of the thrust. Turning does not decrease your speed. Think of this like a car.
	Coast:	Thrust is applied in the current direction. Speed decays over time. Think of this like a hovercraft.
	Cruise:	Newtonian physics. Thrust is applied in the current direction. Speed does not decrease. Think of this like the game Asteroids.

4. Team button. Click this to change the number of teams.*
5. Friendly Fire button. Click to enable the damaging of your teammates.*
6. Rule button. Changes the game's rules.
7. Change the number of computer controlled players.*
8. Enables the display of HP and Energy meters above players.
9. Options. Set the number of rounds, amount of time, or the starting mission.
10. Opens up the Ship editor.
11. I sincerely hope you don't need to know what this is.

* Does not affect story mode.



===Game Rules

==Survival
The last one standing wins the round. The first to win the set number of rounds wins the game.


==Kills match
The one who scores the most kills in a set amount of time wins. Players who die regenerate after a time.


==Story mode
Why are all these universes merged into one? Survive, and try to put a stop to whomever or whatever is doing this.
In this mode, both players work together. Beside each player's icon is the Panic! Meter. If one or more characters are lit up, press the Panic Button for a powerful attack.
Upon getting a GAME OVER, Fire to continue, or press ESC to return to the config screen.
More missions to be added in the future.



===Gameplay

Open up Fig 2.bmp for reference.

If there are no teams, score indicators as well as health, energy, and item indicators are shown. If it is a team game, a combined score indicator will be shown for each team.

1. Score indicator. The amount of points or kills scored by this individual or team. The Panic Meter in Story Mode
2. Health indicator. The individual's health, armor, shields, whatever.
3. Energy indicator. The individual's weapon energy.
4. Item indicator. Shows the individual's current weapon as well as how much time it has left.


==Items

A. Health: Fully restores health.
B. Power Surge: Grants infinite energy for a limited time.
C. Double: The player shoots two bullets rather than one, at a higher cost.
D. Triple: The player shoots three bullets, but only half as fast.
E. Flamethrower: Limited range but more powerful weapon.
F. Shield: Surrounds the player with a force field. This renders the player invincible so long as he/she is shooting. It can be used offensively, but it does not protect against explosions.
G. Bazooka: Shoots a single large and explosive bullet, propelling the player and the target backwards.



===Ship Editor

Open up Fig 3.bmp for reference.

1. Polygon controls. Switches between, adds, and removes polygons.
2. What will soon be your pride and joy. The ship.
3. Selected point indicator.
4. Grid controls. Shrinks, expands, and changes the style of the grid.
5. File controls. Load and Delete refer to the ship selected in the list (9).
6. Ship stats. Allot points to the statistics of your ship.
7. Ship name. You can change this by clicking "Name".
8. Enable this to mirror the selected polygon over to the other side. Saves work and makes things prettier.
9. A list of ships. Click the little boxes in the corners to scroll.

Select Point selects a point on the currently selected polygon. The shortcut key for this is A
Move Point moves the selected point wherever you click. The shortcut key for this is S
Create Point creates a point wherever you click that lies in order between the selected vertex and the edge that is colored blue. The shortcut key for this is D.

Clicking a color on the right will paint the selected polygon in that color.

When zoomed in, use the arrow keys to move around.

I hope that helps.

==Ship developent tips

The background is loaded from "Back.bmp". If you switch this with another file, that file will become the background (Great for tracing).

"Thumb.bmp" will be displayed below the "TRANSFORM" button (Great for color reference).

When a polygon is symmetrical and you want it to meet, make sure it overlaps its mirror image a bit. This helps get rid of the thin see-through lines that sometimes occur.

If you make anything good, send it, and it might be included in the next release!



===Credits

Game design and programming by Jonathan King.
It is based off of a discontinued game by Thomas Rodgers.
The characters in this game are the copyright of their respective owners.
Alien Striker by Barrett Anderson, Hanze "yoshi" Studenbach, Konstantin "Zkostik" Beliakov, "Spiral"
Phoenix Sigma by Patrick Davidson
Satanmobile by Thomas Rodgers



===Contact

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Want to submit a .ship file? Philisophical cunundrums? Timmy fell down the well? Email me at Goombagoon@AOL.com



Oh, and no editing config.ini to find any hidden modes or special features, okay? I mean, uhh, try to find.