PIXELSHIPS v1.83                    Copyright (c) 2000-2005 Kris Asick
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Windows DirectX Release

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:

	MINIMUM:
	
	* Pentium 166 Mhz Computer with DirectX Compliant Video Card
	* Windows 98/ME/2K/XP
	* DirectX 8.0 or Higher (May work with lower versions)
	* 8 Megs of RAM
	* 2-Button Mouse

	RECOMMENDED:

	* Pentium 266 Mhz Computer or faster

----------------------------------------------------------------------

QUICKSTART:

	Use the mouse to select options, hold F1 in most situations to
get help relating to what you should be doing. (Cannot hold F1 on
YES/NO dialogue boxes or when entering your name when creating a new
pilot.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

DISCLAIMER:

	This game has been deemed freeware, allowing the user to make
multiple copies of the software provided he or she does not modify or
sell the software. Copies must be made in whole and must be
accompined by this documentation. As with many software applications,
the user cannot hold Kris Asick responsable for any damages this
software may or may not cause. You use this software at your own risk.

	Although the software has been scanned for viruses prior to
its release, the user is still encouraged to scan the product before
running to be absolutely sure it will not harm his/her system.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

WHERE IS PIXELSHIPS 2?

	PixelShips 2 has been under development for a long time now.
The current release plans are for sometime in 2007.

	PixelShips 2 is going to be far different and far more in-
depth and graphically intense than the original PixelShips and will
require a high end computer to successfuly run.

	My current estimates on the size of PixelShips 2 are 100,000
lines of C++ source code, 150 MB of graphics, 50 MB of sound effects,
50 original music tracks, 20+ hours to beat the game, and 100+ hours
to actually unlock every feature the game will have to offer.

	For comparison... PixelShips is 6087 lines of C++ source code,
not even 4 MB in graphics, no music or SFX, and 6-10 hours to beat the
game.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

WHAT ARE PIXELSHIPS?

	In the future, around 2049, a new type of toy was created to
appeal to all ages called the PixelShip. Each PixelShip is about one
to three feet long, and each one is composed of numerous components
which are held together by micro-magnets. Each PixelShip can emit and
detect holographic weapon signatures, harmless to Humans, that allow
each ship to record damage and respond accordingly. When a PixelShip
runs out of recorded shield energy, it falls apart, each component
slowly loses its anti-gravity from the disconnection, and the opponent
must then tag each piece of the disassembled ship in order to claim
it.

	For the last 40 years many generations of PixelShips were
built, resulting in a total of 160 known/theorized models. Almost
every PixelShip was designed with a restructuring method that allowed
them to be upgraded into bigger and better ships, and because some
ships never stay together long enough to hit these upgrade points,
some upgraded versions are only theorized to exist as their existance
has yet to be discovered, however is proven fact by their
programming.

	In this game, you play as a newbie PixelShip collector. Your
ultimate task is to collect as many of these little ships as you can
by flying your own through randomly generated holograhpic courses and
missions. The rules are simple, you can keep any ship you vacuum up
entirely, and you lose any ship that suffers too much damage.

	Sounds easy, hunh? Well, better break out the caffine because
this game's gonna eat up a good chunk of your time!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

v1.83 NOTES:

	* Updated the Allegro build of the game. This means that
	  crashing issues on some Windows 2K/XP systems will be
	  resolved.

v1.82 NOTES:

	* SHIFT is now the vacuum key, not ALT. This is because
	  holding SHIFT while pushing spacebar does nothing while
	  holding ALT and pushing spacebar can cause problems.

	* The Z, X, and C keys will now fire weapons 1, 2 and 3
	  respectively without having to select them.

	* The V key will fire ALL of your weapons at once!

	* The numeric keypad works again for movement.

	* The enemy health meter shows in blue if you've never had
	  the ship you are fighting, and red if you have.

	* The system for finding PixelShips you don't have when you
	  finish a campaign actually works now.	

v1.8 NOTES:

	* The game now features two sycnronization methods to keep the
	  gameplay moving at the right speed. If the game seems
	  jerky or experiences shearing effects you can fix this by
	  forcing DirectX to set your monitor's refresh rate to 70 hz.
	  Look bellow in troubleshooting for more information.

	* If you ALT-TAB from the game it will automatically pause.
	  Although some Allegro-driven software under Windows will
	  return blank screens when ALT-TABing, this game will not.
	  ALT-TAB to your heart's content :)

	* The randomized missions in this version are NOT the same as
          the original DOS version!

	* Many of the PixelShips have had their stats changed around
	  due to game ballancing.

	* A new indicator will appear to let you know that the ship
	  you are currently flying in a mission has enough experience
	  to be upgraded.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

COMMAND LINE OPTIONS (Place inside shortcuts to the game):

	-stars n
		Replace "n" with the number of stars you want shown in
		the background during the game. Can be 0 to 1024.

	-skipmouse
		Skips the mouse autodetection in case it is not
		working correctly. (NOTE: You NEED a mouse to play
		this game!)

	-windowed
		Plays the game in a small window... a VERY small
		window...

	-win2xpix
		Plays the game in a larger double-pixeled window. The
		game will more than likely suffer slowdown in this
		mode unless your computer is blazing fast!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

QUICK START CONTROLS:

	ALMOST ANYTIME:
		Hold F1 - Brings up Controls For Current Situation
		(Does not work on YES/NO dialog boxes or when inputing
		your name for a new pilot.)

	MENUS:
		Left Click - Choose Option

	TACTICAL INTERFACE: (Pregame)
		Reserve Ships:
			 Left Click - Change Ship (Click replacement)
		Stocked Ships:
			 Left Click - Choose Lead Ship
			Right Click - Remove Ship (Followed by Yes/No)
		AutoMap:
			Left Button - Scroll maps or choose map pos
		General:
			 Left Click - Choose Option

	GAMEPLAY: (Keyboard Controls)
	KEYPAD or ARROWS - Move Ship
		SPACEBAR - Fire Selected Weapon
		   SHIFT - Vacuum Device (To collect pixels)
		 1 2 & 3 - Select Weapon
		 Z X & C - Fire Weapons 1 2 & 3 Without Selecting
		       V - Fire ALL Weapons!
		     ESC - Bail Out!
		       P - Pause Game

----------------------------------------------------------------------

HOW TO PLAY:

	On the main menu you have four options, each one self
explanitory. You can play the game, look at the high scores, read the
brief list of credits, or quit. Simple as that.

	When you click Play Game a new menu appears. This is the pilot
roster. You can have four pilots at any one time. Click on an empty
slot to create a new pilot, or click on an existing pilot to continue
his/her game.

	When creating a new pilot, a menu will come up asking for your
name and skill level. Simply type in your nickname, callsign, whatever
you want to be called then click the skill level you want. The higher
the skill level you choose the more points you get. Also, for those
who collect all 160 PixelShips a little secret will open up for anyone
who dares take up the challenge ;)

	Then you must choose your starting PixelShip. You have five to
choose from:

	#001 STARFIGHTER - A fast ship but not very powerful.
	#004     NEMESIS - Average stats but no strong points.
	#007     TRIGULA - A very powerful ship but slow.
	#011 SHUTTLE POD - Very poor but upgrades into a nicer ship.
	#019    PIX STAR - Powerful and fast but very fragile.

	Afterwards, simply choose your new pilot and start a new game.
At this point, you must choose a campaign to play. Each campaign lasts
for 10 missions. The campaign ends when you either complete all 10
missions or lose all of your reserve PixelShips during a mission. Now,
you can choose between 0001 and 9999. The first digit in the campaign
number determines the difficulty of the campaign. So, campaigns 0381
and 0948 have the same difficulty, but campaign 4912 is going to be
a bit harder than both of them.

	Once a campaign is over, your score will be recorded into the
high score table if it's high enough.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

	Next comes getting set for the mission at hand. There are four
basic mission types, and each one must be dealt with in different
ways. These are the types of missions you'll be facing:

SEEK & DESTROY: You must seek out a ceratin PixelShip and destroy it.
		Collect if possible.
COIN COLLECTOR: You must collect as many coins in the level as you
		can.
     WARP ZONE: This zone is BLAZING FAST and contains no PixelShips.
		You need to fly fast PixelShips here.
          RAID: These missions require you to destroy targets rather
		than collect them. The more you hit the larger your
		score!

	And you can face these missions in over eight environments:

	   SPACE ARENA: Typical level.
	     WARP ZONE: Fastest level type!
	        NEBULA: Blobs of plasma everywhere. Tough to navigate.
	     ION STORM: Very blue...
	CLASS B PLANET: Rocky surface, unremarkable terrain.
	CLASS M PLANET: Rolling Terrain and Clear Skies.
	CLASS R PLANET: Red Planet full of lava and burning things.
	CLASS Y PLANET: Acidic atmosphere, methane clouds, etc.

	On your tactical screen you can look at the layout of the
level and check out the stats of your PixelShips. You can also setup
your reserve ships for the level. You can have up to five reserve
ships at any one time, but remembering that you need free reserve
slots to capture new ships! So you should select your number of empty
reserve slots based on how many ships you expect to encounter during
the level, and based on your skill level how many ships you expect
to lose.

	First, you should select the ship you want to lead off with
simply by clicking on it in the "Ships Avilable" box. Next you should
set up your reserve ships by clicking on the reserve slot you want to
set first, then clicking on the ship or empty slot you wish to set it
to.

	Another feature you will use later on is upgrading. The little
box in the middle of the screen displays how much experience the lead
ship has. The more experience points, the brighter the random flashy
dots in the box. If the ship has enough to be upgraded, a "U^G" button
appears. Click it, and next thing you know you'll have a new, more
powerful ship!

	Once all that's done click "Begin!" to start the mission!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

	During the level you control your ship using the controls
mentioned in the Quick-Start section above How To Play. The objective
is to simply complete the mission for points.

	During the mission you will find two types of enemies: Droids
and PixelShips. Droids are simple obstructions in a sense, trying to
block your way from getting out of the level alive. PixelShip battles
are different though. When a battle with a PixelShip arrises the
screen will slow to a halt, allowing you to square off one-on-one with
the renegade ship. Should you win, the PixelShip will be blown into
its component Pixels. Quickly! Hold the LEFT ALT key to vacuum the
pixels towards your ship! If you have a free reserve slot, and vacuum
in ALL of the component pixels, the PixelShip becomes yours!

	Also during the mission you will encounter powerups. There
are 12 different powerups you can discover. Note that with the
exception of the experience powerup, all powerups are temporary and
wear out once the level is finished or if you change ships.

	When you fight an enemy PixelShip an indicator showing its
remaining shield points will appear in the top-right corner. This
status bar appears in two different colors:

	RED = You have already collected the ship you are fighting.
	BLUE = You have not collected the ship you are fighting!

	You may also see the words "UPGRADE!" flash at the bottom-
left corner. This means the PixelShip you are currently flying has
enough experience points to be upgraded into a new ship! Of course,
you have to wait until the mission is over before you can do this.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

POWERUPS

	'P' - Increases your POW rating by 2 to 4.
	'S' - Increases your SPD rating by 2 to 4.
	'E' - Increases your EGY rating by 2 to 4.
	'D' - Increases your DEF rating by 2 to 4.
	'M' - Increases all of your attributes by 1 or 2 points.
       Star - Gives the ship a few experience points.
       Gems - Four different sizes of gems give various point values.
      Heart - Restores your shields by 50%.
   Triangle - Allows you to swap to a reserve ship. (Also restores
              your shields... but only if you pick a different ship.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

EXPERIENCE GAINING

	Here is a chart to help you gauge the experience you gain:

	    Weak Droids = 1 EXP
	 Average Droids = 2 EXP
	Powerful Droids = 3 EXP

	Opponent PixelShips (Relative to your current PixelShip)
	5 Classes  Weaker =  0 EXP
	4 Classes  Weaker =  1 EXP
	3 Classes  Weaker =  2 EXP
	2 Classes  Weaker =  3 EXP
	1 Class    Weaker =  4 EXP
	Same Class        =  5 EXP
	1 Class   Tougher =  7 EXP
	2 Classes Tougher = 10 EXP  
	3 Classes Tougher = 20 EXP
	4 Classes Tougher = 40 EXP
	5 Classes Tougher = 75 EXP

	PixelShips come in six class varieties.

	CLASS E = 150 points distributed between stats.
	CLASS D = 200 points distributed between stats.
	CLASS C = 250 points distributed between stats.
	CLASS B = 300 points distributed between stats.
	CLASS A = 350 points distributed between stats.
	CLASS X = More than 350 points distributed between stats.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

GAMEPLAY TIPS:

	* Don't be discouraged when things get tough. This game is
	VERY hard to play, even on normal skill levels. Just keep at
	it and eventually you will begin to get better.

	* Some ships have strange features. You'll have to discover
	them for yourself.

	* You should always take a full reserve of ships with you into
	a Warp Zone Mission because you wont find any PixelShips to
	capture during the mission. (Excluding other mission types
	that take place INSIDE warp zones!)

	* If you want to drop out of a campaign because its too tough
	or because it is really boring, but you don't want to delete
	your pilot, simply empty your reserve and lead off with a ship
	you don't want. Get the ship destroyed and the campaign will
	be over. (This does count as a lost mission however.)

	* Trying to upgrade high class ships in weak campaigns won't
	work too well because the ships you will be fighting will be
	too weak to pose a threat and thus worth very little
	experience.

	* Always try to destroy enemy droids as they frequently carry
	powerups to help you during your mission!

	* When capturing a ship make sure you pilot towards it so that
	the pixels you are vacuuming don't stray too far off course.
	Since ship pixels fade out randomly remember to steer your
	ship to collect the darkest ones first!

	* Smaller ships are more likely to be destroyed when colliding
	with the surface than larger ships. Also, the faster you're
	going the more likely you'll be destroyed.

	* Always try to stay in the middle of the playing field. The
	further to the back of the screen you stay the more likely
	you'll get killed. Trust me on this one ;)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

TROUBLESHOOTING / FAQ:

	Q: Why can't I vacuum pixels with the ALT key anymore?
	A: Keyboard issues arrise when holding ALT and SPACEBAR at the
	same time so the vacuum device is now the SHIFT key instead.

	Q: The game runs too fast!
	A: This shouldn't happen anymore with the new timer routines.
	You sure you upgraded to v1.83?

	Q: The game runs too slow!
	A: Try closing the game, closing all open applications (if
        any), then restarting the game. If that doesn't work, get a
        faster computer ;)

	Q: The gameplay is erratic, going fast sometimes and then
        skipping at other times.
	A: Read the above answer.

	Q: The gameplay is jerky and the screen looks like its
	shearing against itself. Any way to fix this?
	A: Go to your start menu, click RUN, and type in DXDIAG and
	hit enter. On the window that pops up, click on the
	"More Help" tab, click Override, and enter "70" into the
	override value box and hit OK. WARNNING: MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE
	THIS IS 70 AND MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU SET THIS BACK TO
	DEFAULT WHEN YOU ARE DONE PLAYING!! KRIS ASICK SHALL NOT BE
	HELD RESPONSABLE IF YOU DAMAGE YOUR MONITOR BY USING INCORRECT
	SETTINGS WITH THE DXDIAG OVERRIDE FUNCTION!!

	Q: How come I need such a powerful computer for just a simple
	2d Sidescroller?
	A: Because the game is designed to run at 70 FRAMES A SECOND.
	This framerate is several times higher than most games of the
	same graphic intensity, thus the power needed to run it is
	higher. This framerate also provides very smooth graphics and
	gameplay for a low resolution video mode.

	Q: Why isn't there any sound effects or music?
	A: Because that's for PixelShips 2 to showcase!

	Q: What does this game run under?
	A: The original game was designed to run in MS-DOS 6.2,
        however this port is designed exclusively for Windows 98 and
        higher using DirectX.

	Q: My keyboard controls are locking up!
	A: This occurs on older computers that depend on the BIOS for
	processing the keyboard. No fixes here, sorry.
	A: Your keyboard may not have a very large keypress buffer
	thus hitting several arrow keys at once doesn't work. In this
	situation try using the numeric keypad instead. (It works now!)
	A: Hitting the windows keyboard keys has been known to cause
	key lockups in certain cases. Try not to hit them and you'll be
	just fine.

	Q: Why do I lose my pilot when I lose a mission?
	A: Because you are losing every PixelShip in your collection
        during the mission. If your collection is small remember to
        take only some of your ships into a mission. This way if you
        start to lose ships you can hit ESC to bail out and try
        again, or if you lose all your reserve ships you will still
        have some left to continue your character.

	Q: Explain this reserve ship thingy too me. I can't figure out
        how to work it!
	A: Your "Reserve Ships" are slots you have assigned in your
	ship collection. Reserve Ships set to PixelShips are extra
	ships you can change to should you lose a ship in combat or
	grab a ship-changer powerup. Reserve Ships set to empty slots
	are spaces you can collect new ships into. When you collect
	all the pixels to a PixelShip you will only get it if you
	have a reserve ship set to an empty slot. Get it? To change
	what slots are assigned as reserve ships, first click on the
	reserve ship you want to change, and then click on the slot
	to assign it to.

	Q: That's too complicated!
	A: It'll be easier next time around in the sequel ;)

	Q: Augh! The game just crashed while I was in the middle of
	playing and gave me this bizzare error message!
	A: Record everything that you were doing and when the error
	occured, then send the details to my E-Mail address!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

VERSION HISTORY:

  v1.0: Inital Attempt to sell to game companies... failed.

  v1.5: First freeware release.
 v1.51: Bug Fix Version.
v1.51X: Windows DirectX Release.

  v1.8: Game ballanced, droids made weaker but come in greater
	numbers, ships ballanced out by making the POWER rating
	absolute instead of relative, lots of little changes that
	make the game more fun! :)

 v1.82: Numpad movement, independent weapon firing buttons, a button
        to fire all weapons, and a working ship finder when you win
	a campaign have all been added. Plus the SHIFT key now
	vacuums pixels instead of ALT.

 v1.83: Allegro build update. Basically made to fix crashing on
	certain Windows 2K/XP systems.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

KNOWN BUGS:

 v1.5: * Ships #009's and #010's weaponry doesn't work. (Fixed v1.51)

v1.51: Old versions of v1.51 have a SniperBeam ship that can't fire
       it's main laser. Redownload if you have this problem.

 v1.8: You can get the fire key to stick if you decide to do some
       weird firing and vacuuming patterns, though unsticking should
       be a synch if this happens. I can't fix this because I do not
       know how to disable the ALT-SPACEBAR Windows shortcut... yet...
       (Fixed in v1.82 by switching the vacuum to the SHIFT key.)

v1.82: Crashes on certain Windows 2K/XP systems.

v1.83: None that I have been made aware of...

----------------------------------------------------------------------

CREDITS:

Original Concept, Programming, Graphics and Ships:
	Kris Asick (Gemini)

Ship Concepts: 97-99, 110-112, 127, 129-133, 146-149, 159:
	Eric Shepperd (Bandit450)

Ship Concepts: 100, 101, 106, 107, 120, 141-143, 154-156:
	Zelion Kirby (Noilez)

Ship Concept: 45
	James Bone (Nightbird)

Special Thanks:
	Everyone who contributed to the Allegro Game Programming
	Libraries! I could never program in Windows without them!

CONTACT INFO:

WEBSITE: http://www.pixelships.com

E-MAILS:   gemini@pixelships.com (general questions and comments)
	  support@pixelships.com (troubleshooting)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

ADDITIONAL INFO:

	PixelShips is my third ever C++ game, and I tried to get it
published by Activision. When they rejected the game, I decided to run
a more subjective reality test over it and realized it was just too
difficult a game for the average gamer. I released it as freeware
because the game would not be profitable in this day and age.

	The concept for the game was initiated several months ago in
December of 1999, when I thought about making a collecting game that
didn't have anything to do with cute and dangerous creatures. That's
when I decided to put spaceships in the place of monsters and turn it
into an action game instead of an RPG.

	The source code itself is in MSVC++6.0 and just over 6000
lines long. All E-Mails requesting the source code will be quickly
incinerated and not replied to. The ship editor is also not available
in any format even by request. All E-Mails requesting the ship editor
will ALSO be incinerated.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

                        NOW GO PLAY THE GAME!!