                    ,---                         ,  ,
                    |-- ,---. ,---. ,---. ,---. -|-    ,---    
                    |   |     |---' |   | |---'  |  |  |       
                    `   `     `---  `   ' `---   '  '  `---  


                          --<   F R E N E T I C   >--

                          f e n i x b l a d e . c o m 


תתש< CONTENTS >שתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתתת

  .- Section 1 - Legal Crap --------.
  |                                 |
  |-- Section 2 - What IS this? ----|
  |                                 |
  |--- Section 3 - Default keys ----|
  |                                 |
  |---- Section 4 - Gameplay -------|
  |                                 |
  |----- Section 5 - Issues, Bugs --|
  |                                 |
  `------ Section 6 - Helpful tips -'


  .- Section 7 - About RedKarma ----.
  |                                 |
  |-- Section 8 - Contacting Me ----|
  |                                 |
  |--- Section 9 - Greets, Etc. ----|
  |                                 |
  `---- Section 10 - One Last Note -'




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The obligatory legal crap :

 By unzipping, coming into possession of, OR using this software in ANY
 format (i.e. exe,sfx,pak,lzh,ice,zoo,com,zip) you agree to the following
 terms and conditions, regardless of whether or not you took the time to read
 about them :

 1. This software is provided AS IS, and you use this at your own risk.
 2. This product may not be distributed commercially, or included in a
    bundle or software collection, for sale or otherwise, without the
    permission of the author. I'm not making any money off this, and
    NEITHER WILL YOU.



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What exactly IS Frenetic?

Frenetic came into being because, quite frankly, I was bored with my two
other projects and desperately needed something to do for three weeks. As many
of you know, I'm working on both Fenix Blade and Cry Havoc, and neither of
those projects have seen a public release for over a year. So, to reward the
few fans crazy enough to stick around, Frenetic is my Christmas present to
them. And you.

I've always wanted to make a shooter, but the problem is one of saturation.
There's no shortage of shooters in the world, and really little reason to
make another one, even if it's genuinely entertaining. Games like Einhander
and Rainbow cotton succeed due to their unique presentation more than
anything else -- breathing new life into an established genre isn't easy.

So, here's something a little different: a planar shooter. I honestly don't
have a better name for the concept.

Keep in mind this was made over the span of three weeks, so if you're
expecting perfection you're barking up the wrong tree.





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The keyboard will be selected by default until you
change it from inside the CONFIG menu.

The default keys for the game are as follows:


GENERAL CONTROLS --

NOTE: You can toggle GAMEPAD support from the CONTROLS menu.

Arrow Keys     : Movement (Forward, back, turn left/right)
Control (HOLD) : Strafe / CANCEL inside menus
Alt     (HOLD) : Fire current weapon / ACCEPT inside menus
Shift   (HOLD) : Boost : Improves velocity and turn radius
Z              : Launch weapon pod/bomb

"IN GAME" HOTKEYS --

V              : Toggle vsync   (on by default)
C              : Toggle clouds  (on by default)
S              : Toggle shadows (on by default)
ESC            : Open system menu
CTRL+ALT+END   : Kill program (this won't save progress, scores, or settings)





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GAMEPLAY NOTES :


Understanding the HUD:

The Red gauge on the left side of the screen is your current level of armor.
When this is depleted, your suit will crash and burn. The orange gauge next to
it is your gun's heat level. When this is maxxed, you cannot fire the weapon
until it cools off a little. So, you'll quickly learn to fire in short to
medium bursts, and save the heat for strafing runs. Firing slowly drains your
SCORE, so don't fire unless you need to.

The small boxes to the right of the heat gauge indicate how many special
weapon pods you currently have loaded. These will load automatically when they
are used, and you have an unlimited number of them, although they will not
load quickly. Special weapons are extremely powerful, and using them severely
drains your SCORE. 

The circular display on the right side of the screen is your radar, and enemy
units will show up as bright orange spots on the display. The radar display is
always relative to your current position, so UP on the radar is directly in
front of you.

Your SCORE is displayed in the top left corner of the screen. You gain points
by destroying enemy units, and clearing stages with high levels of armor
intact. You lost points by firing your gun and special weapon pods.



Handling the missions:

There are a total of six missions in the Frenetic campaign, and you can only
see them by playing them in order. Once you have completed a stage in the
campaign, it will be unlocked to play at any time from the main menu. In the
campaign you will advance through each stage until your suit is destroyed,
at which point your score will be recorded (if it's high enough) and you will
return to the main menu.

You will not be able to change your suit between missions, so choose your suit
and ordinance carefully! Some combinations will be more effective than others.
Your suit will repair any damage to its armor between missions, but your
special weapon pods will be unloaded at the start of the mission.



Maneuvering the suit:

Use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to move the suit forward and backward. The
LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys cause the suit to turn in place, and you can rotate
a full 360 degrees. If you need to strafe, hold down the button or key you're
selected as your STRAFE command (by default this is the Left CONTROL key)
while holding either LEFT or RIGHT.

If you need to move quickly you can use your suit's booster. Hold down the
BOOST button or key for this (by default this is the left SHIFT key). While
boosting you will be able to move and turn much faster, but you will generate
heat while doing so.

Use the ship's booster to get yourself out of tight spots, or perhaps set
yourself up for a line of fire across the flank of an enemy who's been
annoying you. Just don't run yourself all the way into the red and find
yourself unable to fire your gun! The booster works on ALL axes of travel, so
you can combine the booster with your strafe for emergency dodging. It's also
important to note that the booster must cool off between periods of usage;
usually a couple of seconds will suffice.



Managing the suit ordinance:

Each suit (three are available from the start) has two available guns, and you
also have three special weapon pods to select from. The suits perform quite
differently and have varying levels of heat dissipation, turning ability, and
armor.

Guns are rated by their power, rate of fire, heat production, velocity, and
spread. Guns that spread may be wildly inaccurate at long ranges, but usually
make up for that with a higher rate of fire. Slower projectiles may allow
speedy enemies to slip past, but in return let you set up a deadly curtain of
fire as other enemies fly past.



Special weapon pods:

Pulsar: Fires a tight spread of five energy bursts at modest velocity. These
        are extremely damaging, and if all five hit (at close range) very few
        enemies will survive that level of damage.

Rockets: The dumb fire rockets have no guidance, but they are extremely
         powerful. Slow moving targets will have little hope of avoiding the
         swift rockets, expecially if several are fired in rapid succession.

Steel Halo: Fires a spread of projectiles in a 360 degree arc. Although they
            are not individually devastating, it's not unusual to have more
            than one hit a single target, and launching several at once can
            quickly clear off your radar display!





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ISSUES / BUGS / NOTES ON...

There is a bug in the vapor/smoke trails that causes phantom trails to pop
up at predictable intervals. There are also times when the enemy AI goes nuts
and starts firing to the right side of the screen. I have both of these under
control, but the fix didn't make it into this build.



PLATFORM SPECIFICS:

Dos: 
Runs like a dream, nice n' smooth. Native resolution is 320x200x8, vsync
enabled at 70hz refresh rate. Movement and game logic is tied to that
frequency. Run fr_dos.exe to access this version.

Win32:
Right now this version runs in 640x480x8 with the output scaled to fit the
screen. The aspect ratio will be a little screwed, and performance drops a
modest amount, but at least it's playable. If you wish the run the game in
its native resolution (320x200x8) please run fr_13h.exe; just remember that
Windows doesn't always play nice with the sub-640x resolutions due to shitty
video driver design. Otherwise run fr_win.exe to access the scaled version.
DirectX is required to run the Win32 versions.

Linux:
I'm working on this right now. Don't flog me.


Resolution -

I've got old-skool in my veins... no doubt about it. I enjoy the blocky
pixels of mode 13h, and scoff at those who cower behind their 32bit color
registers in fear of the lowly palette. But there's another reason... speed.

First off, Frenetic doesn't use 3D accel, or even ASM, so if your CPU isn't
fast, neither is it. You can DOUBLE your frame rate by turning off the clouds.
Although the radar display isn't terribly CPU-intensive, the shadowing is...
so switch it off if your frame rate starts to drop. Turning off vsync support
and vapor trails will also get you a nice boost under certain circumstances.


Artwork -

Hey, what do you expect from three weeks work? Was the Cistine chapel painted
overnight? I think not ;)


Music -

There is no music in Frenetic. I ran out of time. Maybe in Frenetic II...
assuming people actually enjoy this... heh!





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HELPFUL TIPS :

- Keep moving if you want to stay alive. This should come as no surprise.

- You can strafe to quickly avoid enemy fire.

- Fire your gun in short bursts to avoid overheating.

- Keep your eye on the radar -- enemy weapons have varying ranges.

- Need emergency maneuvering to avoid fire? Try strafing with the booster!

- The available ships and weapons have differing capabilities. Try to select
  the best combo for your playing style. Same goes for bomb selection!

- The Talon is VERY maneuverable, but the cost is armor strength. Keep that
  in mind while using it.

- Save your bomb pods for when you really need them. Unleashing four Steel
  Halos in a row will put a dent in anything near you.

- If you're a poor shot, try using the Steel Halo. If you're a marksman, try
  the Rockets instead. The middle of the road option is the Pulsar.

- Combat too difficult? Change the DIFFICULTY in the config menu. You'll see
  quite a difference!

- Use the booster to your advantage. But don't overwork the system! If you
  run it into the red, you may find yourself unable to shoot when you really
  need it!





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ABOUT REDKARMA :

RedKarma is a small, dedicated group of programmers who work on games in their
spare time. With the exception of PoVRAZOR, our members do not code/produce
games for a living. Our goal is to give back to the gaming community a little
of what we've experienced over the years.

From a programming and design standpoint, we're a bit different from most
groups. Our focus has absolutely nothing to do with impressing people or
struggling to make a name for ourselves. We aim to provide fun games, and
that's all. We believe our work speaks for itself. As such, our projects
focus on raw performance, rock-solid gameplay, and most importantly...a fun
experience.

We just want you to have some fun. That's all. Really.



REDKARMA IS :

  .- PoVRAZOR of Sykhronics --------------,
  |                                       |
  |-- Mist, Samiam, Senn of Execute ------|
  |                                       |
  `--- Sirocco ---------------------------'





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CONTACTING THE AUTHOR :

I work for a living, so if your email doesn't receive any attention for a day
or two, that's not unusual. Sometimes I get to my email before I crash out,
other times I don't.

If you like what you just played, let me know! Small games like this one are
a lot easier to produce than large projects like Fenix Blade and Cry Havoc.
If you wish to offer a suggestion or comment, keep in mind that it should be
constructive. Saying something like "I didn't like the menus" doesn't really
tell me anything :)

My email address  :  Sirocco@flashmail.com
Project home page :  fenixblade.com
ICQ number        :  no longer available





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GREETS, GRIPES, ETC.

PoVRAZOR - Here's hoping you'll get to work on some GBA games that don't
           involve "girlie" material!
Mist/Layton - Where... are... you?!
Beelzebub - I STILL want to see ore wars!
Obyam Ouch - Hey, I hope marriage is treating you well.
Stover - Allegro. Say it!
Lbt1st - Wiiiiiiiiiiicked....... Steeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel!
Mandrake - If I ever find myself in Cleveland again, we'll have to go by the
           Fox and Hound in Mayfield Heights and grab a few drinks :)
My spouse - Five years of marriage, and almost a decade of being your
            "significant other"... I must have pretty good karma :)
Eddie Jeckle - Is dead.
Robert Flint - Thanks for giving me a good laugh, Mark.



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ONE FINAL NOTE...

Well, this is the first game I've actually completed and distributed to the
public. The idea was to do something on a *much* smaller scale than Fenix
Blade. I think it turned out quite nice, if I do say so myself! All in all, I
think this makes a great Christmas present to anyone still waiting patiently
for Fenix Blade and Cry Havoc. 

Assuming use response if good, I might take a week or two to redraw the
graphics, add in some music, and add more levels to the game... thereby
giving me a reason to release an updated version. Frenetic DX, or something.
We'll see what happens.

The MoebiusFX+ engine, which powers Frenetic, is coded in C++, compiled with
DJGPP v2 (DOS) and DEV-C++ v4 (WIN), and makes damn good use of Allegro v4.

Don't forget... to salt... the fries.

The orange ones are candy.

