Ground Zero: Final Mission readme

====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

===The Configuration Screen

==Settings

=Gameplay Options

Everything in this catagory is related to game difficulty.
1-Player: Self-explanatory
Friendly Fire: Allows players to take damage from neutral bullets and bullets from the other player.
Autofire: If enabled, holding down the fire button fires bullets at maximum speed, otherwise the button needs to be pressed for each round fired.
Difficulty: The level of difficulty. Higher levels cause greater damage upon impact, more bullets to be shot, and greater Boss HP.

=Graphics Options

Everything in this catagory is unrelated to game play, and may be turned off to reduce slowdown and/or distractions.
Background: Whether or not to draw the stars.
Fading text: Whether or not to have the fading text effect on the "WARNING" and "Critical Damage" messages.
Transmissions: Whether or not you will recieve transmissions, which will display just above the health meter.
Extra effects: Whether or not bullets hitting things will produce sparks, and homing bullets blur.


==Player Config

Here you set up the player weapons, special combo, and color.

=Special combo

The combination entered here is used to set up a form for a Special Attack.
It must be greater than or equal to four keys in length.

=Laser

The player's main laser weapon.
Phi: Spreadfire cannon
Omega: Fires a single bullet more powerful with weapon level.
Eta: Flamethrower with limited range but enormous power.

=Photon

The player's "missile" weapon.
Here you can mix and match different photon types. These are best explained by the pictures.


==Credits

Umm, yeah.



===Gameplay

==Controls

=Player 1

W,A,S,D - Movement
Control(Ctrl) - Fire

=Player 2

Arrow keys - Movement
Shift - Fire

These may be edited through the pause menu (Press F1 to pause)


==Life and energy meters

Your shields are represented in light blue.
When you are invincible or in a Form (explained later), the amount of energy you have left is shown in yellow.
Also, the keys you have entered for the special combo are displayed.
During Boss battles, the Boss's HP is shown below in red.

During two player, the bar at the bottom is split. Player one is on top, player two is on bottom, and the Boss's HP will appear in the middle.


==Forms

By grabbing certain powerups, you may temporarily assume another Form.
Each form has a normal attack, and a special attack which uses up the remaining energy.
The strength of the special attack depends on the amount of energy left.

=B-Cross (Sideways "b" logo")

This Form will fire two foreward lasers and occasional rounds of circular red bullets, which will home in on enemies.
Special Attack: Swift Ring: Fires a ring of homing bullets around the ship.

=M-Cannon ("M" logo)

This Form is a heavy weapon ship, firing four forward bullets and two forward missiles, and releasing two missiles from the back.
When firing this Form's weapons, your Energy will deplete twice as fast, so be's careful.
Special Attack: Pulse Shot: Fires many shots in a wide-spreading pattern.

=W-Launcher ("W" logo)

This Form fires square missiles, which will break into 8 bullets upon impact.
Special Attack: Hyper Rose: Fires sets of 8 spreatfire missiles in a circular pattern.

=ber Deathray ("" logo, and no that is not a smiley face)

This Form fires a single powerful and relentless laser.
Special Attack: Death Square: Fires a single huge bullet that emits eight bullets upon colliding 

When assuming any Form, being hit with bullets will deplete energy, and colliding with an enemy will cause you to lose your Form, and completely destroy the enemy.


==Powerups

There are three sphere shaped powerups:
Green: Replenishes shields.
Red: Upgrades your laser one level.
Yellow: Upgrades your photons one level.

The other, square shaped powerups will give you the Form with the corresponding logo.

