Manual for Cobra Gunship Revised January 30, 1998
Copyright (c) 1997-98, Elysium Digital, L.L.C. Created October 13, 1997
For current contact information, go to <http://www.elys.com/about.html> or
send email to <webmaster@elys.com>.
==============================================================================
Thanks for trying Cobra Gunship! We worked very hard to make it, and
we hope that you like it.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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* Overview
* System Requirements
* Installation
* The Story
* Getting Started
* Registering
* Playing the Game
* Playing the Missions
* Configuring the Settings
* Options
* Equipping the Chopper
* Acknowledgements
* License
OVERVIEW
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Cobra Gunship is a side-view scroller helicopter arcade game. Using
the keyboard, mouse or joystick, you control your chopper, flying it
through a variety of missions. Along the way, you will use an arsenal
of weaponry to destroy your opponents. Between missions, you will
customize your chopper, adding newer engines, better armor, and
improved weapons.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
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Cobra Gunship was designed to be very configurable. As a result, it
runs on many lower-end machines, while still taking advantage of the
extra power that faster machines offer. If you install the game on a
slower system, please refer to the section on Options to see how to
configure the game to run at an acceptable speed.
Required Recommended
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* 486DX33 * Pentium 150
* VESA 1.2 compatible SVGA card
* SoundBlaster-compatible sound card * SoundBlaster16-compatible sound card
* 12MB RAM * 16MB RAM
* DOS 6.2 or Windows 95. * Windows 95
INSTALLATION
==============================================================================
Just unzip the files into a directory called Gunship and run GUNDOS.EXE.
That's it! The program is completely self-contained. Note that the game
was carefully engineered to run perfectly from within Windows95. Just
double-click on GUNDOS.EXE from the Explorer, or run it from a DOS window.
If you do run the game from real DOS, it would be better if you loaded a
mouse driver, since the game does make good use of the mouse.
If you have trouble unzipping the file, try getting the latest version of
pkunzip from:
<http://www.pkware.com/pkz204g.html>
THE STORY
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A group of mercenaries called the Mercenary Alliance has seized oil
fields in the Middle East and northern Africa. As the U.N. hems and
haws, the countries whose oil fields have been taken form a group
called the Small Country Alliance and prepare to solve the problem
themselves. They hire an elite team to help them, consisting of one
communications expert, several explosives experts, and one helicopter
pilot. The team's mission: To disrupt the Mercenary Alliance's operations
until the U.N. gets around to sending in troops to reclaim the fields. You
are the helicopter pilot on the team. You will receive instructions from
your communications guy, and carry out your orders. Sometimes, you
will get to use explosives experts on your missions.
GETTING STARTED
==============================================================================
When you start the game, you will see the Elysium Digital, L.L.C. logo
and then the game startup screen. After that, the game will take you
to the Main Menu.
Click on NEW GAME. From the window that appears, select the desired
difficulty level. On the right side of the screen, the stats for your
new game will appear. If desired, you may EQUIP your chopper with fancier
gear. Now, click on MISSIONS. This takes you to the Mission Tree. Click
on MISSION 0, and read the Mission Briefing that pops up. Click ACCEPT to
start playing the mission.
How you control your Cobra during a mission depends on your settings. If you
have a mouse, then the default settings are to use the mouse for control.
Move the mouse crosshairs to where you want the Cobra to fly, and your chopper
will accelerate towards the cursor. The further you move the cursor away from
your Cobra, the faster it pursues it.
If you have no mouse or have turned off mouse control, you can use the
keyboard to control your Cobra. The default settings have you use the arrow
keys to move the Cobra up, down, left and right.
Regardless of how you move the chopper, you will also need to flip which way
it is facing, select weapons and fire. The default keys for these are:
Flip Direction: E
Select Primary: S
Select Secondary: F
Fire Primary: <SPACE>
Fire Secondary: D
You can also use keys { 1, 2, 3, 4 } to select a particular primary weapon,
and keys {5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, - } to select a particular secondary.
NOTE: Your chopper can hold more than one kind of primary and secondary weapon
at a time. You may switch between purchased weapons by using the weapon
selection keys.
REGISTERING
==============================================================================
When you first download your copy of COBRA GUNSHIP, it is unregistered. You
will be allowed to play only missions 0-5, you can't load external missions,
and some of the weapons are turned off.
To play all 31 levels, be able to load external map files and buy all weapons,
you need to purchase a serial number by registering. You may order by one of
the following ways:
1) Order on our web site (credit-card only) for a $1.00 discount:
http://www.elys.com
2) Fill out the form in the ORDER file and mail or fax it to us
for a $0.50 discount.
EMania.Com
c/o Agile Systems, Inc.
P.O. Box 221
Raritan, NJ 08869-0221
(908) 369-1317 FAX
3) Place an order by telephone (credit-card only):
(888) 369-0047 (U.S. only, 9am-5pm Eastern Time)
or
(908) 369-0084 (International, 9am-5pm US Eastern Time)
Once you have you serial number, just click REGISTER from the Main Menu. You
will see a window with entry buttons for your name and serial number. Enter
them here and click OK.
NOTE: Both your name and your serial number must be entered EXACTLY as they
are listed. If you make a mistake entering one or the other, the game will
tell you which one is incorrect. Just correct your typo and hit OK.
That's it! Once that is done your purchase is complete. The entire game will
be available to you.
PLAYING THE GAME
==============================================================================
The user interface for Cobra Gunship is menu-driven. You can use the mouse to
click on buttons and sliders, or use the arrow keys to select them and <SPACE>
or <ENTER> to activate them. Additionally, you can press the first letter of a
menu item to select it. In the Save Game and Load Game menus, you can use
numbers 1 - 0 to select the save game slot. In the Equipment Purchasing menus,
you can use the number keys to select which item to purchase, where 1 is the
topmost item, 2 is the next one down, etc.
In the Main Menu, you will see series of buttons on the left, arranged in a
menu. On the right side of the screen, there is a description of your current
status: how your chopper is equipped, how much money you have, and which
missions you have completed.
You can navigate the menus in the game using the mouse or the
keyboard. From the Main Menu, you can do the following:
New Game - Abandon your current game and restart at level 0. When you
select this button, you will be able to choose your preferred
level of difficulty from one of three settings: Easy, Normal,
or Hard.
Load Game - Load one of the 10 possible previously saved games
When you select this button, a window with 8 slots
comes up. Select the game you want to load. The game
loads your saved status and returns you to the main
menu.
Save Game - Save your current game in one of the 10 slots
Selecting this button pops up a window with 10 save
game slots. Select the slot that you want to use to
save your status. The game will then let you edit the
name of that save slot. When you are satisfied with the
name, press <ENTER> or <RETURN>. Your game will be
saved and you will return to the main menu.
You should save your game after you successfully complete a
mission. It will not be saved automatically.
Options - Adjust the game options. Selecting this button yields
another menu, this one with three choices:
Video - Here you control the game's graphical settings.
Audio - These are the controls for our cutting-edge
audio system.
Control - Determines how you will control your chopper
during gameplay. You can toggle the checkboxes
to enable/disable the Joystick, Mouse and
Keyboard. Note that Joystick and Mouse
conflict with each other during gameplay, so
use one or the other. We recommend the Mouse.
Select the configure button next to the devices
you choose for control:
Register - If you have purchased a serial number to register the
game, select this to enter the number.
Quit - Um, exits the game. Duh.
Equip - Here is where you spend money to soup up you chopper. See
the EQUIPPING THE CHOPPER section for more details.
Missions - This is what you select when you are ready to play. The
Mission Tree will then be displayed. All available
missions will be displayed as buttons. When you first
start the game, there is only one available mission -
Mission 0. But once you finish Mission 0, you will have
five different missions that you can play. Completed
missions show up as grayed out buttons.
Select the mission button to go to the mission briefing.
A briefing window will pop up, describing the mission.
You may then Accept or Decline the mission. You might
decline the mission for a number of reasons - perhaps
you want to play a different mission first, perhaps you
need to equip your chopper better first, perhaps you
want to save your game first. Selecting the Decline
button takes you back to the Mission Tree, from which you
can press Escape to return to the Main Menu. Selecting
Accept commits to to play the mission. The mission loads,
and once you select Go, it is under way.
PLAYING THE MISSIONS
==============================================================================
Once the mission is under way, the display switches into full-screen
action.
On the top of the screen are your currently selected primary weapon (on the
left), how much cash you have (in the middle) and your currently selected
secondary weapon (on the right). Your chopper can hold more than one kind
of primary and secondary weapon at a time. You may select any of your
purchased weapons by using the weapon selection keys.
Below the weapon selection indicators is the radar screen, which shows
all of the vehicles in the level. Note that a radar jammer can distort
this display.
On the bottom of the screen, you have your armor meter on the left (this
tells you how close you are to dying.) The figures in the center tell you
how many foot soldiers (saboteurs) you have on board. On the right, you
can see how much ammunition you have for your currently selected secondary
weapon. Note that primary weapons have unlimited ammo.
What you do depends on what you were told in the mission briefing, but
it will usually involve wasting bad guys. Destroying enemy vehicles
sometimes yields cash, which you can collect and later use to buy more
stuff for your chopper. You also get money for finishing each level.
When you successfully complete a level, you should save your game.
You need to save your games explicitly from the Main Menu. Your game is
not automatically saved after you successfully complete a mission. After
all, you might discover that you really should have collected more cash on
Mission 16. When you fail a mission, you then load your previously saved
game to resume where you left off.
We are not going to tell you about all of the bad guys and what they
can do, because discovering them is part of the fun of the game.
However, we are going to tell you about structures. There are:
Friendly Buildings:
Landing Pad - There is one per level. You mission starts and ends
on it. It cannot be destroyed.
Haven - This looks like a hospital. You can rescue troops by
dropping them off near it. Enemy saboteurs can blow
it up.
Enemy Buildings:
Base - This is the enemy equivalent to your Haven. Enemy
troops and vehicles that enter it are considered
"rescued". Your saboteurs can blow it up.
Bunker - A defensive structure that launches rockets. Your
saboteurs can blow it up.
War Factory - This building generates enemy vehicles. Your
saboteurs can blow it up.
Bridge - Your saboteurs can take this thing out, too. Once
they do, no vehicles can cross it.
Fuel Depot - Cannon fodder. Your saboteurs will ignore them.
You can take them out with your weapons.
Your team does have ground troops, usually in the form of saboteurs.
These little guys will board your chopper if you land near them. If
you land close to a Haven, they will run into the Haven, after which
they are considered "rescued". If you drop them off near an enemy
structure, they will plant a bomb against it and blow it up. Enemy
vehicles will run them over, though, so guard your little guys from
danger.
The enemy has saboteurs too....
CONFIGURING YOUR SETTINGS:
==============================================================================
If you have a fast computer with a good video card, odds are that you
won't need to adjust the settings at all. The default settings leave all
of the features turned on. However, here is how you make sure that your
settings are correct:
Go to the OPTIONS menu and click on VIDEO. Turn on the checkbox marked
DRAW FRAME RATE. Then start a NEW GAME, go to MISSIONS, and play MISSION 0.
Fly past the convoy to the left and see what your lowest frame rate is.
(Note: The frame rate is controlled to stay down around 30 frames per
second, no matter how fast your system is.)
LOWEST FRAME RATE ACTION
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29+ You are done! Your settings are fine.
play and enjoy.
26 - 28 You are getting there, you just need a little more.
Try one of the following:
- In OPTIONS:AUDIO, disable 16-BIT AUDIO
- In OPTIONS:AUDIO, reduce the MIXING RATE
- In OPTIONS:AUDIO, reduce the CHANNELS
- In OPTIONS:VIDEO, turn on DON'T DRAW TREE LAYER
Now replay MISSION 0, fly past the convoy again,
and check your lowest frame rate against this table
again.
25- You need to get a major burst of speed.
Try one of the following:
- In OPTIONS:VIDEO, Enable DRAW EVERY OTHER FRAME
- In OPTIONS:VIDEO, Enable INTERLACE MODE
Now replay MISSION 0, fly past the convoy again,
and check your lowest frame rate against this table
again.
Once you can fly past the entire convoy in MISSION 0 without ever dropping
below 29 frames per second, you are done. In OPTIONS:VIDEO, turn off
DRAW FRAME RATE. Enjoy the game!
If you can't reliably reach 30 frames per second, try turning off all of the
available drawing options and turning down all the available audio options.
If the game is still too slow, let us know. It is still quite playable, but
a little easier.
In some very heavily populated missions your frame rate may drop below 30
frames per second on slower machines.
OPTIONS
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Here, you adjust the game options. Selecting this button yields
another menu, this one with three choices:
Video - Here you control the game's graphical settings.
Don't Use Menu Animation - Disables the cascading
menus.
Draw Every Other Frame - Draws only every other
frame of graphics. Use
this feature on computers
that cannot update the
graphics fast enough.
Use Interlace Mode - Draws only every other
line during gameplay.
Use this feature on
computers that cannot
update the graphics fast
enough.
Don't Use Translucency - Disables the translucent
feature of the radar and
the status display to
reduce graphics load.
Don't Draw Background - Disables drawing the
background to reduce
graphics load.
Don't Draw Tree Layer - Disables drawing the layer
that contains the trees and
rocks to reduce graphics
load.
Draw Debugging Info - Displays memory and sprite
information.
Draw Frame Rate - Displays how many frames
per second the game is
displaying. This is useful
for determining what options
to enable or disable.
Explosion Debris - This slide bar sets how much
debris thrown from explosions
can be on screen at one time.
Maximum Particles - This slide bar sets how many
particles (animated pixels)
can be on screen at one time.
Audio - These are the controls for our cutting-edge
audio system.
Use 16-Bit Audio - Enables 16-bit audio on supported
cards.
Use Stereo Audio - Enables stereo sound on supported
cards. The game makes good use
of stereo, since you can hear
enemies approaching from the
speaker corresponding to the side
they are on.
Reverse Left/Right - Switches the speakers if they are
backwards. (If you are using stereo
audio, make sure you have this set
correctly, or else sounds will pan
in from the wrong side.)
Mixing Rate - This slider lets you set the audio
mixing rate from 11 to 44 kHz. The
higher it is set, the more clear will
be the audio, while the amount of time
spent mixing will increase.
Audio Channels - This slider lets you determine how
many simultaneous sounds can be
played. If your system can support
it, you want this value to be set to
8 or higher. This will let you still
hear engine noise behind gunfire and
explosions.
Control - Determines how you will control your chopper
during gameplay. You can toggle the checkboxes
to enable/disable the Joystick, Mouse and
Keyboard. Note that Joystick and Mouse
conflict with each other during gameplay, so
use one or the other. We recommend the Mouse.
Select the configure button next to the devices
you choose for control:
Joystick Configure - Calibrate the stick and
assign functions to
buttons.
Mouse Configure - Assign functions to
buttons.
Keyboard Configure - Assign keys for functions.
EQUIPPING THE CHOPPER
==============================================================================
Here is where you spend money to soup up you chopper. You can buy:
Engines - Your first engine is very sluggish. Buying a better one gets you
snappier response and faster flying. You do not need to upgrade
your engine in order. You could hold out until you can afford the
fastest engine if you so desire.
Armor - Hey, even the best pilots take hits from time to time. This stuff
makes sure you can survive the occasional mating with a heat-
seeking missile. As with the engines, you do not need to upgrade
your armor in order. You can skip the second and third levels of
armor and upgrade straight to the fourth (if you can afford it).
Utilities - These are a few little extras that might come
in handy:
Armor Ranking - shows you how much armor your
opponents have left
Critical Ranking - Shows you which vehicles
are critical to your
mission. Marks items that
needs to be destroyed,
protected or rescued.
Radar De-Jammer - Counteracts enemy radar
jammers.
Repair Crew - Repairs your chopper slowly
during a mission.
Primary - This is your main gun. It has unlimited ammo. It is your staple
Weapon weapon. You start out with a dinky machine gun. Get a bigger
weapon to wreck more opponents in less time. Your helicopter can
carry multiple primary weapons simultaneously. When you purchase
a new weapon, you still have the old weapon. Use the weapon
selection keys while flying to choose which of your available
primary weapons to activate. You can have one primary and one
secondary weapon active at a time
Secondary - These are your special weapons. They have limited ammo, so they
Weapon have to be restocked. Your helicopter can carry multiple
secondary weapons and ammunition simultaneously. When you
purchase a new weapon, you still have the old weapon. Use the
weapon selection keys while flying to choose which of your
available secondary weapons to activate. You can have one
primary and one secondary weapon active at a time.
You start out with a bomb launcher and a few bombs. From this
menu, you can buy and refill:
Bombs - Plain and simple. They drop
and explode on impact.
Rockets - Regular forward-firing rockets.
Floaters - Fall towards the ground. Once
they near the surface, an
air cushion kicks in, so that
they float just above the
ground, moving at the same
speed at which they were
dropped.
Droprockets - When you depress the Fire key,
a rocket drops out of the
bottom of the chopper. When
you release the key, the
rocket's engine fires, and the
rocket flies horizontally from
that point on. Each packs a
powerful punch.
Scatterbombs - When you depress the Fire key,
a canister drops out of the
chopper. When you release the
key, the canister releases
several explosive pellets.
These are great for taking on
groups of vehicles, troops or
choppers.
Heatseekers - Automatically homes in on the
closest enemy. Ideal for
holding enemy aircraft at bay
while attacking ground targets.
Napalm - For ground targets only. This
is a large canister that
spreads devastating flames
across the ground. It has the
highest destructive capability
of all the secondary weapons.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
==============================================================================
Special thanks to:
* Elliot Berk
* Joe Corkery
* Ben Davenport
* Dan Davenport
* Tim Mackenzie
* James Mackey
* Paul Mattal
* Jack McCarthy
* Patrick Min
* Joe Sislow
* Bob Thomas
* Fletch
LICENSE
==============================================================================
BY COPYING, USING OR DISTRIBUTING THIS SHAREWARE PROGRAM, YOU INDICATE YOUR
AGREEMENT TO THE TERMS OF THIS LICENSE:
Terms: "Program" shall refer to the game "Cobra Gunship", with all
associated files. The "Trademarks" consists of "Elysium Digital, L.L.C.",
any Elysium Digital, L.L.C. logo, "Cobra Gunship" name, and any associated
labels and trademarks.
Ownership: The content, layout and format and associated Trademarks of this
Program are the property of Elysium Digital, L.L.C.
Terms of Distribution and Use:
1. The unregistered version of this Program may be freely copied or
distributed, provided that:
o All of the files from the original archive are distributed
together, unmodified. The distributor is responsible for making
sure that he distributes no version of the Program that is
missing files or contains modified files.
o No charge of any kind is levied for distribution of the Program.
If a charge is to be levied, specific written permission must
first be obtained from Elysium Digital, L.L.C.
Walnut Creek CDROM is exempt from this limitation.
2. The registered version of this Program may NOT be distributed in any
way. The Program and its accompanying documentation are protected by
United States copyright law and also by international treaty
provisions. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this package,
or any portion of it, may result in severe civil and criminal
penalties.
3. Any distributor or user agrees not to modify, reverse compile,
disassemble, or reverse engineer the Program, or use or disclose any
confidential information that it contains.
4. Any distributor or user agrees to the Warranty below.
Warranty: This program is provided "as is" with no warranties of any kind,
including implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular
purpose. Under no circumstances will Elysium Digital, L.L.C. provide any
remedy for direct, indirect, special, consequential, incidental or other
damages arising from the use of this Program, including such from
negligence, strict liability, or breach of warranty or contract, even after
notice of the possibility of such damages.
==============================================================================
Copyright (c) 1997-98 Elysium Digital, L.L.C.
Updated 30 January 1998.