                                
                                ͻ 
                           ** DECAY **
                                ͼ 
                             Ŀ
                             Proudly  Presents
                             
                                ξ     
                                S.P.A.S.M 
                                ھѮ
                                                      
                        SPecial Air Space Marines 
                                                


--------------------
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
--------------------

A Few Kb Of RAM.
Minimum 286 10MHz (Recommended: 386 10MHz and over).
About 1 Meg of Hard Disk Space.
VGA colour screen.
A Second Player (It's Much More Fun).


---------
CONTROLS:
---------

Player 1 :
Up : 'w'
Down : 'x'
Left : 'a'
Right : 'd'
Fire : 'space bar'
Competitive/Co-operative Mode : '3'

Player 2 : (Numeric Keyboard)
Up : '8'
Down : '2'
Left : '4'
Right : '6'
Fire : '0 (Ins)'
Competitive/Co-operative Mode : '*'


-------------
INTRODUCTION:
-------------

Once upon a time there were two big guys with big guns who went around shoot-
ing stuff. They shot aliens, walls, barrels,  doors and each other.  And they
were a force to be reckoned with. This release features ten levels of differ-
ing scenarios that  will keep  you  entertained for hours.  It is a top-down,
scrolling VGA shoot-em-up action game with mode X graphics.


-------------
INSTRUCTIONS:
-------------

The  aim of the game is very simple.  Activate all the  switches in the level
and go to the exit to get to the next level.  THAT'S IT!. Oh and don't forget
to shoot the aliens if they get in your way!

SWITCHES : A switch can take  the form of anything which  looks like a lever,
button or switch,  and can be activated by simply walking over it.  There are
usually  a lot of switches scattered around a level and  you cannot leave the
level, via the exit, unless EVERY switch is activated.

EXIT : Once all of the switches have been activated,  you can leave the level
by going to the exit.  And to leave a level,  simply stand on the exit  sign,
and wait a few seconds for the loading of the next level. In two player mode,
BOTH  of the participants  much reach the exit.  The exit is  usually easy to
identify. The word 'EXIT' is pretty common, or just plain 'X', is a good sign
that you have reached the exit.

ALIENS : These bastards not only get in your way  and not make good conversa-
tion but they take off your health.  They  are  pretty  smart  (they can work
their way through obstacles),  and whenever there is  contact between you and
the alien(s),  you will lose Hit Points. But don't worry, they are not armed-
but  they're  dangerous...Oh yeah,  there is an unlimited amount of aliens in
SPASM.

HEALTH : This is a measure of your strength and endurance.  It is measured in
Hit Points.  When your Hit Points reach zero (or less), you will be dead. But
since  you  can  pick  up  health during the playing of a level,  there is no
maximum limit to your Hit Points...cool. It is also possible to buy health at
the Shop Screen.

MONEY : As the name suggests, there is a lot of money to be collected in this
game. You can obtain money in two ways.  One way is to collect the money that
lies around a level,  and  the  other way is to shoot aliens. The more aliens
you shoot, the more money you get.  The more money you get,  the more you can
spend at the Shop Screen.

AMMUNITION : Your weapon requires  ammo  to  kill aliens or to spray around a
bit. You can hold an unlimited amount of ammo but be careful not to run out..
..it's  a hell of a situation which will require the help of your partner (if
you have one).  Ammo can be collected in any level as well as bought from the
Shop Screen.  Note,  that the gun you start off  with in the beginning of the
first level takes off only one ammo units....more on this later.

SCORE : The more aliens  you  shoot,  the greater the score.  That's all.  It
plays  no  part whatsoever in the game.  It is just an indication of how much
alien blood you are spilling.

SHOP SCREEN : Every few minutes or so,  the Shop Screen will appear,  and you
can buy a whole lot of goodies. Health can be bought for $5000 as well as the
ammunition.  Weapons,  too can be bought here.  Back Fire costs $5000, Bounce
Fire costs $10,000 and the Laser costs $15,000.  You  can  buy your life (and
your partners, if they're dead too) for $100.  To Reset Players Position, you
must fork out $500. And lastly, a Switch Map will cost you $5000. 

BACK FIRE : The odd weapon  which shoots backwards as well as forwards. It is
a very useful gun but it uses two units of ammo.

BOUNCE FIRE : The neat weapon which bounces off walls at 180 degrees. It uses
four units of ammo.

LASER : The coolest  weapon  which kills a heap of aliens in a straight line.
It requires six units of ammo.

RESET PLAYERS POSITION : This  option  which  can  be  bought  from  the Shop
Screen, will transport both players (if you are in two player mode), to their
respective starting position.  This option  is good to escape out of a sticky
or messy situation.

SWITCH MAP : Bought at the Shop Screen, this map, will show you the remaining
switches left in a level.  The reduced map will not show players movement and
it is only good for one level only. Of course, you can keep buying these maps
for every level...but what's the fun in that.

DEATH FLOOR : Found frequently  in all levels,  the Death Floor, which can be
walked on, takes off a varying amount of Hit Points when standing on it.

COMPETITIVE & CO-OPERATIVE MODE : I forgot to mention that another way to get
yourself some major points and an enemy, in two player mode, is to shoot your
partner  by turning on the Competitive  mode.  It  is  now  possible to shoot
the other player and inflict some damage, depending on the weapon used.  When
in Competitive mode, a little 'c' will  appear on the bottom of all the other
statistics,  so it IS possible to see if  you opposite number  has  it in for
you. Remember this option only works in two player mode. It could work on one
player mode, but who the hell cares...

KEYS : Keys  can  be found in specific places on each level that are required
to open doors to new areas.  There are usually a  few of the same key,  and a
maximum of four keys in any one level.

DOORS : Look out for these things,  they  can  animate really well sometimes.
Doors act as walls if you do not possess a key.


--------------
HINT AND TIPS:
--------------

* Avoid Death Floors if possible.
* Shoot barrels, walls and other inanimate objects to reveal hidden passages,
  hidden health, ammo or money, or switches....
* The more aliens you shoot in a short  amount of time,  the  more points you
  can earn.  For example,  if you shoot 10 aliens in 5 seconds,  you will get
  more points than if you shot 10 aliens in 10 seconds.
* Remember where the Exit is located. (If you find it.)
* In two player mode, try to share out the health and ammo equally.
* Try to work as a team.
* Some switches are hidden.
* Buy some different weapons to achieve a combined action with your bullets.
* Admire the animations.
* Do  not  expect any great sound effects,  music or anything else which may
  involve  a  sound card.  The only sound you can expect to hear,  is the PC
  sound when shooting your bullets.
* Also, do not expect a load and save option.  This game is best played from
  start to finish. (Besides, we couldn't be bothered.)
* BUY THIS GAME. (PLEASE!)  Read the screen after you quit the game for more
  information on payment.
  

-------
CHEATS
-------

When starting spasm start with the command line

spasm [level] laser

where [level] is the level number from 1-8 you want to play.
eg;

spasm 4 laser

starts you on level 4 with invincibility mode on (keyword laser gives
invincibility).

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

Author's note - please read.

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

This is a beta test version, it has 8 levels which are fully operational.
it is freeware. It was written over a year ago and we just dusted off the
cobwebs to put it out so that you could maybe have some fun with it. The
only thing we ask is that you email us to tell us something about it - eg
that you played it, thought it was crap/okay, any bugs you noticed, want
more levels - whatever. Also it may be nice to know if you would pay for it
if it had say 30 extra levels and was shareware. Anyway the two of us
playing co-operatively took about hours to complete it, so there should be
a lot of gametime/hours to waste in it.

What we are working on now is a full screen smooth scrolling shoot-em-up
in gauntlet style - with a view to selling a shoot-em-up constructor as
shareware. It should be fully featured as all the designers we are using
are our own and cool. We have tried several scrolling techniques and have
chosen what seems to be the best, as well as using RLE and compiled sprites
which are very fast. On my 286-16Mhz it was scrolling (reasonably
unoptimized) at 30 frames per second with 40 spaceships onscreen and 100
medium sized bits of fire onscreen. It was reasonably fast according to what
we wanted, but should be good for a game and construction kit.

please email for a beta or a copy, whatever is done when I hear from you
(if anyone wants it - remmember it isn't 3D), and even for encouragement -
or if you want to market or distribute it via shareware then definately! and
thanks.

bye.


'DECAY' is made up of Joel "The Anarmal" Utting and Roger Hunt.

the email address is

st956feb@echidna.cowan.edu.au

and snailmail is

          102 Bungaree Road
          WILSON WA 6107
          AUSTRALIA


                       ...DECAY - WE ROT YOUR BRAIN...    
