Readme.txt for DualShooter 0.8 (NEO SPRING COMPO 2008 version)



Hi, this is the first public release of my homebrew NDS game called "DualShooter".
The game may look still incomplete but this is not the "final 1.0 milestone etc. etc." version.
I've created this mainly for practicizing videogame programming and secondly because i felt there were not enough shot 'em up games for the Nintendo DS.


*Game basics*

Well, if you haven't never played a shot 'em up videogame before (impossible!), the basic idea is: you control the hero ship in the lower screen and you have to destroy all the enemies incoming from the upper screen.
If you get hit you lose energy. If your energy decreases under 0, you lose a life. If you lose all you lives, then the game is over. Simply, not? ^_^
That's enought for game basics, now for the controls stuff.


*Controls*

You move the hero ship with the stylus, so it moves "@ the speed of your hand"!
You can even use the directional pad if you prefer,
and you can switch from one control method to another instantly.
The other game buttons are:
 A or L or R (press repeatedly) -> fire
 A or L or R (keep pressed)     -> autofire
 B or L+R                       -> drop a bomb (inflict a constant damage to all enemies on the screen, but do not destroy 'em necessarily!)
 X                              -> switch to next weapon
 Y                              -> switch to previous weapon
 Start or Select                -> pause game


*Game Features*

 - 3 levels with large scrolling backgrounds captured from the Earth
 - builtin soft-reset/poweroff functions
 - 3 enemies
 - 4 shoot-types (single/double/missiles/double missiles) + bombs
 - musics, sounds, explosions and all the stuff you would expect from a nice shtmup game!
 - everything runs very smoothly @60 FPS (tested on a real NDSL with R4DS)


*TODO list for next versions*

 - new menu with icons
 - graphical HUD (PARTIALLY DONE)
 - voice messages announcing powerups collected
 - 2 bosses
 - 2 new levels and enemies
 - cheats (i love 'em ;)
 - "dual mode" special bonus (MAYBE)
 - new sprite theme (submissions accepted)
 - environmental effects (MAYBE)
 - rumble pak support (MAYBE, if Devkitpro developers will fix it)
 - wifi multiplayer (MAYBE, if i have time to study it)
 - release the full source code under GPL (MAYBE, if i have time to clean it ;)


*Credits*

planning & programming:
	me (eadmaster)

graphics:
	SpriteLib GPL (http://www.flyingyogi.com/fun/spritelib.html)
	Planet Earth :)

music:
	ocean abyss by digital chaos (level 1)
	DustRaiders by Sidewinder (level 2)
	ORbitalFlower by Sidewinder (level 3)
	menu by soundscape
	game over- dead by mark knight

special thanks:
	All PAlib and devkitPro programmers who made this possible
	My family and my friends for supporting me
	Nintendo for making such great videogame consoles!


*Final thought*

That's all, i hope you will enjoy playing this game as much as i have enjoyed programming it.


Bye for now,
eadmaster
