Raymaze 2000 is an action game, based on the Taito arcade game Raimais (from 1988), but is not a direct port. It has a branch of 14 levels based on the original ones, with classic enemies and powerups, but also adds a lot of new things: - a new branch of 17 original levels - new enemy behaviors - some new powerups and secrets - improved controls and also new ways of controlling your vehicle - 3 difficulty levels (Casual, Medium, Expert) - other new gameplay ideas Raimais could be seen as an improved version of Head On, or maybe Pac-Man, something like what Taito did with Breakout/Arkanoid or Qix/Volfied. Contents of the zip: Raymaze_2000_NTSC.xex (the main version), Raymaze_2000_PAL.xex, this Readme.txt (a mini manual), plus 6 game screens. The game needs an A8 computer with 64K. The .xex start loading from memory address $2800 (10K), but at the end it loads a final segment over an address near $2000 (8K), so I hope it works without problems in real hardware. NTSC vs PAL: If you want to play in the emulator, then is better to choose the NTSC version. Not only because of the 60 fps, but also because the game speeds, colors, music, sounds, were first created for NTSC and later translated for PAL. Both versions are pretty similar anyway, let's say over 95%.. but there are some things you cannot replicate perfectly, like the colors and some timings. Future developments: The memory of a 64K computer is almost full, so I will need to create a proper .atr version, with loading, if I want to add anything. We had a lot of ideas between MrFish and I, that we would like to test at some point, but who knows when that will be. But because of that we could say that this is version "0.5" of the game that we had in mind :). ------------------------------------------------------------ Enemies and levels: ------------------------------------------------------------ The basic enemies are similar to the ones in the arcade game, but there are lots of new variations and combinations. Most enemies try to get to the player position (in different ways), but there are others that only patrol some areas of the maze, without looking for the player. One good hint is that the "race car" enemy (the one from the first level) is kind of afraid of the player. It normally pursuits you, but if you race towards them, they will turn around and escape for a moment. There are also enemies that disappear from time to time, others that are intangible for a second, and some of them can follow other enemies, instead of the player. Some levels can have small variations in their layout, from time to time. Enemies could start the level going in different directions. Some powerups don't appear every time or can be different when replaying a level. So you should always stay alert :). If you don't have much experience with maze games, probably you should start with Casual difficulty. But if you want a challenge, or want to go for a higher score, you should try Medium or Expert. ------------------------------------------------------------ Input options: ------------------------------------------------------------ P, [Space]: pause / unpause the game. S: toggle speed control mode (between pressing the trigger or holding the stick), default is holding the stick. R: toggle the automatic player rotation, when there is a wall collision (on/off), default is off. A: toggle audio mode ("sfx only" or "music + sfx"), default is "music + sfx". Shift-Esc: self destruction key (abort the game). Shift-M: increase music volume. Ctrl-M: decrease music volume. (The current value is displayed in the menu screen: from +1 to +8, default is +3). * Most options work also while playing, except for "A" (changing the audio mode). ------------------------------------------------------------ About the controls: ------------------------------------------------------------ The control of the original game used a button to accelerate and had automatic cornering when colliding with a wall. You can set these options in Raymaze 2000, but they are not the default because is kind of an "advanced" method, for people with some practice with the game. I prefer it, because you need to do less "work" moving your vehicle, but I understand that it can mess up with your cornering sometimes, if you are not used to it. So we added another control system more similar to Pac-Man, so if your vehicle "collides" with a maze wall, it just stays there. With the original control method you can hold a position only against corners or dead ends (by holding a direction). Also we added the option of using the stick to accelerate, instead of using the button (in that case you only use the button to shoot, when you have the Laser powerup). Accelerating when needed is one of the main mechanics of the game. Probably you should start using only the normal speed, and only later, when having more confidence, try to do everything at the top speed. There are some other improvements over the original controls.. turning around is probably faster, using diagonals is allowed. There is also a "Pac-Man like" direction buffer for taking corners. This means that you can press "left" a little before getting to an intersection, and the game remember your intention. The original game control can be a little infuriating at times (you should try it in Mame if you want to see for yourself x)). ------------------------------------------------------------ Powerups: ------------------------------------------------------------ A(Armor) (blue color) add one armor shield (max 8), this armor is destroyed when colliding with enemies or electric gates. A(full Armor) (purple color) set armor shield to 8. C(Clear) (green color) "touch" once every dot in the level. P(Player) (grey color) one extra life. B(Bonus) (grey color) get 5000 points. There are also timed powerups: (getting a new one disable the previous timed powerup) L(Laser) player can shoot and destroy enemies. S(Slow) (yellow color) enemies slowdown. S(max Speed) (red color) player top speed is increased. I(Invincible) player invincible, can go through enemies. T(Time stop) enemies stopped, player can go through them. The time for the timed powerups changes according to the difficulty level: 11 seconds in Casual, 9 in Medium, 7 in Expert. ------------------------------------------------------------ Scoring: ------------------------------------------------------------ Eating a dot: 70 (Casual), 90 (Medium), 110 (Expert). Get a powerup: 150 points. Destroy an enemy: 500 points. Destroy an electric gate: 1000 points. Time bonus after completing a level: 20 points for every second remaining. Extra life at 30000 points. Bonus per life, when completing a full branch of the game: 2000 (Casual), 5000 (Medium), 8000 (Expert). Hidden bonus (per level): 10000 points (for expert difficulty only).