T h e A n d r e w s A s t e r o i d s H o m e p ag e
Current Release:Andrews Asteroids v18.x
Click here to play Andrews Asteroids. Click here for Andrews Defender
Instructions:
There are three game modes, but the gameplay in all is pretty straightforward -- just shoot and destroy everything! Be careful - don't stray too close to the explosions because the larger debris (the small spinning triangles) will damage your shields (unless you have the Debris Shield powerup) . Your shields can also absorb limited collisions with heavily damaged asteroids and your own gunfire, but they won't hold out for long, so this should generally be avoided. Both shooting the guns and firing the thrusters will consume energy -- this will slowly recharge though.
When you destroy an enemyship, it will release one of serveral kinds of power-up. Collect it before it collides with an asteroid (or worse, another enemy ship grabs it).
For both single player game modes, if you beat the "world high score", you can enter your name for all to see (max of 12 alpha-numeric characters).
Game Mode: Asteroids
Just blow up all the asteroids! When you destroy them all, you progress to the next round. Shoot accurately -- if you achieve over 70% accuracy in a round you will receive a bonus to your score. You will get a bounus life at 10,000 points, and every 50,000 points thereafter.
Game Mode: Challenge
This game mode is good for a quick blast. The objective is to get as high as score as possible (which basically means staying alive for as long as you can...). There are no rounds -- it is a continuous fight against enemy ships, with a few medium and small asteroids thrown in as a buffer. The enemy ships get tougher as your score goes up. You get a bonus life every 50,000 points.
Game Mode: 2 Player Challenge
A simple 2-player mode - the first to loose 10 lives looses. Note that power-ups only last a short time. A few enemy ships are thrown in for an extra challenge.
Important - when the game screen comes up, be sure to click into the applet first --otherwise it won't detect your key strokes. You might also need to re-click on the game when closing the key configuration screen.
If anyone finds a bug, email me at areid@maxnet.co.nz. Also, if anyone knows how to (accurately - i.e. not withSystem.currentTimeMillis()) get the system time in an applet on a Windows 95/98/ME OS, please please let me know. Then I can remove some of the dodgy code I have written to control the speed of the game.
Default Key Assignments
(Press C in demo mode to re-configure the keys)
|
Single Player |
Player 1 | Player 2 | |
| Rotate left /right | Z/X | Z/X | Left/Right Arrow |
| Fire thrusters | M | V | Up Arrow |
| Shoot missile | K | F | NumPad 1 |
| Fire guns | L | G | NumPad 0 |
S = Toggle Sound On/Off
P = Pause
FAQ / CommonProblems / Notes:
Problem: When the game loads, all the objects move really fast, then really slow, then really fast again (repeating). The automatic frame rate management code (switched on by default) is having trouble adapting to your particular computer -- this usually happens if you are using a Microsoft VM on a reasonably old computer (e.g. Pentium II or lower). Try hitting 'T' in the demo screen to toggle off the automatic frame rate management and cycle between a number of manual settings. You might also want to do this if you are getting a poor frame rate with the automatic management, or if you just want to try and get a better frame rate [the automatic management introduces a 10ms delay between each frame if the frame rate exceeds 100fps, and switches this off if it drops below 30fps]. Very high frame rates produce prettier engine and missile trails, but they can also result in the unpredictable movement of objects during game play (i.e. the game becomes impossible to play). A frame rate of about 50-70fps seems to be a good compromise.
Problem: My ship sometimes explodes but I am nowhere near an asteroid -- why? Reason: You have probably run into some debris (the small spinning triangles) from an explosion, and your shields were already low. Or you have shot yourself..... (or have been shot by an enemy ship).
Problem: I hear shooting and explosion sounds but can't see where they are coming from. Reason: There is probably an enemy ship off screen trying to evade (or destroy) some off-screen asteroids.
Question: What is the enemy ship AI? Answer: Roughly this: If there is an immediate threat, destroy it if it can be easily, otherwise avoid it. If not, and off the screen, move on to it (to be fair to the player). If not, and there is a clear line to a power-up, persue it. If not, and there is a clear line to the player ship, shoot at the player ship. If not, move to a new location on the screen. This is an over-simplification of it, and there are a few subtlities / fudges I made based on play testing, but this is basically how it works.
Question:What are the power-ups? Answer: Shield recharge, 10-second invincibility, Extra missiles, "Super Gun" (useful, but chews up energy......), Rapid Auto Fire (hold down L), Fast-Energy-Recharge (x2 speed), Debris Shield (stops you taking damage from the debris from explosions), Targetting Crosshairs, and a Homing Missile Guidance System (+2 extra missiles so you can use it). Enemy ships will also seek out and use the power-ups. An enemy ship with a super gun, auto-fire and a payload full of missiles isn't usually good for your health. Tip: unless you have to, try not to destroy enemy ships in a hail of bullets, because you will probably also destroy the power-up they release in the process. Note that aside from invincibility, power-ups last until the end of the round, or until the player ship is destroyed (which-ever comes first).
Note: The homing missile guidance system works like this: If a homing missile has a current target identified, it will remain locked on to that target while there is a clear line to it, and while it remains within 45 degrees of the missiles heading. If a missile looses a lock, it will seek out a new target, locking on to the target that is closest to the direction it is heading in, and that it has a clear line to (though it will only "see" targets within 45 degrees of its current heading). Warning: homing missiles also consider the player ship as a valid target if you are unfortunate enough to get yourself in front of one.....
Note: While you are invincible, you won't be able to collect power-ups.
Note: It is possible for you (and enemy ships) to shoot pretty much any object, including missiles and even other bullets. The one exception is debris -- I thought it would be a bit mean if you by chance wasted a missile that just hapened to collide with an adrift piece of debris. Enemy ships may try to shoot out incoming missiles rather than try and avoid them if they are facing in the approximate direction when they first detect them.
Note: You won't receive credit for objects you don't destroy (i.e. things that enemy ships run into or shoot).
Note:The screen size is currently 800x600. Sorry to everyone that runs at 800x600 resolution - I'll put in a scaling routine at some stage, but this is down on the priority list. In the meantime, stick the browser in full screen mode (F11 on IE).
Still to come(maybe):
Change Log (Sincev14.0.4):
v14.0.4
v15.0
v16 / v17
v18