Penetrator

Starting a Game

To begin a game using the controller, press the Skip button to progress past the logo sequence quicker. When prompted for the choice of a one or two player game, press the One or Two player buttons on the controller to begin playing.

To begin a game using the keyboard, press 1 or 2 on the keyboard to begin a one or two player game.

To enter the map editor, press the E key while on the menu screen.

Gameplay

Use the ships blaster and bombs to destroy enemy structures and rockets before they hit your ship.

Press the Fire gun or rockets buttons when using a controller to fire the ships weaponry.

When playing the game with keyboard input, move forward and press the Fire key to shoot the ships blaster, and press the Fire key on its own to deploy bombs to the surface.

Survive for as long as possible, avoiding contact with enemies, rockets and the floor or ceiling. Over time, the threat level will increase.

The game takes place over five stages - the final stage contains the enemy base’s storage of neutron bombs. Carefully time firing a bomb into the small gap in terrain between the neutron bombs to complete the stage.

When a stage has been completed, the ship will restart at a low threat level, starting a new stage.

Interface

1. Current stage
2. Current player
3. Player score
4. Threat level
5. Lives

Threat Level

The current threat level increases as the player progresses further into the enemy base. The only way to decrease the threat level is to reach the neutron bombs and destroy them, completing the stage.

As the threat level increases, the colour of the screen changes, and the number of enemy structures increases. At higher threat levels, enemies appear which move vertically on a set path - shoot these enemies before they make contact with your ship.

Enemy Structures

Missile

Missiles will begin moving upwards when passed over by the player. A missile can be destroyed while moving, or when stationary on the ground. Destroying a rocket gives the player X points.

Radar base

A radar base . Destroying a radar base gives the player X points.

Neutron bomb store

The neutron bomb store is found at the end of stage 5. It must be destroyed by the player using a carefully positioned bomb, or the stage will repeat from a checkpoint. Once the neutron bomb is destroyed, it grants the player X points.

The Map Editor

Penetrator features an extensive level editor accessible from the menu, allowing everything from small changes to the base level, to a complete redesign of each stage.

To view the controls for the editor, press and hold the C key at any time.

To exit the level editor and return to the menu, press Enter and the 0 key at the same time.

Changes made to the level will persist until the game is restarted from the carousel, or a different save is loaded.

A crosshair can be seen on the screen when entering the editor, initially in the center of the screen. Use the movement keys to move the cursor horizontally and vertically.

To move the editor’s camera left and right through the game world, move the crosshair to the far left or right of the screen. Alternatively, press keys 1 - 5 on the keyboard to quickly move between the different stages of the level.

By default, the auto-repeating of keys is turned off when moving around the editor, which can make moving the crosshair slow. To enable the auto-repeat of all keys, press Caps Shift. Keys can be auto-repeated on a per-key basis by pressing the key combined with Symbol Shift.

Editor Interface

Landscape Editing

• Set bottom level: The terrain of the floor aligned with the crosshair will be raised or lowered to the current position of the crosshair
• Set top level: The terrain of the ceiling aligned with the crosshair will be raised or lowered to the current position of the crosshair

Structures

Structures placed will be positioned at ground level from the current position of the cursor.

To remove a structure in the level, position the crosshair over the structure, and press R on the keyboard.

All of the structures in the game can be placed and removed using the editor, with the exception of the neutron bomb store at the end of the game.

Saving

To save a level that has been created, exit the landscape editor to the in-game menu by pressing Enter and the 0 key, then return to the carousel and save the current game in a save slot.

When resuming this save and starting a game with one or two players, the edited level will be used.

The level can be edited again by re-entering the level editor from the game’s menu.