Sonic The Hedgehog: Project Mettrix Beta Release 4 Pre-test 7 Thank you for downloading Project Mettrix! Included in this text are setup and gameplay instructions, background, and credits. Setting up the game: A Windows version and a Dos version of the game's exe are both included in this package. The Windows version will run as-is (if you have DirectX7 or above installed), however, the DOS version requires an extra step to setup. The Windows version is slower (in terms of processing, not to be confused with the framerate. If you are using a fast machine, the Windows version may jump to a higher framerate than the DOS version because of complications in setting up a proper timer), and it is also more prone to crashing from any bugs. If possible, it is better to use the DOS version, however, Windows NT-based operating systems will not allow it to run properly without a third step. There are two ways to properly set up the DOS version for play. The program requires DOS4GW.EXE to run, however, you have options on how to set it up and use it. You may download this file at: http://stealth.emulationzone.org/Misc/dos4gw.zip Two methods of setting the game up properly are listed below. If you cannot do or do not understand Option 1, then you should try Option 2. Option 1 - Place DOS4GW.EXE in your Windows folder, or any other folder that is described in the "Path=" statement in your autoexec.bat or autoexec.nt files. DO NOT place this file in the game folder. Once you have placed the file in an appropriate folder (If you had to add a line to your autoexec file to accomplish this, you will need to reset), you may run the game by switching to the game folder and typing "Sonic", or by double-clicking SONIC.EXE from within Windows. Option 2 - Place DOS4GW.EXE in Mettrix's program folder (the folder that has SONIC.EXE). Once that is done, you may run the game by typing "Mettrix" at the DOS prompt within the game folder, or by double-clicking METTRIX.BAT within Windows. If you are using a Windows NT-based Operating system, you may also need a DOS emulator, preferrably the one called VDMSound, which can be downloaded at: http://stealth.emulationzone.org/Misc/VDMSound.msi Please follow the on-screen instructions to install VDMSound. I am not responsible for the operation/performance of, or any consequences caused by VDMSound, as I am not affiliated in any way with it's authors. Once setup is complete, the game may be played by using either executable: sonic.exe sonicwin.exe Or, you may use the included launcher program: launch.exe To take advantage of the game-start options, you must either start the program from the command prompt and use the appropriate paramaters, or use the options in the launcher. Listed below are instructions for starting a user-created level from the command prompt. Other command-line options are covered in Level/Game Editing documentation. Mettrix is the default game, you do not have to tell the program to start it. If, however, you want to use a user-created "Game Set" (for example, the official Green Hill addon), the name must be passed as a parameter to the program when it is started. The folder for this "Game Set" is called Sonic1, and so is the .GDF file inside. So to tell the game to start it, use one of these command line strings, depending on your version/installation: Sonic Sonic1 Mettrix Sonic1 Sonicwin Sonic1 Playing the game: *Movement: Upon starting the game, you will be presented with the Title Screen. You may either press "Start" (the Enter key), or wait for a demo to play. The basic game keys are as follows: Enter - Start/Pause Arrows - Player 1 Directions I/J/K/M - Player 2 Directions Ctrl - Player 1 Jump A - Player 2 Jump ESC - Quit A Joystick/pad may also be used. To activate it, simply press button 2 at the title screen instead of Enter. Button 2 will function as Start/Pause, and button 1 (and also 3 and 4 if they are available) will function as jump. All of the basic Sonic moves are in-tact. Incase you've never played the games before, or have forgotten, here is a list: - Running: All three characters use their above-average speed to blaze through the levels in search of their arch-nemesis, Dr Eggman. By merely pressing the directional keys to the left or right, with enough room, your character can gain enough speed to zip by obstacles and badniks, and even run right up the wall and around loops! - Super Spin: The Super Spin is Sonic's trademark attack, but Tails and Knuckles have learned to copycat it. To perform the Super Spin, simply press the jump button, or press the down directional key while running/wallking to roll across the ground, right through enemies and even some walls. - Look Around: You may pan the screen to see what is above or beneath you by pressing the up or down directional keys to make your character look up or duck, and soon, the screen will move, revealing a different part of the level to you. - Spindash: The spindash is a powerful attack and a great speed-boost. To perform the Spindash, simply press and hold the down directional key to make your player duck, and press the jump key. The more times you press the jump key, the more speed you will store. When you are ready to go, release the down directional key, and you will blast foreward while performing the Super Spin Attack. - Insta-Shield: The Insta-Shield is a Sonic-only move. Sonic has gained the power of a temporary force-shield that will surround and protect his body for a split second. While in the middle of a jump, tap the jump button again and for a brief moment, Sonic will be protected from harm. - Flight: Tails can use his two tails like the blades of a hellicopter to soar into the air! However, he gets tired quickly, and must land to rest before taking off again. While he is in the air, he can even grab ahold of Sonic and carry him to out-of-reach places. To fly, simply tap the jump button again while in mid-jump to begin, and press again and again to make tails lift higher into the air. - Gliding: Knuckles has learned many unique tricks during his isolation on Angel Island. One useful technique is to catch the air through his dreads and with his body to glide across crevices and down from cliffs. To glide, press and hold the jump button while in mid-jump, and until you let go, Knuckles will glide across the level. - Climbing: Knuckles has also learned to use his abnormally large and sharp knuckles as digging and climbing tools. To grab onto a wall for climbing, either glide toward the wall without stopping, or jump, press against the wall, and tap the jump button again. While on the wall, press the up and down directional keys to climb it, and the jump button to detatch from it. *Items: There are some powerup (and even power-down) items that will affect your gameplay; It is useful to know what each of them does. - Ring: Rings are very valuable, as they sustain your life. Keep at least one ring with you at all times, and you will not lose a turn. 100 of these will also grant you an extra chance to complete the game. - Ring Monitor: A monitor with a Ring icon will give you 10 rings when destroyed. - Silver Ring Monitor: The Silver Ring Monitor combines your rings into groups of 10. When you lose your rings, you will lose silver rings, which are worth 10 instead of one, allowing you to regain more of what you had beforehand. It is also possible to regain up to 320 rings this way, instead of 32. However, it is only useful once, and will dissappear after you've been hit. - Blue Shield Monitor: The Blue Shield Monitor will give you a standard shield that will protect you from one attack. - Fire Shield Monitor: The Fire Shield Monitor gives you the Fire Shield, which will protect you from all fire attacks, but will disappear when hit by a physical attack, or when immersed in water. This shield also allows Sonic to do the Fireball Spindash. To perform the Fireball Spindash, tap the jump button while in mid-jump, and Sonic will be propelled foreward in a blazing Super Spin attack. - Lightning Shield Monitor: This monitor gives you the Lightning Shield. This shield will protect from all electric attacks, but will disappear when hit by any other attack, or immersed in water. This shield also attracts rings to your player like a magnet, and will also allow Sonic to do a Double-Jump. To perform the Double-Jump, press the jump button while in mid-jump to charge the surrounding air particles and propell Sonic farther upward. - Bubble Shield Monitor: This monitor gives you the bubble shield. This shield will protect against one attack. It will also sustain the player's air supply while underwater, and allow Sonic to do the Bounce-Attack. To perform the Bounce-Attack, tap the jump button while in mid-jump, and Sonic will force himself downward, and then bounce back up. - Super Sneaker Monitor: The Super Sneakers allow your player to run even faster for a short period of time. Watch the icon at the corner of the screen, it will warn you when time is running out. - Invincibility Monitor: This monitor will make your character temporarily invincible (although still prone to being squashed, drowning, or falling off the screen). The icon at the bottom of the screen will flash when it has almost expired. - One-Up Monitor: This monitor, which has a picture of your player's face, will give you an extra chance to complete the game. You lose chances when you are squished, fall off the screen, or get attacked without any rings or a shield. When all of these are gone, the game is over, unless you have collected continues. - Dr Eggman Monitor: These are power-downs. Activate this Monitor, and it will have the same effect as being attacked by an enemy. - StarPost: Touching one of these markers will save your progress in the level. If you die, you will return here if you still have at least one extra chance. - Giant Ring: These giant rings serve as gateways to the Special Stage, where you can attempt to collect the ultimate prize, the Chaos Emeralds. - Chaos Emeralds: An ancient, mystical power source, sought after by many, seen by few. These gems contain limitless potential, and when all are brought together, something increadibly good, or increadibly evil will happen. *The Story: All has seemed quiet for some time. There have been no signs of Dr Eggman, but that isn't necessarily a good thing. Some of his quests for world domination spawn from idle side-projects, and this time will be no exception. In his studies of unusual readings gathered in a remote region of Angel Island, he has discovered a breach in the fabric of space, what one may consider a link to another universe, if it exists as a universe is defined. Through a stroke of genius, or pure luck, he has discovered a way to expand it, and in doing so, he found that it began to distort the surrounding area. This line of study led him to discover also that it could be made to be something that could be entered and exited, and with a properly-placed beacon, the exit could be any place of his chosing. As if this alone weren't enough, one of his spare holographic imaging systems was set off by mistake while furthering development of a transport more suitable for multiple-production, the image barred his path of entry. It had become solid! This had changed thing entirely, for not only had he discovered a method of fast transport, he now had the power to bend reality, turning his twisted dreams into a living nightmare! Eggman set out to create a machine powerful enough to open multiple portals, and spread his fiendish illusions as far as he could. With several teams of robots searching, he was able to gather all 7 of the chaos emeralds, but he found them to be of no help. Once in this strange place, they were able to remove themselves from Eggman's grasp, slipping into something of a separate existence, although still arguably in the same place. Frustrated and unable to locate them, Eggman decided that an alternative to powering his nearly- complete network would be to again obtain the Master Emerald, feeling that he may have better luck with it. The Chaos Emeralds make their own connections back to the real world, waiting for someone worthy to take them back.. *The Levels: If you start the normal game (Not a user-created one), pressing "Start" at the title screen will take you to Wood Zone, the "Options Level" - Wood Zone: This is an interactive "Options Level", where you can choose your player character, saved game, play mode, etc. To select your player, jump on the button that is below the image of the player you want. The button with both Sonic and Tails activates player two. The large screen on a tree trunk with two buttons below it is the Saved-Game selector. Use the buttons to cycle through them until information for the one you want appears, then, hop into the big ring beside it to start the game in normal play mode. Above this area is a Dr Eggman monitor, which you can use to erase a saved game. Once you hit the monitor, the game is NOT erased from the disk, just from memory. The game will not really be gone unless you enter the big ring. If you change your mind and want it back, you may switch game slots, and it will reappear. To the left of that is a green block below to images, a square and two rectangles. This is the playmode select. The square is for single player Time Attack, and the two rectangles are split screen 2Player VS mode. If you wish to use the playmode you have selected there, you will need to move to the "Level Select Area", which is a group of large rings tagged with level names. Any levels you have not beaten yet will be blocked, however, you may enter any of the ones you have to begin Time Attack or 2P VS. From there, you may start your game, entering into any of the gameplay levels described below. Sonic and Tails's story begins differently from Knuckles', so the first half of the game will consist of different levels. The following levels are for Sonic and Tails: - Shining Island: The seaside of a small island, filled with trees, flowers, and waterfalls. Sonic and Tails have been stranded here when their plane, the Tornado, was struck down by MetalSonic. No doubt Eggman is up to something devious again. The two must race to the other side of the island over hills and bridges, around loops and through the invading badnik army to try and catch up to him before his damage spreads any farther. Knuckles' adventure begins on Angel Island. Not knowing what he was in for, he sets off to teach some intruders to his island a lesson: - Guardian Castle: EggRobo has attacked Angel Island, and is sending in his own army to establish a fort in an old castle. Upon closer inspection, it would seem that he is more similar to his creator than would be expected, as he has created six golden EggRobos to act as generals, which are much tougher than the rest. Knuckles must hunt them down, three per area, and put them out of commission before heading for their leader. *The Special Stage: In this demo, the Special Stage is incomplete. **Unfortunately, severe problems have arisin in Special Stage Code since the last release, which will most likely cuase it to crash. This will be fixed in a later release. You may exit the Special Stage by pressing Spacebar.** The goal of each Special Stage is to obtain one of the seven Chaos Emeralds. To do this, you must race against the clock to collect the given number of Rings and Blue Spheres before your time is up. - Ring: One of the two objectives of the stage. Collect as many as possible. - Silver Ring: These are worth 5 rings. If you can reach them, get them. - Blue Sphere: The second objective to complete the stage. Collect the correct number. - Red Sphere: These spheres are traps, if you touch one, you will be sent out of the Special Stage without the Chaos Emerald. - Yellow Sphere: These spheres will bounce you way up into the air, they will be useful in traveling throughout the stage. - White Sphere: These spheres are bonus spheres, worth extra time. Try and find them to help you! The special stage ends when you have collected a Chaos Emerald, when you have touched a red sphere, when you have fallen off the course, or when your time has expired. This is a game based on the Sonic the Hedgehog series from Sonic Team, previously a subsidiary of SEGA. It is designed to be a standalone game, but also to allow for user modification. The gameplay itself is intended to emulate that of Sonic 3 and Knuckles, as that was the last proper 2D game in the original series, and seems to be moving in the right direction. The story and levels (although with a couple of exceptions) are to be entirely new, however, to provide a new challenge to fans of the series. The backbone, the programming, stems from work starting in 1996. The desire for a new Sonic the Hedgehog game had driven myself and some friends to try and create one of our own. Although the team is not the same, it had always been a desire of mine to create a video game, so after a nice kick-start, work continued throughout the coming years and into present-day on what would become the driving part behind what you see today. Customization hadn't always been in the plans, though after the external level editor was released with a previous demo, it became clear that not only did the game need to be more easily alterable to those developing game data, but others may enjoy this ability as well. So now, not only is this meant to be a brand new game of it's own, but it's also a shell for others to create other games by changing and adding to game data. The game itself has evolved from a previous work by Ron Echidna titled "Sonic and the 7 Rings". This project started somewhere between 1998 and 1999, and was being developed using The Games Factory. Since then, the story has been revised, as well as gameplay plans and alot of previous data, such as art. Ron began to feel his limitations, however, and wanted to concentrate more on art, layout, and plans, as well as hoping that more potential could be provided to the game overall. Ron and I had worked together to combine our projects into one that could move more quickly and fluidly toward our common goal until recently. As of early 2002, some unfortunate circumstances had distracted him from his availability to the project. Later the same year, he stopped appearing altogether, and it seems he'll be unavailable for an indefinite period of time, so unfortunately, I and the rest of the team will have to continue without him. Our Website: http://stealth.emulationzone.org/ http://www.spores.net/OrganizedChaos http://www.deltianempire.com/stealth The Team: Stealth (MStealthA@aol.com) - Programming, Story, Object/Enemy Planning, Level Layout; Light Level Art, Object/Enemy Art Ron (jarrett@lineone.net) - Original Story, Level Art, Object/Enemy Art, Object/Enemy Planning Liz (toronbone@aol.com) - Level Art, Object/Enemy Art, Object/Enemy planning Verse (a66seth@aol.com) - Soundtrack Past Contributors: Andre Schroder (Schroder_23@hotmail.com) - Previous Soundtrack Sneeky (sneeky@netlimit.com) - Unfinished Cut-Scenes Michael Sterns (katharin@ellensburg.com) - Previous MetalSonic sprites Special Thanks: MSmoke (sapirsda@cs.purdue.edu) - Base for DOS sound programming and DirectX Wrappers The Chaos Emerald (hpalace@hpalace.com) - Assistance with getting started in Windows programming YarHarHar (BigM@yarsoft.com) - Starter concepts for certain methods, and Dust Hill art Rob Showalter (?) - Provided Windows MIDI package Dr Ivo (vestpocket@aol.com) - Additional insight into how the original games work Sonic Team (mail@sonicteam.com) - The masterminds behind this wonderful series Sonic the Hedgehog and related characters/backstory are copyright 1991-Present Sonic Team, and are used without permission. Sonic Team reserve all rights to these properties and while we intend and see no harm in the use of such, this work can be altered/discontinued at their request. All other works Copyright 1998-Present Organized Chaos.