Attack of The Smilies

Playing instructions

BEFORE RUNNING

Attack of The Smilies requires the following minimum specification before it will run.

• PII-300mhz or faster processor
• Windows 98, ME, 2000 or XP
• DirectX 7.0 or later (get the latest version from Microsoft)
• 8 MB graphics card or better

A sound card is also recommended to enjoy the sound effects and music, although the game will run without sound. You may also use any DirectX compatible gamepad or joystick.

INSTRUCTIONS

Attack of The Smilies is a nice little twist on the age-old classic game Space Invaders. Instead of shooting little green aliens you now shoot menacing Smilies and get to watch their expressions change as their attacking fleet is slowly destroyed.

The aim of the game is very simple... Destroy each wave as it approaches and watch out for the occasional Mothership, as shooting one may (but not always) relinquish a power-up that then needs to be collected. There are four types of power-up at your disposal, which are as follows...

• Rapid Shot
• Double Shot
• Triple Shot
• Shield

Each type of weapon, with the exception of the shield, can only be used for a short period of time, which is represented by the bar that appears in the bottom right of the screen. The amount of time can be extended in two ways. The first is by continuing to shoot the attacking Smilies, as you are awarded with a little bit more time for each destroyed. The second is by collecting another power-up of the same type. This will then give you another full burst on top of what you have left - although there is a maximum limit. Collecting a different power-up to the one in use will change to the new type, but time will be reset to the standard amount.

The shield will protect you for a short period of time. How much time you have left will be indicated by the colour of the shield. It starts white, then changes to yellow and then to red just before it expires. You can collect another shield power-up to reset the time. It will only protect you from bombs dropped by the Smilies, not those from the Mothership. You will also have a brief shield after being killed.

The Smilie formation will gradually get lower for each wave. When they get to a certain height they will start from the top of the screen again, but with a larger formation. Once the maximum formation size is reached they will start to move faster.

Something else to watch out for is that the Smilies will sometimes drop homing bombs. These are green in colour (instead of the normal blue) and they will be dropped more regularly the further into the game you get.

After losing all your lives you may be lucky enough to have gained a high enough score for the high score table. If so, you will be asked to enter your name. The high score table is saved to your hard disk.

THE GAME SCREEN

Across the top of the screen you have the current high score, your current ranking within the high score table, the number of lives you have left (up to a maximum of 5) and your current score.

The bottom left of the screen shows your current wave represented by flags of different values and the bottom right shows your power-up time remaining when a power-up is in use.

CONTROLS

You can also use a DirectX compatible gamepad or joystick to move your ship. Press the fire button to start a game to select this method of controlling your ship.

CREDITS

Attack of The Smilies is an SOS Software production and was written by Jason Brasier. Music and sound effects were taken from the Blitz Basic CD and are the property of their respective copyright holders.

Please visit the main SOS Software website at www.sossoftware.co.uk for more games. For technical enquires please direct them to support@sossoftware.co.uk. For any other comments, suggestions or general enquiries please direct to general@sossoftware.co.uk.

DISCLAIMER

This game is freeware and should not be sold as or part of a commercial package. Please feel free to distribute this program in its original ZIP or installer form without any modification.