Classic asteroid-blasting arcade game featuring stunning raytraced graphics, awesome power-ups
and 18 different types of enemy craft, spread over a massive 75 action-packed levels.
AstroFire is our oldest game. It is still very playable, but if you're looking for a more modern gaming experience,
please check out our latest release, Astrogeddon.
2. Requirements
Windows 98, 2000, Me or XP (not Vista).
32Mb RAM and 2Mb free disk space.
Sound Blaster compatible sound card (optional).
3. Playing The Game
An alien armada has swept the galaxy, laying all to waste.
Diplomacy has failed and New Earth is under attack. StarFleet
has been wiped out and you are our last remaining hope.
The keys are as follows:
Left Arrow
. . . . . . . . . .
Rotate Anti-Clockwise
Right Arrow
. . . . . . . . . .
Rotate Clockwise
Up Arrow
. . . . . . . . . .
Thrust Forwards
Ctrl
. . . . . . . . . .
Fire
P
. . . . . . . . . .
Pause/Resume
S
. . . . . . . . . .
Toggle Sound On/Off
Esc
. . . . . . . . . .
Quit Game
The rules are pretty simple: shoot everything!
There are two information bars in the top-left of the screen.
The first, marked 'S', represents your shields. Each time your
ship is hit, your shields are depleted - when they reach zero you
die! Fortunately, you can boost your shields by collecting red
power-up gems.
The second bar, marked 'W', represents your weapon's power-level.
You can boost your fire-power for a short period by collecting
gold power-up gems. If you reach maximum power, your ship will
release a devastating ring of shots - very useful when you're in
a tight corner!
You start the game with three lives, but you can gain more by
collecting purple power-up gems. The number immediately to the
right of the info bars tells you how many lives you have left.
The number in the top-right of the screen is your score.
CHEAT KEYS
In the Full Version, you can use the following cheat keys:
Shift-F1
. . . . . . . . . .
Boost Shields, Fire-Power and Lives
Shift-F2
. . . . . . . . . .
Skip Current Wave
Shift-F3
. . . . . . . . . .
Skip Next 10 Waves
Note: If you use these cheats, your score will be fixed at zero.
4. The Setup Program
AstroFire will usually auto-detect your sound card settings, but there may be times
when you need do make manual adjustments or even disable the game's sound altogether.
You can do this via the game's Setup program - click the Windows "Start" button,
select "Programs", locate the "AstroFire" folder, then select "Sound Setup".
5. Troubleshooting
If you encounter any problems running AstroFire, please refer to our Support Page.
6. Hints
If the game is too easy or too hard, try changing the skill
level on the Options Menu. On the easy level, your ship will be
able to take more hits, but you will be awarded fewer points.
Most users find keyboard control easier than using a joystick.
Try to stay in the centre of the screen - you'll have more time
to react to approaching danger.
If your ship is hidden off the edge of the screen, don't hang
around waiting to be hit - take a chance and just accelerate ANYWHERE.
Keep the number of asteroids on the screen to a minimum by
picking off the larger rocks one at a time: shoot one large
rock, shoot all the smaller rocks released, and only then shoot
the next large rock.
Some of the alien craft home in on your ship. You can confuse
them by moving off one side of the screen and appearing on the other.
Shoot the UFOs from a distance - the closer you are, the more
likely you are to be shot yourself.
Some alien craft reflect your shots back at you. To avoid
shooting yourself, make sure you only open fire from a distance.
7. Special Options
Certain aspects of the program's behaviour can be modified using "switches":
-QUIET : Disables the sound effects.
-RESET : Restores the option settings (difficulty, volume, etc) to their default states.
Program switches can be applied as follows:
Right-click on the AstroFire icon that you usually use to launch
the game (either on the Windows Desktop or on the Windows Start Menu).
Select "Properties" from the pop-up menu that appears.
Click at the end of whatever appears in the "Target" field and
add a space, followed by your switches (make sure your additions appear
outside any quotation marks already present). Here is an example:
"C:\Program Files\AstroFire\astro.exe" -QUIET
Click "OK", then use the same AstroFire icon to launch the game.
8. Contact Addresses
Most questions are answered on our website at www.ortsoftware.com, but if you
still require assistance, please use email
if possible as it's easier for us and quicker and cheaper for you.
If you don't have email, you can write to:
ORT Software
2A Berceau Walk
Watford WD17 3BL
UNITED KINGDOM
PLEASE DO NOT PHONE THE ABOVE ADDRESS.
9. Credits
DESIGN, PROGRAMMING & ARTWORK:
Owen Thomas
PRIMARY PLAY-TESTERS:
Merete Hertzum
Martin Moyse
Pete Croft
Julian Morris
