file_id.diz
section 0.1 0.1
image encyclopedia/encyclopedia.png encyclopedia/authors.png
name The Story so far
text Absorb is a joint effort of multiple persons. The list in alphabetical order. \n \n Avangstgardeksi: music \n \n Eino Keskitalo: music \n \n Ninave: entities, levels, modelling \n \n TheFlash: programming (sound code), sounds \n \n Trilkk: entities, levels, modelling, programming \n \n Warma: entities, graphics, modelling, programming (physics code)
section 0.0 0.5
name B-1A3 Digitalius III
model mesh/b-1a3.msh
text B-1A3 is the last in evolution-line of the plant bydo vessels. It tries to utilize the organic weaponary of the bydo lifeform. \n \
\n \
In addition to a pair of bydo autoblasters, Digitalius III holds a Bydo Seed Gun, which releases mutated plant-like organisms. Upon contact, they sprout a short-lived flower that however has a high-heat metabolism and heavily corrupts structures it uses for nutrition. B-1A3 also wields an eyeball homing missile that is a perfect example of bydo perversion for even the simplest concepts. \n \
\n \
B-1A3 was originally a human creation from bydo tissue and concepts, but ordinary technology could only control the organism's nature for a brief time. When the events begin unfolding in Absorb, the test subjects from Earth have fallen into Bydo hands and are being replicated with glee, giving the empire another potent weapon against the people of Proxima Centauri - something that can rival even the R-series fighters!
section 0.0 0.5
name B-1D3 Bydo System Gamma
model mesh/b-1d3.msh
text B-1D3 is the epitome of the most basic organic starfighter. It utilizes the psychological terror the Bydo respresent. \n \
\n \
Frightening looks and powerful blasters are not the only weapon the B-1D3 commands, as it mounts the last of the Devil Wave Cannon series of weapons. This weapon unleashes one to four spirit-like organisms which home in on and detoriate the internal structure of an enemy vessel. The weapon has rudimentary intelligence and will keep on attacking targets until its life force runs out. \n \
\n \
As if this would not suffice, the B-1D3 mounts a dual missile launcher and has extremely thick armor compared to normal fighters.
section 0.0 0.5
name BX-2 Platonic Love
model mesh/bx-2.msh
text BX-2 is one of the stranger test units. It holds unorthodox weaponary combined with a heart-shaped hull that mocks its victims. \n \
\n \
Platonic Love utilizes a wave cannon that releases a heart-shaped burst of energy. The original scientists working with this weapon shhrugged the shape off as a coincidence and noted that nature plays men for a fool with many of its contraptions (for ex. see the outer shape of a Mandelbrot fractal). \n \
However, after the true nature of the bydo test models was revealed, many of the engineers had different thoughts. It is likely that the Bydo structure knows that when combined to its loathsome nature, displaying symbols of human affection is a powerful weapon in itself. \n \
\n \
Fortunately the aforementioned wave cannon is not of exemplary qualities, making BX-2 a low-powered threat in itself. Care should taken, however, as it has a dual bydo autoblaster and one missile mount for backup. The vessel is also quite fast and agile, despite being a bit on the fragile side.
section 0.1 0.1
image encyclopedia/encyclopedia.png encyclopedia/contents.png
name Table of Contents
text This is the encyclopedia. Arrow keys to scroll back/forward, esc to exit. \n \
\n \
Contents: \n \
\n \
1: Table of contents \n \
2: How to play? \n \
3: The story so far \n \
4: Humanity forces \n \
5: Bydo forces \n \
6: Homage to other shooter games \n \
7: Authors \n \
\n \
\n \
Be warned that 95% of what this includes, is, as of now, unimplemented. Do not let this disappoint - go play the challenge mode.
section 0.0 0.5
name Genon
model mesh/genon_chimass.msh
text Genon is a symbiotic bydo lifeform. It comes in four flavors. \n \
\n \
Ayden are blue genon and the only ones which are actually armed. It attacks with a low-powered bydo blaster. \n \
\n \
Chimass are the brains of a genon life form, supplying life force to those that surround it. Killing it kills the whole being. \n \
\n \
Guaneem are invulnerable beings the genon use to block entry to a central chimass. The reasons and qualities for their high resilence are unknown. \n \
\n \
Shutom are the weakest and most useless of the genon. They simply float and block paths, while still being easy enough to kill. However, sometimes they are seen in ridiculous quantities, suggesting that producing them is very energy-efficient.
section 0.1 0.1
image encyclopedia/encyclopedia.png encyclopedia/how_to_play.png
name How to play 1
text Playing is simple. The game only uses seven keys. \n \
\n \
Movement happens using the keypad keys '1', '2', '3' and '5' (or arrow keys). When controlling light bydo or any other potential creature with danmaku movement mechanics, these keys move the player straight into the directions specified. If controlling any other type of entity, buttons '1' and '3' rotate the player while '5' and '2' fire forward and backward thrusters, respectively. \n \
\n \
While controlling normal craft, keys 's' and 'f' fire left and right thrust causing the craft to strafe. Key 'd' is the fire key - pressing it will unleash all the ammo-based weapons equipped. Please note, that many weapons have bursts, so this could release several bullets. To fire special weapons such as wave cannons, press and hold 'd' until the gauge reaches the right border of the screen, then release. \n \
\n \
When controlling light bydo, the controls are different. Pressing 'f' will engage the absorb mode, which will allow the light bydo to collect ammunition to be unleashed at opponents. Pressing 'd' will release all collected bullets at once. You cannot fire while absorb mode is on.
section 0.1 0.1
image encyclopedia/encyclopedia.png encyclopedia/how_to_play.png
name How to play 2
text The absorb mode has it's own restrictions. Every game tick you spend in absorb mode increases your absorb gauge and every thick that you do not, decreases it. Before hitting the 3 second mark, you can engage and disengage absorb mode at will, but after exceeding 3 cumulative seconds, you must wait until the gauge falls below the mark to engage absorb mode again. If you ever hit the 5 second mark, the absorb mode is automatically disengaged for two seconds. \n \
\n \
Also note that the light bydo has a maximum amount of bullets it can store of each type. Surpassing this limit will damage the ship slightly, which is relevant when recieving fire from beams or other weapons that can rapidly overload your systems. \n \
\n \
The game awards score based on the time bonus multiplier and entity difficulty. All entities other than formations and turrets have difficulty settings. For those that don't, it equals 0 and no score shall be given for vanquishing them. \n \
\n \
Whenever you destroy an entity, you will gain score of difficulty multiplied by time bonus. After this, the time bonus is reset to 8, and will lower by one every second you spend not vanquishing anything. Thus, to acquire maximum scores, collect as many bullets as possible, then unleash them at as much enemies as possible. \n \
\n \
Hope this helps, more will be explained on the way, have fun!
section 0.0 0.5
name Interdimensional Battleship
model mesh/interdimensional_battleship.msh
text The Interdimensional Battleship is a fine example of heavier craft in the human fleet. It possesses eight pulsar turrets, two miniburst wave cannon turrets and two high-power gemini turrets (turrets not pictured in the hull image of the ship). \n \
\n \
The vessel is immensely effective, but the introduction of the R-series fighter and wave cannons have seriously eaten into the usability of large cruisers, as even very small craft command enough firepower to cripple or destroy them. \n \
\n \
It shopuld come as no surprise that nowadays such craft can mainly be found corrupted and replicated from the bydo fleet, where they serve as very expensive anti-fighter solutions.
section 0.0 0.5
name Light Bydo
model mesh/light_bydo_encyclopedia.msh
text The Light Bydo is a whole new bydo lifeform. It can absorb, reconfigure and release almost any kind of energy and is known to attack the vessels of humanity with this ability. Surprisingly, it has no other known weapons. \n \
\n \
Other than that, little is known about this entity. It can project forces for propulsion and is known to be extremely light - even sparser than Earths atmosphere, but still remains a formidable foe.
section 0.0 0.5
name Nulaylaf
model mesh/nulaylaf.msh
text Nulaylaf is a small fish-like creature that swims through water or air and tries to collide and bite opposing targets. \n \
\n \
It has little or no intelligence and apparently also no other weapons. Unfortunately, it is very agile and fast and very strong for its size, easily tearing up parts from a fighter hull. \n \
Whats worst, after the initial damage is done, the nulaylaf explodes, doing massibe damage to a target. This is often enough to kill a R-9.
section 0.0 0.5
name Nulayragom
model mesh/nulayragom.msh
text Nulayragom is a mother fish that spawns and guides the lesser nulaylaf. It is somewhat hard to kill and the breed will furiously attack any closing enemies, making nulayragom a potent foe.
section 0.0 0.5
name R-11A Future World
model mesh/r-11a.msh
text The R-11 series of fighters is an attempt to sway from the firepower route and utilize speed and manouverability. \n \
\n \
R-11A is not exactly the flagship of the series, but nonetheless it acts as a good example of this design philosophy. The weaponary is somthing that can be unleashed very quickly. It wields a quadruple set of light blasters, giving low ammo reserves but high peak power. The Mini Burst Wave Cannon, in turn, is a miniaturization of the Shock Wave Cannon, and while it cannot deliver the blast instantly, as its predecessor, the weapon is just as powerful and cheaper, more energy-efficient and cheaper to produce. \n \
\n \
The Future World is a quick and agile ship, being also much lighter than the R-9 series vessels. It has significantly weaker armor, though, so the pilot should make of the best of its weaponary and avoid prolonged contact.
section 0.0 0.5
name R-11S2 No Chaser
model mesh/r-11s2.msh
text The R-11S2 is a small fighter primarily designed for operation inside a planets atmosphere, where it benefits from a high speed and extremely high manouverability. \n \
\n \
For its weaponary, the R-11S2 takes the design standpoints to the extreme. Its weaponary is unimposing, if it weren't for the unique wave cannon design. \
The Lock-On Wave Cannon fires a fast stream of low-power bullets with smart and accurate homing ability, making it an ideal weapon for long-range interception and unfair tactics. It is pretty simple for a No Chaser pilot to utilize the vessels extreme speed and stay out of the effective range of other weapons, only closing in for a quick pinpoint shower of bullets. \n \
\n \
No other vessel in the human fleet is as fast as the R-11S2, but this is painfully visible in the weight reserved for its armor and internal structure. Even a slightly misplaced Wave Cannon blast or a handful of the weaker Bydo ammunition is enough to do in the fighter.
section 0.0 0.5
name R-13A Cerberos
model mesh/r-13a.msh
text R-13 series was designed to wield a lightning wave cannon and, in turn, the anchor force. Even though the events up until Absorb have removed Forces from mankind's arsenal, the wave cannon remains a potent weapon and justifies the existence of this series. \n \
\n \
The Lightning Wave Cannon forms a conductive path from the weapon to a foe or a series of small foes. An electric charge stored in the prow is then discharged through this conduction path. Unfortunately, the weapon isn't of the msot reliable kind, and just as lightning, the bolt may decide to ground and miss even obvious targets. It's best-case is very good, however, and being a homing almost instant-speed weapon, the Lightning Wave Cannon is excellent in taking down opposing fighters. \n \
\n \
The R-13 series has an average manouverability, with the R-13A being a bit more agile than R-13B.
section 0.0 0.5
name R-13B Charon
model mesh/r-13b.msh
text R-13B is a successor to R-13A. There is not much to say about this fighter, as its greatest asset, the improved Anchor Force, is lost. It remains a bulky, unwieldy follow-up of its predecessor. \n \
\n \
The wave cannon has been improved slightly, however, granting slightly better homing capabilities and a greater chanse of leaping from enemy to enemy, which makes Charon a nice option for pilots who can tolerate its bulkiness and the unreliability of the wave cannon.
section 0.0 0.5
name R-9A Arrowhead
model mesh/r-9a.msh
text R-9A is the premium interdimensional fighter used in mankind's first encounters against the Bydo. It's design highlights were good manouverability and extreme firepower. \n \
\n \
Indeed, the R-9A mounts a Standard Wave Cannon which commands as much firepower as the main guns of a traditional battleship. The complex physics behind the operation of this weapon allow omitting the barrel entirely. Additional weapons include a pair of long-range missiles and a standard blaster. \n \
\n \
R-9A is the player ship in numerous R-type games, especially older ones.
section 0.0 0.5
name R-9B2 Stayer
model mesh/r-9b2.msh
text R-9B2 is a long distance cruise unit that utilizes a strange breed of wave cannons to shine in support roles. \n \
\n \
The Barrier Wave Cannon creates a temporary force field in front of the fighter when used. This can be used to attack enemies directly, block routes or fold up some breathing space against enemies with a lot firepower. To help in this, the fighter has a heavy armament of rockets and blasters, making it an ideal choise against large bydo. \n \
Another good use for the Stayer is to use it in tandem with other craft, so that multiple ships may benefit from its force field. \n \
\n \
The Stayer has good manouverability, and despite its outer appearance, slightly better armor than the R-9A
section 0.0 0.5
name R-9D Shooting Star
model mesh/r-9d.msh
text R-9D is the standard low-cost fighter used for long-range attack runs. \n \
\n \
The Shooting Star utilizes a powerful Photon Belt Wave cannon designed for long range support fire. It projects high-energy uncharged particles at hapless foes who happen to delve into the weapons path. \
While it is difficult to inflict great damge to fast-moving targets with this weapon, the particle travel times are, for all practical cases, instant, allowing for sweeping fire and slow but certain doom for even the toughest enemies. It should be noted that should the pilot be able to deliver a full blast into a foe, the Photon Belt wave cannon would end up being much more deadly than the Standard Wave Cannon. \n \
\n \
Unfortunately, due to the high energy requirements and weight of the wave cannons, none of the ships in the R-9D and R-9DH series carry missiles. Pilots will have to utilize the main weapons to their fullest extent.
section 0.0 0.5
name R-9D2 Morning Star
model mesh/r-9d2.msh
text An evolution to the R-9D, the morning star adds a more stabile thruster configuration and an improved wave cannon. \n \
\n \
The Photon Belt Wave Cannon II isn't really a big improvement. Improved energy and heat efficiency allow for larger charge storage and thus extended release times. This does not really help against fast targets, as actual weapon power has not been increased. \n \
Nevertheless, R-9D2 is destined to replace R-9D in the near future.
section 0.0 0.5
name R-9DH2 Hot Conductor
model mesh/r-9dh2.msh
text A branch to R-9D series, the DH series aims for an even more accurate wave cannon, longer release times and improved cumulative damage. \n \
\n \
The Hot Conductor holds a Steady Photon Belt Wave Cannon mark II. This has an extended discharge time of nearly double that of an ordinary wave cannon. Unfortunately, its absolute power is even less than that of an ordinary Photon Belt Wave Cannon, but the extreme charge times allow the fighter to effectively fight large swarms of low-resilence targets that are so common with the Bydo. Also, skilled pilots can now inflict great damage to other fighters with good aim and hit-and-run tactics. \n \
\n \
One should remember that overuse of the main weapon can result in poor understanding of general strategy. The R-9DH2 also possesses a pair of standard blasters, which remain useful weapons against most targets.
section 0.0 0.5
name R-9DV2 Northern Lights
model mesh/r-9dv2.msh
text R-9DV2 is one of the most specialized models out there. A double-branch from the R-9D series, it omits the photon belt wave cannon for a potent particle chaingun. \n \
\n \
The hull of Northern Lights is dominated by a huge barrel of a Photon Vulcan Wave Cannon. This weapon has a high charge limit and efficiency, being capable of delivering dozens of bullets in a sigle, slightly prolonged blast. Even though the particle shells are slightly slower than most other wave cannons, the power more than makes up for it. Other fighters prefer to engage the DV2 from a distance, but fortunately a robust hull design has allowed for a pair of missile mounts, which help combat targets lurking outside the wave cannon's range. \n \
\n \
The above specification makes R-9DV2 a favorite of those who favor brutal firepower over anything else. This fighter has often been dubbed the tank of the skies. The metaphor goes both ways, though, as the R-9DV2 is a rather sluggish vessel with poor manouverability. Its robustness allows for slightly higher armor values, but the DV2 should usually be accompanied by escort fighters.
section 0.0 0.5
name R-9K Sunday Strike
model mesh/r-9k.msh
text R-9K is the epitome of small, efficient fighters. It is rising to be one of the most used models in the human fleet, right after the R-9A. \n \
\n \
R-9K has a good compliment of weapons. Dual long range missiles, dual blasters and the Diffusion Wave Cannon. This is a modified version of the Standard Wave Cannon, which, by utilizing the wave nature of the energies gathered, manages to split multiple level one beams with little or no power loss, providing a spread blast of extreme efficiency. The Standard Wave Cannon remains a crowd favourite for direct forward damage and ease of use, but the R-9K has proven clearly superior against enemy fighters and genon flocks.
section 0.0 0.5
name R-9O Ragnarok
model mesh/r-9o.msh
text R-9O is a test unit tith high prize and low production runs. It was made to try out a new breed of wave cannons. \n \
\n \
The Hyper Wave Cannon is a Standard Wave Cannon on steroids. When charged to level 2, it unleashes a chain of smaller wave cannon blasts upon command. The downside is, that the wave energy cannot be contained in this fire mode, and unless used immediately, it is wasted. The weapon is also rather inaccurate and the individual destructive power of a blast is low for a wave cannon, making the weapon powerful only in skilled hands. \n \
\n \
For its other qualities, R-9O is a little slower and less agile than the R-9A. It has only rocket launchers for additional weaponary, making the vessel a bit underwhelming at long range.
section 0.0 0.5
name RVA-818 X-Ray
model mesh/rva-818.msh
text RVA-818 X-Ray is the player ship from Layer Section (a.k.a Rayforce, a.k.a Gunklock) by Taito. The game spawned two sequels that are generally considered to be of lesser quality. \n \
\n \
The ship itself is equipped with typical forward-firing blasters and a homing, chargable laser weapon that fires in all directions. It has moderate manouverability and resilence.
section 0.0 0.5
name RX-10 Albatross
model mesh/rx-10.msh
text RX-10 was one of the first alternate design lines tested after the R-9A. It takes a completely new stance. \n \
\n \
The Shock Wave Cannon is a revolutionary way to control wave energy. It uses the fighter's interdimensional engine to directly transfer an explosion inside a target vessel with devastating results. \n \
Additionally, the wave cannon manages to execute this transfer almost instantaneously, making the manouverability and piloting skills of the target less relevant, at least for as long as the RX-10 pilot is accurate enough. \n \
\n \
As additional weaponary, the RX-10 only mounts a single autoblaster and a dual rocket launchers, so the pilot really needs the power of his wave cannon. \n \
\n \
Unfortunately, the wave cannon technology in RX-10 and TX-T is very delicate, making the fighters very expensive to manufacture.
section 0.3 0.1
image encyclopedia/earth.png encyclopedia/storyheader_1.png
name The Story so far
text As the most recent war with the Bydo reached for a conclusion, mankind seemed to have little hope of survival. Despite substantial victories against the evil biological empire, it seemed as if mankind's resources were limited, while the bydo had almost limitless, evergrowing and evermultiplying source of fresh cannon fodder. \n \
\n \
Eventually mankind set expeditions to fight the bydo at its source - the future. While the R-9 series was specifically designed to be capable of following the bydo through the dimensional pockets and time currents it utilizes, the nature of time and causality of events didn't end up being as humanity would have hoped. \n \
The twenty-sixth century was empty. It seemed as if the very time had been deserted by the bydo, making the horrid weapon seem like its own creator. \n \
\n \
It is unknown whether such time loops are a matter of causality or whether mankind's information about the nature of the weapon was correct, but the discovery ripped mankind of its last hopes of beating the bydo once and for all. \n \
\n \
Without clear direction or goals, the human war effort dwindled, became unfocused and finally settled on a last line of defense around mother earth.
section 0.3 0.1
image encyclopedia/earth.png encyclopedia/storyheader_2.png
name The Story so far - Continued
text This defense situation held for a surprisingly long amount of time, but mankind was surrounded and outnumbered. Eventually the lines failed, leaving the planet's surface open of bydo molestation. The birthplace of mankind was lost - gone as a breeding ground for new evil. \n \
\n \
All that remained were several off-system colonies such as proxima centauri, where mankind had settled some fifty years earlier. \n \
These developing colonies had none of the resources or expertise needed to truly combat the Bydo, but they had a little time on their side. Without faster-than light travel, it was impossible for the bydo to move the bulk of its forces in reasonable time. \n \
\n \
This is present. Year 2283, place being The Republic of Proxima Centauri. \n \
\n \
The people know that the bydo are coming and the last twenty years have been a furious, desperate arms race. Melancholy and nihilism eat into peoples producticvity and futher hamper the chanses of survival, while the best, worst enemy of mankind is literally at their doorstep. \n \
\n \
It is up to you to see how easily the bydo can weed out the last sprouts of humanity.
section 0.3 0.1
image encyclopedia/earth.png encyclopedia/storyheader_3.png
name The Story so far - More problems
text While the republic has the design plans for most of earths fighters, it can only produce a handful of them. Also, it seems that the bydo tissue finally severed its link with humans to rejoin with its origin. \n \
\n \
The Forces revolted. Ocassionally at first, showing as simple disobedience or inaction, but eventually in larger scale, resulting even in attacks against the controlling ship. Even though the organism was supposed to be unintelligent, this was seen throughout the production lines and presen even in the new-born forces, making them way too unreliable to use in combat. \n \
\n \
So, at least until the problem has been resolved, the R-fighters in Absorb do not use their signature weapons, making the fight even more unbalanced.
section 0.0 0.5
name Surge
model mesh/surge.msh
text Surge is the most basic enemy in the game. It just moves and shoots weak bydo-flavoured bullets.
section 0.0 0.5
name TX-T Eclipse
model mesh/tx-t.msh
text TX-T is a better and brighter version of RX-10. Even though it is a bit slower and bulkier, the firepower is designed to supplement these losses. \n \
\n \
Eclipse is equipped with a Shock Wave Cannon II, which allows for an extra level of charge relative to the ordinary Shock Wave Cannon. If used properly, this makes it an all-star against both small and large targets. \n \
To supplement the wave cannon, TX-T has dual blasters and dual long range missiles - the standard armament of the R-9 series fighters. This allows for proper combat even when the wave cannon is damaged or there is no time to properly utilize it. \n \
\n \
Unfortunately, as said, Eclipse is even more expensive than the RX-10, making it a rare sight in combat.
Absorb README
Running the game
Double-click on the "run_windows.bat" in the root directory of the game. Do
note that you cannot run the game directly from the Release -directory due to
the way its directory structure is organized.
If you're running a *nix flavor system, extract the unix binaries from
absorb_unix_binaries.tar.bz2, then run them from the root directory.
Game objective
Absorb is an abstract shooter taking place in Irem's R-Type universe. In the
future a story mode with campaings for The Bydo and Humans will be
implemented, but for now, the player can only test his mettle in the challenge
mode.
For an explanation of game mechanics, see the encyclopedia menu in-game.
Command-line options
There are some command line options. To see them, invoke the game with -h or
--help. These are the most useful ones:
-f Fullscreen
-r Resolution, follow with WIDTHxHEIGHTxBPP (ie. -r 800x600x32)
-c Channels for sound, follow with a number (ie. -c 128)
Known bugs
The particle system we use to generate effects utilizes point sprites. More
specifically, older ATI graphics cards (Radeon 9xxx series) have severe
problems displaying large amounts of them on Windows systems (at least
Catalyst 6.2, 6.5 and 6.6). We are certain that this is a driver/hardware
issue, as many other cards operate just fine (all tested NVidia models).
To fix this, we would be forced to revert into a regular billboard-based
particle engine, but this, in turn, requires much more bandwidth between the
card and the processor. We didn't have time for this.
Thus, fuck you, ATI. Fuck you.
Our OSX port maintainer has this to say towards Apple:
"Fuck you, Apple. Fuck you."
Apparently development with older versions of OSX has some problems. Ask him.
Future
This is an alpha version. Once we get a scripting system done, actual level
design will ensue. If possible, tributes to other gems in the shooter genre
will be modellet, notably ships from Sanxion, Layer Section, Uridium and
Gradius. These will not appear in the plot, but as bonus ships in multiplayer
deathmatch and survival game modes.
ASM06 Compoversion notes
Some developement and testing stuff is no longer included in the archive to save space (the game is a bit bloat). Ask and ye shall recieve.