
Powernoid V3 - Art 2008!


Hi Guys,
This is a Breakout/Arkanoid clone with powerup features.
Powernoid is coded from scratch, and the program itself is entirely my original work with
the exception of the Intrafont library by BenHur used for printing text to the screen,
and sounds that were scavenged from various free sources on the internet.

This game was inspired by another Breakout clone that I use to play on the Amiga CD32,
which I now think was called Megaball, which also later inspired the Windows game DX-Ball.

The idea is to destroy all bricks on each level by hitting the ball toward them.
As the player progresses through the levels, some powerups are available to make this job easier.

Unlike the games mentioned above, powerups remain active as progression through stages occurs,
and can accumulate, but all powerups are reset when a life is lost.

The player begins the game with three lives, each of which can be lost when a ball is missed.
The game is over when all three lives are lost. An extra life can be gained by completing stage 15,
and any subsequent 15 stages.

Powernoid was tested with 3.52 M33 firmware, but is expected to work with any homebrew firmware.


Controls are simle.
Move the bat left or right with either the analogue stick or the D pad.
You can pause the game and see the score at any time by pressing the HOME button.
This actually pauses the game for a little even after you select "No" and return to the game,
so you are not unfairly caught off guard when the game restarts.


Cheers, Art.

bmar8190@bigpond.net.au


Powernoid V3 (03/12/08):
Improved collision detection by checking the edge of the ball in the direction it is travelling.
Bat movement made slightly faster, and ball turns red when fireball powerup is active.
Added powerups to two more stages so every odd stage now has a powerup available.
Change made to second ball behaviour in multiball mode.
Change to high score encryption so the save file is incompatible with previous version.

Powernoid V2 (27/11/08):
Change to multiball powerup behaviour, the ball now splits in two when a player gets this powerup.
Player no longer loses a life if the multiball powerup is active, and one of the two balls is lost.
Difficulty is increased by slightly speeding up the ball movement compared with the first version.
Program keeps track of highest score with an encrypted save file.
Added extra type of brick that causes bricks to move down every time the ball is hit with the bat.
Extra life can now be gained by passing stage 15, and any other 15 stages after that.
Changed some characteristics to give the bat some control of ball direction as in Windows DX_Ball.

Powernoid V1 (19/11/08):
First release written from scratch in two days.

