About/Credits

Blessed is a shoot'em up game for a Windows 2000/XP. The game was written for the shmup-dev.com AUTOFIRE competition (2007). The game itself is written in Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 and is using the ALLEGRO-library for graphics/timing/input and the BASS-library for music- and sound effects-playback. The Loader.exe is written in Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0.

Programming and sound effects: fsFreak
Artwork: Jelo
Music: Strukt
Game website: daikenkai.com/blessed.

Check out the website for hints, updates etc.

Menus/Controls

Start the game by launching the GAME.EXE or LOADER.EXE. With the LOADER you will be able to select a few graphic options before playing the game. If GAME.EXE won't start or give you a strange error message, try running LOADER instead and pick another "render method".

When the game starts you will be presented by the main menu. The first thing you probably want to do is enter the SETTINGS menu and configurate your keyboard and or joypad.

The default keys are: Z (fire) and X (shield/rage) for keyboard and button 1 (FIRE) and button 2 (shield/rage) for joypad. Change these to whatever suits you.

Gameplay

You control the maincharacter: Ageha, with the keyboard or your gamepad. Your goal is to shoot down the enemies on each stage and finally defeat the level-boss. If you tap the fire button you will shoot spread fire which consists of three bullets that's going in differtent directions. These bullets do 1 point of damage. If you hold the fire button you will fire stream fire. Stream fire doesn't spread but will do more damage. You will also fly slower when using stream fire which makes it easier to avoid enemies and enemy bullets.

You also have the shield/rage-ability. When using shield or rage your power-gauge is decreasing. When the power gauge is empty you won't be able to use any of the abilities. The power-gauge will increase over time but also when you shoot down enemies. When your power gauge is maxed out you will use the rage-ability. Rage will make you invulvnerable for a few seconds and you will do twice as much damage! However if your gauge is not full you will simply use the shield. When the shield is activated the gauge will drain very quickly so beware! When the shield is activated you will be invulvnerable to enemies and enemy bullets. Use it wisely when for example cornered by enemy fire.

The main key to get a high score in this game is to make sure your combo gauge won't drop. The combo gauge increases every time you hit an enemy with a bullet. For every enemy you manage to kill, when your combo gauge is not empty, you will gain a combo multiplier. The combo multiplier is displayed below the combo gauge. The score you get for shooting down an enemy is multiplied with this number! However you won't get more than 9X multiplier. Although you will be rewarded for a high max combo in the end of the stage! Extra lives are given at 50000, 150000, 250000 etc. so make sure you always keep the combo gauge filled for high score!

At the end of every stage you will battle the level-boss. A warning message will appear and the boss' HP and timer will be displayed in the upper right corner. If you let the timer decrease to zero you will loose the battle. Beat the boss quickly to gain a high score!

You will loose a life every time you're hit by an enemy or an enemy bullet. If you don't manage to defeat the boss in time it means instant game over. There are no continues in this game but you can start your game from any level you would like after it's unlocked. When you reach a new level you haven't reached before that level will be unlocked. If you manage to beat all the stages in the game a few bonuses will also be unlocked. Can you beat the Extreme Challenge-mode?

When you have unlocked the BONUS-menu (beat level 2) you will be able to set a few bonus-options. The bonus-menu is available from the main menu.

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