Tyrian (video game)

Tyrian
Tyrian 2000 main menu
Developer(s)	World Tree Games
Publisher(s)	Epic MegaGames
Platform(s)	Windows
Release	1995
Genre(s)	Shoot 'em up
Mode(s)	Story, arcade

Tyrian is a video game developed by Eclipse Productions (later World Tree Games) and published in 1995 by Epic MegaGames. The game was officially released as freeware in 2004. The soundtrack was created by Alexander Brandon and Andreas Molnar.

Gameplay

Tyrian is an arcade-style shooter game that follows the classic concept of top-to-bottom scrolling. The player(s) control a space ship that can be fitted with different weapons and enhanced energy shields. During the course of gameplay money is earned by destroying enemies and grabbing bonuses. Once acquired the money is used to buy weapons, other equipment, and more ships from interlevel menus. The game is fast paced and presents a variety of enemies and bosses.

Difficulty

There are several levels of difficulty to choose from; Easy, Medium, Hard, Impossible, Suicide, and Lord of the Game (the last three are hidden). The Hard difficulty and higher settings not only have faster-moving enemies but also provide new levels, which provides ample oppourtunities for unique powerups and upgrades. In Tyrian 2000, the Hard setting also has a line-of-sight (LOS) handicap which prevents the player from seeing enemies outside the cone LOS. Once the player beats the game, there is the option to replay the game at a higher difficulty setting.

In Tyrian 2000, you can access the hidden difficulty settings during as follows during the difficuly selection: Impossible- Hold "Shift + G"; Suicide- Hold "Shift + ]"; Lord of the Game- Hold "L + O + R + D" all at once.

Single Player/Story

Fighting airplanes in Savara

The main mode is the single player story. This mode also includes storyline-related messages for the player to read. The player begins with one standard weapon, but throughout the game he/she can pick up or buy a large variation of weapons, which include weapons such as multi-directional cannon, lightning guns, beam lasers, heavy missiles, and homing bombs. There are primary and secondary weapons; while primaries are more powerful and limited to forward arcs, secondaries are useful for wider coverage or side/rear shots. Both types of weapons have eleven levels, making them upgradeable 10 times although higher levels cost exponentially more.

Additionally, the player can purchase up to two "sidekicks" which fly alongside the ship and can fire independently (although they are still controlled by the player and not the AI). Examples include powerful atom bombs, and mini-missiles.

Other upgrades include increased shields, more powerful generators (that increase firing rate and shield recharge), and better ships (that have more armour and/or are more agile).

Putting together the "ultimate ship" often requires visits to certain secret levels, whose (pre-level) shops are the only ones in the game to sell the specific weapon. However, all shops will upgrade the weapon regardless of its origin, although the player cannot recover the weapon once he/she sells it.

Arcade Mode

In arcade mode, the player picks up weapons and power-ups along the way, instead of by earning and spending money. Primary weapons are upgraded by picking up purple bubbles from destroyed enemies and the number of purple bubbles required increased exponentially to advance to higher power levels.

The ship, shields, and generators are not upgradeable, although the player is given a medium attribute ship.

Single Player-Arcade Interchageability

It is possible to switch between the Single Player and (1 person) Arcade Modes using a secret routine (not cheat codes). Since it is possible to find exotic weapons early in Arcade Mode (by contrast in Single Player, such weapons can only be bought at the end), using this switch will allow such weapons to be brought over to single player. Likewise, generator and shield upgrades from single player will result in a better ship for Arcade Mode.

Two Player

In the two player (arcade mode only), the players control two different ships, known as the "Dragonhead" and "Dragonwing". Unique among arcade shooters is that both players can combined their ship into one, forming the "Steel Dragon", with the first player controlling the combined ship, and the second player controlling a turret. Tyrian even enables the two players to be connected via modem.

Super Arcade

The game also features seven hidden Super Arcade modes (with specialised ships), requiring the user to type in certain codewords which are shown after beating the game. (The first code is given by beating the regular game, and each consecutive code is given after beating the modes which comes after it.)

Destruct

"Destruct" (see a description) is a minigame concealed inside Tyrian, remniscent of Scorched Earth, with human-vs-human and human-vs-computer modes of play. Access to it can be gained by typing "destruct" at the main menu screen. Destruct is notable for being a real-time variant of Scorched Earth, with the player frenetically switching unit and weapon to combat the opponent instead of taking turns to fire single shots. Scorched Earth does, however, have a real-time play mode.

Versions

The original version consisted of three episodes. Later version 2.0 was later released, which contained a new fourth episode. In 1999, the game was re-released as Tyrian 2000 which is the original game with applied patches and a new fifth episode.

Tyrian 2000 is compatible with Windows 95, 98, 2000, Me, and XP. On more modern machines you may be required to emulate one of the sound cards which the game supported.

Plotline

Template:Spoiler The game is set in the year 20,031. Players play as a skilled terraformation pilot named Trent Hawkins, who is employed to scout out habitable locations on newly terraformed planets. His latest assignment is the planet Tyrian, which is located near the territory of the Hazudra, who are a lizard-like race.

One day, Buce Quesillac, a Hazudra, and Trent's best friend, is shot in the back by a hoverdrone which quickly disappears into the sky. As Buce lay dying, he tells Trent that it was all the work of Microsol, the giant corporation who controlled the terraformation of Tyrian. They had Buce shot because of his knowledge of Gravitium, which is a special mineral, unique to Tyrian, capable of controlling the force of gravity.

Microsol want to utilise Gravitium to power their warships, which could result in them becoming nearly unstoppable. They also attempt to eliminate anyone who knows of its existence. Trent is the next person on their hit list, and with his last words, Buce implores him to try to reach Savara, a free world. Trent manages to secure a small fighter, and departs for Savara.

The first mission covers Trent's escape from the planet Tyrian. As the game progresses, transmissions are received from allies and enemies alike, each one advancing the plot. Eventually, Trent comes into contact with a rival of Microsol's; a corporation called Gencore. At the end of the third episode, the player must fight their way through the Microsol battle fleet and destroy the main ship.

The fourth episode, which was added with version 2.0, entails the activation by Microsol of an ancient alien computer system located under the surface of the planet Ixmucane. This system was designed to turn the planet into a sun, but was never activated by its creators. The player must destroy the system before it fully activates, so that Microsol does not gain even more power. In addition, many important scientists are trapped under the surface; they will die if the system fully activates. This fourth episode is absurdist and highly humorous in nature and appears to be a self-parody, in contrast to the relatively straightforward storyline of the first 3 episodes. For example, the player discovers that his superiors are dangerously incompetent lunatics who keep sending a lone starfighter against impossible odds because they're too lazy to send additional troops (a parody of the one-man-army cliche common in video games), and the final boss (an assassin mutated by Microsol to kill Trent) is a giant set of facial organs (eyes, nose, and mouth) floating in mid-air.

Following the final battle, Trent grows tired of being given orders and sent on dangerous missions by his superiors. He sets course for Earth, which is 100 light years away, and goes into cryonic sleep.

Similar Games

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External links

• Official World Tree Games website
• Official Tyrian repository (bandwidth exceeded as of May 6, 2006)
• Tyrian at MobyGames
  • Tyrian 2000 at MobyGames
• Template:Hotu
• Tyrian/Tyrian 2000 fan page
• Tyrian 2000 for PC and GBA Free, legal download