Powernoid PSP

Powernoid
General
Author	Art
Type	Arcade Games
Version	4e
License	Mixed
Last Updated	2009/02/07
Links
Download
Website

Powernoid is a breakout clone with powerups based on Megaball for the Amiga, which also later inspired DX-Ball for Windows.

User guide

Gameplay

The idea is to destroy all bricks on each level by hitting the ball toward them with the paddle.

As the player progresses through the levels, some powerups are available to make this job easier. Some bad powerups also make the game harder. 100 points is also awarded for hitting a powerup brick.

Unlike the games mentioned above, powerups in this game remain active as the player progresses through stages, and can accumulate, but all powerups are reset when a life is lost.

The player begins the game with three lives, each of which is lost when a ball is missed.

The game is over when all three lives are lost. An extra life can be gained by hitting an extra life powerup brick. One will randomly appear in any 1 of the 15 stages, and another will appear in one of the first five stages. Both appear in a random position on the third row of bricks.

In any stage when only one brick is left on the screen, a timer begins. If the timer reaches a set time before the last brick is hit (approximately 10 seconds), the brick will explode, and 100 points will be awarded. You may like to avoid hitting the last brick in any stage to achieve this goal.

Game tips

Tips:

• If you hold left just before stage 6 or 15 start, you will avoid the ball hitting red bricks right away.
• You still need to avoid them for the rest of the stage though.

Cheats:

• There are a couple of cheats used for development have been left in the released version of the game.
• If you press Up and Triangle at the same time, every good powerup will be activated at once.
• If you press Up and Circle at the same time, both bad powerups will be activated at once.
• Any high scores achieved with these cheats will not be saved to the Memory Stick.

Controls

Analog/D-Pad - Move the paddle left or right

Cross - Fire missiles (if the missile powerup is active)

Home - Pause the game and see the score

Screenshots

Media

PSP Homebrew Game Powernoid (TechTablets)

Compatibility

Powernoid was tested with 3.52 M33 Firmware, but is expected to work with any Custom Firmware.

Changelog

V4e 2009/02/07

• Black and white death screen implemented to fall in line with the Windows DX-Ball game.
• Last brick blows up if it is in play for too long to fall in line with Windows DX-Ball game.
• Some code optimisation.

V4d 2009/01/11

• Fixed bug that prevented stages from repeating after stage 15.
• Added option to toggle in game music with up and down buttons.

V4c 2009/01/01

• Implemented Mikmod player for in game music.
• One more extra life powerup brick added to game.
• Improvement to sound routine so powerup samples are always played.
• Increased pause duration between stages, new ball in play, and game pause with Home button.
• Small display bug fix for game over where extra life powerup brick is displayed.
• Change to high score encryption so the save file is incompatible with previous versions.

V4b 2009/01/01

• Bullets on either side of paddle now operate independently.
• Fixed collision detection for powerup bricks that have multiple colours.
• Moving barriers implemented in some stages.
• Moving bricks implemented in stage 2.
• Added Megaball style powerup description screen to intro.
• Added powerup brick for extra life.
• Change to high score encryption so the save file is incompatible with previous versions.

V4 2008/12/31

• Fixed two bugs in stage 15.
• Fixed screen flicker on intro and game over screens.
• The second ball can now activate powerup bricks if it is in play.
• Change to high score encryption so the save file is incompatible with previous versions.
• New original wobbly ball bad powerup introduced in stage 6.

V3b 2008/12/04

• Fixed control of ball direction with the paddle which was broken in a previous release.

V3 2008/12/03

• Improved collision detection by checking the edge of the ball in the direction it is travelling.
• Paddle 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.

V2 2008/11/27

• 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 paddle.
• Extra life can now be gained by passing stage 15, and any other 15 stages after that.
• Changed some characteristics to give the paddle some control of ball direction as in Windows DX_Ball.

V1 2008/11/19

• First release written from scratch in two days.

Credits

Powernoid is coded from scratch. The program itself is entirely 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, and In game music by Drax.

External links

• DCEmu - https://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/threads/177941-Powernoid-New-Year-s-Edition!