C-DogsSDL

	C-Dogs SDL
General
Author(s)	Ronny Wester; Jeremy Chin; Lucas Martin-King
Ported by	insin
Type	Shooting game
Version	0.4.1-1
Links
	Download
	Source
	Downloadable via the Homebrew Browser
Peripherals

A port of C-Dogs SDL to the Wii using SDL Wii.

About

C-Dogs is an arcade shoot-em-up which lets players work alone and cooperatively during missions or fight against each other in the "dogfight" deathmatch mode.

The player character(s) are elite soldiers, taking on mission after mission to defeat evil in any form. That is, you kill it or blow it up. Sounds violent? Yep, that's right. Still, the emphasis is on gameplay rather than gore. But the game will involve a lot of mowing down of enemies - and the occasional unlucky civilian - so now you have been warned.

Credits

Thanks

Thanks to all of the above, to WinterMute and Tantric for help with puzzling unistd.h issues on #wiidev, to Sektor for his DS port which inspired the kicking of said issue square in the nuts and to all the DevkitPro and SDL Wii contributors for the excellent tools.

Controls

		Action
		Move
		Shoot / Select menu item
		Switch weapon
+ +	+	Slide
		Automap
		Pause
		Quit to main menu

In the player setup/weapon loadout menus, / confirms and / cancels. Yes, I know it feels wrong!

Obligatory Low Quality Video (OLQV™)

This video shows the first level of one of the campaigns.

Gameplay

(From the original README)

The actual gameplay takes the form of several missions making up a campaign. There are several campaigns to choose from and more can be made with the included campaign editor. Each mission has one or more objectives that need to be fulfilled in order to progress to the next level.

In two player mode, only one player needs to complete the level. Both players will then be able to go on to the next level. A player who fails a mission will have his score reset to zero though with the current score being entered into the highscore list if it is good enough.

Every mission takes place in a rectangular area containing walls, rooms and assorted objects - and villains of course. Prior to a mission you will receive a short briefing, a listing of all objectives and the option to choose your weaponry. The weapons available to you may vary between missions.

You may pick any three from the available weapons. Ammo is unlimited, but a scoring penalty applies. Each shot fired deducts from your score, more or less depending on the weapon used. The knife foes not incur any penalty, but is also the most dangerous to use as it involves close combat. The knife can, however, be a very lethal weapon...particulary in a dogfight.

Completing a mission

A mission is completed once all objectives have been accomplished, ie when all objectives are labelled as "Done" at the bottom of the game screen. There is still the problem of getting out in one piece, once the mission is complete a pickup-zone will be highlighted, both on-screen and on the map. The player(s) - along with any prisoner rescued - must remain in the pickup zone for 5 seconds - a countdown is displayed while in the zone - to be picked up and the mission safely concluded.

Civilians

In some missions you'll come across innocent bystanders. You should try to keep them from getting harmed. Any harm you do to them will be taken out of your score. More importantly, the game always maintain a certain number of characters in the mission area, and the more of those that are bystanders rather than enemies the better, don't you think?

The automap

Sometimes your objectives will be known ahead of time, giving you their location even in unexplored territory. Other times objectives may not show up on the map at all...typically the case when the objectives are live opponents, or with bonus objectives. Most of the time objectives will show up on the map, but not until you have come across them personally. The automap is not available in Dogfights.

Bonuses & penalties

You score for enemies killed and objectives fulfilled. You lose points for using up ammo and for killing innocents. In addition there are some other bonuses and penalties which may apply:

Access bonus: Possession of keys will grant you a bonus dependant on the number of keys collected.

Perfect (500p): You completed all tasks within an objective when only some were required.

Health bonus (10-500p): You get 10p for each health point left from the top 50 at the end of a mission

Time bonus: For a quick completion of missions you score extra, 10p per second under the given limit (60 seconds + 30 seconds per objective). Yes, some missions are far easier to complete within the time limit than others. No, it is not fair.

Friendly bonus (500p): Should you complete a mission without killing anyone, you are rewarded.

Ninja bonus: If you use ONLY the knife you get an additional 50p per enemy killed.

Butcher penalty: Kill too many civilians and it will cost you an extra 100p per victim.

Resurrection fee (-500p): If you are killed in the very last moment, you complete the mission but the resurrection will cost you. But that's a price one pays gladly, no?

Tips

Focus on the objectives. It is generally better to avoid engaging hostiles unless you are required to.

Keep moving. Quickly if there's enemy fire, cautiously if it's quiet.

Remember where things - primarily keys - are located. Characters change each time you play a mission, but walls and items always remain the same.

Avoid fighting an enemy with an identical weapon. Don't take on a flamer with a flamer. Gun the enemy down from greater range using a machine gun instead. A machine gunner you might want to take on by rapidly closing and firing a shotgun burst or by bullseye'ing them with the sniper gun.

Learn the weapons and choose the right one for the job. Sometimes your favourite gun just won't be suited to the task at hand.

Weapons

These are the weapons available to players, some additonal weaponry, e.g. the confusion bombs, are for the computer only. Tough luck! Also, beware that some foes may be immune to the effects of fire!

Knife: Just walk into who-/whatever you want to hurt.; Can cause a lot of pain!; The knife will NOT harm explosive or flammable items, e.g. powder kegs. This to avoid inadvertently blowing yourself up by mistake.; No scoring penalty.

Machine gun: Sprays a lot of bullets in the general direction you're firing.; Each bullet does 10hp damage and incurs a 1p scoring penalty.

Power gun: Longer range and more of a punch than the MG, this one does 20hp of damageand carries a 3p penalty per shot.; It has a slower rate of fire.

Flamer: Short range and fair damage.; It is the easiest weapon to hit with, doing 12hp damage and incurring a 1p penalty per "flame".

Sniper gun: "One shot, one kill" is the philosophy with this one.; Same speed and range as the Power gun, this one packs 50p of damage with a 5p penalty; A very low rate of fire makes this the marksmans weapon.

Shotgun: Arguably the weapon of choice, this one fires five bullets in a 45 degree arc.; Each bullet causes 15p of damage for a whooping 75p damage when fired at very close range.; Each burst will cost you 5p and the firing rate is rather low.

The remaining weapons can hurt the player(s) as well as the bad guys, so take caution!

Grenades: Throw'em and they'll bounce about and then go off with a big bang and lots of damage to those unfortunate enough to be close by.; 20p penalty for each one.

Shrapnel bombs: When these explode, they send eight pieces of shrapnel flying in all directions.; Each of these cause 40p of damage.; This one too incurs a 20p penalty.

Molotovs: A very dangerous weapon, and quite a common cause of death amongst careless players.; This one doesn't bounce, but creates a flaming inferno at impact. Aim well in a corridor!; Another 20p penalty.

Dynamite: Mostly used when the objective is to blow up hazardous things, it can also be used to good effect against tough adversaries.; Once placed, it explodes after three seconds.; A 5p penalty for each.

Proximity mine: Place one, and after two seconds it'll arm and detonate when anyone - yes, that includes you! - wanders too close. :Frequently used when dog-fighting, this baby has caused more player deaths than any other weapon. Of course, it wasn't always the intended target that was the victim; When not dog-fighting you would do well to place mines where you can see them clearly!; A 10p penalty for each.