The Heads Up Display or "HUD" is the main information feedback system on your ship. It will inform you of the current state of your shields and hull, as well as give you an overview of the current weapons installed in your ride. With that in mind, it's a good idea to take a look up at it every once in a while.
Hover over the picture below and click each of the items for a related description:
Following is a short description of each of the parts of the HUD:
| Shield Indicator | The vertical level of the shield bar indicates the amount of damage that your shields can sustain before failing. Pay special attention when it gets near the bottom. (However a quick glance once in a while is enough; keep your eyes on the road!) |
| Hull Indicator | As your hull takes damage the ship wire-frame will turn from green, to yellow, to red. Unlike shields, hull damage cannot be repaired in the field. When your hull integrity is fully depleted your ship will explode, which is said to be a fairly unpleasant experience. |
| Primary Weapon | Displays the current state of your primary weapon. The colour of the bars indicates the current weapon type (blue means torpedoes), while the number of bars illuminated in that colour indicate the current weapon level (level three here). In addition, the intensity of the yellow bar indicates how many weapon powerups you have collected; when the yellow bar gets to full intensity it will change into the colour of your current weapon, and thus you gain a weapon level. |
| Secondary Weapon | Shows the currently acquired secondary weapon. This area will be blank if you have no secondary weapon installed. |
| Left / Right Missile Indicators | Displays which missile launcher is queued to fire next. In dual-fire mode both launchers will be coloured red if missiles are available. In single-fire mode (shown), this display is very useful for targeting: to discern which side the next missile will fire from. These indicators are not as useful if you employ the controversial technique known as "missile spamming". |
| Missile Ammo | The green number between the missile indicators displays how many missiles are left in your ship. When this number gets low you should probably look out for ways to reload (powerups and secondary weapons for example), since missiles are a fairly important part of your weaponry. |
Getting at least a basic familiarity with the Heads Up Display is highly recommended, as there's not a lot of time to dwell on it in combat. The HUD is designed to allow you to obtain all necessary information with a quick glance.
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Copyright © 2004 by Andrew Lauritzen and Chris Iacobucci.