Online High Score System. You will receive ranking points based on the chosen difficulty level, and how well you score compared to other players. Score highly on all of the various difficulty levels for the maximum ranking boost.There are various mission types available to pilots, each with different objectives. To understand these goals requires knowledge of a few statistics that can affect the scoring. Following is a short list of some useful terminology:
| Damage |
This is a measure of how much damage you inflict on enemies, and is by far the most important statistic to be aware of, as it highly affects - or in some cases, is the only factor affecting - your score. Note that you do not need to totally destroy an enemy to get credit for the damage that you do. Moreover the maximum amount of damage you can get credit for from a single enemy is related to the strength of that enemy: stronger enemies will take more damage before dying. Just remember that this statistic is based on damage, not kills! While the two are often related, the relationship depends on the strength of the enemies that you are fighting. |
| Damage Taken |
Damage Taken works in the same manner as Damage, except that it measures how much damage you sustain on a given mission. You should try to avoid taking hits (even if you fully repair), as every point of damage counts against you here! However, this statistic is not nearly as important as Damage since it does not have an effect on your score in many missions. |
| Powerups |
A count of how many powerups you grab in a given level, more being better. It should be noted that it is not worth taking damage to grab a powerup solely for scoring reasons, although it is sometimes prudent for tactical ones. |
| Kills |
This is simply the number of enemies that you kill during the mission. While it is often an interesting statistic, it does not affect your score. Damage is the related measurement that does. |
| Time |
The length of your flight. Again, this is somewhat interesting but it has no impact on your score (other than the fact that being alive longer often allows you to do more Damage). |
We will now move on to a discussion of the various mission types, their options, and how they are scored. The available level types are Levels, Skirmishes and Challenges.
The "levels" are a linear sequence of missions that develop the core plot of the... game. (Oh no, we admitted it!) They are meticulously designed, and include the mandatory "bosses". You will need to complete the levels in order: finishing one will unlock the next. As well, you can play these on a variety of different difficulty levels - ranging from "Novice" to "Extreme!" - with harder levels making the enemies harder to kill, and you easier.
Your score in levels is a function of Damage, Damage Taken and Powerups, as described above. Completing levels will help your player ranking on the Online High Score System. You will receive ranking points based on the chosen difficulty level, and how well you score compared to other players. Score highly on all of the various difficulty levels for the maximum ranking boost.
Skirmishes are pretty depressing if you think about it: never-ending waves of enemies that keep getting larger until you finally get blown to pieces. We could pretend that they are a simulation or something of that nature (and you're welcome to if it helps you sleep), but that would just make the whole thing less fun! Then again we already admitted that it was a game in the previous section, so I suppose we're intentionally deceiving ourselves. Isn't that what gaming is all about though?
Anyways, skirmishes are where you really get to show off to your friends and family (after you convince them of the validity of using Galactic Gladiator as a metric for judging success in life), and the whole world via the Online High Score System. While it is a lot of fun to try to beat your own scores and survive until enemies literally fill the screen, there is nothing better than uploading your scores and being judged the best player in the world. Skirmishes highly affect your online player ranking: you receive ranking points based on how well you score compared to other players.
Note that Damage is the only thing that affects your score in a skirmish, so concentrate on surviving until there are so many enemies that you don't even need to aim. That aside, it often helps to take out stronger enemies when given the choice.
Challenges are a fun alternative to the other level types, and also serve as good training missions. Note that like levels you will sometimes need to complete one challenge before unlocking the next in the sequence.
These missions vary greatly in the weaponry and shields that you are given (for example, on some challenges you have no weaponry at all), but the objective is fairly straightforward: complete the mission by surviving until the end. Certain challenges have the additional requirement that you attain a minimum amount of Damage.
The scoring of these levels is simple: you either pass or you fail. Either you survive until the end and attain the minimum amount of damage, or you don't.
Completing challenges will help your online player ranking. The amount of ranking points that you receive is based on how difficult the challenge is, and how many other players have beaten it. For example, if you are the only person in the world to complete a particularly difficult challenge, you will get quite a boost in player ranking for it! Conversely if you finish an easy challenge that everyone else has finished as well, it will not affect your rank much. The effect of particular levels on your rank is easily visible on the Online High Score System.
Back to "Additional Powerups"
Forward to "Submitting Your Scores to the Online Database"
Copyright © 2004 by Andrew Lauritzen and Chris Iacobucci.