V1.08
Game documentation
System configuration needed
To run Sentry, your system must:
Aim of the game
A Sentry is a kind of robot fixed on a particular cell of the level landscape. It slowly rotates and scans for any abnormal event in the level. Once it has found a target, it attacks it by absorbing its energy.
Your mission consists in escaping of this particular world. To complete a level, you must destroy every Sentry, and jump into HyperSpace from the highest point of the level (located under the highest Sentry).
While Sentries can't move, you can move in a particular way. In fact, you can teleport yourself from Robot to Robot. To move around the landscape, you must create a Robot and then transfer into it.
To absorb or create objects, you must click on the square surface below the object to be absorbed or created, and then click on the appropriated icon. Boulders, however, act as an extension of the square surface so you can click on the side of the Boulder to select it. Boulders can be stacked and have things placed on top of them. This means that you can gain height by creating a stack of Boulders with a Robot on top, and then transferring yourself to that Robot. From those high vantage points, you can absorb the Sentries.
To begin the Game, press any key when the Sentry introduction appears. You should be asked for a level number and its associated secret code. If it's the first time you play, just click on the OK button to enter level 0000.
The Sentries will be inactive until you expend or absorb energy. This allows you to have a look around and plan your assault on the highest Sentry. Once activated, the Sentries slowly rotate, scanning the landscape for squares which contain more than 1 unit of energy. The various objects contain different amounts of energy:
TREE - 1 unit - Will not be absorbed by Sentry
BOULDER - 2 units
ROBOT - 3 units
SENTRY - 4 units - Will not be absorbed by Sentry
MEANIE - 1 unit - Will not be absorbed by Sentry
If they can see a square with more than 1 unit of energy, the Sentry will reduce the energy to 1 unit by absorbing 1 unit at a time and creating a Tree at some random point on the landscape. Therefore a Robot will be reduced to a Boulder, and a Boulder to a Tree.
The total amount of energy in a landscape remains constant, so if a unit of your energy is absorbed, a Tree will be randomly place on the landscape.
The amount of energy you have is shown at the lower right corner of the screen in the form of a part of a wheel with several coloured sectors. Each sector corresponds to 1 energy unit.
If a Sentry can see you but cannot see the square that you are standing on, which means that it cannot absorb your energy, it looks for a Tree near you and turns it into a Meanie. The Meanies' job is to flush you out, which it does by forcing you to Hyperspace. The Meanie rotates quickly until it can see you. You will then Hyperspace to a new location.
Hyperspacing effectively consumes 3 units of energy. It creates a new Robot in a random position and automatically transfers you to it, leaving your old Robot behind. You will end up at the same height or lower but never on your original square. If you Hyperspace will less than 3 units of energy, you are destroyed.
Once the last Sentry has been absorbed, you can no longer absorb energy, although you can still create objects and transfer to other Robots. When you Hyperspace while standing on the highest sentry's tower, you will be given the code for a new landscape.
The interface
To look around yourself, move the mouse while clicking on the right
button.
To select a cell in the landscape, simply click on it with the left
button.
To make an action (such as creating a robot, absorb a tree, etc ...),
just click on the corresponding interface element (or press on its keyboard
shortcut). Most of the actions need a selected cell of the landscape.
We can see, from left to right:
The main game elements
 |
The energy panel. Each coloured section represents 1 energy unit |
 |
Icon displayed when a Sentry sees you. Click on it to directly look at the Sentry. If the icon is halfed filed, it means that the Sentry can not see the cell you're standing on. So, be aware of the Meanies ! |
 |
The Sentry of the level 0000 |
 |
A robot placed on a block. |
 |
A Meanie. |
Miscellaneous options
The menu bar presents you with the options of the game. These options are saved when you quit the application (in the file SENTRY.INI located in the game folder).
The game window is stretchable, don' t hesitate to modify it at your convenience. You can change the resolution of the game, and also set textures on the landscape and/or the sky. You can also switch to "no sound mode", redefine the in-game keys, and choose to display a top view map of the level. Don't forget that from any point of the game, the ALT+F4 key combination directly (and fastly) quit the game.
From the menu, you can also choose the difficulty level of the game. In the Pro mode, the Sentries will be faster, and there will be less trees to absorb than in the Novice or Normal mode.
The stereoscopic option allows you to have a 3D representation of the whole game. To see the stereoscopic mode, you'll need some RED/GREEN 3D glasses. If you do not have such glasses, think that you could easily build your own like this:
Troubleshooting
If the game appears to be really too slow, try to disable the "Stretch"
option in the Resolution menu. Some graphic cards can dramaticaly be slow
while stretching bitmaps into windows.
Last modified on 18-09-1999