PicoTrek

Work together to loot and destroy all the alien ships in each level.

Each player operates their own screen - Player 1 - top in red, Player 2 - bottom in blue.

Best with 2 players. Feel free to try this out without a partner, but it is extremely difficult to play both screens at once!! Get a friend and try it out. Communication is key!

HOW TO PLAY

This is your status bar - From left to right it shows the state of your 4 directional shields, your hull health, how much loot you've collected, and the most recent signal that you've intercepted from an enemy ship.

SCREENS

From any screen, press Z to go to screen select:

UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT to go to the MAP, POW, WEP, or HAX screen.

MAP

LEFT/RIGHT to turn UP/DOWN to engage thrusters.

POW

UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT to move cursor.

X to pick up/place a Power Core. 

WEAPONS: makes weapons stronger and longer range

SHIELDS: makes shield recover faster

SENSORS: zooms out the MAP screen

ENGINES: accelerate faster and higher top speed

RESERVE: unused cores ready to be allocated, though weapons cool down faster if you have reserve cores.

Downloaded Cores work just like regular power cores, but are lost at the end of the level. Later in the game you may unlock QUANTUM CORES, which have a special function depending on which system you put them on.

WEP

UP/DOWN to select weapon

LEFT/RIGHT on PHASER to adjust angle (See clock angles on MAP screen).

X ON PHASER to fire.

X ON MGUN to lock on to a target when the green cursor is right on top of it. MGUN will fire continuously once locked on, until lock is broken by distance or line of sight.

HAX

When enemy ships take actions, they create signals that your ship can intercept. Signals are generated when an enemy ship: 1. Fires, 2. Hits you, 3. Gets very close to you, 4. Is hit by your PHASER A or PHASER B, 5. When you lock on to it.

UP/DOWN/LEFT/RIGHT to move cursor.

X to capture a ship's signal - you can only capture signals from one ship (one color) at a time, and you can only capture unique symbols. Move cursor all the way to the right to select a HACK once enough signals are captured.

HACKS:

• TARGET (costs 1 signal): Lock your MGUN and aim your PHASERS at the ship.
• LOOT (costs 2 signals): Take 1/3 of the loot remaining from the enemy ship.
• VIRUS (costs 3 signals): Confuse the enemy ship into attacking its friends.
• DOWNLOAD (costs 4 signals): Steal a power core from the enemy ship. (Once per enemy)
• REPAIR (costs 5 signals): Gain 50 hull.

TIPS

• Start out by putting some power into sensors so you can see more of the map. Don't forget to power shields when in combat, or weapons. Engines are important for escaping a bad situation.
• For new players, it might be best for one player to call the shots and stay on the MAP screen. As you improve, experiment with a different division of labor.
• Using the LOOT hack is important so you can buy power cores between levels. You can loot the same ship multiple times with diminishing returns.
• Try to avoid engaging more than one enemy at a time, or use the VIRUS hack to gain an advantage.