LEM - Lunar Excursion Module

About LEM

LEM is a PocketC game similar to Lunar Lander.
LEM was written by Michael B. Comet (comet@comet-cartoons.com)
The latest version should be available at http://www.comet-cartoons.com/pilot.html

Installation

  1. First you must install PocketC written by Jeremy Dewey. This should be available at http://www.orbworks.com/.
  2. Next install the LEM.pdb file.
  3. Run PocketC on your Pilot, choose the LEM application and choose Execute to start.

Quick Reference

Navigate Interface: 		Tap buttons on screen
Thrust Upwards:			PageUp button
Thrust Sideways:		Tap on screen to left or right of pod
Quit/Abort Game/Exit Screen:	PageDown button
Pause game:			Type 'p' in the graffiti window.  Any action unpauses.

Instructions

When first launched LEM displays a main menu. Simply tap on the button to go to that section. You may also press the PageDown key to quit, or exit a section, or to abort a game in progress.

New Game - Playing LEM

Choose New Game to start. After a moment a moon terrain is drawn. Somewhere on the terrain is the landing pad. This is drawn as a flat dotted and white section on the surface. Your goal is to smoothly land the space pod onto that target.

Your pod will be stationary at a the top center of the screen. As gravity starts to pull it down the pod will drop to the surface. You may thrust upwards by pressing the PageUp button in the center of the pilot. To thrust sideways tap to the left or right of the pod to thrust that direction. Tapping on the left side will make the left thruster activate and will make the pod start to move to the right. In order to stop sliding you will need to tap the opposite side enough times balance out the current momentum.

In order to land your fall rate must be equal to or less than 3.0 m/s. A landing with less than 1.0 m/s results in a perfectly smooth landing. Anything over that 3.0 m/s and you crash. In addition you cannot be sliding left or right any faster than 5 m/s when landing.

The bottom left of the screen has a white bar representing your current amount of fuel. Every time you thrust 1 cell of the 100 total is used up and the bar shrinks. If you run out of fuel your pod will fall helplessly downwards.

Also on the bottom is the current gravity rate. A gravity of 1.9 is the maximum the pod can start to counteract. To the very right is the current fall rate. This shows you the rate that the pod is dropping at. It must be 3.0 m/s or less for landing.

Your current score is shown on the top right of the screen. When you land successfully the score is increased. If you make it back to Earth, any unused fuel is also added to your score. The amount added is doubled if you had landed on the landing pad. At least half of your pod must be over the landing area in order for it to be considered on target.

If you fly off screen or crash your current game will be over. If your score is high enough you may be asked to enter your name. Simply use graffiti to enter the text, then press OK. Pressing cancel will enter the score with no name at all. Choosing abort will quit LEM and your score will NOT be recorded.

Options - Customizng Your Game

The options screen allows you to change the startup options for LEM. To change and option tap the up or down arrows on the side of each item. When finished, select done.

You may enable sounds and music. Sounds include the flying clicks, impact and thruster noise, and tap clicks. Music includes the small fanfares heard when there is a crash or successful landing or when the mission is aborted.

The landing pad width changes in increments of 5 meters and must be between 10 and 25 meters wide.

The starting gravity ranges from 0.1 m/s to 1.9 m/s in 0.1 increments.

The fuel cells can be changed in adjusments of 5 cells each from 50-100 cells for startup.

High Scores

The High Scores screen allows you to view the top 8 scores of all time. While this data is stored between games, it is NOT backed up when the Pilot is HotSynced. Click done to return to the main menu.

About & Help

This displays the current version of LEM as well as my address. Tapping again will bring up a quick reference and instructions. Tap once more to return to the main menu.

Quit

Choosing this or pressing PageDown will exit LEM. Any startup options will be lost. The high score list however is saved.


COMET CARTOONS - Michael B. Comet (comet@comet-cartoons.com)