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To navigate this help file, use the up and down arrow keys. Press
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ENTER to activate links. Press ESC to return to the game. You can
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access this help file at any time by pressing 'H'.
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?background?Background
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?circuit?Your PSI Circuit and You
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" Far below the surface of the planet is a secret.
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A place of limitless power. Those that seek to
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control such a utopia will soon bring an end
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MERITOUS is a top-view dungeon crawl action/adventure game. As MERIT,
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a PSI user, your task is to investigate the Orcus Dome, an ancient
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In your way are the shadowy creatures that wander the shrine. Using
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your PSI circuit, you must cut through any that come between you and
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?background?Background
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PSI is a powerful, imprecise force. Often viewed as a form of modern
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magic, PSI can be weilded to a limited extent by beings (see PSI
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users) that have an unusual level of mental awareness. PSI exists as
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a flow that can be fashioned into a single-use tool for the weilder to
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As PSI is very difficult to shape precisely, PSI users often
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settle for crude, uneconomical solutions to problems. For example,
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using PSI as an attacking weapon by draining off a large amount of it
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from the surrounding area and unleashing it in one go. Or using PSI
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as a protective shield by concentrating a large amount of it in one
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Where PSI actually comes from is unknown, however there seems to be
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only a limited amount in the atmosphere at any one time. While PSI is
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generally used by gathering it from the area around the PSI user, some
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advanced PSI users have worked out ways of gathering and storing large
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Some areas are naturally much richer in PSI than others. PSI seems to
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be found in greater quantities when one is underground, for example.
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PSI users are beings that have the mental capacity to consciously use
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PSI. Any species is capable of producing PSI users, though by far
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human PSI users are the most common.
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PSI users vary wildly in ability, with the rarest and most powerful
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able to accomplish great feats. It is also not uncommon for PSI users
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to become more or less powerful over time. Theories exist that
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continual exposure to and use of PSI increases one's competence, while
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disuse can cause it to stagnate.
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The Orcus Dome is a structure located deep within the planet's crust.
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The internal structure seems to be both crafted and organically grown.
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It is made up of a number of tightly-woven rooms. The structure is
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unusual in that it seems to have been made for the precise purpose of
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gathering and concentrating PSI. The walls that divide the rooms
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carry PSI gathered from the planet and channel it into a single, very
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The discovery of the Dome has been a point of contention among PSI
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users, most of whom want to use the large reserves of the Dome to
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enhance their own PSI usage.
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Eventually, the majority of PSI users agreed to ration out use of the
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Dome to both ensure the existing reserves would last as long as
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possible and to make sure that each PSI user would receive a fair
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!-- Strange events --
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For several years, there was no problem with the ongoing use of the
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Orcus Dome to provide PSI. However, for some reason, the PSI extracted
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from the Dome began to behave strangely. It worked unpredictably, and
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made controlling the PSI very difficult. After one PSI user was killed
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as a result of this, a decision was made to abandon using the Orcus
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Not happy with this decision, one PSI user, MERIT, decided to use his
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own reserves of PSI to ethereally warp into the Dome itself to find
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out what the problem was and restore the Dome to its original state.
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Pad - Move around. To walk through doors, simply walk up to
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them and push against them.
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Button 1 - Charge your PSI circuit.
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Back - Exit the game.
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Menu - View the help file.
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Button 3 - View the map (you can then use the arrow keys to scroll
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Button 2 - Activate a trigger tile that you are standing on.
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Enter is also used for various other things, such as
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for reading in-game dialogue.
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The Orcus Dome is made up of a series of rooms, connected with short
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passages. The rooms are mostly uniform in design, however, there are
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some points of interest to look out for.
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Trigger tiles are special tiles that cover the floor of the dungeon,
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and can be activated by standing on top of them and pressing Enter.
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Checkpoint tiles automatically record your genetic makeup when you
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enter the room that they are in, and, at the cost of some of your
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natural vitality, will restore your being if you perish within the
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The process can also be used to warp yourself between tiles with no
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cost, by pressing Enter while on one of them.
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!PSI Enhancement tiles
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These tiles will, at the cost of some of your PSI crystals, enhance
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your PSI abilities in one of three different areas.
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More on PSI abilities can be found in the chapter 'Your PSI Circuit
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!Crystal Magnet tiles
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These tiles, upon activation, pull loose PSI crystals into the room
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These tiles point out useful places for you to go to. If nothing
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appears when you stand on the tile, there is nothing for you to do
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at the moment until more shadow creatures are destroyed.
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These tiles use their own supply of PSI to record your current
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state, allowing you to come back to the Dome if you decide to leave
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for a while. They do this upon activation with the Enter key.
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?circuit?Your PSI Circuit and You
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There are a number of artifacts constructed with PSI lying around the
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Dome, and some of these will be crucial to your success. You can
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locate these with the compass tile.
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!Mystical Enhancement Tools
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These artifacts will assist you in exploring the Dome by enhancing
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your current abilities. With the right artifacts, you can move faster,
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regenerate your shields in less time, see shadow creatures through
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walls, increase the power of your PSI attack and several other things.
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These artifacts are usually found in chests, and are often well
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protected, but you can find them with the compass tiles.
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In the shape of famous weapons, the Keys are responsible for filtering
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and controlling the flow of PSI throughout the Dome. They are placed
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at the points where ley-lines intersect, and it is unknown what will
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happen if they are moved. You can find them, even if they have been
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moved, with the compass tiles, but you will not be able to touch them
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if they have been corrupted with darkness.
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One of the artifacts, in the shape of a pendant, must be kept at the
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centre of the Dome at all times to keep the PSI free of malign
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influences. The Ancient Seal can also be found with the compass tiles,
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but will only be visible while the PSI Keys are in place.
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!Your PSI Circuit and You
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Your PSI ability has two main purposes in the game--offence and
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By holding down the spacebar, you can charge your offensive PSI
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circuit and unleash it on surrounding foes. Creatures made up of PSI
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that are hit by this force will crystallise and break down into PSI
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crystals that can be collected.
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There are two different targeting reticles used while the PSI circuit
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is charging. The circle will appear over enemies that are in range
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of your attack. The cross will appear over enemies that your PSI
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circuit is charged enough to destroy. Both of these should appear over
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your intended enemies before you release the charge. Only then can you
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ensure that they will be hit.
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Beware, however--some enemies can take more than one hit from the PSI
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circuit before they are destroyed. Some more powerful creatures may
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not show a targeting reticle at all. In those cases you will have to
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experiment to find out how much power you need to destroy them.
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The further you charge your PSI circuit, the longer it will take for
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your circuit to recover enough to use it again. For this reason it is
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rarely a good idea to keep your circuit fully charged.
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Most enemy attacks can be stopped prematurely using the PSI circuit,
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and enemy bullets can be knocked out of the air.
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Your 'Circuit charge' and 'Circuit refill' skills affect how quickly
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your offensive PSI circuit charges and recovers respectively. In
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addition, upgrading these values also increases the maximum charge
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possible for your circuit, necessary for destroying the most powerful
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enemies. These can be upgraded by standing on the necessary enhance
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tiles and pressing Enter when you have sufficient PSI crystals.
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If your 'Reflect shield' skill is 1 or higher, you will automatically
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use your PSI to form a physical shield around yourself, which can
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block out attacks to a limited extent. For every point of skill you
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have, your shield will be able to block out one enemy bullet before
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it recharges. The higher your skill, the faster the shield will
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recharge. Note that particularly powerful attacks, such as lasers,
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are able to blast through multiple levels of shield in one go.
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A shield is absolutely necessary for facing the more powerful enemies
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in the Dome, so it is advised that you upgrade your shield when you
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!Further notes on enhancing skills
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Because it costs more crystals to enhance a skill when you have more
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ability in that skill, it is more efficient to keep your three skills
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balanced rather than trying to maximise one of them.
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On skill display at the top of the screen, the name of the skill will
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glow when you have enough crystals to upgrade that skill on an enhance
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Your PSI also enhances your ability to recall facts and visualise them
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accurately. As a result of this, you will remember the layout of the
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portions of the Dome you have explored so far, and can visualise this
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information by pressing Tab. This will show a map that you can scroll
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around, and can be very useful for finding your way around the Dome.
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Last, but not least, your PSI also maintains your body vitality.
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In the top-right corner, the three hearts represent this. If you lose
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all three you will die and be regenerated at the last checkpoint.
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Unless you are playing on Wuss mode, you will also have a limited
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number of lives. This represents your physical vitality, and it will
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be damaged each time you die. When you run out, your body will be
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permanently destroyed and you won't be regenerated.
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You can improve your vitality by collecting PSI crystals that have
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formed into a heart shape. One of these will restore one of your
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three hearts. If you already have three hearts, they will go towards
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improving your physical vitality. Collect enough and your number of
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Available from the title menu, Wuss mode is a reduced-difficulty
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gameplay mode. When playing Wuss mode, you will be able to attack
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faster, enemy bullets will be slower and you will never permanently
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die. However, a victory in Wuss mode is not considered to be an
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actual completion of the game, and as a result the game will not end
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the same way that it would normally.
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Concept: Lancer-X/Asceai
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Game design: Lancer-X/Asceai
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Graphics: Lancer-X/Asceai
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Programming: Lancer-X/Asceai
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Sound Effects: Various sources
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Android port: Sylvain Beucler
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Meritous is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
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under certain conditions; see the GNU GPL for details.
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http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html
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There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
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dat/d/helpfile-android.txt
