Table of Contents

Getting Started .............................................................................................................. 4

Installation ................................................................................................................. 4
Installing Beneath a Crimson Sky ......................................................................... 4
Removing Beneath a Crimson Sky ......................................................................... 4
Navigating the Menus ................................................................................................ 4
Controls ....................................................................................................................... 4
Flight Controls ........................................................................................................ 5
Combat Controls...................................................................................................... 5
Game and View Controls ........................................................................................ 6
Introduction ................................................................................................................... 7
The Game ....................................................................................................................... 7
Main Menu.................................................................................................................. 7
Campaign................................................................................................................. 8
Split Screen ............................................................................................................. 8
Options..................................................................................................................... 8
In-Game Display......................................................................................................... 8
Campaign ..................................................................................................................... 10
Mission Select ........................................................................................................ 10
Difficulty Select ..................................................................................................... 10
Plane Select ........................................................................................................... 10
Weapons .................................................................................................................... 10
Machineguns ......................................................................................................... 10
Cannons ................................................................................................................. 10
Aircraft Rating System ............................................................................................ 11
Speed ...................................................................................................................... 11
Acceleration ........................................................................................................... 11
Agility .................................................................................................................... 11
Firepower ............................................................................................................... 11

2
 Hit Points............................................................................................................... 11
Ceiling .................................................................................................................... 11
Upgrades ................................................................................................................... 12
Ammo Capacity ..................................................................................................... 12
Engine I ................................................................................................................. 12
Engine II ................................................................................................................ 12
Armor I and Armor II............................................................................................ 12
Weapons I and Weapons II ................................................................................... 12
Split Screen .................................................................................................................. 13

3
 Getting Started
Installation
Installing Beneath a Crimson Sky
The Beneath a Crimson Sky .ccgame package requires that XNA Game Studio 3.1 or higher
must be installed. Unpacking a .ccgame file automatically deploys the assets and game assembly
to the target platform.

From Windows Explorer, double-click the BeneathACrimsonSky.ccgame to unpack it. A dialog

box appears. Click Unpack to begin the unpacking process. When the unpacking process is
complete, a folder containing the game executable opens in Windows Explorer. Run the game by
double-clicking the executable.

Removing Beneath a Crimson Sky

To remove, simply delete the folder where the .ccgame package was unpacked and the .ccgame
file itself.

Navigating the Menus

Menu items can be selected by using the arrow keys. To move forward through the
menus, press ENTER when the option is highlighted. Some menus only have the
main menu bar, which is placed in the lower part of the screen and some menus
allow for horizontal and vertical menu items selection.

Controls
Beneath a Crimson Sky currently supports only keyboard control schemes. The
control schemes can be reviewed at any time, by selecting the Controls menu item
from the main menu or from the menu displayed when the game is paused.

4
Flight Controls
Single
Player 1 Player 2
Player
Action Control Control
Control
Scheme Scheme
Scheme
Roll – Rolls the plane through
360° without any limitations. To
Arrow Left / Num Pad 4 /
turn hard, roll your plane onto its J/L
Arrow Right Num Pad 6
side, then use the pitch control to
pull your plane’s nose up.
Pitch – Raises or lowers the nose
Arrow Down / Num Pad 5 /
of the plane so you can climb or K/I
Arrow Up Num Pad 8
descend.
Yaw – Moves the rudder left and
Arrow Left /
right, allowing you to turn A/D A/D
Arrow Right
without rolling the plane.
Throttle – Increases or decreases
power to the engine, thus
changing your speed. Changes in
Arrow Up /
speed are not immediate and W/S W/S
Arrow Down
there is often a lag before the
plane responds to changes in
direction.

Combat Controls
Single
Player 1 Player 2
Player
Action Control Control
Control
Scheme Scheme
Scheme
Fire Machineguns – Fires all the
machineguns the aircraft is
equiped, depending on the plane Z Z Num Pad +
type.

5
Fire Cannons – Fires all the
cannons the aircraft is equiped
with, depending on the aircraft X X Enter
selected.

Fire All Weapons – Fires a

combination of machineguns and
cannons, depending on the plane Space Space Num Pad 0
type.

Game and View Controls

Single
Player 1 Player 2
Player
Action Control Control
Control
Scheme Scheme
Scheme
Change Camera – Swaps between
the fixed camera, the arcball
C N/A N/A
camera and the free camera.

Scorecard – Brings up the

scorecard in Split Screen mode so
that the players can check their N/A Tab
scores.

Menu – Pauses the game and

brings up the pause options menu.
Escape
View the status of your objectives.

6
 Introduction
On September 1, 1939, German forces invaded Poland. A storm that had been
brewing since the signing of the Treaty of Versailles had broken. There would be no
repeat of the Great War’s stalemate. A “lightning war” of infantry, tanks, and
aircraft raced across Europe, crushing all before it. It seemed the German blitzkrieg
would roll on unchecked, until the whole world was plunged into darkness.

Based on their experiences in the Great War, veteran pilots believed that the speed
of the new aircraft would make dogfights impossible. They would be proven wrong.
In the raging crimson skies over Europe, the marvel of human adaptability would
usher in a new age of air combat. It was unlike anything that had been experienced
before – or would be experienced again.

The Game
Main Menu

7
Campaign
Enter the chaos of war flying as either an Allied pilot or an Axis pilot. Take part in
different missions inspired by actual aerial engagement of WWII.

Split Screen
Put your piloting skills to the test against a friend by entering in an one-on-one
deadly dogfight.

Options
Customize or review the following settings:

 Game
 Graphics
 Sound
 Controls
 Credits

In-Game Display
1 4
4

10

8
1. Damage Bar

Indicates how much damage your plane has taken.

2. Low Altitude Warning ( not displayed )

The low altitude message appears when the aircraft is close to the ground or
on course to hit the ground.

3. Stall Warning ( not displayed )

The stall message appears when the aircraft is about to stall due to
insufficient speed.

4. Gun Sight

The gun sight provides useful information as to when an enemy is in range so

that your attacks can be more effective.

5. Objective Status ( not displayed )

Offers crucial information on the current mission objective.

6. Selected Target Information ( not displayed )

Displayed on the bottom of the screen is information regarding your currently

selected target type.

7. Heading Indicator

Indicates the current compass heading of the aircraft.

8. Engine Output Indicator

Indicates the level of engine output produced by the aircraft.

9. Altitude Indicator

Indicates the current altitude at which the aircraft is flying.

10. Ammo Status

Displays the remaining ammunition for the aircraft’s machineguns and

cannons.

9
 Campaign
Battle your way through two major campaigns comprised of four missions each.

Mission Select
Choose one of the available missions to fly. At first, only the first mission of each
campaign will be available. As you progress, new missions will be unlocked.

Difficulty Select
Choose from Rookie, Experienced or Ace Pilot difficulty levels to test yourself
against progressively more challenging foes and earn more experience or Upgrade
Points.

Plane Select
You will initialy fly the selected mission with one of the available unlocked planes.
When you replay the mission, all your unlocked planes will be selectable (including
Allied planes in an Axis mission or vice-versa).

Weapons
Machineguns
Machine guns fire solid slugs of lead at a high rate of fire. This weapon is good for
penetrating light armoured aircraft.

Cannons
Cannons have a lower fire rate than machineguns, but the shells deal explosive
damage on impact. Cannons have limited amounts of ammunition, so use short,
controlled burst of fire.

10
Aircraft Rating System
The aircrafts are rated according to six characteristics on scale of 0 to 10. Each
plane has some strong points and some weaknesses, so choose wisely.

Speed
Speed is essential in closing in on your enemy or making a quick escape from a
dangerous situation.

Acceleration
Acceleration is key in surprising your enemy with a quick burst of power so that you
can gain the upper hand.

Agility
Agility is very important in outmaneuvering your opponent in order to get a clean
shot or escape being shot down.

Firepower
Firepower is needed in bringing down an aircraft, especially when dealing with a
heavily armored opponent.

Hit Points
Hit Points represent the amount of damage your aircraft can sustain before
crashing in flames. The more Hit Points you have, the harder it is for your enemies
to shoot you down.

Ceiling
The ceiling marks the maximum altitude at which the aircraft can climb to. Having
a bigger operational ceilling can sometimes give you an advantage.

11
Upgrades
Ammo Capacity
The Ammo Capacity Upgrade increases the maximum amount of ammunition your
aircraft can carry into battle. The more ammo you have, the more chances to shoot
down an opponent.

Engine I
The Engine I Upgrade improves both Speed and Agility with a +1 rating to each. A
nimbler aircraft is harder to hit.

Engine II
The Engine II Upgrade improves both Acceleration and Ceiling with a +1 rating to
each. A plane that can climb faster and higher can be very useful.

Armor I and Armor II

The Armor Upgrades give a +1 rating each to the Hit Points characteristic of your
aircraft making it tougher to bring down.

Weapons I and Weapons II

The Weapons Upgrades give a +1 rating each to Firepower, making the guns on
your aircraft more efficient.

12
 Split Screen
Selecting Split Screen from the main menu allows you and a friend to play locally
simultaneous. You will enter a deadly dogfight where there is only one objective:
shoot down your opponent before he destroys you. In Split Screen mode, all the
aircraft unlocked in Campaign mode, but the Upgrades system is disabled.

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