X-Kind

### X-KIND

**The last flight against the Kind.**

X-Kind is a fast, hand-tuned horizontal shoot'em up in the spirit of the classic arcade shooters. Fly through eight alien worlds, rip apart a different giant boss at the end of each one, then find out if you dare the bonus stage.

Every sprite, every sound effect and every music track is **generated by code at start-up** — the whole game is a single small executable, no installer, no assets to unpack.

#### What you get

- **8 stages + a bonus stage** — ruins, a crystal reef, an alien hive, an iron fortress, a toxic swamp, a magma core, a frozen void and the final gate… and then *The Abyss*.

- **9 bosses, none alike.** Each one has its own parts, weak points and phases:

- a fortress whose serpent dives in and out of four shafts before its eye opens,

- a giant warship whose hatch opens only after its spout rains down fire,

- three pods that split up and hunt you down,

- a core that darts around behind a ring of orbs, firing bullets that bounce,

- a wall of heavy cubes that only charged beams can break,

- a walker with swinging shield arms and debris chutes,

- a final core behind a barrier of orbiting nodes, with a second phase,

- and the **XXL bonus boss**, a bullet-hell fortress that is meant to be *almost* unbeatable.

- **The Orb**: a detachable pod. Keep it in front or behind your ship, launch it, call it back. It soaks up enemy bullets and **fires whatever weapon you carry**.

- **Three weapons × three levels** (Vulcan spread, piercing Lance, homing Seeker), **homing missiles**, **speed-ups**, and two **Bits** that circle your ship and block bullets.

- **Charge beam**: hold, release, pierce everything in a line.

- **Checkpoints** every 20 seconds and at every boss warning, plus **3 continues** (your score resets — it's an arcade, after all).

- **Arcade scoring**: 3-letter high-score table, extra lives, no-miss bonus per stage.

- **Your progress is remembered**: the furthest stage you reached can be resumed from the title screen.

- **Gamepad or keyboard**, fullscreen, instant start.

#### Controls

| Action | Gamepad | Keyboard |

|---|---|---|

| Move | Left stick / D-pad | Arrows / WASD |

| Fire (hold to auto-fire) | A | Z / Space |

| Charge beam (hold, then release) | X | X |

| Orb: launch / recall | B / Y / RB | C |

| Pause | Start | Enter |

| Quit to title (from pause) | Select | Esc |

On the title screen, press the **Orb button** to resume from the furthest stage you have reached.

Name entry: up/down changes the letter, fire/right confirms, left goes back.

#### Tips

- Capsules dropped by carrier ships are the only way to power up: **S** speed, **V** Vulcan, **L** Lance, **H** Seeker, **M** missiles, **O** Orb, **B** Bit, **1** extra life. Take the same weapon again to level it up.

- Dying costs you your upgrades. Protect them.

- Bosses are not just bags of hit points — watch what opens, what swings, what retreats, and shoot *that*.

- The bonus stage is not a joke. Bring everything you have.

#### System requirements

- Windows 10 or later, 64-bit (developed and tested on Windows 10)

- Any GPU with working OpenGL drivers

- ~2 MB of disk space

#### Notes

- High scores and your progress are saved in small text files next to the executable (`xkind_scores.txt`, `xkind_save.txt`). Delete them to reset.

- There is no options menu in this version.

- Windows only for now.

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### X-KIND

**Le dernier vol contre les Kind.**

X-Kind est un shoot'em up horizontal d'arcade, nerveux et réglé à la main, dans l'esprit des grands classiques. Traversez huit mondes extraterrestres, affrontez à chaque fois un boss géant différent, puis osez le niveau bonus.

Tous les sprites, effets sonores et musiques sont **générés par le code au démarrage** : un seul petit exécutable, sans installation ni fichiers à décompresser.

#### Au programme

- **8 niveaux + un niveau bonus** : ruines, récif de cristal, ruche, forteresse de fer, marais toxique, noyau de magma, vide gelé, porte finale… puis *L'Abysse*.

- **9 boss, tous différents**, chacun avec ses propres pièces, points faibles et phases : forteresse au serpent, vaisseau-amiral à trappe, modules qui se séparent, cœur qui bondit derrière des orbes, mur de cubes à briser au tir chargé, marcheur à bras-boucliers, cœur final à barrière… et le **boss XXL** du niveau bonus, une forteresse de tirs presque imbattable.

- **L'Orb** : une capsule détachable, devant ou derrière le vaisseau, qu'on lance et qu'on rappelle. Elle arrête les balles ennemies et **tire avec l'arme équipée**.

- **3 armes × 3 niveaux** (Vulcan, Lance perforante, Seeker à tête chercheuse), **missiles**, **vitesse**, deux **Bits** qui tournent autour du vaisseau.

- **Tir chargé** qui traverse tout.

- **Checkpoints** toutes les 20 secondes et à chaque alerte de boss, **3 continues** (le score repart à zéro).

- **Score d'arcade** : tableau à 3 lettres, vies bonus, bonus « sans toucher ».

- **Progression mémorisée** : reprenez au niveau le plus loin atteint depuis l'écran titre (bouton Orb).

- **Manette ou clavier**, plein écran, démarrage instantané.

Commandes : voir le tableau ci-dessus. Les scores et la progression sont enregistrés dans `xkind_scores.txt` et `xkind_save.txt`, à côté de l'exécutable. Windows uniquement pour l'instant.