About Pitch Invasion
Pitch Invasion is a fun-to-play, arcade-style musical game, designed to teach the player to recognize specific pitches from a variety of instruments and octave ranges.
Based on old-style classic arcade games, "aliens" descend upon your home planet, intent on destroying your prized collection of musical instruments. It's your job to blast them out of the sky by recognizing the pitch that they are playing, and playing that pitch yourself before they reach the ground. If they reach the ground, one of your 15 musical instruments is destroyed. Once your instruments are all destroyed, it's game over! As you blast the aliens, you can move up to harder, faster levels.
Points are awarded for blasting aliens, and the higher the level you are playing, the more points you get. Bonus points are also awarded in other areas throughout the game.
Main Screen
- Game indicator - This tells you how many different notes will be used in the current game.
- Level indicator - The higher the level, the faster the aliens will be descending. The levels range from 1 to 20.
- Time indicator - How long you have been playing the current game.
- Aliens remaining - The number of aliens remaining in the current level. Aliens per level can be customized in the settings screen.
- Score - This shows the score in points. See Scoring for more info.
- Correct notes - This shows the percentage of correct notes out of the total number of notes.
- Alien - You blast the descending alien by pressing the correct note
- Musical Instruments - The instruments are destroyed if you are unable to hit the alien in time.
- Play/Pause/Stop - Pressing this button toggles Play/Pause. Holding for 3 seconds stops the game.
- Piano Keyboard - Play the notes on the keyboard to destroy aliens. Only on the most difficult levels are all the keys available to press.
- Settings button - See Settings for more info.
Playing the Game
Starting a game
Press Play to start a game at the default game type (3 notes) and level 1. If you want to start at a higher level or play a different game type, you can change this in the Settings screen (button at bottom-right of main screen).
Destroying aliens
Once the game has begun, you will see an alien begin to descend from the top of the screen, and you will hear the alien playing a repeated note. You need to determine what that note is and play it on the on-screen piano keyboard.
If you play the correct note, the alien will be destroyed, your points will increase, and a new alien will begin to descend, playing a new note. If you played an incorrect note, the alien will begin to descend faster, but you are still able to try again to get the correct note before it reaches the instruments. If you manage to destroy it, you will have saved the instrument, but you will not receive any points for it. If you are not able to destroy it, it will destroy one of your instruments, and a new alien will begin to descend.
Level boost
If you are able to destroy 15 aliens in a row without making any mistakes, you are given the "Level Boost". You are given the points for ALL of the remaining aliens in the current level, as well as an additional bonus. Then you begin play again one level higher. The bonus is determined by the level you began the game at. For example, the level boost bonus for level 3 is 250. If you begin at level 3, the level boost bonus for every subsequent level will be 250 points. The bonus for level 9 is 15,000. If you begin at level 9, the level boost bonus for every subsequent level will be 15,000 points. See Scoring for more info.
Settings Screen
Game type and level
Note Number - This is the "Game Type"; you can choose anywhere from 1 note to 12 notes. You can also choose a "custom" game, where you get to pick the specific notes you want to play with.
Level - Choose the level to start with. The higher the level, the faster the aliens will be descending. The levels range from 1 to 20.
Keyboard / Alien sounds
Allows you to choose the type of sound played by the keyboard and aliens. By default, they are both 'Piano'.
Scriabin Colors
The composer Scriabin associated certain colors with specific musical pitches. In Pitch Invasion, you can choose to associate colors to various elements of the program:
If Aliens use Scriabin Colors is selected, the aliens will be colored according to their pitch.
If Show Scriabin Colors on Piano Keyboard is selected, each key on the on-screen piano keyboard will be assigned a unique color.
Volume Controls
These sliders allow you to set the relative volumes of the Aliens, Piano keys, and Noises (sound effects).
Note in any octave
If this is selected, the descending notes can be played within a 4-octave range instead of the standard 1. Because this is more difficult, bonus points are awarded after every level.
Note Hints
This area determines what types of hints will be shown during the game.
Staff - The alien is replaced with a treble clef staff which shows the note being played.
Show Grand Staff - A grand staff showing the current note appears at the bottom left corner of the screen.
Letter The alien is accompanied with a small letter that names the note being played.
Current Alien The note letter name will only appear on the currently playing alien. If it is not selected, any other aliens on the screen will also display the letters.
High Scores
Displays scores and other statistics for recent games
More Settings
The button in the bottom right corner of the Settings screen brings up some additional settings.
Note hints - The names of the notes will be drawn on the piano keyboard. (default checked)
Highlight applicable keys - Only the keys that are used in a particular game will display solidly. All other keys will be darkened. (default checked)
Level Boost - If this is enabled, and you are able to destroy 15 aliens in a row without making any mistakes, you are given the "Level Boost". You are given the points for ALL of the remaining aliens in the current level, as well as an additional bonus. Then you begin play again one level higher. The bonus is determined by the level you began the game at. See Scoring for more info. (default checked)
Show level stats after each level - This will show statistics when you complete a level. (default checked)
Aliens per level - This can be set at any number. If the number is set higher than the default of 50, the points per alien are reduced accordingly. If you would like to practice one level without getting faster, set this to 999 & turn "Level boost bonus" off.
Scoring
There are various ways that points are awarded in Pitch Invasion: "Aliens destroyed" points, the "Level Boost" bonus, the "Note In Any Octave" bonus, and the "No Instrument Damaged" bonus.
Aliens Destroyed
Each time you destroy an alien, you get a certain number of points. The points depend on the current level. The points-per-alien for the various levels are:
Level 2 - 25
Level 3 - 35
Level 4 - 75
Level 5 - 150
Level 6 - 250
Level 7 - 500
Level 8 - 1000
Level 9 - 2000
Level 10 - 4000
Level 12 - 6000
Level 13 - 7000
Level 14 - 8000
Level 15 - 9000
Level 16 - 15000
Level 17 - 18000
Level 18 - 20000
Level 19 - 25000
Level 20 - 50000
"Level Boost" bonus
If you are able to destroy 15 aliens in a row without making any mistakes (and "Level boost bonus enabled" is turned on) you are given the "Level Boost". The points for any aliens remaining for the level are given to you immediately, and you are also given an additional bonus. The bonus amount is determined by the level you started at (not by the level you are currently at). The amounts are:
Started at level 2 - 50
Started at level 3 - 250
Started at level 4 - 500
Started at level 5 - 1000
Started at level 6 - 2000
Started at level 7 - 3750
Started at level 8 - 7500
Started at level 9 - 15000
Started at level 10 - 30000
"Note in Any Octave" bonus
The game is more difficult if the notes are coming at you from a wider range, so if you play a game with "Note in Any Octave" selected, you are given a bonus after every level. The amounts are:
Level 2 - 125
Level 3 - 175
Level 4 - 375
Level 5 - 750
Level 6 - 1250
Level 7 - 2500
Level 8 - 5000
Level 9 - 8000
Level 10 - 10000
Level 12 - 20000
Level 13 - 30000
Level 14 - 40000
Level 15 - 50000
Level 16 - 60000
Level 17 - 70000
Level 18 - 80000
Level 19 - 90000
Level 20 - 99999
"No Instrument Damaged" bonus
If you are able to make it through an entire level without losing any of your instruments, you are given the "No Instrument Damaged" bonus. The amounts are:
Level 2 - 125
Level 3 - 175
Level 4 - 375
Level 5 - 750
Level 6 - 1250
Level 7 - 2500
Level 8 - 5000
Level 9 - 8000
Level 10 - 10000
Level 12 - 20000
Level 13 - 30000
Level 14 - 40000
Level 15 - 50000
Level 16 - 60000
Level 17 - 70000
Level 18 - 80000
Level 19 - 90000
Level 20 – 290000
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