| |
| Genre | Shooter |
|---|---|
| Release | 27th February 2008 |
| Multi-player | No |
Dr Phlogiston Saves the Earth is a Steampunk shooter game. It was released on 27th February 2008, the day of FunOrb's launch. It has many features of the Jagex game Meltdown, further developed.
Plot
World 1 - Earth
Stage 1 - Brighton
Introduction
- Dr Phlogiston's personal journal, October 18th
- I have received an urgent telephone call from Major General Fitzroy of the Royal Guard. It seems there is an unknown fleet of flying ships approaching my city!
- I must bring forward the demonstration of my aerial gunboat.
- The Major General had me posing for a photograph of my craft while I awaited the arrival of my pilot.
- My pilot seems a most peculiar young man.
- His name is Captain Piercy.
- I hope, for all our sakes, his piloting skills are better than his manners, and his dress sense!
Stage 2 - Bath
It gets harder
- October 20th: Success! My aerial gunboat has proved its worth in the defence of Brighton. The strange invaders were repelled, but it seems they were merely regrouping. I have just received a telegram, from Bath this time. We must fly there immediately to fight off another fleet of these infernal creatures!
Stage 3 - London
The first command ship
- October 23rd: Cpt. Piercy still worries me. He takes far too much delight in pushing my aerial gunboat to its very limits! Another wave of mechanical monsters is fast approaching London. Cpt Piercy can scarcely contain his excitement at the prospect of yet another aerial confrontation.
World 2 - Space
Stage 1 - Mars
Asteroids!
- October 25th: After fighting off three separate fleets, we have enjoyed a brief respite. I have used this time to finish off the installation of some new experimental systems.
- We must now take to the skies again, this time to leave Earth far behind us. The Astronomer Royal came to see me with terrifying news: he has found the invaders in the empty space above our sky!
- Thus to Cpt. Piercy and I rush to the aerial gunboat, to launch ourselves towards them once more.
Stage 2 - Uranus
Mines!
- October 30th: Captain Piercy's demeanour has become far more serious since we flew into space. Perhaps it dawned on him how dangerous this enemy we face is, or perhaps he caught a glimpse, as I did, of the Earth as it looks from this distance. Our home, and everything we have seen or done, can now be hidden from view by a single thumb.
Stage 3 - Arkab System
Alien starbase
- November 4th: I no longer doubt Captain Piercy's skills one jot. We have flown almost to our destination, and he has wielded this craft as a far deadlier weapon than I thought possible. His skills will be tested further still, as another wave of alien craft has been launched against us...
World 3 - Alien
Stage 1 - Arkab Wastelands
If these are the wastelands...
- November 7th: I can no longer hear Earth on the wireless. It is no surprise given the great distance.
- One thing I can detect, though, is a strange chattering; I assume it to be wireless signals from those...alien...creatures.
- I have given Captain Piercy the signals' bearings. Let us see what fate has in store for us...
Stage 2 - Arkab City
...what are the cities like?
- November 8th: I have modified my wireless equipment to indicate the direction of the strongest signal sources on this alien planet, and we have set course for the nearest of them. I pray it is not yet too late to head off this invasion and save Earth...
Stage 3 - Arkab Base
The final showdown
- November 9th: We barely survived that last attack run. Neither of us can bear to think what will happen to Earth if we do not destroy these invaders once and for all!
Powerups
| Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
 |
Shield | Heals your shields by 1/4 |
 |
Extra Life | Increases your lives by 1 |
 |
Weapon | Increases your weapon power by 1 |
 |
100 Points | Gives you 100 points (not counting multipliers) |
 |
1000 Points | Gives you 1000 points (not counting multipliers) |
 |
5000 Points | Gives you 5000 points (not counting multipliers) |
 |
x2 Multiplier | Gives your points a x2 multiplier |
 |
x3 Multiplier | Gives your points a x3 multiplier |
 |
x4 Multiplier | Gives your points a x4 multiplier |
 |
x5 Multiplier | Gives your points a x5 multiplier |
 |
x6 Multiplier | Gives your points a x6 multiplier |
Weapon Powerups
Weapon powerups always appear before any other type in each level. There is also an upper limit to the number you can have on each level, though it is possible to go slightly above this limit by waiting for more than one weapon powerup to appear before collecting them.
| Level | Weapon limit |
|---|---|
| 1-1 | 2 |
| 1-2 | 3 |
| 1-3 | 5 |
| 2-1 | 6 |
| 2-2 | 8 |
| 2-3 | 9 |
| 3-1 | 11 |
| 3-2 | 12 |
| 3-3 | 14 |
Weapons
| Image | Name | Fire Key | Hotkey | Description | World |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Gatling Gun | Space | Z | Fires in a straight line to the right of the ship. High rate of fire. Number and power of shots increase with weapon powerups. | All |
 |
Bomb | Space | X | Dropped from the ship. Maintains ship's horizontal momentum. Slow rate of fire. Number of bombs increases with weapon powerups. | 1 and 3 |
 |
Tesla Cannon | Space | C | Short range static electricity jumps from the ship to nearby enemies. Rate of fire increases with weapon powerups. | All |
 |
Rockets | Space | V | Fires in an approximately straight line to the right of the ship. Number of rockets increases with weapon powerups. | 2 and 3 |
| See Below. | Verne Cannon | Ctrl (hold to charge) | N/A | Fires a large blast directly right of the ship. Power increases with charge time. | All |
The verne cannon has no icon on the in-game interface. To the right is a picture of what it looks like when fired at maximum charge.
Enemies
Enemies are not named in-game, so many of these names are unofficial and supplied primarily to give a consistent way of referring to them. Most of the names can be found here.
Each enemy gives a certain number of points when killed, which is different for each difficulty. The multiplier powerups also affect the score.
| Difficulty | Multiplier | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Easy | x1/3 | If the points are not a multiple of 3, the remainder is lost. |
| Medium | x1 | |
| Hard | x3 |
| Name | Levels | Description | Image | Base Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Observation Probe | 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-1, 2-2 | Simply gets in the way. Easy to destroy. Does not shoot. Comes in a zigzag pattern. |  |
50 |
| Death Glider | 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-1, 2-3, 3-2, 3-3 | Quite easy to destroy and will shoot occasionally. Comes 5 at a time, moving in a zigzag pattern. |  |
100 |
| Bomb | 1-1, 1-2, 1-3 | Comes in fives from the top of the screen, moving slowly downward until it hits the foreground, destroying the structures. |  |
25 |
| Shredder | 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3 | Comes in a horizontal straight line. In hard mode they home in on the player. |  |
75 |
| Death Probe | 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3 | Will shoot small fast green bullets towards the player and stays in the screen for a long time. |  |
75 |
| Assault Bot | 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3 | Comes in a straight line. Shoots lightning bolts, but gives a warning by flashing white. |  |
110 |
| Abductor | 1-2, 1-3 | Shoots bullets that home in on the player for a short time. Stays in the screen for a long time |  |
125 |
| Tripod | 1-2, 1-3 | Will sometimes shoot a homing missile. Often fires bullets in a parabolic trajectory. Always walks on the bottom of the map. |  |
100 |
| Drop Ship | 1-3 | The boss of the Earth levels. It attacks by summoning other ships and using beams. |  |
10,000 |
| Small Asteroid | 2-1, 2-3 | Just gets in the way. |  |
10 |
| Medium Asteroid | 2-1, 2-3 | Splits into 4 Small Asteroids |  |
40 |
| Large Asteroid | 2-1 | Splits into 2 Medium Asteroids |  |
160 |
| Mine | 2-2, 2-3 | Deals massive damage to your ship if it hits. |  |
16 |
| Homing Mine | 2-2, 2-3 | Like mines, but homes in on your ship. |  |
16 |
| Minelayer | 2-2, 2-3 | Lays mines or homing mines, depending on difficulty. |  |
200 |
| Tesla Coil | 2-2, 2-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-3 | Shoots big lightning strikes at the ship from its purple orb. Similar to the player's Tesla Cannon weapon, but a lot stronger. |  |
150 |
| Gun Turret | 2-2, 2-3, 3-1, 3-2 | Aims at the player and shoots big green bullets. |  |
75 |
| Cargo Ship | 2-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-3 | Does not fire any weapons, but damages if touched. When it gives powerups, it will give 2. |  |
25 |
| Missile Bay | 2-2, 2-3, 3-1, 3-2 | Aims at the ship and shoots purple rockets, 3 at a time. Similar to the player's Bomb weapon, but this is homing. |  |
75 |
| Docking Platform | 2-3 | Summons Attack Copters. |  |
75 |
| Attack Copter | 2-3, 3-1, 3-2, 3-3 | Homes into your ship, but unlike Homing Mines, it has more health and does less damage. |  |
350 |
| Metal Machine | 2-3 | Does not do anything. Acts like scenery, but appears more than once. |  |
1000 |
| Radar Dish | 2-3, 3-1 | Does not do anything. Acts like scenery, but appears more than once. |  |
50 |
| Green Circle | 2-3 | Does not do anything. Acts like scenery, but appears more than once. |  |
25 |
| Metal Tentacles | 2-3 | Does not do anything. Acts like scenery, but appears more than once. |  |
25 |
| Battle Carrier | 2-3 | The boss of the Space levels. It has many different weapons. |  |
20,000 |
| Barracks | 3-1, 3-2, 3-3 | Rapidly shoots non-homing rockets upwards at certain intervals. Also known as Bunker. |  |
100 |
| Large Barracks | 3-2, 3-3 | Looks like a very big version of a Barracks, but is actually just a piece of scenery with a lot of health. |  |
300 |
| Combat Tank | 3-1, 3-2, 3-3 | Always at the bottom of the map, making it hard to hit. Occasionally fires rockets upwards. |  |
250 |
| Battle Tank | 3-1, 3-2, 3-3 | Like combat tanks, but their rockets home in on the player's ship. |  |
200 |
| Doom Copter | 3-1, 3-2, 3-3 | An advanced version of Attack Copters, these have homing rockets. |  |
400 |
| Floating Battle Station | 3-3 | One of the two boss ships found at the end of the Alien levels. |  |
30,000 |
| Command Ship | 3-3 | One of the two boss ships found at the end of the Alien levels. Does not appear on easy mode. |  |
30,000 |
Achievements
Total Achievements: 15
Total Orb Coins: 34
Total Orb Points: 3400
[Secret Achievements] | [Hidden Achievements] [Halloween Achievements]
| Image | Name | Requirement | Orb Points | Orb Coins | Members? | Sorter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Victorus Morti |
Destroy at least 15 death gliders |
100 | 1 | No | AA |
 |
Victorus Legioni |
Destroy at least 15 assault bots |
100 | 1 | No | AB |
 |
Victorus Goliath |
Destroy at least 15 tanks |
100 | 1 | Yes | AC |
 |
Victorus Campus |
Destroy at least 15 barracks |
100 | 1 | Yes | AD |
 |
Pacifist Award |
Complete at least one stage without firing any weapons |
100 | 1 | No | AE |
 |
Untouchable Award |
Receive no damage in at least one stage. |
300 | 3 | No | AF |
 |
Safety Award |
Lose no lives in at least one stage |
300 | 3 | No | AG |
 |
Collector Award |
Collect all powerups in at least one stage |
200 | 2 | No | AH |
 |
Anti-Collector Award |
Collect no powerups in at least one stage |
200 | 2 | No | AI |
 |
Total Destruction Award |
Destroy all enemies in at least one stage |
100 | 1 | No | AJ |
 |
Earth Defender Award |
Complete Earth levels |
100 | 1 | No | AK |
 |
Star Defender Award |
Complete Space levels |
200 | 2 | Yes | AL |
 |
Ultimate Defender Award |
Complete Alien levels |
300 | 3 | Yes | AM |
 |
Friend of Earth |
Destroy no human structures in at least one stage |
200 | 2 | No | AN |
 |
Victorus Ultima |
Complete the game on hard |
1000 | 10 | Yes | AO |
All information for these achievements is stored on their respective pages, along with walkthroughs and tips for many of them. So, if you notice a mistake, or have a good strategy, go there!
Did you notice a missing achievement? You can help the FunOrb Wiki by making a page for it. Simply type the achievement name in this box to make a page for it.<createbox>
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Trivia
- "Phlogiston" is a real word. It's similar to the element of fire, highly concentrated in oil, coal, and wood, according to the ancient Greeks. It is released when something is burned, and then absorbed into dephlogisticated air. It is the primary subject of Phlogiston theory.
- The image for the Total Destruction Award Achievement comes from the European Hazard Symbol for Explosive. This image is also used in the "system lost" icon in Shattered Plans.
- The Verne Cannon is a reference to science fiction writer Jules Verne.
- The Tripod comes from H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds.