Secret Codes and Commands

[In Game] [Command Line Parameters] [Super Arcade Mode] [Difficulty Levels] [Jukebox] [Others]


Hoping to find cheat codes here to satisfy your craven needs for a cakewalk of a game? WELL IT AIN'T HERE! You will find however, more legitimate means of getting that edge in the game, and getting the most out of it.

In Game Commands

  • For a real head spinning experience, press Backspace + 1 until you get the fastest speed possible. To top that off, do it in level 'Ice Secret'. And you thought Turbo was fast...

  • Pressing Backspace + Scroll Lock allows you to change the music of the level you are currently playing. Now we can all enjoy the wonderful music from 'ALE' all the time!

  • If you're really bored, Backspace + F10 will display ship data, memory usage and other frivolous pieces of information.

  • Screen too bright or dark? Use F11 to change the gamma until it suits you.

    Command Line Parameters

    Tupe the following after tyrian.exe in the command line:

    YESXMASS: Activates Christmas mode for cool new graphics. (Available only in v2.01 and above.)

    DEATH: Causes your ship to explode immediately. So what's the use of this? The level will continue to scroll to the end, so you get to preview the level before really attempting it.

    NOROBERT: Different items to choose from in the Upgrade screen.

    BORDER: Removes the center parallax layer.

    RECORD: Records a demo of the current game. Create a spectacular bunch of these, leave Tyrian running at the title screen when you're busy doing something else outside the PC and Whalah! Instant screensaver made by you.

    JUKEBOX: Type this after setup.exe to immediately access the jukebox.

    Super Arcade Mode Ships

    Type the following at the title screen to access the cool Super Arcade Mode ships:

    TECHNO: Experimental PQZ

    STORMWIND: The Elemental Fighter

    UNKNOWN: TX Silver Cloud

    ENEMY: Captured U-Ship

    STEALTH: Ninja Star

    WEIRD: Foodship Nine

    NORTSHIPZ: Nortship Z

    ENGAGE: Microsol Stalker 21.126 in Super Tyrian mode

    Difficulty Levels

    These are the commands to access the difficulty levels at the difficulty selection screen:

  • To access 'Impossible' difficulty, type a capital G.

  • To access 'Suicide' difficulty, first access 'Impossible' difficulty as above, then hold down the Shift key and press ']'.

  • To access 'Lord of the Game' difficulty in the full game or normal arcade game, access 'Suicide' difficulty as above and hold down L + O + R + D simultaneously. They have to be in capital, and it may require several tries to get it right.

  • To access 'Lord of the Game' difficulty in Super Tyrian mode, type in ENGAGE at the title screen.

  • To access 'Suicide' difficulty in Super Tyrian mode, do as above, but hold down Scroll Lock as the screen changes.

    Jukebox Controls

    Thought the setup program's jukebox only plays music? Well here's how to listen to the sounds in Tyrian, as well as some other commands. Type these at the Jukebox:

    / : Toggle music mode/sound effects mode

    . : Next sound effect

    , : Previous sound effect

    ; : Play a selected sound effect

    [ : Decrease star color and pixels

    ] : Increase star color and pixels

    +/- : Speed up or slow down speed of music and stars

    0 : Reset speed of stars and music

    1-8 : Various star patterns

    F : Fade out the music

    P : Pause

    R : Repeat song

    W : Pulsate the music

    So who needs an expensive sound system when you've got the Tyrian Jukebox?

    Other Commands

    Here are the commands that don't fit in any of the above categories:

  • In the Setup program, highlight the detail setting and type a capital W. This changes the detail level to 'Wild' which has some really nice effects. It also allows you to select 'Laptop VGA'. Note that the 'Wild' setting chews up processing power, so have a fast computer if you plan to do this, preferably faster than my Pentium 90.

  • At the title screen, type in DESTRUCT to access the minigame within Tyrian. Enjoy.

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