Tyrian controls
Every command can be remapped for both players in the Controls screen (F9 outside a level, or Setup → Key Bindings). Keys are matched by their physical position, so player 2's W A S D become Z Q S D on an AZERTY keyboard.
Keyboard in a level
| Command | Player 1 | Player 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Move | Arrow keys | W A S D |
| Fire | Space | F |
| Change fire (rear weapon mode) | Enter | G |
| Left sidekick | Ctrl | R |
| Right sidekick | Alt | T |
| Pause / resume | P (any key resumes) | — |
| In-game menu | Esc | — |
| In-game help | F1 | — |
| Bullet time | Left Shift | — |
The game also pauses when its window loses focus.
Mouse in a level
| Mouse | Effect |
|---|---|
| Movement | Moves the ship |
| Left button | Fire |
| Right button | Both sidekicks |
| Middle button | Change fire |
The mouse can move the ship faster than the keys or the d-pad: a quick move shifts it up to 8 pixels in a single frame.
Gamepad in a level
The first gamepad controls player 1 and the second player 2. Button names follow the Xbox layout.
| Command | Button |
|---|---|
| Move | D-pad or left stick |
| Fire | A or right trigger |
| Change fire | B or left trigger |
| Left sidekick | X |
| Right sidekick | Y |
| Pause / resume | Start or right shoulder (any button resumes) |
| In-game menu | Back/View or left shoulder |
By default the left stick works like the d-pad. Turn on Setup → Joystick → Analog and the ship's speed follows how far you push the stick. That screen also sets sensitivity, threshold and every button assignment, per gamepad.
Menus
| Action | Keyboard | Gamepad |
|---|---|---|
| Move | Arrows | D-pad or left stick |
| Confirm | Enter (Space on most screens) | A or left shoulder |
| Back | Esc | B or right shoulder |
| Previous / next page | Page Up / Page Down | — |
| Yes / No in a confirmation | Y / N | — |
The mouse works in every menu: hover to select, left click to confirm, right click to go back. On the title screen, M opens the side modes, 2 starts two-player Endless and Esc asks before quitting.
Function keys
In a level
| Key | Effect |
|---|---|
| F1 | The original in-game help panels. Ctrl+F1 shows technical information. |
| F2 | Pause (like P). |
| F3 | Achievements list over the game. |
| F4 | Statistics table for this run and your lifetime. |
| F5 | Quick save to the QUICK SAVE slot (campaign only). |
| F6 | Damage-per-second counter. |
| F7 | Damage numbers on or off. |
| F9 | Quick load (asks for confirmation). |
| F10 | Record a replay, starting at the next level. Press again to stop. |
| F11 | Gamma, four levels. |
| F12 | Screenshot, saved in your user folder. |
| Left Shift | Bullet time: 4 seconds at a quarter of the speed, then a 15-second cooldown. Gamepad: left trigger. Mouse: side button 4. |
Outside a level
In menus, the shop and on the title screen: F2 cycles the CRT filter, F3 the graphics mode, F9 opens the Controls screen and F10 the display options. All of them are also in Setup.
The cheat and debug keys of the original DOS game (F2+F3+F6, F2+F3+F4 and the Backspace combinations) are deliberately not supported.
Recording is not available in every mode: Galaga, Super Arcade, Timed Battle, Super Tyrian, Endless and games with a mod installed show “Mode not recordable”.
In-game menu
Esc (or Back / left shoulder) opens the original pause menu over the frozen level:
- Music Vol. and Sound Vol.: Left/Right change the volume, Enter mutes.
- Visual Effects: Off, Basic or Extended.
- Game Speed: Slug Mode, Slower, Slow, Normal (35 frames per second) or Turbo. Only the pace changes.
- Return to Game, or Quit the level after confirmation.
Destruct
Destruct is the artillery duel for one or two players hidden in the original game (see Game modes). Its keys:
| Action | Player 1 | Player 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Move left / right | C / V | Left / Right (or numpad 4 / 6) |
| Aim up / down | A / Z | Up / Down (or numpad 8 / 2) |
| Change vehicle | Left Alt | \ or numpad 5 |
| Fire | X or Left Shift | Insert, Enter, numpad 0 or numpad Enter |
| Previous weapon | Left Ctrl | Page Up (or numpad 9) |
| Next weapon | Space | Page Down (or numpad 3) |
F10 and F11 hand player 1 or player 2 to the computer, Backspace builds a new map, P pauses, F1 shows the help and Esc ends the round.
Launch options
Add them after -- on the command line, for example OpenTyrian2000-Enhanced.exe -- --speed=5.
-- --help prints the list.
| Option | Effect |
|---|---|
-s, --no-sound | Mute all audio |
--no-music | Mute the music only |
-t FOLDER, --data=FOLDER | Use another Tyrian data folder |
--lang=CODE | Language: en, fr, es, de, pt or it |
--hd-sprites | HD sprites (needs the upscaled/ folder) |
--mods=off, --mods=a,b | Disable every mod, or enable only these mod folders |
--endless, --endless2 | Start an Endless run, one or two players |
--destruct | Start the Destruct mini-game |
--level=epN_NN | Start directly on a level, for example ep1_09 |
--seed=N | Seed of the random generator |
--speed=N | Game speed for this session, 1 (slug) to 5 (turbo), 6 for the hidden turbo |
--devmode | Developer cheat keys (Ctrl+Shift combinations) |
-X, --xmas | Force Christmas mode, without the December prompt |
-x, --no-xmas | Disable Christmas mode, and the prompt |
--windowed, --fullscreen | Force windowed or full screen for this launch |
--user-dir=FOLDER | Absolute path of the player data folder |
Christmas mode
When the game starts in December, it asks whether to play in Christmas mode. Christmas mode swaps in redrawn ships,
shots and bonuses and Christmas voices, from the Christmas files of the game data (tyrianc.shp and voicesc.snd;
without them the mode stays off). -X turns it on in any month without asking, -x keeps it off.