path: root/doc/kspaceduel/index.docbook

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//KDE//DTD DocBook XML V4.2-Based Variant V1.1//EN" "dtd/kdex.dtd" [
  <!ENTITY kappname "&kspaceduel;">
  <!ENTITY package "tdegames">
  <!ENTITY % English "INCLUDE" > <!-- change language only here -->
  <!ENTITY % addindex "IGNORE">
]>

<book lang="&language;">
<bookinfo>
<title>The &kspaceduel; Handbook</title>
 
<authorgroup>
<author>
<firstname>Andreas </firstname>
<surname>Zehender</surname>
<affiliation>
<address><email>az@azweb.de</email></address>
</affiliation>
</author>
</authorgroup>
<!-- TRANS:ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS -->
 
<copyright>
<year>1999</year><year>2000</year>
<holder>Andreas Zehender</holder>
</copyright>

<legalnotice>&FDLNotice;</legalnotice>
 
<date>2003-09-17</date>
<releaseinfo>1.1</releaseinfo>

<abstract>
<para>&kspaceduel; is an space arcade game. </para>
<para>Two ships fly around the sun and try to shoot eachother.</para>
</abstract>


<keywordset>
<keyword>Space duel</keyword>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>game</keyword>
<keyword>ships</keyword>
<keyword>shooting</keyword>
</keywordset>

</bookinfo>

<chapter id="introduction">
<title>Introduction</title>

<para>&kspaceduel; is an space arcade game for two players.</para> 

<para>Each player controls a ship that flies around the sun and tries to shoot
at the other ship. You can play &kspaceduel; with another person, against the
computer, or you can have the computer control both ships and play each
other.</para>

</chapter>

<chapter id="the-game">
<title>The Game</title>
<para>The idea of the game is simple (but addictive).  You try to destroy your opponent before he destroys you.</para>
<para>Be careful not to hit the sun.</para>
<sect1 id="rules-of-the-game">
<title>Rules of the Game</title>
<sect2 id="ship-movement">
<title>Ship Movement</title>
<para>Each player controls one ship. </para>
<para>The ships can rotate, accelerate, shoot and lay mines.</para>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="energy">
<title>Energy</title> 

<para>Each ship has an amount of energy (refer to the game
options for values). </para> 

<para>Ships need energy for rotation, acceleration, shooting and laying mines. A
ship gets energy from its solar panels. The amount of energy a ship gets depends
on the distance from and direction to the sun. A ship gets more energy near the
sun and less energy near the border. It gets the full amount of energy if the
sun shines directly on the panels and less or even no energy if the sun shines
at an angle to the panel or to the side of the panel.</para>

<para>If a ship has no energy it can't navigate or shoot. </para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="hit-points">
<title>Hit points</title>

<para>Collisions with own or other bullets or mines decrease the hit points of a
ship.  If two ships collide, the weaker ship is destroyed and the hit points of
the stronger ship are decreased by the hit points of the weaker ship plus an
amount (Crash Damage). A ship is destroyed when it flies into the sun.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="bullets-and-mines">
<title>Bullets and Mines </title>

<para>Bullets fly around the sun like a ship. </para>

<para>Mines have an amount of energy to stay at the same position. When the
energy is spent, the mine falls into the sun. Mines near the sun need more
energy than those which are further away. </para>

<para>Mines can be destroyed with bullets. </para>

<para>By default a ship can have 5 bullets and 3 mines on the screen. </para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="powerups">
<title>Powerups</title>

<para>From time to time powerups appear on the play field.</para>

<para>There are four different powerups:</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Mine</term>
<listitem><para>The maximum number of mines is increased for the
player.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Bullet</term>
<listitem><para>The maximum number of bullets is increased for the
player.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Energy (yellow sphere)</term>
<listitem><para>The player gets energy.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Shield (blue sphere)</term>
<listitem><para>The player gets hit points</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="screen">
<title>The &kspaceduel; screen</title>

<screenshot>
<screeninfo>&kspaceduel; Main Screen</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject><imagedata fileref="kspaceduel3.png" format="PNG"/></imageobject>
<textobject><phrase>&kspaceduel; Main Screen</phrase></textobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>   

<para>You can see that the central part of the &kspaceduel; screen is the playing
area.  To the left and the right are the Red Player's and the Blue Player's
stats.</para>
<para>The top box on the player stats, represents the <quote>Hit Points</quote> of the
craft.</para>
<para>The middle box on the player stats, represents the battery power.</para>
<para>The bottom box on the player stats, shows the number of wins.</para>
<para>The top of the playing area is occupied by the menubar and toolbar.</para>
<para>The bottom of the playing area is the status bar.</para>

</sect2>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="options">
<title>Game Options</title>

<para>&kspaceduel; has many, many options you can adjust to increase the enjoyment
of this game.</para>

<para>Configuration is divided into two sections:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><link linkend="options-keys">Player Keys</link></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><link linkend="options-configurations">Game Settings</link></para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<sect2 id="options-keys">
<title>Keys</title>

<para>&kspaceduel; has a default set of keys to control the game.  For a list of
default keys see the section entitled <link linkend="keys">Default key
bindings</link>.</para>

<para>Keys can be configured by:  </para>

<para>Selecting <menuchoice> <guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Configure
Shortcuts...</guimenuitem> </menuchoice> from the menubar.</para>

<para>This will bring up a dialog box which lets you configure all hotkeys,
including the keys used for steering the space ships, for firing bullets, and
for laying mines.</para>

<para>You can see that each player (Red and Blue), have 5 keystrokes
corresponding to Rotate Left, Rotate Right, Accelerate, Shot, and Mines.</para>

<para>When you are finished configuring your keys, you should click on
<guibutton>OK</guibutton> to apply your changes.</para>

<para>If you want to restore the default keys, simply click on the
<guibutton>Default</guibutton> button once. To make these changes permenant,
press <guibutton>OK</guibutton>.</para> 

<para>If you want to abandon the changes you made, and return to your previously
selected keys, simply click <guibutton>Cancel</guibutton>, and your changes
will be lost.</para>
</sect2>

<sect2 id="options-configurations">
<title>Game Configuration</title>

<para>All game settings of &kspaceduel; are configurable.</para>

<para>If you want to change the game settings, simply select
<menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Configure &kspaceduel;...</guimenuitem> 
</menuchoice> from the menubar.</para>

<para>This will bring up a dialog box with two pages, labelled
<guilabel>General</guilabel> and <guilabel>Game</guilabel>. The first page
is rather simple, the second one has seven tabs across the top.</para>

<para>Settings are collected in different configurations. You can choose from
several pre-defined configurations.</para>

<para>If you choose the <guilabel>Custom</guilabel> configuration, you can
define all settings for yourself.</para> 

<note><para>If you have not selected <guilabel>Custom</guilabel>, you will not
be able to make any changes to these options.</para></note>

<tip><para> If you have found an interesting configuration, mail it to the
author of the game. It can be implemented in a future version (send the part
[Game] in the file
<filename>~/.kde/share/config/kspaceduelrc</filename>).</para></tip> 

<para>When you are finished altering the options, you should click on
<guibutton>OK</guibutton> to apply your changes.</para> 

<para>If you want to restore the default, simply click on the
<guibutton>Default</guibutton> button once. To make these changes permenant,
press <guibutton>OK</guibutton>.</para> 

<para>If you want to abandon the changes you made, and return to your previous
options, simply click <guibutton>Cancel</guibutton>, and your changes will be
lost.</para>

<para>The settings are:</para>

<sect3 id="general">
<title><guilabel>General</guilabel></title>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Hit Points</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>These two sliders allow you to define the hitpoints for each
of the two players; you might want to decrease the hitpoints for a player
to give that player a handycap.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Refresh time</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Time between two screen refreshes in milliseconds.  All other
settings are independent of the refresh time.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Red Player</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Here you can define whether the red player gets controlled by
the AI, and also choose the skill level of the AI for this player. Just
experiment with the different skill level to find one which fits you.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Blue Player</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>This works the same as the options for the <guilabel>Red
Player</guilabel> described above.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="game">
<title><guilabel>Game</guilabel></title>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Game speed</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Controls the speed of the whole game.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="bullet">
<title><guilabel>Bullet</guilabel></title>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Shot speed</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The speed of bullets</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Energy need</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The amount of energy needed for one shot.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Max number</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The maximum number of bullets a player can have on the
screen.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Damage</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The number of hit points damage done when a bullet hits a
ship.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Life time</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The maximum life time of a bullet.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Reload time</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The time a ship needs to reload a bullet.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect3>
<sect3 id="mine">
<title>Mine</title>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Mine fuel</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The amount of fuel on a mine.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Energy need</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The amount of energy needed for laying a mine.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Activate time</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The time a mine is inactive.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Damage</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The number of hit points of damage done when a ship hits a
mine.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Max number</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Maximum number of mines a player can have on the
screen.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Reload time</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The time a ship needs to reload a mine.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="ship">
<title><guilabel>Ship</guilabel></title>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Acceleration</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Acceleration of the ships</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Energy need</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The energy needed to accelerate a ship.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Rotation speed</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The speed at which a ship rotates.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Energy need</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The energy needed to rotate a ship.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Crash damage</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The number of hit points damage done when two ships
collide.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="sun">
<title><guilabel>Sun</guilabel></title>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Sun energy</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The strength of the sun.  The higher the value, the quicker
ships will be recharged.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Gravity</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The strength of the gravitational pull of the
sun.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="start">
<title><guilabel>Start</guilabel></title>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Position X</guilabel> and <guilabel>Position Y</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>The ships position at the beginning of a new round.  The ships
start at opposite sides of the sun.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Velocity X</guilabel> and <guilabel>Velocity Y</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Velocity at the beginning of a new round.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect3>

<sect3 id="powerup-options">
<title><guilabel>Powerups</guilabel></title>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Appearance time</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Maximal time between the appearance of two
powerups.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Life time</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Maximal life time of a powerup.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Energy amount</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Amount of energy a player gets from an energy
powerup.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Shield amount</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Amount of hit points a player gets from a shield
powerup.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect3>
</sect2>
</sect1>
</chapter>

<chapter id="command">
<title>Commands/Keyboard Shortcuts</title>

<para>The following sections briefly describe each menubar option.</para>

<sect1 id="game-menu">
<title>The <guimenu>Game</guimenu> Menu</title>

<para>The <guimenu>Game</guimenu> menu is used to start and pause the game.</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<shortcut><keycombo action="simul">
&Ctrl;<keycap>N</keycap></keycombo></shortcut>
<guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>New</guimenuitem> </menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>Starts a new game of &kspaceduel;.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<shortcut><keycombo action="simul">
&Ctrl;<keycap>N</keycap></keycombo></shortcut>
<guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>New Round</guimenuitem> </menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>Starts a new round, at the current level.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<shortcut><keycombo action="simul"><keycap>P</keycap></keycombo></shortcut>
<guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>Pause</guimenuitem> </menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>Pauses and unpauses the game.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<shortcut>
<keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;
<keycap>Q</keycap></keycombo></shortcut>
<guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Quits</action> &kspaceduel;</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="settings-menu">
<title><guimenu>Settings</guimenu> Menu</title>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Show Toolbar</guimenuitem> </menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>When selected, the toolbar will be visible.  When not selected,
the toolbar will be hidden.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Show Statusbar</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>When selected, the status bar (the bar along the bottom of the
screen which gives textual information) will be visible.  When not selected, the
status bar will be hidden.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Configure Shortcuts...</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>Allows you to change the keyboard shortcuts for &kspaceduel;,
including the keys for steering the space ship, firing bullets &etc;.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term>
<menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Configure Toolbars...</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>Display the standard KDE Toolbar Configuration Dialog.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Configure &kspaceduel;...</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>Opens a configuration dialog which lets you define many
settings of the game, refer to the chapter <link linkend="options">Game
Options</link> for further information.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="help-menu">
<title><guimenu>Help</guimenu> Menu</title>

&help.menu.documentation;

</sect1>

<sect1 id="keys">
<title>Default Key Bindings</title>

<para>The following tables show you the default key bindings.</para>

<para><emphasis>Menu bindings</emphasis></para>

<informaltable frame="all">
<tgroup cols="2">
<thead><row><entry>Key Combo</entry><entry>Action</entry></row></thead>
<tbody>
<row><entry><keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>Q</keycap></keycombo></entry><entry>Quit &kspaceduel;</entry></row>
<row><entry><keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>N</keycap></keycombo></entry><entry>New Game</entry></row>
<row><entry><keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>N</keycap></keycombo></entry><entry>New Round</entry></row>
<row><entry><keycombo action="simul"><keycap>P</keycap></keycombo></entry><entry>Pause Game</entry></row>
<row><entry><keycombo action="simul"><keycap>F1</keycap></keycombo></entry><entry>Help Contents</entry></row>
<row><entry><keycombo action="simul">&Shift;<keycap>F1</keycap></keycombo></entry><entry>Whats This Help</entry></row>
<row><entry><keycombo action="simul"><keycap>Space</keycap></keycombo></entry><entry>Start Game</entry></row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</informaltable>

<para>The Menu Key Bindings can be changed by selecting <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Configure Key Bindings</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></para>

<para><emphasis>Game Play</emphasis></para>

<informaltable frame="all">
<tgroup cols="3">
<colspec colname="c1"/>
<colspec colname="c2"/>
<colspec colname="c3"/>
<thead><row><entry>Action</entry><entry>Red Player</entry><entry>Blue Player</entry></row></thead>
<tbody>
<row><entry>Rotate Left</entry><entry>S</entry><entry>Left Arrow</entry></row>
<row><entry>Rotate Right</entry><entry>F</entry><entry>Right Arrow</entry></row>
<row><entry>Accelerate</entry><entry>E</entry><entry>Up Arrow</entry></row>
<row><entry>Shot</entry><entry>D</entry><entry>Down Arrow</entry></row>
<row><entry>Mines</entry><entry>A</entry><entry>Insert</entry></row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</informaltable>

<para>To change these keys, refer to the section entitled <link
linkend="options-keys">Player Keys...</link>.</para>

</sect1>
</chapter>

<chapter id="credits">
<title>Credits and License</title>
 
<para>
&kspaceduel;
</para>
<para>
Program copyright 1999-2000 Andreas Zehender <email>az@azweb.de</email></para>
<para>Documentation copyright 2000 Andreas Zehender <email>az@azweb.de</email></para>
<para>Documentation updated for &kde; 2.0 by Mike McBride <email>mpmcbride7@yahoo.com</email></para>
<!-- TRANS:CREDIT_FOR_TRANSLATORS -->

&underFDL;
&underGPL;

</chapter>                  

<appendix id="installation">
<title>Installation</title>
 
<sect1 id="getting-kspaceduel">
<title>How to obtain &kspaceduel;</title>
 
&install.intro.documentation;

</sect1>

<sect1 id="compilation">
<title>Compilation and Installation</title>
 
&install.compile.documentation;
 
</sect1>         
</appendix>

</book>
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