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] PSYKURVE: A psychedelic Zatacka remake [
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] INSTRUCTIONS [
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Best viewed in a fixed width font:
Courier New (Windows)
mono (UNIX)
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] INDEX [
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1. Introduction
1.1. What is PsyKurve?
1.2. Features
2. How to play
2.1. The main menu
3. About
3.1. To Do
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] 1. INTRODUCTION [
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These are the main instructions to PsyKurve.
You can find more detailed information about
some topics in the following files:
Maps: maps/maps.txt
Backgrounds: backgrounds/backgrounds.txt
Music tracks: soundtrack/soundtrack.txt
* 1.1. WHAT IS PSYKURVE?
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PsyKurve is a remake of an old DOS game
called "Achtung, die Kurve!" and it takes
many ideas from its clone Zatacka
(http://zatacka.sourceforge.net).
At first, PsyKurve was created to fix some
problems in Zatacka, like occasional crashes,
and the lack of joystick support. During
development, it quickly became a programming
exercise about graphics editing and texture-
generating algorithms.
* 1.2. FEATURES
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* Up to 6 players on the same computer
* Joystick and mouse support (and keyboard
support, naturally)
* Support for user-created maps and
backgrounds
* Three different sizes of barriers
* Variable speed (10 to 100 FPS)
* Users can add their own music
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] 2. HOW TO PLAY [
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This is a multiplayer game in which all
players share the same computer. Each player
controls a line, snake, worm, whatever you
want to call it (it will be called "kurve"
from now on). Players can only change the
direction of their kurve (to the left or
to the right).
Players have to keep their kurve alive. A
kurve dies if it hits another kurve, or a
wall.
Once a kurve dies, the remaining players
each get 1 point.
The last player alive wins the round. After
11 rounds, the game ends, and players are
ranked according to their scores.
* 2.1. THE MAIN MENU
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At the start of the game, you will see a
screen with several buttons. Each button
has one or more key names highlighted
(like F1, F2, F3..., or [M] for maps, etc).
It means that you can press that key to
modify the corresponding field.
At first, you only need to pay attention to
the ones in the left column, labeled F1 to
F6; they correspond to players 1 to 6
respectively. Pressing one of them with the
appropriate F-key will allow you to input
that player's controls: the "left" key, then
the "right" key.
Kurves can be controlled using either the
keyboard, the mouse or a joystick. While a
player's button is highlighted, you can
either press a key, a joystick button, or
a mouse button to set the "left" key or
button.
If you pressed a mouse button, the controls
for that player will be automatically set
to the two main mouse buttons. Otherwise, you
now have to set the "right" key or button.
ADVICE: Most keyboards cannot handle more
than three keys pressed at the same time.
If your keyboard behaves like that, make sure
that no more than three players are using it;
otherwise they will block each other's
movements. Even with three keyboard players,
it is still very easy to restrict movement if
one of the players keeps two keys pressed.
That would be cheating, of course. :(
* 2.1.1. RESOLUTION
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PsyKurve can run on a number of standard
resolutions. A bigger resolution implies
that the playing field is larger.
* 2.1.2. FULLSCREEN
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The game usually runs better on fullscreen
(and looks better, of course). Be aware that
if you choose a map that does not fit in a
standard resolution, the game will automa-
tically enter windowed mode no matter what.
* 2.1.3. SPEED
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The speed is measured in FPS, or Frames Per
Second.
Bear in mind that some computers (especially
old ones) will not be able to keep up with
high framerates. Instead, they will just
run the game as fast as they actually can,
within their limits.
* 2.1.4. BARRIERS
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Barriers are slightly complex to set up, but
can be quite fun. Barriers are round walls
that are placed randomly on the playing
field at the start of each round. If you
hit one, you die.
By default, barriers are disabled. You can
press B to toggle them (on/off).
When toggled on, you can use PgUp and PgDn
to decrease or increase the amount of
barriers, or the T key to change their size.
The maximum amount of barriers allowed
depends on the resolution.
ADVICE: If you put too many barriers, rounds
will take a while to start, because the game
will have trouble finding suitable starting
points for the kurves. This could even
freeze the game.
* 2.1.5. MAPS
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Maps need no explanation once you've tried
one. But a few technical details:
- When you choose a map, PsyKurve takes that
map's resolution.
- If you play with a map, try not to put
too many barriers
- You can learn how to create your own maps
reading the "maps/maps.txt" file.
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] 3. ABOUT [
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PsyKurve was created by Julio Sepia
(jsepia at gmail dot com). Some of the
graphics were based on free stock textures
found at http://resurgere.deviantart.com
* 3.1. TO DO
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* More backgrounds and maps
* Autoconf
* Net support
* Cleaner code
* English translation