tdegames/doc/ktron/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 "&ktron;">
  <!ENTITY package "kdegames">
  <!ENTITY % addindex "IGNORE">
  <!ENTITY % English "INCLUDE">
]>

<book lang="&language;">
<bookinfo>
<title>The &ktron; Handbook</title>

<authorgroup>
<author>
<firstname>Fabian</firstname>
<surname>Dal Santo</surname>
<affiliation>
<address>&Fabian.DalSanto.mail;</address>
</affiliation>
</author>

<othercredit role="developer">
<firstname>Matthias</firstname>
<surname>Kiefer</surname>
<affiliation>
<address>&Matthias.Kiefer.mail;</address>
</affiliation>
<contrib>Developer</contrib>
</othercredit>

<othercredit role="reviewer">
<firstname>Lauri</firstname>
<surname>Watts</surname>
<affiliation>
<address>&Lauri.Watts.mail;</address>
</affiliation>
<contrib>Reviewer</contrib>
</othercredit>
<!-- TRANS:ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS-->
</authorgroup>

<copyright>
<year>1999</year>
<year>2000</year>
<holder>&Matthias.Kiefer;</holder>
</copyright>

<copyright>
<year>2001</year>
<holder>&Fabian.Dal.Santo;</holder>
</copyright>

<legalnotice>&FDLNotice;</legalnotice>

<date>2005-12-16</date>
<releaseinfo>1.1</releaseinfo>

<abstract>
<para>
&ktron; is a simple <quote>Tron</quote> clone for &kde;, which you can
play alone or against a friend.
</para>
</abstract>

<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>kdegames</keyword>
<keyword>KTron</keyword>
<keyword>game</keyword>
<keyword>tron</keyword>
</keywordset>
</bookinfo>

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

<para>
&ktron; is a simple Tron-Clone for the
<ulink url="http://www.kde.org">K Desktop Environment</ulink>. You can play
&ktron; against the computer or a friend.
</para>

<para>
The aim of the game is to live longer than your opponent. To do that,
avoid running into a wall, your own tail and that of your opponent.
</para>

</chapter>

<chapter id="playing-ktron">
<title>Playing &ktron;</title>

<sect1 id="playing-ktron-rules">
<title>Rules</title>

<para>
Once a round is started, the players do not stop moving forward (unless the game
is paused).  All you have to do is avoid crashing by changing your players
direction. Additionally you can try to hinder your opponent.  For this it is
possible to increase the velocity by pressing your accelerator key.
</para>

<para>
A round starts when all human players press a direction key.  The initial moving
direction is then in this direction.
</para>

<para>
If you want to interrupt playing, select
<guimenuitem>Pause</guimenuitem> from the <guimenu>Game</guimenu> menu
or hit the keyboard shortcut (see section <link linkend="keys">Default 
Shortcuts</link>).  Additionally the game is paused when the game loses the
keyboard focus, &eg; when switching to an other window.
</para>

<para>To continue the game, select the menu item
<guimenuitem>Pause</guimenuitem> again, or the keyboard shortcut.  The
game will also continue if the human players press one of their direction keys.
But be careful, your player switches to this direction immediately.
</para>


<para>A game consists of several rounds, and ends if a player has at least
nine points, and additionally two more points than the opponent.
The current score is always displayed in the status bar.
</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="computerplayer">
<title>The Computer Player</title>

<para>
You can let the computer be Player One, Player Two or both players.
There are three difficulty levels:  Beginner, Average and Expert.</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>If you choose Beginner, the computer doesn't care about
the opponent and just moves around. This is the same algorithm as used by
xtron-1.1.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>At skill levels Average and Expert, the computer tries to hinder the
opponent when he comes near.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<note><para>See the <link linkend="settings-menu"><guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
Menu</link> section for information on how to configure the computer player.
</para></note>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="using-keyboard">
<title>Using the Keyboard</title>

<para>
Each player has five keys. Four keys for changing the direction and one to
accelerate.
</para>

<para>
The direction keys do not have to be held down. Simply press them once to change
the direction of your player.
</para>

<para>
Acceleration only occurs while the acceleration key remains depressed.  When you
release the acceleration key, velocity returns to normal.
</para>

<note><para>
See section <link linkend="settings-menu"><guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
Menu</link> for information how to change the default keys.
</para></note>
</sect1>
</chapter>

<chapter id="command">
<title>Command Reference</title>

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

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

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

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<shortcut>
<keycap>P</keycap>
</shortcut>
<guimenu>Game</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Pause</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Toggles whether the game is paused.</action></para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<shortcut>
<keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>Q</keycap></keycombo>
</shortcut>
<guimenu>Game</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Exit</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Quits.</action></para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect1>


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

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Show Statusbar</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Shows or hides the Statusbar.</action></para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Configure Shortcuts...</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Displays a standard &kde; shortcuts configurator.</action></para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Configure &kappname;...</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Opens a <link linkend="configuration">comprehensive dialog</link>
to configure various options.</action></para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="help">
<title>The <guimenuitem>Help</guimenuitem> Menu</title>

&help.menu.documentation;

</sect1>

<sect1 id="keys">
<title>Default Shortcuts</title>

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


<table>
<title>Player 1 Shortcuts</title>
<tgroup cols="2">
<thead>
<row>
<entry>Key Combo</entry>
<entry>Action</entry></row></thead>
<tbody>
<row>
<entry><keycap>R</keycap></entry>
<entry>Up</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><keycap>F</keycap></entry>
<entry>Down</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><keycap>G</keycap></entry>
<entry>Right</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><keycap>D</keycap></entry>
<entry>Left</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><keycap>A</keycap></entry>
<entry>Accelerate</entry>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>

<table>
<title>Player 2 Shortcuts</title>
<tgroup cols="2">
<thead>
<row>
<entry>Key Combo</entry>
<entry>Action</entry>
</row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row>
<entry><keycap>Up Arrow</keycap></entry>
<entry>Up</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><keycap>Down Arrow</keycap></entry>
<entry>Down</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><keycap>Right Arrow</keycap></entry>
<entry>Right</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><keycap>Left Arrow</keycap></entry>
<entry>Left</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><keycap>0</keycap></entry>
<entry>Accelerate</entry>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>

<table>
<title>General Shortcuts</title>
<tgroup cols="2">
<thead>
<row>
<entry>Key Combo</entry>
<entry>Action</entry>
</row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row>
<entry><keycap>P</keycap></entry>
<entry>Pause/Resume Game</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>Q</keycap></keycombo></entry>
<entry>Quit &ktron;</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><keycap>F1</keycap></entry>
<entry>Help Contents</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry><keycombo
action="simul"><keycap>Shift</keycap><keycap>F1</keycap></keycombo></entry>
<entry>What's This Help</entry>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>

<para>
These shortcuts can be changed by selecting <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Configure Shortcuts...</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice> from the menubar.
</para>

</sect1>

</chapter>

<chapter id="configuration">

<title>The Configuration Dialog</title>

<para>Selecting the <guimenuitem>Configure &kappname;...</guimenuitem> option
in the <guimenu>Settings</guimenu> menu will open a further dialog which lets
you tweak &kappname;'s behavior.</para>

<para>This dialog is divided into three pages.</para>

<sect1 id="configuration-general">
<title>General Configuration</title>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Show winner by changing color</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Enable this box to improve visualizing that the game is over
by making &ktron; change the color of the loser's trail to the color of
the winner.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Disable acceleration</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Checking this box will disable the acceleration feature - 
pressing the acceleration key will have no effect, both vehicles will always
travel with constant velocity.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Crash when moving in the opposite direction</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Enable this to make a vehicle crash into itself as soon as a
player attempts to move into the opposite direction (&ie; a vehicle moves left,
and the player tries to move to the right in one step). If this box is
not checked, nothing happens when a player attempts to move into the opposite
direction.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Player Names</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Specify custom names to use for the players to override the use of default ones.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Speed</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Use this slider to define how fast the vehicles move; moving the
slider to the left will make the vehicles move slower, moving it to the right
will make them move faster.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="configuration-ai">
<title><acronym>AI</acronym> Configuration</title>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Computer Controls</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Use these two checkable boxes to define which players should
be controlled by the computer.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Intelligence:</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Selects the skill level of the computer player,
<guimenuitem>Beginner</guimenuitem>, <guimenuitem>Average</guimenuitem> or
<guimenuitem>Expert</guimenuitem></para>
<para><guimenuitem>Beginner</guimenuitem> ignores the opponent, and just moves
randomly. <guimenuitem>Average</guimenuitem> or
<guimenuitem>Expert</guimenuitem> causes the computer to actively hinder the
opponent.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="configuration-appearance">
<title>Appearance Configuration</title>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Line style:</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Here you can choose one of four different line styles to be
used for drawing the vehicles. The names of the styles are self-explanatory:
<guimenuitem>3D Line</guimenuitem>, <guimenuitem>3D Rectangles</guimenuitem>,
<guimenuitem>Flat</guimenuitem> and <guimenuitem>Circles</guimenuitem>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Line Size</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Use this slider to define how broad the trail of a vehicle should
be. Moving the slider towards the left will make the trail more narrow, moving
it to the right will result in a wider trail.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Background</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Here you can define the appearance of the playground's
background. If you prefer a simple solid color, select the
<guilabel>Color:</guilabel> option and click on the button at the right of it
to open a convenient color-selection dialog.</para>
<para>You can also choose a background image for the playground. To do so,
select the <guilabel>Image:</guilabel> option, and then provide the filename
of a wallpaper image to use in the input field at the right. Alternatively you
can click on the little button at the very right to open the well-known
file-selection dialog.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Player 1 color:</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Click on the colored rectangle to open a color-selection dialog
which lets you define the color to be used for the vehicle of the first
player.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><guilabel>Player 2 color:</guilabel></term>
<listitem><para>Click on the colored rectangle to open a color-selection dialog
which lets you define the color to be used for the vehicle of the second
player.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect1>
</chapter>

<!-- credits chapter done --> 
<chapter id="credits">
<title>Credits and License</title>

<para>
&ktron; 
</para>
<para>Program Copyright 1999 &Matthias.Kiefer;
&Matthias.Kiefer.mail;
</para>

<para>
Parts of the code are from xtron-1.1 by Rhett D. Jacobs
<email>rhett@hotel.canberra.edu.au&gt;</email>
</para>

<para>
Documentation Copyright 1999 &Matthias.Kiefer;
&Matthias.Kiefer.mail;
</para>

<para>Documentation updated for &kde; 2.0 by &Fabian.Dal.Santo;
&Fabian.DalSanto.mail;</para>

<!-- TRANS:CREDIT_FOR_TRANSLATORS -->
&underFDL;
&underGPL;
</chapter>

<!-- appendix finished -->

<appendix id="installation">
<title>Installation</title>

<sect1 id="getting-ktron">
<title>How to obtain &ktron;</title>

&install.intro.documentation;

</sect1>

<sect1 id="requirements">
<title>Requirements</title>

<para>
In order to successfully compile &ktron;, you need &kde; 3.0. All
required libraries as well as &ktron; itself can be found on &kde-ftp;.</para>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="compilation">
<title>Compilation and Installation</title>

&install.compile.documentation;

<para>Should you run into problems, please report them to the the
author at <ulink url="mailto:matthias.kiefer@gmx.de">&Matthias.Kiefer;</ulink>
</para>

</sect1>
</appendix>

</book>
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