path: root/doc/kasteroids/index.docbook

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<bookinfo>

<title>The &kasteroids; Handbook</title>

<authorgroup>
<author>
&Martin.R.Jones; &Martin.R.Jones.mail;
</author>

<author>
&Philip.Rodrigues; &Philip.Rodrigues.mail;
</author>

<!-- TRANS:ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS -->
</authorgroup>

<copyright>
<year>2000</year>
<holder>Martin R. Jones</holder>
</copyright>

<copyright>
<year>2001-2005</year>
<holder>Philip Rodrigues</holder>
</copyright>
<legalnotice>&FDLNotice;</legalnotice>

<date>2005-01-18</date>
<releaseinfo>2.3</releaseinfo>

<abstract><para>&kasteroids; is, as you would expect, the &kde; clone of the
popular <application>Asteroids</application> game.</para></abstract>

<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>games</keyword>
<keyword>linux</keyword>
<keyword>asteroids</keyword>
</keywordset>

</bookinfo>

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

<para>The objective of &kasteroids; is to destroy all the asteroids on the
screen to advance to the next level. Your ship is destroyed if it makes contact
with an asteroid.</para>

</chapter>

<chapter id="ship">
<title>Your Ship</title>

<para>When your ship is first launched, it has only basic abilities: Turning,
Thrusting and Shooting</para>

<para>In order to move your ship, rotate it to face the direction you wish to
travel and press the thrust key. Of course the ship has momentum, so you will
have to compensate when you select the angle of the ship. Thrusting uses fuel,
so you should not use your thrusters more than necessary.</para>

<para>You have an unlimited amount of ammunition, so shoot away. Only a limited
number of shots can be active at once, though. If you repeatedly shoot and
miss, you will find that you are unable to shoot until some of the shots have
expired.</para>

<para>Your ship has a limited amount of fuel. When all the ship's fuel has been
consumed it is unable to thrust anymore. This leaves you immobile, but not
defenseless &dash; you can still rotate and shoot.</para>

<para>Fortunately the asteroids occasionally release fuel when they are shot.
Fly your ship into the fuel symbol to collect it.</para>

<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Fuel Upgrade</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="fuel.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>Fuel Upgrade</phrase>
</textobject>
<caption><para>Fuel Upgrade</para></caption>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>

</chapter>

<chapter id="upgrades">
<title>Ship Upgrades</title>

<para>Occasionally when you shoot an asteroid a symbol will be produced. These
symbols represent upgrades to your ship. Fly over the symbol to install it in
your ship. The upgrades have a cumulative effect, up to a maximum of 5.</para>

<para>The improvements available are:</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>>Brakes</term>
<listitem><para>Brakes stop your ship as quickly as possible. The more brake
upgrades you have the faster you can stop, with lower fuel
usage.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term>Shields</term>
<listitem><para>Shields absorb the collision with asteroids, but use a lot of
fuel. You need at least two shield upgrades to survive a hit from a medium
sized rock, and 3 to survive a large rock. You will also need to have enough
fuel to maintain the shield during the strike.</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</chapter>

<chapter id="controls">
<title>Controls</title>

<para>The key bindings are configurable via the
<menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Configure
Shortcuts...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item.</para>

<para>The defaults are:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><action>Rotate Anti-Clockwise</action> - <keysym>Left
Arrow</keysym></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><action>Rotate Clockwise</action> - <keysym>Right
Arrow</keysym></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><action>Thrust</action> - <keysym>Up
Arrow</keysym></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><action>Shoot</action> - <keysym>Space
Bar</keysym></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><action>Shields</action> - <keycap>S</keycap></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><action>Pause</action> - <keycap>P</keycap></para></listitem>
<listitem><para><action>Brake</action> - <keycap>X</keycap></para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</chapter>

<chapter id="config">
<title>Configuring &kasteroids;</title>
<para>&kasteroids; only has a few options, which can be reached from
<menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Configure
KAsteroids...</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry><term>Start new game with <replaceable>n</replaceable>
ships</term>
<listitem><para>When you start a new game, you have ships in
reserve, in case of an accident ;-). This specifies how many ships you have
<emphasis>in total</emphasis> when the game starts.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry><term>Show Highscores on Game Over</term>
<listitem><para>If selected, shows all of the highscores each time you finish a
game, regardless of whether or not you achieve a highscore.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry><term>Player can destroy Powerups</term>
<listitem><para>If selected, shooting a powerup destroys it. If unselected, the
powerup remains, allowing you to still pick it up.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

</variablelist>

</chapter>

<chapter id="tips">
<title>Tips</title>

<para>Here are some tips that may help:</para>

<tip><para>If you want to stop your ship, use the brakes rather than stopping
manually. The brakes stop you faster, with less fuel usage.</para></tip>

<tip><para>Shields are expensive. They should be used as a last resort. Try to
use your thrusters to avoid collisions when practical.</para></tip>

<tip><para>Avoid the edges of the playing field. It's more difficult to see
asteroids approaching from the opposite side of the field.</para></tip>
</chapter>

<chapter id="menu-reference">
<title>Menu Reference</title>
<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 of
&kasteroids;</action></para></listitem> </varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<shortcut><keycap>P</keycap></shortcut>
<guimenu>Game</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Pause</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Pauses the game</action></para></listitem> </varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<shortcut>
<keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>H</keycap></keycombo>
</shortcut>
<guimenu>Game</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Show Highscores</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Shows the High Scores for
&kasteroids;</action></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> &kasteroids;</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect1>

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

<variablelist>
<varlistentry><term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Configure Shortcuts...</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para>Brings up the Shortcuts Configuration dialog. This is
a standard &kde; shortcuts configuration dialog, which you are
probably familiar with. See <xref linkend="controls"/> for details of the
default controls.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Configure KAsteroids...</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Brings up the configuration dialog</action> for
&kasteroids;. See <xref linkend="config"/>.
</para></listitem> </varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect1>

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

&help.menu.documentation;

</sect1>

</chapter>


<chapter id="credits">
<title>Credits</title>

<para>&kasteroids;</para>

<para>Program Copyright 1997 &Martin.R.Jones; &Martin.R.Jones.mail;</para>

<para>Documentation based on the original by &Martin.R.Jones;, currently
maintained by &Philip.Rodrigues; &Philip.Rodrigues.mail;.</para>

<!-- TRANS:CREDIT_FOR_TRANSLATORS -->

&underFDL;
&underGPL;

</chapter>

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

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

&install.intro.documentation;

</sect1>

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

&install.compile.documentation;

</sect1>

</appendix>

</book>

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