## GNOME Stones manual

2000
Rob Bradford

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of the license can be found here.

Many of the names used by companies to distinguish their products and services are claimed as trademarks. Where those names appear in any GNOME documentation, and those trademarks are made aware to the members of the GNOME Documentation Project, the names have been printed in caps or initial caps.

This is version 1.0 of GNOME Stones manual.

## Introduction

GNOME Stones is a simple, enjoyable arcade style game based on many old classics. It involves collecting gemstones, hence the name GNOME Stones. While doing this, you must avoid being squashed by falling rocks.

To run GNOME Stones, select Games GNOME Stones from the Main Menu, or type `gnome-stones` on the command line.

GNOME Stones is included in the `gnome-games` package, which is part of the GNOME desktop environment. This document describes version &version; of GNOME Stones.

## Playing GNOME Stones

GNOME Stones is a simple arcade style game, this section covers how to play the game.

### Basic usage

#### Background to the game

You play a little guy who is trapped in a cave, you must move around the cave tunelling through the ground looking for the exit. As you tunnel you have to collect the gemstones (diamonds to be precise) and avoid being squashed by falling rocks. In some levels, your task is to move strategically placed boxes into 'holes'.

#### Playing the game

Starting GNOME Stones opens the Main window, shown in . The window is initially full of little squares.

##### GNOME Stones Main Window

GNOME Stones Main Window

To start playing the game do Game New Game , the window will then change to look something like

##### A GNOME Stones Game

A GNOME Stones Game

#### Game Types

There are two basic game types:

Gnomekoban

  This is the block sliding game. See Gnomekoban

Default caves

  This is the escape from cave game type. See Escape from cave game

#### Controls

The controls for the game are the up, down, left, and right arrow keys or you can control your character with a joystick. To setup a joystick see the the Preferences Dialog help.

#### High scores

To start playing the game to view your high scores for the game do: Game Scores

## Game scenarios

### Cave game

This game has simple gravity physics, if you dig underneath a rock (or diamond) then the object will fall down and if a rock squash you. But if you do not linger underneath the rock then you are unlikely to be squashed, but sometimes gravity can cause a chain reaction in which a large number of rocks fall down and squash you. If you get squashed you die and have to begin the level at the beginning again. You can push rocks out of the way if there is room on the other side of them. To push a rock out of the way just walk up to the rock and continue moving in the desired direction. The rock will move if possible. If two rocks are next to each other horizontally you can't move either of them. You are up against the clock in this game. You can only find the exit (blinking square) after you have collecte d enough diamonds, the number of diamonds you have not yet collected is sh own in the statusbar as Diamond: (number of diamonds left)

On some levels there are monsters that can freely move about the leve. If these make contact with you, you die and you must restart.

#### Playing The Cave Game

This is the default game, to choose this game look at the Customization Section for details.

### Gnomekoban

In this version of the game your task is to move strategically placed crates or blocks into holes (hollow red squares), you move the crates in a similar way to rocks except there is no gravity acting in this environment. Once you have slided all your blocks into the required positions you move onto the next level. You are up against the clock in this game. This game type is based on xsokoban and sokoban

#### Playing Gnomekoban

This is not the default game, so you must choose this game, look at the Customization Section for details.

## Customization

To change the application settings, select Settings Preferences... . This opens the Preferences dialog, shown in .

### Preferences Dialog

Preferences Dialog

The Game tab allows you choose which type of game you wish to play. The most common game types are:

Gnomekoban

  This is the block sliding game. See Gnomekoban

Default caves

  This is the escape from cave game type. See Escape from cave game

The properties in the Joystick (shown in preferences tab are:

Joystick device

  Here you can choose your joystick device (if you have one). If you do not have a joystick or do not wish to use one, select disable (default)

Digital joystick emulation

  You can configure the switch level of your digital joystick here

### Joystick Preferences

Joystick Preferences

The properties in the Sound tab are:

Not implemented yet!

  Here you will able to configure the sounds for GNOME Stones when implemented.

After you have made all the changes you want, click on OK to apply the changes and close the Properties dialog. To cancel the changes and return to previous values, click the Close button. You may also click Apply to apply the change s, applied changes cannot be cancelled.

## Known Bugs and Limitations

The sound section of the preferences dialog is not implemented yet.

## Authors

GNOME Stones was written by Carsten Schaar (nhadcasc@fs-maphy.uni-hannover.de). GNOME Stones is part of the gnome-games package which is a core GNOME package, please visit the GNOME Web page for details. Please send all comments, suggestions, and bug reports to the GNOME bug tracking database. (Instructions for submitting bug reports can be found on-line.) You can also use Bug Report Tool (`bug-buddy`), available in the Utilities submenu of Main Menu, for submitting bug reports.

This manual was written by Rob Bradford (rob@funky-penguin.co.uk). Please send all comments and suggestions regarding this manual to the GNOME Documentation Project by sending an email to docs@gnome.org. You can also add your comments online by using the GNOME Documentation Status Table.

## License

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details.

A copy of the GNU General Public License is included as an appendix to the GNOME Users Guide. You may also obtain a copy of the GNU General Public License from the Free Software Foundation by visiting their Web site or by writing to

          Free Software Foundation, Inc.
         59 Temple Place
         - Suite 330
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