# The &blinken; Handbook

Danny
Allen

    danny@dannyallen.co.uk

2005
Danny Allen
&FDLNotice;
2005-08-20
1.0

&blinken; brings a retro electronic memory game from the 1970's to &kde;.

KDE
kdeedu
blinKen
game
child
electronic
retro

## Introduction

&blinken; is based on an electronic game released in 1978, which challenges players to remember sequences of increasing length. On the face of the device, there are 4 different color buttons, each one with their own distinctive sound. These buttons light up randomly, creating the sequence that the player must then recall. If the player is successful in remembering the sequence of lights in the correct order, they advance to the next stage, where an identical sequence with one extra step is presented. If they are incorrect, the game is lost, and the player must start again from the beginning.

The goal is to get a highscore - each step in the sequence is worth one point, so correct entry of a sequence of 8 lights is worth 8 points on the highscore table.

## Using &blinken;

Here is the screen that is presented on startup of &blinken;, showing the general interface to the application. Most of the screen is taken up by the device, with the 4 colored buttons, with the device controls (score counter, Start button, &etc;) in the center of the screen. The current status of the application is displayed on the piece of paper under the device. In the corners of the application, there are 3 buttons:

Here is the screen that is presented on startup of &blinken;
Here is the screen that is presented on startup of &blinken;

The Highscores button opens a dialog that displays the Highscores table for each of the 3 difficulty levels (the Highscores table can also be accessed by clicking on the score counter):

Highscores button
Highscores button

The Quit button closes the application:

Quit button
Quit button

The Help button is special, in that it reveals 3 sub-buttons. These buttons are shown when the Help button is hovered over, and provide access to the &blinken; handbook (this document), and the About &blinken; and About &kde; dialogs:

Help button
Help button

To become familiar with the workings of the game, you can interact with the colored buttons whilst on the main screen. The buttons will illuminate and produce a tone upon being pressed.

You need to have aRts support in kdelibs to hear the sounds.

### Starting a Game

Once you are familiar with the workings of the application, a game can be started by pressing the Start button in the center of the screen. This powers on the device, as shown by the illuminated score counter. You can then choose the difficulty level that you want to attempt:

Select difficulty level
Select difficulty level

There are 3 levels in &blinken;:

- Level 1 is the easiest level, as it provides the longest time break between each sequence playback.

- Level 2 is the intermediate level. It is identical to the previous level, but has a smaller time break between each sequence playback.

- Level ? is the most difficult level of &blinken;. It takes the timings from Level 2, but each sequence is totally random, rather than following on from the previous sequence, as in the standard game type.

### Entering a New Highscore

If you are lucky enough to get a highscore, it will be entered into the Highscores table. A dialog will ask for a name to associate with your score in the table:

Highscore nickname prompt dialog
Highscore nickname prompt dialog

Only 5 scores are kept for each level, so try not to be disappointed if you don't make it!

### Playing Tips

&blinken; is the ultimate memory game, though you need not possess the ultimate memory to be successful. These tips will help you in your pursuit of the best score:

- If you have PC speakers, turn them on with the sound at a good level so that you can hear the tones alongside seeing the flashing lights.

- Experiment with both the mouse and keyboard interaction methods, to see which one suites your memory best.

- Try remembering the sequence as a list of colors.

- Try remembering the sequence as positions on the screen.

## Accessibility Options

To allow &blinken; to be more easily enjoyed by certain users, there are several accessibility options built into &blinken;.

To view and modify the accessibility options of &blinken;, press the &Ctrl; key (whilst a game is not in progress):

&blinken; access keys
&blinken; access keys

To return to the game screen, press the &Ctrl; key again.

Alongside use of the mouse, &blinken; also allows the user to operate the game using the keyboard.

The keys are 1, 2, 3, 4 by default.

To change the mapping of any button, click it using the mouse. It will then be highlighted, waiting for input. Press the desired key on the keyboard to change the currently assigned key.

There are other options available in the middle of the window: sounds and font.

- By unchecking the sounds checkbox, the &blinken; sound effects will be suppressed.

- By unchecking the font checkbox, a standard font will be used for status text instead of the default handwriting font.

## Credits and License

&blinken;

Program copyright 2005 Albert Astals Cid tsdgeos@terra.es and Danny Allen danny@dannyallen.co.uk

Contributors:

- "Steve" font: Steve Jordi steve@sjordi.com

Documentation copyright 2005 Danny Allen danny@dannyallen.co.uk

&underFDL; &underGPL;

## Installation

### How to obtain &blinken;

&install.intro.documentation;

### Compilation and installation

&install.compile.documentation;

&documentation.index;