$Id: README,v 1.6 2007/02/25 13:34:55 matthew Exp $


Fish Supper


***CONTENTS***
1: Getting Fish Supper
2: Description
3: Licenses
4: A Short Note on Installation (Linux)
5: Game
6: Controls
7: Hints
8: Screen Layout
9: Settings
10: High Scores
11: Command-line Options
12: Technical
13: Thanks To:
14: Contact


1: Getting Fish Supper
======================
You can always obtain the latest version of Fish Supper (source code tarball 
and Windows executable) by visiting the project's homepage at 
<http://sourceforge.net/projects/fishsupper>.


2: Description
==============
Fish Supper is a simple arcade/puzzle game, loosely based on the retro
classic Frogger.

Guide a cat across a series of rivers, jumping from log to log to reach a
tasty fish supper on the other side. Make sure you've got a crystal the same
colour as the log before you land on it, though, or you'll be zapped back
to the beginning.


3: Licenses
===========
All source code is licensed under the GNU General Public License. See the text 
at the top of each source code file and also the file COPYING for details.

All images are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 
License. To view a copy of this license, visit 
<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/> or send a letter to 
Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, 
California, 94105, USA.


4: A Short Note on Installation (Linux)
=======================================
When you run the game for the first time, it will create a directory called 
".fishsupper/" under your $HOME directory which contains the files 
"config.txt" and "table.txt". 
This directory and its contents won't be removed from your system when you do
'make uninstall' so you'll have to delete them manually.

 
5: Game
=======
While exploring the countryside around his home, Albert the cat stumbles 
across a magical network of rivers with coloured logs floating on them.
On the far side of each river is a tasty fish supper.

To reach it, Albert must get across the logs, but he can only land on them
when he's carrying a crystal of the same colour (or two crystals that together
will make that colour). The two exceptions to this are brown logs, which
he can always land on, and white crystals, with which he can land on any log.

Usually there'll be some crystals on the river bank to get him started; 
other times he'll start without anything. There's a limit to how 
many crystals he can carry at any one time as well: each river is 
different. If he can't carry any more crystals and he walks over one, it'll
be swapped with one he's already carrying - he can cycle through them to
get it back if it's one he needs, though.

On certain levels it might not be possible for Albert to get across the river
with crystals alone. In these cases he will need to collect special 
'power-ups' to help him on his way.

If he falls into the water or lands on a log without the right crystal(s) 
he'll be zapped back to the beginning and lose a 'life' (- fortunately he's a
cat, so he's got plenty spare). If he loses 3 'lives' he gets fed up and goes
home.


6: Controls
===========
If you're using a joystick/gamepad, 'up', 'down', 'left' and 'right' work as 
you'd expect. Any button can be used to make Albert jump.

If you're using the keyboard, the cursor keys move Albert around and the 
space bar makes him jump.

Pressing [Esc] in the middle of a game will bring up a menu allowing you to
"Continue" or "Quit".
Pressing [Esc] while viewing the high-score table or at the settings screen
will take you back to the title screen. Pressing it at the title screen will
exit the program.


7: Hints
========
The levels follow the same pattern each time you play. 

Sometimes you might want to watch the logs for a while to see which crystals 
you're going to need to get across and where you can get them from. You can 
always press [P] to pause the animation as well.

Especially when jumping onto 'single' logs, make sure you land as close to the 
centre of the log as possible.  If you land right on the edge you might fall
into the water as soon as you try to move.

Remember you can also jump left and right onto new logs, but this requires 
careful positioning ;)

 
8: Screen Layout
================
The number at the top-left (next to the paw-print) is how many lives you have
left.

Next to that is the score (labelled... Score!).
Next to that is the current level.

Bottom-left are the crystals that you're currently holding.


9: Settings
===========
Select 'Settings' from the title screen to change keyboard/joystick and sound
options. 

If you select joystick and the program can't find one, it'll silently
default to keyboard. 

The window/fullscreen option is not yet implemented, but see section 11: 
Command-line Options.

Changes are written to your "config.txt" file when the program quits.


10: High Scores
===============
If you get a high score, you'll go straight to the high-score table after 
Albert has left the screen. Simply type your name in using the keyboard: up 
to 10 letters ('a'-'z', small and captial) are allowed. When you're done, 
press [Enter]. If you press [Enter] without typing anything, your name will be
"anon".


11: Command-line Options
========================
You can start fishsupper with the following options:

    --fullscreen            start the game in fullscreen mode
    --help                  display these options and quit
    --version               display the version number and quit
    --testlevel=FILE        play the level file named FILE repeatedly


12: Technical
=============
Fish Supper is written in C++ using the SDL media library, 
<http://www.libsdl.org>. 
It also uses SDL_image and SDL_mixer.

I compiled the Windows version using Code::Blocks v1.0rc2, an excellent, free
and open source IDE for C++ projects. See <http://www.codeblocks.org/> 
for details.


13: Thanks To:
==============
Sam Lantinga et al 
    for SDL! <http://www.libsdl.org>

Sourceforge.net 
    for hosting the project. <http://sourceforge.net/projects/fishsupper>

Karl Bartel 
    for writing SFont. <http://www.linux-games.com/sfont/>

Dmitry Marakasov 
    for FreeBSD Port and for advice on portability (dotdir, etc.).
    <http://www.freebsd.org>

Linux Game Tome 
    for including my game on their website. 
    <http://www.happypenguin.org/show?Fish%20Supper>.


14: Contact
===========
Comments? Suggestions? Questions?
Please email: <matthew_larcke@lycos.co.uk>


Thank you for downloading and playing Fish Supper!

