<!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//KDE//DTD DocBook V3.1-Based Variant V1.0//EN" [
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<book lang="&language;">

<bookinfo>

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

<authorgroup>
<author>
<firstname>Martin</firstname>
<othername>R.</othername>
<surname>Jones</surname>
<affiliation>
<address><email>mjones@kde.org</email></address>
</affiliation>
</author>

<author>
<firstname>Philip</firstname>
<surname>Rodrigues</surname>
<affiliation>
<address><email>philip.rodrigues@libertysurf.co.uk</email></address>
</affiliation>
</author>
</authorgroup>

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

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

<date>11/01/2001</date>
<releaseinfo>2.0.1</releaseinfo>

<abstract><para>&kasteroids; is, predictably, the &kde; clone of the popular asteroids 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 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 - 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>
	</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>Options</guimenu><guimenuitem>Configure
Keys</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu.</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="tips">
<title>Tips</title>

<para>Here's 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="file-menu">
<title>The <guimenu>File</guimenu> Menu</title>

<para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<shortcut>
<keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl<keycap>N</keycap></keycombo>
</shortcut>
<guimenu>File</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>New</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Starts a new game of
&kasteroids;</action></para></listitem> </varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<shortcut>
<keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>H</keycap></keycombo>
</shortcut>
<guimenu>File</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>File</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Quits</action> &kasteroids;</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
</sect1>

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

<para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice>
<shortcut>
<keycombo action="seq">&Alt;<keycap>S</keycap><keycap>K</keycap></keycombo>
</shortcut>
<guimenu>Settings</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="seq">&Alt;<keycap>S</keycap><keycap>P</keycap></keycombo>
</shortcut>
<guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Preferences</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Displays &kasteroids; preferences</action>
</para></listitem> </varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</para>
</sect1>

</chapter>


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

<sect1 id="developer">
<title>Developer</title>

<para><ulink url="mailto:mjones@kde.org">Martin R. Jones</ulink></para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="authors">
<title>Authors</title>

<para>Martin R. Jones <email>mjones@kde.org</email></para>

<para>Philip Rodrigues
<email>philip.rodrigues@libertysurf.co.uk</email></para>

&underFDL;
&underGPL;

</sect1>

</chapter>


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

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

<para>&kasteroids; is part of the &kde; project <ulink
url="http://www.kde.org">http://www.kde.org</ulink>.  &kasteroids; can be found
in the kdegames package on <ulink
url="ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/">ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/</ulink>, the main
ftp site of the &kde; project. </para>


<para>All required libraries can be found on <ulink url="ftp://ftp.kde.org">The
&kde; &FTP; site</ulink>.</para>

</sect1>

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

<para>In order to compile and install &kasteroids; on your system, type the
following in the <filename class="directory">directory</filename> of the
kdegames distribution:</para>

<screen width="40">
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>./configure</command></userinput>
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>make</command></userinput>
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>make</command> <option>install</option></userinput>
</screen>

<para>Since &kasteroids; uses <application>autoconf</application> and
<application>automake</application> you should have not trouble compiling
it. Should you run into problems please report them to <ulink
url="mailto:mjones@kde.org">the author</ulink>.</para>

</sect1>

</appendix>


</book>

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