# The &kappname; Handbook

Fabian
Dal Santo

    &Fabian.DalSanto.mail;

Stas
Verberkt

    &Stas.Verberkt.mail;

Lauri
Watts

    &Lauri.Watts.mail;

Reviewer
1999
2000
&Matthias.Kiefer;
2001
&Fabian.Dal.Santo;
2009
&Stas.Verberkt;
&FDLNotice;
2009-01-22
2.0

&kappname; is a simple Tron clone for &kde;, which you can play alone or against a friend.

KDE
kdegames
KTron
game
tron
KSnake
snake

## Introduction

&kappname; is a simple Tron-Clone for the K Desktop Environment. You can play &kappname; against the computer or a friend. The aim of the game is to live longer than your opponent. To do that, avoid running into a wall, your own tail and that of your opponent.

&ksnake; is a simple Snake-like game for the K Desktop Environment. The aim of &ksnake; is to survive as long as possible and eat as many fruits as you can.

You can switch between these games using the game type selector in the configuration dialog.

## Playing &kappname;

### Rules

Once a round is started, the players do not stop moving forward (unless the game is paused). All you have to do is avoid crashing by changing your players direction. Additionally you can try to hinder your opponent. For this it is possible to increase the velocity by pressing your accelerator key.

A round starts when all human players press a direction key. The initial moving direction is then in this direction.

If you want to interrupt playing, select Pause from the Game menu or hit the keyboard shortcut (see section Default Shortcuts). Additionally the game is paused when the game loses the keyboard focus, &eg; when switching to an other window.

To continue the game, select the menu item Pause again, or the keyboard shortcut. The game will also continue if the human players press one of their direction keys. But be careful, your player switches to this direction immediately.

A game consists of several rounds, and ends if a player has at least nine points, and additionally two more points than the opponent. The current score is always displayed in the status bar.

You can change the difficulty level of the game using the game menu item or the select box on the status bar. The difficulty influences the speed of the game and the computer player.

### The Computer Player

You can play against a computer. The difficulty level of the game influences the intelligence of the computer player.

At low levels the computer doesn't care about the opponent and just moves around. At higher skill levels the computer tries to hinder the opponent when he comes near.

### Using the Keyboard

Each player has five keys. Four keys for changing the direction and one to accelerate.

The direction keys do not have to be held down. Simply press them once to change the direction of your player.

Acceleration only occurs while the acceleration key remains depressed. When you release the acceleration key, velocity returns to normal.

You can alter the keys using the shortcuts option in the Settings Menu.

## Playing &ksnake;

### Rules

Once the game is started, the player does not stop moving forward (unless the game is paused). All you have to do is avoid crashing by changing your direction. A game starts when you press a direction key. The initial moving direction is then in this direction.

If you want to pause playing, select Pause from the Game menu or hit the keyboard shortcut (see section Default Shortcuts). Additionally the game is paused when the game loses the keyboard focus, &eg; when switching to an other window.

To continue the game, select the menu item Pause or hit the keyboard shortcut again. The game will also continue if you press one of the direction keys. But be careful, your player switches to this direction immediately.

In the game there will always be a piece of fruit on the map. If you collect it your score will increase with 5 points. The current score is always displayed in the status bar.

When you are moving through the map there will appear obstacles. Hitting them will also result in a crash. However, every time an obstacle appears and you survive you'll be rewarded 2 points

You can change the difficulty level of the game using the game menu item or the select box on the status bar. The difficulty influences the speed of the game.

### Using the keyboard

Each player has four keys. These are used for changing the direction. The direction keys do not have to be held down. Simply press them once to change the direction of your player.

You can alter the keys using the shortcuts option in the Settings Menu.

## Command Reference

The following sections briefly describe each menubar option.

### The Game Menu

&Ctrl;N Game New

  Starts a new game.

P Game Pause

  Toggles whether the game is paused.

&Ctrl;H Game Show High Scores

  Displays the high score dialog (for &ksnake;).

&Ctrl;Q Game Quit

  Quits.

### The Settings Menu

Settings Show Statusbar

  Shows or hides the Statusbar.

Settings Difficulty

  Lets you alter the difficulty level of the game.

Settings Configure Shortcuts...

  Displays a standard &kde; shortcuts configurator.

Settings Configure &kappname;...

  Opens a comprehensive dialog to configure various options.

### The Help Menu

&help.menu.documentation;

### Default Shortcuts

The following tables show you the default shortcuts.

#### Player 1 Shortcuts

Key Combo | Action
--- | ---
Up Arrow | Up
Down Arrow | Down
Right Arrow | Right
Left Arrow | Left
0 | Accelerate

#### Player 2 Shortcuts

Key Combo | Action
--- | ---
R | Up
F | Down
G | Right
D | Left
A | Accelerate

#### General Shortcuts

Key Combo | Action
--- | ---
P | Pause/Resume Game
&Ctrl;H | High Scores
&Ctrl;N | New Game
&Ctrl;Q | Quit &kappname;
F1 | Help Contents
&Shift;F1 | What's This Help

These shortcuts can be changed by selecting Settings Configure Shortcuts... from the menubar.

## The Configuration Dialog

Selecting the Configure &kappname;... option in the Settings menu will open a further dialog which lets you tweak &kappname;'s behavior.

This dialog is divided into two pages.

### General Configuration

Configure &kappname; - General
General Configuration

Game type

  This will let you change the game type. There are three options:

  &kappname;: Player vs Player

    a &kappname; game between two human players

  &kappname;: Player vs Computer

    a &kappname; game between a human player and the computer

  &ksnake;: Single player

    a single player &ksnake; game

Disable acceleration

  Checking this box will disable the acceleration feature - pressing the acceleration key will have no effect, both vehicles will always travel with constant velocity.

Player Names

  Specify custom names to use for the players to override the use of default ones.

  The default name for player one is the name of the current logged in user.

### Theme Configuration

Configure &kappname; - Theme
Theme Configuration

This page will allow you to change the theme &kappname; uses.

## Credits and License

&kappname;

Program Copyright 1998-2000 &Matthias.Kiefer; &Matthias.Kiefer.mail;

Program Copyright 2008-2009 &Stas.Verberkt; &Stas.Verberkt.mail;

Parts of the code are from xtron-1.1 by Rhett D. Jacobs rhett@hotel.canberra.edu.au>

Documentation Copyright 1999 &Matthias.Kiefer; &Matthias.Kiefer.mail;

Documentation updated for &kde; 2.0 by &Fabian.Dal.Santo; &Fabian.DalSanto.mail;

&underFDL; &underGPL;

## Installation

### How to obtain &kappname;

&install.intro.documentation;

### Requirements

In order to successfully compile &kappname;, you need &kde; 4. All required libraries as well as &kappname; itself can be found on &kde-ftp;.

### Compilation and Installation

&install.compile.documentation;