manual/plugins/wormlet.tex

   1 \subsection{Wormlet}
   2 \screenshot{plugins/images/ss-wormlet}{Wormlet game}{img:wormlet}
   3 Wormlet is a \opt{RECORDER_PAD}{multi{}-user }multi{}-worm game on a multi{}-threaded
   4 multi{}-functional Rockbox console. You navigate a hungry little worm.
   5 Help your worm to find food and to avoid poisoned argh{}-tiles. The
   6 goal is to turn your tiny worm into a big worm for as long as possible.
   7
   8 \opt{RECORDER_PAD}{
   9 For 2{}-player games a remote control is not necessary but recommended.
  10 If you try to hold the \dap\ in the four hands of two players
  11 you'll find out why. Games with three players are only
  12 possible using a remote control.\\}
  13
  14
  15 %The following table is only for the recorder version of the game, since the
  16 %other versions do not support either multi player or different control modes.
  17 %It is however prepared for the other targets should they ever support these
  18 %features. Also some other parts of the text is "opted" out for these targets.
  19
  20 {\bfseries
  21 Game controls:}
  22
  23 \opt{RECORDER_PAD}{
  24 \renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.8}
  25 \begin{rbtabular}{\textwidth}{c X p{3cm} p{3cm} p{3cm}}%
  26 {\textbf{Players} & \textbf{Modes} & \textbf{Player 1} & \textbf{Player 2}
  27                         & \textbf{Player 3}}{}{}
  28 %
  29 0 & Out of control & \multicolumn{3}{p{9cm}}{With no player taking part in the
  30     game all worms are out of control and steered by artificial stupidity.}\\
  31 %
  32 \multirow{2}{*}{1} & 2 key control & on \dap\ \ButtonLeft: turn left
  33                         \ButtonRight: turn right & {}- & {}-\\
  34                     & 4 key control & on \dap\ \ButtonLeft: turn  left
  35                         \opt{RECORDER_PAD,ONDIO_PAD,IRIVER_H100_PAD,IRIVER_H300_PAD,IAUDIO_X5_PAD}
  36                             {\ButtonUp}\opt{IPOD_4G_PAD}{\ButtonMenu}: turn up
  37                             \ButtonRight: turn right
  38                             \opt{RECORDER_PAD,ONDIO_PAD,IRIVER_H100_PAD,IRIVER_H300_PAD,IAUDIO_X5_PAD}
  39                             {\ButtonDown}\opt{IPOD_4G_PAD}{\ButtonPlay}: turn down & {}- & {}- \\
  40 %
  41 \multirow{2}{*}{2} & Remote control & on \dap\ \ButtonLeft: turn left
  42                         \ButtonRight: turn right & on remote control VOL DOWN:
  43                         turn left VOL UP: turn right & {}- \\
  44                     & No remote control & on \dap\ \ButtonLeft: turn left
  45                         \ButtonRight: turn right & on \dap\ \ButtonFTwo: turn
  46                         left \ButtonFThree: turn right & {}- \\
  47 3 & Remote control & on \dap\ \ButtonLeft: turn left \ButtonRight: turn right
  48                         & on remote control VOL DOWN: turn left VOL UP: turn
  49                         right & on \dap\ \ButtonFTwo: turn left \ButtonFThree:
  50                         turn right \\
  51 \end{rbtabular}
  52 \renewcommand{\arraystretch}{1.0}
  53 }
  54
  55 \nopt{RECORDER_PAD}{
  56 \begin{table}
  57     \begin{btnmap}{}{}
  58         \opt{ONDIO_PAD,IRIVER_H100_PAD,IRIVER_H300_PAD,IAUDIO_X5_PAD%
  59             ,SANSA_E200_PAD,SANSA_FUZE_PAD,SANSA_C200_PAD,GIGABEAT_PAD%
  60             ,GIGABEAT_S_PAD,MROBE100_PAD,IPOD_3G_PAD,IPOD_4G_PAD,IRIVER_H10_PAD}
  61         {\ButtonLeft}
  62         \opt{COWON_D2_PAD}{\TouchMidLeft}
  63        \opt{HAVEREMOTEKEYMAP}{& }
  64         & Turn left\\
  65         \opt{ONDIO_PAD,IRIVER_H100_PAD,IRIVER_H300_PAD,IAUDIO_X5_PAD%
  66             ,SANSA_E200_PAD,SANSA_FUZE_PAD,SANSA_C200_PAD,GIGABEAT_PAD%
  67             ,GIGABEAT_S_PAD,MROBE100_PAD,IPOD_3G_PAD,IPOD_4G_PAD,IRIVER_H10_PAD}
  68         {\ButtonRight}
  69         \opt{COWON_D2_PAD}{\TouchMidRight}
  70              \opt{HAVEREMOTEKEYMAP}{& }
  71         & Turn right\\
  72         \opt{ONDIO_PAD,IRIVER_H100_PAD,IRIVER_H300_PAD,IAUDIO_X5_PAD%
  73             ,SANSA_E200_PAD,SANSA_FUZE_PAD,SANSA_C200_PAD,GIGABEAT_PAD%
  74             ,GIGABEAT_S_PAD,MROBE100_PAD}{\ButtonUp}
  75         \opt{IPOD_3G_PAD,IPOD_4G_PAD}{\ButtonMenu}
  76         \opt{IRIVER_H10_PAD}{\ButtonScrollUp}
  77         \opt{COWON_D2_PAD}{\TouchTopMiddle}
  78             \opt{HAVEREMOTEKEYMAP}{& }
  79         & Turn Up\\
  80         \opt{ONDIO_PAD,IRIVER_H100_PAD,IRIVER_H300_PAD,IAUDIO_X5_PAD%
  81             ,SANSA_E200_PAD,SANSA_FUZE_PAD,SANSA_C200_PAD,GIGABEAT_PAD%
  82             ,GIGABEAT_S_PAD,MROBE100_PAD}{\ButtonDown}
  83         \opt{IPOD_3G_PAD,IPOD_4G_PAD}{\ButtonPlay}
  84         \opt{IRIVER_H10_PAD}{\ButtonScrollDown}
  85         \opt{COWON_D2_PAD}{\TouchBottomMiddle}
  86            \opt{HAVEREMOTEKEYMAP}{& }
  87         & Turn Down\\
  88     \end{btnmap}
  89 \end{table}
  90 }
  91
  92 \subsubsection{The game}
  93 Use the control keys of your worm to navigate around obstacles and find
  94 food. Worms do not stop moving except when dead. Dead worms are no fun.
  95 Be careful as your worm will try to eat anything that you steer it
  96 across. It won't distinguish whether it is edible or not.
  97
  98 \begin{description}
  99 \item[Food.]
 100 The small square hollow pieces are food. Move the worm over a food tile
 101 to eat it. After eating the worm grows. Each time a piece of food has
 102 been eaten a new piece of food will pop up somewhere. Unfortunately for
 103 each new piece of food that appears two new ``argh'' pieces will
 104 appear, too.
 105 \item[Argh.]
 106 An ``argh'' is a black square poisoned piece {}- slightly bigger than
 107 food {}- that makes a worm say ``Argh!'' when
 108 run into.  A worm that eats an ``argh'' is dead. Thus eating an
 109 ``argh'' must be avoided under any circumstances. ``Arghs'' have the
 110 annoying tendency to accumulate.
 111 \item[Worms.]
 112 Thou shall not eat worms. Neither other worms nor thyself. Eating worms
 113 is blasphemous cannibalism, not healthy and causes instant
 114 death. And it doesn't help anyway: the other worm
 115 isn't hurt by the bite. It will go on creeping happily
 116 and eat all the food you left on the table.
 117 \item[Walls.]
 118 Don't crash into the walls. Walls are not edible.
 119 Crashing a worm against a wall causes it a headache it
 120 doesn't survive.
 121 \item[Game over.]
 122 The game is over when all worms are dead. The longest worm wins the
 123 game.
 124 \item [Pause the game.]
 125 Press
 126 \opt{RECORDER_PAD,IAUDIO_X5_PAD}{\ButtonPlay}%
 127 \opt{ONDIO_PAD}{\ButtonMenu}%
 128 \opt{IRIVER_H100_PAD,IRIVER_H300_PAD,IPOD_4G_PAD,SANSA_E200_PAD,SANSA_FUZE_PAD%
 129   ,GIGABEAT_PAD,GIGABEAT_S_PAD}{\ButtonSelect}
 130 \opt{COWON_D2_PAD}{\TouchCenter}
 131 to pause the game. Press it again to resume the game.
 132
 133 \item[Stop the game.]
 134 There are two ways to stop a running game.
 135
 136 \begin{itemize}
 137 \item If you want to quit Wormlet entirely simply hit
 138 \opt{RECORDER_PAD,ONDIO_PAD,IRIVER_H100_PAD,IRIVER_H300_PAD}{\ButtonOff}%
 139 \opt{IPOD_4G_PAD}{\ButtonMenu+\ButtonSelect}%
 140 \opt{IAUDIO_X5_PAD,SANSA_E200_PAD,GIGABEAT_PAD}{\ButtonPower}%
 141 \opt{SANSA_FUZE_PAD}{Long \ButtonHome}
 142 \opt{GIGABEAT_S_PAD}{\ButtonBack}.
 143 The game will stop immediately and you will return to the game menu.
 144 \item If you want to stop the game and still see the screen hit
 145 \opt{RECORDER_PAD,IRIVER_H100_PAD,IRIVER_H300_PAD}{\ButtonOn}%
 146 \opt{ONDIO_PAD}{\ButtonOff+\ButtonMenu}%
 147 \opt{IPOD_4G_PAD}{\ButtonSelect+\ButtonPlay}%
 148 \opt{IAUDIO_X5_PAD,SANSA_E200_PAD}{\ButtonRec}%
 149 \opt{SANSA_FUZE_PAD}{\ButtonSelect+\ButtonUp}%
 150 \opt{GIGABEAT_PAD}{\ButtonA}%
 151 \opt{GIGABEAT_S_PAD}{\ButtonMenu}.
 152 This freezes the game. If you hit
 153 \opt{RECORDER_PAD,IRIVER_H100_PAD,IRIVER_H300_PAD}{\ButtonOn}%
 154 \opt{ONDIO_PAD}{\ButtonOff+\ButtonMenu}%
 155 \opt{IPOD_4G_PAD}{\ButtonSelect+\ButtonPlay}%
 156 \opt{IAUDIO_X5_PAD,SANSA_E200_PAD}{\ButtonRec}%
 157 \opt{SANSA_FUZE_PAD}{\ButtonSelect+\ButtonUp}%
 158 \opt{GIGABEAT_PAD}{\ButtonA}%
 159 \opt{GIGABEAT_S_PAD}{\ButtonMenu}
 160 button again a new game starts with the same configuration. To return to the
 161 games menu you can hit
 162 \opt{RECORDER_PAD,ONDIO_PAD,IRIVER_H100_PAD,IRIVER_H300_PAD}{\ButtonOff}%
 163 \opt{IPOD_4G_PAD}{\ButtonMenu+\ButtonSelect}%
 164 \opt{IAUDIO_X5_PAD,SANSA_E200_PAD,GIGABEAT_PAD}{\ButtonPower}%
 165 \opt{SANSA_FUZE_PAD}{Long \ButtonHome}
 166 \opt{GIGABEAT_S_PAD}{\ButtonBack}. A stopped game can not be resumed.
 167 \end{itemize}
 168 \end{description}
 169
 170 \subsubsection{The scoreboard}
 171 On the right side of the game field is the score board. For each worm it
 172 displays its status and its length. The top most entry displays the
 173 state of worm 1, the second worm 2 and the third worm 3. When a worm
 174 dies its entry on the score board turns black.
 175
 176 \begin{description}
 177 \item[Len:]
 178 Here the current length of the worm is displayed. When a worm is eating
 179 food it grows by one pixel for each step it moves.
 180
 181 \item[Hungry:]
 182 That's the normal state of a worm. Worms are always
 183 hungry and want to eat. It is good to have a hungry
 184 worm since it means that your worm is alive. But it is
 185 better to get your worm growing.
 186
 187 \item[Growing:]
 188 When a worm has eaten a piece of food it starts growing. For each step
 189 it moves over food it can grow by one pixel. One piece of food lasts
 190 for 7 steps. After your worm has moved 7 steps the food is used up. If
 191 another piece of food is eaten while growing it will increase the size
 192 of the worm for another 7 steps.
 193
 194 \item[Crashed:]
 195 This indicates that a worm has crashed against a wall.
 196
 197 \item[Argh:]
 198 If the score board entry displays ``Argh!'' it
 199 means the worm is dead because it tried to eat an ``argh''. Until we
 200 can make the worm say ``Argh!'' it is your job to say ``Argh!'' aloud.
 201
 202 \item[Wormed:]
 203 The worm tried to eat another worm or even itself.
 204 That's why it is dead now.  Making traps for other players with a worm
 205 is a good way to get them out of the game.
 206 \end{description}
 207
 208 \subsubsection{Hints}
 209
 210 \begin{itemize}
 211
 212 \item Initially you will be busy with controlling your worm. Try to
 213 avoid other worms and crawl far away from them. Wait until they curl up
 214 themselves and collect the food afterwards. Don't worry if the other
 215 worms grow longer than yours {}- you can catch up after they've died.
 216
 217 \item When you are more experienced watch the tactics of other worms.
 218 Those worms controlled by artificial stupidity head straight for the
 219 nearest piece of food. Let the other worm have its next piece of food
 220 and head for the food it would probably want next. Try to put yourself
 221 between the opponent and that food. From now on you can 'control' the
 222 other worm by blocking it. You could trap it by making a 1 pixel wide
 223 U{}-turn. You also could move from food to food and make sure you keep
 224 between your opponent and the food. So you can always reach it before
 225 your opponent.
 226
 227 \opt{RECORDER_PAD}{
 228 \item While playing the game the \dap\ can still play music. For
 229 single player game use any music you like. For berserk games with 2 players use
 230 hard rock and for 3 player games use heavy metal or X{}-Phobie
 231 (\url{http://www.x-phobie.de/}).
 232 Play fair and don't kick your opponent in the toe or
 233 poke him in the eye. That would be bad manners.
 234 }
 235 \end{itemize}