Documentation for Manoeuvre beta version 0.3.5 By Mario Becroft, 1998 INTRODUCTION This is a beta version of the software. There is currently no proper documentation, and proper operation of the software is in no way guaranteed. You use this software at your own risk. Currently Manoeuvre is free software. Please distribute it anywhere you see fit, PROVIDED THAT the archive is not modified in any way! If you want to put the game on some sort of magazine disc, PD library, or software collection I would appreciate it if you told me about it, though. If you have any questions about this, contact me at the addresses given below. QUICK GAME DESCRIPTION Manouevre is a small strategy game for two players. You can play locally on the same machine, or via a network (such as the internet, or a LAN). See NETWORKING, below, for more information. The game is played on a grid of 8 by 8 points. Each player has three units, each of which can be positioned on any one of the grid points. Only one unit can occupy a grid point at a time, and a unit may not occupy more than one grid point at a time. The three units that each player has are a circle, a spade and a heart. The spade is the most important unit, since when your spade is destroyed, you lose the game. Therefore the object of the game is to destroy your opponent's spade. From here on, we will refer to the players as "red" and "green" since this is the colour of the two players' pieces. A game consists of a series of turns. During each turn, both players enter orders for their units. After both players have confirmed the orders for each of their units, the orders are carried out. In the first turn, red enters orders first, then green. During the second turn green enters orders first then red, and so on. Orders can consist of movement orders (entered by using the arrow keys) or attack orders (entered by pressing shift while using the arrow keys, where the arrow direction indicates the direction in which to fire). Each unit can accept up to 5 orders at a time, and these can be any combination of orders. The backspace key can be used to erase orders. Once the orders are entered, the Confirm button or the insert key will confirm the orders and move on to the next unit. The Undo key lets previous units' orders be modified. After both players have entered orders for all their units (or skipped over all the units they don't want to give orders) the orders are carried out. The pieces take turns to execute the orders, that is the circle first, then the spade and finally the heart. For example, if green started this turn, the order would be green circle, red circle, green spade, red spade, green heart, red heart. After all the orders are carried out, the next turn begins, and the players can enter the next set of orders. The player to start each turn alternates. That is, in the first turn red can enter orders first followed by green, in the second turn it's green then red and so on. This is very important for the game strategy. Press the help key or choose Help from the file menu at any time to get a quick summary of the unit abilities and the key presses. NETWORKING Although the game can be played be two people at a single machine, one important feature of the game is the ability to play over a network. In order to play the game, both players need to have a copy of the game and a machine capable of running it. A STiK compatible networking system is required, such as STiK, STinG, or MiNTNet with GlueSTiK. (Make sure you use an up to date version of GlueSTiK!) Both machines need to be connected by some sort of network, such as a LAN or the internet. Finally, both players need to agree on what port to use (normally the default of 13013 is fine) and at least one of the players needs to know the other machine's address or ip number. It's a good idea to use something like IRC to find out who is online ready to play that game, and what their address is. To initaite the networked game, one player needs to select listen mode. This is done by choosing File|Network game|Listen for connection. When you are listening for a connection, anyone else can connect to you and start a game with you. Since anyone at all can connect to you this way, there is no need to specify an address for the remote machine. The other player then needs to connect to the one who is listening. This is done by choosing File|Network game, putting in the other person's address or ip number, then clicking on Open connection. It sounds complicated but it's really quite simple when you try it. After this, assuming you both chose the same port and got the other player's address or ip number correct, you will see the connection open and then a message such as "You are green" or "You are red" appear in the status line near the bottom of the Manoeuvre window. You are now ready to play the game as normal. Note that only the person who's turn it is can enter orders. So don't worry if nothing seems to happen when you press keys, it's probably just not your turn. To talk to other person while playing the game, just type on the keyboard. The text will appear to the other person at the bottom of the Manoeuvre window as you type it. You can see what you are typing just below where you see what the other person is saying. When you have finished a game, just choose File|New Game (or press Control- N) and the network connection will remain open, ready for you to continue with the new game. CONTACTING ME This game was made by Mario Becroft. You can contact me at the addresses below, or you might find me in the #atari channel on IRC, under the name of Mario (no, I don't have any fancy nickname like some people choose to do). I'll always be pleased to play a Manoeuvre game with you, if you just ask me! email: mb@tos.pl.net www: http://www.pl.net/~mario/ snailmail: PO Box 332, Kumeu, Auckland 1250, NEW ZEALAND If you like this software (or if you don't), or if you have any comments, queries or suggestions, please write to me at the above addresses. I will be pleased to hear from you!