scorch_src/Manuals/MANUAL_EN.md

Basic instruction manual:

You can play using the keyboard (all functionality) or the joystick in any port (all functionality necessary for gameplay).

1. Game Option Selection.

On the first screen, you can configure gameplay options:

• Players - number of players (2 - 6) includes both human and computer-controlled players

• Cash - the initial amount of cash assigned to each player (2K is the optimal value we chose, but for short games, it is worth choosing a higher value)

• Gravity - strength of gravity

• Wind - maximum wind strength in Beaufort scale (wind is drawn at the beginning of each round or during the round between turns, here we can choose how strong it can be):

  • 1B - maximum wind strength: 5
  • 3B - maximum wind strength: 20
  • 5B - maximum wind strength: 40
  • 7B - maximum wind strength: 70
  • 9B - maximum wind strength: 99

• Rounds - number of rounds in a game

• Missiles - missile speed (does not affect the flight path - only changes the apparent missile speed - does not change anything in the gameplay itself)

• Seppuku - frequency of suicides :) - if for several turns the game has not recorded hits (tank is constantly shooting inaccurately), the tank commits suicide - here you determine how long they can "shoot for the stars" :) - if only people are playing the optimal setting is "norm", in the case of computer-controlled players ... you choose.

• Mountain - The height (and undulation) of the mountains from almost flat (NL - Kingdom of the Netherlands) to soaring and high (NP - Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal)

• Walls - the way the walls (edges of the screen) work:

  • none - projectiles that flew off the screen never return (black color of the screen frame)
  • wrap - the screen "wraps" and projectiles that flew to the right appear on the left side and vice versa (purple color of the screen frame)
  • bump - the right and left walls deflect projectiles that try to fly through them (dark blue color of the screen frame)
  • boxy - just like bump, except that the "ceiling" also bounces projectiles off (green color of the screen frame)
  • rand - at the beginning of each round, one of the above 4 wall mechanics is chosen randomly.

  During gameplay, the current mode of the walls is represented by the color of the screen frame: none - black, wrap - purple, bump - dark blue, boxy - green.

Select options with cursor keys or a joystick.

The G, TAB, SELECT, long press of first joystick button or second joystick button (supported Joy 2B+ standard or compatible), and on the Atari 5200 console, the 5 controller key changes the color of the mountains (3 versions to choose from).

If the cursor indicates the the number of players and 4 or 6 players are selected, pressing TAB activates team play. This is indicated by the letter t next to the word Players. Team play is limited to 4 or 6 players and a maximum of 20 rounds. Players with odd numbers are assigned to A-Team, and players with even numbers are assigned to B-Team.

If the cursor indicates the wind strength selection option Wind, pressing TAB changes the way the wind strength is drawn from "every round" to "every turn" and vice versa. Drawing every turn is indicated by the ? sign next to the word Wind.

If the cursor indicates the gravity selection option Gravity, pressing TAB changes the procedure of falling ground to a less impressive but faster one, and vice versa. The selection of fast ground fall is indicated by the letter f next to the word Gravity.

If the cursor points to the option of selecting the height of the mountains Mountain, pressing TAB toggles the option of changing the height of the mountains every round. Drawing every round is indicated by the ? sign next to the word Mountain.

The RETURN key or a joystick button moves to the next screen.

2. Players and robo tank levels

Entering names of players and selecting levels of computer-controlled players.

The second screen is shown for each player. Here you can use the cursor keys or joystick to select whether the tank will be driven by a human (HUMAN option) or a computer (other options).

The TAB, SELECT or second joystick button, and on the Atari 5200 console the 5 controller key allows you to choose which joystick port the player will use.

The INVERSE or OPTION key allows you to select one of the 3 available tank shapes. On the Atari 5200 console, this is achieved by cycling through joystick ports with the 5 key.
At the same time, you can enter the name of the selected player from the keyboard.

When the RETURN key is pressed or the Joystick button is pressed briefly, the screen switches to the next player until the difficulty levels for each player are selected.

The player's name can also be entered with the joystick. After pressing and holding the button for more than 1s. you can use up/down movements to change the letter being entered, and left/right movements to change its position in the name. Releasing the button ends the name entry and returns to the level selection.

If a name is not entered, it will be supplemented with the default one.

3. Shopping screen (before each round)

On this screen, you can make purchases of offensive and defensive weapons. Only those weapons that the player can afford are visible, along with information about the price and the number of units of a given weapon that will be obtained for that price. You move through the lists with the cursor keys (up and down) or with the joystick, the TAB key or the left arrow, the left joystick tilt or second joystick button changes the screen to defensive or offensive weapons, the SPACE key, the right arrow, long press of first joystick button and also the joystick to the right does the purchase of the indicated weapon.

The RETURN key or the joystick button press switches to the defensive weapon activation screen. Here you can activate previously bought defensive (or offensive after switching with TAB, etc) weapons.

This makes it possible to activate shields and others before the round starts.

RETURN key or joystick button press switches to the next player's shopping screen. (For computer players this screen is not shown.)

4. The main screen of the game.

The status line shows which player is currently allowed to take a shot and a set of other information:

• Player - player's name. In the case of a team game, the word Player is replaced with the name of the team.

• active joystick number or difficulty level of computer-controlled player (1-Moron - 8-Unknown),

• currently selected offensive weapon (symbol quantity and name),

• Energy - the player's remaining energy points and if he or she has an active defensive weapon that has its energy - in parentheses the energy level,

• Angle - the angle and the direction of the barrel set by the player,

• Force - the shot strength set by the player (the maximum shot strength is limited by the player's energy - it can not exceed the energy * 10. This means that you can fire weaker shots only when having a small amount of energy,

• Round - the current round number,

• Wind - wind speed and direction,

• "computer" symbol if Auto Defense is active,

• in parentheses is the name of the active defensive weapon - if there is any activated by the player.

The keyboard controls cursor keys or joystick: left/right - change the angle of the barrel, up/down - change the force of the shot.

A800	Function
SPACE/FIRE	shoot (see ¡)
TAB/SELECT	weapon change (¡)
I	inventory (¡)
A/OPTION	defensives (¡)
M	music on/off
S	sound on/off
START	turbo mode (¡)
O	game over (¡)
START+OPTION	immediate quit (¡)
G	color scheme (¡)
ESC	return (¡)
Y	confirm (¡)
CTRL+HELP	visual debug (¡)

• shoot or joystick button pressed briefly - firing a shot.

• weapon change or second joystick button - selection of offensive weapons (this option is not available directly with one button joystick - you need to select Inventory)

• inventory - long hold of the joystick button - go to Inventory. It is two screens with the same layout as the shopping menu, it also works similarly except that here you don't buy weapons, but choose one of them to shoot or activate.

• defensives - go directly to the defensive weapon's activation.

• turbo mode - speed up some game animations.

• game over - end the current game and jump to the Game Over screen with a summary. The summary of the results does not take into account the current round of the game, but only the rounds completed earlier. This corresponds to pressing the ESC key with the difference that the summary and credits are displayed.

• immediate quit - force the end of the game (Game Over), just like game over but without confirmation.

• color scheme - changes the mountain and background shading

• return - during the entire game at any time (unless the computer is playing, then sometimes you have to wait a while) you can press the ESC key, which allows you to abort the game and return to the previous menu (of course, there is protection against accidental pressing).

• confirm - when asked to abort or terminate the game - confirmation

• visual debug - Toggle visual debug mode. It displays distances measured, laser aiming, and aiming technique. It leaves a mess on the screen, but it does not impair the game.

5. Game mechanics - offensive weapons.

Large points received by the player are the number of tanks that died earlier. If any of the other tanks capitulated earlier (with White Flag) it is not added to those that died and does not grant points. Only these points determine the order in the summary.

Energy of tanks.

• At the beginning of each round, each tank has 99 units of energy.
• Energy of tanks is depleted in 3 ways:
  • one unit after each shot is fired,
  • while falling (one pixel down - 2 units),
  • when a projectile hits the tank or next to it - and here the amount of energy subtracted depends on the distance from the center of the explosion and the type/power of the projectile.

Energy and money.

How energy subtraction and earning money works:

After each round the amount of money gained/lost is calculated, this is done based on two variables accumulated by each tank during the round. These variables are:

gain - energy "captured" from tanks hit (also if you hit yourself :) and here's the catch, if you have very little energy left it can be profitable to hit yourself with a powerful weapon!

loss - energy lost due to explosion/fall (and here it is important - to count the total loss of energy even if the tank has less at the moment of hit).

In addition, the tank that won the round has a parameter gain (captured from hit tanks energy) increased by the remaining energy at the end of the round (because it did not die and should have it - although it also happens otherwise :) )

Specifically:

After each round:

money = money + (20 * (gain+energy))

money = money - (10 * loss)

if money < 0 then money = 0

(at the start of each round gain and loss have a value of 0).

During a round, if another tank is hit as a result of a shot fired by a tank, the tank firing the shot "gets the energy" taken away from the hit tank.

tank taking a shot:

gain = gain + EnergyDecrease

tank hit:

loss = loss + EnergyDecrease

Where EnergyDecrease is the loss of energy due to the hit.

Of course, at the same time, the hit tank loses the amount of energy stored in EnergyDecrease, except that here the loss cannot exceed the energy you have.

How a hit works.

Each weapon that results in an explosion has its blast radius.

After the explosion, every tank in its range loses energy.

It works in such a way that if the hit is exactly on the center point of the tank EnergyDecrease receives the maximum value for the weapon, and for each pixel of distance from the center of the tank this value is reduced by 8.

For example, if Baby Missile hits the center of the tank perfectly, it will lose exactly 88 units of energy (plus what it loses falling after the explosion). If you hit with the same weapon at a distance of 10 pixels from the center of the tank, the loss will be only 8 units.

And here are the values of maximum energy loss for individual weapons. If a weapon explodes several times, each explosion is calculated independently (additional values in the table):

Offensive weapon	Max loss
Baby Missile	88
Missile	136
Baby Nuke	200
Nuke	240
LeapFrog	136 112 112
Funky Bomb	168 88 (*5)
MIRV	136 (*5)
Death's Head	240 (*5)
Napalm	40 (see ¡)
Hot Napalm	80 (¡)
Baby Roller	88
Roller	168
Heavy Roller	240
Riot Charge	0 (¡)
Riot Blast	0 (¡)
Riot Bomb	0 (¡)
Heavy Riot Bomb	0 (¡)
Digger	0 (¡)
Heavy Digger	0 (¡)
Sandhog	0 (¡)
Heavy Sandhog	0 (¡)
Dirt Clod	0 (¡)
Dirt Ball	0 (¡)
Ton of Dirt	0 (¡)
Liquid Dirt	0 (¡)
Dirt Charge	0 (¡)
Propaganda	0 (¡)
Stomp	0 (¡)
Laser	100 (¡)

Remarks:

• Napalm - this weapon is different and the distance from the center is not determined, simply any tank in the range of the flames loses 40 units of energy.

• Hot Napalm - the rule is the same as in Napalm, 80 units.

• Riot Charge - no energy is subtracted, but a portion of the soil upward from the hit point in a 31-pixel radius is removed.

• Riot Blast - as in Riot Charge, but in a radius of 61 pixels.

• Riot Bomb - no energy is subtracted, but the soil in a radius of 17 pixels from the hit point is destroyed - as in the case of Missile. The weapon is useful for digging out after being buried, or for digging under an opponent.

• Heavy Riot Bomb as in Riot Bomb, but the explosion radius is 29 pixels from the point of impact - as in the case of Nuke

• Digger - no energy is subtracted, but a portion of the soil is dug in a radius of 60 pixels from the point of impact.

• Heavy Digger - as above - more digging.

• Sandhog - as above - another way of digging

• Heavy Sandhog - as above - the largest dig

• Dirt Clod - no energy is subtracted, but a soil ball with a radius of 12 pixels from the hit point is created. The weapon is useful for burying the opponent.

• Dirt Ball - as above, but the radius of the ball is 22 pixels.

• Ton of Dirt - as above, but the radius of the ball is 31 pixels.

• Liquid Dirt - (floods the ground at the point of hit with liquid soil, filling in the depressions.

• Propaganda - no energy is subtracted, but the point of the hit is covered with propaganda texts.

• Stomp - no energy is subtracted, but all tanks within a radius depending on the force of the shot are pushed back, and after being pushed back they may fall or be buried. With a maximum force of 990 units, the radius of action is about 60 pixels.

• Laser - 100 energy units deducted, but only in the case of a direct hit - that is, the hit tank always dies.

6. And now for defensive weapons:

• White Flag - causes the surrender of the player (can sometimes be useful in a hopeless situation). The advantage is that by surrendering you don't give a big point to your opponents and don't cause one of them to gain cash. You also limit the loss of your energy and cash. An important note - this is the only defensive weapon that can be deactivated. All you have to do is re-enter inventory and once again select its activation.

• Battery - when activated, it recharges the tank's energy to full (99 units). It is one of three defensive weapons that does not deactivate other defensive weapons when used.

• Hovercraft - a weapon that allows the tank to move. It has its fuel supply in the form of electric eels and in addition, it can be activated multiple times during the same turn, and after using it, you can activate another defensive weapon and fire a shot in the same turn. After using it, the tank rises above the mountains, and using the cursor keys or a joystick you can move the tank to a new position. SPACE or the joystick button causes the tank to land in a new place. You can fly until the tank runs out of eels (presented on the status bar like the energy of a defensive weapon), if the eel fuel runs out the tank will fall on its own. It is not possible to land on other tanks.

• Parachute - does not protect against loss of energy due to a neighboring explosion, makes you not lose energy during ONE fall. After such a fall, it deactivates and a new parachute must be activated.

• Shield - the simplest shield works exactly the opposite of Parachute, it does not protect against energy loss while falling, instead, it protects against energy loss caused by ONE adjacent explosion. It protects once, no matter how strong the explosion is (whether "tis but a scratch" or a direct hit with a nuke), and deactivates immediately afterward.

• Heavy Shield - a shield with its energy (at the start of 99 units), it works the same as Shield (does not protect against falling) with the exception that it has its energy resource. When exploding, the energy of this shield is reduced first, and if it reaches 0, the shield deactivates and further reduces the tank's energy. Due to this action, a tank with this type of shield can be "killed" by undermining it, because falling reduces the energy of the tank and not the shield.

• Force Shield - the strongest shield - works just like Heavy Shield only that it is combined with Parachute. What is important in this case, falling does not take energy away from the shield or the tank. It is only taken away by hits.

• Bouncy Castle - a passive-aggressive weapon :). It works as follows - in the case of a direct tank hit (and shield), it causes the projectile to "bounce" in the opposite direction with the same force with which it was fired. In the absence of wind and a difference in level, the weapon then hits the tank that fired it. After such a bounce, it deactivates. As the weapon reacts in this way only to precise hits, it also works like Heavy Shield and has 99 units at the start.

• Mag Deflector - the second passive-aggressive weapon :) . In case of a direct hit on a tank (and shield), it causes the hit point to move randomly to the left or right side of the protected tank, but not very far, so you can get "shrapnel" with stronger weapons. As in the case of Bouncy Castle, it is also a shield that corresponds to the action of Heavy Shield and has 99 units at the start.

• Nuclear Winter - adds nothing, takes nothing away :) - in fact, it is not so much a defensive weapon as a double-edged one. It floods the area with "radioactive" fallout, which is ordinary soil. If you do not have at hand any weapon that digs up the terrain, and for that a shield (preferably disposable), then after such "fallout" you will have to shoot yourself - because being underground is otherwise impossible. Alternatively, White Flag always remains.

• Long Schlong - a special weapon :) - Costs a lot, doesn't help with anything (except possibly digging yourself out but only when slightly buried but it has a cool name and looks cool :) - It can be activated independently of other defensive weapons and remains active until the end of the round (it cannot be deactivated). This weapon has a depressing effect on computer-controlled opponents at Poolshark level and above.

• Lazy Boy - it is not a defensive weapon. It is an aiming aid. When it is activated, the tank tries to aim at the nearest enemy and automatically adjusts the power of the shot and angle. If it has too little energy, it can sometimes aim wrong (it uses a method like Cyborg to aim). Like Battery, it does not deactivate other defensive weapons when used. Note: There is no point in activating this weapon before the round, targeting will not take place because there is nothing to target yet.

• Lazy Darwin - works just like Lazy Boy but targets the weakest opponent. In this weapon, after automatic targeting, "visual targeting" remains active, so you can easily change the target and independently select another opponent by seeing if you hit him.

• Auto Defense - activates the mode of automatic activation of defensive weapons. After its activation, the tank automatically activates the strongest shield it has (consuming it, of course) at any time when there is no shield (also between shots of other players). At the same time, if the tank's energy level drops below 30 units, it automatically activates Battery if it has it. This weapon remains active until the end of the round and is indicated by the "computer" symbol before the name of the active defensive weapon in the status line. It is the second defensive weapon that does not deactivate other defensive weapons when used.

• Spy Hard - Help for the forgetful :) . When activated, it shows a preview of information about the next opponents one by one. Left/Right - changes the "spied" tank. Fire/Space/Return/Esc - ends the "spying". This is the last defensive weapon, which does not deactivate other defensive weapons when used.

Due to the different warhead tracking systems of MIRV weapons, the Bouncy Castle and Mag Deflector defensive weapons only use the shielding function when hit by these weapons. In addition, MIRV warheads do not bounce or fly through sidewalls when falling!

None of the shields protect against Napalm. Bouncy Castle or Mag Deflector on a direct hit will deflect it or carry it past, but just hit very close to a tank and its shield will not save it.

White Flag, Hovercraft, and Nuclear Winter weapons, when selected, require activation, this is accomplished by "firing a shot" after the selection of that weapon. Of course, the shot of the offensive weapon is then not fired, but only the selected defensive weapon is activated.

You can only have one defensive weapon active at a time (except Long Schlong of course :) ). You can always change the decision and activate another defensive weapon or deactivate White Flag before firing.

And of course, activating a weapon when you already have some other weapon activated causes the loss of the previous one (no returns :) ).

7. "Other" weapons:

• Best F...g Gifts - this is a 'loot box', not a weapon per se. Buying it draws one of the offensive or (rarely) defensive weapons and adds it to the player's arsenal. It is a lottery in which you can lose (if you draw a weapon cheaper than the Best F...g Gifts price) but also gain. You can get a weapon otherwise not affordable at all! There is a small probability of drawing by Best F...g Gifts itself :). You can then try to use it in battle.

8. AI opponents levels:

The game has 8 difficulty levels of computer-controlled opponents. Or 7 different ones and one "surprise". Each has its way of buying defensive and offensive weapons and a different method of target selection and targeting itself, as well as weapon selection. They are arranged in the list according to increasing "skills":

• Moron - the dumbest of opponents (which does not mean the safest). Shoots completely at random using only one weapon - Baby Missile. He doesn't buy anything and doesn't know how to use defensive weapons.

• Shooter - This opponent does not shoot blindly. He chooses one direction for himself. Based on his position - he shoots in the direction from which there is more space assuming that this is where the other tanks are. He starts firing from a high angle and shot after shot changes this angle to a lower and lower angle trying to fire the entire area on the chosen side. He always fires with the best weapon he has (the highest on the list of weapons he has - that is, not necessarily the best). He does not use defensive weapons even though he buys them! At the beginning of the round, he makes 1 attempt to buy defensive weapons (only from the Battery - Strong Parachute range) and 4 offensive weapons (from the Missile - Heavy Roller range).

• Poolshark - When attacking, he sets the nearest tank as his target, then selects the angle of the shot, and tries to select its strength by drawing it from the selected range. He always shoots with the best weapon he has. He uses defensive weapons. With a probability of 1:3, he activates the best defensive weapon he owns (the highest on the list of weapons he owns - that is, not necessarily the best) before firing. If his energy level drops below 30 units - he uses Battery (of course, if he bought it before), if the energy drops below 5 and he has no Battery he surrenders - White Flag. At the beginning of the round, he makes 1 attempt to buy defensive weapons and 6 offensive weapons.

• Tosser - When attacking, he acts exactly like Poolshark. However, he may have a "better" weapon inventory due to a different purchase tactic. He always activates the best defensive weapon he has before shooting. Just like Poolshark he uses Battery and White Flag. At the beginning of the round, he assesses how much money he has, and depending on that, he makes (money/5100) attempts to buy defensive weapons and then checks again how much money he has left and makes (money/1250) attempts to buy offensive weapons.

• Chooser - Takes as a target the weakest opponent (with the least amount of energy) and aims very precisely, but before the shot the energy of the shot is modified by the parameter of luck :), that is, despite the precise aiming it does not always hit. He shoots with the best weapon he has unless the target is close. Then he changes his weapon to Baby Missile to avoid hitting himself. He always activates the best defensive weapon he has before shooting and, like Poolshark, uses Battery and White Flag. He purchases just like Tosser.

• Spoiler - He shoots exactly like Chooser except that he has more luck, which means that even if he doesn't hit the target of his choice, it can be a more precise shot than Chooser. If he is unable to hit his chosen target, he tries to choose another target that he can accurately hit. He uses defensive weapons exactly like Chooser. At the beginning of the round, he assesses how much money he has, and depending on that, he makes (money/5100) attempts to buy defensive weapons and then checks again how much money he has left and makes (money/320) attempts to buy offensive weapons. When buying defensive weapons, he buys only strong and precise weapons - that is, weapons that won't accidentally hurt him.

• Cyborg - Aims at the weakest opponent (with the least amount of energy) but prefers human-controlled opponents. If he is unable to hit his chosen target, he tries to choose another target that he can accurately hit. Aims very accurately and in the vast majority of cases hits on the first shot. He fires the shot with the best weapon he has unless the target is close. Then he changes his weapon to Baby Missile to avoid hitting himself. He uses defensive weapons exactly like Chooser but if he has more than 2 pieces of Battery he uses them if the energy decreases below 60 units. He shops exactly like Spoiler.

• Unknown - Before firing each shot, he randomly chooses a course of action from Poolshark to Cyborg and applies his tactics. However, the tactics of weapon purchases are always identical to Tosser.

Poolshark, Tosser, Chooser, Spoiler, and Cyborg never target a member of their own team during team play, even if it puts them at risk.

AI goes shopping.

Buying a weapon (offensive or defensive) works as follows: First, one of the weapons is drawn (among all possible offensive or defensive weapons). Then a check is performed to see if the drawn weapon is on the list of weapons possible for purchase by the tank. If not, no weapon is bought in this trial, and if so, its price is checked. If the tank has that much money, the weapon is bought, otherwise, the trial ends without making a purchase.

Table of weapons purchased by: Shooter, Poolshark, Tosser and Chooser.

Offensive	Defensive
Missile	Battery
Baby Nuke	Parachute
Nuke	Strong Parachute
LeapFrog	Mag Deflector
Funky Bomb	Shield
MIRV	Heavy Shield
Death's Head	Force Shield
Napalm	Bouncy Castle
Hot Napalm
Baby Roller
Roller
Heavy Roller

Table of weapons purchased by: Spoiler and Cyborg.

Offensive	Defensive
Missile	Battery
Baby Nuke	Strong Parachute
Nuke	Mag Deflector
Hot Napalm	Heavy Shield
	Force Shield
	Bouncy Castle

9. Tips from the peanut gallery.

Remember your defensive tools. Properly using Auto Defense, Shield, and Lazy Darwin will help you defeat the Cyborg, even with the help of a Baby Missile.

Fancier doesn't always mean better. Sometimes, a basic shield like the Shield is more effective than its pricier counterparts.

Napalm pierces through shields and even the ground. Although it's burning above, it scorches buried tanks.

Lazy Darwin also lends a hand in aiming weapons like the Laser.

Robo tanks don't have a knack for digging themselves out. When buried, they meet their demise from their shots.

In a hopeless situation, self-destruction might be a better option than waving the White Flag. Hitting yourself with a powerful weapon can earn you more cash than you'll lose (check the profit and loss calculation method).

Long Schlong has got serious intimidating power. Become the alpha tank and fear not.

Robo-tanks do not possess Autodefense, so their defenses activate only directly before their shot. A concentrated attack by several players on one robo tank guarantees success.

As a last resort, you can always become a Terminator (the standard model, not T-1000 :) ).

Break a barrel or two.