                                XROADS v0.6
                                -----------
What's New?
-----------
	Here's the main things added in v0.6:

- Improved monster targetting
- Monster alliances implemented
- Monsters will now collect spars too
- Character attributes added:
	- Skulls speed up when they eat spars
	- Rubberheads can reflect bullets
	- Mutants and Tagteams can work together
	- Dog is now on YOUR side
- Monsters now obey difficulty laws, XRoads won't be as hard to start off
- Joystick can be disabled at runtime
- Different font for score display (In preparation for main menu code)

Intro:
------
	Welcome to XRoads! XRoads is a game for the X Windows system that
attempts to be like the game Crossroads (and it's sequel, Pandemonium) for
the Commodore 64. Basically, it is a 2-dimensional, overhead view maze
game in which you fight against a gang of monsters. Sounds simple? Guess
again! There are (or at least, there will be) tons of different twists in
the game which make it fun.

Getting XRoads:
---------------
	Simple. Just go to http://www.autobahn.mb.ca/~foxtrot/xroads.html
and download it from there. However, there's a chance that webpage might
move... XRoads updates are posted on http://www.happypenguin.org and
http://freshmeat.net, and if the webpage changes, these updates will
always have the new one. (XRoads used to be on GeoCities, but since Yahoo
took over, I'm trying to phase out that site until I can remove it)

Compiling:
----------
	Sounds good you say? Okay, lets get you started with compiling the
program first. I should tell you that this game was originally built on a
Linux Slackware machine (i586) using XFree86 X11R6, and I really don't
have access to a lot of different machines, so I can't test it on
different operating systems. I have reports that it works fine on Solaris
machines (With one small change to the Makefile), but that BSD has some
problems with it. Your mileage may vary. Truthfully, it's not a very
complex game, so all that will probably be needed for other OS's would be
a few tweaks in the Makefile.

	First of all, you'll have to unzip and untar the program. There
are a few different ways to do it, but the easiest is like this:

hostname:~$ tar zxvf xroads-v0.4.tar.gz

	Then, you may want to check the Makefile to make sure it'll work
on your system (Check the "LINK = " line if you're not using Linux). This
step is optional. I believe the standard Makefile should work on most
boxes (Sorry, no Imake... yet...). You may also want to look in the 
config.h, as it contains a lot of default values, and the keyboard setup:

hostname:~$ cd xroads
hostname:~/xroads$ vi Makefile
hostname:~/xroads$ vi config.h

	Oh.. I probably should have mentioned that you should enter the
xroads directory that the .tar.gz makes when it is uncompressed. I really
shouldn't have to tell you that though :P Anyways, then just run "make":

hostname:~/xroads$ make

	If you get any errors, there's a good chance it's because of the
Makefile. If you're positive it's not the Makefile, send me an email and
I'll see if I can fix it for you. Hopefully, you should have a binary all
ready to run. (I suppose you could run "strip xroads" afterwards.. though
the executable isn't very large as it is, so it doesn't make much
difference)

Installing:
-----------
	To install XRoads and it's data files:

hostname:~/xroads# make install

	Note that you have to be root to do this. By default, this will
put the xroads binary in /usr/X11R6/bin, and will put the data files in
/usr/games/xroads. If you want to change these directories, just edit the
Makefile

	The *.xrm files that XRoads installs are used for maps. They can
be edited.. but you must be VERY careful, as XRoads is very sensitive to
the format of the map files. If that warning doesn't bother you, then
here's some advice: Use vi to edit the maps, and make sure you're in
"replace" mode. Each asterisk is a wall, and each space is not a wall.
There must be exactly 20 characters per line with a carriage return at the
end (21 in total), and they should be 23 lines long. I believe anything
after the 23rd line will be effectively ignored, so I suppose you could
put comments in there if you want. However, the number of maps XRoads
knows about is hardcoded into the game, so you'll have to recompile if you
add any extra maps unfortuntely. Changing existing levels shouldn't be a
problem though. This README is also copied to the data directory, just in
case you need it.

	If you get tired of XRoads and want to get rid of it, just type
'make uninstall' (assuming you still have the source code), and all the
files that 'make install' put on your system will be removed. In case you
deleted the source code a LONG time ago, all you have to do is delete the
files in the directory that this file is in, and delete the xroads binary.
Nothing else should have been installed on your system.

Playing:
--------
	So, it compiled alright? Great! Now you'll need to know how to
play the game. If you run the program, it should come up with a rather
bland title screen. Just click the window to start the game. Use the arrow
keys to move your character, and Enter to fire. Some other keys are:

1 - New map
r - Redraw Screen
Escape - Exit Game
Pause or P - Pause Game

	To play a multiplayer game, just start the game using the command
line parameter -p, for example "xroads -p 2" will start a two player game.
You can play with up to four players. The controls for the other three
players are as follows:

Player:       1             2             3             4
Color:      Green          Red          Yellow         Blue
-------------------------------------------------------------
Up            Up            W             I             8
Left         Down           A             J             4
Down         Down           S             K             5
Right       Right           D             L             6
Fire        Enter          Tab          Space         Enter
Fire 2        \          CapsLock         N             +

(Note: Player 4 uses the keypad)
(Note #2: Fire 2 doesn't do anything yet, but will someday)

	Also, if you type "xroads -keys", you will be given a list of the
keyboard setup. If you don't like the default keys, you can change them in
config.h and recompile. If four players on a keyboard is too crowded for
your tastes, you can use a joystick for one player (if you have one). See
below for details.

	The rest of the game is pretty simple to learn. Run around and
shoot the monsters, and avoid being shot yourself. The white swirling fan
things are called "Spars". You must pick 10 of them up to get to the next
level (I know, it was 5 in the original Crossroads, but XRoads is faster
paced, so I upped the number). Each spar will also give you one more hit
point, you start with 5 hit points, and you can never have more than 9
hit points at once. Your spar count, health, and score are printed at the
bottom of the screen. Each player has their own health and score, and a
level is ended as soon as any of the players collects ten spars (Spars are
counted individually)

	As an added bonus, there are two special spars in the game; the
Red and Blue spars. The Red Spar speeds up your firing rate, letting you
shoot a lot quicker (though the bullets don't actually move quicker), and
the Blue Spar makes you run faster. This may be difficult to control at
first, but it will become quite powerful once you get used to it. These
spars still count as regular spars too, giving you an extra hit point and
counting towards your spar count.

	Each monster you kill earns you 100 points, and a spar gives you
200 points. Passing a level rewards all players with an extra 500 points.
(This scoring system will likely change in the future)

	If you die, you'll be presented with another bland screen, which
(when clicked on) will go back to the title screen. If you are playing a
multiplayer game, then all players must die before the game will end. To
exit the game, just hit Escape, or click the delete button on your window
manager.

	Run XRoads with the parameter "-help" to get information on other
command line parameters you can use to change some of the games options.

Random Mazes:
-------------
	Getting bored of the levels in XRoads? Try random maze mode! Just
start XRoads with "xroads -maze", and each level will be generated
randomly. The random levels can be quite difficult, but should all be
solvable (If for some reason, you get a map that is unsolvable, just hit
'1' to generate a new map.) The seed used to generate each random maze is
printed to the console, though there is (as of yet) no way of entering a
seed to use

Joystick Control:
-----------------
	If you compiled with joystick support enabled (Linux only), the
joystick will be enabled by default, and will control player 1. For a
multiplayer game, you can have the joystick control a different player
with the -j option. For example, "xroads -p 4 -j 2" will start a four
player game, and the joystick will control player 2.

	If you are using an analog joystick, you might want to change the
value of JS_SENS in config.h and recompile. The higher it is, the farther
you will have to push the stick before your player will move. If you're
using a flightstick, this is important! I'm told a value of 20000 works ok
for a Sidewinder.

	However, there is a chance that your joystick may not work very
well in XRoads, and since it's enabled by default, it may cause problems
(Such as your player constantly walking to the left or such). If this is
the case, then try starting XRoads like so: "xroads -j 0", and the
joystick will be disabled. If you'd rather disable it permanently, you can
recompile XRoads without the joystick code entirely.

The Monsters:
-------------
	There is a large variety of monsters in XRoads, each with their
own traits and abilities. Some fire bullets at you, while others can only
bite you. Some have special abilities which are explained here.

	It is important to note that you are NOT the monsters only enemy.
Many of the monsters have their own enemies too, and will attack some of
the other monsters. However, they don't hate every other monster. For
example, the Brown Monkey and the Rubberheads are enemies, but a
Rubberhead won't attack a Blue Flea. If there are a lot of a certain
monster in a level, you can even the score by letting their enemy thin out
their ranks. Sometimes sparing an enemies life will help you kill off more
of a different enemy. 

	If a monster cannot find something fun for it to shoot, it will
often seek out it's friends, and clump together with them. Gangs of
monsters will form occasionally if you don't clear them out.

	The Brown Dog is actually not an enemy. He will attack your
enemies, and help you out. However, if he accidentally gets in the way of
your bullets, he will die.

	The purple, blue, and green Rubberheads can be VERY dangerous. The
weapon they fire is a worm, which is an enemy in itself which can fire
bullets at you. Not only do you have to kill these worms, but you also
have to worry about killing the Rubberhead too. As if this wasn't enough,
there's also a very good reason they are called Rubberheads. Unless you
fire while they are facing you, your bullet will bounce right off them,
doing no damage whatsoever.

	The White Skulls have no ranged attacks, but that doesn't mean
they are pushovers. If a Skull happens across a spar, it will get faster
when it eats it. After two of these spars, they will be incredibly fast,
and your best chance may be to hide and hope the other monsters manage to
overcome it. (Note that in addition to the speedup, they also get an extra
hit point, so they will take more shots to kill)

	The Green Vaccuum cannot shoot you or bite you. However, he has an
even more dangerous attack! He can suck you towards him with his vaccuum.
If you get too close, it means instant death! You can evade the vaccuum
if you notice it soon enough, but don't run too close to him.

	The Pink Human, and the Pink Tagteam can join together to fight
you! If a human happens across a Tagteam, he will jump on it's back and
ride it around. The resulting monster is faster and deadlier! In later
levels, this monster will appear automatically!

	There are a few monsters (notably the Blue Egghead and the Red
Chomper) that can turn themselves invisible! They can only do this when
they are relatively undisturbed, and their invisibility can be disrupted
if they are attacked. This does not happen in the early levels of the
game. [Note: This is not yet implemented]

Bugs:
-----
	Yes, there's bugs... after all, it's a really early version of the
game, so don't rag on me too bad... There should have been a file called
BUGS included in the .tar.gz... it has what you're looking for. If I
manage to fix a big bug, I'll probably release another version (Such as
0.6.1 or something).

What's Coming?
--------------
	XRoads is also quite unfinished as well. My current plan is to get
it working about as well as Crossroads itself works first (hopefully, this
will be version 1.0), and then add my own extra features and powerups and
such. In case you want to know exactly what I have in mind, take a look at
the TODO file that came with XRoads. There's a ton of stuff in there, and
a lot of it is just stuff I thought up off the top of my head, so don't
hold your breath. Most of the Crossroads stuff has been finished however,
so many of the changes from now on will be changes to gameplay to make it
feel more like Crossroads, and new additions that I make to it myself.

	The main things I'd like to add now are an options menu of sorts,
without having to learn anything about any widget sets. I'd also like to
work sound effects in someday soon. "Cloaking" remains unimplemented, and
may remain so for a while. Gameplay also requires a lot of tweaks before
it plays just like Crossroads. One of these days, I'd like to make XRoads
use higher resolution for it's tiles (This will break the HALFSIZE and
DOUBLESIZE options though)

Crossroads:
-----------
	Crossroads was originally written by Steve Harter for the
Commodore 64 in 1987, and was published by Compute!'s Gazette. Crossroads
II: Pandemonium was published in 1988. If you would like to play the
original Crossroads, there is a gzipped .d64 file on the XRoads webpage
(http://www.autobahn.mb.ca/~foxtrot/xroads.html). You will need a
Commodore 64 emulator to be able to play it. Further instructions are on
the webpage (Note: I don't know if offering this .d64 is legal or not, so
if anyone can prove to me that it isn't, I'll take it down immediately)

Contacting Me:
--------------
	Got a question? Found a new bug? Want to tell me my game sucks?
Got XRoads to compile a different operating system? Go right ahead! My
email address is foxtrot@autobahn.mb.ca and it is checked fairly often, so
I'll probably reply rather quickly. However, if you send me a message
like: "Your game sucks bad! You're not as l33t as I am! Muhahaha!" there's
a good chance I'll just delete it and forget about it. I don't work on
this game to get yelled at :P If you don't get a reply, well, sorry... I'm
a pretty lazy person, and my life gets a little hectic at times...

	I'm also on ICQ and IRC once in a blue moon... My UIN is 5149932,
and on IRC, I usually go by the nickname Ze_ro

Thanks:
-------
	Big thanks go out to the following people:

Bob Glamm (SGI help)
Michele Bini (Random Maze Generator)
Fredrick Knieper (KeySym stuff)
Richard Wicks (Also KeySym stuff)
and of course:
Steve Harter (For writing the game in the first place :)

Note:
-----
	This program is provided "as is". I accept no responsibility for
any problems resulting from the use (or mis-use) or this program in any 
way. Do whatever you want with this program, as long as you do me a few 
favors:

 1 - Make sure to give me *some* credit (all you have to do is mention my
     name somewhere)
 2 - Any use of this code, wether in it's original form or in an altered
     state, must be provided free of charge. That goes for binaries AND
     source code.

That's all for now... have fun!
						--Brad Johnson
						  foxtrot@autobahn.mb.ca
http://www.autobahn.mb.ca/~foxtrot/xroads.html
