


xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


NNAAMMEE
       xscorch - Annihilate enemy tanks using overpowered guns.

       This manpage agrees with version 0.1.13 of xscorch.

SSYYNNOOPPSSIISS
       xxssccoorrcchh

       xxssccoorrcchh _[_o_p_t_i_o_n_s_]

       xxssccoorrcchh ----hheellpp

DDEESSCCRRIIPPTTIIOONN
       Xscorch  is  a  clone  of  the classic DOS game, "Scorched
       Earth". The basic goal is to annihilate enemy tanks  using
       overpowered  guns :). Basically, you buy weapons, you tar-
       get the enemy by adjusting the angle of  your  turret  and
       firing  power,  and  you hope to destroy their tank before
       they destroy yours.

GGAAMMEEPPLLAAYY
       First, fiddle with the options in the  main  menu.   There
       are  a  number of options which are described below, which
       may make the game easier or harder.  The  default  options
       make for a reasonable level of gameplay.  Most of the game
       configuration  is  controlled  from  the  user  interface,
       although  there  are  a few command-line options which are
       mentioned below.  Once you are ready to begin a new  game,
       you might want to _S_a_v_e _O_p_t_i_o_n_s to save your configuration,
       then select _B_e_g_i_n _G_a_m_e to start a new game.

       Gameplay is divided up into several  rounds.   Each  round
       consists of two parts:  the _I_n_v_e_n_t_o_r_y phase and the _B_a_t_t_l_e
       phase.  In the Inventory phase, you  can  buy  weapons  to
       shoot  at  your  opponents, and accessories to help defend
       your tank.  See the Inventory section below  for  informa-
       tion  on  the weapons and accessories you may buy.  In the
       Battle phase, you setup defenses, choose a weapon, aim and
       fire  at your opponents.  See the section on Battle below,
       for more information.

IINNVVEENNTTOORRYY
       The player has the option to buy weapons  and  accessories
       to make the game more interesting.  Weapons are just that:
       an assortment of missiles, including  ICBM-like  warheads,
       napalm,  lasers,  and  a number of custom weapons to bring
       down specific defenses.  Accessories are methods  to  make
       gameplay  easier  for the player and increase their chance
       of survival, with guidance systems, shields, fuel, batter-
       ies, and other odds-and-ends.

       At  the  beginning  of  a  round,  each player is given an
       opportunity to buy or sell weapons and accessories.   Each
       player  may  have up to 99 of any item in their inventory.



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xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


       A few weapons have an infinite supply (for  example,  Baby
       Missiles) - these weapons cannot be purchased.

       Weapons and accessories are sold in bundles; the price for
       the bundle is displayed in the inventory, and you must buy
       items as a complete bundle.  The exception to this is when
       a player attempts to buy more of an item than their inven-
       tory can hold; in this case, the bundle will be broken and
       the weapons are sold on an individual basis, with a  small
       markup applied.

       Weapons  and  accessories may also be sold from a player's
       inventory.  Again, items are generally sold as  a  bundle.
       The  player will receive a reduced amount of money for the
       sale - hey, the middleman has to make money somewhere :)

       In the Inventory screen, two panels are displayed, listing
       the  weapons  and accessories that are available.  The _T_a_b
       key will switch between the various panes.  _U_p  _A_r_r_o_w  and
       _D_o_w_n  _A_r_r_o_w  will  allow  the player to scroll through the
       list of items, _R_i_g_h_t _A_r_r_o_w will buy  a  bundle,  and  _L_e_f_t
       _A_r_r_o_w  will  sell  a  bundle  of the currently highlighted
       item.

       For each item, the _n_a_m_e, _b_u_n_d_l_e _s_i_z_e/_t_o_t_a_l _p_r_i_c_e, and _c_u_r_-
       _r_e_n_t _i_n_v_e_n_t_o_r_y are displayed.

       Items  which  can  neither  be  bought or sold will appear
       darkened.  If the player has  maxed  their  inventory  for
       that  item, or they cannot afford to purchase the item, or
       the item has a  higher  _a_r_m_s  _l_e_v_e_l  than  the  player  is
       allowed,  then  the item cannot be purchased.  Items which
       can be bought will appear with an arrow  pointing  to  the
       right,  and  items  which  can be sold will appear with an
       arrow pointing to the left.

       The items that are available are listed in  the  next  two
       sections.

WWEEAAPPOONNSS LLIISSTT
       This  list  will be added once the weapons list is reason-
       ably stable.

AACCCCEESSSSOORRIIEESS LLIISSTT
       This list will be added once the accessories list is  rea-
       sonably stable.

BBAATTTTLLEE
       This overview is sadly, incomplete.

TTAANNKK CCOONNTTRROOLLSS
       _L_e_f_t, _R_i_g_h_t
              Change the turret angle.  This will adjust the tur-
              ret angle in increments of 5  degrees.   For  finer



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xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


              control,  hold  _S_h_i_f_t to adjust the angle in incre-
              ments of 1 degree.

       _U_p, _D_o_w_n
              Change the firing power, in the range of 0 to 1000.
              This  will adjust the firing power in increments of
              20.  For finer control, hold _S_h_i_f_t  to  adjust  the
              firing power in increments of 1.

       _T_a_b    Select the next weapon available in your inventory.

       _S_h_i_f_t_+_T_a_b
              Select the previous weapon available in your inven-
              tory.

       _B, _b   Activate  a  battery.  A single battery can restore
              5% of damage  done  to  your  tank,  and  therefore
              restore the maximum firing power by 5% when you are
              damaged.  You must have a battery to  discharge  in
              your inventory to excercise this option.

       _E, _e   Activate   or   energize   the  currently  selected
              shields.

       _F, _f   Activate your fuel tanks.  A window  will  be  dis-
              played,  indicating  the  amount  of  fuel you have
              available.  As long as you have fuel, you  may  use
              the  _L_e_f_t  and _R_i_g_h_t arrows to move one unit to the
              left or right, respectively.  In general, you  can-
              not move your tank up a steep hill.  Immobile tanks
              will not be able to excercise this option.

       _R, _r   Force a redraw of the screen.

       _S, _s   Toggle the currently selected  shields.   The  cur-
              rently  selected shields are the shields which will
              be used when you Energize.  Shields are  classified
              by  a  power number with a type suffix:  _M for mag-
              netic shielding, _F for force shielding, and  _S  for
              your  standard,  run-of-the-mill  shields.   If  no
              shields are available, _0_S is displayed.

       _T, _t   Toggle contact triggers on/off.  This is only mean-
              ingful  if  you actually _h_a_v_e some contact triggers
              of course, and when tunneling is enabled.   Weapons
              that  are  fired after this point will have contact
              triggers equipped (until you run out).

       _0 - _9  Display information about a particular  player.   _1
              gives  information  about  Player  1,  and  _0 gives
              information about Player 10.

       _E_n_t_e_r  Accept your orders.




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xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


       _C_t_r_l_+_Y Bring up the System Menu (this can also be accessed
              from  the menus).  You can control certain graphics
              options from the system menu, clear the  screen  of
              smoke trails, and end a round prematurely.

       _C_t_r_l_+_Z Pauses the game.

       _C_t_r_l_+_R Resign  from  the game.  This will end the game for
              everyone.  You will be asked to confirm the  resig-
              nation.

SSYYSSTTEEMM MMEENNUU
       The system menu gives you some control over the game while
       it is in progress.  In this menu, you will have options to
       change  how the game is displayed (e.g.  the _G_r_a_p_h_i_c_s _F_a_s_t
       option described below).  You also have access  to  a  few
       useful commands, described below.

       MMaassss KKiillll
              Kills everyone still alive in the round.  No player
              gets credit for the kills, and none are  considered
              a  suicide.   This  option  is  useful if all human
              players have already been eliminated from the game,
              but  the  AI players are making no progress whatso-
              ever in annihilating each other.  This option  ends
              the current round only.

       EErraassee SSmmookkee
              If  you have used smoke tracers or have _T_r_a_c_e _P_a_t_h_s
              enabled, then this  option  will  clear  all  smoke
              trails from the sky.

       RReettrreeaatt
              N/A

       RReessiiggnn GGaammee
              Resigns  from  the  current round and all remaining
              rounds.  This option ends the entire game, and will
              take you back to the intro screen.

       SSoouunndd SSeettuupp
              Takes you to the _S_o_u_n_d _O_p_t_i_o_n_s window.

AAII PPLLAAYYEERRSS
       HHuummaann  The humans believe they are the superior mind.  The
              AI's rather disagree  with  that  sentiment.   Keep
              this  in  mind  when  you  are wondering why 9 AI's
              would want to simultaneously target your tank...

       MMoorroonn  This AI fires at random.  Of all the AI's, this one
              has  by far the highest suicide rate.  An alternate
              name is ``Cannon Fodder''.





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xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


       SShhooootteerr
              This AI goes for targets it has a line-of-sight to.
              It's  not  a  great player otherwise.  This AI buys
              weapons that have the best  economical  yield,  but
              during  the  game it will select weapons which have
              the highest yield.

       SSpprreeaaddeerr
              This  AI  is  similar  to  the  Shooter,  except  a
              Spreader buys weapons with the highest yield, with-
              out regard for the price.

       CChhoooosseerr
              This AI chooses a victim.  Once chosen, the  victim
              is  attacked  until  they  are dead, or the Chooser
              loses the ability to reach the victim. This AI does
              not  need  line-of-sight, but fortunately it cannot
              compensate for wind.

       CCaallccuullaatteerr
              This AI is like Chooser, except  a  Calculater  can
              compensate  for  the  wind.   These guys are fairly
              deadly in a fight; they also tend to allocate large
              budgets to defense and offense.

       AAnnnniihhiillaatteerr
              This  AI  goes  for weapons that will cause as much
              damage as possible, without much regard  for  indi-
              vidual  victims.  This AI prefers spread weapons to
              the more focused, precision weapons.  A few Annihi-
              laters  can  clear  the terrain easily.  These AI's
              don't worry about defenses too  much.   With  their
              destructive  tendency, they won't survive long any-
              way - but neither will anyone else.

       IInnssaanniittyy
              No one knows what this AI thinks...

       UUnnkknnoowwnn
              This selects one of the above AI's at  random,  but
              you will not be informed which AI was selected.

CCOONNFFIIGGUURRAATTIIOONN OOPPTTIIOONNSS
       _P_l_a_y_e_r_s_/_R_o_u_n_d_s:

       NNuummbbeerr ooff PPllaayyeerrss (integer, 2-10)
              Set  the  number  of  players  participating in the
              game.

       NNuummbbeerr ooff RRoouunnddss (integer, >= 1)
              Set the number of rounds to play for this game.

       AAII TTyyppee (list)
              Select the AI type.  Human players  are  ``Human'';



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xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


              the remaining AI's are documented above.

       PPllaayyeerr NNaammee (string)
              Give a unique name for each player.

       TTaannkk SSttyyllee (list)
              Select the type/shape of the tank, for each player.

       _E_c_o_n_o_m_i_c_s:

       IInntteerreesstt RRaattee (float, 0-0.30)
              Interest rate  for  savings,  compounded  once  per
              round.

       DDyynnaammiicc IInntteerreesstt (toggle)
              If  enabled,  interest rates will change during the
              game.

       IInniittiiaall CCaasshh (integer, 0-1000000)
              Amount of money each player should start with.

       CCoommppuutteerrss CCaann BBuuyy (toggle)
              If enabled, computers are permitted to  buy  items.
              The  AI's  are very uninteresting if this option is
              turned off.

       CCoommppuutteerrss BBuuyy AAggggrreessssiivveellyy (toggle)
              If the previous option is enabled,  the  AI's  will
              buy  items  conservatively.   With this option, the
              AI's will allocate larger budgets  and  buy  bigger
              items early in the game.

       FFrreeee MMaarrkkeett (toggle)
              N/A

       SSccoorriinngg (list)
              Specify how scoring works:
                   _B_a_s_i_c    Players  only receive money for kills
                            and survival.
                   _S_t_a_n_d_a_r_d Players receive less money for  kills
                            and  survival,  but  they  will  also
                            receive money for damaging  an  oppo-
                            nent.
                   _G_r_e_e_d_y   N/A

       TThhee LLootttteerryy (toggle)
              If  the  lottery is enabled, there will be a random
              drawing at the  start  of  each  round.   A  random
              player will receive a bundle of a random weapon for
              free as the lottery award.  This is a great way  to
              inject a little extra life into AIs who are usually
              conservative buyers.  Plus it's  always  great  fun
              when you get a free Annihilator...




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xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


       _P_h_y_s_i_c_s:

       AAiirr VViissccoossiittyy (float)
              N/A

       GGrraavviittyy (float, 0-10)
              Specify  the  gravity,  in pixels per cycle squared
              (one cycle is roughly 50 milliseconds).

       GGrroouunndd DDaammppiinngg (float, 0-10)
              Specify the ground damping, used in tunnelling cal-
              culations.

       MMaaxxiimmuumm WWiinndd SSppeeeedd (float, 0-10)
              Specify the maximum wind speed, in pixels per cycle
              squared.  The actual wind velocity  is  initialised
              once per round, to some value in (-_m_a_x, _m_a_x).

       WWiinndd iiss DDyynnaammiicc (toggle)
              Normally the wind remains constant through a round.
              If this is enabled, the wind will change  once  per
              turn.

       SSuussppeenndd DDiirrtt (percentage)
              N/A

       TTaannkkss FFaallll (percentage)
              N/A

       BBoorrddeerrss EExxtteenndd (integer, >= 0)
              This specifies how far off-screen weapons should be
              tracked, when you are playing with no walls.   When
              this  value is zero, weapons will disappear as soon
              as they leave the screen in the  horizontal  direc-
              tion,  even  if  wind  would have brought them back
              on-screen.

       WWaallllss AArree (list)
              Specify how weapons behave when they hit  a  bound-
              ary.   Note,  the  ground is always ``concrete'' --
              this specifies how the sides and ceiling behave:
                   _N_o_n_e       The sides and ceiling are open.
                   _C_o_n_c_r_e_t_e   All sides are solid.  Weapons  hit-
                              ting any boundary will explode.
                   _P_a_d_d_e_d     Weapons hitting the sides and ceil-
                              ing will bounce off, although at  a
                              reduced velocity.
                   _R_u_b_b_e_r     Weapons  hitting  the boundary will
                              bounce  off  at  exactly  the  same
                              velocity.
                   _S_p_r_i_n_g_y    Weapons  hitting  the boundary will
                              bounce  off  with   an   additional
                              ``kick'' to the velocity.
                   _W_r_a_p_a_r_o_u_n_d The ceiling is open.  Weapons going



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xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


                              off one side will reappear  on  the
                              opposite   side.   Explosions  will
                              also wrap around the screen if they
                              detonate near an edge.
                   _R_a_n_d_o_m     One of the above types of walls are
                              selected at random.

       _L_a_n_d_s_c_a_p_e:

       SSkkyy (list)
              Specify the background sky.

       HHoossttiillee EEnnvviirroonnmmeenntt (toggle)
              N/A

       LLaanndd GGeenneerraattoorr (list)
              Specify the generator to use to create the land.

       BBuummppiinneessss (percentage)
              Specify the noise on the generated landscape.

       _W_e_a_p_o_n_s:

       AArrmmss LLeevveell (integer, 0-4)
              Specify the maximum arms level for the game.   Only
              weapons  with  this arms level or lower may be pur-
              chased by any player, under normal circumstances.

       BBoommbb IIccoonn SSiizzee (integer, 0-4)
              Specify the size of the bomb icons, while they  are
              traversing  their  path  in the sky.  This does not
              affect the size of explosions, or the size  of  the
              smoke paths (if _t_r_a_c_e _p_a_t_h_s is on).

       TTuunnnneelliinngg (toggle)
              If set, weapons are allowed to tunnel through land.
              If you enable this, you will want  to  buy  contact
              triggers  if you want a particular weapon to always
              detonate on impact (instead  of  tunneling  through
              land).

       SSccaalliinngg (float)
              Scale  the  size  of  explosions by this value.  If
              playing on a  very  large  or  very  small  playing
              field, you might want to adjust this value.

       TTrraaccee PPaatthhss (toggle)
              If  enabled,  all  weapons  leave  a smoke trail to
              reveal their trajectory.  If this  option  is  off,
              you  can  still  use _S_m_o_k_e _T_r_a_c_e_r_s to determine the
              path a weapon will take.

       UUsseelleessss IItteemmss (toggle)
              Some weapons  are  not  useful  given  the  current



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xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


              configuration  (e.g.   contact triggers are irrele-
              vant if tunneling is disabled).  If this option  is
              enabled, then weapons which will have no effect are
              not listed in the inventory screens.

       _G_r_a_p_h_i_c_s:

       SSccrreeeenn WWiiddtthh (integer)
              Set the width of the playing field, in pixels.

       SSccrreeeenn HHeeiigghhtt (integer)
              Set the height of the playing field, in pixels.

       DDiitthheerriinngg (toggle)
              If enabled, the land  and  sky  gradients  will  be
              dithered.   This  option  is particularly useful on
              16-bit displays, where the gradient is very notica-
              ble otherwise.  This does slow down land generation
              somewhat.

       AAnniimmaattiioonn (toggle)
              If enabled, explosions and other  effects  will  be
              animated.   This option can also be controlled from
              the _S_y_s_t_e_m _M_e_n_u.

       GGrraapphhiiccss AArree FFaasstt (toggle)
              If enabled, all graphics are always as fast as pos-
              sible.  This option can also be controlled from the
              _S_y_s_t_e_m _M_e_n_u.

       CCoommppuutteerrss AArree FFaasstt (toggle)
              If enabled, graphics are fast when there only  com-
              puter  players  are alive.  This option can also be
              controlled from the _S_y_s_t_e_m _M_e_n_u.

       _G_a_m_e_p_l_a_y _O_p_t_i_o_n_s:

       MMooddee (list)
              Determines if all players will fire at  once  (_S_y_n_-
              _c_h_r_o_n_o_u_s),  or  whether each player will fire inde-
              pendently (_S_e_q_u_e_n_t_i_a_l).

       TTeeaammss (list)
              N/A

       OOrrddeerr (list)
              Determines the player order.

       TTaallkk MMooddee (list)
              Determines who is allowed to talk.

       TTaallkk PPrroobbaabbiilliittyy (percentage)
              Determines the likelihood that a player will  speak
              at the end of a turn.



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xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


       EExxtteennddeedd SSttaattuuss (toggle)
              If  set,  the status bar will contain an additional
              row of extended information during the game (things
              such  as  trigger  and  battery  inventories, life,
              wind).

       TToooollttiippss (toggle)
              If set, tooltips will be displayed where available.

       _A_I _C_o_n_t_r_o_l_l_e_r:

       HHuummaann TTaarrggeett PPrraaccttiiccee (toggle)
              AI's will always prefer human targets to AI targets
              (except for AI's that fire at random).  When  play-
              ing  against  9 Calculators, this can make your day
              pretty lousy.

       AAllllooww OOffffsseett TTaarrggeettttiinngg (toggle)
              Generally, when a weapon hits a shield it does less
              damage  than  an explosion detonating right outside
              the shield (weapons hitting the shield do not  have
              a chance to detonate).  This changes the AI target-
              ting behaviour so they will deliberately  aim  out-
              side  the  shield,  if  their  intended  victim has
              raised shields.

       AAllwwaayyss OOffffsseett (toggle)
              If the above option is set, this option will  force
              the  AI  to  always offset its targetting as if the
              player had raised shields.  This allows the  AI  to
              compensate  for  cases  where the player may simply
              not have had their turn yet to raise shields.   The
              downside  is  the  AI will never attempt to score a
              direct hit with this option enabled.

       EEnnaabbllee SSccaann RReeffiinneemmeenntt (toggle)
              If set, harder AIs are allowed to refine their tra-
              jectories  by computing trajectories that take into
              account player shielding effect and  various  other
              factors they do not normally consider.  This option
              could slow down gameplay a bit but  makes  the  AIs
              much more difficult.

       NNoo BBuuddggeett CCoonnssttrraaiinnttss (toggle)
              AI's  will  spend as much money as they can, disre-
              garding their budget preferences.

       _S_o_u_n_d _S_e_t_u_p:

       EEnnaabbllee SSoouunndd (toggle)
              When set, music and sound effects will be played.

       UUssee HHQQ MMiixxeerr (toggle)
              When set, mikmod's high-quality mixer will be used.



Justin David Smith           May 2001                          10





xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


CCOOMMMMAANNDD--LLIINNEE OOPPTTIIOONNSS
       ----hheellpp Display   a  brief  synopsis  of  the  command-line
              options available.

       ----iinnssaanniittyy
              This is insanity, Max!  Or what if it's genius?

       ----yyiieellddss
              Display weapon yields, and economical yields.

       ----ggeeoommeettrryy==_wxx_h
              Specify an initial  window  geometry  for  xscorch,
              where  _w  is  the  width and _h is the height of the
              playing  field.   Useful  for  displays  less  than
              around  800x600 resolution.  Note this option over-
              rides the settings in the config file, but you  can
              save  the  new  options  to your config file so you
              don't have to specify this  every  time.   You  may
              also use --gg.

       ----ccoonnffiigg==_f_i_l_e
              Load an alternate user config file, in _f_i_l_e.

       ----ssoouunndd
              Enable  music  and sound effects.  You may also use
              --SS.

       ----nnoossoouunndd
              Disable music and sound effects.  You may also  use
              --ss.

       ----hhqqmmiixxeerr
              Enable  use  of the high-quality mixer, if sound is
              enabled.  This may use a lot of CPU power on  older
              machines.

       ----nnoohhqqmmiixxeerr
              Disable  use of the high-quality mixer, if sound is
              enabled.

       ----nnaammee Set the name of your player, if you are  initiating
              a  network  game.   By  default,  your user name is
              used.

       ----ppoorrtt Set the port number to use in a network game.  This
              option   is  only  relevant  if  you  also  specify
              ----cclliieenntt or ----sseerrvveerr.  The default is dependent  on
              the protocol number, but is some large port number.

       ----cclliieenntt==_s_e_r_v_e_r
              Start xscorch in client mode, and connect to _s_e_r_v_e_r
              (which  should  already be running).  If ----nnaammee and
              ----ppoorrtt are not specified, reasonable  defaults  are
              used.



Justin David Smith           May 2001                          11





xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


       ----sseerrvveerr
              Start  xscorch in server mode, and wait for connec-
              tions from the clients.  ----nnaammee may be used in con-
              junction to specify the name of this player.

NNEETTWWOORRKK MMOODDEE
       This is very unstable right now, and therefore is not doc-
       umented.

FFIILLEESS
       ~~//..xxssccoorrcchh//ccoonnffiigg
              User's default configuration for xscorch.

       xxssccoorrcchh..ttxxtt
              Copy of this manual page.  This file  is  installed
              to  your  local share directory, and is used by the
              on-line help system.

       ccooppyyiinngg..ttxxtt
              Copy of the GPL. This file  is  installed  to  your
              local  share  directory, and is used by the on-line
              help system.

       ttaannkkpprrooffiilleess
              Profile bitmaps for the tanks,  usually  stored  in
              the local share directory.

SSEEEE AALLSSOO
       The  xscorch  home  page  at  <http://chaos2.org/xscorch>.
       There is also additional documentation in the source  dis-
       tribution.

AAUUTTHHOORRSS
       xscorch    was    written    by    Justin    David   Smith
       <justins(at)chaos2.org>   and    Jacob    Luna    Lundberg
       <jacob(at)chaos2.org>.   (Please  do not list these e-mail
       addresses on webpages, or list  them  in  other  packages,
       without contacting us first.)

       This   manual   page   written   by   Justin  David  Smith
       <justins(at)chaos2.org>.   Copyright(c)  2001,2000  Justin
       David Smith.















Justin David Smith           May 2001                          12


