


xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


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

       This manpage agrees with version 0.1.11 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.

       _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   Activate your best shields.  Currently, there is no
              way to choose which shields you want  to  activate;
              this will be fixed in an upcoming release.

       _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.

       _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



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xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


       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''.

       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



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xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


              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'';
              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 PPrrooffiil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.




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xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


       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

       _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).

       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





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xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


       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
                              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



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xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


              purchased  by  any  player,  under  normal  circum-
              stances.

       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 con-
              figuration (e.g.  contact triggers  are  irrelevant
              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.




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xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


       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)
              N/A

       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.

       _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.

       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.

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.





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xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


       ----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.

       ----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



Justin David Smith           May 2001                          10





xscorch(6)                                             xscorch(6)


              conjunction 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                          11


