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<!ENTITY legal SYSTEM "legal.xml">
<!ENTITY appversion "2.18">
<!ENTITY manrevision "2.9">
<!ENTITY date "August 2007">
<!ENTITY app "<application>Robots</application>">
<!ENTITY appname "Robots">
]>
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<article id="index" lang="en_GB"> 
<!-- please do not change the id; for translations, change lang to -->
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  <articleinfo>
    <title><application>Robots</application> Manual</title>

    <abstract role="description">
      <para>Robots is a graphical version of the original text-based robots game, which can be found on a number of UNIX systems. The player must outwit the robots chasing him/her by getting them to run into each other.</para>
    </abstract>

      <copyright>
        <year>2001</year>
        <holder>Patanjali Somayaji, Mark Rae</holder>
      </copyright><copyright><year>2009</year><holder>Philip Withnall (philip@tecnocode.co.uk)</holder></copyright>

    <!-- translators: uncomment this:

    <copyright>
      <year>2000</year>
      <holder>ME-THE-TRANSLATOR (Latin translation)</holder>
    </copyright>

    -->

<!-- An address can be added to the publisher information.  If a role is 
     not specified, the publisher/author is the same for all versions of the 
     document.  -->
    <publisher> 
      <publishername>GNOME Documentation Project</publishername> 
    </publisher> 

     <legalnotice id="legalnotice">
	<para>Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation Licence (GFDL), Version 1.1 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover Texts. You can find a copy of the GFDL at this <ulink type="help" url="ghelp:fdl">link</ulink> or in the file COPYING-DOCS distributed with this manual.</para>
         <para>This manual is part of a collection of GNOME manuals distributed under the GFDL. If you want to distribute this manual separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the licence to the manual, as described in section 6 of the licence.</para>

	<para>Many of the names used by companies to distinguish their products and services are claimed as trademarks. Where those names appear in any GNOME documentation, and the members of the GNOME Documentation Project are made aware of those trademarks, then the names are in capital letters or initial capital letters.</para>

	<para>DOCUMENT AND MODIFIED VERSIONS OF THE DOCUMENT ARE PROVIDED UNDER THE TERMS OF THE GNU FREE DOCUMENTATION LICENCE WITH THE FURTHER UNDERSTANDING THAT: <orderedlist>
		<listitem>
		  <para>DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES THAT THE DOCUMENT OR MODIFIED VERSION OF THE DOCUMENT IS FREE OF DEFECTS MERCHANTABLE, FIT FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGING. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY, ACCURACY, AND PERFORMANCE OF THE DOCUMENT OR MODIFIED VERSION OF THE DOCUMENT IS WITH YOU. SHOULD ANY DOCUMENT OR MODIFIED VERSION PROVE DEFECTIVE IN ANY RESPECT, YOU (NOT THE INITIAL WRITER, AUTHOR OR ANY CONTRIBUTOR) ASSUME THE COST OF ANY NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. THIS DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY CONSTITUTES AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THIS LICENCE. NO USE OF ANY DOCUMENT OR MODIFIED VERSION OF THE DOCUMENT IS AUTHORISED HEREUNDER EXCEPT UNDER THIS DISCLAIMER; AND</para>
		</listitem>
		<listitem>
		  <para>UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES AND UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY, WHETHER IN TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), CONTRACT, OR OTHERWISE, SHALL THE AUTHOR, INITIAL WRITER, ANY CONTRIBUTOR, OR ANY DISTRIBUTOR OF THE DOCUMENT OR MODIFIED VERSION OF THE DOCUMENT, OR ANY SUPPLIER OF ANY OF SUCH PARTIES, BE LIABLE TO ANY PERSON FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY CHARACTER INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER DAMAGES OR LOSSES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO USE OF THE DOCUMENT AND MODIFIED VERSIONS OF THE DOCUMENT, EVEN IF SUCH PARTY SHALL HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.</para>
		</listitem>
	  </orderedlist></para>
  </legalnotice>


   <!-- This file  contains link to license for the documentation (GNU FDL), and 
        other legal stuff such as "NO WARRANTY" statement. Please do not change 
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    <authorgroup> 
      <author role="maintainer"> 
	<firstname>Patanjali</firstname> 
	<surname>Somayaji</surname> 
	<affiliation> 
	  <address> <email>patanjali@mindless.com</email> </address> 
	</affiliation> 
      </author> 
      <author> 
	<firstname>Mark</firstname> 
	<surname>Rae</surname> 
	<affiliation> 
	  <address> <email>m.rae@inpharmatica.co.uk</email> </address> 
	</affiliation> 
      </author> 
<!-- This is appropriate place for other contributors: translators,
      maintainers,  etc. Commented out by default.
       <othercredit role="translator">
	<firstname>Latin</firstname> 
	<surname>Translator 1</surname> 
	<affiliation> 
	  <orgname>Latin Translation Team</orgname> 
	  <address> <email>translator@gnome.org</email> </address> 
	</affiliation>
	<contrib>Latin translation</contrib>
      </othercredit>
-->
    </authorgroup>

    <revhistory>
      <revision> 
	<revnumber>Robots Manual V2.8</revnumber> 
	<date>September 2004</date> 
	<revdescription> 
	  <para role="author">Patanjali Somayaji <email>patanjali@mindless.com</email></para>
	  <para role="author">Mark Rae <email>m.rae@inpharmatica.co.uk</email></para>
	  <para role="publisher">GNOME Documentation Project</para>
	</revdescription> 
      </revision> 
      <revision> 
	<revnumber>Robots Manual V2.9</revnumber> 
	<date>August 2007</date> 
	<revdescription> 
	  <para role="author">Claude Paroz <email>claude@2xlibre.net</email></para>
	  <para role="publisher">GNOME Documentation Project</para>
	</revdescription> 
      </revision> 
    </revhistory> 

    <releaseinfo>This manual describes version 2.18 of Robots.</releaseinfo>
    <!-- The following feedback information only applies to appliactions
    listed in bugzilla.gnome.org and bugzilla.ximian.com. For other
    applications, please provide your own feedback info or remove thsi
    section altogether -->
    <legalnotice> 
      <title>Feedback</title> 
      <para>To report a bug or make a suggestion regarding the <application>Robots</application> application or this manual, follow the directions in the <ulink url="ghelp:gnome-feedback" type="help">GNOME Feedback Page</ulink>.</para>
<!-- Translators may also add here feedback address for translations -->
    </legalnotice> 

  </articleinfo>

  <indexterm zone="index"> 
    <primary>GNOME Robots</primary> 
  </indexterm>

   <!-- ============= Document Body ============================= -->

   <!-- ============= Introduction ============================== -->
   <sect1 id="intro">
     <title>Introduction</title>

     <para><application>GNOME Robots</application> is a game where you try and avoid a band of marauding robots which are, for no adequately explained reason, trying to kill you. It is based on the text-based robots game which can be found on a number of UNIX systems.</para>
     <para>This new version includes two types of robots, movable junkheaps, multiple game configurations, user definable keyboard layouts, and sound, as well as all of the features which were present in the original <application>GNOME Robots</application> game.</para>

     <para>To run <application>GNOME Robots</application>, select <menuchoice><guisubmenu>Games</guisubmenu><guimenuitem>Robots</guimenuitem></menuchoice> from the <guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu>, or type <command>gnobots2</command> on the command line.</para>

     <para><application>GNOME Robots</application> is included in the <filename>gnome-games</filename> package, which is part of the GNOME desktop environment. This document describes version 2.18 of <application>GNOME Robots</application>.</para>
   </sect1>
 
   <sect1 id="objective">
     <title>GNOME Robots Objective</title>
     <para>The objective of <application>GNOME Robots</application> is quite simple. You are surrounded by a number of robots or other hostile adversaries. As you move about they will move directly towards you for every move that you make. Their goal is to kill you. Your goal is to kill all the robots on the board by taking advantage of their vulnerabilities.</para>
   
     <para>Robots are destroyed when they collide with each other, or when they collide with the debris of some previous collision. You die if a robot ends up right next to you.</para>

     <para>In some of the game configurations (you can choose from five different sets of rules), you can push the junkheaps around to form barricades to protect you. Also, if you are daring enough, you can Splat! the robots by pushing junkheaps on top of them for an additional bonus.</para>
     <para>You can also save yourself by teleporting yourself to a random location. Unfortunately, randomly teleporting means that you might end up being right next to a robot, so they can kill you when they make their move. Luckily, there are also safe teleports which will place you out of immediate danger, but there are only a limited supply of them. You can earn more free teleports as you go along (how you gain them depends on the chosen game), but typically you get one for each robot that is destroyed while you are 'waiting', up to a maximum of 10. If you don't want to waste your saved-up safe teleports, you can choose to teleport randomly if you think it's safe enough.</para>
   
     <para>If you press the <guibutton>Wait</guibutton> button (see below) you will no longer be able to move until either all of the robots (which still move towards you) are gone, or you are killed. Doing this is risky, but may earn you extra safe teleports.</para>
   
     <para>If you manage to reach the point where more than half of the screen is occupied by robots, the number of robots will be reset to the starting amount, allowing you to continue.</para>
  </sect1>


  <!-- ================ Usage ================================ -->
  <!-- This section should describe basic usage of the application. -->

  <sect1 id="usage">
    <title>Using GNOME Robots</title>
    <para><application>GNOME Robots</application> is extremely simple to play. You can use either the mouse or the keyboard. This section describes basic usage of <application>GNOME Robots</application>.</para>

    <!-- ========= Basic Usage =========================== -->
    <sect2 id="mainwin">
      <title>Basic usage</title>
      <para>Starting <application>GNOME Robots</application> opens the <interface>Main window</interface>, shown in <xref linkend="mainwindow-fig"/>. <figure id="mainwindow-fig">
	  <title>GNOME Robots Main Window</title>
	  <screenshot>
	  <mediaobject> 
 	   <imageobject>
 	 <imagedata fileref="figures/gnobots2-main.png" format="PNG" srccredit="Patanjali"/>
 	   </imageobject>
 	   <textobject> 
 	     <phrase>GNOME Robots Main Window.</phrase> 
 	   </textobject> 
 	 </mediaobject>
	  </screenshot>
	</figure></para> 

      <para>To start a new game, choose <guimenuitem>New</guimenuitem> in the <guimenu>Game</guimenu> menu or click on the <guibutton>New</guibutton> button on the toolbar.</para>

      <para>To move, either click in the direction you want to move (the cursor will show you which way you will go) or press the appropriate key on the keyboard (keypad by default). Clicking on the little man will keep you still. To teleport (safely or unsafely), and to wait, use the buttons on the toolbar or use the items in the <guimenu>Move</guimenu> menu.</para>
    </sect2>
  </sect1>
    

  
  <!-- ========= Menus =========================== --> 
  
   <sect1 id="menubar">
    <title>Menus</title>
    <para>The menu bar, located at the top of the <interface>game board</interface>, contains the following menus:</para>


    <variablelist>
      <varlistentry>
        <term><guimenu>Game</guimenu></term>
        <listitem>
        <para>This menu contains three items: <itemizedlist>	
            <listitem>
	    <para><menuchoice><shortcut><keycombo><keycap>Ctrl</keycap><keycap>N</keycap></keycombo></shortcut><guimenuitem>New</guimenuitem></menuchoice> — starts a new game of GNOME Robots.</para>
            </listitem>     
       
	    <listitem>
	    <para><menuchoice><guimenuitem>Scores</guimenuitem></menuchoice> — shows the higher scores.</para>
            </listitem>

       	    <listitem>
            <para>
              <menuchoice>
              <shortcut><keysym>Ctrl-Q</keysym></shortcut>
              <guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem>
              </menuchoice>
            </para>
            </listitem>
          </itemizedlist></para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><guimenu>Move</guimenu></term>
        <listitem>
        <para>This menu contains: <itemizedlist>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Teleport</guimenuitem>— teleports you in a safe location.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
          <para><guimenuitem>Random</guimenuitem>— teleports you in a random location.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
          <para><guimenuitem>Wait</guimenuitem>— places you in wait mode.</para>
          </listitem>
        </itemizedlist></para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><guimenu>Settings</guimenu></term>
	<listitem>
	<para>The <guimenu>Settings</guimenu> menu contains only one item: <itemizedlist>
	    <listitem>
	    <para><guimenuitem>Preferences</guimenuitem> which brings up the preferences dialogue.</para>
	    </listitem>
	  </itemizedlist></para>
	</listitem>
      </varlistentry>

      <varlistentry>
        <term><guimenu>Help</guimenu></term>
        <listitem>
        <para>This menu contains: <itemizedlist>
          <listitem>
            <para><guimenuitem>Contents</guimenuitem> — shows this manual.</para>
          </listitem>
          <listitem>
          <para><guimenuitem>About</guimenuitem> — shows basic information about <application>GNOME Robots</application>, such as the author's name and the application version number.</para>
          </listitem>
        </itemizedlist></para>
        </listitem>
      </varlistentry>
    </variablelist>
  </sect1>
 
 <!-- =========Using the Keyboard============== -->
 
  
  <sect1 id="keyboard">
    <title>Using the keyboard</title>
    <para>You can use the keyboard to control the little man. By default, the keys from the keypad are configured for the game. However you can customise the key mappings in the <guimenuitem>Keyboard</guimenuitem> tab in the <guimenuitem>Preferences</guimenuitem> dialogue. To select a different key for a command, double-click on the line for that command and then press the key you want to use.</para>

      <sect2 id="default-keys">     
      <title>Default Key Mappings</title>
      <para>By default, you use the numeric keypad on the right-hand side of the keyboard (not the separate arrow keys). <note>
        <title>Switch off the <keycap>Num Lock</keycap> key</title>
          <para>You may need to switch off <keycap>Num Lock</keycap> to make these work.</para>
        </note><orderedlist>
          <listitem><para>Up Left: <keycap>Home</keycap></para></listitem> 
          <listitem><para>Up: <keycap>Up</keycap></para></listitem>
          <listitem><para>Up Right: <keycap>Page Up</keycap></para></listitem>
          <listitem><para>Left: <keycap>Left</keycap></para></listitem>
          <listitem><para>Stand Still: <keycap>Begin</keycap></para></listitem>
          <listitem><para>Right: <keycap>Right</keycap></para></listitem>
          <listitem><para>Down Left: <keycap>End</keycap></para></listitem>
          <listitem><para>Down: <keycap>Down</keycap></para></listitem>
          <listitem><para>Down Right: <keycap>Page Down</keycap></para></listitem>
          <listitem><para>Teleport: <keycap>+</keycap></para></listitem>
          <listitem><para>Randomly Teleport: <keycap>*</keycap></para></listitem>
          <listitem><para>Wait: <keycap>Enter</keycap></para></listitem>
        </orderedlist></para>	  
    </sect2>

      
  </sect1>
   
  <!-- ============= Customization ============================= -->
  
  <sect1 id="customization">
    <title>Customising GNOME Robots</title>
    <para>You can modify the behaviour and appearance of the game by selecting <guimenuitem> Preferences</guimenuitem> under the <guimenu>Settings</guimenu> menu. This brings up a dialogue with three tabs: <itemizedlist>
        <listitem>
        <para><guimenuitem>Game</guimenuitem> — This page allows you to choose the type of game you want to play. The drop-down box at the top of the page allows you to choose from a number of predefined games. You can't change these options in the middle of a game, so they will be disabled then. There are also several options at the bottom of the dialogue: <orderedlist>
          <listitem><para>The safe moves option will help you to avoid being killed due to a mistake. If you try to make a move that would lead to your death when there is a safe move available, you will not be allowed to proceed. But be warned: if there was no safe move available, other than teleporting, the move will be allowed to proceed.</para></listitem>
          <listitem><para>There is also a <quote>super safe mode</quote>. If you select this, you get beeped when there is no safe move and your only option is to teleport out.</para></listitem>
          <listitem><para>If you select the sound checkbox the game will play sounds for various events throughout the game.</para></listitem>
          <listitem><para>The <guilabel>Splats</guilabel> checkbox selects whether you want the sound played and a small <quote>Splat!</quote> to appear on the screen.</para></listitem>
        </orderedlist></para>
	</listitem>
        <listitem>
        <para><guimenuitem>Appearance</guimenuitem> — This page allows you to select the graphics used throughout the game from the list in the drop-down box. You can also select the background colour from this tab.</para>
        </listitem>

        <listitem>
        
        <para><guimenuitem>Keyboard</guimenuitem> — This screen allows you to define your own keyboard controls. To select a different key for a command, double-click on the button for that command and then press the key you want to use.</para>
        </listitem>
      </itemizedlist></para>

    <para>Any changes you make take effect immediately and are automatically saved.</para>

    <para>You can design your own graphics for the game if you want. The graphics files are found in <filename class="directory"> <replaceable>$PREFIX</replaceable>/share/gnome-games/gnobots2/pixmaps</filename>, where <replaceable>$PREFIX</replaceable> is the prefix into which GNOME was installed. This is usually either <filename class="directory">/usr</filename> or <filename class="directory">/usr/local</filename>.</para>
    <para>Each character is 16×16 pixels and there are 14 of them arranged in a PNG file which is 224×16 pixels in size. You can look at the existing files to see the order in which they must be arranged to produce the correct animated sequences.</para>
    <para>Any graphics files which are placed in the directory are auto-detected, so you don't need to alter any configuration files. You can also define your own game configurations by creating extra <filename class="extension">.cfg</filename> files which are stored in the <filename class="directory"><replaceable>$PREFIX</replaceable>/share/gnome-games/gnobots2/games </filename> directory.</para>
  </sect1> 
 
  <!-- ============= Various Sections ============================= -->
 
 
  <!-- ============= Bugs ================================== -->
  <!-- This section should describe known bugs and limitations of
      the program if there are any - please be frank and list all
      problems you know of. -->
<!--  <sect1 id="bugs">
    <title>Known Bugs and Limitations</title>
    <para>
      This application has no known bugs.
    </para>
  </sect1>
-->

<!-- ============= Authors ================================ -->

  <sect1 id="authors">
    <title>Authors</title>
    <para><application>GNOME Robots</application> was written by Mark Rae (<email>m.rae@inpharmatica.co.uk</email>). This manual was written by Patanjali Somayaji (<email>patanjali@mindless.com</email>), from the original HTML documentation by Mark Rae. To report a bug or make a suggestion regarding this application or this manual, follow the directions in this <ulink url="ghelp:gnome-feedback" type="help">document</ulink>.</para>

    <!-- For translations: uncomment this:

    <para>
      Latin translation was done by ME
      (<email>MYNAME@MYADDRESS</email>). Please send all  comments  and
      suggestions regarding this translation to SOMEWHERE.
    </para>

    -->

  </sect1>


  <!-- ============= Application License ============================= -->

  <sect1 id="license">
    <title>Licence</title>
    <para>This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the <ulink type="help" url="gnome-help:gpl"><citetitle>GNU General Public Licence</citetitle></ulink> as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the Licence, or (at your option) any later version.</para>
    <para>This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the <citetitle>GNU General Public Licence</citetitle> for more details.</para>
    <para>A copy of the <citetitle>GNU General Public Licence</citetitle> is included as an appendix to the <citetitle>GNOME Users Guide</citetitle>. You may also obtain a copy of the <citetitle>GNU General Public Licence</citetitle> from the Free Software Foundation by visiting <ulink type="http" url="http://www.fsf.org">their Web site</ulink> or by writing to <address> Free Software Foundation, Inc. <street>51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor</street><city>Boston</city>, <state>MA</state><postcode>02110-1301</postcode><country>USA</country></address></para>
  </sect1>

</article>
