1.
Introduction
Welcome to SoundRTS!
SoundRTS is a realtime strategy game inspired by Warcraft
and Starcraft, but an audiogame, so adapted for the blind. In this
game, you will explore the surroundings, exploit goldmines and woods,
build, recruit peasants and soldiers, and fight the enemy!
The game is by default in map mode : you are heading north,
and you
can select all the object without rotating. But you can also play in
first person mode, nice for exoploration and attack.
2.
Tutorial
This tutorial will help you learn the main controls of the game.
2.1
Chapter 1 tutorial
If you
use Jaws or another screen review, you may have to unactivate
it to access to the keyboard.
When the game starts, you'll hear the name of the square where you are:
"A1". The presence of a goldmine in A1 is also told. To examine this
square, press Tab many times. You will notice that this square
has
only one exit (a path), a gold mine, a wood, town hall 1 (it's
your base),
and the peasant 1.
Then press "Page Down" to know if another square can be
examined.
You'll hear "C1", which contains (press Tab to know that) a
farm,
a path,
a wood and footman 1.
If you press "Page down" again, you will be again in "A1". It means
that only 2 squares can be examined now.
Another way of moving in the map is to use the Arrow Keys. This way you
can fly over the unknown squares to give the order to go to an unknown
square.
The objective of this map is to build 1 farm and 1 barracks. Only the
peasant can build. But he needs gold and wood, and a free space (a
meadow). To know how much gold, wood, food you have, press Z, X and C.
Let's order the peasant to gather gold. First, to control him,
press Q until you hear "peasant
1, awaiting your orders!".
Then, press A until you select "exploit" ; then press
Tab until you select the gold mine ; then press Enter to confirm. The
peasant will start gathering gold.
To go faster you will need more peasants. Press Q until you control the
townhall.
Then, press A until you select "recruit peasant" then press
Enter. After some seconds, a new peasant, peasant
2, will appear.
To ask peasant 2 to gather wood, do like the first one, or, to
go
faster, press A until you control peasant 2, then
press Tab
to select the gold mine, then press "Backspace". This key launches the
default action on the selected target : here, the default action is
"exploit a gold mine".
Before recruiting a third peasant, let's tell the townhall 1 that the
newly recruited peasants will have to exploit this gold mine. To do
that, press Q until you control townhall 1. Then press Tab until you
select the gold mine. Finally, press "Backspace" to give the default
order to the townhall : "rally to a gold mine". Then press A to choose
"recruit peasant", then press Enter to confirm.
When you have enough gold or when the gold mine is exhausted, press D
to control all the peasants then press Tab until you select the wood.
Then press "Backspace" to launch the exploitation of the gold mine.
The rest is not difficult.
2.2
Chapter 2 tutorial
Hint : group your combat units. To do this,
control then (with the S key) and make them patrol between the
squares you want to protect.
3.
Reference guide
3.1
Commands list
The game consists in giving orders to your units and buildings. To give
an order to a unit, you must control it first.
If you press F10 during the game, you will go to the game menu.
If you
use Jaws or another screen review, you may have to unactivate
it to access to the keyboard.
Moving
on the map
The arrow keys make you move from a square to another square
in the
map. If a direct path exists between the current square and the new
square, you will hear a noise depending on the type of the path (path
or bridge).
If no direct path exists, you will hear a collision noise and you will
stay at the same square (press control + arrow keys to fly above an
abstacle). If you don't know yet if a path exists (unknown square) then
no noise will be heard.
Another way to move on the map is to press Page Up, which will
lead
you to the next interesting square without passing by empty squares.
When you control a unit and you press Space, you will
automatically follow it when it moves from one square to another one.
Choosing
a unit to control
To control the next local unit, press Q.
To control the next building, press W.
To control the next peasant, press E. To control all the local
peasants, press D.
To control the next idle peasant, press Alt E. To control all the local
idle peasants, press Alt D.
To control the next footman, press R. To control all the local footmen,
press F.
To control the next archer, press T. To control all the local archers,
press G.
To control the next knight, press Y. To control all the local knights,
press H.
To control the next catapult, press U. To control all the local
catapults, press J.
To control the next dragon, press I. To control all the local dragons,
press K.
To control the next mage, press O. To control all the local mages,
press L.
When a key makes you control the next unit, the same key combined with
Shift makes you control the previous unit. For example, to control the
previous peasant, press Shift + E.
To control all the units of the same type and in the same square than
the current unit, press 1.
To control only half or third, press 2 or 3.
To stop controlling a group, press 0.
To control all the local soldiers, press S.
To control all the soldiers and the pesants, press Alt + S.
When a key makes you control a group of local units, the same key
combined with control makes you control a group from all the map. For
example, to control all the footment, press Control + R or Control + F.
Giving an order: main method
To give an order to a controlled unit, the main method consists in
choosing the order in a list and selecting the target if the action
requires it.
To choose the order in a list, press A (and Shift A) to select the
order.
If you must select a target, press Tab (and Shift Tab) to select the
target. To select a remote square as a target,
use the arrow keys.
Press Enter to confirm your choice.
Giving an order: alternate, faster method
A second method to give an order consists in selecting the target with
Tab (or the arrow keys) and then pressing Backspace.
The default order will be given. For example, a peasant targetting a
gold mine will exploit it if you press Backspace.
Examining
the situation
To check the controlled unit (or the controlled group), press Space.
Moreover, you will move to the square occupied by the unit (or the
group leader).
To know how much gold you have, press Z. Press X for wood, press C for
food.
To know the health of the current unit press V.
To examine again an object selected with Tab, press Control.
Giving an order without cancelling the previous ones
Hold down Shift before pressing Enter to confirm the order.
It also works for default orders: hold down Shift before pressing Backspace.
Press Space to check if the unit have several orders to execute.
Giving an imperative order
If you hold down Control before pressing Enter or Backspace, the order will be imperative.
Units
with an imperative order will tend to ignore anything not directly
related to the order. If they have to go somewhere and they come across
enemy units, they will simply ignore them. This is dangerous most of
the time but can be useful in some cases, for example to focus on a
very important target.
Attacking a friendly unit
Target the unit and press Shift Backspace: the units will attack the target.
Exception:
if the target is a damaged building (or a repairable unit like a
catapult) and you are controlling workers, they will repair the target.
Other
commands
F5 and F6: previous/next message in the history.
Alt: interrupt the current sentence.
To quit a game or access to the game menu, press F10. Alt F4 and
Control C do the same.
Control + Space: make the game go in first person mode. Escape: go back to map mode.
Home/End, +/- of the numeric keyboard: increase/decrease the
general sound volume.
Control Home/End, control +/- of the numeric keyboard: increase/decrease the voice relative volume.
In the menus, the arrow keys work too : Up and Down to select, Right to
confirm, Left to cancel.
F3: say time
Control F3: minute bell on/off (off by default)
Control + Tab selects only woods, gold mines, meadows, and repairable
or buildable targets (damaged buildings, building sites, damaged
catapults...).
Alt + R reselects the previously given order. Useful to train the same
unit or build the same type of building several times.
Alt + G reselects the previously given order and validate it if no
additional parameter is required. For example, to train 5 additional
archers, press Alt + G 5 times.
3.2
Units list
The
peasant
The peasant is important but fragile. The peasant collects
gold or
wood, builds and repairs buildings. Many peasants can help building or
repairing a building to go faster. When a peasant can build a new type
of building, this new option is added at the end of the list.
The peasant can fight, and can join a total attack with the
command Control + Alt + S.
He has 4 hit points.
His weapon removes 1.5 hit points every 1 seconds. The target
must be at less than
0.8 meters of distance.
His speed is 1.5 meters a second.
He costs 4 gold.
The town hall deals with this production.
He needs 1 food ration to live.
The
footman
The footman fights with his sword. He must be close to the target to
hit it.
He has 15 hit points. His armor absorbs 0.5 hit
points of damage (1.5 after upgrade).
His sword removes 3.5 hit points every 1.5 seconds (6 hit
points
after upgrade). The target must be at 1 meters of distance maximum.
His speed is 1.5 meters a second.
He costs 6 gold.
The barracks deals with this production.
He needs 1 food ration to live.
The
archer
The archer fights with a bow (ranged attack). If the
archers
are numerous enough, the enemy footmen die before even reaching
them.
He has 10 hit points. His armor absorbs 0 hit points
of damage (0.5 after upgrade).
His bow removes 2.5 hit points every 1.5 seconds (4 hit
points after upgrade). The target must be at 3
meters of distance maximum (4 meters after upgrade).
His speed is 1.5 meters a second.
He costs 5 gold, 1 wood.
The barracks deals with this production,
but you must have a sawmill.
He needs 1 food ration to live.
The
knight
The knight fights with his sword and moves fast.
He has 45 hit points. His armor absorbs1 hit point of
damage (2.5 after upgrade).
His sword removes 6 hit points every 1.5 seconds (12 hit
points
after upgrade). The target must be at 1 meters of distance maximum.
His speed is 2.5 meters a second (5 after upgrade).
He costs 15 gold.
The barracks deals with this production,
but you must have a stable.
He needs 2 food rations to live.
The
catapult
The catapult can damage several enemies at a time. But it moves slowly.
It has 30 hit points.
Its projectiles remove 8 hit points every 4 seconds on a 2.5
meters
radius area of effect. The target must be at 6 meters of distance
maximum.
His speed is 0.75 meters a second.
It costs 15 gold, 10 wood. The workshop deals with this production.
It needs 2 food rations to live.
The
dragon
The dragon, flying creature, cannot be reached by peasants or footmen
or knights or catapults.
He has 30 hit points.
His breath removes 4 hit points every 4 seconds. The target
must be at 3 meters of distance maximum.
His speed is 1.75 meters a second.
He costs 15 gold, 10 wood. The dragon's lair deals with this production.
He needs 3 food rations to live.
The
mage
The mage heals automatically friend units in the same
square (this power is increased by 10 after upgrade).
After upgrade, he can teleport every friend units of the same square to
the square of your choice!
He has 30 hit points.
His magic missiles remove 8 hit points every 1.5 seconds. The
target must be at 4.5 meters of distance maximum.
His speed is 1
meter a second.
He costs 20 gold, 10 wood. The mages tower deals with this production.
He needs 3 food rations to live.
3.3
Buildings list
The
townhall
The townhall recruits peasants. It's also used for storing
resources. Gold and wood must be brought back to a townhall.
Each townhall provides 1 food ration.
The town hall heals the friend units in the same square.
It costs 12 gold and 16 wood.
The town hall can be upgraded to a keep
(10 gold, 15 wood and 120 seconds; requires barracks) then to a castle (20 gold, 30 wood
and 360 seconds; requires barracks, sawmill, blacksmith and stable).
The
farm
Farms are necessary for feeding the population. Each
farm provides 8 food rations.
It costs 5 gold and 5 wood.
The
barracks
The barracks recruits footmen, archers (with a sawmill) and
knights (with a stable).
It costs 7 gold and 9 wood.
The
sawmill
The sawmill can store wood. If a sawmill is nearer than the
townhall, the peasant can bring back the wood there to save
time.Moreover, having at least one sawmill gives a 25 % bonus for the
wood production.
With a sawmill you can upgrade the weapons and armors of the archers. The upgrades apply to all troops, current and future.
The sawmill is required for recruiting archers.
It costs 6 gold and 9 wood.
The blacksmith
With a blacksmith you can upgrade the weapons and armors of the footmen
and the knights. The upgrades apply to all troops, current and future.
It costs 8 gold and 9 wood.
The
stable
The stable is required for recruiting knights.
It costs 10 gold and 15 wood. You must have a Keep to build it.
The
workshop
The workshop builds catapults.
It costs 10 gold and 15 wood. You must have a Keep to build it.
The
dragon's lair
The dragon's lair recruits dragons.
It costs 15 gold and 20 wood. You must have a castle to build
it.
The
mages tower
The mages tower recruits mages.
It costs 15 gold and 20 wood. You must have a castle to build
it.
3.4
Hints and tips
Keep
your forces focused
Make
you soldiers patrol
Patrolling soldiers can protect a larger zone while keeping the forces
focused.
Use
rally points for buildings
The buildings that can recruit units can define a rally point. The new
units will target this rally point. For example a new peasant will
exploit a gold mine.
Use
the defensive mode to scout
A unit in defensive mode will flee if it encouters strongers enemies.
This way you can know how many enemies are in a square without
sacrificing the scouting unit. The peasants are in defensive mode by
default but the soldiers can be put in this mode too.
A fleeing unit forgets its orders. For example, a peasant who is
gathering gold won't go back to work after fleeing, while if he fought
and survived he would have went on gathering gold.
4.
Multiplayer game
4.1
How to start a multiplayer game
Up to now, to start a multiplayer game you need to arrange to meet the
other players, for example in a forum. Then, one player starts a simple
server and the other players connect to his server by choosing
"multiplayer game". A software like Skype is very useful for
synchronizing.
If no player can start an accessible server, they can use a public
server.
Notice: when you have started a server and you are waiting for players,
you can launch SoundRTS a second time and play in single player
mode while you are waiting. Remember that F10 allows you to pause the
game in single player mode.
4.2
How to make your server accessible to other players
Here are some hints if nobody can connect to your server.
If you are behind a firewall you must allow the port
2500 (in TCP).
Moreover, if you use a router, you must add a virtual
server
for the port 2500 to the IP address of your server. Without
that,
the router won't know to which machine it will forward the packets. In
the case of a virtual server, you may need to give a fixed IP to your
server with DHCP.
5.
Credits
This game was written by Jean-Luc Pontico
( j l p o hat f r e e dott f r ).
Discovery of the French-speaking community of the audio accessible games, and starting ideas: Sabine Gorecki.
Numerous tests and encouragings during the first period of SoundMUD: Alex.
First test of SoundMUD with Linux: Miguel.
Relaunch of SoundMUD project, encouragings during the
second period of SoundMUD to bring the strategy game to completion,
and very numerous tests: Louis-Rock Lampron et Martin Morin.
English translation: Jean-Luc Pontico.
German translation: Alexander Westphal from Gameport.
Italian translation: Gabriel Battaglia.
Spanish translation: Alan.
Improvement of the English voice and sounds: Bryan Smart.
Multiplayer map 101 - frontier: Bryan Smart.