# The &ksnakeduel; Handbook

## Introduction

&ksnakeduel; is a simple snake duel game. You can play against the computer or a friend. The aim of the game is to live longer than your opponent. To do that, avoid running into a wall, your own tail and that of your opponent.

&ksnakeduel; is a simple Snake-like game. The aim is to survive as long as possible and eat as many fruits as you can.

You can switch between these games using the game type selector in the configuration dialog.

## Playing &ksnakeduel;

### Rules

Once a round is started, the players do not stop moving forward (unless the game is paused). All you have to do is avoid crashing by changing your players direction. Additionally you can try to hinder your opponent. For this it is possible to increase the velocity by pressing your accelerator key.

A round starts when all human players press a direction key. The initial moving direction is then in this direction.

If you want to interrupt playing, select the P Game Pause menu item. Additionally the game is paused when the game loses the keyboard focus, ⪚ when switching to an other window.

To continue the game, select again this menu item or hit the keyboard shortcut. The game will also continue if you press one of the direction keys. But be careful, your player switches to this direction immediately.

A game consists of several rounds, and ends if a player has at least nine points, and additionally two more points than the opponent. The current score is always displayed in the status bar.

You can change the difficulty level of the game using the Settings Difficulty submenu or the drop-down box on the status bar. The difficulty influences the speed of the game and the computer player.

### The Computer Player

You can play against a computer. The difficulty level of the game influences the intelligence of the computer player.

At low levels the computer doesn't care about the opponent and just moves around. At higher skill levels the computer tries to hinder the opponent when he comes near.

### Using the Keyboard

Each player has five keys. Four keys for changing the direction and one to accelerate.

The direction keys do not have to be held down. Simply press them once to change the direction of your player.

Acceleration only occurs while the acceleration key remains depressed. When you release the acceleration key, velocity returns to normal.

You can alter the keys using the Settings Configure Shortcuts... menu item.

## Playing KSnake mode

### Rules

Once the game is started, the player does not stop moving forward (unless the game is paused). All you have to do is avoid crashing by changing your direction. A game starts when you press a direction key. The initial moving direction is then in this direction.

If you want to pause playing, select the P Game Pause menu item or hit the keyboard shortcut. Additionally the game is paused when the game loses the keyboard focus, ⪚ when switching to an other window.

To continue the game, select again this menu item or hit the keyboard shortcut. The game will also continue if you press one of the direction keys. But be careful, your player switches to this direction immediately.

In the game there will always be a piece of fruit on the map. If you collect it your score will increase with 5 points. The current score is always displayed in the status bar.

When you are moving through the map there will also appear obstacles. Hitting them will also result in a crash. However, every time an obstacle appears and you survive you'll be rewarded 2 points

You can change the difficulty level of the game using the Settings Difficulty submenu or the drop-down box on the status bar. The difficulty influences the speed of the game and the computer player.

### Using the keyboard

Each player has four keys. These are used for changing the direction. The direction keys do not have to be held down. Simply press them once to change the direction of your player.

You can alter the keys using the Settings Configure Shortcuts... menu item.

## Interface Overview

### Menu Items

The following list briefly describes each menubar option.

&Ctrl;N Game New

- Starts a new game.

P Game Pause

- Toggles whether the game is paused.

&Ctrl;H Game Show High Scores

- Displays the high score table.

&Ctrl;Q Game Quit

- Quit &ksnakeduel;.

Settings Difficulty

- A submenu that allows you to change the difficulty level of the game.

Settings Configure &ksnakeduel;...

- Opens a comprehensive dialog to configure various options.

Additionally &ksnakeduel; has the common &kde; Settings and Help menu items, for more information read the sections about the Settings Menu and Help Menu of the &kde; Fundamentals.

### Default Shortcuts

The following tables show you the default shortcuts.

### Player 1 Shortcuts

Key Combo | Action
&Up; arrow | Move up
&Down; arrow | Move down
&Right; arrow | Move on the right
&Left; arrow | Move on the left
0 | Accelerate

### Player 2 Shortcuts

Key Combo | Action
R | Move up
F | Move down
G | Move on the right
D | Move on the left
A | Accelerate

### General Shortcuts

Key Combo | Action
P | Pause/Resume the Game
&Ctrl;H | High Scores
&Ctrl;N | New Game
&Ctrl;Q | Quit &ksnakeduel;
F1 | This Manual
&Shift;F1 | What's This help

These shortcuts can be changed by selecting the Settings Configure Shortcuts... menu item.

## The Configuration Dialog

Selecting the Settings Configure &ksnakeduel;... menu item will open a further dialog which lets you tweak &ksnakeduel;'s behavior.

This dialog is divided into two pages.

### General Configuration

Configure &ksnakeduel; - General General Configuration

Game type

- This will let you change the game type. There are three options:

  &ksnakeduel;: Player vs Player

- A &ksnakeduel; game between two human players.

&ksnakeduel;: Player vs Computer

- A &ksnakeduel; game between a human player and the computer.

KSnake mode: Single player

- A single player &ksnakeduel; game.

Disable acceleration

- Checking this box will disable the acceleration feature - pressing the acceleration key will have no effect, both vehicles will always travel with constant velocity.

Player Names

- Specify custom names to use for the players to override the use of default ones.

  The default name for player one is the name of the current logged in user.

Game Options

- Specify the Rounds to win: to define how many rounds are required before a winner is declared.

### Theme Configuration

Configure &ksnakeduel; - Theme Theme Configuration

This page will allow you to change the theme &ksnakeduel; uses.

## Credits and License

&ksnakeduel;

Program Copyright 1998-2000 &Matthias.Kiefer; &Matthias.Kiefer.mail;

Program Copyright 2008-2009 &Stas.Verberkt; &Stas.Verberkt.mail;

Parts of the code are from xtron-1.1 by Rhett D. Jacobs rhett@hotel.canberra.edu.au>

Documentation Copyright 1999 &Matthias.Kiefer; &Matthias.Kiefer.mail;

Documentation updated for &kde; 2.0 by &Fabian.Dal.Santo; &Fabian.DalSanto.mail;

&underFDL; &underGPL;