NAME

       freedroid - a free Paradroid clone

SYNOPSIS

       freedroid [ options ]

DESCRIPTION

       Freedroid is a remake of the classic C64 home computer game Paradroid by Andrew Braybrook,
       including also various extensions.

       The player takes control of the so-called 001 influence device and must clear a  freighter
       of  robots  by either shooting them or seizing control over them.  Seizing control is done
       in a small logic subgame, in which you have to connect more electrical connections  within
       10 seconds than your opponent.

OPTIONS

       -v or --version
               Prints out Freedroid version information.

       -q or --nosound
               Suppress  all  sound  output.   Very  useful  if  you  don't  have your sound card
               configured yet or don't have any sound hardware at all.

       -f or --fullscreen
               Work in full screen mode.  Note that fullscreen or window mode can also be toggled
               from within the game via the options menu.

       -w or --window
               Start Freedroid in a window rather than using full screen mode.

       -j or --sensitivity
               Control joystick sensitivity. Value must lie in between [0:32]. Default is 1.

       -d LEVEL or --debug=LEVEL
               Control debug output of the game.  Debug output will be printed to stderr, i.e. in
               most cases to the console you started Freedroid from.  The variable LEVEL controls
               how  much  debug  output you would like to have.  LEVEL 0 is the default and means
               (almost) no debug output.  LEVEL 1 prints the most important  debug  messages  and
               LEVEL 2 or LEVEL 3 print (almost) all debug output, which might be quite a lot.

HOW TO PLAY

       Moving and Firing
              The influence device can be moved inside the ship by either using keyboard input or
              joystick directions.  Keyboard control can be done by either using cursor  keys  or
              the  Quake  and  Half-life  style  a-w-s-d keys combination.  Firing can be done by
              either using the crosshair and the left mouse button or by pressing a direction key
              and  pressing  space  in addition or by holding a joystick direction and pressing a
              joystick button.
       Entering Elevators and Consoles
              The influence device can move from one deck to another deck using the elevators  of
              the  freighter.   To do this, you must step onto an elevator plate, and then either
              press the e key or press the middle mouse button or  appropriate  joystick  button.
              Entering consoles is done in a similar way.  You have to stand directly in front of
              a console terminal and then press the e key to activate the  console.   Inside  the
              console  you  will  have  access  to  a small scale map of the current deck, a side
              elevation of the ship and to the droid database of the ship.   Note  however,  that
              access to the droid database is achieved via the security clearance of the host you
              currently control, i.e. you will only be able to view droid data  for  droids  that
              are lower or equal to the host you currently control.
       The takeover subgame (Taking control of other droids)
              To take control of another robot, you must first enter transfer mode.  This is done
              by either standing still and holding space  bar  pressed  (and  keeping  space  bar
              pressed  afterwards)  or  by  holing  down  the  right mouse button or holding town
              appropriate joystick button.  While in takeover mode, the influence device can  try
              to initiate takeover by touching the host it wishes to control.  As soon as another
              robot is touched while in takeover mode, takeover subgame  will  be  initiated  and
              control of the new host will be seized, provided that the takeover subgame is won.
       Playing the takeover subgame
              After  the  takeover  subgame  was initiated, the two droids struggling for control
              will be presented.  Then the player gets to decide which side of the takeover  game
              he  wants  to play.  The player on the left side takes the yellow color, the player
              on the right side takes the magenta color.  Note that which side to choose  may  be
              the most important decision of the takeover subgame, cause one side may host strong
              tactical advantages over the other.  After sides have  been  chosen,  the  takeover
              capsules  will be placed.  Each droid has a limited number of capsules to place and
              must try to convert the central status bar to his color.  The  number  of  capsules
              you  have  at  your  disposal  depends  on  the clearance of the host you currently
              control.  Once the takeover subgame is won, the player will have control  over  the
              new  bot  while  the  old  host is destroyed.  Control over the new host also means
              inheriting the movement properties and the weapons of this robot.  Loss of takeover
              subgame  results  in  the  current  host, if one is present, being destroyed or the
              influence itself being burnt out and destroyed if no host was present.
       Notes on energy loss
              The influence device depends on hosts to control.  Whether currently controlling  a
              host  or  not,  the  influence  device  will always lose energy due to construction
              properties.  When taking control of a new host, the influence device will also take
              control  of  the energy this droid had left, which will be even more the higher the
              bot you take control  of.   However,  higher  droids  also  tend  to  put  up  more
              resistance against the control of the influence device, resulting in faster loss of
              energy.  Therefore it is recommended to change hosts frequently in  order  to  keep
              the  influence  device well powered.  Note that there are some refresh field, where
              some of the energy lost so far can be restored.  But note also,  that  only  energy
              loss  due  to collisions, explosions and enemy fire can be restored this way, while
              energy loss due to host resistance is permanently lost until the  host  is  changed
              again.

PROJECT HOME PAGE AND LATEST VERSIONS

       The  Freedroid  project  features  a  home page at freedroid.sourceforge.net.  The project
       itself   is   hosted   at   the   Sourceforge.     The    project    summary    page    at
       http://sourceforge.net/projects/freedroid/  can  be  used  to  access  download and status
       information.   Note  that  home  page  and  project  summary  page  are  shared  with  the
       FreedroidRPG development branch as well.

FILES

       ~/.freedroidClassic/highscores
              The high scores file of Freedroid.
       ~/.freedroidClassic/config
              The file containing all configuration setting of this user.

ENVIRONMENT

       Freedroid does currently not care about any environment variables.

DIAGNOSTICS

       Debug  output can be produced by using the -d or --debug command line options as described
       above.

BUGS

       Freedroid can now be considered pretty stable.  However we're sure that  there  are  still
       some  bugs  here  and  there.   If you encounter any problems or bugs, please send mail to
       <freedroid-discussion@lists.sourceforge.net>.

AUTHORS

       Johannes Prix, Reinhard Prix, Bastian Salmela, Lanzz.

SEE ALSO

       freedroidRPG(6),