Provided by: sopwith_2.1.0-2_amd64 bug

NAME

       sopwith - classic aerial combat shoot em up game

SYNOPSIS

       sopwith [ -n | -s | -c | -l | -j host ] [-f] [-glevel] [-x] [-q]

DESCRIPTION

       Sopwith is a modern port of the classic 1980s shoot 'em up game of the same name. The game
       has a World War I aviation theme. The object of Sopwith is to destroy  all  enemy  targets
       with a somewhat limited airforce.

       It can be played both in single player and multiplayer mode over a TCP/IP network.

       Sopwith  looks for a configuration file in the user's home directory at ~/.local/share/SDL
       Sopwith/sopwith.cfg; the configuration file is only generated after the user  changes  one
       of the settings from the in-game options menu. Details about the contents of this file can
       be found in sopwith.cfg(5).

OPTIONS

       -n     Start a single player game in novice mode. In novice mode  there  are  no  oxen  or
              birds, you have infinite ammo and bombs, and it is not possible to stall the plane.
              This is a good option if you are new to the game, or if you're just  interested  in
              more casual gameplay without so much of a challenge.

       -s     Start a single player in expert mode

       -c     Start a single player vs. computer game

       -l     Start  a  network  game  listening  for  a  network  connection.   See  the section
              "MULTIPLAYER SERVERS" below for more details.

       -j host:port
              Start a network  game,  connecting  to  another  listening  host  as  specified  by
              host:port. If the port number is not specified then TCP port 3847 is used.

       -f     Start in full screen mode if possible.

       -glevel
              Start  the  game  on the indicated difficulty level. For instance, use -g2 to start
              the game on level 2. The default is level 0.

       -q     Turn off sound (quiet)

CONTROLS

       The standard controls on a US layout keyboard are as follows:

       comma  pull up

       slash  pull down

       period flip plane

       Z      decrease speed

       X      increase speed

       space  fire machine gun

       B      drop bomb

       H      autopilot plane to home base

       S      turn on sound effects

       Ctrl+C quit

       Ctrl+C Ctrl+C Ctrl+C
              quit immediately

TIPS

       The following are some tips for playing the game:

       •      Start off by playing in single player mode before  playing  against  the  computer.
              This  will allow you to "get the feel of the stick" without being attacked by enemy
              planes. Practice dropping bombs on ground targets, as this is a key skill.

       •      Accelerate to maximum speed on takeoff, otherwise you may stall the plane.   Moving
              at  speed  is  particularly important when playing against the computer, as you are
              otherwise likely to be outmanuevered by the enemy planes.

       •      Bombs can be used against planes as well as ground targets.  It  can  sometimes  be
              easier to hit a plane with a bomb instead of the machine gun.

       •      The  machine  gun  can  be  used  to destroy ground targets as well as planes. Some
              targets at the edges of the map are much easier to destroy in this way.  Since  the
              machine gun has a limited range, reducing your speed when attacking a ground target
              can give you more time to aim and attack before you have to pull away.

       •      Computer planes will try to tail you so that they can shoot you down.  Don't  allow
              them  to  get  a clear shot. "Wiggling" the plane by repeatedly pulling up and down
              can be an effective evasive maneuver.

       •      Firing your machine gun through a flock of birds will cause the birds to  disperse,
              and  the  computer planes will sometimes hit a bird and crash. However, this tactic
              can also backfire.

       •      Each computer plane has a "territory" and if you escape that  territory  they  will
              break  off  their  pursuit.  At  the boundary between territories you can sometimes
              trick two planes into crashing into each other.

       •      When your plane is crashing, the pull up/down keys still have  a  small  effect  on
              your trajectory. You can use this to try to crash your plane into a ground target.

       •      Hitting  the  top  of  your  screen stalls your plane. Hold down the pull up key to
              break out of the stall before your plane crashes into the ground.

       •      Wait until you're close to your base  with  a  clear  path  to  the  runway  before
              pressing the home key - the autopilot sometimes makes mistakes.

MEDALS

       If  the  "medals" game option is turned on, the player is rewarded with ribbons and medals
       for the following:

       Flying Ace Ribbon (cyan with a single white stripe)
              Shooting down 5 planes

       Top Flying Ace Ribbon (cyan with two white stripes)
              Shooting down 25 planes (difficult!)

       Service Ribbon (cyan with white edges)
              Three successful raids

       Perfect Ribbon (white with two magenta stripes)
              Finishing a level with no planes lost

       Competence Medal (white medal on a cyan ribbon)
              Gaining 25 points in a single flight, where 3 points are awarded per  plane  and  4
              per building

       Ribbon of Competence (white with magenta stripe)
              As above, a second time

       Purple Heart (magenta heart on a cyan ribbon)
              Returning to base after having been damaged

       Ribbon of Valour (magenta with white stripe)
              Gaining  a  certain number of points for destroyed planes and buildings; the points
              depend on whether the player was damaged at that point in time, and  how  far  away
              the destroyed object was from the player's base

       Victoria Cross (cyan cross on a magenta ribbon)
              As above, but a few more points

       All medals and counters for these are reset once a plane is destroyed.

MULTIPLAYER SERVERS

       When  run  in  "listen"  mode with the -l command line flag (see above), sopwith runs as a
       server that listens for an incoming connection.  To make this server available from a home
       Internet  connection,  you will typically have to set up a port forward from your Internet
       router. The port to forward is TCP port 3847. You will also need to find out  your  public
       IP address so that the other player can connect.

       Alternatively,  if you have access to a *nix-based server then it may be preferable to run
       something like a dedicated server that avoids the hassle of port  forwarding  and  dynamic
       IPs.  All  that  is  needed  in  order  to  do  this  is to run a TCP server that forwards
       connections between two clients. This can be done using nc(1); for example:

              nc -l -p 3847 -c "nc -l -p 3847"

       Developing the above command  into  a  complete  shell  script  for  a  continually-active
       dedicated server is left as an exercise for the reader.

SEE ALSO

       sopwith.cfg(5), triplane(6), airstrike(6)

AUTHORS

       Originally written by David L. Clark for BMB Compuscience
       Modern SDL port By Simon Howard, Jesse Smith

HISTORY

       Sopwith was originally developed by BMB Compuscience of Canada as a demonstration game for
       their Imaginet Networking System. The system was not commercially successful  but  Sopwith
       became a popular game for the IBM PC and compatibles. A sequel that is referred to by fans
       as "Sopwith 2" was actually a newer version rather than a  different  game,  but  included
       extra  features,  such  as  oxen  and  birds (the oxen being an in-joke reference to a BMB
       employee who was nicknamed "Ox").

       The original author, David L. Clark, later released "Sopwith - The Network  Edition"  with
       several extra features including comical heads-up "splats" and wounded planes; a follow-up
       titled "The Author's Edition" contained the same features.  This  version  of  Sopwith  is
       based on the released source code to the Network Edition.

       The real Sopwith Camel F.1 was one of the most famous fighter planes of World War I; Camel
       pilots shot down 1,294 enemy aircraft over the course of the  war,  more  than  any  other
       aircraft.  The plane gained a reputation for being agile but difficult to fly; many novice
       pilots crashed the plane on takeoff. The  Camel  was  designed  and  manufactured  by  the
       Sopwith  Aviation Company, founded by aviation pioneer Thomas Sopwith; 5,490 aircraft were
       produced. In popular culture the Camel is  known  for  being  the  biplane  flown  by  the
       protagonist in the Biggles series of novels, and by Snoopy in the Peanuts comic strip.

                                                                                       sopwith(6)