Provided by: sopwith_2.5.0-1_amd64 
NAME
sopwith - classic aerial combat shoot em up game
SYNOPSIS
sopwith [ -n | -s | -c | -l | -j host ] [-f] [-glevel] [-m filename] [-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.
-p Use a different TCP port for multiplayer games than the default (3847).
-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)
-m filename
Load new mission (level) from the given filename.
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+R restart the current game, only works in single player mode
Ctrl+Q quit the current game, only works in single player mode
Ctrl+C quit
Ctrl+C Ctrl+C Ctrl+C
quit immediately
DASHBOARD
At the bottom of the screen, the plane's dashboard is shown. This consists of several
components:
Score Your current score, which is accumulated from the enemy targets and planes you have
successfully destroyed. In multiplayer two scores are shown, so that both players
can see each others' scores.
Lives (Cyan)
Number of lives remaining. You have five lives.
Fuel (Cyan)
Amount of fuel remaining in your aircraft. Once this becomes empty, you need to
return to your home base to refuel, or your plane will crash.
Bombs (Magenta)
Number of bombs remaining. You can carry a maximum of five bombs. Once you have
dropped all of them, you must return to your home base to get more.
Bullets (White)
Number of bullets left for your machine gun. Once you have used up all your
ammunition, you mut return to your home base to get more.
Map Shows the contents of the level. Cyan and magenta dots indicate the positions of
allied and enemy planes and ground targets.
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. But don't
reduce the speed too much or the plane may stall.
• 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 for obvious reasons.
• 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.
• It's possible to fly upside down, but trying to drop bombs while inverted is
usually unwise.
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. This medal is impossible to attain if
wounded planes are turned off.
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
Medals are only awarded if you get back to base safely. For example, if you destroy some
targets but then crash, or if you shoot down a plane but get shot down yourself, it
doesn't count.
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.
WWW
⟨https://fragglet.github.io/sdl-sopwith⟩
BUG REPORTS
Bugs can be reported to the GitHub issue tracker: ⟨https://github.com/fragglet/sdl-
sopwith⟩
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 ⟨fraggle@gmail.com⟩, 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 Author's 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.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 1984, 1985, 1987 BMB Compuscience Inc.
Copyright © 1984-2000 David L. Clark
Copyright © 2001-2024 Simon Howard, Jesse Smith
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of
the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
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 GNU General Public License for more details.
sopwith(6)