Red Roids 1.05 (rro105.exe)
Martin Wikstrm 2006

Changelog since rr0101:

 *** rro105 ***
 * Made zooming available in spectator mode.
 * Added symbolic view to higher zoom levels in spectator mode.
 * Removing ships in the editor now also prevents them from respawning.
 * Added limited respawns (good for setting team resources)
 * The R button using the respawn tool converts between 1 and unlimited lives.
   This is for backwards compability since older missions use value 1 for
   unlimited respawns while newer use 255.
 * Added info about the zoom function in spectator mode to the help.
 * Reset the waypoint-switch-distance to 150.0

 *** rro104 ***
 * Human player can now respawn.
 * Ships stop rotating when they respawn.
 * Ships don't lose their leader and wingman references when they respawn.
 * No frags while viewing map
 * Made the radar screen clearer
 * Cleaned up the text on the ORDER button in the editor

 *** rro103 ***
 * Added some code to modify fSpd to prevent "hick-ups" from making the ships
   turn too fast.
 * Added a respawn tag to the ships. If a respawnable ship dies and its home
   base still exists then it respawns.
 * Changed the minimum distance needed for a ship to reach its waypoint. Now
   it's a constant 300.0 and small ships won't get stuck bouncing on their
   home bases waiting for a new mission.
 * Now AI controlled ships actively look for better targets. This is not
   optimal since they might forget a good target but it adds some variation.
 * Added the number of ships and max number of ships to the editor screen.

 *** rro102 ***
 * Gameplay: Added "next waypoint" to the radar screen
 * Code:     Upgraded to 2df006.h from 2df005.h (key() works differently)
 * Gameplay: Enter returns from the next-mission-file-name-editor back to mission editor
 * Code:     Removed drawing of ships outside the screen
 * Gameplay: Added more information to the next-mission-file-name-editor
 * Gameplay: Made the blips shown on the radar size specific

Red Roids is a simple space battle simulator in 2D. Your goal is
to eliminate the enemy ships and bases before they eliminate you
or your sides ships and bases. The game comes with a mission editor
and a couple of preset missions. it is possible to save the game
at any time.

Every ship consists of a couple of parts. Guns, Hull, Engines...
The ships attributes are based on what parts they are made of.
Every part adds to the total weight and max energy. Every engine
draw constantly energy and every gun draw their amount of energy
when it's fired. When the energy drops below minimum the ship is
paralysed.

The game's physical model is meant to be a more realistic one.
There's no sound in space, and no friction. Explosions that send
parts and particles flying form a sphere round the ship and not
a trail after it.

Gameplay

You start with mission AAAA. The next mission depends on whether
you win or lose. The ships are controlled by the arrow keys. Guns
are fired by the Shift button. That's the essential information
needed to get started. All the buttons are listed in the help page
accessed through the main menu (Esc button).

Mission editor

The editor is graphical. By clicking on the icons you select
different tools to use. Below the icons there is a description of
the active tool and some keyboard alternatives.

  Clear map

  To clear the map you select the Remove tool (an icon with a ship
  with an X across it), and press R.

  Add ships

  The button next to the Remove tool activates the Add ship tool.
  When clicking this button a random ship or base is selected and
  it is placed on the map when you click on it (the map). Pressing
  the icon again or the R button will generate another random ship.

  Set team colors

  By clicking the color tool several times you select one of three
  team colors. When the color tool is activated you can click on
  ships and they will aquire the active color. The color tool icon
  is of a ship with a patch of color on it.

  Setting waypoints

  The ships use waypoints to navigate. That's the blue circles and
  arrows that appear at the nose of newely created ships. Using the
  select tool (The first in the row) you can drag the waypoints or
  the ships.

  Setting orders

  A ship can be orderd to act a surten way. The alternatives are
  Fighter, Guard line, Freighter and Base. The Order tool is
  activated by clicking on the icon where it says eighter MIND or
  ORDER. If it says mind after you've clicked it then click it again.
  When the order tool is selected you can click on a ship to change
  its orders.

  Settin missions

  The mission in the current scenario is set by selecting the
  mission tool. It is an icon with eighter a red target or a green
  box. The red target indicates which ships must be destroyed for
  the mission to be successful. The green box indicates the ships
  that must be destroyed for the mission to fail. You switch between
  these two by clicking on the icon. The mission ships are set when
  they are clicked. Clicking again on a mission ship deactivates its
  mission status.

  Setting next scenario

  The S and F key sets which scenario will be loaded when you
  complete a mission of fail a mission. Click Esc to return to main
  menu from the set filename screen.

  Setting scenario briefing

  Press M to go to the breifing editor. It's a crappy editor. I'll
  admit that. Pressing TAB will erase all current text and there is
  no undo. Esc is the only way back.

  Saving your scenario

  Before you save you must select the ship you want the player to
  control using the select tool. You must also set the active color
  to match the select ships using the color tool. Otherwise the game
  will think you are dead since it is following a ship of the enemy
  persuation. To save chose the Save alternative in the main menu.
  Use a filename that is unused (Red Roids does not check for
  already existing files) and press Enter to save.

  Other useful information

  + and - zooms
  Arrow keys moves the camera
  C centers on a selected ship
  Backspace returns to normal zoom level
  Rightclicking on a ship selects the ship and aquires its attributes
  (this is how you copy a ship with the Add ship tool active)
  The icon with waypoints on it is used for copying one ships way
  points. You activate the tool, select a ship by rightclicking, and
  clicks on any other ship you want to have the same waypoints the
  selected ship's got.

Check for updates at

http://www.waxjism.org/nail/osix.prog.php

Questions may be directed to

http://www.waxjism.org/nail/osix.note.php

or

marrewikstro@hotmail.com

Have fun!