The menus
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This is a description of the contents of the option menus used in this game.

File

Exit

Exists the application.
Closes all active game sessions and frees up resources.

Game

New game

This option is active only if there is no game in progress.


Choose this option to start a new game.
The features of the new game are determined according to the settings in the "Settings" menu.

Stop game

This options is active only if there is a game in progress.

Choose this options to stop the current game session.
If you joined an existing game session, your tank will disappear from the battle.
If you're hosting a game session, stopping the game will close down the session and all the other tanks joining in to that session will stop playing.

Settings

Set keyboard mapping...

Pops up a setup dialog where you can select which keys perform specific game actions.

keymap.gif (6998 bytes)

Movement controls

Forward - moves the tank forwards (the direction its cannon points to).

Backward - moves the tanks backwards (opposite the direction its cannon points to).

Turn Left - turns the tank left (by about 15°).

Turn Right - turns the tank right (by about 15°).

Fire controls

Fire shell - fires a single shell (if you have the ammo).

Fire bullet - fires a single bullet (if you have the ammo).

Drop mine - drops a single mine behind the tank (if you have the ammo and the area behind the tank is clear).

Aerial support - summons a bomber (if you have the bomber bonus).

OK - accepts the keyboard mapping changes.

Cancel - rejects the changes done in this dialog.

Default - sets keyboard mapping options to their defaults.

Set game preferences...

Pops up a setup dialog where you can select settings for the game.

game-set.gif (12986 bytes)

Tank selection

Here you select the color of your tank.
In the game, each tank has a unique color. The color is set by the host but here you can specify the color you request from the host upon joining a game session. If there is no other player with the color you requested, your tank will be assigned with your color.

Game map terrain complexity

In this game the map and its obstacles are automatically and randomly generated on each new game session.
Only a computer that hosts a game session can set this parameter.
Hosting a session or joining an existing one is set in the communication preferences.
A simple map is a map with a minimal number of obstacles.
A complex map is a map crowded with obstacles.

OK - accepts the game preferences changes.

Cancel - rejects the changes done in this dialog.

Set communication preferences...

Pops up a setup dialog where you can select settings for the multiplayer communication.

comm-set.gif (6938 bytes)

Player name - the name of the player. This name is visible to other players and it is used when chatting during the game.

Session options

Host a game session - When choosing this option and starting a new game, you start  new game session.
Other players can join this session.
When hosting a game session, the tank type and map complexity you pick are always set.

Connect to game session - When choosing this options and starting a new game the program will attempt to connect you to an on-going game session (hosted on another computer).
If a host session wasn't found, you cannot play the game.

Available connections - here you get to choose the type of connection used in the multiplayer game.
The contents of the list varies according to the configuration of your computer network settings.
You must select at least one option before you can start playing for the first time.

OK - accepts the communication preferences changes.

Cancel - rejects the changes done in this dialog.

Server management...

This option is only available if you're hosting a game session.
Pops up a dialog where you can view other players connected to the current game session and disconnect specific players.

srv-mgmt.gif (3177 bytes)

Player - the name of the connected player as it was set in the player name option.

Duration - the time elapsed since that player joined the game session.

Latency - displays the quality of the network connection to that player.
This value is the Round Trip Time (RTT) - the time it takes a message to travel from the host (your computer) to the player's computer and back.

Close - closes this dialog.

Disconnect player - disconnects selected player from the list.
You cannot disconnect the host player (yourself).

Sound

Mute

Toggles sound on or off.

If this option is disabled (grayed-out), the sound system could not be started. This is either because your computer does not have a sound card or because another application is using the sound device.

Help

About...

Displays information about the application.

 

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