                                XROADS v0.3
                                -----------
Intro:
------
	Welcome to XRoads! XRoads is a game for the X Windows system that
attempts to be like the game Crossroads (and it's sequel, Pandemonium) for
the Commodore 64. Basically, it is a 2-dimensional, overhead view maze
game in which you fight against a gang of monsters. Sounds simple? Guess
again! There are (or at least, there will be) tons of different twists in
the game which make it fun. 

Compiling:
----------
	Sounds good you say? Okay, lets get you started with compiling the
program first. I should tell you that this game was originally built on a
Linux Slackware machine (i586) using XFree86 X11R6, and I really don't
have access to a lot of different machines, so I can't test it on
different operating systems. I have reports that it works fine on Solaris
machines (With one small change to the Makefile), but that BSD has some
problems with it. Your mileage may vary. Truthfully, it's not a very
complex game, so all that will probably be needed for other OS's would be
a few tweaks in the Makefile.

	First of all, you'll have to unzip and untar the program. There
are a few different ways to do it, but the easiest is like this:

hostname:~$ tar zxvf xroads-v0.2.tar.gz

	Then, you may want to check the Makefile to make sure it'll work
on your system (Check the "LINK = " line if you're not using Linux). This
step is optional. I believe the standard Makefile should work on most
boxes (Sorry, no Imake... yet...). You may also want to look in the 
config.h, as it contains a lot of default values (I doubt you'll want to
change many of them though):

hostname:~$ cd xroads
hostname:~/xroads$ vi Makefile
hostname:~/xroads$ vi config.h

	Oh.. I probably should have mentioned that you should enter the
xroads directory that the .tar.gz makes when it is uncompressed. I really
shouldn't have to tell you that though :P Anyways, then just run "make":

hostname:~/xroads$ make

	If you get any errors, there's a good chance it's because of the
Makefile. If you're positive it's not the Makefile, send me an email and
I'll see if I can fix it for you. Hopefully, you should have a binary all
ready to run. There is no installation procedure yet unfortunately... copy
the .xrm files to whatever directory you told it to use in config.h (the
default is just ./ (the current directory), which means you must run
XRoads from the same directory as the xrm files are in). These files are
used for the maps, and can be edited.. but you must be VERY careful, as
XRoads is very sensitive to the format of the map files. If that warning
doesn't bother you, then here's some advice: Use vi to edit the maps, and
make sure you're in "replace" mode. Each asterisk is a wall, and each
space is not a wall, heh. There must be exactly 20 characters per line
with a carriage return at the end (21 in total), and they should be 23
lines long. I believe anything after the 23rd line will be effectively
ignored, so I suppose you could put comments in there if you want. 

	(I suppose you could run "strip xroads" afterwards.. though the
executable isn't very large as it is, so it doesn't make much difference)

Playing:
--------
	So, it compiled alright? Great! Now you'll need to know how to
play the game. If you run the program, it should come up with a rather
bland title screen. Just click the window to start the game. Use the arrow
keys to move your character, and the space bar to fire (Unless you changed
them in config.h) There are a few other keys too:

1 - New map
r - Redraw Screen
Escape - Exit Game

	The rest of the game is pretty simple to learn. Run around and
shoot the monsters, and avoid being shot yourself. The white swirling fan
things are called "Spars". You must pick 10 of them up to get to the next
level (I know, it was 5 in the original Crossroads, but XRoads is faster
paced, so I upped the number). Each spar will also give you one more hit
point, you start with 5 hit points, and you can never have more than 9
hit points at once. There is no heads-up display as of yet, so you can't
tell how many spars or hit points you have. There is no end to the game
except for when you die, or you quit the game by hitting Escape, or by
closing the window.

	As an added bonus, there are two special spars in the game; the
Red and Blue spars. The Red Spar speeds up your firing rate, letting you
shoot a lot quicker (though the bullets don't actually move quicker), and
the Blue Spar makes you run faster. This may be difficult to control at
first, but it will become quite powerful once you get used to it.

	Each monster you kill earns you 100 points, and a spar gives you
200 points. Passing a level rewards you with an extra 500 points. As
you'll notice, your score is shows at the bottom of the screen along with
your health and how many spars you need to finish the level.

	Should you die, you'll be presented with another bland screen,
which (when clicked on) will go back to the title screen. To exit the
game, just hit Escape, or click the delete button on your window manager.

	Run XRoads with the parameter "-help" to get information on other
command line parameters you can use to change some of the games optiosn

Bugs:
-----
	Yes, there's bugs... after all, it's a really early version of the
game, so don't rag on me too bad... There should have been a file called
BUGS included in the .tar.gz... it has what you're looking for.

Contacting Me:
--------------
	Got a question? Found a new bug? Want to tell me my game sucks?
Got XRoads to compile a different operating system? Go right ahead! My
email address is foxtrot@autobahn.mb.ca and it is checked fairly often, so
I'll probably reply rather quickly. However, if you send me a message
like: "Your game sucks bad! You're not as l33t as I am! Muhahaha!" there's
a good chance I'll just delete it and forget about it. I don't work on
this game to get yelled at :P

	I'm also on IRC fairly often. When I am, I'm ALWAYS on EFnet, and
99% of the time, I'm using the nick "ManInBlak", and in the channel
#Consortium. I also have ICQ, though I rarely have it running. My UIN is
5149932 if you need it.

Note:
-----
	This program is provided "as is". I accept no responsibility for
any problems resulting from the use (or mis-use) or this program in any 
way. Do whatever you want with this program, as long as you do a few 
things:

 1 - Make sure to give me *some* credit (all you have to do is mention my
     name somewhere)
 2 - Any use of this code, wether in it's original form or in an altered
     state, must be provided free of charge. That goes for binaries AND
     source code.

That's all for now... have fun!
						--Brad Johnson
						  foxtrot@autobahn.mb.ca
