World of Voom - First Steps

by Edwin Steiner

Purpose of this document

This documents tells you how to play your first matches in World of Voom. It is not a comprehensive manual for the game! (Such a manual does not exists at this time.)

Installation

See the README file for instructions.

General hints regarding the user interface

Using the mouse

Left clicking generally lowers a displayed value.

Richt clicking generally increases a displayed value.

During the match you can fire by pressing both mouse buttons at the same time.

All other actions are performed by left clicking.

Using the keyboard

Most elements in the game can be controlled by the keyboard. The arrow keys, the Enter key and the Space key are used most often.

Highlighted letters can be used to activate buttons.

See the section 'The Match' for a list of key strokes you can use to control your tank in a match.

Main Menu

After starting the game you see the main menu. You can change options with the left and right mouse buttons or with the arrow keys.

The following options are available:

Option Purpose

Walls You can choose the kind of walls that the playing field should have. (See section 'Walls' for further explanation.) Random means select the type of walls randomly for every match.

Wind You can choose, how strong the wind should be. In all settings except None, the exact wind speed is selected randomly for every match. Random means that even the order of magnitude of wind speed should vary from match to match.

Technology This options specifies how advances the weapons should be, which you and your opponents will be able to buy.

Computer buys This option specifies if computer players will buy stronger weapons when they can afford them, or if the will always use standard shells.

Teamplay This option specifies, if the players will be divided into teams, whose members cooperate with each other.

Matches This option specifies, how many matches should be played. You can always add additional matches during the game.

Option	Purpose
Walls	You can choose the kind of walls that the playing field should have. (See section 'Walls' for further explanation.) Random means select the type of walls randomly for every match.
Wind	You can choose, how strong the wind should be. In all settings except None, the exact wind speed is selected randomly for every match. Random means that even the order of magnitude of wind speed should vary from match to match.
Technology	This options specifies how advances the weapons should be, which you and your opponents will be able to buy.
Computer buys	This option specifies if computer players will buy stronger weapons when they can afford them, or if the will always use standard shells.
Teamplay	This option specifies, if the players will be divided into teams, whose members cooperate with each other.
Matches	This option specifies, how many matches should be played. You can always add additional matches during the game.

Click Start to proceed to the Players menu.

Players Menu

There is a display showing the number of players and the list of players. If you have selected teamplay, you will also see a display showing the number of teams and the list of teams.

First select the number of players (and teams) by left/right clicking the digital displays or by pressing '-'/+'. (You can change between players and teams with the Tab key.)

For each player, you can enter a name, which kind of player he or she will be (Human or one of the computer players), the color of the player, and optionally the team of the player.

For each team, you can enter a name.

Start the first match by clicking Start.

The Match

What's all this stuff on the screen?

In the upper 3/4 of the screen you see the playing field containing the tanks and the landscape.

The lower 1/4 of the screen is your control panel. Here you can select the weapon, angle and power which you are going to use for your next shot.

At the bottom of the screen is the status line.

The status line

It is very important to look at the status line before shooting! The status line displays the type of walls of the playing field, wind speed and direction and the current player.

Useful keys

You can use the following keys to prepare and trigger the shot.

Left	Rotate turret left.
Right	Rotate turret right.
Ctrl-Left	Rotate turret to 0 degrees left.
Ctrl-Right	Rotate turret to 0 degrees right.
Alt-Left	Rotate turret left by one degree.
Alt-Right	Rotate turret right by one degree.
Shift-Left	Rotate turret left by 1/10 degree.
Shift-Right	Rotate turret right by 1/10 degree.
Home	Flip turret to the other side.
Up	Increase power.
Down	Decrease power.
Alt-Up	Increase power by 1.
Alt-Down	Decrease power by 1.
Ctrl-Up	Increase power fast.
Ctrl-Down	Decrease power fast.
Page Up	Increase power very fast.
Page Down	Decrease power very fast.
Alt-Page Up	Increase power by 100.
Alt-Page Down	Decrease power by 100.
Ctrl-Page Up	Maximum power.
Ctrl-Page Down	Zero power.
Space or Enter	Shoot.
Tab	Select the weapon.
Shift-Tab	Select the weapon group. (If several are displayed.)
Ctrl-Q	Quits the current match (not the whole game).
Ctrl-K	Interrupts the current shot while the projectile is in the air.

Walls

There are different kinds of walls for the playing field. It is very important to consider the kind of wall when preparing a shot.

Note: The lines drawn at the sides and at the bottom of the playing field are not related to the current kind of walls! Check the indicator in the lower left corner which displays the current kind of walls!

None No walls.

Sticky These walls reflect projectiles while decreasing their speed by 50%.

Elastic These walls reflect projectiles without changing their speed.

Fast These walls reflect projectiles while increasing their speed by 50%.

Warp These walls act as if the playing field was wrapped around a vertical cylinder, so that the right edge and the left edge of the playing field touch each other. So projectiles 'hitting' the left wall, come out of the right wall and vice versa.

Result Screens

After each match a screen with the list of players, their scores and the number of their victories is displayed.

You can use Matches to add additional matches to the game.

Click Continue to go on.

Buying Equipment

If at least one player has earned enough money to buy anything, the screen of the equipment store appears. Here you can browse through several categories of equipment and select the items you want to buy.

You can add items to our shopping cart by right clicking, and you can remove them by left clicking. (You may also use the arrow keys to select items, and the Tab key to switch between different weapon categories.

The blue numbers show, how much money you have and the equipment you already own.

The yellow numbers show, what you have selected to buy, and how much money you are going to spend on it.

If you have selected all the items you want to buy, click Ok to continue.

Note: Only press Enter when you have finished shopping!

Edwin Steiner

None	No walls.
Sticky	These walls reflect projectiles while decreasing their speed by 50%.
Elastic	These walls reflect projectiles without changing their speed.
Fast	These walls reflect projectiles while increasing their speed by 50%.
Warp	These walls act as if the playing field was wrapped around a vertical cylinder, so that the right edge and the left edge of the playing field touch each other. So projectiles 'hitting' the left wall, come out of the right wall and vice versa.