
Sasteroids v1.3
================

sasteroids1.3-src.tar.gz	Source only distribution
sasteroids1.3-bin.tar.gz	Binary only distribution

Please see
----------
?-CHANGELOG		changes from previous versions.
?-INSTALL		installation/compile instructions.
?-PROBLEMS		help if trouble occurs.

*************************************INTRO************************************

	Sasteroids is an asteroids-like game, the whole point to shoot
asteroids and an occasional enemy space ship.  Ok, so its not DOOM, but it
can be amusing, and does use a few DOOM-like brown colors.  This started out
as a direct port of xasteroids to run under svgalib (a wonderful super-vga
graphics library by Harm Hanemaayer), but I then decided that 256 color
bitmap graphics would be more fun, then rewrote it in C++, then added a
high-score list, a title screen, changed the game alot, added new animation,
scancode keyboard support, etc, anything to avoid school work.

	Warning: I can't draw, so the asteroids look more like chunks of dog
food.  Maybe this game should be called "Save the Planet from Killer Alpo",
or something. (Note to Dave Farmer: Would it fit on the title screen? ;-)

	The game uses 320x200 graphics in 256 colors.  I developed it using
(most recently) svgalib v1.11.  svgalib can also be obtained from your
favorite linux ftp site (eg, sunsite.unc.edu as svgalib???.tgz where ??? is
the version number) and version 1.11 or greater is recommended to compile this
game. 

[NOTE FOR HACKERS: If svgalib supports your video cards extended modes, you
can play with 256 color modes other than 320x200, look at lines 45-47 in the
file 'Ui.c'. However, hi-res modes slow the game down. And don't use the
BACKDROPS option in modes other than 320x200. ]

	The program is written in C++.  I have made no attempt to make this
program portable to any operating systems other than linux (I don't have
access to any others, well, except SunOs :-).

****************** NOTE: IF THE GAME SEEMS TO RUN TOO SLOW ******************

NOTE: The following timing info only applies if there are no CPU intesive
applications running concurrently.

	If you press 't' while playing the game, you can toggle the bottom
line between displaying your score/etc, and displaying the time it takes to
generate 1 frame of animation on your computer.  The time is shown in usec
(millionths of a second, probably accurate to within +/- 10,000 usec).

	The time to generate 1 frame of animation depends on the speed of
your computer, your video card (vlb?), how many objects are being moved
around the screen, and whether you are using the BACKDROPS option.  Setting
BACKDROPS=YES can add to the time required to generate 1 frame of animation.
If you change the BACKDROPS setting, you must recompile/install (see the
INSTALL guide for this.

	Since by default, the game is set to 20 frames per second (FPS), 1
frame should take 50,000 or less usec to generate/display.  On my 486DX2 66,
with an ATI VLB Graphics Ultra Pro, I get about 11,000 usec at the beginning
of a 'hard' level (press 3 when starting the game).  Since this is well
below 50,000 I know I am getting 20 FPS, with time to spare. Note - due to
the CPU cache on 486's, quiting the program then immediately re-running it
can sometimes result in faster timings.

	If the timing on your machine is above 50,000 the game can't
generate 20 FPS on your machine. If you have performance probs with this
game, please email me your computer hardware setup (CPU, math co-pro, video
card, isa or vlb, etc) and the approximate timings in usec at the beginning
of a skill level 3 game. (other timings, e.g. while your ship is exploding,
are welcome too!)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loads of thanks to the following who provided diffs, bug reports, advice:

	Harm Hanemaaijer	(svgalib!!!)
	Thomas Weber		(fixed point math)
	John Remyn		(fonts/cf files/ideas/etc/etc/etc..)
	Russel Marks		(rawkey library)
	Joachim Klausner	(joystick support)
	Vesa Ruokonen
	Ben Lippolt
	Aaron Moman
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brad pitzel  June 2/94

ideas, bugs, patches, better bitmaps, sounds, to pitzel@cs.sfu.ca
(hey, even if you think the game sucks, let me know why)

the Rheostatics rule.
(when's that new album coming out??)
