Holotz's Castle - Manual
------------------------

HISTORY:
08/02/2005 - Second edition.
24/10/2004 - First edition.

1. Quick Start

1.1. Windows

	 1. Unzip HC_win32-1.3.zip
	 2. After the extraction process, a folder named HC appears.
	 3. Explore into that folder.
	 4. Double click holotz-castle.exe
	 5. Enjoy!

	 NOTA: To create an application short cut is necessary to fill the field 'Run in' the
   full path to the HC folder, in the short cut properties dialog.

1.2. Linux (source code)

	 1. Do 'tar -zxf HC_JLib_Linux_Win32-1.3.tar.gz' (without quotes)
	 2. Follow the instructions in the file README.txt under the directory 'HC_JLib_Linux_Win32-1.3'.
	 3. Do 'cd Games/HolotzCastle'
	 4. Do './holotz-castle'
	 5. Enjoy!

2. Walk-around

	 To show the help in the main menu or playing, press F1. Th ehelp is not available during the dialog
   scenes.

   The first two scenes you see when you select 'New game' in the main menu is a dialog between Ybelle and
   Ludar, the main characters of the game. 
	 
	 You can skip the dialog balloons by pressing space. You can skip the entire scene by pressing enter. 

	 You can switch to the main menu whenever you want while playing but then if you select the option 'Continue game' 
	 you will start at the beginning of the last level played.
   Said this, as a rule of thumb: if you want to save, do it when you just entered a new level.

	 To pause a game and relax, press 'p'. Pressing 'p' again gets you back to the game.

   At the third level you can control Ybelle. Try moving it with the arrow keys. Try jumping with the space bar.
   The more you keep pressed it the more you can jump.

	 The remaining time to complete a level is displayed in the top left corner of the screen.
   
	 The remaining objects to unlock the exit of a level are displayed in the top right corner of the screen.

	 When you collect all the objects, the exit activates (it moves faster) you have to move toward it and when you
   are bellow, jump to exit the level.
	 
	 If you find too hard or too easy the levels, try to adjust the difficulty in the main menu (Options > Difficulty).

3. HCed

	HCed is the level editor for Holotz's Castle.

	To launch it:
		- In Linux, run './holotz-castle-editor'
			
		- In Windows, double click over the icon holotz-castle-editor.exe

	Main window:

		The title of the window contains the file being used when you save the current level.

		In the left side are shown the icons:

			- Normal floor
			- Continuous floor
			- Ladder
			- Bar
			- Breakable floor
			- Object
			- Rope
			- Start position
			- End position
			- Enemies
			- Save
			- Load/Create story
			- Exit
		
		Under those, there are these indicators:
			
			- Level time.
			- Gravity.
			- X Speed.
			- Y Speed.
			- Jump amount.
			- Map size (rows x columns)
	
	Mouse:

		Left button: Draws the current object in the map.
		Central button or left & right buttons at the same time: Deletes the object under the pointer.

	Keys:

		c : adds blank column to the right
		Shift + c : removes column to the right
		Ctrl + c : adds blank column to the left
		Ctrl + Mayús + c : removes column to the left
		r : adds blank row bellow
		Shift + r : removes row bellow
		Ctrl + r : adds blank row upside
		Ctrl + Mayús + r : removes row upside
		+ : increase time (based upon hardest difficulty level)
		- : decrease time
		g : increase gravity
            Shift + g: decrease gravity
		x : increase x speed
            Shift + x: decrease x speed
		y : increase y speed
            Shift + y: decrease y speed
		j : increase jump amount
		Shift + j : decrease jump amount
		
		With object/rope/start pos./enemy:
			Ctrl - Adjusts to map.
		
		Adding ropes:
			Select rope icon.
			Position rope in map.
			Without realeasing the left mouse button, press 'Alt'.
			Mover updown mouse to set rope length.
			Without realeasing the left mouse button, press 'Shift' to adjust the rope period.

4. FAQ

   Q. I double-click on HC.exe but nothing happens!
   A. Open the file called stderr.txt in the same folder (or check the console messages under Linux).
      The last lines tell the problem initializing the game. Find a solution in the rest of the FAQ
      for your problem.

   Q. The game runs slowly what can I do?
   A. Select a lower resolution video mode in the main menu:
      Options > Video > Size > [mode] 
      Maybe your graphics card supports 320x200 mode, that's a chance to 
      revive the feelings of the old-fashined video games.

   Q. I'm running Linux with ALSA but don't hear any sound.
   A. By default ALSA mutes the sound. Try to check the volume with alsamixer or aumix or kmix.
      If another application is using the the sound device you will not be able to hear sounds
      until you close it.

   Q. Sound under Windows is fake!
   A. Despite the fact that the soundtrack is not very audible by itself :D, maybe the problem is
      in the drivers of your soundcard. Get the last version of them and try again.

   Q. In 8 bpp mode some parts of the level are black at all!
   A. That error is fixed in v1.2 on higher, check the web (www.mainreactor.net) for the last release.

	 Q. I didn't find an answer to my problem in this FAQ, what should I do?
	 A. You can e-mail me to the direction bellow. Don't forget to attach the file called stderr.txt which is
      in the same folder as the executable (HC.exe). It contains information about your graphics card and
      the problem with the game.
   
	 Q. I'm an artist/musician/programmer/producer/90-60-90-model and I want to contribute to the cause. What can I do?
   A. Oh, you can e-mail me at the direction bellow (if you are model we have to have a personal date first :) )


Juan Carlos Seijo Pérez (jacob@mainreactor.net)
