README

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		     SPLASH Documentation
                      Michael DiBernardo
		      mikedebo@gmail.com
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OVERVIEW
    Splash is a 3D Pacman-like game. Petrie, everyone's favorite 
    Plesiosaur, has lost his family and friends to a horrible zombie
    plague that affects only aquatic dinosaurs! To save them, he must
    eat a whole bunch of small black dots before he is caught and
    turned into a zombie himself! Only then will Petrie be able to
    stop and wonder how a series of black shiny dots could have such
    a profound effect on the continuance of his species.

    Petrie is much faster than his zombified kin once he hits top
    speed, but his pursuers are relentless! Luckily, magic gems
    scattered throughout the ocean can temporarily grant him special
    powers.

GAME MECHANICS
    Each level is populated with one or more enemy dinos, some power-
    ups (coloured diamonds), and many small black spheres called 
    'dots'. The enemy dinos will chase you incessantly. Your job is to
    grab all of the dots in the level before you are caught, and to do so
    quickly enough to beat the level's 'par'. If you clear a level in the
    specified amount of time, the next level will be unlocked.

    The zombie dinos (the red ones) will mindlessly chase Petrie. If
    Petrie is caught, the game is over. 

    There are three powerups that you can grab to give you a temporary
    (5 second) advantage. These powerups take the form of coloured
    diamonds that float above the water. 

    Speed Boost: Green diamonds will double your top speed.
    Flash Freeze: Blue diamonds will stop all zombies from moving.
    Repellant: Red diamonds will make all zombies flee from you.

PLAYING THE GAME
    Splash can be compiled on Mac OS/X or Linux machines.
    See the makefile for details. 

    At the command line, type 'make'. Once the game is finished building, just
    type './game' to play.

CONTROLS:
    Up arrow    -   Accelerate forwards
    Down arrow  -   Accelerate backwards
    Left arrow  -   Turn left
    Right arrow -   Turn right
    X           -   Zoom in
    Z           -   Zoom out
    S           -   Raise camera
    A           -   Lower camera
    + or =      -   Increase game speed (lower frame rate)
    - or _      -   Reduce game speed (increase frame rate)
    Space       -   Pause game
    Esc         -   Quit game