Mechanical Tower
by Mikkosoft Productions
Readme for version 0.9


1. Introduction

  You are a mad roboticist of the steampunk age.  Your latest plan of world
  domination was perhaps a bit overambitious, and now your robotic creations
  have gone haywire and are assaulting your tower.  You must build traps to
  destroy them before they reach you - or suffer the consequences.


2. How to play

  When you start the game, the majority of the screen is taken up by a view of
  the first floor of your tower.  Initially you can only work on this floor,
  but you will get access to higher floors soon enough.  On the top of the
  screen is a toolbar listing your available traps, and on the bottom is a
  status bar.

  Your first task is to evaluate the routes the routes the clanks may take.
  Entrances to and exits from the floor are marked with green arrows.  Often
  there will be more than one possible route and you will need to block some
  of them in order to avoid defending on multiple fronts.

  Once you've formulated a plan, proceed to build walls to create a narrow
  corridor.  Some traps need to be installed near or between walls, and it
  will force the clanks to walk over your traps.  You may want to save your
  cogs for traps and not build the corridor all in one go.

  Now that you have a well-defendable corridor, it's time to fill it with
  traps.  Concentrate on the damage-dealing traps at first - you won't need
  the more special ones for the first few waves, and your starting funds are
  rather limited.

  As you destroy clanks, you will be awarded with more cogs to bolster your
  defenses with.  When you've successfully destroyed an entire wave of clanks,
  a hefty bonus will be deposited in your coffers.

  If a clank manages to climb the stairs at the highest floor and reaches your
  study, emergency defenses must be deployed.  However, doing so costs a large
  number of cogs per clank, so it's better to destroy them before they get that
  far.


3. Clanks

3.1. Walker

  This is the most basic clank.  It walks on two legs and has no special
  abilities.

3.2. Roller

  This heavily armored clank rolls around with two wheels.  Acid spray can be
  utilized to corrode its armor and make it easier to kill.

3.3. Hopper

  Constructed of a metal ball and a spring, this clank moves with little hops.
  Occasionally it will perform a much higher and longer jump, avoiding damage
  from some traps.

3.4. Bosses

  At regular intervals you will encounter a wave of clanks which are
  considerably tougher than the regular ones.  Prepare well, for even one could
  spell your doom unless you're well stocked with cogs.


4. Traps

4.1. Sawblade

  A large sawblade rolls back and forth between walls.

  Extra blades:
    Up to three extra blades can be added to this trap

  Tungsten Cardibe:
    Increases damage by 25%

4.2. Furnace

  A metal grating with fiery coals underneath it burns anything walking over
  it.

  White hot:
    Increases damage by 50%

  Pyre:
    The flames will occasionally go wild for a great temporary boost in damage

4.3. Lightning rod

  Lightning strikes at clanks from rods installed on the walls, arcing to hit
  multiple targets.

  High voltage:
    Increases damage by 25% and adds an extra arc, up to five targets

  Alternating current:
    Clanks are stunned momentarily by the lightning

4.4. Acid spray

  Installed on the walls, these acid dispensers will permanently reduce the
  armor of any clanks passing by.  Synergy bonus for being on the same tile
  with a furnace.  No direct damage.

  Sulphuric Acid / Aqua Regia:
    Increases the potency of the acid to 2x/3x the base

4.5. Rubble

  Slows down clanks walking over it, as they have to carefully choose stable
  footholds.  No direct damage.

  Caltrops:
    Sharp metal spikes make it even more difficult for clanks to negotiate the
    terrain

4.6. Trapdoor

  A trapdoor on the floor opens up and drops clanks to the previous floor.
  Unfortunately the mechanism is rather unreliable and tends to get stuck.

  Lubricate:
    Improves the chances of the trapdoor opening, but wears off over time

4.7. Wall

  While they are not traps themselves, walls are nevertheless crucial for
  building formidable defenses.

  Archway
    Creates an opening in the wall for clanks to pass through


5. Hints

  Rubble works well in combination with sawblades and lightning rods, making
  the clanks stay longer on that tile.

  The electric arcs of a lightning rod can reach far outside its own tile,
  stunning clanks in front of other traps.

  When planning the layout of a floor, think of where you could drop clanks
  from a trapdoor.


6. Controls

  Mouse:

  LMB    Use selected tool
  RMB    Upgrade traps
  Wheel  Rotate the view

  Shortcut keys for tools:

  W      Wall
  S      Sawblade
  F      Furnace
  T      Trapdoor
  L      Lightning rod
  R      Rubble
  A      Acid spray
  U      Upgrade

  Other shortcuts:

  N      Launch next wave
  Q      Toggle speed-up
  Esc    Pause / menu
  PgUp   Floor up
  PgDn   Floor down


7. Options

  There are a few options which can be specified on the command line:

  --resolution WxH
  --fullscreen
  --windowed
  --nosound
  --lowgfx


8. Known problems and troubleshooting

  Problem: The game runs very slowly on Vista or Windows 7
    
    Solution: This may be due to OpenAL.  Try using the --nosound option.

    Solution: Aero may interfere with rendering.  Try disabling compositing
    from the compatibility options for the game, or running in fullscreen mode.

  Problem: The game only shows a white/black screen on Vista or Windows 7

    Solution: Some advanced features do not seem to render properly on all
    systems.  Try using the --nogfx option.

  Problem: The game slows down when I spam furnaces

    Solution: The volumetric flame effect is unfortunately quite a resource
    hog.  Use the --lowgfx option to get a particle flame instead.


9. Contact information

  Homepage: http://www.tdb.fi/mechtower.shtml
  Email: tdb@tdb.fi


10. License

  Code and GFX copyright © Mikko Rasa, Mikkosoft Productions
  Mekanus font copyright © Arkandis Digital Foundry
  Music copyright © Jonne Lehtinen

  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
  (at your option) any later version.
  
  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
  GNU General Public License for more details.
  
  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
  with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
  51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
  
  Full license text can be found in License.txt.


($Id: Readme.txt 16 2009-07-29 18:19:03Z tdb $)
