If you choose this method you will need to build the game from source. This will require all the appropriate development libraries (see Requirements) and some knowledge of building an application using the source code. Open a terminal and use the following commands to extract, compile and install the game,

tar xzf viruskiller-0.1-1.tar.gz
cd viruskiller-0.1-1
make
make install*

* - You will have to be root in order to perform this step.

Notes

• Default installation target is /usr/games for the binary and /usr/share/games for the data
• Music and Font data are extracted to /tmp and loaded from there. SDL currently does not support loading music directly from memory. Also segmentation faults occurred when loading fonts from memory. These are only minor issues and should not affect the game in any way.
• Menu items are added for Gnome and KDE desktops. Games and Games/Arcade respectively.

Running

Either type,

viruskiller

in a terminal window, or you can use the menu links that have been added for Gnome and KDE desktops. These under located in Games and Games / Arcade respectively.

Controls

In Game

Menus

Starting a New Game

From the title screen, press space / escape or return to bring up the main menu. Select Start New Game and then choose a difficulty setting. The difficulty setting you choose will affect the way the game is played, from the speed at which the viruses move, their numbers, their types and points you score.

Options

How to Play

Ultimately the aim of the game is to score as many points as possible. Points are scored by destroying viruses and with bonuses at the end of each round. Depending on the mode of play the points you score will differ.

Viruses will stream in each round from the various MS products and begin to make their way towards your directories. Viruses can be destroyed by firing your kernel laser at them. This laser power is limited and decreases as the laser is fired. Once the power is exhausted you must wait for it to charge up again. The laser recharges whenever it is not being fired, whenever you kill a virus and whenever you pickup a battery.

The actions of the viruses differs depending on their type. See the Viruses section for more information. You should endevour to keep the viruses away from your directories whenever possible.

The number of viruses and the length of the round increases with each new round, and therefore so does the difficulty.

It is possible to halt the action on screen with the use of a Thread Blocker. This is a special pickup that allows you to click the Right Mouse Button and freeze all the viruses on screen. For approximately 6 seconds you will be able to destroy viruses without them being able to move or without losing any Kernel Power. Note that this does not affect viruses that have already entered a directory.

There are also various pickups that can aid you in your battle, they are listed in the Items section.

Items

During the course of the game various pickups will appear on screen. To pick them up simply shoot them. Below is a list of what each of these pickups does,

	Battery - This pickup will fully restore your Kernel Power to maximum.
	Thread Blocker - Gives you one extra Thread Blocker (use with Right Mouse Button)
	Bomb - When shot this item will destroy all the viruses on screen (except those within directories) and then disappears. Can be extremely useful in frantic situations. It is however rare so shoot it as soon as you see it.

Viruses

There are three types of viruses in this game. Each performs a different action and are described below,

	Green Thief - The green thief virus enters directories and steals files. It will then attempt to take these files back to the security hole it entered from. If it is killed when it is carrying a file the file is automatically returned to its home directory.
	Red Hungry Fuzz - Upon entering a directory this virus will eat a file and then disappear. It is therefore more dangerous than the Thief since there is no way of stopping it when it enters a directory.
	Flaming Skull - The most dangerous virus there is. It moves very slowly but will destroy the entire directory once it gets into it. You should destroy these viruses as soon as you see them.

Game Over

The game is over when you no longer have any directories left to protect. At this point you will see the Game Over screen. If you have have managed to get a highscore you will then be prompted to enter your name, if not you will return to the title screen.

Misc Gameplay Information

There are two other gameplay modes available. Unlocking them will require a little patience...

About

Parallel Realities started off writing games on the Amiga using AMOS and then, later, Blitz Basic 2. Games written included the BOTSS Trilogy and most notably TANX Squadron. TANX Squadron was awarded Amiga Format's contributor prize of the month in the summer of 1999. Project: Starfighter was Parallel Realities' first contribution to the Linux gaming scene and was well recieved when it was released in 2003.

Virus Killer is one of several games that Parallel Realities have produced for the Linux community. Others include a puzzle game called Q; Metal Blob Solid, a platform game like those found on the SNES; And Project: Starfighter, a 2D mission based arcade shoot 'em up. All these and more can be downloaded from our website.

www.parallelrealities.co.uk