ROBOTS(6)

NAME
robots - fight off villainous robots

SYNOPSIS
robots [-ajrst] [scorefile]

DESCRIPTION
robots pits you against evil robots, who are trying to kill you (which is why they are evil). Fortunately for you, even though they are evil, they are not very bright and have a habit of bumping into each other, thus destroying themselves. In order to survive, you must get them to kill each other off, since you have no offensive weaponry. You are endowed with one piece of defensive weaponry: a teleportation device. When two robots run into each other or a junk pile, they die. If a robot runs into you, you die. When a robot dies, you get 10 points, and when all the robots die, you start on the next field. This keeps up until they finally get you.

Robots are represented on the screen by a ‘+’, the junk heaps from their collisions by a ‘*’, and you (the good guy) by a ‘@’.

The commands are:
h   move one square left
l   move one square right
k   move one square up
j   move one square down
y   move one square up and left
u   move one square up and right
b   move one square down and left
n   move one square down and right
.   (also space) do nothing for one turn
HJKLBNYU
    run as far as possible in the given direction
>   do nothing for as long as possible
t   teleport to a random location
w   wait until you die or they all do
q   quit
^L  redraw the screen

All commands can be preceded by a count unless the game is in real-time mode.

If you use the ‘w’ command and survive to the next level, you will get a bonus of 10% for each robot which died after you decided to wait. If you die, however, you get nothing. For all other commands, the program will save you from typos by stopping short of being eaten. However, with ‘w’ you take the risk of dying by miscalculation.

Only five scores are allowed per user on the score file. If you make it into the score file, you will be shown the list at the end of the game. If an alternative score file is specified, that will be used instead of the standard file for scores.

The options are as follows:

-a  Advance into the higher levels directly, skipping the lower, easier levels.

-j  Jump, i.e., when you run, don't show any intermediate positions; only show things at the end. This is useful on slow terminals.

-r  Real-time mode. After your first move, robots will advance at least every three seconds.

-s  Don't play, just show the score file.

-t  Teleport automatically when you have no other option. This is a little disconcerting until you get used to it, and then it is very nice.

ENVIRONMENT

LOGNAME
    Name displayed in high score file.

FILES

$HOME/.robots.scores
    The score file.

AUTHORS
Ken Arnold