INTRODUCTION:

Line-of-Fire ("LOF") is a simple two-player turn-based strategic boardgame
written in Python. Complexity should be somewhere between Checkers and Chess.
This distribution also includes a scenario editor.

As of this writing (08/22/11) the code is still in a fairly rough state, which
explains some of the shocking WTFs like the configuration "system."


LICENSE:

The code, documentation, scenarios, and art assets are all made available
under the MIT license, which can be found in COPYING.

DEPENDENCIES:

LOF requires Python 2.x (tested with Python 2.6.6,) Pygame (tested with Pygame
1.9,) and SDL_ttf (tested with SDL_ttf 2.0.) It should be cross-platform, but 
has only been tested on 32-bit Linux Mint 10. 

LOF requires a fixed-width TrueType font be installed on your system. By
default, it will look for "Liberation Mono" or "Courier New" in that order of
preference. If neither of those fonts are installed, you may edit the source
code to use a different one. It's also possible to obtain the TrueType files
for one of these fonts and install them in lof_data/fonts, if you don't want
to install them system-wide.


SETUP:

None.


RUNNING:

Run lof_main.py to play the game. Run lof_editor.py to use the scenario 
editor. You should run these from the command line, as the open and save
functionality requires you to type scenario names in on STDIN.


GAMEPLAY:

The game is played on a square grid, with two players taking turns at the
controls. One player has control of the red units, the other has the blue 
ones. 

There are two tile types, blank and goal tiles. Blank tiles are gray and may
be occupied by units. Goal tiles are purple; their use is described below.

There are two unit types, triangles and diamonds. (I'm aware that the correct
term is "rhombus," but if the card deck can get it wrong, then I can get it
wrong too.) Triangles can be aimed and moved, diamonds can only be moved. 
Triangles project a "line of fire" for six tiles in whatever direction they
are aimed. A triangle's line of fire can be blocked by units on the same team.
When a triangle is moved or aimed, its line of fire may include a new set of 
tiles. Any enemy units occupying those tiles will be taken out of play.

Units can be moved up to six tiles at a time in any cardinal direction.  
However, they may not move onto or through any tile which is already occupied
by a unit, and they may not move onto or through any tile which is within the
line of fire of an enemy triangle.

A diamond can be moved onto, but not through a goal tile; it will then be
taken out of play and its owner will gain one point. Triangles may not move
onto or through goal tiles.

During his turn, a player may do one of the following:
- Change the type of one unit
- Move and/or rotate one unit
- Forfeit the turn

The game ends when at least one player no longer has any units in play. At
this time, the winner is whichever player has the most points. There is 
currently no code to detect an end-of-game condition.


CONTROLS:

The most important controls are, by default:

MOUSE1: Select one of your units
        If another unit was selected, it will be deselected and any changes to
        its type, position, and orientation will be canceled.

MOUSE1: Place selected unit 
        If the unit's type was changed, it will be changed back.

MOUSE2: Rotate selected unit
        If the unit's type was changed, it will be changed back.

MOUSE3: Change type of selected unit
t:      Change selected unit to triangle
d:      Change selected unit to diamond
        If the the unit was moved or rotated, it will be moved back.

ESC:    Deselect current unit 
        The unit's position, orientation, and type will be reset.
        
ENTER:  Finalize current move
        If you finalize a move without doing anything, you forfeit the turn.

o:      Open a scenario
        The default scenario is called "std" and will be opened automatically
        when the game is started.

s:      Save the current game as a new scenario
        Once you have saved a scenario once, you can save it again without
        having to type in a new name.

q:      Quit the program

When a unit is selected, all the tiles to which that unit can move are 
highlighted. Click a tile to move it there. Right click directly on the unit
to cycle through the cardinal directions, or right click anywhere to aim the 
unit toward the cursor. Middle-click anywhere or use "t" or "d" to change 
the unit's type. When you are satisfied with your current move, hit ENTER to
end your turn.


CONFIGURATION:

The keyboard and mouse controls are currently customized by editing 
lof_bindings.py. If you would like to reset the controls to their default 
state, you are advised to keep a backup of this file; otherwise you'll need
to re-download it.


NETWORK PLAY:

This has not yet been implemented.