Introduction
These are the Lode Runner X Help Files. Thanks for downloading this game. If you loved Lode Runner, you'll love this. If you've never played Lode Runner, you've finally gotten your chance! Currently, this version is not considered final. Changes to various aspects of the game may still occur. I have not finished all of the single player levels, either. (I have 50 out of 80 done.) Also, this readme file will likely experience great changes in the future (expansion). You can use the 'Check Updates' option to look for new levels / versions of the game. If there are any available, a 'Download Updates' button will appear. Just click the button and the autodownloader will take care of everything, then send you back to the game. If you have any questions, comments, or problems, e-mail me at mdotychar@yahoo.com. I usually check once or twice each day.
Table of Contents
1. Basic Gameplay 2. Joysticks 3. Level Editor 4. Multiplayer 5. Cheats
1. Basic Gameplay
In Lode Runner, your goal is to collect all of the gold in the level without getting caught by an enemy. Along the way, you may dig holes, use bombs and use ropes to facilitate your task. You can dig holes as often as you'd like. To do this, use the N and M keys on the keyboard. N digs to the left; M digs to the right. Some levels have areas that you cannot dig; these areas generally appear darkened or covered in some way. Also, you cannot dig directly beneath any ladder. Use the arrow keys to control your character. The V and B keys use bombs (if you have collected them on the map). A box in the upper-right corner of the screens shows how many of each type of bomb you have. V drops a vertical bomb; B drops a horizontal bomb. If you are facing to the left or to the right, then you will place the bomb in front of you; if you are moving up or down a ladder, you will drop the bomb straight downward. The Space Bar uses the rope tool (if you have collected any ropes). You can carry up to 3 ropes at one time. To use a rope, you must be directly beneath some solid ground (that you could walk on). You can rope as far as you'd like. Your character climbs the rope automatically. Then, you can either move to the left, to the right, or downward again. If you do not make a move for too long, you will automatically fall back downward. (Thus, you cannot simply hang from your rope indefinitely.)
2. Joysticks
Lode Runner was definitely made to be played with a joystick. Any joystick should work with Lode Runner X. I would advise having at least 3 buttons on your joystick, if not more. You can configure your joystick on the Options screen (from the Main Menu). You can control the sensitivity in each direction from very low to very high. Then, you can decide which button will perform which action. You need buttons for digging, bomb dropping (horizontal and vertical), and using ropes. If you have a shortage of buttons, you can combine both bomb selections into one key. To do this, you also need a slider on your joystick. Move down to the 'Select Bomb Slider' choice and move the slider you want to use. The game should detect this slider and automatically change both bomb actions to the same button. Then, you will use that slider to switch between horizontal and vertical bombs when playing the game. Moving it more than halfway up will choose horizontal bombs; moving it more than halfway down will choose vertical bombs. An arrow will appear next to the box in the upper-right corner to show which bomb you have currently selected. If your joystick has a 3rd axis of movement (for instance, the joystick I use has a handle that twists), you can use that 3rd axis for digging automatically. For example, when I play, I just twist the handle CCW (leftward) to dig to the left, and I twist it the other way to dig to the right. It might take a moment to get used to it, but it seems very natural after a short time. It also frees you from having to keep track of which buttons dig in addition to each other button type (bombs, ropes). When selecting digging buttons, you can either specify one button to dig left and one button to dig right, OR you can choose one button to dig behind you and another button to dig in front of you. You can decide which method suits you better. If your joystick has buttons in the left and the right (and you don't have a Z-axis), you might decide to specify the left one to dig to the left and the right one to dig to the right. If, on the other hand, you don't have such conveniently-arranged buttons, you might find it simpler to have a button that always digs in front of you and another that always digs behind you. (Digging behind your characters comes in handy when an enemy is hot on your trail.)
3. Level Editor
I used the Level Editor to make each of the levels in the game. It's pretty simple to use. I will later expand this section to better explain its finest features. When you make a level, you just paint what you want. To select a tile or an object for placement, choose the 'Select Brush' option. (Side note: You can move the editor menu by right-clicking on it and dragging it away.) After you click 'Select Brush,' you will see the Select Brush screen. Here, you can select from a series of tiles, animations, and objects. You should begin by selecting a tile. You will then return to the editor screen. Left-click to apply the tile; right-click to erase a tile. Repeat this process to create the graphical side of the level. After you have drawn your first level, you need to apply collision detection (and enable ladders and monkey bars if you have used them). To do this, go back to the Select Brush screen and choose 'Apply Collision Detection.' Now, click on each tile (except for ladders and monkey bars). When you click on a tile, You will see a series of yellow dots appear on it. This signals that collision detection has been applied. (Different colors appear for ladder / monkey bar application.) If you CTRL+Left Click on a tile while in Collision / Ladder application mode, then every tile of that appearance will have that type of collision applied. For example, if you CTRL + Left Click on a grass tile while you are in 'Apply Collision Detection' mode, then all grass tiles will have collision detection automatically applied. You can do the same for other modes such as 'Enable Ladder.' Now you need to specify a player-start position. Select 'Place Player' in the Select Brush screen. Just click on a tile and you will see a green 'P' appear. You can only have one player start location. If you place more 'P's' in the level, the game will use the one farthest from the top-left. (Side Note: To place a starting location for a second player, hold CTRL when you click.) You can right- click on a tile to eliminate the starting location (just like erasing tiles). There are a couple of other things to do now. First, place some gold in the level (unless you want it to be very easy). Select 'Place Gold' in the Select Brush screen, then click away. I love to fill levels with lots of gold because I'm a nice guy. You can place up to 99 pieces of gold in a level. If you put more, the game won't load them in game mode. You might also want to place enemies in your map now. To do this, choose 'Place Enemy' in the Select Brush screen. Then, click on the map to place an enemy. You will see an 'E' appear. Important note: A map can only support a maximum of 8 enemies. For best results, keep it under 6 or 7. If too many enemies appear, they will take longer to find their way around the level (to keep the game running smoothly). Plus, that many enemies make for a really tough level. 5 enemies is completely reasonable, though. (Side Note: If you want to place Bomber Enemies, hold CTRL when you click on the map. The E will appear in a different color to represent their Bomber status.) Second-to-last Step: Place a finish ladder. When a level is done, a magic ladder generally will appear so that the player can escape to the top of the level. To place this / these magic ladder(s), choose 'Place Magic / Finish Ladder' in the Select Brush screen. Then, click on the map to apply it. The ladder (gold) will appear on the editor, but it does not appear during gametime until all gold is collected. If you prefer, you can just place a normal ladder all the way to the top, but what fun is that? (It's certainly not very magical!) ;) The last step is to save your level. If you are creating a new level, you can name it whatever you'd like. (At this point, the name will appear in green.) Click in the name field, and the name will now have turned to white. You can erase the name and modify it to your liking. Then, just click 'Save Map.' The name now appears in red; you cannot change the name. (Side Note: Don't worry about overwriting levels. If a map already exists under a name you choose, the game will automatically change your map's name to {name}# so that the file is not overwritten. If you make any levels, I'd love to see them. Just send them in e-mail to mdotychar@yahoo.com.
4. Multiplayer
Lode Runner X has a great single player mode, but its Multiplayer mode may be even more fun. You can play Multiplayer over your LAN or over the Internet. You can select from a large number of options when creating a multiplayer game. One player will be the host; the other player will join as the client. The host controls the game settings. LRX also keeps track of every game you play if you are logged in. You need to have an account first; go to the Lode Runner X website to get an account set up. When you're changing goals, hold SHIFT to go by increments of 10. You can choose from a large number of preset game modes if you'd like. You can save your own, too. To do this, start by setting up all of the settings you want to save. Then, press ENTER to bring up the chat window. Now, type: /save NAME. (Replace NAME with whatever you'd like to call your new setting.) (Side note: The new setting won't appear in the preset list until the next time you enter the Setup screen.) If you are on a LAN and you want to HOST a multiplayer game, you will probably need to enable port forwarding. LRX uses port 2345. So. you will need to forward traffic headed to port 2345 to your specific IP address. If you're just joining games, you shouldn't need to worry about it at all, though.
5. Cheats
You can acquire cheats by beating the single player levels. When you beat a single player level, the gold total from that level is added to your overall gold total. When you have accumulated enough gold, you will be able to buy various cheats in the cheats menu. Spend wisely!