Kritter Kreator

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Kritter Kreator Quick Start Guide

Main Screen | Preferences | Kritter Kreator | Metamorph Chamber | Breeding Pen

Game Arena | My Kritters / Roster | Map Editor | Credits

NOTES: The Image Files included in this document are in the pics folder where you unzipped this file. They are larger so you can see more detail than in this document. Also included are 2 versions of a slideshow of all 6 images - 1 in Animated GIF (all platforms) and one in AVI (Windows) format.

Parts of this document not yet implemented in the program are highlighted in red.

Some parts of the document or images will be revised in the next build of Kritter Kreator.


When you first start Kritter Kreator, you'll see the logo (a kritterfly) fly onto the screen. Visualizations of the theme music will start behind the logo, and a progress bar will be shown at the bottom of the screen.

The first time you load Kritter Kreator, or if you upgrade your video card, once the progress bar has filled up you will be sent to the Preferences screen. Otherwise you'll be sent to the Main Screen.


MAIN SCREEN

 

The Main Screen has 12 buttons - 4 around a logo, plus 8 buttons on a sidebar.

The buttons around the logo are:

Kritter Kreator - create new kritters.

Breeding Pen - create a mate for and breed your kritters.

Metamorph Chamber - edit your kritters. (only once per kritter however)

Game Arena - play with your kritters.

The 8 sidebar buttons are:

My Kritters - see all the kritters you have.

Preferences - set up technical options and your default game settings.

Updates and Info - go to the website which has documents, forums and updates.

Map Editor - create and edit game maps.

Roster - set which kritters are your default for gameplay.

Help and Tutorials - help files, an assistant, and tutorial missions.

Credits - about Kritter Kreator and the people who created it.

Quit - exit Kritter Kreator.

PREFERENCES

The Preferences screen has 4 sections: Graphics, Audio, Servers, and Game Options.

Graphics

Resolution - lets you select and test a size that the game will display on your screen.

Colors - lets you select how many colors the game uses. 15-bit is the default so that colors will appear uniform on all monitors.

FPS (frames per second) Goal - lets you select the level of performance to aim for. There are three settings - 30fps, 60fps and Maximize:

30fps is best for older (>800MHz) systems.

60fps is best for newer (<800MHz) systems.

Choose Maximize to obtain the best appearance. This will optimize the graphics system of Kritter Kreator for your hardware while keeping the game from having a choppy appearance. If neither of the other settings work well, or if you just want the best appearance, use the Maximize setting.

Show/Hide Menu Bar - Kritter Kreator can show a menu bar that:

  • allows access to the Kritter Kreator technical console.
  • lets you load and save games.
  • has navigation features for going between sections of the Kritter Kreator interface.
  • gives access to the help interface.
  • lets you quit the game.

Requirements - Kritter Kreator requires a 3D accelerator, such as a card with an nVidia, ATI or Voodoo-based chipset. Your graphics card will generally be detected and displayed. If not, there will be a few extra options:

Chipset - select the GPU (graphics processing unit) or chipset your card uses. If you don't know, leave it on the generic driver. One problem with using the generic driver is that the Maximize FPS Goal setting may not always work to the best of its ability.

Memory - select how much RAM is on your card. If you don't know, leave it on the default setting. Kritter Kreator will use a quarter of your free RAM to cache graphics. If you know how much RAM is on your card, select that setting because this will optimize your performance and sometimes make more space for other data to be processed by your computer.

Audio

Audio System - If your computer has multiple audio devices, this lets you set which device to play sound through.

3D Sound - If you have more than 2 speakers (not including subwoofers), you should enable this option for more realism.

Music - This enables or disables background music. You can also set whether to use MIDI or Ogg Vorbis sound format. Ogg Vorbis sounds better, but may impact performance.

Ambient Sounds - This enables or disables ambient sounds - waves, wind, thunder, etc.

Interface Sounds - This gives you audible feedback on some actions.

Kritter Sounds - This lets you hear your Kritters.

Servers

This shows a list of server addresses, and three buttons. One address will always be shown (localhost) because it is for use in games not played on the Internet.

Addresses are in this format:

If they are on a website, they will be in this format:

username | password @ webpage or computer / server name or port : server number

http://webaddress.com/#kk:<server number i.e. 1234>

If they are on a LAN, or some websites, they will be in this format:

139.0.254.125/#kk:1234 (IP address)

\\mycomputer:8754:1234  (MS Network/Samba address)

IRC channels can also be used by substituting kk with your channel name (Samba cannot be used with this method).

The three buttons let you add, remove, and search for servers to put on your list. These servers will be used to allow multiplayer gaming in Kritter Kreator.

Some will require a username and password. If so they will look like:

username|password@139.0.254/125/#kk:1234

If you use special characters ( . / \ ? ! @ ) in your username or password replace them with asterisks.

Servers used by Kritter Kreator can be hosted with myServer or GGZ.

Game

You can set up default game play settings here. This part of the preferences will show up every time you start a new game so you can set it the way you want to play.

You can

  • set the game you prefer to play, such as Hide and Seek.
  • select which kritters you want to use in your game.
  • select a theme - where your kritters are, such as the Jungle.
  • set if you're playing against the clock, computer players, or players on a LAN or the Internet.
  • set what map you play on.
  • set difficulty options - which make it easier or harder to find food and ore, and set a speed limit for all kritters.

KRITTER Kreator

The Kritter Kreator tool lets you build kritters. You can:

  • see a 3D, rotatable view of your kritter
  • see it in motion
  • configure what sounds it makes
  • paint it
  • resize it
  • customize it.

Customization options include:

  • skeletal shapes and types
  • number of heads, limbs, and tails
  • the appearance of body parts
  • the kritters' diet
  • special abilities
  • senses
  • gender
  • habitat.

You can also load and save template kritters, and get more from the online gallery. You can put your own Kritters in the gallery as well.

The only limit you have in creating kritters is how many points you have. You start with 100000 points and earn more through playing the games in the game arena.

Metamorph Chamber

This section has the same interface as the Kritter Kreator, with a few important changes:

  • All parts are half price if they are a change of a current part
  • You start with a kritter you already made that is not a template
  • You can only metamorph a kritter once
  • Kritters undergoing metamorphosis will not be available in the Game Arena for 30 minutes

Breeding Pen

This section allows you to create a mate for your Kritters and breed them. This is a requirement, as Kritters die after 100 games. You select the Kritter Type you want to breed, select mutation levels, gender, and number of babies. A sidebar shows how many babies and adults you have of a kritter type by gender.

The mutations in the game generally halve or double the amount of parts. Heads and legs will generally double, all other parts will generally halve. Colors, diets, habitats, and aesthetic features may also change. Generally mutations do no good, and may even cause problems, but if you really want to you may mutate your kritters. Breeding costs 50,000 points + 1000 points per baby.

Game Arena

The Game Arena is where you play with your kritters. Your kritters start at a small base building. You help them find food and ore, plus coupons that give you a free kritter or extra points. Each game also has a special goal such as Capture the Flag or Labyrinth Race.

At the bottom left corner of the screen, you'll see a minimap, your selected kritter, and tools that let you control your kritter.

The top of the screen also has a toolbar which features tools to:

  • zoom to kritters and landmarks
  • see how much ore and food you have
  • see how many points you have
  • see the goal of the game
  • see how much time is left; or in some games, how much total score has to be earned
  • chat with other players
  • create new kritters
  • save or quit the game
  • set options such as game speed
  • view achievements

MY KRITTERS / ROSTER

The My Kritters and Roster screens are part of an Explorer-style interface that allow you to:

  • see all your kritters
  • see details (Health Points, Maximum Speed, Abilities, Appearance, etc) about all your kritters
  • lets you easily create, metamorph or breed Kritters
  • lets you save them as templates or to the online gallery
  • lets you move them to and from the Roster (your default group to play with)
  • organize your kritters using these folders:
    • My Kritters
    • Kritters being Bred
    • Kritters being Metamorphed
    • Kritters in the Roster
    • Kritters that are partly created
    • Template Kritters
    • Kritters in the Gallery.

MAP EDITOR

The map editor is a point-and-click tool based on the GOaL map editor. You can:

  • select a map size
  • set the ambient temperature and chance of precipitation
  • pick a theme such as Polar Icecaps
  • add mountains, mesas and valleys
  • add plants and groundcovers such as gravel or asphalt
  • add rocks and fences
  • add special objects such as:
    • ore deposits
    • food plants
    • neutral kritters
    • kritter bases
    • flags
    • treasure chests
    • coupons

You can also reuse maps inside other maps, and add your own objects.

Once you are done, your map can be saved and used as a map in the Game Arena of Kritter Kreator. You can also edit maps included with the game or get more from the gallery.

CREDITS

This document was created by:

Mikey Lubker - zratchet@linuxwaves.com | MSN IM zratchet@hotmail.com | AIM zratchet2 | YahooIM zratchet2
Founder of the Kritter Kreator project at http://kreator.sf.net
Join us on IRC at irc.freenode.net #kreator



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Kritter Kreator is licensed under GPL 2.0 and was founded by Mikey Lubker.