Spelunky SD readme snip (October 2014)

SpelunkySD.txt

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/ Spelunky SD
A Spelunky Classic mod
by YellowAfterlife

This is a modification and expansion of "Spelunky Classic" by Derek Yu.
It changes and improves a number of things in the game, most notably adding
2-player cooperative online multi-player support.

Useful links:
Me: http://twitter.com/yellowafterlife
Spelunky: http://spelunkyworld.com

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/ Controls

By default, controls are as following:
> Arrows: Move around
> Z: Jump
> X: Attack/Use
> Down+X: Pick up
> C: Item
> Esc: Pause
> A: Rope
> F: Bomb
> Shift: Run
> Space: Buy, enter doors
> Enter: Chat/enter commands
> Tab: See inventory of second player and level time
If needed, you can change controls configuration via /map command (see below).

Misc controls (non-configurable):
> F1..F4: Set screen scale
> F5: Toggle music
> F6: Toggle sounds
> Enter: Chat/console

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/ Online multi-player

After starting the game and advancing from introduction screen, you will be
presented with a menu including several options, being:
 > Local
 > Host
 > Join

`Local` is common single-player mode. Multiple of changes and additions also
span over single-player games, so it may be worth checking out also.

`Join` is used to connect to other player hosting a server. After picking this
mode, you will be prompted to enter IP (watch out for spaces if pasting) and
port. Game will attempt to establish a connection afterwards, not requiring
further investigations on your part.

`Host` is used to host a server that other player could join. To do so, you
will need to forward a TCP port of your choice (by default, 5394). Otherwise,
you can use a service such as Hamachi to simulate local area network with other
player, lifting the need for port forwarding.
Once second player is connected, you can see the current latency (half of ping),
start the game, or manually adjust latency limit.
Latency limit determines, how high the latency can get, before the game will
pause to wait for lagging player to "catch up". Here it also determines, how
long it will take, before the game will respond to input. The best choice is
to adjust this to be as high as average latency gets. Unless changed manually
(via left/right keys), game will attempt to adjust this automatically. Perceived
latency values span roughly as following:
>  33ms: Perfect; close to local multi-player experience.
>  66ms: Great; this is the recommended limit for fast-paced playthroughs.
> 100ms: Good; minor planning ahead may be required.
> 133ms: Average; still playable, but delay is noticeable.
> 166+ms: Laggy. Not recommended.

If the game is behaving laggy, you can restart it and try setting latency limit
to a higher value manually. For example, if latency is jumping between 50 and
80, game may automatically set it to 66, causing micro-freezes whenever latency
exceeds 66. Manually setting latency to 100, however, will keep the game smooth
at all times (at price of minimally lowered input responsibility split between
both players). So make sure to experiment and find what works best for you.

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/ In-game

Spelunky SD gameplay remains fairly similar to that of original game:
> Various items can be picked up by pressing [Attack]+[Down] while standing near
> Some items are used instantly, while others can be used/thrown via [Attack].
> Crates and chests can be opened by standing by (or holding them) and pressing
  [Attack]+[Up]. Crates contain items, while chests contain treasures (mostly).
> Crouching (not running) to the edge will make the player hang over the edge.
> Damsels can be found through levels and brought to exit to replenish health
  and revive dead players (see /rl for adjusting behaviour).
> Bombs can be thrown either via [Bomb] key, or by picking them with [Item] key,
  pressing [Attack] to set them off, and then throwing them by pressing [Attack]
> Ropes can be similarly thrown via [Rope] key or by picking item. Using a rope
  while crouching near the edge will throw it downwards.
> Level is considered complete once all alive players have left the level.
> Leaving the level or dying allows one to spectate actions of other player.
> On default game mode, only money and few special/unique items are shared
  between the players (see /em and /jl for different game modes).
> You can buy items from shop by picking the item up to view price, and press
  [Buy] key to confirm purchase or put down them item to deny.
> There's always more to explore, so make sure to try different things.