MindRover:

The Europa Project

Linux version by Linux Game Publishing LTD Linux Game Publishing LTD 17 Rossington Road Nottingham NG2 4HX England www.linuxgamepublishing.com Windows version by CogniToy, LLC CogniToy, LLC 236 Central Street Acton, MA 01720 USA www.cognitoy.com 1999-2002 CogniToy, LLC. Linux version 2000-2001 Loki Software, Inc., 2002 Linux Game Publishing LTD. All rights reserved. CogniToy and MindRover are trademarks of CogniToy, LLC. Linux Game Publishing is a trademark of Linux Game Publishing LTD. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other trademarks and trade names are properties of their respective owners. Printed in the UK.
Table of Contents Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Introduction.. 4 Quick Start... 5 Using This Manual... 5 System Requirements... 6 Installation... 6

Chapter 2

Concepts... 7 Vehicle Types...10 Illegal Chassis and Components.11 Saving, Deleting, Copying Vehicles..11 Competing with your Friends..12 Components...14 Points and Weights..16 Properties...17 Setting Initial Values...17 Events...18 Wiring...18 Wire Properties..19 Multiple Wires...21 ICE Code..21 Running the Competition.22 The GO Button..23 Camera Controls..24 Finding Bugs..24

Table of Contents

Chapter 3
Your User ID.. 25 Scenario Selection Screen. 25 Vehicle Selection Screen.. 27 Component Selection Screen.. 28 Wiring Screen.. 30 The Competition.. 33

Chapter 4

Component Reference.. 35 Weapon Statistics.. 49

Chapter 5

Technical Support.. 50 Credits.. 51 End User License Agreement.. 54 Notes... 59

Chapter1 Chapter1

Introduction
Welcome to Europa, land of ice and more ice. With Jupiter constantly hovering on the horizon, we've found that homesickness among new arrivals is common, so let's just get started. Your time here will present you with a new type of challenge one that matches the excitement of an action game, the planning of a strategy game and the intense thinking required in a puzzle game. Your goal is to create robotic vehicles using a wide array of different components, program their behavior, then set them free to compete with each other. Your progress through the levels will depend on cleverness, innovation, and even deception as you tackle some of the more challenging scenarios. We invite you to share your successes, get advice, download new challenges and compete with others by visiting the MindRover home office at http://www.mindrover.com, or for this Linux version at http://www.linuxgamepublishing.com. MindRover probably isn't quite like anything you've seen before, so please give yourself a chance to learn it. The best way is to walk through at least the first tutorial. Alternatively, login and hit F2 for tutorial prompts in the game. Ready? Free your mind, grab your mouse, and enter into the world of MindRover!

Chapter1

Quick Start
For the fastest introduction to MindRover, follow these steps: Launch MindRover and press the Start button. Your vehicles will be stored in your home directory. Go through the first 2 or 3 tutorials in the game. Follow the tutorial prompts. Click on the Sports category and try Sumo Hover. This is a partially completed tutorial vehicle to help you get started. Of course, you can build a new vehicle if you prefer. After that you should have a pretty good idea of how to go off and build your own rovers.

Using this Manual

The concepts section describes essential MindRover concepts in some detail. You will learn about scenarios, vehicles, components, wiring, and competitions. You can read this chapter before you play to get a good feel for all aspects of the game. But if you like to jump right in and get started, just go to the first tutorial and come back to this chapter later.
The Console section goes into detail on each of the user interface screens. You can read through this chapter before you start, or just use it as a reference after you have started playing the game.
The components section contains specific information on each component in the game, listed alphabetically. Within the game, click on a component and press F1 to get more details and examples.

System Requirements

The minimum system requirements for running Mindrover are: 200 MHz PC running Linux (300 MHz recommended) 32 MB RAM 40 MB Disc Space XFree86 3.3.x or 4.x with MESA/OpenGL drivers Supported 3D graphics acceleration card 4x CDRom
You will need to install and configure 3D hardware support for your computer. For further information on this, please see www.linuxgamepublishing.com

Installation

Insert the CD, mount it, and run the setup.sh script on the mounted CD. This is accomplished with the following commands. mount /mnt/cdrom sh /mnt/cdrom/setup.sh You will then be prompted for install options. If you have not yet installed the LGP Update tool, the installer for this will run before the initial game installation. This will automate the process of finding and applying patches. You may wish to use it periodically to check for patches and add-ons for MindRover.

Chapter 2 Chapter 2

Concepts
When you play MindRover, you are given a series of scenarios or challenges. Your job is to program a robotic vehicle to solve them. There is no single solution to each problem. MindRover lets you devise your own personal way of getting through a level. This chapter will provide the basic concepts for playing MindRover. The next chapter goes into detail on how to use the interface. Some scenarios may require you to build a vehicle to complete a series of simple tasks. Others will require you to program a set of vehicles that work together to defeat another team. You can equip your vehicles with everything from rocket launchers to radars and speakers. You can program them to do anything from following a track to finding a path through a maze to seeking and destroying other vehicles. The behaviors you can create are limitless - and the game will grow with your abilities. There are five basic steps in playing mindrover: 1. Choose a scenario 2. Choose a vehicle 3. Add components 4. Wire it all together 5. Go!

Scenarios

A scenario is a challenge or competition with a goal, such as "push your opponent off the wrestling mat". Each scenario has particular rules that you must follow in order to win. If this is your first time using MindRover, you should go to the Tutorial category first and choose Tutorial:

Mindrover Basics

After the first few tutorials you should try a level one scenario in another category. After selecting a new category and scenario, read its description in the property box. The F1 key brings up in-game help. If you have just selected a scenario, it will give you detailed information about the challenge youve selected.

Choosing a Scenario

Scenarios are organized into five categories: Battles, Sports, Races, Tutorials, and Miscellaneous. Within each category there are several levels of difficulty, and each level contains one or more scenarios. To see a list of scenarios in a category, click on the category name on the top line of the screen. Select a scenario within a category by clicking on its name. The preview screen in the lower right corner will show a flyby of the scenario. The property box on the right gives a description.

Completed Scenarios

After you complete a scenario it is "checked off" on the screen. This is a visual indicator of the scenarios you have completed so far. You can play the scenarios in any order, but youll probably do best if you complete the scenarios within a category in the order theyre presented.

~/.lgp/mindrover/Vehicles/<userid>
There are three files associated with each vehicle you have created. The one with the.vmf extension (for instance: kim_dragster.vmf) is the one that you need to copy or upload for others to compete against you. I f y o u g i v e s o m e o n e a l l t h r e e f i l e s ( k i m _ d ra g s t e r. i c e , kim_dragster.wst, and kim_dragster.vmf), then they will get owner information about your vehicle and they will be able to modify it, rename it, and claim it as their own. If you just give someone the vmf file, then they cannot see into your vehicles brain. They can compete against your vehicle, but they cannot see your wiring and they cannot make any changes to your vehicle, even its name! If you rename a.vmf vehicle file outside the game, MindRover will no longer recognize it. Also, please be careful to create unique names for your vehicles. You cannot compete two vehicles with the same name. MindRover gives you default names that start with your login name. If you keep that part and just change the rest of the name, you are less likely to have problems with duplicate vehicle names. The owner of the vehicle (the one who has the.wst and.ice files) is the only one that can change the name of the vehicle.

Components

After choosing a scenario and choosing a vehicle chassis, the next step is to add physical components: movement, sensors, weapons, navigation/communication, and extras. In the Component selection screen you get a top-down view of the chassis with grid markings. Your components must fit in the open grid spaces on the top of the vehicle.
Components cannot be placed on top of other components and they cannot span across different grids. The different grids light up as your mouse passes over them. You can rotate the component by 90 degrees as you are placing it by clicking on the right mouse button. Some components can be rotated during play. If you plan on rotating a component while playing (like a ProximityRadar or SpinThruster ), then we recommend that you dont rotate it while placing it. It becomes confusing to try to rotate it in more than one place. Chapter 4 will give you details on each component. While in the game, you can also click on a component, then press F1 for detailed help.

Finally, set the PlaySound property to the Output property of the Randomizer. Now, when you "roll the dice", the Speaker plays the sound specified by the number you rolled.

Multiple Wires

Each wire you create can set one property on the destination component. You can add as many wires as you need between components to set multiple properties. For instance, to set both the left and right TreadControl to 100% when the radar turns on, you need to create two wires from the Radar component to the TreadControl component. One wire will set the left tread to 100%, and the other will set the right. A component like the TreadControl requires that two wires be used for each direction you want to move. So to move forward, left and right would require 6 wires to the same TreadControl component. To help organize your wiring, use Broadcast components. With three Broadcast components, one labeled TurnLeft, one labeled TurnRight, and one labeled Forward, you can spread out the wires going to your TreadControl. Click on the Broadcast component and press F1 to get more details on its use.

ICE Code

Behind the graphical interface which allows you to wire components together is a programming language called ICE. Every time you add a component, set its properties, or add wires between components, new lines of ICE code are generated. The ICE code for each vehicle is saved with the extension.ice. Outside of the game, you can look at this code with a text editor. You will find the.ice file for your vehicle in ~/.lgp/mindrover/Vehicles/<userid>
In this 1.07b release of MindRover, it does you no good to modify the ICE code. It is regenerated and recompiled each time you hit GO. This is in place for a possible future update. Your vehicle is automatically saved whenever you move to a new screen or hit the "GO" button. When it is saved, three files are generated. The.ice file is the ICE code. The.wst file contains the wiring state information which will allow MindRover to recreate the component and wiring screen for this vehicle. The last file is the.vmf, virtual machine file. This is the file that tells your vehicle what to do in a machine code that it understands. Come back to the CogniToy website often to get new components and scenarios as well as information on creating your own objects in ICE.

Running the Competition

Once you have added components and wired them up, its time to see what your vehicle can do on its own! Hit the GO button and watch what happens. Each scenario has objectives and when they are met by your team or the opposing team, you will get a win/lose screen. At this point you have several choices: The Instant Replay will play the exact same competition with the same starting conditions. This is useful when you want to analyze what your vehicle did or what the opponent did. The Play Again option will allow the scenario to chose different starting positions (if possible) or other random events so that you will not get the exact same result. Some scenarios, such as Drag Race, do not vary their starting conditions, in which case Play Again and Instant Replay will have the same result.
Return to the Console allows you to go back and make changes to your vehicle, or to choose a new scenario or new vehicle.

The GO Button

The GO button is only enabled when the conditions are right to launch a competition. There are a number of reasons why it might not be enabled: You dont have all the vehicle slots filled. Go into the Vehicle selection screen and make sure there is a chassis in every empty slot. Your vehicle or your team has exceeded the Point or Weight limits. If you have gone over the budget in either area, the numbers which display the points and weights will turn red. Remember to check both vehicles on your team if it is a 2-on-2 competition. If you have gone over the limit, you need to remove some components before continuing.

Camera controls

During a competition you may want to change your camera angle to get a better view. The following table shows you which keys to press: Key 3 Shift+1 Shift+2 Shift+0 Shift+0 Point of View look at vehicle 1 (your vehicle) look at vehicle 2 look at vehicle 3 follow camera for vehicle 1 follow camera for vehicle 2 follow camera for vehicle 3 Scoreboard view (if there is one) Autocam or best view drive the camera with your mouse

Finding Bugs

You can (and should) go back and forth between testing your vehicle in the competition and fine tuning it in the console. If it
isnt going well in the competition you dont have to wait for one team to win; just hit the ESCAPE key, go back to the console and make changes to your vehicle. If you test your vehicle after each new addition or sets of wires, you will be able to find and fix problems much more quickly. You can also use the Extra components such as the Fireworks , Speaker and RunningLight to help you diagnose what your vehicle is thinking. For instance, you can wire the Fireworks launcher up to the TrackSensor and have it fire the Fireworks whenever the TrackSensor turns on, or wire the RunningLight to the ModeSwitch and it will change color depending on the vehicle mode.

Your User ID

MindRover uses your Linux username as your User ID in the game. If you have not run MindRover before, a new directory called ~/.lgp/mindrover will be created in your home directory. If you would like to play MindRover with a different User ID, you will need to create a new account on your Linux system and run MindRover logged in to that account. The Quit button exits MindRover. To access this screen at any time, click the Logout button on any of the other console screens. If you would like to exit from the game immediately without logging out first, you can hit F12 at any time.
Scenario Selection Screen
After logging into MindRover you will be brought to the Scenario Selection Screen. In the upper left portion of the console are the
system buttons. Logout will bring you back to the main screen and allow you to quit. The Options button will bring you to a console where you can change the music and sound effects volume. Hit OK to get back to the Scenario Selection Screen. Along the left column are four buttons that will bring you to the four stages of MindRover play: Scenario, Vehicle, Component, and Wiring. Each of these is described in detail below. The lower left GO button will launch the competition with your vehicles. The other areas of the console vary depending on the stage you have chosen.
The first step to playing MindRover is choosing which scenario you would like to play. Click the button on the left side of the screen labeled Scenario to get to the Scenario Selection Screen. If you have just logged in, you are automatically placed in the Scenario Selection Screen. Along the top of the screen you will see the various categories of scenarios: Tutorial, Battles ,

Logical Components

Logical components are components that have no physical representation on your vehicle. They cannot sense the outside world or affect your vehicle directly in any way. Instead, these components are used to help you control the physical components which you added to your vehicle in the Component Selection Screen.
To add a logical component, simply drag the icon out of the holobox onto the workbench. Clicking on each of the components in the holobox will give you a short description in the property box. Also, you can hit F1 to get more information for each component. To delete a logical component, simply select the component or components you wish to delete and press delete on your keyboard. To delete a physical component, you must go back to the Component Selection Screen (click on the Component button on the left), highlight the component and click on Delete in the upper right of the screen. Or you can move the component off the vehicle. You cannot delete a physical component from within the wiring screen.

Setting Properties

The most basic form of programming in MindRover is setting the properties of the components you have previously placed. Selecting a component will bring up a list of its properties and controls with which to set them. For example, selecting a SpinThruster will bring up an Angle control for setting the angle at which the thruster pushes and a Thrust control for setting how much force should be applied. When the vehicle is started it will take on these specified properties until a wire causes them to change.

Creating Wires

Wires are messengers of events from one component to another. Most components can cause events. A MediumRadar, for instance, causes an event called TurnOn whenever something passes in front of its line of sight. Wires allow you to harness these events to change the properties of other components. In effect, that is all a wire does: It listens for an event on the source c o m p o n e n t a n d c h a n g e s a p r o pe r t y o n t h e d e s t i n a t i o n
component. With this seemingly simple model you can teach your vehicle to do almost anything. To create a wire, click and drag the component you want to be the source of the signal onto the component you want to receive the message. When the mouse cursor moves over another component a line will appear. Releasing the mouse button while this line is present will create a wire. There is no one way to solve a given problem and there are thousands of ways to wire your vehicle. Explore!

The Competition

Once you have wired your vehicle, its time to send it to the competition. Click the GO button. After loading the scenario and the vehicles, you will see a count down screen, and then the competition starts.
Hit the ESCAPE key to go back to the console and make adjust-

ments.

Fireworks

A component that shoots off a brief firework display when activated. Category: Physical Properties: FireColor Weight/Points: 0/0 Events: None

KeySensor

A component that will allow you to use the Keyboard to trigger events in the world. It is not a legal component in most scenarios, but a good debugging tool. Category: Logical Properties: KeyLast, KeyList Weight/Points: 0/0 Events: Key1, Key2, Key3, Key4, Key5

LargeEngine

An engine that can be used with a wheeled or treaded chassis. Category: Engine Properties: Throttle Weight/Points: 300/30 Events: None
A laser gun with a pretty good range and a moderate repeat rate. Category: Weapon Properties: Fire Weight/Points: 75/25 Events: None

LogicalAND

A component that will tell you when two logical inputs are both true. Category: Logical Properties: InputA, InputB, State Weight/Points: 0/0 Events: Change, TurnOff, TurnOn

LogicalNOT

A component that will give you the opposite of the input state. Category: Logical Properties: InputA, State Weight/Points: 0/0 Events: Change, TurnOff, TurnOn

LogicalOR

A component that will tell you when either of its two logical inputs are true. Category: Logical Properties: InputA, InputB, State Weight/Points: 0/0 Events: Change, TurnOff, TurnOn

LongRangeRadar

A radar that can detect objects as far away as 15 meters with as much as 30 degrees scan width. Category: Physical Properties: Angle, FilterPlug, MaxRange, ScanWidth, State Weight/Points: 0/0 Events: Change, PlugIn, TurnOff, TurnOn

LoopTimer

A settable timer that automatically restarts after counting down. Category: Logical Properties: TickTime Weight/Points: 0/0 Events: Tick

LootCarrier

A component that allows your vehicle to carry a flag, jewels or other loot. Category: Physical Properties: Drop, LootColor, State Weight/Points: 30/10 Events: Change, TurnOff, TurnOn

LootSensor

A sensor that will give you the bearing and distance to the loot - jewels, enemy flag, or other good stuff. Category: Physical Properties: Bearing, Distance, LootColor Weight/Points: 30/30 Events: Change

MachineGun

A rapid fire gun mounted on a pivoting turret. Category: Weapon Properties: Angle, Fire Weight/Points: 100/15 Events: None

MediumEngine

An engine that can be used with a wheeled or treaded chassis. Category: Engine Properties: Throttle Weight/Points: 200/30 Events: None

MediumRadar

A radar that can detect objects within 5 meters with as much as 90 degrees scan width. Category: Physical Properties: Angle, FilterPlug,MaxRange,ScanWidth,State Weight/Points: 30/30 Events: Change, PlugIn, TurnOff, TurnOn

MineLayer

A component that drops explosive proximity mines. Category: Weapon Properties: Fire Weight/Points: 75/20 Events: None

ModeSwitch

A component that will change your vehicles mode during a competition. You can define up to seven modes, specified by the colored wires in the wiring screen. Category: Logical Properties: Mode Weights/Points: 0/0 Event: Change, Leave, Set

Multiply

A component that multiplies its two inputs and generates an output equal to the product. Category: Logical Properties: Input1, Input2, Output Weight/Points: 0/0 Events: Change, Set

ProximityRadar

A radar for detecting objects within 3 meters with as much as 360 degrees scan width. Category: Physical Properties: Angle, FilterPlug, MaxRange, ScanWidth, State Weight/Points: 30/30 Events: Change, PlugIn, TurnOff, TurnOn

RadioReceiver

A component used to receive signals from a RadioTransmitter. Category: Physical Properties: IncomingNumber, Station Weight/Points: 10/30 Events: NumberReceived

RadioTransmitter

A component used to send signals to a RadioReceiver. Category: Physical Properties: SendNumber, Station Weight/Points: 10/30 Events: None

Randomizer

A component that generates a random number within a specified range. Category: Logical Properties: Maximum, Minimum, Output, Trigger Weight/Points: 0/0 Events: Set

RangeTest

A component used to detect whether a value is above, below, or within a certain range of values. Category: Logical Properties: Input, Maximum, Minimum, Output Weight/Points: 0/0 Events: AboveRange, BelowRange, Change, InRange, Set

Welding Torch

Refire Rate: 2 seconds Damage: 20 hit points/second Range: 1 meter Speed: Instant

Chapter 5 Chapter 5

Technical Support
Please be sure to read the README document on the game CD, and review the Frequently Asked Questions on our online support page: support.linuxgamepublishing.com. Here you can also check for any updates to ensure you have the latest version of the software. You may also launch lgp_update as the user who installed the game to check for product updates, while connected to the Internet. If you are still having problems, please contact our technical support team. Full information about how to do this is found on the above website. By email, please contact support@linuxgamepublishing.com and we will do all we can to resolve your MindRover problem. In your email, please include the following information: Complete product title and version number (found by typing mindrover -v) Exact error message (if any) Linux distribution Linux version (found by typing uname -a) Computer processor type and speed (e.g. Pentium 3 - 500) Video and sound card make and model

Faulty Disks

If you receive a faulty CD, please contact the company you purchased the game from.

Credits

Windows Version
Kent Quirk: Game Architect, Lead Designer and Programmer, Management. Kim Quirk: Management, Marketing, QA, Documentation Zach Morong: Lead Artist, Arena and Vehicle Design Nat Goodspeed: Implementation Architect, Programmer Brian Sharp: Graphics Engine Programmer Charlie Cleveland: Game Programmer, Playability Design Steve Maitland Audio Design: Music and Sound Effects Interns: Matt Cole, Jeff Dubrule, Al Reed, Lincoln Quirk Consulting Artists: Richard Bornemann, Janet Bornemann, David Burke, Randall McLamb QA: Matt Cole, Patricia Pizer, Lincoln Quirk, Al Reed, Glenn Sugden Contributing Beta Testers: Sam Adelman, Pat Allred, Craig Backlin, Justin Bailey, Shannon Beagle, Bill Benedict III, Steve and Reed Benjamin, James Berge, Rick Blair, Ross Borgeson, Daniel Bryant, Jason Coan, Ron Coit, Chris Cole, Ryan Cornetta, Alex Crew, Jonathon Deonarine, Patrick Dodson, Eric Ellingson, Damian Frank, Jason Giannini, Daryl Gleason, Ben Goodman, Peter Goodspeed, Eric Gross, Steve Hodson, Dan Holmes, David Huang, Peter and Natalie Kertzner, Niklas Konstenius, Daniel LaLiberte, James MacIntosh, Dave McClosky, Les Nelkin, Bill Oakford, Chris Quirk, Morgan Quirk, Eyal Ron, Eric St. Onge, Neil Stern, Brian Stormont, Dan Tevin, Paul Vadine, Sylvester Wong, Michael Zarozinski, Tijs Zwinkels, "Chaos", "FEPSDevGroup", "Hugo", "Jediah", "Mike"

Special Thanks to: Chuck Olson, Wendell Smith, Frank Zenie, Burleigh Hutchins, Art Bardige, Sandy Goseland, Rick Goodman, Cindy Null, Ryan Cornetta, Ned Roos. Extra appreciation to the friends and family members who put up with our neglect while we got this out. Canine Companionship: Bella
Linux Version (Loki Software)
President: Scott Draeker Programmers: Sam Lantinga Installer: Sam Lantinga, Stphane Peter QA/Tech Support: Andy Mecham, Mike Phillips Artwork: Katie Phillips, Jason Kim Beta Testers: Lee Anderson, Mark "Shamgar" Bainter, Brandon Beattie, Fionn Behrens, Scott "Blaine" Bowden, Gary "Chunky" Briggs, Carl "DuckWing" Constantine, Frank "Svartalf" Earl, Matt qfingers Gerassimoff, Christopher Hahn, John "OverCode" Hall, D a v i d " N e oTro n " H e d b o r, H ay d e n " h j a m e s " J a m e s , W i l l Johansson, Jason "deadman" Lundy, Brian "IndyZ" Martin, Brian "bwebpages" Mastenbrook, Gregory "Centove" McLean, Micro " M a c S l o w " M u e l l e r, M i c h a e l " H e r k e m e r " Pa r k e r, B i l l "EmacsWeenie" Perry, Tim "BZFlag" Riker, Michael M00k3y Ritner, Michael "mIc" Sauer, Syphonius, Alexander "Omega" Trauzzi, Terry "keerf" Warner
Linux Version (Linux Game Publishing)
PHB: Michael Simms Programmers: Peter Tirsek, Mike Phillips, David Thompson Production QA: Gareth Bentley
Beta Testers: Tom Badran, Colin Bayer, Shane Bayer, Brandon "Morphideous" Beattie, Dominik Behning, Chris Debenham, Ian Hastie, David "NeoTron" Hedbor, Lee Henderson, Jason, Joshua Kleiner, Marko Klingner, Al Koskelin, Michael Monreal, Daniel Olson, Palle "Absent" Raabjerg, Filip Van Raemdonck, Bernd Ritter, Jeff Ryden, Marius Schfer, Zachery J. Slater, Marko Teiste, Andreas Vuorinen, Terry Warner, Bob Zimbinski, Stjepan Zlodi, D S Yates

CD Notes

All MindRover music was created by Steve Maitland, of Steve Maitland Audio Design at www.smaudio.com Track 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Name MindRover Game Data track Ice Bell Life On Ice Absolute Zero Brain Flakes Cryogenic Run Below Frozen Assets Frosting Icescape (part 1) Icescape (part 2) Incognito Jovian Moon Cold Solder Convolve

terms and conditions contained herein. In such event, you must immediately destroy the Program. 6. Export Controls. The program may not be re-exported, downloaded, otherwise exported into (or to a national or resident of) any country to whom it would be illegal to export the Program under UK law. 7. Limited Warranty. Except as expressly and unambiguously set forth in this paragraph 7, LGP and its licensors disclaim any warranty for the Program, Editor and Manual(s). The Program, Editor and Manual(s) are provided "as is" without any warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including, without limitation, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or noninfringement. The entire risk arising out of use or performance of the Program, Editor, and Manual(s) remains with the User, however LGP warrants up to and including 90 days from the date of your purchase of the Program that the media containing the Program shall be free from defects in material and workmanship. In the event that the media proves to be defective during that time period, and upon presentation to LGP of proof of purchase of the defective Program, LGP will at its option: (i) correct any defect; (ii) provide a replacement copy of the same product; or (iii) refund your money. 8. Limitation of Liability. NEITHER LGP, ITS LICENSORS NOR ANY PARENT, SUBSIDIARY OR AFFILIATE OF THE FOREGOING SHALL BE LIABLE IN ANY WAY FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THE PROGRAM, EDITOR, AND MANUAL(S) INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF G O O D W I L L , W O R K S TO P PA G E , C O M P U T E R FA I L U R E O R MALFUNCTION, OR ANY AND ALL OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES. 9. Equitable Remedies. You hereby agree that LGP would be irreparably damaged if the terms of this License Agreement were not specifically enforced, and therefore you agree that LGP shall be entitled, without bond, other security, or proof of damages, to appropriate equitable remedies with respect to breaches of this
License Agreement, in addition to such other remedies as LGP may otherwise have available to it under applicable laws. In the event that any litigation is brought by either party in connection with this License Agreement, the prevailing party in such litigation shall be entitled to recover from the other party all the costs, attorneys fees and other expenses incurred by such prevailing party in the litigation. 10. Limitations on License. Nothing in this License Agreement shall preclude you from making or authorizing the making of another copy of adaption of the Program provided, however, that (1) such new copy or adaption is created as an essential step in your utilization of the Program in accordance with the terms of this License Agreement and for NO OTHER PURPOSE; or (2) such new copy or adaption is for archival purposes ONLY and all archival copies are destroyed in the event of your Transfer of the Program, the Termination of this License Agreement or other circumstances under which your continued use of the Program ceases to be rightful. 11. Miscellaneous. This License Agreement shall be deemed to have been made and executed in the United Kingdom and any dispute arising hereunder shall be resolved in accordance with the laws of the UK. You agree that any claim asserted in any legal proceeding by one of the parties against the other shall be commenced and maintained in the appropriate court located in Nottingham, England, having subject matter jurisdiction with respect to the dispute between the parties. This License Agreement may be amended, altered or modified only by an instrument in writing, specifying such amendment, alteration or modification, executed by both parties. In the event that any provision of this License Agreement shall be held by a court or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction shall be unenforceable, such provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible and the remaining portions of this License Agreement shall remain in full force and effect. This License Agreement constituted and contains the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes any prior

oral or written agreements. You hereby acknowledge that you have read and understand the forgoing License Agreement and agree that the action of installing the Program is an express acknowledgment of your agreement to be bound by the terms and conditions of this License Agreement. You also acknowledge and agree that this License Agreement is the complete and exclusive statement of the agreement between you and LGP and that this License Agreement supersedes any prior or contemporaneous agreement, either oral or written, and any other communications between you and LGP. Linux Game Publishing LTD 17 Rossington Road Nottingham, NG2 4HX England

Notes Notes

Title: Developed by: Published by: Reviewed By: Official Site: Overview: Genre: System Requirements:
MindRover: The Europa Project Cognitoy (http://www.cognitoy.com) Cognitoy (http://www.cognitoy.com) Tim Maxwell http://www.cognitoy.com/mindrover/mindrover.htm Lemmings with a kick. Strategy/Puzzle 200 MHz PC, Win 95/98/NT (300MHz or better is recommended) 3D graphics accelerator with OpenGL drivers Sound card 70 MB hard drive space 4X CD-ROM drive or greater 32 MB RAM Everyone Cool gameplay variations; lots of ways to doctor up your vehicles; nearly endless replay value; rocket launchers are a welcome addition to any game Steep learning curve; little to no interactivity; patience is too much of a virtue Overall Rating: 7 Graphics: 6 Sound: 6 Documentation: 8 Getting Started: 6 Gameplay: 7 Value: 7
ESRB Rating: The Good Press:

The Bad Press:

Ratings:
Successful completion of the tutorials is almost mandatory if you hope to understand the game completely. If your vehicle isnt performing up-to-snuff, there is no penalty for trial and error. Simply return to the console, make your changes and start over.
It wasnt too long ago when a little-known game called Lemmings burst onto the scene and took the game world by storm. The premise was simple: you were in direct control of an army of multi-talented rodents. You were given a venue in which to work, some tools to work with and an objective. It was your job to program the rodents to complete that task. I never quite understood why people thought that watching little mice dig holes and build bridges was so entertaining, but admittedly, there was something truly rewarding about devising the master plan and watching the little critters carry it out to perfection. For some odd reason, memories of playing Lemmings seem to flood back when I play Cognitoys new strategy/puzzle game MindRover: The Europa Project.
MindRover is a truly unique experienceundoubtedly quite different than most games youve ever played. You are a researcher on Europa, one of Jupiters moons. Apparently, the frigid climate doesnt allow you to get out much, so a good portion of your spare time is devoted to reprogramming rovers (futuristic vehicles) to complete various tasks. Some scenarios have you program a vehicle to complete a simple task such as navigating to a certain area on the map. Other challenges include navigating mazes, racing against other vehicles, or combining multiple rovers for an intergalactic melee. Scenarios are organized into five categories: battles, sports, races, miscellaneous and tutorials. Within each category, there are multiple challenges and difficulty levels from which to choose. Once youve made your choice, you must build and program a vehicle to complete the assigned tasks. You can choose to create a new vehicle for each challenge, or you can simply tweak existing vehicles to adjust to the new guidelines. Building and programming a rover is quite a complicated processespecially when you get to the more difficult scenarios. First you select a chassiseither hovercraft, wheeled, or treaded. Each has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. For example, a hovercraft is more mobile and can move freely in any direction, but it cant carry as much equipment or withstand as much punishment as its counterparts. Afterwards, you must equip your vehicle with components for movement and navigation, as well as weaponry and sensors. Finally, you must wire it all together and set various properties so the whole package works together as a unit. This isnt all that difficult in the beginning, but as you progress, things tend to get a little dicey. Wiring the vehicles reminds me a lot of trying to wire a home entertainment systemyoure faced with a sea of identical looking wires all hooking into identical looking components. Its rather easy to get confused and overlook something and if you do, one or more components wont work. Nothing is more frustrating than spending a good half-hour preparing your vehicle only to watch it drive head-on into a wall and stop. Thankfully, there is no penalty for exiting mid-game and adjusting your vehicle, but perhaps some example vehicles would be helpful early on. Despite its complicated nature, the ability to customize your vehicle to such an extent is really what makes MindRover such an innovative game. There is no right or wrong way to program your vehicle, and a good bit of experimentation and patience will get you a long way. The vast replay value of the game really shines here, and even if you outwit and defeat all the pre-programmed vehicles, a whole new series of challenges await you on Cognitoys website. Periodic vehicle updates are added to the site so if the game isnt proving difficult enough, you can simply download other human-made vehicles to compete against. Simply put, MindRovers replay value and addictive nature should keep you busy for quite some time. Up until now, Ive held-off talking about the graphics and sound in MindRover because to me, these areas make little difference in games such as this. That said, the visuals and sound effects are nothing to write home about, but nothing to complain about either. The 3D card requirement makes for some nice smooth vehicle textures and some colorful backgrounds, but a software mode probably could be nearly as good. Sound effects such as engines churning and missiles firing all sound as they should and the techno hip-hop tunes seem to fit in, but again, you wont be heading out to buy a new sound card or surround sound speakers for this one. Neither area really adds to or detracts from the overall gameplay, but I would be remiss if I failed to mention them. The way I see it, there is just one flaw that really keeps MindRover from reaching elite status. Once youve programmed your vehicle (which can feel more like work than play sometimes), there is nothing more for you to do besides watch it in action. Sure, its quite gratifying watching your perfectly-tuned vehicle leave the opponent in the dust or nuke them with a perfectly-placed rocket, but on several occasions, I felt like some additional control would be welcome. Some of the scenarios take quite a while to fully pan-out, so it can be boring just sitting there watching. This isnt a problem per se, but it just goes to show that this game isnt for everyone and your gaming preferences should be weighted before you decide whether or not to buy this game. On the whole, you cant help but give credit to Cognitoy for basically inventing a completely new genre. MindRover not only makes you use your head (to a high degree I might add), but it offers enough excitement and replayability to give even the best strategy and puzzler games a run for their money. If you

enjoy addictive games that really put your brain to work, you will really enjoy MindRover. If not and action or quick reflexes are your forte, youll want to look elsewhere.