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<head>
<title>How to Play Pathological</title>
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<link rel="shortcut icon" href="favicon.ico" type="image/x-icon">
</head>
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<table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=10><tr>
<td colspan=2>
<h1>How to Play Pathological</h1>
<a href="http://pathological.sourceforge.net/">Pathological Homepage</a>
<p>
Pathological is a puzzle game consisting of marbles that roll along
paths, and interact along the way with various devices and gadgets.
</p>
<p>
The object of each level is to "complete" all of the wheels on the
board. To complete a wheel, catch four marbles of matching color in the
same wheel. The marbles will vanish, and the wheel will turn dark to
indicate that it has been completed. Note that this is only the
<i>usual</i> way of completing a wheel. The exceptional cases are
described in the section on <b>Triggers</b> and <b>Stoplights</b>.
</p>
<p>
<b>To rotate a wheel</b>, click the right mouse button on the wheel.
<b>To eject a marble from a wheel</b>, click the left mouse button on the
marble.
</p>
<p>
When the game begins, you are assigned a total of three lives. Your spare
lives are depicted by small red marbles at the top of the screen. An extra
life is awarded every 5000 points. A maximum of ten spare lives is
enforced.
</p>
<h3>The Board Timer</h3>
<p>
The board timer is the maximum amount of time allowed to complete a
level. It is depicted as a digital countdown at the top of the screen.
If the countdown reaches zero, the level ends and you lose a life. If
you complete the level within the available time, a bonus is awarded
based on the percentage of time remaining.
</p>
<h3>The Launch Timer</h3>
<p>
The launch timer, depicted as a blue bar on the left-hand side of the
screen, represents the maximum amount of time that a newly launched
marble can remain in the launch area at the top of the board. Each time
a marble is launched, the launch timer is reset to its full value.
If the launch timer expires, the level ends and you lose a life.
</p>
<p>
The length of the launch timer is displayed numerically at the bottom of
the blue bar. The number represents the number of passes that a newly
launched marble can make before the timer expires. The value is
different on different levels.
</p>
<h3>The Active Marble Limit</h3>
<p>
Each level has a maximum number of marbles that are allowed to be in
motion at a time. As long as the maximum number of marbles are in
motion, you can not eject any more marbles from wheels.
</p>
<p>
The number of currently active marbles, and the active marble limit are shown
numerically at the left edge of the launch area at the top of the board.
</p>
<h2>Game Elements</h2>
</td></tr><tr><td valign=top>
<h3>Buffers</h3>
<p>
Buffers catch and hold a single marble at a time. The marble is held
until another marble knocks it out, and takes its place. Note that once
a marble falls into a buffer, there is no way of emptying the buffer
again.
</p>
</td><td valign=top align=center>
<table border=0 cellpadding=8 cellspacing=0><tr>
<td align=center valign=top>
<img src="buffer.png" width=92 height=92><br>
An empty buffer
</td><td align=center valign=top>
<img src="buffer2.png" width=92 height=92><br>
A buffer holding a purple marble
</td></tr></table>
</td></tr><tr><td valign=top>
<h3>Directors</h3>
<p>
Directors force all marbles to exit in the indicated direction. They are
often used as one-way gates, allowing marbles to pass through in one
direction but not the other.
</p>
</td><td valign=top align=center>
<img src="director.png" width=92 height=92><br>
A director
</td></tr><tr><td valign=top>
<h3>Filters</h3>
<p>
Filters only allow the indicated color of marble to pass through.
Any other color of marble
will simply bounce back in the direction that it came from.
</p>
</td><td valign=top align=center>
<img src="filter.png" width=92 height=92><br>
An orange filter
</td></tr><tr><td valign=top>
<h3>Painters</h3>
<p>
Painters change the color of passing marbles to the indicated color.
</p>
</td><td valign=top align=center>
<img src="painter.png" width=92 height=92><br>
A blue painter
</td></tr><tr><td valign=top>
<h3>Replicators</h3>
<p>
Replicators create copies of marbles. Whenever a marble enters a
replicator, at least two marbles are emitted. Some replicators produce
more copies than others.
</p>
<p>
The number of copies produced by a replicator may be limited by the
active marbles limit.
</p>
</td><td valign=top align=center>
<img src="replicator.png" width=92 height=92><br>
A replicator
</td></tr><tr><td valign=top>
<h3>Shredders</h3>
<p>
Shredders simply destroy any marbles that enter into them.
</p>
</td><td valign=top align=center>
<img src="shredder.png" width=92 height=92><br>
A shredder
</td></tr><tr><td valign=top>
<h3>Switches</h3>
<p>
Switches, like directors, force marbles to exit in the indicated
direction. But unlike directors, switches switch between two different
directions. Each passing marble causes them to switch.
</p>
</td><td valign=top align=center>
<img src="switch.png" width=92 height=92><br>
A switch
</td></tr><tr><td valign=top>
<h3>Teleporters</h3>
<p>
Teleporters transport passing marbles to their twin teleporter at some
other location on the board. Note that a board can have several pairs of
teleporters, and their pairings might not be obvious. It can be
helpful to realize that teleporters can only change the location of a
marble - not the direction.
</p>
</td><td valign=top align=center>
<img src="teleporter.png" width=92 height=92><br>
A teleporter
</td></tr><tr><td valign=top>
<h3>Triggers and Stoplights</h3>
<p>
Triggers and stoplights place temporary restrictions on wheel completion.
</p>
<p>
If a board contains a <b>stoplight</b>, then the first three wheels to
be completed must be completed, respectively, using the three colors of
the stoplight <i>in order from top to bottom</i>. For example, if the
stoplight has the colors red, yellow and green (as in the diagram), then
you must first complete a wheel using four red marbles. Then the second
wheel must be completed using four yellow marbles, and the third must be
completed using four green marbles. After the stoplight
has been fully exhausted, then the rest of the wheels on the board can
be completed using any colors as per usual.
</p>
<p>
If a board contains a trigger, then the first wheel to be completed must
be completed by <i>exactly</i> matching the marble configuration presented
by the trigger. Trigger configurations are chosen randomly. After the
trigger has been satisfied, the rest of the wheels on the board can be
completed in the normal way. But beware! A trigger will only stay
satisfied for a short time.
</p>
<p>
A board can only have at most one stoplight or trigger, but it <i>can
have one of each</i>. If a board has both a stoplight and a trigger, you
must satisfy the trigger before working toward exhausting the stoplight.
</p>
</td><td valign=top align=center>
<table border=0 cellpadding=8 cellspacing=0><tr>
<td align=center valign=top>
<img src="stoplight.png" width=92 height=92><br>
A stoplight
</td><td align=center valign=top>
<img src="trigger.png" width=92 height=92><br>
A trigger
</td></tr><tr><td align=center valign=top>
<img src="stoplight2.png" width=92 height=92><br>
A partially-exhausted stoplight
</td><td align=center valign=top>
<img src="trigger2.png" width=92 height=92><br>
A satisfied trigger
</td></tr></table>
</td></tr><tr><td valign=top colspan=2>
<h2>Controls</h2>
<table border=1 cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0>
<tr><th>Action</th><th>Key/Button</th></tr>
<tr><td>Eject a marble from a wheel</td><td>Left mouse button</td></tr>
<tr><td>Rotate a wheel</td><td>Right mouse button</td></tr>
<tr><td>Abort a level</td><td>ESC</td></tr>
<tr><td>Pause the game</td><td>P, SPACE or PAUSE</td></tr>
<tr><td>Toggle fullscreen mode</td><td>F2</td></tr>
<tr><td>Toggle sound effects</td><td>F3</td></tr>
<tr><td>Toggle music</td><td>F4</td></tr>
</table>
<h2>Scoring</h2>
<table border=1 cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0>
<tr><th>Action</th><th>Points<br>Awarded</th></tr>
<tr><td>Completing a wheel</td><td align=right>50</td></tr>
<tr><td>Satisfying a trigger</td><td align=right>50</td></tr>
<tr><td>Exhausting one light on a stoplight</td><td align=right>20</td></tr>
<tr><td>Completing an already-completed wheel</td><td align=right>10</td></tr>
<tr><td>Time bonus per % time remaining</td><td align=right>5</td></tr>
<tr><td>Bonus per % holes empty</td><td align=right>2</td></tr>
</table>
</td></tr></table>
<hr>
Please send questions or comments to <a href="mailto:jp@gignac.org">jp@gignac.org</a>
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