
ALBIA VERSION 04/02

CONTROLS

1/ MOUSE

- Pushing the mouse to the edges of the screen pans the camera across
  the world. The total world is 32x4 screens, but only the first part
  contains graphics & objects at the moment.

- Clicking the left button over an object is likely to ACTIVATE it in some
  way, eg. clicking on a beachball makes it bounce; clicking over the
  lower part of an elevator lever makes the elevator move down; clicking
  over a creature's head 'pats' it (reward), while clicking over its
  body 'smacks' it (punishment). Not all objects do something at the moment.

- Clicking the right button over an object PICKS IT UP (if it is portable).
  Clicking a second time drops it again.

2/ CONTROL PANEL

- The switch on the right quits the game (it'll do it more elegantly
  eventually)

- The rectangle in the middle is a VDU that can be used to monitor creatures.
  Clicking the two buttons to the left of the VDU scrolls through the
  various display modes. These are as follows:-

  a) Off
  b) Life-form detector.
  c) Creature's eye view. This follows the current creature's line of sight
	 to show what object he is looking at (and therefore considering doing
	 something to).
  d) Brain scan. Shows which neurones are firing (neurones in different
	 locations have different functions; this will be explained in the
	 manual).
  e) Motor Cortex monitor. This watches the motor cortex neurones. Each
	 neurone relates to a different 'action strategy'. The neurone that's
	 firing the strongest is the action that the creature will take
	 (shown by a blip under the appropriate bar). The action strategies
	 are: Quiescent, ActivatePositive, ActivateNegative, Deactivate,
	 Approach, Retreat, PickUp, Drop, Moan, Rest/Sleep.
  f) EEG machine. Shows in the left box a trace of brain activity levels.
	 The next bar shows red whenever new learning is taking place (concept
	 formation) and the box on the right fills up as the cortical neurones
	 become linked up. If the box ever got full, the creatures would be
	 unable to learn any new things.

NOTE: With the exception of the Life-form Detector mode, the VDU will only
work when it is connected up to one of the artificial life-forms (there are
two on the map at the moment). To connect the VDU to a creature, you use
an 'electrode' object. This starts off sitting in a box on the control panel,
just to the right of the VDU. To attach it, pick it up (RIGHT button) and
drop it (RIGHT button again) onto a creature. If you miss, it will float
back to its place on the control panel. Otherwise it will float above
the creature (until removed) to show which creature is being monitored.

If the VDU is unable to get a signal (either the creature is too far away
for this mode, or the electrode is not attached to a creature) it will
just display 'noise'.

There will be other VDU modes later.


NOTES ON OBJECTS

1/ Blackboard. You can use this to teach creatures your language. Each
picture represents a 'verb', and you can associate it with a word. Eventually
you will be able to give the creatures commands and understand what they
are trying to tell you.

To scroll the pictures, click anywhere over them. The pictures represent
the following ideas (in order):

Yes/Good
No/Bad
Look (means pay attention to the object the cursor is over/near)
What (what are you doing?)
How (what's bothering you most?)
Rest
ActivatePositive
ActivateNegative
Deactivate
Approach
Retreat
Get
Drop
You (can teach a creature what its name is)

To type a word, click on the portion of blackboard between the [   ]. Press
ENTER when finished.

You can also teach creatures the names of objects, by waiting until they're
looking at them (or by using LOOK to make them look, or by picking up
the object and waving it in front of their noses) and then saying its
name.

To speak to creatures (teach names / give commands), just type the word(s)
and press ENTER. Creatures pay more attention to your voice if you address
them by name. Whether they do what you tell them depends on how well they've
learned the words.

2/ Pictures etc. Pictures on the wall, views through telescopes, etc. can be
looked at in more detail by clicking on them.

3/ Elevators. These now work differently - creatures walk THROUGH elevators,
so if you press the lever when they're inside, they'll go up or down with
it. You can often entice creatures into an elevator by ostentatiously
dropping some food into it.

4/ Food. Creatures eat root vegetables, which can be found in the kitchen
or growing on the surface, and drink from jars that can be found in
the kitchen. Eating when hungry provides a reward and decreases the hunger,
but as yet there is no penalty for remaining hungry for a long time -
eventually the creatures will get ill.

5/ Beachballs. So far, these are the only toys for the creatures to play
with, but they thoroughly enjoy the experience. Try and get both creatures
to play catch together.

Very soon there will be masses more objects for you and the creatures to
play with / use.
