How to play

3.1Navigating menus

Below are some descriptions of the various menus you will use to navigate through Tux Racer.

Start screen

This is the first screen you see once Tux Racer is started. You can hit any key or click the mouse to move on to the Main Menu.

3.2Main menu options

This is the Main Menu in Tux Racer. Note that if you hit the Esc key while in this window it will exit the game.

1. 1
   Enter an event – takes you to the Cup Selection Menu. You can also press the Enter or E keys.
2. 2
   Practice – takes you to the Practice Selection Menu. You can also press the P key.
3. 3
   Credits – shows you the Credits. You can also press the C key.
4. 4
   Quit – exits Tux Racer. You can also press the Esc key.

Tux Racer has been designed to make controlling Tux easy and fun. The menus can be navigated with mouse and keyboard, and Tux is controlled using the keyboard.

Once you are racing, you will have a number of displays. This section describes what each of these are.

1. 1
   Speedometer – tells you how fast you are going.
2. 2
   Energometer – tells you how much energy you have charged.
3. 3
   Elapsed Time – tells you how long you have been racing in the race.
4. 4
   Herring Collected – tells you how many herring you have collected so far in the race.

5.1Speedometer

The Speedometer shows the current speed of Tux. The speed is displayed in graphic form around the outside of the Energometer, and also in numeric form over the Energometer. As Tux’s speed increases, the colour of the Speedometer changes from green to yellow and then to red. When in the yellow, paddling will no longer increase Tux’s speed, but instead will begin to slow him down. Once in the red zone you will find steering difficult.

5.2Energometer

The Energometer displays Tux’s current energy level. As the circle fills with blue, Tux’s energy increases until the circle is full. The Energometer decides how far and high Tux can jump. See the Jumping section for more information.

5.3Elapsed time

The number in the top left of the screen shows the elapsed time for the current race.

5.4Herring collected

The number in the top right of the screen shows how many herring Tux has collected in the current race.

The races in Tux Racer are grouped into events. Currently, there is only one event in Tux Racer, the Herring Run, in which you must collect a certain number of herring within a specified time.

6.1Cup selection menu

The races in each event are grouped into cups – each cup consists of a series of races that you must complete, in sequence, before you may advance to the next cup. You are given four lives to complete each cup and lose one for each time you fail to win a race. Once you run out of lives, you must restart the cup from the beginning.

In the Cup Racing Menu you can select the event and cup in which you will compete. This section describes the menus that are used on the Cup Selection Menu.

1. 1
   Event – the name of the currently selected cup class. You can cycle through the classes by clicking on the arrow buttons. You can also use the ← and → keys to cycle through the events.
2. 2
   Cup – the name of the cup inside the currently selected cup class. You can select the cups by clicking on the arrow buttons. You can also use the ↑ and ↓ keys to cycle through the cups.
3. 3
   Status – a message informing you whether or not you are eligible to play this cup.
4. 4
   Back – back to the Main Menu.
5. 5
   Continue – go to the Cup Race Selection Menu.

6.2Cup race selection menu

When competing in a cup that you have not yet completed, this menu guides you through the races in the cup. You must complete the races in order. For example, you must win the first race in a cup before you can enter the second race. You are given four lives in which to complete all of the races in a cup. If you run out of lives, you will have to re-enter the cup and start over from the first race.

This section describes the menus that are used on the Cup Race Selection Menu.

1. 1
   Course – the name of the currently selected course. You can cycle through the courses by clicking the arrow buttons. You can also use the ↑ and ↓ keys to cycle through the courses.
2. 2
   Requirements – the required criteria for completing the course. You must beat each of the 3 possible criteria in order to move on to the next course in the cup.
3. 3
   Description – a description of the course.
4. 4
   Lives – number of lives remaining.
5. 5
   Preview – a preview of the course.
6. 6
   Back – back to the Cup Selection Menu.
7. 7
   Race! – start the race.

Once you have completed a cup, this menu can be used to replay any of the races in a cup so that you can try to improve your score.

6.2.1Required time / herring / score

Below the name of the course is a listing of the requirements to beat it. The course may have requirements for maximum time, herring collected, overall score, or any combination of these. To progress to the next course you must beat these requirements. The time listed is the time to beat, the herring listed is the minimum number of herring you must collect, and the score is the minimum score you need to get.

If any of the requirements are listed as 0, then there is no requirement in that category.

6.2.2Lives

To complete each cup, you only have a set number of lives to beat all of the courses. If you beat a course, you don’t lose any lives, and proceed to the next course. If you do not beat the course, then you use up one of your lives (one Tux will disappear from the row) and you can try the same course again. When all your lives are exhausted (no more Tuxes in the row) then you cannot continue the cup, and must re-enter the cup and start over from the first race.

Tux Racer has a Practice mode in which you can hone your racing skills. In Practice mode there is no lives counter, so you can play any course as often as you like. You can also customize the race options for more challenge.

7.1Practice menu

The Practice Menu lets you choose a course on which to race, and allows you to customize the race options.

1. 1
   Course – the name of the currently selected course. You can cycle through the courses by clicking the arrow buttons. You can also use the ↑ and ↓ keys to cycle through the courses.
2. 2
   Best result – the best score achieved on this course. If this area is blank it means you have not tried the course yet.
3. 3
   Description – a description of the course.
4. 4
   Race options – see Race options below.
5. 5
   Preview – a preview of the course.
6. 6
   Back – back to the Main Menu.
7. 7
   Race! – start the race.

7.2Race options

A number of options can be set for the current race on the Practice Menu.

7.3Scoring

Points can be obtained in two ways: by beating the par time for the course, and by collecting herring. Move quickly and grab as many herring as possible to get the highest score.

8.1Options file

Under Linux the options file is located in the ~/.tuxracer directory. Under Windows the options file is located in the config directory, which can be found in the directory in which you installed Tux Racer. This file is plain text, and is editable with any text editor, such as vi or Notepad.