TONG!

INTRODUCTION
------------
TONG! - Tetris meets Pong, with more twists than a contortionist club's
        secret handshake

TONG is free software, free as in speech and free as in beer.  Mmmm, beeer...
See COPYING for license information.  (Spoiler: It's the GPL, version 2)

For information on building TONG, see the INSTALL file.  For the impatient,
simply running 'make' will work if you have SDL, SDL_Image, and SDL_Mixer.


CONTROLS
--------
In-game keyboard controls can be customized in the "Controls.." menu.
The default controls for TONG are:
Menus:
  (arrow keys, mouse)  = move cursor
  (enter, click)       = make selection
  (escape)             = back out
In-game:
  (space)    = tetrad rotate counterclockwise
     [^]     = tetrad rotate clockwise
  [<][v][>]  = tetrad movement keys
  (mouse)    = move paddles


STRATEGY
--------
Playing Tetris and Pong at the same time in the same space will hurt your
brain at first.  After a few rounds, however, you'll find yourself getting
better at it, and it won't take you long to figure out which rules help
your style of play and which rules make things a nightmare.  To become a
TONG master, however, you'll need to be able to cope with even the most
evil interactions.

Some players find themselves paying more attention to the Tetris pieces
than the Pong bits.  That's OK, but your score will really suffer if you
keep neglecting the ball!  To train yourself, set the rules to change on
every new ball, or every three balls if you like.  Likewise, if you find
yourself playing Pong well but making a mess of the Tetris playfield, set
rules to change every linebreak, or every five.  Either of these settings
could backfire when you get a rule that especially annoys or helps you, at
which point you will be tempted to mess up on purpose just to change or
keep it.

Your score will not be affected by any of the settings you play with, so
if you want to turn off rules you don't like, you may do so without
penalty.  A truly good player, however, can set up the hardest game
possible and wind up with a better score than a beginner who uses cushy
settings.
(Note:  That might be a wicked lie when it comes to "insane" mode.)


SHAMELESS PROMOTION
-------------------
The following are reactions to pre-release version 0.8, taken off a message
board at http://www.ahcsuspects.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=503

"simply splended"
-SimiaN

"this is the gold rush for the nerds. we must all cherish this game
 ....well, if its any good."
-brutal

"bad idea well implemented"
-The Cheshire Cat


COPYRIGHT
---------
Music by Jared Burke  http://www.anal0g.org/_aa_
used with permission.  Jared is a great musician who I've never met in
person, but is very open about the use of his material, hence its
inclusion in a free software project like this.  :^)

The images, sounds, etc that make up the artistic bits of TONG!, like the
program itself, are my copyright, and available to you via the GNU General
Public License.  So, if you wish to use any of the art in making your own,
by all means do so!  The only requirement is that you allow others the same
freedom.  Don't that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy?