Ant Planet Program Status
- Date: May 22, 2008
- Current Game Version: 1.0.27
- Current Demo Version: 1.6.97
Ant Planet Patches
| Name | Date | Target | Upgrade | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ant Planet Patch | 9-16-2008 | 1.0.27 | 1.0.31 | download |
| Ant Planet Patch | 5-22-2008 | 1.0.25 | 1.0.27 | download |
| Ant Planet Patch | 3-26-2008 | 1.0.22 | 1.0.25 | download |
| Ant Planet Patch | 1-16-2008 | 1.0.19 | 1.0.22 | download |
| Ant Planet Patch | 11-2-2007 | 1.0.14 | 1.0.19 | download |
| Ant Planet Patch | 9-13-2007 | 1.0.10 | 1.0.14 | download |
System Requirements
- Mac OS X 10.4 or greater, Mac OS X 10.5 or greater
- Fifth generation or newer video card is required for optional glsl shader operation.
- PowerPC G4, G5 or Intel x86 Processor. ( universal binary )
- Mac OS X 10.5 or greater.
- 128 MB VRAM preferred. Minimum 64 MB VRAM.
- 256 MB RAM minimum.
- OpenGL 2.0 or greater.
- 300 MB disk space.
- OpenAL / ALUT . ( bundled with program )
Installation
Double click on the dmg file. A software license window will appear. Agree to the license terms to continue installation. You will see an Ant Planet folder within the mounted image. Drag this folder to your Applications folder or Desktop. Inside the folder is the Ant Planet application. Double click on the application to begin game play.
Registration
To activate the Ant Planet game, launch the register program bundled with Ant Planet. Enter the registration key in the text fields and click on the register button.
If Ant Planet is successfully registered, then you will hear a chime sound when clicking the register button. Quit the register program and launch the Ant Planet game program. When Ant Planet is properly registered, the New Game and Reload Game menu items will no longer be dimmed.
Ant Planet Game Tips
The goal of the game is to collect all the blue crystals. The blue crystals tend to be placed around dangerous ant mounds. Though, some crystals are not around ant mounds. When all the crystals are collected, you will advance to the next level and the game will be saved on a level advancement basis.
With the default key settings, pressing 'i' will move the truck forward. Pressing 'k' will move the truck backward. When your moving, pressing 'j' or 'l' will move the truck left or right, respectively.
You will often find yourself being attacked by nasty ants. To defend yourself against the ants press the 'n' key to turn on the auto aiming system. This will auto aim the turret on your vehicle at the closest visible insect. Pressing the 'space' bar will fire the turret. Pressing the 'h' key will cycle through the available weapons. Note that if you are out of ammunition, the turret will stow itself into the default position.
Also note, the longer you take to collect the crystals the more ants will accumulate -- particularly around ant mounds. To survive more easily, its better to collect the crystals as rapidly as possible.
As you move through the level, the camera will automatically follow your truck. Though, when the truck is not moving you can change the camera view with the 'w','s', 'a' and 'd' keys.
Uninstallation
- Go to the '/Applications' folder.
- Move the 'Ant Planet' application to the trash.
- Go to your home directory.
- Move the 'Library/reliabit/antplanet' to the trash.
Game Configuration
Once the game has launched the user will be presented with a menu. Select the 'options' menu item. Higher end game options such as shaders, shadows and blur are likely to slow the game down and require higher end video cards.
Note: Enabling shaders, blur and shadows requires a higher end fourth or fifth generation video card. Default non-shader based settings should work on most video cards with 128 megabytes of memory. GLSL enabled OpenGL ( version 2.0 or greater ) is required for shader operation. Due to the wide variety of video card hardware, Reliabit cannot guarantee correct shader operation on all video cards.
If your video card has a low amount of video memory, then you can adjust the screen resolution lower to ensure the game draws properly. For instance, a G4 ibook with 32 mb vram will need to be lowered to 800x600 resolution for the game to draw properly. You can change the resolution through the game options. Though, Reliabit requires that your video card have at least 64 megs of video ram for proper operation.
Joystick Controller Mapping
Ant Planet processes hand held controller buttons and joystick axis feedback natively.
| Setting | Action |
|---|---|
| Axis X | Left, Right |
| Axis Y | Forward , Backward |
| Axis Z | Camera Left, Camera Right |
| Button 1 | Fire Cannon |
| Button 2 | Aim Cannon |
| Button 3 | Pause |
| Button 4 | Aim Cannon |
| Button 5 | Zoom In |
| Button 6 | Zoom Out |
| Button 7 | Fire Cannon |
| Button 8 | Aim Cannon |
| Button 9 | Increase Audio |
| Button 10 | Decrease Audio |
| Button 11 | Pause |
| Button 12 | Aim Cannon |
| Button 13 | Aim Cannon |
Note: If you are having trouble activating the joystick or hand held device, shutdown Ant Planet. Make sure your device is plugged into the Macintosh computer and functioning properly. Start Ant Planet. For the controls to be activated, you need to press one of the buttons on the device at least one time during game play.