Ape Economics Help

The levels

The aim of each level in Ape Economics is simple: distribute the bananas equally among the apes. When every ape has the same number of bananas (and none of them are empty-handed), the level is complete. You do not have to hand out every banana - in some levels there will be a surplus. Occasionally you might have to takebananas from the apes, rather than hand them out, in order to win a level. All that matters is that none of the apes have more than their fair share.

However, the task of distributing the bananas is not as easy as it sounds. Each level contains a maze of hazards, beasts, locked doors, and other obstacles that must be negotiated in order to complete the level. The apes themselves don't help matters - they are greedy and don't want to share, and they will snatch bananas off each other (and off you) if given the chance.

There are three basic things you can do in the game:

• Move your character around. By default, this is done using the arrow keys (or by clicking with the left mouse button in the direction you want to go), but you can change any of the controls by selecting 'Controls' from the 'Options' menu. Many of the objects in the game (including the apes) can be pushed around as you move.
• Grab a banana. By default, this is done using the Z key. You can pick up a banana from the floor underneath you or beside you, or you can take it from an ape (in which case you have a couple of seconds to get away before the disgruntled ape snatches it back!). You can only carry one banana at a time.
• Drop a banana. By default, this is done using the X key.

On most level there is a time limit within which the level must be completed. The rate at which the time ticks away depends upon the 'Speed' chosen on the 'Options' menu.

If you run out of time, or lose all your lives (by getting attacked by beasts), you have to restart the level from the beginning. When you restart the level, your score and your number of lives will be reset to what they were when you first began the level. If you get stuck in a level, you can restart it immediately using the Level menu. If you fail to complete a level after spending a lot of time on it, you will be given the option of skipping directly to the next level.

Beside your game, you will see a display showing your score, the number of lives you have, and the amount of time you have left to complete the level. It also shows the number of apes that have no bananas, the number that have one banana each, the number that have two bananas each, and the number that have three bananas each. You can choose (on the Options menu) whether this information is display to the left of the game, to the right, or above and below.

As well as apes and bananas, some of the things you may encounter in the levels include:

	Keys These come in several colours, and are used to open doors.
	Clocks These give you extra time.
	Hearts These give you an extra life.
	Rocks Although they look heavy, the rocks in the game can easily be pushed around. At times they get in the way, but they can be useful for trapping beasts or apes.
	Crates Like rocks, these can be pushed around, but unlike rocks, they float, and can be used to cross water. Bananas may be found hidden under crates.
	Bridges These are very unstable, and will collapse after being walked on.
	Doors These are opened simply by pushing on them. Some require a key, while others can only be opened in a particular direction.
	Force fields These are very powerful, and will push almost anything.
	Furballs These innocuous little creatures are harmless and spend most of their time asleep. However, they are easily frightened, and if you disturb one it will scuttle away until it hits an obstruction, whereupon it will prompty falls asleep again.
	Tortoises These are harmless too, and spend their entire lives plodding predictably back and forth. They can get in the way sometimes, but you can often shove them aside.
	Rabbits These timid creatures spend their entire lives in their holes. However, they regularly pop their heads up to check what's going on outside, and can be a nuisance to passers-by.
	Snakes Beware of these when walking under logs.
	Creepy crawlies These beasts have highly developed senses and can home in on their prey from far away with lethal accuracy.
	Wasps These insects have deadly stings. Fortunately, the smell of all those bananas has driven them beserk and they can only flit about randomly. They can fly over water as well as land.
	Crocodiles When in the water, the crocodiles will lie motionless, waiting to ambush their prey. If you get too close, however, they can lunge with deadly speed.
	Squid Another aquatic predator, squid are intelligent and fast-swimming. They will pursue their prey along the shore and lash out with their lethal tentacles.
	Archers These lurk almost unseen in the forest, but beware of their poison arrows!
	Signposts These can give you helpful hints.

Bonus levels

In some levels, there are golden stars; by picking up one of these you can earn a 'bonus level':

It is not necessary to do this in order to progress in the game, but it provides an extra challenge for more experienced players, and the opportunity to earn a lot of extra points.

In a bonus level, bananas and rocks will rain down on you from above. Your job is to collect as many of the bananas as possible (earning points), while avoiding the falling rocks. Move to the left and right using the arrow keys (or whatever controls you have specified using the Controls setting on the Options menu). You will see a display showing how many bananas you have collected.

Normally, a bonus level lasts for one minute (although you can get extra time by collecting the clocks that occasionally fall amongst the bananas and rocks). Be careful - if one of the falling rocks strikes you on the head, the bonus level finishes immediately.

The game

The aim of the game is to progress through the levels, completing each one in turn. Each time you complete a level, it is recommended that you save your game, so that you can return to it in future without having to work your way through all the levels from the beginning. (However, your position within a level will not be remembered. If you save your game part-way through a level, when you load that game you will have to start the level again from the beginning.) Use the commands on the Game menu to load and save games.

To start a totally new game (from the first level), select 'New game' on the Game menu.

Designing your own levels

One powerful feature of Ape Economics is the ability to pit your wits against your friends, as well as against the apes, by designing and testing your own levels.

To create a new set of levels, select 'Create your own levels' from the Level menu. You will then see a new, blank level, with a 'palette' of available components will appear beside it. To add a component (such as an ape or a beast) to your level, simply select that component in the palette (by clicking it), then click with the left mouse button at the point in your new level at which you want that component to appear. You can remove a component from the level by clicking with the right mouse button. (If you wish to draw out a large rectangular area, such as a lake, you can do so by holding down the Shift key while you drag.)

Some components can be placed on top of one another. For example, you can create bunches of bananas by placing bananas on top of each other.

Hints and tips

• Try to isolate the apes from one another (for example, by pushing things between them), so that they can't snatch bananas from each other.
• As is often the case in economics, the rich get richer at the expense of the poor. Apes that have a many bananas will snatch off those that have fewer (up to a maximum of three bananas each), but 'poor' apes will not snatch off richer ones.
• Bananas can be hidden underneath crates.
• If you push a crate into water, you will be able to walk across.
• If the game seems to be running very slowly, check the 'Speed' setting on the Options menu, and make sure that the 'Stretch to fill screen' setting on the View menu is turned off.