FTR game help
This page contains help about the ftr games
Getting the game to run
These games run on Adobe Flash technology, which has been deprecated for a few years now. You can still run flash content locally on your computer, but it may require some work to get it going. For Windows, you can download this "doubleclick and go" type of installer . It will install flash player and registers it for .swf files so you can just double click on swf files to open them (not just those from this page, all swf files you download). Note that Windows still prompts you for the application when using swf files for the first time. There's a checkbox in the dialog to say you always want to use flash player for SWF files.
We also provide a portable flash player for when you do not want to install a flash player. You can open it and then use the "File" menu to open your swf file.
Playing on this site
You can play the games on this page using modern browsers.
Just click the "Play" button next to the game.
Note that this is still quite experimental technology,
and you may encounter bugs not present when playing locally.
A big issue is that the *ftr games don't deal well when hosted online outside of their original location.
You will find "hardcoded" enemy entries in the enemy list that wenn loaded can cause problems.
We tried to fix this by dynamically rewrite the URL to a local file if we have said file on the system.
A side effect of this is that some enemies will exist multiple times,
and some others may refuse to load (enemy name usually stays "EXTERNAL" for these).
Enemies that refuse to load can rarely cause problems in the game itself.
Most notably in panftr, you may find the hitboxes sometimes offset from all enemies after too many failures.
The easiest solution is to download the entire game package and play it on your local machine.
External enemies
Barbftr had its enemies compiled inside for a while at the beginning,
but eventually it switched to a structure with the enemies being separate files.
This structure was carried over to other *ftr games.
To work with externally loaded enemies,
you need to create an external.xml file that lists them.
You can do so manually, or download one of the generator scripts below:
Generator for Panftr
Generator for all other *ftr games
How to use the generator script:
- Place the generator script in the directory that contains the main *ftr swf file
- Create a directory named "ext" where you move all enemy files into
- Doubleclick the generator script
- You can now run the game
- Re-run the script when you change the "ext" folder contents
You don't need to download the script if you download a complete game with enemies from this site, it will already be included in that case.
User interface
The user interface is quite self explanatory
because most elements contain a text label that tells you what they do.
A few not well documented features also exist:
Clicking on the enemy name brings up the enemy selection dialog.
Each enemy is represented by a colored square.
The first one with the cross will close the selection dialog,
the one directly to the right of it is the empty enemy that's always present.
The other squares depend on the number and order of the loaded enemies.
Clicking on the sword icon changes it to a heart.
This switches between attacking and petting.
When grappled, the icon is replaced with a mouth.
Other UI options can be discovered by hovering with the mouse over the UI. Clickable elements will briefly highlight. There's also a help button that will briefly flash all UI elements.
Keyboard controls
The game is controlled as follows:
← & →: Move left and right. Double tap to roll. The oldest barbftr versions do not have this.
space: Attack. There are 3 attacks "low", "middle", and "high".
Use ← and → to indicate direction
and use the "middle" attack.
Use ↑ for "high" attack and ↓ for "low" attack
in whatever direction you're facing.
Different attacks will have different damage and effects on some enemies.
In Petting mode (see below) this will pet the enemy
↓: Hit repeatedly to change between attacking and petting. You know the mode has changed when a big "1" or "0" appears to indicate petting or attacking respectively.
WASD: Force an action.
Most enemies will randomly select an action to perform when you're in range.
By holding one of these keys you can lock some enemies to one specific action until the key is released.
Not all enemies support this, and some do not support all keys.
In this situation, the enemy usually behaves as if the key was not pressed at all.
Some enemies may also refuse to perform the selected action
if said attack is based on other factors, such as your or their health.
END: Respawn with full health.
This is the same as pressing the RE-HP button.
Note: Some enemies don't deal well with this when they've grappled or eaten you.
You can sometimes (especially with older enemies) hit them to reset them,
but many newer enemies become pass-through when they grab you.
In those cases, simply load the enemy again to reset it.
HOME: Slowdown. Press repeatedly to iterate over various slower speeds. There's no indication for the current speed, so you have to guess when you're back to normal speed.
INSERT: Pause game and enable freecam. While paused, you can use the arrow keys to move the camera around.
Struggling
While grappled (indicated by the heart/sword at the top replaced with a mouth)
you can usually struggle using the arrow keys and space bar.
The possible struggle directions are indicated by arrows at the top.
Arrows that are completely hidden
usually mean you cannot struggle in that direction.
Grey arrows mean that you will not progress in any way.
You might still take extra or reduced damage.
Colored arrows indicate that struggling will trigger an action.
How long you have to struggle is enemy specific.
The color is randomized,
but identical colors shown at the same time
mean struggling will have the same effect.
A secondary set of arrows (with a button in the center)
indicate struggle directions you can use while holding down space.
Enemies interpret this in different ways,
but most commonly it's seen as a massaging option.
Although these actions tend to have a positive effect,
they can trap you.
There's a barbftr enemy that falls asleep when you use this too often,
and then you're trapped and will eventually deplete your HP.
A sole round button in the location between the two arrow crosses (above the W)
indicates an action that happens when space is held down in its own.
A colored W indicates an action that takes place if you don't do anything.
How long you have to wait depends on the enemy.
In soem enemies this will not happen anymore when your HP reaches 0.
A skull icon indicates that you're losing health in this stage. In some games it's replaced with a "KO" label.
Note: A few enemies change the set of arrows briefly when struggling to implement some sort of quick action system.
Very rarely will an arrow contain a small dot. This indicates an action for when that arrow is hit repeatedly very quickly. I'm only aware of one enemy that uses this mechanic.
Not all enemies implement the arrows correctly, and a few of them may show arrows you can't actually use, or show them in different colors even though they do the same. In very old barbftr games they're sometimes not shown at all.