The Playing Pieces

Here is a short description of each the objects involved in the game. The left column shows the graphic used in the original 1992 Windows version of Kye - Classic Kye. The next column the revised graphics used in Python Kye and the third column the optional modified versions for Python Kye. There are other graphics used in the various versions of the game for other platforms.

To use alternative graphics in Python Kye, see the notes at the foot of this page.

 
Classic Kye Python Kye Modified Python Kye Description
K
K K Kye is the player's piece. It is you, controlled using the keyboard or the mouse. You must move Kye to collect all the diamonds in each level. You have three lives.
* * * Diamonds are the objective of The Game. You have to collect them all to complete a level. They cannot be moved, only collected. Actually they look like sapphires, not diamonds.
r r r Slider moves in the direction of the arrow unless obstructed by another object or held by a magnet.
> > > Marble, sometimes called a Rocky. Similar to a slider, but will roll around other round objects, including other marbles, provided there is room to do so. They often come en-mass.
R R R Sentry, also called a Bouncer. Moves in the direction it is pointing, but reverses direction if it hits an obstruction. If the obstruction is movable it will be nudged away by one place by the impact. Sentries will stick to a magnet.
s s s Magnet, also called a Sticky. Attracts all movable objects except Kye to either end, over a range of one space. The two other sides are neutral, and it cannot be turned. Magnets can only attract another magnet by pulling on one of its neutral sides. Kye is stronger and magnets pull themselves to Kye. Kye can therefore use magnets as tools to drag other things around or to stop things moving (including monsters), and to pin monsters in one place. Beware of unexpected effects however.
9 9 9 Walls set the limits, they cannot be moved. There should always be an outer wall around the playing area. Corners of interior walls can be square or round, and Marbles roll around the round corners.
b b b Square Block stops monsters, sliders and marbles, but can be pushed by Kye as long as there is nothing behind it. Ordinary blocks will also be pushed by sentries and attracted by magnets.
B B B Round Block is like the square block but marbles will roll round them.
e e e Earth or Soft block is a block that will be destroyed by Kye pushing into it. Any other object is stopped by it. There are only square versions.
E C ~ [ T E C ~ [ T E C ~ [ T Monsters chase Kye and if one reaches you Kye loses a life. There is no difference in behaviour between the five of them.
c a c a c a Turning Block (Clockwise and Anti-clockwise) will change the direction of a slider or marble if one hits it, by 90 degrees. Note that in the original ("Classic") Kye the first and second graphics are indeed for clockwise and anti-clockwise respectively, despite the arrows implying the opposite. This is changed with the Python graphics.
F A F A F A Slider Shooter and Marble Shooter spit out a slider or marble every now and then. In the Python Kye graphics the Slider shooter has been made more square because it shoots square blocks.
H H H Black Hole, also called a Blackie. Will swallow anything that ventures into it. Useful to get rid of anything that can be pushed or lured into it.
w w w Timer is an ephemeral block. It starts with a number from 3 to 9 and after the count-down reaches 0, it disappears. Often used to release monsters.
f f f One-way Door allows Kye to pass one way only. The Classic doors look like force fields - you do not know the direction until you try. In the Modified Python scheme I substituted a pair of one-way flaps that show the way. Game play is unchanged because you could always test the Classic doors by trying to move into them and backing out again.


As the table above shows, Python Kye (link on links page) allows alternative graphics. The whole set of 80 images is contained in a tarball file which should be in the same directory as the Kye executable and named "images.tar.gz". The images may be in GIF, PNG or SVG format (but must be consistent). [80 images - more than shown in the table above because the directional items have an image for every orientation]

Python Kye (see Links) comes with its own image set by default, with a blue-yellow-brown theme. Its website also has the Classic Kye and Modified Python Kye image sets, with red-yellow themes as shown above, available on its Downloads page. You can also create your own graphics for Python Kye!