Math Blaster: Master the Basics

Math Blaster: Master the Basics is a platforming math game with a classic unexpected-hero-taking-down-the-robot-empire-that-has-enslaved-humanity cliché story.

Cheats#

Various cheats exist that may have been used to aid the developers in the developing process, though some of them seem like they were just fun.
They can be accessed setting DebugOn to Phil in MathBlaster.ini.

Keys#

Pressing various keys will unlock certain cheats and features.

Key(s)	Function
B/N	Make the Blaster character larger/smaller. Doesn't change hitbox size, but Orbs seem to abide by this new size despite that, implying that they use a different collision system.
+/-	Changes camera perspective angle - only seems to be useful in chase levels.
Z/X	Decrease/increase camera distance. Making this negative moves the camera past the player character.
W	Open the door and trigger the end of level sequence in combination lock levels.
J/H	Used to Increase/Decrease jump power of the player. Unfortunately, there seems to be some hard limit on how high the player can actually jump.
A/S	Increase/Decrease the speed of the player.
C	Toggle free camera mode.
O/P	Shrink/grow the number orbs. This doesn't affect their hitbox.
G	Toggle a grid rendered at y=0.
F	Toggle framerate part of the debug HUD.
I	Toggle debug HUD.
Q	Toggle muting the audio.
L/K	Add/Remove extra brightness of the health bar. Capped between normal lightness and completely white.
\	Beep at 750hz for 0.3 seconds, halting the entire program while doing so. Likely an indicator of stripped functionality.
LShift+Tab	Warps to next stage.
PgDown	Attempts to return to the main menu, but doesn't always function properly.

Level Select Keys
Function Key
F1








F2








F3







F4








F5





F6








F7
F8
F9
F11

Free Camera#

To do:
There's still more camera-related keys.

The free camera can be activated by pressing C with cheat keys active.
_{When trying this make sure Number Lock is on.}

Numpad Controls
Num Lock
7 Look Up
4 Look Left
1 Left
0

Mouse Controls
Left Mouse Turn Camera
Left+Right Mouse Forward/Backward

Pressing C again disables the free camera and snap it back to its normal position.

Console#

To do:
There's more commands. Figure out what they do.

The console can be opened with the `/~ key, though this doesn't seem to work in levels like CubeQuest, where other stuff is likely on top of it.

Various commands are listed below.

Command	Result
`?`	Opens the following menu: `Help Quick Keys: B/N=Size Blaster Z/X=Adjust Camera Z O/P=Size Orb A/S=Adjust Blaster Speed +/-=Adjust Cam Persp. C=Toggle FreeCam Mode NUMPADS=Move/Rotate Free Cam F1=load level 1 F2=load level 2 F3=load level 3 f4=load level 4 JUMP #=Move Blaster D=Toggle Invinceable J/H=Adj JumpHeight F=cam float G=Toggle Grid I=Info V=Camera Info ?=This menu` Some of the things in this menu are inaccurate or confusing.
`jump <int: pos (clamp 0-100)>`	Sets Blaster's position to the specified percent on the spline.
`limit`	Unknown
`remove`	Unknown
`load <string: levelname>`	Loads the specified level.

Debug HUD#

Parts of the debug HUD can be toggled with I, V, and F, and shows various info about the game. This menu also tanks the framerate.

Name

Info Shown

Description/Notes

Framerate

Also shown when toggled with F.

Current Level

Describes the current level - usually level name.

Content

Index of current dataset, starting from 1.

lesson

Current Lesson

pktID

Some integer

This needs some investigation.
Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page.
Specifically: What is this? It's likely related to the selected user.

lvltbindex

Lesson position in database

campos

Position of Camera on a Spline

Only appears in the map and the final boss battle.

answers correct

Number of gates beaten

Only appears in final boss battle.

The Answers

Answers to the questions

Only appears in CubeQuest levels.

AimVal

Unknown, changes when robot shoots NPC

Only appears in EWB levels.

Memory

Total Texture Mem

Allocated and Used Texture Memory

Used

Unknown

Always seems to be 0. Perhaps unimplemented or broken?

Global Memory Pool Entries

Level Mem entries

Level2 Mem entries

Level Mem Used

Level2 Mem Used

Global Memory Handle Used

Global Memory size

Level Mem size

Level2 Mem size

Camera

Camera Orientation

Rotation in Radians(?)

Only shown when toggled with V.

Camera Position

Blaster

Blaster Pos

Whether Blaster is on the ground, followed by position

Inv

Valueless label indicating whether the player has invulnerable enabled.

splin^(sic)

Blaster's position on movement spline

BlsterSpeed (feet/sec)

Blaster's current movement speed

camZ

Camera current distance

Not equivalent to the camera's actual Z position.

AvtoSplineH

Blaster's Y offset to movement spline

AvZoom

Size of Blaster

Usually 1, but can be changed with the cheat keys above.

JHeight

Jump Height

JSpeed

Jump Speed

gID

ID of last GameObject Blaster stood/is standing on

Developer Text#

There are messages in the code for the math problem generators informing developers to alert someone named Kris that something went wrong.

Tell KRIS: GenOddEvenMC not generating enough correct answers
Tell KRIS: 5 digits and up not supported for expanded form yet!  
Tell Kris: GenExpFormMC distracters not customized for numbers over 999  
Tell KRIS: GenPlaceValueMC not generating enough correct answers  
Tell Kris: GenPlaceValueMC distracters not customized for numbers over 999

v · t · e The Blaster Learning System series

Math Blaster
DOS	New Math Blaster Plus!
SNES	Episode One
Windows	Episode I: In Search of Spot • Ages 7-9 • Master the Basics • Math Blaster (Online)
Mac OS Classic	Episode I: In Search of Spot
Unity Web Player, Android, iOS	Math Blaster (Online)

Reading Blaster
Windows	Invasion of the Word Snatchers • Reading Blaster Jr. • Word Blaster • Ages 5-7
Mac OS Classic	Reading Blaster Jr. • Word Blaster