ch65.htm

linux-unix130.linux.and.unix.ebooks130 linux and unix ebookslinuxLearning Linux - Collection of 12 E

	<LI>Ico

	<P>

	<LI>Maze

	<P>

	<LI>Xeyes

	<P>

	<LI>Xgas

	<P>

	<LI>Xlogo

</UL>



<H4 ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="Heading8<FONT COLOR="#000077">X Games Not in the

Menus</FONT></H4>

<P>The following games can be started by typing the appropriate command at the Linux

prompt in a command-line window. These, and any other games you may install, can

be added to the Games menu if you desire.



<UL>

	<LI>Xhextris

	<P>

	<LI>Xbombs

	<P>

	<LI>Xpaint

	<P>

	<LI>Xfractint

</UL>



<H4 ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="Heading9<FONT COLOR="#000077">Spider (Small and

Large)</FONT></H4>

<P>This is double-deck solitaire. There is no difference in the play of Spider (small)

and Spider (large). The difference is that the small Spider game uses smaller cards,

and therefore fits into a smaller window than the large Spider game.</P>

<P>To see this game's man page, type <TT>man spider</TT>.</P>

<P>To start this game, type <TT>spider</TT> in a command-line window.</P>

<P>This game requires a fair bit of thought, planning, and skill. The aim is to arrange

cards of the same suit in descending order. You can also, however, have cards of

different suits arranged in descending order. Sometimes this can help you immediately,

but hinder you in the long run! Note that, if you do have two or more consecutive

cards of the same suit, the cards will move as a group. Spider is challenging; don't

try to play it just to pass the time!

<H4 ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="Heading10<FONT COLOR="#000077">Puzzle</FONT></H4>

<P>This is a superior version of the game, usually a cheap party favor at a child's

party, in which you push around 15 numbered tiles on a 16x16 grid, trying to get

the numbers in order.</P>

<P>To see this game's man page, type <TT>man puzzle</TT>.</P>

<P>To start this game, type <TT>puzzle</TT> in a command-line window.</P>

<P>The reason the X version of Puzzle is superior is because the pieces move very

smoothly. Let's face it, the party-favor plastic versions kept jamming and sticking.

This is a vast improvement.</P>

<P>If you click on the left box, the game will give you a random starting position.

Click on the right box and watch the game solve itself! (Try clicking on the right

box when the numbers are already in order.)

<H4 ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="Heading11<FONT COLOR="#000077">GNU Chess</FONT></H4>

<P>This is a graphical version of GNU Chess that uses the xboard display system.



<DL>

	<DT></DT>

</DL>





<DL>

	<DD>

<HR>

<A NAME="Heading12<FONT COLOR="#000077"><B>WARNING:</B> </FONT>Running GNU

	Chess under xboard is very resource-intensive. It may crash your system. Adding more

	swap space may correct an agonizingly long response time. Do not worry, it's not

	your system, it's GNU Chess.

<HR>



</DL>



<H4 ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="Heading13<FONT COLOR="#000077">Xtetris</FONT></H4>

<P>If you've never been hooked on Tetris, here's your chance. This is a nice X implementation

of a game that always seems to suffer when taken from the video arcade and placed

on a home computer.</P>

<P>To see this game's man page, type <TT>man xtetris</TT>.</P>

<P>To start this game, type <TT>xtetris</TT> in a command-line window.</P>

<P>The colors are nicely done, and the movement is relatively smooth. However, if

you're used to the arcade version of Tetris, watch out for the following:



<UL>

	<LI>Left and right arrow keys move from side to side; up and down arrow keys rotate

	clockwise and counterclockwise. Most people have a preferred direction of rotation

	for the pieces; experiment to find out which way is right for you.

	<P>

	<LI>The spacebar, as is usual on home-computer implementation, slam-dunks the piece

	to the bottom rather than just hauling it down faster.

	<P>

	<LI>The colors of the pieces, though attractive, are sometimes confusing. For instance,

	the L-shaped piece that is yellow in the arcade version is purple in xtetris, and

	the L-shaped piece that is purple in the arcade version is light blue in xtetris.

	Again, very confusing if you're used to the arcade version.

</UL>



<P>The purpose of the game? Arrange the pieces so they interlock without gaps. As

soon as you create a (horizontal) row that's completely filled, it vaporizes. This

is good, because when the pieces stack up to the top, the game is over. (Pity the

Cossack doesn't come out and tap his feet when things start to get a little out of

control.)

<H4 ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="Heading14<FONT COLOR="#000077">Xlander</FONT></H4>

<P>This is an update of the old arcade game, Lunar Lander. You get a bird's-eye view

from the window of your lunar lander. By operating the main and directional thruster

engines, you attempt to touch down softly on the landing pad. If things go wrong,

instead of a bird's-eye view, you get a meteorite's-eye view!</P>

<P>To see this game's man page, type <TT>man xlander</TT>.</P>

<P>To start this game, type <TT>xlander</TT> in a command-line window.</P>

<P>You may have problems getting the game to respond to your keyboard input. In that

case, the moon's surface is only a short plummet away.

<H4 ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="Heading15<FONT COLOR="#000077">Xmahjongg</FONT></H4>

<P>This is an implementation of the old Chinese game. The graphics are attractively

done; the ideograms on the pieces are very nice. The game builds your castle for

you, of course. This alone speeds things up considerably.</P>

<P>There is no man page for xmahjongg.

<H4 ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="Heading16<FONT COLOR="#000077">Xvier</FONT></H4>

<P>Xvier is a relative of tic-tac-toe. On a 5x5 grid, you and the computer take turns

placing your pieces; the first to get four pieces in a row, horizontally, diagonally,

or vertically, wins. Xvier differs from tic-tac-toe in that you can only select the

column where you want to place your playing piece; your piece then falls down the

column to the lowest unoccupied row.</P>

<P>To see this game's man page, type <TT>man xvier</TT>.</P>

<P>To start this game, type <TT>xvier</TT> in a command-line window.</P>

<P>You can change the level of the computer's play by typing a number between 0 and

9 while in the game. However, in the higher levels, the computer thinks for a long

time. Increase the level of play only one at a time. The default level of play is

0; you might not want to exceed 3.

<H4 ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="Heading17<FONT COLOR="#000077">Xroach</FONT></H4>

<P>This is halfway between a game and a demo. Don't start this up if insects give

you the shivers!</P>

<P>If you have ever lived in a roach-infested building, this will bring back fond

(or not-so-fond) memories. Every time you start another copy of Xroach, a new set

of roaches goes scurrying around your screen, looking for windows to hide under.

Eventually you don't see them--until you move or close some windows!</P>

<P>To see this game's man page, type <TT>man xroach</TT>.</P>

<P>To start this game, type <TT>xroach</TT> in a command-line window.</P>

<P>If you start Xroach from the command line, you can add <TT>-squish</TT>. You can

then try to swat the insects by clicking on them. Be warned, however: they're fast.

You can also specify what color the roach guts will be, should you succeed in squishing

some.

<H4 ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="Heading18<FONT COLOR="#000077">Ico</FONT></H4>

<P>Ico sets a polyhedron (a solid, multisided geometric shape) bouncing around your

screen. Depending on the options specified, this three-dimensional polygon can occupy

its own window or use the entire root window.</P>

<P>To see this game's man page, type <TT>man ico</TT>. It can be started from the

command line (within X Window) by typing <TT>ico</TT>. In fact, you should start

it from the command line, because of the options available. If you start it from

the Demo/Gadgets menu, you will only get a wireframe polygon in its own, small window.</P>

<P>One interesting option you can use from the command line is <TT>-colors</TT>.

If you specify more than one color, you get a multicolored polyhedron, with each

face a different color.</P>

<P>With the <TT>-colors</TT> option, you must type in the colors to be used in the

following format: <TT>rgb:&lt;</TT>red intensity<TT>&gt;/&lt;</TT>green intensity&gt;<TT>/&lt;</TT>blue

intensity<TT>&gt;</TT>. The intensities have to be specified in hexadecimal notation;

<TT>000</TT> is the lowest value and <TT>fff</TT> is the highest. For example, the

complete command might be<FONT COLOR="#0066FF"></FONT>

<PRE><FONT COLOR="#0066FF">ico -color rgb:000/888/fff rgb:e00/400/b80 rgb:123/789/def

</FONT></PRE>

<P>This program is fairly resource-intensive and might slow down your system.

<H4 ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="Heading19<FONT COLOR="#000077">Maze</FONT></H4>

<P>This draws a maze, and then solves it. There is no way you can solve it for yourself.

Maze is a demo, not a game. On a fast system, it solves it too quickly to follow!

<H4 ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="Heading20<FONT COLOR="#000077">Xeyes</FONT></H4>

<P>Not really a game, but cute anyway. Whenever you start Xeyes, you get a large

pair of bodiless eyes that follow your cursor's movements. Running four or five copies

of Xeyes at once gives your system a surrealistic touch.</P>

<P>To see this game's man page, type <TT>man xeyes</TT>.</P>

<P>To start this game, type <TT>xeyes</TT> in a command-line window.

<H4 ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="Heading21<FONT COLOR="#000077">Xgas</FONT></H4>

<P>This is a demo of how perfect gases behave, but you don't need a degree in thermodynamics

and statistical mechanics to find this fun to watch. You have two chambers side-by-side,

with a small opening in the wall between them. The chambers can be set to different

temperatures. The neat part is when you place your cursor in one of the chambers

and click the left mouse button--every click launches another gas particle in a random

direction!</P>

<P>To see this game's man page, type <TT>man xgas</TT>. Online help also is available.</P>

<P>To start this game, type <TT>xgas</TT> in a command-line window.

<H4 ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="Heading22<FONT COLOR="#000077">Xlogo</FONT></H4>

<P>This displays the official X logo.

<H4 ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="Heading23<FONT COLOR="#000077">Xhextris</FONT></H4>

<P>This is a version of Tetris that uses pieces made up of hexagons. To start the

game, type <TT>xhextris</TT> on an X Window command line. No man page is available.

<H4 ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="Heading24<FONT COLOR="#000077">Xbombs</FONT></H4>

<P>This is an X version of Minesweeper. You are given a large grid. Some of the squares

contain mines. Your job is to flag all of the mines.</P>

<P>This game is started by typing <TT>xbombs</TT> at the Linux prompt in a command-line

window. No man page is available.</P>

<P>Starting Xbombs brings up the playing field, which is a dark gray grid, and a

Score window.</P>

<P>You uncover a square by clicking on it with the left mouse button. If you uncover

a mine, you are blown up and the game is over!</P>

<P>It's more likely, though, that you will either uncover a number or open up several

light gray, blank squares (with no numbers or mines). The number tells you how many

mines are found adjacent to that square, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.

For example, a &quot;1&quot; means there is only one mine adjacent to that square.

If you've already determined the location of one mine adjacent to a &quot;1&quot;

square, then it's safe to uncover all other squares next to the &quot;1&quot; square

because they can't possibly contain a mine! In this fashion, you try to deduce the

location of the mines. If you happen to uncover a square that has no number (and

therefore no mines next to it), the game will automatically uncover the entire numberless

area and its border.</P>

<P>When you think you've located a mine, you &quot;sweep&quot; or mark it by clicking

on it with the right mouse button (if you click the left button accidentally, and

there is indeed a mine there, the game is over). The right button toggles on and

off a flag marker. Note that the game does not tell you whether you have correctly

placed the flag.</P>

<P>You will soon discover that certain patterns of numbers let you place a mine without

any doubt; other times, you have to make an educated guess.</P>