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XBOING(6)						XBOING(6)

NAME
       xboing - An X Window System based blockout clone. V2.4

SYNOPSIS
       xboing [-version] [-usage] [-help] [-sync] [-display <dis-
       playName>]  [-speed  <1-10>]  [-scores]	[-keys] [-sound]
       [-setup] [-nosfx]  [-grab] [-maxvol <1-100>] [-startlevel
       <1-MAXLEVELS>] [-usedefcmap] [-nickname <name>] [-noicon]

	      -speed <n>	 - The game speed, 1 - 9. 9=Fast
	      -maxvol <n>	- The maximum volume as percent-
	      age
	      -startlevel <n>	- The starting level for game
	      -help		- Produce this help message
	      -sync		- Turn on X synchronisation
	      -usage		- Print a brief help message
	      -version		- Print out the current version
	      -scores		- Print out current highscores
	      -keys		- Use keys instead of mouse con-
	      trol
	      -sound		- Turn audio ON for game
	      -setup		- Print setup information
	      -nosfx		- Turn off special effects
	      -grab		- Turn pointer grabbing on
	      -usedefcmap	- Use the default colourmap
	      -nickname <name>	- Use nickname instead	of  real
	      one
	      -noicon		- Do not create a custom icon
	      -display <display> - Set the display for the game

DESCRIPTION
       XBoing  is  a  blockout	type game where you have a paddle
       which you control to bounce a ball around  the  game  zone
       destroying blocks with a proton ball.

       Each  block  carries  a	different  point  value. The more
       blocks you destroy, the better your score. The person with
       the highest score wins.

       The  arena  is  filled  with blocks and other objects. You
       have a paddle that can move from left to right at the bot-
       tom  of the arena. You control the paddle so that the pro-
       ton ball bounces around blowing up blocks and that it does
       not  go	past  the  paddle and out the bottom, much like a
       pinball game.

       You may like to check out my WWW Home Page for  XBoing  at
       the  following URL http://www.catt.rmit.edu.au/xboing/xbo-
       ing.html

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XBOING(6)						XBOING(6)

BLOCK TYPES
       The blocks exhibit different  behaviour. The  bomb  block
       when hit will explode all other blocks around it. You will
       score the points for the blocks exploded by the	bomb.  If
       another	bomb is beside it then it will explode also caus-
       ing a chain  reaction.  The  solid  wall brick	will  not
       explode unless next a bomb. The ammunition block will give
       you four bullets and so on. Special blocks such as reverse
       and machine gun will only last for one ball/level.

       There  is  also	a  unlimited  ammo block that will enable
       unlimited ammo for that level. You will always  have  bul-
       lets to shoot with. Cool.

       There  are  random  blocks  that change	their colour and
       therefore their points every now and then. They add a  bit
       of interest to the levels.

       There  is  a  pirate  symbol  that  will kill your ball if
       touched. You can shoot this block 3 times to kill it. Keep
       away from the Death block, it terminates your ball!

       The  walls off block will turn the wall bounce off on both
       the left and right side of the arena. This will	mean  the
       ball  will  not	bounce off the walls but continue through
       the wall and wrap around to  the	 opposite  side	 respec-
       tively.

       The  extra  time block will add an extra 20 seconds to the
       clock to help you out.

       The reverse block will when hit, reverse the  controls  to
       the  paddle.  This block should be avoided as it makes the
       game really hard. Hitting another reverse while already in
       reverse	mode will turn it off. This control mode is reset
       to normal for each new ball.

       The teleport block will teleport the ball  somewhere  else
       on that level. It will not place you too close to the bot-
       tom of the screen or on another	block.	If  the teleport
       cannot teleport the ball anywhere as the board may be full
       - it will teleport your ball to the paddle  and	shoot  it
       off there.

       The sticky paddle block will stick the ball to your paddle
       each time it is hit and wait until you press fire to shoot
       it off again.

       Some  blocks  will  drop from their starting positions and
       head off down the screen until they nearly hit  your  pad-
       dle. These are normal blocks except they move... They will
       not clobber an existing block or move into  a  ball.  Note
       that  their  score  will decrease  as  the  move down the
       screen!! Get in early I suspect.

X Version 11		November 1996				2

XBOING(6)						XBOING(6)

       There is a roaming dude that just roams around the  arena.
       It  has	logic to stop it bouncing into something and will
       not roam off screen! It is worth a few hundred points  and
       must be killed.

       There is a machine gun block that allows you to shoot much
       faster. Note that you will also	use  your  bullets  at	a
       greater	rate. Can be fun to let off a burst every now and
       then. Erases counter blocks very fast.

       An extra ball symbol may appear and when hit by	a  proton
       ball it will give you an extra ball!

       There  is a shrink paddle block that will shrink your pad-
       dle to a smaller size for the level. If you currently have
       the smallest paddle then it has no effect.

       There  is  also	an expand paddle block that will grow you
       paddle to a larger size for the level.  If  you	currently
       have the largest paddle then it has no effect.

       You  can use the bullets to shoot the last pesky blocks or
       to collect lots of bonus coins. You will be given  4  bul-
       lets  when a new level starts. If you lose a ball you will
       be given a token 2 bullets. Use bullets wisely as you will
       hate yourself when there is one brick left and the ball is
       missing it for ever.

       Throughout the game the bonus coins will appear.	 Collect
       these for bonus points awarded when the level is finished.
       Sometimes the coin may appear as a x2 or x4  symbol  which
       will  indicate  that the scoring from then onwards will be
       multiplied by 2 or 4 respectively. Note: if you get  a  x2
       then  x4 then  x2  you will go back to x2 mode. Also note
       that this x2 or x4 mode will be disabled after  each  ball
       death.

       Also  during the game some special blocks will appear like
       reverse, death, extra ball, etc. and then  disappear  like
       the  bonus coins. These blocks behave like normal but will
       disappear.

       Sometimes a little eye dude will walk across the top  and
       if  shot or hit by the ball will earn you 10000 points! He
       will only walk across if the top row is clear.

       If you collect more than 10 bonuses  during  a  level  the
       killer  mode is activated which will turn the ball red and
       the ball will plough through all blocks except  the  solid
       ones and finish the level very quickly.

       The  bonus  screen  will tell you how you went in the last
       level. Your bonuses will be  added  plus the  bullet  and
       level  bonus. You get 500 points for each bullet not used.

X Version 11		November 1996				3

XBOING(6)						XBOING(6)

       You get 3000 points for each bonus and  if  you	get  more
       than 8 bonuses you get a SUPER BONUS of 50,000 points. You
       also receive a new ball	every  100,000	points. Pressing
       space will skip the bonus animations when the bonus screen
       appears and your bonus points will still be added.

       Like the special popup blocks you may see a dynamite block
       that will when hit kill all other blocks of the same type.
       Pretty good block really.

       There is a level timer that counts down while playing each
       level.  If  you	don't  complete the level in the allotted
       time you will not receive the  time  bonus  which  is  100
       points  per  second  remaining.	You  will miss out on the
       level bonus if your time runs out.

       The ball will be automatically shot off the  paddle  after
       about  5 seconds	 unless you press the space bar. You can
       always press `P' to pause the game.

       If the ball gets stuck in an infinite loop it  will  auto-
       matically tilt the board if the ball hasn't hit the paddle
       after a certain time span. The time span is about  8  sec-
       onds I think.

       When  you get a new ball you will see a small red arc with
       a moving yellow dot go from left to right and back  again.
       This  yellow  dot  indcates the direction of the ball when
       you start it.

       XBoing was started like many other projects to learn  Xlib
       better.	I had the XPM library and was already using it in
       a Motif application. I thought that it would  be cool  to
       have nice colour pictures/animations in an Xlib game. So I
       did. Without the XPM library I would be still playing with
       the colours I think.

OPTIONS
       The  speed  option  will adjust	the speed of the overall
       game. It will except integer numbers between 1 and 9.  The
       speed  of  the game can be changed from within the game as
       well. See Game Control. The default value is warp 3.

       The maxvol option allows you to adjust the maximum  volume
       to be used for the sound effects if sound is supported. It
       doesn't mean all sounds will be this volume but they  will
       use that volume as the top volume to scale against.

       The startlevel option allows you to set the starting level
       for your games. Note that when your score is placed in the
       highscore  table the level number is the number of levels
       completed and not the level number attained. Also, in  the
       bonus screen your level bonus will be the number of levels

X Version 11		November 1996				4

XBOING(6)						XBOING(6)

       completed multiplied by the level bonus value and not  the
       current level number! Unless this option is used the first
       level will always be level one.

       The help option will display a brief one line  description
       of all the command line options used with xboing.

       The  sync option will turn on the X Window System synchro-
       nisation of all Xlib calls which means that all calls  are
       flushed by the X server before continuing. This will cause
       the game to become slower but enable some  debugging.  The
       default is OFF.

       The  usage  option will print a very brief synopsis of all
       the command line options and there value ranges.

       The version option prints the version of xboing	that  you
       are running.

       The  scores  option will print both the roll of honour and
       your personal best scores to standard  out.  This  can  be
       useful  if  you are not running the program on an X window
       display and still want to see what the scores are.

       The keys option will enable the use of  the  keyboard  for
       game  control. Within the game you may press <g> to toggle
       between mouse and key control. The default is  MOUSE  con-
       trol.

       The sound option will enable sound to be turned on if pos-
       sible. Within the game you may press <s> to  toggle  sound
       on or off. The default is OFF.

       The setup option is useful when you have just compiled the
       program. It will display the paths of the  level &  sound
       directories  and also  give you some information on other
       things.

       The nosfx option will turn OFF special effects.	The  spe-
       cial  effect  in question  at this stage is the explosion
       shake. Turning it off will speed the game up a little bit.
       The default is ON. Servers without backing store will have
       it turn off automatically as the shaking is shocking.

       The grab option will tell xboing to grab the mouse pointer
       when  the game is visible. Pointer grabbing has the effect
       of stopping you move the pointer outside the game  window.
       This  is useful	as it constrains the mouse and you don't
       get colourmap flashes. The default is Off.

       The usedefcmap option will make	xboing	try  to use  the
       default	colourmap.  This  will	be  fine  if  the default
       colourmap  is  reasonabily  empty  (ie:	200  free  colour
       cells!). If you have a complex picture on your background

X Version 11		November 1996				5

XBOING(6)						XBOING(6)

       then this option will not work and xboing will  be  unable
       to allocate enough colours.

       The  nickname option allows you to specify a nick name for
       you instead of using your real name found in the password
       file.  This can be useful for hiding your identity. Please
       note that I store the user id in the  highscore	file  and
       use  that  for checking and sorting. You will still appear
       only once in the global highscore table.

       The noicon option will tell xboing not to create a  custom
       icon.  This  is	needed	with some window managers as they
       only allow a small number of colours and the icon  uses	a
       quite a few. You may not like this icon either and want to
       use your own.

       The display option will force the game  to  be  viewed  on
       another	display.  The  format  of  the	display name  is
       <xserver:0.0> like most other programs  where  xserver  is
       the  name  of  the display. The default is your display of
       course.

       You may also set three environment variables used by  xbo-
       ing.  They specify the location of the level files, sounds
       and the highscore file. They are listed below.

       These environment variables  will  override  the settings
       that are compiled into the program.

	      XBOING_SCORE_FILE = the highscore file to be used.
	      XBOING_LEVELS_DIR = the directory with the  levels.
	      XBOING_SOUND_DIR	= the directory with the sounds.

GAME CONTROL
       Use the mouse to move the paddle left and right by  moving
       the mouse left and right. All mouse buttons shoot bullets,
       start ball. The paddle will follow the mouse pointer. This
       is the best method and easiest to use by far IMHO.

       Below are the keyboard controls. (Non case sensitive)

	      Space   = Start game
	      J = Paddle Left
	      K = Shoot bullet
	      L = Paddle Right
	      Right   = Paddle Right
	      Left    = Paddle Left
	      Escape  = End game and return to introduction.
	      i = iconify the game and pause.
	      H = View roll of honour.
	      h = View personal highscores.
	      p = Pause game.
	      d = Kill the ball.

X Version 11		November 1996				6

XBOING(6)						XBOING(6)

	      a = Toggle audio on/off.
	      s = Toggle special effects on/off.
	      c = Cycle through the intro screens.
	      1-9     = Game speed where 9 is fastest.
	      + = Increase maximum volume level.
	      - = Decrease maximum volume level.
	      t = Tilt board bumping ball.
	      z = Save current game.
	      x = Load saved game.
	      w = Set starting level.
	      e = Change to level editor.
	      q = Quit XBoing.

SAVE/LOAD GAME
       XBoing supports a one level save game facility. Every five
       levels you complete you have the ability to save the  game
       once.  The  game will  be saved in your home directory in
       your account. The ability to save will be indicated by the
       highlighted  word  "Save"  in  the specials area below the
       arena.

       When playing you can press the save key (see GAME CONTROL)
       and  the current	 state of the game will be saved. If you
       save it will overwrite any previously saved games. If  you
       had more than 1 saved game it would make it too easy IMHO.

       To load a game that has been saved you start a normal game
       and  then  press the  load  game key. The saved game will
       appear and you can start playing from where you saved.

       Please note that the paddle position and ball position  is
       not  saved.  The paddle will start from where the mouse is
       and the ball will start from the beginning position.

LEVEL EDITOR
       The built in level editor allows you to	design	your  own
       levels interactively. You can simply click on a block type
       and then draw into the level to add blocks. The level edi-
       tor can also let you play test the level before saving it.

       To change to the level	editor	simply	press  "e"  while
       watching the  intro screens. The window will grow right a
       bit and a tool bar will be shown. You  are  now	ready  to
       draw away.

       The  left mouse button is the draw button while the middle
       mouse button is the eraser. You can press the mouse button
       down and also move the mouse to provide continuous drawing
       until you release the button in both draw and erase modes.

       The  right  most most  button can be used to find out how
       much a block is worth in points. Simply click on a  block

X Version 11		November 1996				7

XBOING(6)						XBOING(6)

       in  the toolbar or level area and the score will change to
       the score for that block.

       You can play test the level. You will have infinite  lives
       and  the level	never finishes. Simply press "p" to enter
       test mode and "p" to exit test mode.

       Some basic editing facilities are available such as  flip-
       ping  the  board vertically  and	 horizontally	and  also
       scrolling 1 block vertically and horizontally.

       Within the editor there are several keys that can be used.

       Below are the keyboard controls. Case sensitive.

	      q = Exit editor.
	      p = Start/End play test.
	      r = Redraw the level.
	      s = Save the level.
	      l = Load the level.
	      c = Clear the level.
	      t = Change the time bonus.
	      n = Change the level name.
	      v = Flip board vertically.
	      h = Flip board horizontally.
	      V = Scroll 1 block vertically.
	      H = Scroll 1 block horizontally.

Level management is

SCORING
       Note: Highscores are saved at the end of each game. If you
       quit a game while playing your score will be added to  the
       highscores.

       Each  block  has a  point  score. Some blocks such as the
       counter block will have more  than  one	score  associated
       with it.

       Each  time  the	paddle	is hit with the ball your earn 10
       points. I'm nice.

       There is a death symbol (a pirate) that when hit by a ball
       will  destroy your ball. You can shoot them three times to
       remove them.

       At the end of each level you are awarded	 a  level  bouns
       which  is  level <n> x 100 points. So for level 20 you get
       20,000 points! If you fail to complete the  level  in  the
       time allotted you will not receive a level bonus.

       XBoing  uses  two highscore files. One displays the global
       scores which will be your best score to date. The other is

X Version 11		November 1996				8

XBOING(6)						XBOING(6)

       a personal high score table with all your attempts (stored
       in your home directory).

       If you obtain the highest score then you will be asked  to
       imput  some  words  of wisdom to your fellow game players.
       This short message is displayed under the  Boing Master's
       name  and  is  there for all to see. This message is saved
       with the high score file so watch out if it rude.

	      red = 100
	      blue = 110
	      green = 120
	      yellow = 140
	      tan = 130
	      purple = 150
	      bomb = 50
	      wall = 0
	      roamer = 400
	      drop = row * 100
	      specials = 100
	      ammo = 50 plus bullets
	      counter = 200 (each number).

SOUND SUPPORT
       Xboing has support for sound. It has sound  code for  the
       following machines :-

       HP,  SUN,  NetAudio, LINUX & NetBSD PC Soundblaster, RPLAY
       sound system, and DEC Audiofile.

       Most support and use the .au format sound files. The linux
       version just sends the data down to the audio device which
       may cause slight clicking sounds due  to the  audio  file
       header.	Future	versions  of  xboing  will  support other
       machines if patches are sent to me or if I learn the sound
       format.	I  am  not going to have heaps of converted files
       all over the place in different	formats as  the	 archive
       would be HUGE.

LEVELS
       The  levels are not increasingly harder to play - some are
       but some are easy. This is because it takes ages to create
       and design levels.

       The  level  data is specified in a simple ASCII file that
       can be edited. The levels are loaded  when  required  from
       the directory specified when the game was made.

       You  can create	more levels if you like making sure that
       they are in the correct format and that they have  a  cor-
       rect filename.

X Version 11		November 1996				9

XBOING(6)						XBOING(6)

       Copy  newlevel.data  to	level??.data and use that for the
       editing of new levels.

       The format of the level is shown in the newlevel.data file
       in the source distribution in the levels directory.

       Make  sure you have a level title and a time bonus in sec-
       onds.

       level format: (case sensitive)

	      w = wall block
	      r = red block
	      g = green block
	      b = blue block
	      t = tan block
	      p = purple block
	      y = yellow block
	      X = Bomb
	      B = Ammo
	      c = Unlimited Ammo
	      D = Death
	      R = Reverse
	      H = Teleport
	      L = Extra ball
	      M = Machine Gun
	      W = Walls off
	      ? = Random block
	      d = Drop Block
	      + = Roaming dude
	      m = Multiple balls
	      s = sticky block
	      < = Shrink paddle block
	      > = Grow paddle block
	      T = Extra Time block

NOTES
       I will place all new versions of XBoing in /contrib on the
       site  ftp.x.org. I  will	 post an announcement of the new
       release in the newsgroup comp.windows.x.

X Version 11		November 1996			10

XBOING(6)						XBOING(6)

REDISTRIBUTION
       XBoing - An X11 blockout style computer game

       (c) Copyright 1993-1997, Justin	C.  Kibell,  All  Rights
       Reserved

       The  X Consortium, and any party obtaining a copy of these
       files from the X Consortium, directly  or  indirectly,  is
       granted, free of charge, a full and unrestricted irrevoca-
       ble, world-wide, paid up, royalty-free, nonexclusive right
       and  license  to deal  in this software and documentation
       files (the "Software"), including without  limitation  the
       rights  to  use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute,
       sublicense, and/or sell copies of  the  Software,  and  to
       permit  persons	who receive copies from any such party to
       do so.  This license includes without limitation a license
       to do the foregoing actions under any patents of the party
       supplying this software to the X Consortium.

       In no event shall the author be liable to  any  party  for
       direct,	indirect,  special,  incidental, or consequential
       damages arising out of the use of this  software and  its
       documentation,  even if the author has been advised of the
       possibility of such damage.

       The author specifically disclaims any warranties,  includ-
       ing,  but  not  limited to, the implied warranties of mer-
       chantability and fitness for a  particular  purpose.   The
       software provided  hereunder  is on an "AS IS" basis, and
       the author has no obligation to provide maintenance,  sup-
       port, updates, enhancements, or modifications.

AUTHOR
       Justin C. Kibell - Systems Programmer/System Administrator
	  CATT Centre RMIT - Melbourne - Victoria - Australia.
		      email: jck@catt.rmit.edu.au
	SnailMail: PO BOX 260, Eltham, Victoria, Australia, 3095

		       Computer Science Graduate
	     Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)
			       Australia

BUGS
       See  README  documents  in source distribution for list of
       bugs and bug fixes.

       Mail all bug reports/suggestions to  jck@catt.rmit.edu.au
       specifying the version and machine type you are using. Use
       'uname -a' to explain the machine type.	Please	note  the
       version of X11 that you have installed as well, ie: X11R6,
       X11R5, X11R4, etc.

       Please read all documentation before  asking  for  help	-


X Version 11		November 1996			11

XBOING(6)						XBOING(6)

       only fair.

X Version 11		November 1996			12

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