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xgammon -- an X11 backgammon for linux
xgammon [-otherdisplay
<displayname>]
[-boardgeometry <geometry_string>]
[-boardcolor <color>] [-bc <color>]
[-darkcolor <color>] [-dc <color>]
[-lightcolor <color>] [-lc <color>]
[-barcolor <color>] [-b <color>]
[-whitecolor <color>] [-blackcolor <color>]
[-doublerfont <font>] [-smallFont <font>]
[-doubling +doubling]
[-watchmove +wachmove]
[-stonesteps <pixel>]
[-delaytime <tsec>]
[-buttonmove +buttonmove]
[-bm +bm]
[-autoplay +autoplay]
[-rollout +rollout]
[-nr <number_of_rollouts>]
[-f <filename>]
[-h (black|white)]
[-gamekind -g (hvc|cvc|hvh)]
[-winat <points>]
[-? -help]
`xgammon', a backgammon program for linux
xgammon
recognizes the following options:
- -otherdisplay <displayname>
- Play a game
with a player on some remote X-Terminal. A second `xgammon' will be displayed
there. (example: xgammon -otherdisplay somehost:0.0)
- -boardgeometry <geometry_string>
- Defines the size of the board widget. `Geometry_string' must be an XtGeometry-string
(example: 450x350). By default the relation of width/height of the board
is 12/15. <Geometry_string> is rounded to this relation.
- -boardcolor, -bc <color>
- Sets the background color of the board.
- -darkcolor, -dc <color>
- Sets the color
of dark points.
- -lightcolor, -lc <color>
- Sets the color of light points.
- -barcolor,
-b <color>
- Sets the color of the bar and the left and right edge of the board.
- -whitecolor, -blackcolor <color>
- Sets the color of the stones.
- -humancolor, -h
(black|white)
- Sets the color of the human player's stones. Implies a game
between `xgammon' and a human being. (The default).
- -doublerfont <font>, -smallFont
<font>
- These are the fonts used for the doubler dice. Only one large and
one small font can be selected now, not a font family yet.
- -gamekind, -g (cvc|hvc|hvh)
- Sets the game.
cvc means computer versus computer,
hvc means human versus computer,
hvh means human versus human,
- -winat <points>
- Play a tournament up to <points>
points.
- -watchmove, +watchmove
- `xgammon' will "move" it's stones.
- -stonesteps
<pixel>
- You can speed up the stones by giving this resource a greater value.
Implies watchmove is set `true'.
- -delaytime (tseconds)
- Sets a delaytime in
tenth of a second, which gives you a closer look on the computer moves.
Implies watchmove is set `false'.
- -buttonmove -mb, +buttonmove +bm
- If buttonmove
is true, you can set the stones simply by pressing the button. The left
button sets the lower dice value, the right one the other. In case of equation
both buttons can be used.
- -autoplay, +autoplay
- `Xgammon' will set your stones,
if there is only one possible move.
- -doubling, +doubling
- Sets the use of
the doubler dice. Since the doubling of `xgammon' is still poor, you might
wish to turn it off.
- -rollout, +rollout
- `Xgammon' will rollout a position. This
rank is read from a file. (See -f option below.) This file is automatically
generated from the current game, if not specified otherwise.
- -nr <number_of_rollouts>
- Sets the number of rollouts.
- -f <filename>
- Specifies the positionfile you want
to use. The default is `xgammon.save'.
- -database <filename>
- Specifies the endgame
database file to use.
When you start the game, `xgammon' will
immediately roll and start a game. When it's your turn:
Move pointer to a stone.
Press left button.
Carry stone to the chosen point.
Release button.
That's it.
To speed this a little up, try the +buttonmove option or .buttonmove resource.
(See RESOURCES or OPTIONS.)
When you're allowed to double, `xgammon'
draws empty dice. You can double by a single click on the doubler dice or
press the `d' key.
Some simple popups manage the rest.
This is only possible, when the `doubling' resource is `true'. (See RESOURCES
or OPTIONS.)
There are three different kind of games. Human
versus human, computer versus human, and computer versus computer. The last
one isn't very meaningful yet, and more or less for reasons of development.
- [edit position]
- If you click on this menu entry, `xgammon' will
first break the current game or tournament and draw an empty board. Then
you can enter a position to your liking. The right button gives you a black
stone, the left button a white stone. The middle button removes a stone.
If there are 15 stones of each color on the board `xgammon' will automatically
ask you for the dice and doubler etc. in a popup. In case of stones already
beared off, you can break the setting of stones by hitting any key. Choose
`ok' button and the game continues. You can as well rollout or maildump this
position. (For this purpose set the right gamekind first.)
- [computer finish]
- If the game is almost done and you are bored with rolling it down, you
can click this option and the computer will finish the game. At the end
of the game the human player gets control again.
In this mode the computer will not double.
- [rollout]
- To rollout a position
use this option. The number of games rolled out are set with the `numrollouts'
resource or the -nr command line option. (see RESOURCES or OPTIONS.) Invoked
from the game `xgammon' will fork itself and start a second, third ... process,
so you can continue playing. There will be a popup to inform you about the
current state and the result. This popup will vanish with any button or
key event inside. The result of the rollout is additionally saved in a `xgammon.rollout.<num>.save'
file. It is more appropriate to use this feature via commandline options.
(See ROLLOUT below.)
- [mail dump]
- Saves the current or an edited position
in the format used by FIBS or in `rec.games.backgammon' newsgroup in a file
named `xgammon.maildump'.
The board reacts on the following keys:
`q', `<Ctrl>c' or `<Ctrl>d' quit the game.
`u' undoes the current move move.
`r' restarts the game (tournament).
`s', `S', `l' and `L' save or load a position or game.
You may set these keys in your .Xdefaults file.
There are two
text windows in the `XGammon-Buttons' window, where the current tournament,
moves, doubler actions etc. are printed. You can also add comments there.
The text in the lower window will be saved if you invoke any save command.
You may edit a position, and play out from there, by pressing
the `edit position' menu entry in the `game' menu. Black stones are set with
left mouse button, white stones with the right one. If you misplace a stone
you can remove it with the middle button. There will be a popup asking for
additional information, if you have entered 15 black and 15 white stones,
or pressed any key to stop placing stones.
Clicking
the menu entry `mail dump' `xgammon' will save the current position in a file
named `xgammon.maildump'. The occuring format is that used most often in `rec.games.backgammon'
news group. So it should be very easy to edit a position, add some comments
and then mail or post it.
Even if there is the menu option `rollout',
this is more or less a command line option. An example would be
`xgammon -rollout -nr 1000 -doubling -f rollout.save',
which would rollout a 1000 times the position saved in `rollout.save'. It should
be rather easy to modify the save file slightly, and make several rollouts
of these positions. All results will be appended to these files. If you use
the menu entry `rollout', it is most important to set an appropriate `numrollouts'
resource in your `.Xdefault' file, because `xgammon' will not ask you for this
value, when starting rollouts.
- .otherdisplay: <displayname>
- Play
a game with a player on some remote X-Terminal. A second `xgammon' will be
displayed there. (example: xgammon -otherdisplay somehost:0.0)
- .boardColor:
<color>
- Specifies the background color of the board.
- .lightColor: <color>
- Specifies
the background color of the lighter points.
- .darkColor: <color>
- Specifies
the background color of the darker points.
- .barColor: <color>
- Specifies the
color of the bar and the board borders.
- .whiteColor: <color>
- Specifies the
color of the "white" stones.
- .blackColor: <color>
- Specifies the color of the
"black" stones.
- .doublerFont: <font>, .smallFont: <font>
- Defines the fonts used
for doubler dice. The doubler dice size depends on the board size. If the
board size is too small, the smallFont will be used.
- *board.cursor: <cursor>
- Sets the cursor to be used for the board widget(s).
- .humanStones: <black|white>
- If you want to play the white stones set this resource to "white". ("Black"
is Default.)
- .watchmove: <true|false>
- If watchmove is true, you can see the
stones "fly", when the computer moves.
- .delaytime: <seconds>
- Sets a delaytime
in tenth of a second, which gives you a closer look on the computer moves.
Implies watchmove is set `false'.
- .stonesteps: <pixel>
- You can speed up the
stones by giving this resource a greater value. Implies watchmove is `true'.
- .doubling: <true|false>
- Sets the use of doubler dice. Since the doubling of
the computer is still poor, you might wish to turn it off.
- .buttonMove: <true|false>
- If buttonmove is true, you can play by simply pressing a button. The left
button sets the lower dice value, the right one the other. On equation both
buttons can be used.
- .numrollouts: <number>
- Specifies the number of rollouts
from a given position, before adding the result to a position file. Any
unsigned integer value should be all right.
- .positionfile: <name>
- The file,
where `xgammon' shall save and load all informations to-and-fro.
`Xgammon'
uses the function usleep() for delaytime. Usleep is not defined on some
systems.
#define usleep(a) sleep(a)
is set then. As a result, you can only delay seconds, not tseconds.
The
program is still in state of development, so there are certainly bugs. `Xgammon'
will save the current position in a `xgammon.sig_save' file on some signals.
Please email this file to the authors. It may help find the bugs. If you
can generate a core dump, gzip, uuencode and mail it, which would also
be very helpful.
Otherdisplay:
Some popup resources and actions on ".otherdisplay" sometimes get lost.
Black can set white stones and vv. (funny feature ?)
Lambert Klasen and Detlef Steuer
email:
klasen@asterix.uni-muenster.de steuer@amadeus.statistik.uni-dortmund.de
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