xtile

Section: Games and Demos (6)
Updated: 22 January 1991
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NAME

xtile

SYNOPSIS

xtile [-options ...]

DESCRIPTION

Xtile is a simple adaption to X of the PC/MS-DOS game of the same name.

Xtile is played with a set of 81 two-by-two tiles on a 24-by-24 playing area. The objective of the game is to place your tiles such that squares of the same pattern (color) are connected as much as possible.

For the purposes of scoring, similarly patterned squares are connected only if they share a side; touching diagonally on a corner doesn't count.

Each of the 81 tiles is composed of four patterned squares. No two tiles are the same, and each comes up once a game, in random order.

HOW TO PLAY

When playing xtile, the next tile you have to play is shown in a two-by-two window in the upper right corner of the xtile window. By moving the mouse pointer in the playing area window, you control where that tile will be placed, as indicated by the outline which tracks the mouse pointer. To place the piece, press any mouse button.

While playing, the following key commands are available:

q: Quit xtile
s: Show (or hide, if it's already visible) the high scores window
h: Help - show (or hide, if it's already visible) the help window. When the help window is visible, no pieces may be placed.
n: New game (only enabled when the current game is completed)
a: Automatic - randomly place any remaining tiles

SCORING

After you place each tile, xtile identifies all the connected regions of similarly patterned squares. Each region then scores according to the square of the number of squares in the region.

Xtile displays the total score, the total score broken down by pattern, and the amount those scores were improved by the most recently played piece.

OPTIONS

-help: Prints a brief help message.
-display display: Specifies the name of the X server to contact.
-expert: By default, xtile shows a "quick help" window upon startup. When this flag is used, the "quick help" window is not shown initially.
-color: Causes xtile to run in color mode (the default, except when using StaticGray and GrayScale visuals).
-mono: Causes xtile to run in monochrome mode. When in monochrome mode, only the foreground (-fg) and background (-bg) colors are used (the default when using StaticGray and GrayScale visuals).
-patterns: Causes xtile to use patterned tiles (the default).
-solid: Causes xtile to use unpatterned (solid color) tiles. Probably not a good idea if you're running in monochrome mode.
-gw number: Specifies the gutter width (in pixels).
-bw number: Specifies the border width (in pixels);
-fg color: Specifies the foreground color.
-bg color: Specifies the background color.
-bd color: Specifies the border color.
-c0 color
-c1 color
-c2 color
-c3 color: Specifies the colors used to draw the background and tiles in the playing area.
-fn font: Specifies the font used for displaying text.

X DEFAULTS

Mono (type: boolean): Specifies that xtile should run in monochrome mode. The default is False.
Expert (type: boolean): When true, specifies that the "quick help" window should not be shown upon startup. The default is False.
Solid (type: boolean): Specifies that xtile should use unpatterned (solid color) tiles. The default is False.
GutterWidth (type: number): Specifies the gutter width (in pixels).
BorderWidth (type: number): Specifies the border width (in pixels).
Foreground (type: color): Specifies the foreground color. The default is white.
Background (type: color): Specifies the background color. The default is black.
BorderColor (type: color): Specifies the border color. The default is white.
Color0 (type: color): Specifies tile color zero. The default is white.
Color1 (type: color): Specifies tile color one. The default is #c44.
Color2 (type: color): Specifies tile color two. The default is #4c4.
Color3 (type: color): Specifies tile color three. The default is #44c.
Font (type: color): Specifes the font used for displaying text. The default is -*-times-bold-r-*-*-*-180-*-*-*-*-*-*.

AUTHOR

Xtile was written by Kirk Johnson <tuna@athena.mit.edu>. It is based on Joshua Klayman's PC/MS-DOS shareware game of the same name. This version is a complete rewrite encompasing only the basic functionality of the original.

NOTES

Xtile was originally called mosaic. However, with the widespread distribution and use of Mosaic the World Wide Web browser, it seemed like a good idea to rename it. So, after consulting Faith Zack, i (Ron Record <rr@sco.com>) decided to call it xtile.

Bug reports and suggestions are welcome.

This document was created by man2html, using the manual pages.
Time: 04:25:38 GMT, December 02, 2024