Source Code 1994 March

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Source Code 1994 March / Source_Code_CD-ROM_Walnut_Creek_March_1994.iso / compsrcs / games / volume14 / xbattle / part03 < prev next >

Wrap

Internet Message Format | 1993-01-26 | 49.3 KB

Path: uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!master!saab!billr From: billr@saab.CNA.TEK.COM (Bill Randle) Newsgroups: comp.sources.games Subject: v14i074: xbattle - multi-player battle strategy game for X-Windows, Part03/07 Message-ID: <3513@master.CNA.TEK.COM> Date: 7 Sep 92 21:22:59 GMT Sender: news@master.CNA.TEK.COM Lines: 875 Approved: billr@saab.CNA.TEK.COM Submitted-by: slehar@cns.bu.edu Posting-number: Volume 14, Issue 74 Archive-name: xbattle/Part03 Environment: Xlib #! /bin/sh # This is a shell archive. Remove anything before this line, then unpack # it by saving it into a file and typing "sh file". To overwrite existing # files, type "sh file -c". You can also feed this as standard input via # unshar, or by typing "sh <file", e.g.. If this archive is complete, you # will see the following message at the end: # "End of archive 3 (of 7)." # Contents: xbattle.man # Wrapped by billr@saab on Mon Sep 7 14:18:50 1992 PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/usr/ucb ; export PATH if test -f 'xbattle.man' -a "${1}" != "-c" ; then echo shar: Will not clobber existing file \"'xbattle.man'\" else echo shar: Extracting \"'xbattle.man'\" $47864 characters$ sed "s/^X//" >'xbattle.man' <<'END_OF_FILE' X.TH XBATTLE 4.0 "Aug 1992" X.SH NAME Xxbattle \- a multi-user battle strategy game X.SH SYNOPSIS X xbattle [-<color> <display>...] [-<option> <argument>...] X.SH X XAssign a team color and display to each player, and any number of Xoptions with argument where required. <color> can be a monochrome Xtone, -black -white -dark -light, or a color, -red -green -blue -cyan X-magenta -yellow; <display> is the name of the x display for each Xplayer. Command line arguments can be supplied in any order. For a Xquick introduction, go straight to the EXAMPLES section below. Also, Xsee the tutorials supplied with the game, which are "csh" shell Xscripts that start up example games. X X.SH OPTIONS X.nf X [ -options [<options file>]] X [ -bases <number of bases> 4 teams max.] X [ -rbases <number of randomly placed bases>] X [ -armies <size of initial armies> 4 teams max.] X [ -militia <density of random militia [1-10]>] X [ -towns <density of towns [1-10]>] X [ -repeat no argument- allows command repeat] X [ -bound no argument- allows multiple commands] X [ -march <delay between marches>] X [ -erode <time before erosion>] X [ -farms <rate of universal troop production [1-10]>] X [ -decay <rate of troop decay [1-10]>] X [ -fight <firepower for attack [1-10]>] X [ -disrupt no argument- stop movement under fire] X [ -attack no argument- attack synchronously with "a" key X [ -guns <range of artillery [1-10]>] X [ -para <range of paratroops [1-10]>] X [ -hills <steepness of hills [1-10]>] X [ -forest <thickness of forest [1-10]>] X [ -sea <amount of water on gameboard [1-10]>] X [ -wrap no argument- sets wrap-around mode] X [ -seed <random seed for hills, forest & militia>] X [ -horizon [<view range of enemy troops>]] X [ -hidden no argument- hides enemy command vectors] X [ -map no argument- map features as they appear] X [ -basemap no argument- map bases/towns as with terrain] X [ -localmap no argument- map only local area] X [ -dig <cost of terrain digging>] X [ -fill <cost of terrain filling>] X [ -build <cost of base in full troopsquares>] X [ -scuttle no argument- allow base destruction] X [ -nogrid no argument- does not display a grid] X [ -speed <game speed [1-10]>] X [ -square <game square size in pixels>] X [ -board <game board size in squares>] X [ -manpos no argument- allows manual board placement] X [ -area no argument- display troop strength by area X [ -hex no argument- use hexagonal game squares X [ -move <speed of troop movement [1-10]>] X [ -reserve no argument- allow reserves ] X [ -digin <dig-in factor [1-10]>] X [ -store [<save file>]] X [ -replay [<save file>]] X [ -edit [<map file>]] X [ -load [<map file]] X X.fi X.SH RUN-TIME COMMAND SUMMARY X X.SH COMMANDS IN GAMEBOARD X LEFT MOUSE: toggle command vector to move troops X MIDDLE MOUSE: clear all and set new command vector X RIGHT MOUSE: repeat previous command (with -repeat) X SHIFT-LEFT MOUSE: march (with -march) fork march (with -hex) X SHIFT-MIDDLE MOUSE: force march (with -march) fork march (with -hex) X SHIFT-RIGHT MOUSE: paratroops (with -para) X CONTROL-RIGHT MOUSE: artillery (with -guns) X ctrl-'s': pause game X ctrl-'q': resume game X ctrl-'p': save game state to map file X 'a': attack enemy square (-attack) X 'b': build base (-build) X 's': scuttle base (-scuttle) X 'f': fill terrain (-fill) X 'd': dig terrain (-dig) X 'p': paratroops (with -para) X 'g': artillery (with -guns) X 'z': cancel all movement X {'0'-'9'}: reserve (-reserve) X X.SH COMMANDS IN TEXT AREA X CONTROL-c or CONTROL-q: quit the game X CONTROL-w: quit game but watch others play on X CONTROL-g: ring bell on all game displays X ANY OTHER CHARACTER: append to message string X X.SH DESCRIPTION X Xxbattle is a concurrent multi-player battle strategy game that Xcaptures the dynamics of a wide range of military situations. The Xgame board is a matrix of game squares (or hexagons- see "-hex" option Xbelow) which can be occupied by troops of various colors or shades. XThe number of troops in a square is indicated by the size of a colored Xtroop square (or circle, with "-hex") within the game square. The Xtroops are commanded by clicking the mouse near the edge of the square Xin the direction that the movement is to take place. The command will Xbe acknowledged by the appearance of a command vector, and thereafter, Xin each update cycle, a certain proportion of the troops will move Xfrom the source square to the destination square until the source Xsquare is exhausted. Command vectors can be set in several directions Xat once, in which case the movement is divided evenly between the Xvector directions, and the command remains active until cancelled. XThus a trail of squares can be set up as a supply line that will Xdeliver troops steadily at its endpoint. The command vector remains Xactive even if the number of troops in that square is zero, although Xthe command vector will then be displayed at half length. The game is Xconcurrent, so that commands are given continuously by all players Xwithout waiting for turns. Different combinations of options create Xradically different games, see EXAMPLES below. X X.SH Team Colors and Displays (-<color>) X XThe game is started from one display, and each player must play from a Xseparate display, players being assigned to a color team by the Xcommand line option "-<color> <display>". The parameter <color> Xdetermines the color of the troops of that team, which can be either a Xmonochrome tone like black, white, dark, light, or a true color like Xred, green, blue, cyan, yellow and magenta, although the true colors Xwill appear on a monochrome monitor as either black or white with an Xidentifying character in each troop square which is the first letter Xof the color name. So for instance, the team color "-red" would Xappear on a monochrome monitor as black with a letter "R" in the Xmiddle of each troop square. A number of people can be assigned to Xthe same team by repeating the color for different displays, for Xexample "-red display1 -red display2", and each member of the team Xwill be able to command any troops of that team. The <display> Xargument designates the name of the display on which the team of that Xcolor is playing, so each player must be given a color and a display. XDisplay names can be found with the unix command "who", which will Xlist display names for users in the last column like (cnsxk:0.0). The Xsystem console is always designated unix:0.0. The display name can be Xmodified for remote games, for example the terminal cnsxk:0.0 on Xpark.bu.edu (email address of machine "park") is designated Xcnsxk.bu.edu:0.0 . Xbattle recognizes :0.0 as the default (screen Xzero on the display), so the :0.0 may be omitted from the display Xname. Xbattle also recognizes a special display name "me", which Xmeans the display from which the program is started. When playing Xbetween color and monochrome displays the colors can be specified more Xexactly by concatenating a color name with a monochrome name, for Xexample "-redwhite" (color first), which would display that team as Xred on color monitors and white on monochrome monitors. All command Xline flags and arguments for the game can be given in any order as Xlong as the argument directly follows its flag, and most arguments are Xscaled to range from 1 to 10, with 5 being the default value. It is Xalso possible to set different game parameters for the different Xdisplays, so that the game can be biased to favor a less experienced Xplayer- see BIASED GAMES below. X X.SH OPTIONS (-options) X XA large variety of game options are available to define the parameters Xof the game. In essence, xbattle is many thousands of games rolled Xinto one. The options can be presented in any order, and may be typed Xin with the command line, or they can be stored in an options file X(default filename = default.xbo), or some can be stored and others Xadded to the command line. The format for the options file is exactly Xthe same as the format for the command line except that in the file Xeach option (plus argument, where applicable) is placed on a separate Xline. So, for example, the game... X X xbattle -black me -white cnsxk:0.0 -armies 4 -farms 5 -attack X Xcould also be played with the command... X X xbattle -black me -white cnsxk:0.0 -options myoptions.xbo X Xwhere the file myoptions.xbo consists of the lines... X X -armies 4 X -farms 5 X -attack X XThe only command line entries that can NOT be included in the options Xfile are the team color and display arguments. X X.SH Troops (-bases, -rbases, -armies, -militia) X XInitial troop allocation is controlled by several command options, Xincluding -bases <n>, -rbases <n>, -armies <n> and -militia <n>. XArmies and militia are troops on the gameboard, whereas bases which Xare indicated by circles on the gameboard, provide a steady supply of Xtroops. The -bases option allocates <n> bases to each team, Xsymmetrically arranged on the game board, whereas -rbases <n> arranges Xthem randomly (which works well with the -horizon option). The X-armies option allocates <n> armies (full troop squares) symmetrically Xarrayed, whereas -militia <n> scatters militia of random strengths to Xrandom locations, with a probabilistic density of <n>. At least one Xof these four options is required to provide initial troops for the Xgame, and they may be used in combination. The -bases and -armies Xoptions will only work for four or less teams. X X.SH Resupply (-towns, -farms, -decay) X XThe bases created by the -bases or -rbases, produce a steady supply of Xfresh troops. The bases can be occupied by an opposing team, and the Xtroops produced by such bases are always the color of the occupying Xforce. The capture of all bases thus becomes the strategic objective Xof the game. This arrangement simulates desert warfare, as long and Xtenuous supply lines develop between the base and the battle areas. XAnother form of resupply is provided by the command option "-towns X<n>". This produces a number of smaller unoccupied supply sources Xscattered randomly over the game board at a density determined by the Xargument <n>, and with random rates of troop production, indicated by Xthe radius of the circle on the game board. Towns must be occupied by Xa team to begin producing troops. This option simulates yet a larger Xscale of operation as the combatants battle to occupy the towns. A Xmore distributed form of resupply is evoked by the command option X"-farms <n>" whereby every square of the game board will produce Xtroops as soon as it is occupied, at a rate proportional to the Xargument <n>, and the strategic objective becomes the occupation of Xthe largest areas of the gameboard. This option simulates a yet Xlarger scale of operation and requires complex management of resources Xto concentrate the distributed resources and deliver them to the Xbattle front. In large scale scenarios additional realism may be Xadded by using the -decay option whereby the troop strength in all Xtroop squares decays constantly in proportion to the value of the Xdecay argument. This reflects the fact that armies constantly consume Xresources even while they are idle, and an army without constant Xresupply will wither away. With the decay option, a set of bases, Xtowns or farms can only support armies of limited size, and the armies Xwill dynamically grow or shrink until they reach that size. Since Xthis number includes the troops that make up the supply line, the Xfighting power of an army diminishes with the length of the supply Xline. The default decay value is zero, i.e. no decay. All the Xresupply options can be used in any combination. X X.SH Interactive commands (mouse and keyboard) X XMovement commands are performed with the left and middle mouse Xbuttons, to direct the command vector. A click in the center of the Xgame square clears all command vectors; a click near an edge sets the Xvector in that direction, and a click near a corner sets the two Xadjacent vectors. The left mouse toggles command vectors while the Xmiddle mouse clears existing vectors and sets a new vector (An Xalternative command system is available, see COMPILATION OPTIONS Xbelow). The right mouse is used to repeat the last used command (with X-repeat option). The keyboard is interpreted differently depending on Xwhether the mouse is positioned on the gameboard or on the text area Xbelow. On the gameboard, the the keys control-s and control-q pause Xand resume the game respectively. The 'z' key cancels all command Xvectors to the square holding the cursor (like a click in the center Xof the square). The key control-p saves the current game to a map Xfile (see Saving Game State commands below). There are also a variety Xof keyboard commands available with different options, to control Xspecial functions on the gameboard. These keystrokes are described in Xdetail with the description of the appropriate options (see -guns, X-para, -build, -scuttle, -fill, -dig, -reserve). In the text area Xbelow the keyboard, the keys control-c and control-q both exit the Xplayer from the game, although the game continues among the remaining Xplayers until they also quit, and the key control-w also exits the Xplayer, but allows him to continue watching as the other players play Xon. The rest of the keyboard is used for communication between Xparticipants through text lines. This is especially useful when Xplaying between remote sites- each team has its own text line, and the Xcolor of the text matches the color of the team. The control-g key Xrings the bell on all displays, which can be used to draw attention to Xa new message. X X.SH Enhanced movement commands (-repeat, -bound, -march, -erode) X XWith the option "-repeat" you can repeat the last command using the Xright mouse. If for example your last command to a square consisted Xof a "move up" command by clicking near the top edge of the square, Xyou can now command other squares to also move up by clicking in those Xsquares with the right mouse. That way you no longer have to aim your Xclick exactly at the top side of those squares, but can click the Xright mouse anywhere in that square, which saves time. This command Xis supported in biased games- i.e. it can be set for one team but not Xanother. Commands can be made to apply to more than one square with Xthe option "-bound". This is achieved by defining a bounding rectangle Xwithin which the command is valid. For instance, to command a block Xof squares to all move up simultaneously, you place your mouse near Xthe top edge of a square (may be unoccupied, or enemy occupied) and Xpress the button (setting the command "go up", then you drag the mouse Xto another game square where you release the button. The start and Xend squares of the mouse drag define the opposite corners of a Xrectangle within which all the game squares occupied by your troops Xreceive the command "go up". With the option "-march <n>", troops may Xbe commanded to march in a particular direction and to continue in Xthat direction without further commands. March commands are activated Xwith shift left or shift middle mouse button. For example, if you Xclick near the top edge of a square with "shift left mouse", the Xtroops will begin to march up, and on arrival in the next square they Xwill transfer the march command to that square so that they will Xcontinue marching upwards to the next square, and so forth. If a Xmarching column encounters hostile forces the march command is Xcancelled and the column stops. To prevent marching columns from Xtravelling much faster than manually commanded troops, the march Xargument <n> defines the number of game update cycles that the troops Xmust wait in each new square before marching on to the next square, so Xthat "-march 1" will result in a fast march, whereas "-march 10" will Xbe slow. The "march command" is indicated on the game board by a Xdouble command vector (looks like an "=" sign) in the appropriate Xdirection, and the march command is always passed on to the head of Xthe column. March commands may be set in squares that are NOT Xoccupied by your troops, and will be activated when a marching column Xarrives in that square. This allows you to define turns in the path Xof the marching column to avoid obstacles. A "stop march" command may Xalso be set to program the marching column to stop in that square. XThis is achieved by clicking "shift left mouse" in the center of that Xsquare, and will be displayed as an empty box in that square. When Xset with the left mouse, the march vector is overwritten on to Xexisting command vectors encountered in the march path, whereas when Xset with the middle mouse the march vector removes and replaces Xexisting command vectors. March commands are cancelled by clicking on Xthe square without the shift key. March commands may be set in Xsquares that are beyond the visible horizon in the normal way , and Xwill appear as a double vector in that square so long as that square Xis not a "sea" square. If the target square contains invisible enemy Xtroops, then the march command vectors will appear initially, but Xdisappear again as soon as the enemy is approached close enough to be Xvisible. March commands are specific to the team that sets them, and Xdifferent march commands may be set by different teams in the same Xgame square. The double command vectors are visible only to the team Xthat sets them. The command line option "erode <n>" limits the Xlongevity of game squares that belong to you but in which there are no Xtroops. Normally, a passing column of troops leaves behind it a X"supply line" of command vectors that can be used any time in the Xfuture to send further troops along the same path, and the game board Xeventually becomes cluttered with such supply lines, many of which are Xno longer active. With "-erode <n>" such disused supply lines will Xbegin to erode away stochastically with time 10*<n> update cycles Xafter the time of the last occupation, so that "-erode 1" provides for Xfast erosion, whereas "-erode 10" is slow. X X.SH Combat (-fight, -disrupt, -attack) X XWhenever troops of different colors occupy the same game square, a Xbattle ensues, indicated by concentric squares of the two colors, and Xa "crossed swords" (X) symbol. During battle, one or both sides can Xincur losses according to a random nonlinear function that Xdisproportionately favors the more numerous troops. The steepness of Xthe nonlinearity, i.e. the advantage given to the more numerous side, Xis controlled by the -fight parameter. A small value will produce Xlengthy drawn out battles which favor a defensive strategy, whereas a Xlarge value produces quick decisive battles where the random element Xis more significant, favoring an offensive strategy even against Xsuperior odds. In the absence of the -fight option, the default value Xof 5 is used. The -fight parameter is also automatically modulated by Xthe game speed parameter (-speed) in order to slow down battles in Xfast games and vice versa. Since only 1/3 of the troops can enter a Xsquare in each update cycle (with the default -move 5), attackers of a Xfull square are always outnumbered initially, unless a coordinated Xattack is launched from three sides simultaneously. The -move Xargument thus has a significant influence on the efficacy of an Xattack. The -disrupt option dictates that when a game square comes Xunder attack, all its command vectors are immediately cancelled, Xbreaking supply lines which must be repaired by hand after the attack. XIn other words, there can be no movement under fire, and even small Xforces can be used to provide covering fire to "pin down" a larger Xforce, at least until they are counter-attacked and eliminated. A Xside effect of this option is that when an attacking square is Xcounterattacked, both squares attemp to cancel each other's movement, Xi.e. to interrupt the attack. The square that is updated next will Xprevail, cancelling the command vector of the other square. Since the Xgame squares are updated in a random sequence, there is no telling Xwhich square will prevail, and the commander must click repeatedly to Xrenew the command vector in order to press home the attack under Xopposition. This simulates the tactical situation where a commander Xmust personally intervene to ensure the maximal effort is applied at Xthe most critical points of the battle. The -attack option helps Xsynchronize attacks on an enemy square from different flanks. When Xthe mouse is pointed to an enemy troop square and the "a" key is Xpressed, all friendly squares adjacent to it commence a simultaneous Xattack. X X.SH Guns and Paratroops (-guns, -para) X XThe command option -guns <n> enables the shift-right mouse to be used Xto control artillery, which can be shot from any occupied gamesquare. XThe range and direction of the shot are determined by the position of Xthe click in the game square, near center for short range and near the Xedge for long range, as modulated by the argument <n>. Every shell Xcosts one troop from the source square and destroys one troop at the Xdestination square. The fall of shot is indicated by the brief Xappearance of a little dot. With the -horizon option the fall of shot Xmay not be visible for long range shots, although invisible enemy Xtroops will be destroyed where the shell falls. Artillery can damage Xboth friend and foe, so it must be used with caution. Paratroops are Xenabled by the option -para <n>, and are launched similarly to Xartillery using control-right mouse button. The cost of dropping one Xtroop at the destination square is three troops from the source Xsquare, and the drop zone is indicated by the brief appearance of a Xparachute symbol. X X.SH Environment (-hills, -forest, -sea, -wrap, -seed, -erode) X XThe command option -hills <n> initializes random hills which restrict Xmovement when going from low to high elevation, and enhance movement Xfrom high to low, but do not affect movement on the level. The Xelevation is indicated by the shade of gray, light for high and dark Xfor low on monochrome, and brownish for high and greenish for low on Xcolor displays. The argument controls the amount of energy gained and Xlost on hills, i.e. the steepness. Hills provide a tactical advantage Xwhen attacking downhill. With very steep hills (-hills 9) movement Xfrom very low to very high elevation (a cliff) is virtually Ximpossible. The command option -forest <n> initializes random forests Xwhich restrict movement within the forest, but do not affect movement Xfrom thin to thick forest. On both color and monochrome displays, Xthick forest is dark, and thin is light. When used in conjunction Xwith hills, the forests thickness correlates exactly with hill Xelevation. When transitioning from one forest thickness to another, Xthe movement is determined by the destination square, not the source Xsquare, so that troops deployed within a forest but at the boundary Xhave a tactical advantage over those deployed outside the boundary. XThe command option -sea <n> generates randomly distributed bodies of Xwater, whose prevalance is determined by the argument <n>. Such Xbodies of water cannot be crossed by infantry. A small value creates Xscattered ponds and lakes, which influences the tactical deployment of Xtroops, whereas a large value creates a maze-like pattern of fjords or Xrivers which isolate blocks of land into islands which can only be Xtaken by paratroops. On monochrome monitors water appears dark Xmottled grey, and on color monitors it is pale blue. The command Xoption -wrap (no arguments) allows wrap-around on the gameboard. The Xcommand option -seed <n> allows control of the random number seed, Xotherwise selected based on the process ID and the time, and printed Xto the text line. Using the same seed will reproduce the same Xconfiguration of hills, towns, seas and militia. X X.SH Modify Environment (-dig, -fill, -build, -scuttle) X XThe command options -dig and -fill allow run time modification of the Xterrain by digging hills down to lower elevation or filling them up to Xhigher elevation. This allows the construction and breaching of Xdefensive fortifications. The cost of these operations is one full Xtroopsquare, and is accomplished by positioning the mouse on the full Xsquare and striking the key "d" for dig, and "f" for fill. With the X-sea option, -dig <n> and -fill <n> should be supplied with an Xargument, whereby, digging below the lowest elevation produces a sea Xat the cost of <n> full troopsquares, which can similarly be filled Xback up again at the same cost. The arguments for -dig and -fill must Xbe the same value (the second argument given will be applied to both) Xand will be ignored for digging and filling of hills. Since it is Ximpossible to occupy a 'sea' square to fill it, filling seas is Xaccomplished by setting the command vector as if to move into the sea, Xand then pressing "f". For all other fill and dig operations the Xtroop square may not have any command vectors set. The -build <n> and X-scuttle options allow the building and destruction of bases (or Xtowns). Building is expensive, and requires <n> full troop squares to Xbuild a complete base. When the mouse is positioned on a full troop Xsquare and the "b" key is pressed, the troops are exchanged for a 1/n Xfraction of a base, displayed as an arc segment. When the capture of Xa base by the enemy seems inevitable, it is often advisable to scuttle Xthe base to prevent it falling into enemy hands. Scuttling is Xperformed by positioning the mouse on the base and pressing the "s" Xkey. This reduces the size (and production capacity) of that base by Xan amount proportional to the number of troops engaged in the Xscuttling, and a proportion of those troops are expended. Usually, Xseveral keystrokes are required to complete the destruction. When Xused in conjunction with the -build option, instead of reducing the Xsize of the base, each scuttle operation removes a section (arc Xsegment) of the base proportional to the number of troops engaged in Xthe scuttling, such that a full troop square can scuttle the entire Xbase with <n> keystrokes. A base will not produce troops if even a Xsingle segment is missing, although of course it is less expensive to Xrepair (with "b" build) a base with fewer segments missing. X X.SH Visibility (-horizon, -hidden, -map, -basemap, -localmap, -nogrid) X XThe command option -horizon <n> restricts the view of enemy troop Xdeployment to within <n> squares of any friendly troops. Horizon can Xbe called with no argument, in which case the default <n> = 2 is used. XIntelligence of more remote regions can be gathered by use of Xparatroops. The command option -hidden (no arguments) makes the Xcommand vectors of the enemy invisible at any range. The command Xoption -map is similar to -horizon except that it restricts your view Xof geographical objects as well as enemy troops, although it will X"remember" any terrain that you have seen once, as if you had mapped Xthat information. The -basemap option maps bases and towns as it does Xthe terrain. The option -localmap maps only the local area around Xyour troops, and features disappear as you move away again. The Xoption -nogrid (no arguments) suppresses the display of a grid on the Xgame board. X X.SH Game Parameters (-speed, -square, -board, -manpos, -area, -hex) X XThe -speed <n> option controls the speed of the update cycle, making Xfor a fast or slow game. A fast game favors quick reaction time and Xfast action, whereas a slow game favors strategy and intellect. The Xoption -square <size> allows you to set the size of the gamesquares in Xpixels, and the option -board <size> allows you to set the size of the Xgame board in squares. The option -manpos allows you to position the Xgame window manually rather than having it appear automatically at the Xupper left origin, which is the default. With the -area option the Xnumber of troops in a game square is represented by the area of the Xtroop square, rather than by the length of the side (or diameter for Xhex). The -hex option creates hexagonal gamesquares with circular Xtroop symbols instead of rectangular game and troop squares. Troops Xare commanded from hexagonal squares in the usual way, except that Xthey will move in one direction only. In order to command movement in Xtwo directions simultaneously, locate the mouse near a corner of the Xgamehex and hold the shift key while clicking. X X.SH Troop Movement Parameters (-move, -reserve, -digin) X XIn each update cycle some fraction of the troops in a game square move Xto adjacent squares indicated by the command vectors. The default Xfraction is 1/3, so that in each successive cycle, 1/3 of the Xremaining troops move out of the square until it is empty. That Xfraction is adjusted with the -move argument, 1 for less movement, and X10 for more movement. The -reserve option allows the player to define Xa level of reserves to remain in the square despite the movement Xcommand. For instance a reserve level of 5 would ensure that the Xsquare will maintain a reserve of 50% capacity, and movement out of Xthat square will only occur with troops in excess of the reserve Xlevel. The reserve level is set in a particular game square by Xpointing to that square with the mouse and striking a number key, '1' Xfor 10% reserves, '2'for 20% reserves, and so forth up to '9' for 90% Xreserves. The option -digin <n> simulates the time and effort Xrequired for troops to dig in and build fortifications. This is Xachieved by reducing the rate of flow of troops into a square as it Xfills up to capacity, so that to achieve a really full troop square Xthe men must dig in and settle down to accomodate the last arrivals. XThe argument <number> modulates the strength of this effect, from 1 to X10 for small to large. -digin is supported in the bias mode. X X.SH Store and Replay (-store, -replay) X XThe -store <file> option allows you to store the graphics drawing Xcommands to a file, which can be viewed later with the -replay <file> Xoption. When -replay is used, all other command options are ignored Xexcept the -<color> <display> options, which can be used to send the Xreplay to other displays. When doing so, only the <display> portion Xof the option is used, the <color> is ignored. So, if you play a game Xwith many command line parameters and several displays with the Xargument -store <file>, after the game you can repeat the same command Xline but just change -store to -replay, and the game will be replayed Xon the displays of all the original combatants. When xbattle is Xcalled with the -replay option alone, the default display will be X"me". If store or replay are called without a file name, the default Xname "xbattle.xba" will be used. In the replay, the view restrictions Xof the -horizon option are deactivated, i.e. all enemy troops are Xvisible. X X.SH Saving Game State Saving, Loading, and Editing (-edit, -load) X XThe game state can be saved at any point during the game with the Xcontrol-p key. This creates a file called "xbattle.xbt", which Xrepresents the state of the game board at the time of saving. Future Xgames can be started from the saved game state with the command option X"-load <file>" where <file> is optional if the file name is X"xbattle.xbt". Note that most game parameters ARE NOT STORED. Only Xterrain features (forest, hills, seas, towns etc.) and troop Xdeployment. This means that if you were playing with -farms, -decay, Xand -guns then you will have to type them in if you want them for the Xnew game. The terrain and boardsize of the saved map file will Xoverride all terrain and boardsize arguments when loaded. Game boards Xcan be created or modified with the -edit function, which is called Xwith the command option "-edit <file>" where <file> is optional if the Xfile name is "xbattle.xbt". With this option, no game is played, but Xinstead, the mouse and key commands control the features of the map to Xbe edited. To edit an existing file, use "-edit <file>" and type "l" Xwhen the editor comes up. This will load the file named in the edit Xargument. To save that file, type "d" and the file will be saved to Xthe same file name. No provision is made for saving to a different Xfile name. When using the edit mode, the command line arguments must Xreflect the number and color of players to be used, and the sea, Xforest or hills options if they will be required. For example, to Xcreate a map called "mymap.xbt" with three color teams and seas, could Xuse the command "xbattle -edit mymap.xbt -sea 7 -white me -black you X-dark you". Note the use of the special display "you", which is a Xdummy display name used as a place holder for the black and dark Xcolors. The interactive commands are as follows: X X left button: lower terrain by one notch (sea lowest) X middle button: raise terrain by one notch (sea lowest) X right button: toggle between lowest and mid terrain X X c: create city (growth = 100) X t: create town (growth = 80) X v: create village (growth = 60) X k: increase size of city by 5 percent X j: decrease size of city by 5 percent X s: scuttle city - remove 36 degrees of arc X b: build city - add 36 degrees of arc X X 0-9: create troop square with troops of current color X [: decrease troop amount by 1 X ]: increase troop amount by 1 X r: increment current color X f: change color of existent troop square X d: dump board with name <filename> X l: load board with name <filename> X e: exit X X.SH BIASED GAMES X XThe game can be biased to favor a less experienced player, or for any Xother reason, in the following way. In the normal syntax, the command Xline argument "-<color>" is immediately followed by the "<display>" Xargument, for example "-black me". It is possible to define command Xline options that are specific to only one display with the syntax X"-<color> { <options> } <display>" where <options> refers to a list of Xcommand line options as before, but is included in a set of braces Xbetween the team color and the display (note the spaces on either side Xof the braces). For example, X X xbattle -black { -fight 10 } me -white { -fight 5 } cnsxk X Xwhere black (on display "me") has the advantage of greater firepower Xthan white (on display "cnsxk"). Not all options can be biased, Xespecially options that control the global behavior of the game, such Xas -speed and -board. The options that can be biased are -bases X-rbases -armies -militia -guns -para -move -reserve -fight -fill -dig X-scuttle -build -hills -forest -decay -nogrid -square -manpos -horizon X-map -basemap -localmap -wrap. Note also that if you are using player Xspecific and global options, the global options MUST be listed first, Xotherwise they will overwrite the play specific options. For example, X X xbattle -black { -fight 10 } me -white cnsxk -fight 5 X Xwill result in a fight 5 for both players. In order to achieve the Xdesired result, the command line must be... X X xbattle -fight 5 -black { -fight 10 } me -white cnsxk X Xwhere the local option overwrites only the black team's fight value. X X.SH EXTENSIONS X XA great deal of effort has been made in the design of this game to Xmake it as simple and modular as possible, with extensive Xdocumentation throughout the source code, in the hope that others will Xcreate new and exciting variations of the game while maintaining the Xelegance and modularity of the original design. I would be grateful Xif such variants were sent to us at slehar@park.bu.edu and Xlesher@park.bu.edu to be combined into a new version reflecting the Xbest of the modifications. X X.SH EXAMPLES X XHere are some example games to give an idea of the variability of the Xparameters. The first example is a simple symmetrical game between X"me" in black on my own display, and a white opponent on the display X"cnsxk:0.0". The troops will be rapidly exhausted in this small Xskirmish. X X xbattle -black me -white cnsxk:0.0 -armies 4 X XThe next example adds bases, which will produce a much prolonged Xconflict involving long supply lines between the front and the bases, Xmuch like desert warfare. One conflict in this battle represents a Xskirmish like the entire game of the previous example. In this Xexample black is playing on the display cnsxk:0.0, and white is on the Xsystem console. Note that the extension ":0.0" can be omitted. X X xbattle -black cnsxk -white unix -armies 4 -bases 2 X XThe next example is a game with militia scattered around initially, Xthat have to race to occupy the towns and link up with their Xcompatriots before they can eliminate the enemy. This is a dynamic Xscenario requiring tactical and strategic skill and fast reflexes. In Xthis example black is playing on cnsxk:0.0 while white is playing on Xthe system console of the remote machine thalamus.bu.edu. X X xbattle -black cnsxk -white thalamus.bu.edu -towns 2 -militia 2 -hills 7 X XHere is a favorite around B.U. where the land is broken up by many Xbodies of water creating isolated islands, and view of the enemy is Xrestricted to nearby squares, resulting in lots of surprises. XParatroops can be used for reconnaisance by launching them into Xunknown sectors, and they must be used in conjunction with heavy Xartillery barages for airborne assaults from one landmass to the next. XIn this example the color display will show cyan and red teams, while Xthe monochrome monitor will show white and black teams respectively. XThe decay option prevents huge armies from building up at the end of Xthe game, and the -store option is used to store this game to the file X"battle.xba". X X xbattle -cyanwhite thalamus:0.0 -redblack cnsxk -rbases 5 -sea 8 -guns 4 -para 4 -horizon 2 -decay 3 -store xbattle.xba X XNow, the previous stored game is replayed to the original displays by Xrepeating the original command line except that -store is changed to X-replay. This is convenient if you have command line editing Xfacilities. X X xbattle -cyanwhite thalamus:0.0 -redblack cnsxk -rbases 5 -sea 8 -guns 4 -para 4 -horizon -replay xbattle.xba X XWith -replay, all arguments are actually ignored except the displays, Xso you could achieve exactly the same result with the simpler command X X xbattle -black thalamus:0.0 -black cnsxk -replay X Xwhere the -black argument flags the subsequent argument as a Xdisplayname, but is otherwise ignored, i.e. any color name would Xsuffice. The filename for -replay is omitted, so that the default Xfile name "xbattle.xba" is used. X XThe next example illustrates the use of the options file, tribal.xbo, Xto set up a game including, decay, seas, farms, militia, and many Xother options. X X xbattle -black me -white thalamus -options tribal.xbo X XOptions files can also be read in individually for the two players, as Xin the following example... X X xbattle -options game.xbo -black me -white { -options weak.xbo } thalamus X XThis results in a biased game where both black and white receive the Xoptions defined in game.xbo, and white receives some specific Xhandicaps defined in weak.xbo. For example, weak.xbo could define 2 Xrbases instead of 5, horizon of 1 instead of 2, and lower movement and Xfighting values. Since these options overwrite existing options in Xgame.xbo, the command line arguments may NOT be typed in arbitrary Xorder, because later options overwrite the earlier options, so the Xglobal options must be defined before they are overwritten by the Xspecific options to the white team. X X.SH PLAYING TIPS X XThe first thing you must learn is to click quickly and accurately on Xthe gamesquares. Do not focus your attention on one region of the Xboard, but scan the whole board frequently. Look at the big picture- Xcapture the towns that will support each other, especially a well Xpositioned cluster of big towns. Eliminate all enemy troops from your Xrear, and advance outwards, preferably from a corner, with a well Xsupplied front. Travel in convoy for speed and efficiency in safe Xregions, especially if you are playing with -decay, but fan out near Xthe enemy to provide alternate routes to a broad front (click on the Xcorner to open two command vectors simultaneously). Avoid head-on Xassaults on the enemy, but rather dig in and wait for him to attack Xwhile you try to turn his flank and cut off his supplies to the front, Xor concentrate at his weakest points. Go for the jugular- attack his Xsupply sources directly. When advancing, try to attack weak squares Xwith strong ones to gain maximum advantage, and be alert for losing Xbattles of your weak squares pouring into a strong enemy square, which Xwill drain your resources until you cancel the attack and build up Xreserves. If however you are fighting a delaying action, or Xretreating under fire then you should attack strong enemy squares with Xyour weak ones on a broad front to conserve resources. This is Xparticularly effective with the -disrupt option. Always try to attack Xa square from two or more sides, and build up sufficient strength Xbefore launching an attack on a large square. Always consider the X"manufacturing capacity" of the enemy, i.e. the number and size of Xbases and towns, as the one with the most capacity will eventually Xwin. Watch out for single enemy commandos near your unprotected Xbases, especially when playing with paratroops, and use such commandos Xto good effect against an inattentive opponent. You can keep a base Xfortified while sending troops to the front by use of recurrent Xconnections, going in loops or in both directions, or by establishing Xdead-end branches along the supply line to accumulate local reserves. XYou should always have a few strong reserves near your base when Xplaying with -horizon or -para, to ensure against surprise attacks. XWhen playing with hills, a cliff is best climbed in parallel, i.e. by Xsplitting the convoy into multiple parallel paths up the cliff face, Xand the troops can rejoin at the top. When playing with horizon and Xparatroops use the paratroops to gather intelligence from beyond the Xhorizon. When playing with paratroops or artillery, you can create a Xnetwork of recurrent connections near the bases that will provide Xmutual protection by automatically sending men into any part of the Xnet that is knocked out. Paratroops are expensive, so test the aim Xwith artillery (right mouse) before launching the paratroops (shift Xright mouse), although this works only if the -para and -guns Xarguments are equal. When using artillery, have a large contingent of Xinfantry ready to move in immediately after the barage. Paratroops Xand artillery are helpful, but it is the grunts that must actually Xtake the territory. X X.SH COMPILATION OPTIONS X XCertain other game options or alternatives are allowed at compile time Xby editing the file "extern.h" and setting certain global flags to XTRUE or FALSE, before compiling the program. The flag UNIX should be Xset to FALSE if you will be running on a non-unix platform. On unix Xsystems the select() function is used to enhance efficiency and reduce Xcomputer load. The INVERT flag may be set to FALSE if you do not like Xthe appearance of the inverted command vector within the troop square. XThe VARMOUSE option may be set to TRUE if you would like the mouse Xoperations to be redefined so that the left mouse adds command Xvectors, and the middle mouse subtracts such vectors. The flag PAUSE Xmay be set to FALSE to disable the ability to pause and resume the Xgame with control-s and control-q. The flag NORAND48 must be set to XTRUE if your system does not define drand48() and srand48() in the Xmath library. The SHOWFLOW flag in extern.h may be set to FALSE to Xmake the displayed command vectors remain at full length even when the Xtroop strength is zero. The flag NEWCOLORMAP can be set to TRUE to Xcreate a private color map for the game, useful when the default color Xmap is full. The flag MULTITEXT can be set to FALSE, whereby instead Xof having a single text line for each player, two text lines are Xshared by all the players. The flag MULTIFLUSH can be set to TRUE, Xwhereby command vectors appear immediately after the command is given, Xalthough performance is noticably impaired. X X.SH BUGS X XWhen the system is slow, there is a noticable time lag between the Xmouse positioning and the keystroke registration, so that a keystroke Xfor a square pointed to by the mouse might be actually recorded in the Xnext square the mouse moves to. Similarly, a shifted mouse click (as Xfor paratroops) might be delayed so that by the time it is processed Xthe shift key is no longer being depressed, and it is recorded as an Xunshifted mouse click (as for artillery). Under such circumstances, Xavoid issuing rapid command sequences. When playing a remote site Xover the network, there is often a lag between the displays, and the Xremote site plays at a disadvantage. This problem is somewhat Xalleviated by using a slow -speed value. When the -disrupt option is Xused, the multiple clicks required to press home an attack can bog Xdown the event queue and lead to slow execution. The shade "gray2" is Xavailable, although on monochrome monitors it will appear the same Xcolor as the background, therefore this is a "stealth" color. Some Xsystems do not support the random functions drand48() and srand48(), Xon such systems the flag NODRAND48 should be set to TRUE in Xexternals.h before compilation. When installing xbattle on a NON-unix Xsystem, the flag UNIX must be set to FALSE in the file externals.h to Xprevent the use of the unix select() function, which will result in Xgreater computer load. Occasionally an "invisible" sea square is Xgenerated, into which troops cannot be moved. The options file does Xnot accept the team color / display combination. When a {player Xspecific option} is followed by a universal option, the former is Xoverwritten by the latter, so the {player specific option} should Xalways follow the universal option. The "-hex" option will not Xsupport the "-horizon" and "-wrap" options simultaneously. X X X.SH AUTHORS X XSteve Lehar, Boston University (slehar@park.bu.edu) and Greg Lesher X(lesher@park.bu.edu), and some sections of code from Mark Lauer X(elric@basser.cs.su.oz.au). Helpful suggestions, bug reports, and Xideas were gratefully received from numerous contributors from all Xover the world. END_OF_FILE if test 47864 -ne `wc -c <'xbattle.man'`; then echo shar: \"'xbattle.man'\" unpacked with wrong size! fi # end of 'xbattle.man' fi echo shar: End of archive 3 $of 7$. cp /dev/null ark3isdone MISSING="" for I in 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ; do if test ! -f ark${I}isdone ; then MISSING="${MISSING} ${I}" fi done if test "${MISSING}" = "" ; then echo You have unpacked all 7 archives. rm -f ark[1-9]isdone else echo You still need to unpack the following archives: echo " " ${MISSING} fi ## End of shell archive. exit 0