Welcome to Xconq! Xconq is a multi-player strategy game in the Empire mold, but programmable using a powerful game design language.
This file contains Mac-specific information about Xconq.
"Xconq" is the game application. It has been tested on a variety of Macs, from Powerbook 100s up to PowerMacs, running 7.0 to 8.0. Xconq doesn't do any really weird tricks, but it REQUIRES SYSTEM 7 OR LATER.
"XconqPPC" (if present) is a native PowerMac version of the Xconq application.
"lib" is the folder of game modules; it should be in the same folder as the application.
"lib-mac" is the folder of Mac-specific data referenced by game modules, and should be in the same folder as the application. Xconq doesn't absolutely need it, but it is where sounds and pictures and such are kept.
"doc-html" is the folder with a version of the full manual formatted into HTML. You can read this with any Web browser or viewer. If you do not have a Web page viewer and can't get one, you can read the files with a text viewing program.
"WebMe.html" is an HTML page with links to the parts of the manual most useful to Mac users. This is the easiest way to get started with looking at the manual; either open this file from your viewer or drag it onto your viewer's icon, then follow the links displayed.
"IMFApp" is a small utility for game designers to display and convert images used in Xconq games.
"NEWS" is information about notable changes in each release.
"COPYING" is a copy of the GNU Public License, which is a special kind of copyright that allows you to redistribute Xconq sources and binaries as long as you allow your recipients to do the same.
You may also see other files or folders, with names like "README" or "kernel" or "x11". These will be either part of the source code for Xconq, or else information specific to the other types of computers for which Xconq is available.
How To Use The Mac Interface
The following is a brief description, suitable for getting started. The manual provides full details on every aspect of Xconq.
When you launch Xconq, the initial screen gives you four choices: New, which brings up a list of games; Open, which allows you to pick a file; Connect, which allows you to pick a game to join; and Quit, which lets you escape.
Usually you will want to choose New, which brings up a dialog listing the available games. You can select one and see a brief description of it. It may also have a preview picture that will give you some idea of what the game looks like.
If the game includes any variants, you will then get a dialog with assorted buttons and checkboxes to choose from. For instance, some games let you choose whether the whole world is visible when you start, or if you have to explore it first. Some variants, such as "See All", apply to any game, while others are specific to a particular game.
Not all of the games work equally well! You may get some warning alerts. These are often benign, such as missing images, while others indicate problems ahead. Xconq will not crash, but you may not be able to play the game as you might expect.
Xconq takes a little while to read in the complete game definition; then you get a player setup window, which shows the sides that will be in the game and who will play each side. Usually you will just want to OK it, but you can also select a side/player entry and change the name of the side, and whether it has an AI (artificial intelligence - a robot player). Some games allow you to add sides - use the "Add" button. You can use the "Computer" button to choose whether or not the side has an AI; if it doesn't have one, then the side will do simply do nothing during the game. If you don't like the side you've been assigned to play, you can use the "Exchange" button to switch with somebody else.
Then Xconq will finish setting up the game. For some games, this will take quite a while! Xconq generates random terrain, lays out countries that are neither too close nor too far apart, and does many other things at this point, so just kick back and watch.
You may get a warning that "sides have undesirable locations". This usually means that the world is too small for the number of sides that were set up. This doesn't matter to Xconq, but can have a big effect on play balance and fairness; some sides may find their territory mixed in with their enemies', or simply too close to be able to defend it adequately. If you don't care, then just ignore the warning.
Once everything is set up, Xconq then opens up a map window, the game status window, the notices window, and the instructions window for you. The map shows you the terrain with different patterns, and your playing pieces (called "units") with small pictures, while game status lists all the sides and a turn number or date. The instructions window tells you about your goal in the game, and maybe something about how to accomplish it. The notices window provides feedback and information about events that are happening.
(In some games, the AI is within range and will start bashing on you the instant your display is up. Life is tough sometimes!)
The basic idea of Xconq play is to select a unit in a map or list window, and pick commands from the "Play" menu. By default, Xconq starts up in "auto-select" mode, which means that Xconq will select a unit for you to command, and when it is done moving, Xconq will automatically select the next one to command. Xconq also enables "move-on-click" by default, which means that clicking on a map immediately commands the selected unit to move there.
You can toggle auto-select/move-on-click mode on or off by clicking the big six-arrow icon in the map's control panel, or by choosing menu items in the "Side" menu.
When auto-select is OFF, you can select by clicking on a unit, shift-clicking a group, dragging out a selection rectangle, or by using Command-A to select all units. A selected unit is indicated by an outline box - solid black to indicate that it can move this turn, dark gray to indicate that it has used up its moves for this turn, and gray to indicate that it can never do anything.
When move-on-click is OFF, to move a selected unit, drag it to its desired new location. The unit might not move right away if it doesn't have the action points, but it may get some in the next turn. If you don't want to drag, or need to scroll somewhere else first, you can Command-click and all selected units will attempt to move to where you clicked.
To shoot at another unit, you position the mouse over the desired target, type 'f', and all selected units will attempt to fire. This works even if all units are selected, so you can call down considerable destruction with 'f'! If the target is too far away, nothing will happen.
To find out more about a particular unit, select it and pick "Closeup" from the "Play" menu or do Command-I. This brings up a window that shows all kind of data about that unit. You can leave this window up and it will always be kept up-to-date as long as the unit is alive and belongs to you. Each unit has its own closeup window. All that you can know about an enemy's unit is already displayed on the map (type, side, and position).
To jump ahead to the next turn, do the menu command "End Turn" or Command-E, or hit the <return> key. You may have to do this if some of your units still have action points, but not enough to do any of the actions that you want them to do. To stop being asked about a particular unit, you can either do 's' or choose the Sleep item from the Play menu to put it to sleep, or ' ' (space bar) or Reserve to put it in reserve until the next turn. Sleeping units stay asleep until you wake them manually (with 'w', 'W', or the menu item Wake). If you just want to postpone moving the unit until later in the turn, use the delay command 'd'; after all other units have moved, Xconq will ask you about the delayed unit again.
The Game window shows the status of all the sides in the game, including how many actions each side has left to do, who has lost or won already, each side's attitude towards you (a frowny face means that side is keen to destroy you utterly, a smiley face designates one of your trusted allies), and whether it is being played by a human or by the computer.
There are many more commands and options available. These are documented in both the help screens and in the manual.
The help screens are organized as a list of "topics" that you can select by clicking on. The help information about the game you're playing is computed directly from the internal tables describing the game, so it is an accurate description. It may still be incomplete though; not all tables and values are listed there.
Bugs
Actual crashes of Xconq are rare, though not unknown. What is more common is that the program will get into a state where you don't know what's happening, or why. If this happens to you, try bringing up different windows, study the unit info displays carefully, or send mail describing the situation and why it's puzzling (the interface always needs more work!)
If units disappear strangely, or if the map is scrambled somehow, type 'Control-R', which recalculates visibility of everything.
Xconq may require enormous amounts of memory, especially for large games. You may get an alert claiming that memory has been exhausted. You should save the game, give Xconq a bigger partition, and then restore the game. It is possible to ask for a game that is larger than your Mac's memory (even if you have 192MB of RAM!), so some games will simply not be possible.
You may get one or more warning alerts when starting up or playing some games. The manual describes a number of them and what they mean, so you can decide whether to ignore them. If you don't understand a warning, it's safest just to quit.
How to Get More Info
You probably want more info about Xconq. There are several sources. The Xconq player's manual is in HTML in "doc-html"; it has a lot of useful information, including additional details about the Mac interface. Every page in the folder links to other pages and to the table of contents, so you can start at any one of them; also, the file "WebMe.html" contains a set of useful links. If you want to use a different format, the source archive for Xconq includes the "texinfo" files from which the HTML manual was generated, and there are also archives that includes the manual formatted into PostScript(tm).
If you want to change any of the existing games, or to design new ones, look at the Xconq game designer's manual. It also comes in both HTML and PostScript.
Finally, Xconq is free software. This means that you can get all the source code, can change it almost any way you like (short of removing the copyright notices), and you can give the original or the changed version to anybody else, whenever you want. This also means that if you are a programmer, and you want to know more than just what is in the documentation, you can go to the sources for the real answers. The last chapter of the Xconq designer's manual describes some of the overall internal design.
PLEASE identify, clearly, any changes you make to an "official" release - this will be of immeasurable help to me, other Xconq hackers, and players. On several occasions, I have gotten bug reports complaining about code that I had never seen or heard of before! Even so, I do enjoy hearing about and seeing any improvements, fixes, and suggestions, and will try to incorporate them in future versions of Xconq.
Stan Shebs
shebs@cygnus.com
Thanks to the many Xconq players and hackers around the net who have contributed literally hundreds of suggestions, fixes, and improvements. The manual includes more detailed acknowledgments.
I would like to specially acknowledge Troy Gaul, the author of the Infinity Windoid WDEF used by Mac Xconq; this WDEF is a fine piece of code that has been completely trouble-free to use.
