U61 (v1.0.1) - Frequently Asked Questions




Why is the game called U61?
===========================


  In fact, when I first started this project, I had called it "Tetr61s". This
  was because the game was at first supposed to be quite close to Tetris(c) and
  there's a letter in Russian which is pronounced "i" (like in "tetris") and
  when you write it down it looks like you have written 61.

  Since the Tetris Company (http://www.tetris.com) claims to have a
  look-and-feel copyright on Tetris(c), and sues independant game programmers
  who program Tetris(c) like games, I could not call the game Tetr61s, nor make
  a plain Tetris(c) clone. So I decided to start a new project, more general,
  and change the name. So "U" is because my nickname is "U-Foot" and "61" is
  because it is the successor of "Tetr61s".



Can I copy the game?
====================


  Yes, since the game is Free Software (free as in speech), protected by the
  GPL (GNU General Public License). You should have received a copy of the GPL
  with the game. For more informations on the GPL, check http://www.gnu.org.



Why did you use ClanLib instead of SDL?
=======================================


  SDL starts being a quite mature library, it's widespread, present in most
  GNU/Linux distributions, and used by professionnals such as Loki. Therefore,
  one might wonder why I chose ClanLib instead, knowing that it's much harder
  to install and also less common library than SDL.

  I chose ClanLib because is a high-level programming library, and provides
  much more than SDL. Its main drawback is that it's still under developpement
  and therefore API changes occur a bit too often for me. But its big advantage
  is that it provides tons of usefull functions, and has a very clean design. I
  also like the idea that ClanLib is developped by independant programmers,
  just like me.



Why did you code yet another Tetris(c) clone?
=============================================


  There are 2 answers to this question:

  * If you really think U61 is a Tetris(c) clone, then you probably have not
    really played U61. Try and play with different set of rules using the "Game
    options" -> "Rules" menu, and play with friends - 3 or 4 players starts
    being fun... And don't miss the "special square" which is represented by a
    black and white "?" in the default theme.

  * Of course I could have decided to tweak an existing game such as Tetrinet
    or Quadra instead of starting a new developpement from scratch, but I
    believe the final result would have been less flexible, and... ...I really
    enjoy programming 8-)

