


SIDTOOL(6)               GAMES AND DEMOS               SIDTOOL(6)



NAME
     sidtool - a Pacman like game.

SYNOPSIS
     sidtool [ -d ] [ -maze  mazefile  ]  [  -pause  factor  ]  [
     -players  players ] [ -retained ] [ -scorefile scorefile ] [
     -skill level ] [ -slug factor ] [ -v ]

DESCRIPTION
     sidtool is a Pacman  like  game.  It  contains  a  graphical
     interface for XView.

     Sidtool is played by using the keyboard or the mouse to move
     the  image  of  the terminal screen around the maze. Running
     over (eating) a small dot is  worth  10  points.  Eating  an
     "idea" spot is worth 50 points. During the game, pictures of
     fruit will be displayed in the middle  of  the  maze.  These
     range  in  value  from 100 to 5000 points depending upon how
     many screens worth of dots you have cleared.

     There are four bad guys that are trying to eat you! When you
     eat  an  "idea"  spot,  it turns the bad guys white. You can
     then eat them. When they are about to turn back to bad  guys
     again,  they  will  blink. While they are white or blinking,
     they are worth 200, 400, 800 and 1600 points. Avoid the  bad
     guys at all costs when they are not white or blinking.

     You get three terminal screens per game. An extra screen  is
     awarded at 10000 points.

     You can move the terminal screen around the maze  using  the
     hjkl  keys (similar to the vi editor), or with the mouse. To
     go left, hit 'h'. To go down, hit 'j'.  To go  up,  hit  'k'
     and  to  go  right, hit 'l'. Alternatively, you can move the
     mouse in the direction you want to go. Sun users  will  also
     be  able  to  use  the four arrow keys on the right function
     pad.

     There are ten skill levels. Level 1 is easy, and level 10 is
     hard. Level 5 is the default.

     Initially the game is running in demonstration  mode.  Click
     SELECT  on  the  Stop  button, to display all the other con-
     trols.

     Click SELECT on the  Help  button,  to  get  a  help  screen
     describing how to play the game.

     Click SELECT on the Props button, to display a property win-
     dow allowing you to change the skill level and the number of
     players. Don't forget to click SELECT on the Apply button to
     apply you new settings.



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SIDTOOL(6)               GAMES AND DEMOS               SIDTOOL(6)



     Click SELECT on the Scores button, to display a window  con-
     taining the current high scores for each level.

     Click SELECT on the Quit button to terminate the game.

     Click SELECT on the New Game button to  start  a  new  game.
     Note that you need to toggle the Play type from Demo to Game
     if you want to play a game (as opposed to running in demons-
     tration mode).

     Click SELECT on the Continue  button  to  continue  running.
     This  button  toggles between Continue and Stop, and is very
     handy for those pesky telephone calls that  always  seem  to
     interrupt the game.

OPTIONS
     -d   Run in demonstration mode only.

     -maze mazefile
          Specify a file containing a new maze layout.

     -pause factor
          The pause factor (in microseconds) for  various  opera-
          tions. The default is 20000.

     -players players
          The number of players to play this game of sidtool. The
          default is 1.

     -retained
          Cause sidtool to use a retained  canvas  for  the  main
          drawing area. This improves repaint performance.

     -score scorefile
          Specify an alternate high score file to use.

     -skill level
          The skill level for this game of sidtool. The range  is
          1 (easy) to 10 (hard). The default is 5.

     -slug factor
          The main loop slug factor (in  milliseconds).  This  is
          used to try to get a realistic speed independent of the
          speed of the machine that sidtool is  running  on.  The
          default is 5.

     -v   Prints the version number and usage  message  for  this
          release of the sidtool program.

MAZE LAYOUT
     Sidtool has been designed to allow you to specify  alternate
     mazes. The maze layout should be contained in an ASCII file,



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SIDTOOL(6)               GAMES AND DEMOS               SIDTOOL(6)



     and conform to the following requirements:

     The maze size is fixed at 26 by 28.
     The maze is not allowed to have any dead ends.
     All boxes in the maze are defined by paths.
     The upper left corner of each box is signified by a small s.
     Use the letters r,d,l,u to signify the direction  to  travel
     around boxes.
     Corners must be signified by changing the letter.
     The tunnel start must be signified by a capital S.
     The exit box must have the opening at the top.
     The ghost number 0 must be started directly above this exit.
     The exit should be signified by capital R's.
     All ghosts except for one must start in the box.
     The amount of time spent in the  box  is  specified  by  the
     number which shows where the ghost goes.
     Small dots in the maze are signified by periods '.';
     Large dots in the maze are signified by asterisks '*';
     Tunnels may be on left and right.
     All tunnels must have exits at both sides.
     There must be a row around  the  entire  maze  defining  the
     border.
     All non-tunnel parts of the border must be 'x's
     The area in the tunnel in which  the  ghosts  go  slowly  is
     defined as the area between the exit and the first non-space
     character.  Thus a '.' causes the ghosts to speed up.

RESOURCES
     On startup, sidtool will  use  the  following  X  resources.
     These resources can be placed in all the normal X places.

     Resource:      sidtool.players
     Values:        Number of players (numeric)
     Description    The number of players to play  this  game  of
                    sidtool. The default is 1.

     Resource:      sidtool.skillLevel
     Values:        Skill level (numeric)
     Description    The skill level for this game of sidtool. The
                    range  is  1 (easy) to 10 (hard). The default
                    is 5.

     Resource:      sidtool.pauseFactor
     Values:        Pause factor (numeric)
     Description    The pause factor (in microseconds) for  vari-
                    ous operations. The default is 20000.

     Resource:      sidtool.slugFactor
     Values:        Slug factor (numeric)
     Description    The main loop slug factor (in  milliseconds).
                    This  is used to try to get a realistic speed
                    independent of the speed of the machine  that



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SIDTOOL(6)               GAMES AND DEMOS               SIDTOOL(6)



                    sidtool is running on. The default is 5.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
     SID_SCORE      An alternate location for  the  sidtool  high
                    score file.
BUGS
     See the TODO file for a list of known problems.
AUTHORS
     Brad A. Myers                   Rich Burridge
     School of Computer Science      Sun Microsystems Australia,
     Carnegie Mellon University      495 Victoria Avenue,
     5000 Forbes Avenue              Chatswood, NSW 2067.
     Pittsburgh, PA  15213-3890      AUSTRALIA.
     TEL: (412) 268-5150             TEL: +61 2 413 2666
     FAX: (412) 681-5739             FAX: +61 2 413 3869
     bam@a.gp.cs.cmu.edu             richb@aus.sun.com







































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