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1 Tetrinet for Linux
2 ------------------
3 by Andrew Church <achurch@achurch.org>
5 branch of Petr Baudis <pasky@ucw.cz>
7 Version 0.10-pb4
10 For general information on Tetrinet, consult the file tetrinet.txt (the
11 text file distributed with the original Windows version).
13 The following notes apply to the Linux version of Tetrinet:
16 Distribution/license information
17 --------------------------------
18 This program is public domain, and may be modified and distributed without
19 limitation.
22 Requirements
23 ------------
24 You must be using a 50-line text display to run this version of Tetrinet;
25 Xwindows is not yet supported. One option is to open an xterm window in
26 Xwindows and resize it to be 50 lines high. The other option (recommended)
27 is to use a 50-line text console.
29 To get a 50-line text console, if you use LILO to boot, add the following
30 line to the top of your /etc/lilo.conf file:
32 vga = extended
34 run /sbin/lilo, and reboot. If you use a boot disk without LILO, insert it
35 into your floppy drive, give the following command:
37 rdev -v /dev/fd0 -2
39 and reboot.
41 Another option is to use the SVGATextMode program, available on Sunsite
42 ({http,ftp}://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/) and other places, to switch your
43 console to 50-line mode without rebooting. You may also use that program
44 to set up a larger display (for example, I use 100x60); Tetrinet will
45 detect this and rearrange the display to make the best use of the available
46 space.
48 NOTE: Xwindows graphics display really isn't supported, despite the
49 presence of the "xwin.c" file! Don't be fooled! (The file is there to
50 remind me to implement Xwindows support someday. Note how well it's
51 working.)
54 Compilation
55 -----------
56 Type "make". This will generate two programs: "tetrinet" and
57 "tetrinet-server". The former is the main program; the latter is a
58 standalone server.
61 Starting the client
62 -------------------
63 Tetrinet requires two command-line arguments: your nickname and the server
64 to connect to, in that order. For example:
66 tetrinet MyNick tetrinet.somerandom.net
68 Tetrinet will function only as long as it remains connected to the server;
69 there is no "Client Settings" option as in the Windows version. This may
70 be remedied in a future version.
72 You can also give Tetrinet any of the following options:
74 -fancy Use "fancy" TTY graphics. (Note that this will slow
75 down redraws somewhat.)
77 -fast Use the "tetrifast" mode to connect to the server.
78 This mode eliminates the delay before a new cube
79 appears, thus speeding the game up noticeably. This
80 mode is incompatible with the classic mode and the
81 server has to support it. If in doubt, ask the other
82 players.
84 -log <file> Log network traffic to the given file. All lines
85 start with an absolute time (seconds) in brackets.
86 Lines sent from the client to the server are prefixed
87 with ">>>", and lines from the server to the client
88 are prefixed with "<<<". This could be used with a
89 utility program to replay a game later on (though such
90 a program is not currently included in the Tetrinet
91 distribution.)
93 -noshadow Do not make pieces cast "shadows" when they are slowly
94 falling. (Normally the area under piece is filled by
95 dim dots to help to determine where the piece would hit
96 the ground if one would press the spacebar.)
98 -noslide Do not allow pieces to "slide" after being dropped
99 with the spacebar. (Normally, there is a short time
100 after pressing the spacebar during which a piece can
101 "slide" left or right before it solidifies.)
103 -slide Opposite of -noslide; allows pieces to "slide" after
104 being dropped. If both -slide and -noslide are given,
105 -slide takes precedence. If both -windows and -slide
106 are given, this overrides the "no sliding" part of
107 -windows without affecting the other changes in
108 program behavior.
110 -shadow Opposite of -noshadow; makes pieces cast "shadows".
112 -windows Behave as much like the Windows version of Tetrinet as
113 possible. (See "Differences from Windows Tetrinet".)
114 Implies -noslide and -noshadow.
117 Starting the server
118 -------------------
119 There are two ways to start the Tetrinet server. One way is to give the
120 "-server" option to the Tetrinet program:
122 tetrinet -server
124 Note that this is the deprecated way and support for this may be removed in
125 the future releases. You must also explicitly enable it in the Makefile during
126 compilation.
128 The other is to run the "tetrinet-server" program. Both of these are
129 exactly equivalent. The server can be stopped with ^C or a "kill" command.
131 If you want the server to run in the background, use an "&" after the
132 command, for example:
134 tetrinet -server &
137 Configuring the server
138 ----------------------
139 The server is configured via the ".tetrinet" file in your home directory.
140 This contains all the settings for the server in a simple format. The
141 following is a sample .tetrinet file:
143 winlist Alcan;0;3;1 AndrewK;0;2;1
144 classic 1
145 initiallevel 1
146 linesperlevel 2
147 levelinc 1
148 averagelevels 1
149 speciallines 1
150 specialcount 1
151 specialcapacity 18
152 pieces 14 14 15 14 14 14 15
153 specials 18 18 3 12 0 16 3 12 18
154 linuxmode 0
155 ipv6_only 0
157 Note that this file is automatically re-written at the end of a game or
158 when the server is terminated. If you want to modify parameters for a
159 running server, send the server a HUP signal, using the command:
161 kill -HUP <pid-of-server>
163 where <pid-of-server> is the process ID of the server. A simpler
164 alternative is:
166 killall -HUP tetrinet-server
168 Three of the configuration lines require special explanation. The winlist
169 line is, as its name suggests, the winlist for the server; each parameter
170 contains four semicolon-separated fields:
171 name ; team ; points ; games
172 "team" is a flag which is either 1 if the entry is for a team or 0 if the
173 entry is for a player. "points" is just the number of points for the
174 player (see the main Tetrinet documentation); "games" is the number of
175 games in which that player has participated since getting on the winlist.
177 The pieces line contains percentage frequencies for each type of piece.
178 The order is: bar, square, reverse-L (green), L (purple), Z (red),
179 S (blue), and T.
181 The specials line, likewise, contains percentage frequencies for each type
182 of special. The order is: A, C, N, R, S, B, G, Q, O.
184 The "linuxmode" setting selects whether the client should try to remain
185 compatible with Windows clients. This only affects the winlist display; if
186 linuxmode is set to 1, the server will send the number of games played by
187 each player as well as points won. This is set to zero by default.
189 If the "ipv6_only" setting is set to a nonzero value, the server will only
190 listen for IPv6 connections; if zero (default), the server will listen on
191 both IPv4 and IPv6 if possible.
194 Keys
195 ----
196 The display mode can be selected by one of the following keys:
198 F1 Show Fields
199 F2 Partyline
200 F3 Winlist
202 F10 can be used to quit at any time.
204 In Partyline mode, the following commands are available. To use a command,
205 simply type the command and arguments into the Partyline input buffer and
206 press Return (just like IRC).
208 /team [name] Set your team name. If a name is not given, play
209 alone.
210 /start Start a game (if you are the first player on the
211 server).
212 /stop, /end Stop the game currently in progress (either command
213 may be used).
214 /pause Pause the game.
215 /unpause Unpause the game.
216 / Quote a following slash, for example:
217 "/ /start starts a game."
219 The following keys are used for controls on the "Show Fields" screen:
221 Up, X Rotate piece clockwise
222 Z Rotate piece counterclockwise
223 Left Move piece left
224 Right Move piece right
225 Down Accelerate piece downward
226 Space Drop piece (note that by default, pieces can still
227 "slide" after dropping!)
228 D Discard the current (leftmost) special item
229 1..6 Use the current special item on the given player
230 T Open a window for sending a message to other players
231 Ctrl-G Close the text input window (text there is saved for
232 the next time you press T)
234 The following keys are used for editing text, both in the Partyline screen
235 and in the text buffer on the Show Fields screen:
237 Left Move cursor left one space
238 Right Move cursor right one space
239 Ctrl-A Move cursor to beginning of line
240 Ctrl-E Move cursor to end of line
241 Backspace, Delete character to left of cursor
242 Delete
243 Ctrl-D Delete character under cursor
244 Ctrl-U Delete entire line
245 Enter Send text (closes input window in Show Fields mode)
248 Differences from Windows Tetrinet
249 ---------------------------------
250 Although Linux Tetrinet is designed to play more or less the same as the
251 original Windows version, there are a few differences; some of these are
252 simply "missing" features in the Linux version, and some are features I
253 have introduced into the Linux version because I believe they make the game
254 more interesting or fun. Features marked with (*) below can all be
255 disabled with the -windows command-line option to make playing against
256 Windows opponents fairer.
258 - Messages about specials (i.e. in the Attack/Defense window) are not
259 numbered.
261 - If a Block Bomb is done on someone who has two "o" (bomb) specials
262 right next to each other, one of them will be sent flying rather than
263 exploding. (This is a bug.)
265 - Blocks scattered by a Block Bomb will only go to empty spaces on the
266 board, rather than appearing on top of already-existing blocks.
267 "Holes" will not be scattered. (*)
269 - Pieces may go over the top of the board. In the Windows version, a
270 player loses if at any time any square goes off the top of the board.
271 In this version, a player only loses if there is no room for the next
272 piece to enter the board.
274 - Pieces dropped (with the spacebar) can still slide left and right after
275 dropping. Idea from Mark H. Weaver's Netris. (*) This feature alone
276 can be disabled with the -noslide command-line option. It can also be
277 enabled with -slide even if other Linux-specific features are disabled
278 with the -windows option.
280 - Blockquakes will cause blocks to wrap around the edge of the screen
281 rather than disappearing off the edge. (*)
283 - Blockquakes will never move rows more than one block to the left or
284 right. (Can anyone determine how quakes work in the Windows version?)
286 - Specials collected will always appear at the end of the specials bar
287 (in the Windows version, they randomly appear at the beginning or the
288 end). (*)
291 Acknowledgements
292 ----------------
293 Tetrinet was originally written by St0rmCat, who has asked not to be
294 contacted with respect to Tetrinet.