Red Hat Linux: Linux Games
A variety of games comes with Linux. The games can be roughly divided between
those that require the X Window system to run and those that will run in plain
text mode. In this chapter, you will learn about both types. The chapter
provides a reasonably complete list of both X- and character-based games. This is the final chapter in the book. We decided to save the most fun and
addictive Linux programs for last! The games listed in this chapter come in several different installation
packages, so you might not have one or more of these games on your system. For
instance, the graphical version of Tetris, GNU Chess, and Xfractint are each
installed separately. If one of the listed games sounds intriguing, you might want to install it if
you haven't done so already.
X Games The following games require X Window to run. As X Window is a graphical, windowing environment, you might guess that X
games are graphically oriented. You would be right! Almost all of the following
games use color and bitmapped graphics. Often, you can specify the palette of
colors the game will use. However, you should keep in mind the following:
Following is a discussion of the X games you should find on your system. Keep
in mind that installation differences might mean that you have more or fewer
games. Games in the fvwm Root Menu If you use the X display manager fvwm, the fvwm Root menu (usually accessed
by holding down the left mouse button while the cursor is in the root screen
area) has a Games submenu choice. If you use a different window manager, such as
Motif, your menus will be correspondingly different. The menu choices are listed here. Some of the games they start are described
in detail later in this chapter. The Games menu features the following entries:
X Games Not in the Menus The following games can be started by typing the appropriate command at the
Linux prompt in a command-line window. These, and any other games you may
install, can be added to the Games menu if you desire. See
Chapter 21, "Installing X
Window on Linux," for more information.
Look in the /usr/x11/bin directory for still more games not listed here. Spider (Small and Large) This is double-deck solitaire. To see this game's man page, type man spider.
To start this game, type spider in a command-line window. This game requires a fair bit of thought, planning, and skill. The aim is to
arrange cards of the same suit in descending order. You can also, however, have
cards of different suits arranged in descending order. Sometimes this can help
you immediately, but hinder you in the long run! Note that, if you do have two
or more consecutive cards of the same suit, the cards will move as a group.
Spider is challenging; don't try to play it just to pass the time! GNU Chess This is a graphical version of GNU Chess that uses the xboard display system.
Running GNU Chess under xboard is very resource-intensive. It may crash your system. Xtetris If you've never been hooked on Tetris, here's your chance. This is a nice X
implementation of a game that always seems to suffer when taken from the video
arcade and placed on a home computer. To see this game's man page, type man xtetris. To start this game, type xtetris in a command-line window. The colors are nicely done, and the movement is relatively smooth. However,
if you're used to the arcade version of Tetris, watch out for the following:
The purpose of the game? Arrange the pieces so they interlock without gaps.
As soon as you create a (horizontal) row that's completely filled, it vaporizes.
This is good, because when the pieces stack up to the top, the game is over.
(Pity the Cossack doesn't come out and tap his feet when things start to get a
little out of control.) Xlander This is an update of the old arcade game, Lunar Lander. You get a bird's-eye
view from the window of your lunar lander. By operating the main and directional
thruster engines, you attempt to touch down softly on the landing pad. If things
go wrong, instead of a bird's-eye view, you get a meteorite's-eye view! To see this game's man page, type man xlander. To start this game, type xlander in a command-line window. You may have problems getting the game to respond to your keyboard input. In
that case, the moon's surface is only a short plummet away. Ico Ico sets a polyhedron (a solid, multisided geometric shape) bouncing around
your screen. Depending on the options specified, this three-dimensional polygon
can occupy its own window or use the entire root window. To see this game's man page, type man ico. It can be started from the command
line (within X Window) by typing ico. In fact, you should start it from the
command line because of the options available. If you start it from the
Demo/Gadgets menu, you will only get a wireframe polygon in its own, small
window. One interesting option you can use from the command line is -colors. If you
specify more than one color, you get a multicolored polyhedron, with each face a
different color. With the -colors option, you must type in the colors to be used in the
following format: rgb:<red intensity>/<green intensity>/<blue intensity>. The
intensities have to be specified in hexadecimal notation; 000 is the lowest
value and fff is the highest. For example, the complete command might be ico -colors rgb:000/888/fff rgb:e00/400/b80 rgb:123/789/def This program is fairly resource-intensive and might slow down your system.
Maze This draws a maze, and then solves it. There is no way you can solve it for
yourself. Maze is a demo, not a game. On a fast system, it solves it too quickly
to follow! Xeyes Not really a game, but cute anyway. Whenever you start Xeyes, you get a large
pair of bodiless eyes that follow your cursor's movements. Running four or five
copies of Xeyes at once gives your system a surrealistic touch. To see this game's man page, type man xeyes. To start this game, type xeyes in a command-line window. Xlogo This displays the official X logo. This is a version of Tetris that uses pieces made up of hexagons. To start
the game, type xhextris on an X Window command line. No man page is available.
Minesweeper You are given a large grid. Some of the squares contain mines. Your job is to
flag all of the mines. This game is started by typing xdemineur at the Linux prompt in a
command-line window. Starting Minesweeper brings up the playing field, which is a dark gray grid,
and a Score window. You uncover a square by clicking on it with the left mouse button. If you
uncover a mine, you are blown up and the game is over! It's more likely, though, that you will either uncover a number or open up
several light gray, blank squares (with no numbers or mines). The number tells
you how many mines are found adjacent to that square, horizontally, vertically,
or diagonally. For example, a "1" means there is only one mine adjacent to that
square. If you've already determined the location of one mine adjacent to a "1"
square, then it's safe to uncover all other squares next to the "1" square
because they can't possibly contain a mine! In this fashion, you try to deduce
the location of the mines. If you happen to uncover a square that has no number
(and therefore no mines next to it), the game will automatically uncover the
entire numberless area and its border. When you think you've located a mine, you "sweep" or mark it by clicking on
it with the right mouse button (if you click the left button accidentally, and
there is indeed a mine there, the game is over). The right button toggles on and
off a flag marker. Note that the game does not tell you whether you have
correctly placed the flag. You will soon discover that certain patterns of numbers let you place a mine
without any doubt; other times, you have to make an educated guess. Of course, sometimes you miscalculate and blow up. To restart the game, click
with either mouse button in the Score window. If you complete the game
successfully, your time will be recorded. Xpaint This is a color drawing-and-painting program. Start it from the Linux prompt
in a command-line window by typing xpaint. A Tool menu will appear. Start a new
canvas from the File menu. The Tool menu holds your drawing and painting
implements (brushes, pencils, spray cans, and so on); the palette of colors and
patterns is found underneath the canvas. To see the man page, type man xpaint. Character-Based Games There is a long history of games being written for the UNIX operating system.
Your Linux /usr/games directory contains a number of these games, from various
time periods. Many of these games were written before color, bitmapped windowing systems
became common. Most of the games in /usr/games (except for Tetris, for instance)
are character-based. This means that graphics (if there are any!) are displayed
on your screen using standard screen characters: A, *, |, x, and so on. In
addition, all input is from the keyboard. An advantage of character-based games is that they do not require a graphical
or windowing environment to run. A monochrome display is fine. The character-based nature of some games, such as Hangman or Bog (Boggle),
takes nothing away from the play; you don't really wish for fancy color graphics
when playing them. Other character-based games might strike you as interesting
historical curiosities: they show you what their ingenious programmers could
manage with such a simple display system, but clearly would be better served by
color graphics. A Summary of Games in /usr/games The games found in /usr/games can be roughly categorized into the following
types:
Text Adventure Games These games follow the classic text-based formula: the system informs you
that "you are in a maze of small twisty passages, all alike" or something
similar; you type in your actions as go forward, east, take sword, and so on. If
you like solving puzzles, these games will appeal to you. With text-based games,
the adventure follows a defined path, and your responses are usually limited.
The following example is the start of the text-based game Battlestar, which
you will learn about in the next section. Your commands are typed at the >-:
prompt: Version 4.2, fall 1984. Battlestar Type battlestar at the command prompt. A sample session is shown in the code
in the previous section. A man page is available by typing man battlestar. Paranoia Type paranoia at the command prompt. In this humorous game, you play a secret
agent on a desperate mission. Unlike most text-based adventure games, Paranoia
lets you choose your actions from a menu. This is useful if you hate having to
find a command that the game will understand. There is no man page for Paranoia.
Wump Type wump at the command prompt. You are out hunting the Wumpus, armed with
some custom arrows and relying on your wit and sense of smell. When you start
the game, you are given the choice of seeing the instructions. Type man wump to see the man page. Word Games The following two games are versions of popular word-finding and
word-guessing games. Type bog at the command prompt. This is a version of the Parker Brothers game
Boggle Deluxe. You are given a 5´5 grid of letters. In the allotted time of
three minutes, you type in words made up from the given letters. By default, you
must use letters that adjoin horizontally, vertically, and diagonally, without
reusing any letters. Plurals and different tenses count as different words—for
instance, "use," "uses," "used," and "user" are all allowed in your word list.
This follows the official Boggle rules. You can change these defaults, if you
want. At the end, the computer displays the list of words which it found. You can
never beat the computer, because it only allows you to type in real words. You
will discover that the Boggle dictionary has some odd omissions; this can be
annoying, but it isn't very serious. Hangman Type hangman at the command prompt. You won't miss the color graphics. The
game is self-explanatory, but just in case, a man page is available; type man
hangman. Hangman picks its words at random; sometimes the choices seem quite
impossible to guess. Because of the lack of graphics, the following games are not as successful as
the character-based word games. Canfield Type canfield at the command prompt. This is a version of solitaire. A man
page is available by typing man canfield. This game does not have the
time-wasting potential of graphics and mouse-based solitaire games. Cribbage Type cribbage at the command prompt. If you're a cribbage fan, this game is
for you. A man page is available by typing man cribbage. Go Fish Type fish at the command prompt. It's you against the computer at Go Fish. A
man page is available by typing man fish. One confusing aspect is that sometimes
several actions are displayed all together on the screen (for instance, you have
to go fish, the computer has to go fish, and it's back to you, all in one
block). Board Games These are character-based versions of board games. The play quality is
variable; Backgammon is probably the best of the lot. Backgammon Type backgammon at the command prompt; or, for an easy-to-follow tutorial on
how to play Backgammon, type teachgammon. These games don't suffer from lack of
graphics, but the lack of a pointing device such as a mouse means that
specifying your moves is a cumbersome task, requiring entries such as 8-12,4-5.
Typing ? at the game prompt gives you help on entering your moves. Typing man backgammon will give you the manual entry for both Backgammon and
Teachgammon. Chess Several chess and chess-related programs come in the GNU Chess package. Type
gnuchess at the prompt to play chess against the computer. There is an analysis
program, gnuan. The game utility prints the chessboard position to a PostScript
printer or file. Enter your moves using standard algebraic notation—for instance, e2-4. This is an elaborate package; you should start by reading the man page.
Mille Miglia Type mille at the command prompt. This is the Linux version of a Parker
Brothers racing game. You should read the man page before starting, because the
game's commands are not very intuitive. To see the man page, type man mille. Monopoly Type monop at the command prompt. This is a character-based version of the
Parker Brothers game Monopoly. The computer does not actually play; it simply
keeps track of who owns what and how much money each player has. You can play by
yourself, but it's pretty obvious that you will, eventually, win! Unfortunately,
the board is not displayed in any form, making it quite difficult to keep track
of what's happening. This is an interesting effort, but the play is poor. A man
page is available. Simulations The following games let you try your hand at being in charge. They are
open-ended, in that each game is different and does not follow a canned plot.
They combine character graphics, for instance, a radar display, with text
readouts and text-based commands. Air Traffic Control Type atc at the command prompt. Type man atc and read the man page first;
otherwise, you will be responsible for one or more air tragedies! This game runs
in real time. A good supply of caffeine will probably help you do well. Trek Type trek at the command prompt. You can "go where no one has gone before,"
hunt (and be hunted by) Klingons, and so on. A man page is available by typing
man trek; read it before playing to avoid being a disgrace to the Federation.
Video Games The following games all rely on a full-screen display, although all graphics
are assembled from the standard character set. Type robots at the command prompt. Robots on the screen pursue you; your only
hope is to make two robots collide, at which point the robots explode. The
resulting junk heap destroys any robots that run into it. You move about the
screen using the hjkl keys, as used by the vi editor (diagonal movement is
allowed, using yubn). Moves are simultaneous: each time you move, so do the
robots. Sometimes, though, you have to teleport to get out of an impossible
situation. You die if a robot touches you; otherwise, after clearing the screen,
you go on to a bigger and better wave of robots. A man page is available by
typing man robots.
Tetris Type tetris at the command prompt. Ironically, although it does not look
anywhere near as professional as Xtetris or other full-graphics versions, it
plays very well—especially if you're used to the arcade version of Tetris. Use
the arrow keys for piece movement and rotation. Worm Type worm at the command prompt. You are a worm, moving about the screen and
eating numbers. As you eat the numbers, you grow in length. Do not run into
yourself or into the wall! How long can you get before you (inevitably) run into
something? Note that you still slowly crawl forward, even if you don't enter a
move command. A man page is available by typing man worm. Math Games and Utilities The following programs are small and interesting, although perhaps not that
exciting. Arithmetic Type arithmetic at the command prompt. You are asked the answer to simple
addition questions. This goes on until you type Ctrl-C to exit. A man page is
available by typing man arithmetic. Type bcd at the command line to convert text you type to a punched card, type
morse to see your text converted to Morse code, or type ppt for paper punch tape
output. If the command line doesn't contain any text to encode, the programs go
into interactive mode. Note that the Enter character you must use to finish each
line of input gets coded as well. The bcd man page covers all three programs.
Factor Type factor at the command line. This command provides you with the prime
factors of any number you supply. You can type factor <number> to factor just
the one number, or factor without any number to go into interactive mode.
Numbers can range from —2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,648. The following is a
sample run of Factor: d$ factor Primes Type primes at the command prompt. If you include a range on the command
line, Primes displays all prime numbers in the range. If no range is included,
Primes waits for you to enter a number, and then starts displaying primes
greater than that number. The program is surprisingly fast! A man page is
available by typing man primes. The following programs might actually be a bit frustrating to play with
initially, but they can also provide hours of addiction! Imagine yourself in charge of a warehouse containing a maze and lots of bales
of cotton. Each bale is so heavy that you can only push it and not pull it. So
don't push a bale into a spot where you cannot push it out. Each level in this
game gets more and more challenging as you attempt to collect all the bales into
a loading area where you can move to the next level. The source code is
available from sunsite.unc.edu in the file sokoban-src.tar.gz. DOOM This exciting, though controversially gory, game is now ported to Linux as
well. Complete with sound support and exquisite graphics, this Linux port does
its DOS counterpart justice. One problem to keep in mind though, is that your
colormaps in X may be mixed up once your cursor moves out of the X terminal you
run DOOM under. Two other things to keep in mind—you have to rebuild your kernel
to add the sound support, and the version 1.666 of DOOM will not run external
WAD files. (I recommend that you get the registered version.) Conquest This is an elaborate game of global conquest with equally complex
instructions and display. At least the files are in an executable form, and you
do not have to build them. One thing to remember is to use the xconq file and
run xset fp rehash to bring up the correct fonts. A comparable game, called
Empire, is also available in source from tsx-11.mit.edu, but you need a network
connection to run this game. Miscellaneous Demos and Utilities The following programs might interest you. Caesar Type caesar at the command line. This program attempts to decrypt encoded
words. Type man caesar to see the man page. Fortune Type fortune at the command line for your Linux fortune-cookie message. Number Type number <number> at the command line. Converts the Arabic number given as
<number> (for example, 41) to its equivalent in English (forty-one). Rain Type rain at the command prompt. Your screen becomes rippled like a puddle in
a rainstorm. On most Linux console screens, the program runs too fast to look
even remotely convincing. Press Ctrl-C to exit. Worms Type worms at the command prompt (do not confuse with the Worm program described previously). This fills your screen with squirming worms. Like Rain, the program runs much too fast on a Linux console screen. A man page is available by typing man worms. |
