______ _ / __/ /_ __(_)___ ____ _ / /_/ / / / / / __ \/ __ `/ original source available at / __/ / /_/ / / / / / /_/ / ftp.x.org:/contrib/games/multiplayer /_/ /_/\__, /_/_/ /_/\__, / V6.18 /____/ /____/ Creating the executable shouldn't be too difficult, even though no Imakefile is included. But the normal Makefile isn't too complex and you only should check out, if the main switches at the beginning are set to the right C++-compiler and the X-Library and includes. (Ideas for creating an Imakefile for this C++-package are very welcome!!!) After linking, you should be able to just use it as the manual page says. But if you want to install it to be use by more persons or if you're just curious, you might want to know a bit more about internals. Since the main purpose for me was not directly writing a game, but more to experiment with some algorithms, many things are configurable in the program. All the parameters that would change the executable are to be set in the file 'global.h'. One important thing is to name a directory, where the program can later on read and write data-files for the pixmap-data, that is needed for the smooth ball animation in the deluxe-version of pool. If the data-files are not accessible, the program has to recompute it, which might take a lot of time. (For information, on my 1280 pixel wide screen, I need 37x37=1369 bitmaps for half balls and 75x37=2775 bitmaps for full balls in the default size. When too many bitmaps will get neccessary you might get memory problems, e.g. on X-Terminals.) An interresting thing to experiment with might be the Real-Class. Real is usually defined as float or double. But there is also a complete inline-class available for it. Unfortunately using the class isn't too fast, but this probably depends on the smartness of the compiler. (Anyway, does anybody have a similar Real-Class implemented by using integer? I could really use it on my slow 386). There is also the main DEBUG-flag, which enables debugging switches all over the source and should usually be unset, even so the switch don't consume too much time. Constant game parameters like object size and friction are all defined in 'global.C'. But for not always re-compiling the program when changing them they can also be set dynamically in the file 'presets.txt'. The correct syntax and the current value can be seen with the option -presets when starting the game. By the way, there actually exists a DOS-version of the program, but that was never really meant for playing. It's just there because the development of the game took place on a small 386-notebook. After running the program got too slow when too many objects were there, I ported the program to use X-windows. Even though I still developed the routines at home, the real testing then took place during the coffee and lunch breaks at my office. There are even some special parts like the ball animation, that don't run at all in DOS. I am thinking on porting these things back to DOS, but I probably would need some specialized assembler library to do the smooth animation. After installation, I would be pleased if you send me a short note just for curiosity and tell me: - if there were any problems and what they were - if you like it and what you think is missing The more notes I get, the higher the chances that I will spend more time on that packages. Have fun. __ __ __ __ __ __ _ / / / /__ / /___ ___ __ __/ /_ / / / /___ ___ ____ (_)___ _ / /_/ / _ \/ / __ `__ \/ / / / __/ / /_/ / __ \/ _ \/ __ \/ / __ `/ / __ / __/ / / / / / / /_/ / /_ / __ / /_/ / __/ / / / / /_/ / _ /_/ /_/\___/_/_/ /_/ /_/\__,_/\__/ /_/ /_/\____/\___/_/ /_/_/\__, / /__________________________________e-mail: Helmut.Hoenig@hub.de______/ History: ======== V6.3 - just a few includes were changed to make the program more portable. - a SOLARIS switch was added V6.9 - new background colors / new balls / includes Xos.h / improved color handling / less ANSI C V6.11 - new flags: -nohints, -red, -green, -blue minor corrections V6.15 - enhanced (much faster on X-Terminals) ball animation waits with select(..) to reduce CPU-usage in idle periods interpixel-motion for fine adjustment of cursor V6.18 - corrections in setting up colors (fvwm now loses the colormap struggle :-) enhanced reset feature pool9-class