NAME
xskewb - Skewb X widgets
SYNOPSIS
/usr/games/xskewb [-geometry
[{width}][x{height}][{+-}{xoff}[{+-}{yoff}]]] [-display
[{host}]:[{vs}]] [-[no]mono] [-[no]{reverse|rv}] [-{foreground|fg}
{color}] [-{background|bg} {color}] [-face{0|1|2|3|4|5} {color}]
[-{border|bd} {color}] [-delay msecs] [-[no]sound] [-moveSound
{filename}] [-{font|fn} {fontname}] [-view {int}] [-[no]orient]
[-[no]practice] [-userName {string}] [-scoreFile {filename}] [-scores]
[-version]
DESCRIPTION
The original puzzle has each face cut by a diamond, so that there are 5
pieces, 4 corner pieces and one diamond piece in the center. This was
designed by Uwe Meffert and called the Pyraminx Cube. Douglas
Hofstadter later coined it a Skewb and it stuck. The puzzle has period
3 turning (i.e. each half turns with 120 degree intervals). The Skewb
has 2^5*3^8*6!/2^6 or 3,149,280 different combinations (with centers
oriented 2^5*3^8*6!/2 or 100,766,960 different combinations).
More recently, Disney released Mickey’s Challenge, its a spherical
skewb with a pretty good internal mechanism. Mickey’s challenge has
2^5*3^8*6!/36 5,598,720 visually different combinations). It also
comes with a pretty neat book. Also released is the Creative Puzzle
Ball or Meffert’s Challenge which has 4 rings in different colors.
Mach Balls of the Hungarian Gyula Mach are similar but they do not have
a ratchet mechanism and do not turn as easily or smoothly. One must
match the 12 different symbols of 4 each at the 12 intersection points.
FEATURES
Press "mouse-left" button to move a piece. Release "mouse-left" button
on a piece on the same face. (Clicks on diamonds are ignored). The
pieces will then turn towards where the mouse button was released.
Click "mouse-center", or press "P" or "p" keys to toggle the practice
mode (in practice mode the record should say "practice"). This is good
for learning moves and experimenting.
Click "mouse-right", or press "Z" or "z" keys, to randomize the puzzle
(this must be done first to set a new record).
Press "G" or "g" keys to get a saved puzzle.
Press "W" or "w" keys to save (write) a puzzle.
Press "U" or "u" keys to undo a move.
Press "R" or "r" keys to redo a move.
Press "C" or "c" keys to clear the puzzle.
"S" or "s" keys reserved for the auto-solver (not implemented).
Press "O" or "o" keys to toggle the orient mode. One has to orient the
faces in orient mode, besides getting all the faces to be the same
color. To do this one has to get the lines to be oriented in the same
direction, this only matters with center diamond piece. This does add
complexity so there are 2 sets of records.
Press "V" or "v" keys to change the view of the cube.
Press ">" or "." keys to speed up the movement of pieces (not
implemented).
Press "<" or "," keys to slow down the movement of pieces (not
implemented).
Press "@" key to toggle the sound.
Press "Esc" key to hide program.
Press "Q", "q", or "CTRL-C" keys to kill program.
Use the key pad or arrow keys to move without the mouse.
Key pad is defined for the Skewb2d as:
/ Counterclockwise
7 8 9 Upper Left, Up, Upper Right
^
4<5>6 Left, Clockwise, Right
v
1 2 3 Lower Left, Down, Lower Right
Note: Top, Left, Right, and Down only work when the control key is
pressed and there is no analog for Skewb3d.
If the mouse is on a diamond, the above keys will not move cube because
the move is ambiguous. Also if the mouse is on a triangle, not all the
keys will function because the puzzle will only rotate on the cuts,
i.e. a triangle with a Upper Left - Lower Right cut will rotate only
Upper Left & Lower Right, a triangle with a Upper Right - Lower Left
cut will rotate only Upper Right & Lower Left. Therefore, a triangle
can only move tangential to the center of the face. No doubt this is
confusing, but the physical skewb is the same way. In fact, that is
part of its appeal.
Key pad for Skewb3d, use must use your intuition (is this a cop out or
what?). The key pad is defined differently depending on which side of
the cube your mouse is pointing at. One thing that stays the same is
"5" is Clockwise and "/" is Counterclockwise.
Use the control key and the left mouse button, keypad, or arrow keys to
move the whole cube. This is not recorded as a turn.
The title is in the following format (non-motif version):
xskewb{2|3}d<dimension>: (<Number of moves>/{<Record number of
moves> <user name>|"NEVER noaccess"|"practice"}) - <Comment>
If there is no record of the current puzzle, it displays "NEVER
noaccess".
OPTIONS
-geometry {+|-}X{+|-}Y
This option sets the initial position of the skewb window
(resource name "geometry").
-display host:dpy
This option specifies the X server to contact.
-[no]mono
This option allows you to display the skewb window on a color
screen as if it were monochrome (resource name "mono").
-[no]{reverse|rv}
This option allows you to see the skewb window in reverse video
(resource name "reverseVideo").
-{foreground|fg} color
This option specifies the foreground of the skewb window
(resource name "foreground").
-{background|bg} color
This option specifies the background of the skewb window
(resource name "background").
-face{0|1|2|3|4|5} <color>
This option allows you to change the color of a face (resource
name "faceColorN"). In mono-mode, color is represented as the
first letter of the color name. On the 2-D version, the faces
are ordered top to bottom and left to right on the "t"
configuration. The "+-" configuration is physically consistent
with the former, so it is ordered "0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4". If you
has two colors that begin with the same letter you should have
one in uppercase and one in lowercase to distinguish them in
mono-mode. You can change the colors of the faces to make a
stupid cube (i.e. all White or in mono-mode all "W").
Unfortunately, it will not normally say its solved when its
randomized. This would be cheating.
-{border|bd} color
This option specifies the border color of the pieces in the
skewb window (resource name "borderColor").
-delay msecs
This option specifies the number of milliseconds it takes to
move pieces (1-50) (resource name "delay").
-[no]sound
This option specifies if sliding pieces should make a sound or
not (resource name "sound").
-moveSound filename
This option specifies the file for the move sound for the
twisting of the puzzle (resource name "moveSound").
-{font|fn} ontname
This option specifies the font that will be used (resource name
"font").
-view <int>
This option allows you to change the view of the cube for
OpenGL with choice of 4 views (resource name "int").
-[no]orient
This option allows you to access the orient mode (resource name
"orient").
-[no]practice
This option allows you to access the practice mode (resource
name "practice").
-userName string
This option specifies the user name for any records made or
else it will get your login name (resource name "userName").
-scoreFile filename
Specify an alternative score file (resource name "scoreFile").
-scores This option lists all the recorded scores and then exits.
-version
This option tells you what version of xskewb you have.
RECORDS
You must randomize the puzzle before a record is set, otherwise an
assumption of cheating is made if it is solved after a get.
SAVE FORMAT
Here is the format for the xskewb configuration, starting position, and
the movement of its pieces.
Skewb2d with default colors, not randomized:
0 R Red
1 2 3 B W G Blue, White, Green
4 P Pink
5 Y Yellow
orient: 0-1 <0 false, 1 true; if 1 then lines on pieces to be
oriented>
practice: 0-1 <0 false, 1 true>
moves: 0-MAXINT <total number of moves>
startingPosition: <2 dimensional array of face and corner
position and center diamond position, each face has 4 corner
pieces and one center piece, if orient mode then orientation
number follows face number: 0 up, 1 right, 2 down, and 3 left>
This is then followed by the moves, starting from 1.
move #: <face> <corner> <direction> <control>
Each turn is with respect to a corner on a face.
The corners start at the upper right and work clockwise.
Direction is represented as 0 upper right, 1 lower right, 2 lower left,
3 upper left, 5 clockwise, 7 counterclockwise, 8 up, 9 right, 10 down,
and 11 left.
Control is represented as 0 or 1, 1 if the whole cube is moved at once
(here the corner does not matter), 0 if not. The xskewb record keeper
does not count a control move as a move, but here we do.
REFERENCES
Beyond Rubik’s Cube: spheres, pyramids, dodecahedrons and God knows
what else by Douglas R. Hofstadter, Scientific American, July 1982, pp
16-31.
Mickey’s Challenge by Christoph Bandelow.
Magic Cubes 1996 Catalog of Dr. Christoph Bandelow.
SEE ALSO
X(1), xcubes(6), xtriangles(6), xhexagons(6), xmlink(6), xbarrel(6),
xpanex(6), xmball(6), xpyraminx(6), xoct(6), xrubik(6), xdino(6),
xabacus(6)
COPYRIGHTS
® Copyright 1994-2008, David A. Bagley
BUG REPORTS AND PROGRAM UPDATES
Send bugs (or their reports, or fixes) to the author:
David A. Bagley, <bagleyd@tux.org>
The latest version is currently at:
http://www.tux.org/~bagleyd/puzzles.html
ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/games/strategy