#! /bin/sh echo "=================== XBATTLE TUTORIAL 2 ========================" echo "hit RETURN to continue" read p1 clear echo "I will presume that you have already done the first tutorial," echo "and hopefully played a few games with some of your friends" echo "before trying out this tutorial. Here we will show you some" echo "more advanced things you can do with xbattle." echo echo "hit RETURN to continue" read p1 clear echo "First, we will introduce guns and paratroops. These are" echo "particularly handy when you have seas that cannot be crossed," echo "and can also be used for commando attacks or to break supply" echo "lines behind enemy lines. Guns are aimed with the mouse in the" echo "game square from which you wish to shoot, and the direction and" echo "distance of your cursor click from the center of the game square" echo "determines the azimuth and range of the shot. For example, if" echo "the mouse is in position A below, i.e. just above center, then" echo "the shot will fall at short range to the north. Position B" echo "represents a long range shot to the north, and C, a medium range" echo "shot to the south east. The shot is triggered by striking the" echo "'g' key on the keyboard (g for 'guns') while aiming with the" echo "mouse." echo " GAME SQUARE" echo " ==============================" echo " || B ||" echo " || ||" echo " || ||" echo " || ||" echo " || ||" echo " || A ||" echo " || ||" echo " || -|- ||" echo " || ||" echo " || ||" echo " || ||" echo " || ||" echo " || C ||" echo " || ||" echo " || ||" echo " || ||" echo " ==============================" echo "hit RETURN to continue" read p1 clear echo "Paratroops are launched in exactly the same way, except this" echo "time you use the 'p' key (p for paratroops). Every shot costs" echo "one troop, and will kill one troop in the enemy square, while" echo "every paratroop costs 3 troops from the source square, and" echo "arrives in the enemy square as a normal troop. Be careful with" echo "the guns, because they can kill your troops as well as the" echo "enemy's. Guns and paratroops are called with the command" echo "options '-guns' and '-para', each with an argument that controls" echo "the maximum range (in game squares). For example, try out the" echo "following game." echo echo "> xbattle -black me -white you -board 10 -square 64 -militia 5 -rbases 1 -guns 5 -para 5" echo echo echo "hit RETURN to start the game" read p1 xbattle -black me -white you -board 10 -square 64 -militia 5 -rbases 1 -guns 5 -para 5 & echo echo "hit RETURN to continue after game" read p1 clear echo "Another set of options allow you to build and destroy the supply" echo "bases. The option '-build ' lets you build them by pointing" echo "to a game square which is completely full of troops and pressing" echo "the 'b' key (b for build). This operation will cost you all the" echo "troops in the square, and will only build a partial base- the" echo "operation will have to be repeated a number of times before the" echo "base is complete and can go into production. The total cost of" echo "building a base is full troop squares. " echo echo "Bases can be scuttled (destroyed) with the '-scuttle' option (no" echo "argument) by again positioning the cursor on the base and" echo "pressing the 's' key (s for scuttle). Again, you will have to" echo "have some troops in the square, and it may take several scuttle" echo "operations to completely destroy it, but each operation costs" echo "only a single troop, and is thus much cheaper than building" echo "them. A base can be scuttled to prevent it falling into enemy" echo "hands." echo echo "Try building and scuttling a few bases in the next example. Try" echo "doing a partial scuttle and then rebuilding again." echo echo "> xbattle -black me -white you -board 10 -square 64 -hex -militia 5 -rbases 1 -build 4 -scuttle" echo echo "hit RETURN to start the game" read p1 xbattle -black me -white you -board 10 -square 64 -hex -militia 5 -rbases 1 -build 4 -scuttle & echo echo "hit RETURN to continue after game" read p1 clear echo "Another way you can modify the game board during the game is to" echo "fill or dig, to raise or lower the elevation. When used with" echo "'-sea', digging creates a new square of sea, while filling can" echo "fill one in. Each operation costs full troop squares, and" echo "is performed by putting the cursor in that square and hitting" echo "'d' to dig. To fill in a sea, the troops cannot march into it" echo "first, so you must do the next best thing- march your troops" echo "next to the sea and then command them to march into it by" echo "clicking a command vector to point to the sea, then hit the 'f'" echo "key to fill in. The arguments for dig and fill must have the" echo "same value." echo echo "Try digging and filling a few seas in the next example. " echo echo "> xbattle -black me -white you -board 10 -square 64 -militia 5 -rbases 1 -sea 2 -dig 4 -fill 4" echo echo "hit RETURN to start the game" read p1 xbattle -black me -white you -board 10 -square 64 -militia 5 -rbases 1 -sea 2 -dig 4 -fill 4 & echo echo "hit RETURN to continue after game" read p1 clear echo "When used with the '-hills' option, the digging and filling can" echo "be used to lower or raise the elevation to create defensive" echo "fortifications. In this case, each dig or fill costs only one" echo "full troop square regardless of the value you supply for the" echo "arguments -dig and -fill. You must supply dummy arguments" echo "nevertheless. Try this out in the next example." echo echo "> xbattle -black me -white you -board 10 -square 64 -militia 5 -rbases 1 -hills 9 -dig 5 -fill 5 &" echo echo "hit RETURN to start the game" read p1 xbattle -black me -white you -board 10 -square 64 -militia 5 -rbases 1 -hills 9 -dig 2 -fill 2 & echo echo "hit RETURN to continue after game" read p1 clear echo "You can bias a game to favor a player with less experience. Not" echo "all xbattle parameters can be biased, but a good many can. Here" echo "is an example." echo echo "> xbattle -options tribal.xbo -black { -fight 9 -move 9 } me -white me -board 10 -manpos" echo echo "In this example the arguments in the {braces} between '-black'" echo "and 'me' apply only to black, not to white. In this case, the" echo "black troops will move quickly and have an increased fighting" echo "strength compared to white, who has the default values of these" echo "parameters. Note the spaces on either side of the '{' and '}'." echo "Xbattle options are evaluated sequentially, therefore later" echo "options can overwrite earlier options. If you wished to set a" echo "default '-fight 3' for all players except black, this option" echo "would have to be placed first in the sequence in order to avoid" echo "overwriting the biased options set for black. Try out the" echo "difference between these fight and move settings." echo echo "hit RETURN to start the game" read p1 xbattle -options tribal.xbo -black { -fight 9 -move 9 } me -white me -board 10 -manpos& echo echo "hit RETURN to continue after game" read p1 clear echo "Another interesting dynamic parameter called '-digin' dictates" echo "that troops moving through open country move faster than when" echo "they have to 'trip over' each other. With this parameter, it" echo "takes time for your troops to 'dig in' at the front; the more" echo "troops there are in a square, the slower the new troops enter" echo "that square, rather like the charging of a capacitor. Another" echo "option called 'hidden' makes the troop command vectors invisible" echo "to the enemy, so that the enemy can only see your troop" echo "deployment, not your marching orders. Another option called" echo "'disrupt' will cause your troops to forget all their marching" echo "orders as soon as they are under attack. This will make you" echo "have to repeat your orders to them when they panic in the heat" echo "of battle. These options can all be biased, as shown in the" echo "next example. Note that in this case, all three options serve" echo "to hinder black; his troop convoys are sluggish, he cannot see" echo "white's command vectors, and his supply lines can be cut with a" echo "single momentary attack by white." echo echo "> xbattle -options tribal.xbo -black { -digin 9 -hidden } me -white { -disrupt } me -board 10 -manpos&" echo echo "hit RETURN to start the game" read p1 xbattle -options tribal.xbo -black { -digin 9 -hidden } me -white { -disrupt } me -board 10 -manpos& echo echo "hit RETURN to continue after game" read p1 clear echo "There are a few alternative ways to command groups of your men" echo "to march simultaneously. One is controlled by the option" echo "'-march ' whereby you command your troops to start marching" echo "in a particular direction and continue until told to stop. The" echo "speed is set with the argument . To march your troops," echo "position your mouse and hold down the shift key as you click. A" echo "march command is displayed as a double command vector, and such" echo "commands can be set up on empty game squares to steer your" echo "troops in more complex paths. The stop command can also be set" echo "by clicking in the center of the square, and is displayed as a" echo "small box. If the march is commenced with a shift-leftmouse," echo "the troops will split if they cross another supply line, whereas" echo "when set with the middle mouse, they will cross over other" echo "supply lines. Try out the march option in the following game." echo echo "> xbattle -black me -militia 3 -march 5" echo echo "hit RETURN to start the game" read p1 xbattle -black me -militia 3 -march 5& echo echo "hit RETURN to continue after game" read p1 clear echo "Another way to give group commands to your troops is with the" echo "'bound' option. When this option is active, you can give the" echo "same movement command to all the troops within a bounding" echo "rectangle defined as follows. Click the mouse, for instance to" echo "'march east' in a particular square, but hold the mouse down and" echo "drag it diagonally across other gamesquares to the square at the" echo "opposite corner of the bounding rectangle before releasing the" echo "button. All the troops within the rectangle will obey the" echo "command. Try this option in the following game." echo echo "> xbattle -black me -militia 3 -bound" echo echo "hit RETURN to start the game" read p1 xbattle -black me -militia 3 -bound& echo echo "hit RETURN to continue after game" read p1 clear echo "If you have played an interesting game you may wish to review" echo "the action afterwards to learn from your mistakes. This can be" echo "done with the '-store' option, which will save all the graphics" echo "commands to a file. The file can be reviewed with the -replay" echo "option. The stored file can be enormous, especially for long" echo "games on a large board, so be careful. If your quota is" echo "exceeded during the game, xbattle will quietly stop writing to" echo "the store file, but the game will continue uninterrupted. You" echo "will just miss the tail end of the battle on the replay." echo echo "We will try to store a game in the next example- move your" echo "armies around the board in interesting formations, and then exit" echo "the game as usual. Then we will watch the replay." echo echo "> xbattle -black me -white you -board 10 -farms 5 -militia 5 -store xbattle.xba" echo echo echo "hit RETURN to start the game" read p1 xbattle -black me -white you -board 13 -farms 5 -militia 5 -store xbattle.xba& echo echo "hit RETURN to continue after game" read p1 clear echo "To replay the game, all you have to do is give a display name," echo "the other options will not be needed. To flag the display name" echo "you will have to give a dummy team color, for example '-black'," echo "although this argument will actually be ignored, so you could" echo "just as well have used '-white', or '-red' for that matter. You" echo "must however give the display name on which the replay is to be" echo "viewed." echo echo "The replay file stores none of the actual game parameters, only" echo "the graphics commands, and in replay mode xbattle does not" echo "respond to any of the normal commands, it is even impossible to" echo "quit from the replay after it is done (sorry- we have not gotten" echo "around to that yet) so you will have to kill the window some" echo "other way, or just hide it behind another window for now. We" echo "will use the '-manpos' option so you can place the window" echo "conveniently." echo echo "> xbattle -black me -manpos -replay xbattle.xba" echo echo echo "hit RETURN to start the replay" read p1 xbattle -black me -manpos -replay xbattle.xba& echo echo "hit RETURN to continue after game" read p1 clear echo "The replayed game board will not respond to any commands, not" echo "even the control-c exit key, so you will have to dispose of it's" echo "xwindow by other means (such as a kill window command, or kill" echo "the process)." echo echo "We will now delete the saved file to conserve disk space." echo "Remember to do this, since these files can be very big. On unix" echo "systems it is convenient to save your games to /tmp/xbattle.xba," echo "the system temporary directory." echo echo "> rm xbattle.xba" echo rm xbattle.xba echo echo "It is also possible to save the state of the game at any point" echo "during the combat, and to continue the game from that point some" echo "time in the future. This is done by pressing 'control-p' in the" echo "text area during the game. The game will continue" echo "uninterrupted, and the only acknowledgement you will see is a" echo "print out of some game statistics on the window where the game" echo "was started. Later we will show you how to resume the game." echo echo "In the next example, do some moves, then press 'control-p' in" echo "the text area, then do some more moves and then exit normally." echo "You will see that when we load the game state file the game will" echo "resume from the point where you pressed the control-p." echo echo "> xbattle -black me -white you -board 10 -farms 5 -militia 5" echo echo echo "hit RETURN to start the game" read p1 xbattle -black me -white you -board 10 -farms 5 -militia 5 echo echo "hit RETURN to continue after game" read p1 clear echo "Now, we will resume the game from the point where you saved it." echo "by using the '-load' option. This option sets several options" echo "automatically from the file, but must have other options set in" echo "the command line to match the original parameters that the" echo "original game used. Read the manual very carefully on this" echo "subject, as it gets quite complicated. In future releases of" echo "xbattle we will probably have cleaned this up somewhat." echo echo "> xbattle -black me -white you -board 10 -load" echo echo "hit RETURN to start the replay" read p1 xbattle -black me -white you -board 10 -load& echo echo "hit RETURN to continue after the resumed game" read p1 clear echo "It is possible to edit the stored file and to change many" echo "features of the terrain, or to set up new armies, and create a" echo "whole battle scenario in advance. This is done with the command" echo "option '-edit', which completely redefines the xbattle controls," echo "and disables all normal playing. When editing an existing file," echo "you must be very careful to call exactly the same options as in" echo "the original file- number of teams and team colors, hills, seas," echo "board size, square size, etc. otherwise unexpected things might" echo "happen. The edit feature is brand new, and still has a few bugs" echo "in it. Let us therefore edit a completely new file, and allow" echo "for hills, seas, and two armies. " echo echo "When you start this game, place the window to the side so that" echo "you will be able to see the menu that describes the editing" echo "commands. Try them out, and remember to finish with 'd' (dump" echo "to file) and 'e' (exit). Afterwards, we will play on your new" echo "terrain map." echo echo "> xbattle -edit -manpos -black me -white you -board 10 -hills 5 -sea 5" echo echo "hit RETURN to start the editing" read p1 xbattle -edit -manpos -black me -white you -board 10 -hills 5 -sea 5& echo "EDIT MODE COMMANDS" echo "==================" echo echo " left button: lower terrain by one notch (sea lowest)" echo " middle button: raise terrain by one notch (sea lowest)" echo " right button: toggle between lowest and mid terrain" echo "" echo " c: create city (growth = 100)" echo " t: create town (growth = 80)" echo " v: create village (growth = 60)" echo " k: increase size of city by 5 percent" echo " j: decrease size of city by 5 percent" echo " s: scuttle city - remove 36 degrees of arc" echo " b: build city - add 36 degrees of arc" echo "" echo " 0-9: create troop square with troops of current color" echo " [: decrease troop amount by 1" echo " ]: increase troop amount by 1" echo " r: change current color" echo " f: change color of existent troop square" echo " d: dump board with name " echo " l: load board with name " echo " e: exit" echo "" echo " FINISH EDITING with 'd' (dump) followed by 'e' (exit)" echo echo "hit RETURN after editing" read p1 clear echo "And now we will play on the game board you just created by using" echo "the '-load' option. This looks for the file called" echo "'xbattle.xbt', unless it is given another filename." echo echo "> xbattle -load -black me -white you -board 10 -hills 5 -sea 5" echo echo "hit RETURN to start the game" read p1 xbattle -load -black me -white you -board 10 -hills 5 -sea 5& echo echo "hit RETURN to continue after game" read p1 clear echo "You have now been introduced to just about all of the options" echo "available in xbattle. We have skipped over some of the more" echo "obscure variations of the horizon option (map, basemap, localmap" echo "etc.) but you can read about these in the man page if you are" echo "interested. Also in the man page is a description of a number of" echo "different compile-time options sent in by xbattlers around the" echo "world, including different mouse button definitions, different" echo "text lines, different command vectors, and so forth. Finally, I" echo "encourage you to try 'skirmish.xbo', an options file used with" echo "the '-options' argument. This creates a fast paced game" echo "employing a good many of the options introduced in this" echo "tutorial. Try your own variations, and above all," echo echo " Happy xbattling!" echo "================= END OF XBATTLE TUTORIAL ==================="