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    Names: »puzzle15.6«

└─⟦b20c6495f⟧ Bits:30007238 EUUGD18: Wien-båndet, efterår 1987
    └─⟦this⟧ »EUUGD18/General/Puzzle15/puzzle15.6« 

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.TH PUZZLE15 6
.UC 4
.SH NAME
puzzle15 \- simulate a well known toy with many variations
.SH SYNOPSIS
.br
.B puzzle15
[<width[x<height>]]
[movemethod]
[cursormethod]
[facemethod]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.I Puzzle15
simulates a game that is available in many toy shops. This computerized
version is crt-oriented and offers fewer possibilities for cheating. 
.br
When invoked without arguments
.I puzzle15
presents a 4 by 4 grid with 15 numbered tiles and one empty square.
The tiles are not ordered in sequence.
The tiles adjacent to the empty square can exchange places with the
empty square. This is done by indicating the direction that the empty 
square is to move with the vi(1) cursor keys (k for up, j for down, 
h for left and l for right). 
.br
The intention of the game is to rearrange the tiles in their ``natural''
sequence. 
.PP
The program keeps track of the time and the number of moves used.
This makes it possible to arrange competitions where time, or the
number of moves used determines the winner.
.PP
The program ends when the tiles are arranged in sequence, or when you
type your interrupt character (usually ctrl-C or break). On computers
that lack good support for keyboard interrupts a key can be selected 
that will terminate the program. (This is a compile-time option.)
.SH VARIATIONS
The look and feel of the program can be altered by specifying different
dimensions for the array, the way that the tile to move is selected
(movemethod), the keys that specify where the cursor is to go 
(cursormethod) and the faces that are shown on the tiles (facemethod).
.SH DIMENSIONS
The dimensions of the board can be varied within the limits of your
terminal screen. To obtain a square array a single numeric argument
is required. 
.I Puzzle15 
.I 3
presents a 3x3 array with 8 numbered tiles. With numbered tiles it
is not possible to extend the array beyond 10 by 10, because only two
digits are used to identify each tile.
.PP
To obtain a non-square array an argument that consists of a number, 
the character 'x' and another number must be supplied.
.I Puzzle15
.I 6x3
presents a grid that is 6 columns wide and 3 rows high with 17
numbered tiles.
.SH MOVEMETHODS
The default movemethod is to indicate the direction that the empty
(blank) field is to move. This is called
.I moveblank.
There are two other methods that can be selected by an argument on the
command line.
.br
.I Movetile
tells 
.I puzzle15
that you want to indicate the direction that an adjacent tile is to be 
moved. This is equivalent to reversal of the directions of the cursor 
keys.
.br
.I Selecttile
tells
.I puzzle15
that you want to indicate the new position of the empty field by
moving the cursor to that position and then typing a <space>, or
<return> (or whatever you like). In this way you can move several
tiles in one blow.
.SH CURSORMETHODS
The default way to move the cursor or the empty field is to use the
vi(1) cursor keys.
.br
On some computers it is possible to specify
.I arrowkeys,
which tells 
.I puzzle15
to use the arrow keys of your terminal to specify a move. 
.br
If you specify 
.I numberkeys
on the command line, 
.I puzzle15 
will use '8' for up, '2' for down, '4' for left and '6' for right.
this corresponds to arrows on the numeric key pad of most personal 
computers.
.br
Another way to specify where the empty field is to go is obtained by
specifying
.I facekeys
on the command line. In this mode you move the empty field to a new
position by typing the character(s) shown on the tile that currently
occupies that position. 
.I Facekeys
implies use of the movemethod 
.I selecttile.
If the
.I facekeys
cursormethod is used with numbered tiles, some tile numbers are shown
with leading zero. To select such a tile a leading zero is required.
Tiles that are labeled with a single digit can be selected with that
digit, or with a leading zero followed by that digit.
.br
Finally you can specify your own cursor movement keys with
.I keys
.I <up><down><left><right>
on the command line. <Up> is the key that you will use to move
up, etc.
.SH FACEMETHODS
The default way that
.I puzzle15
uses to identify the tiles is to number them. If you prefer
tiles that are marked with letters you must specify
.I alphafaces
on the command line. 
.I Puzzle15
will now use the lower-case letters a..z to identify the tiles.
.br
Similarly, if you specify
.I numberalphafaces
.I puzzle15
will use the digits 0..9 followed by the lower-case letters a..z to
identify the tiles.
.br
.I Alphanumberfaces
selects the lower-case letters a..z followed by the digits 0..9.
.br
Finally, you can specify the characters to use on the command line with
.I faces
.I <facecharacters>.
The order in
.I <facecharacters>
will be used to determine when the tiles are ordered.
.SH EXAMPLES
.I puzzle15 
.I faces 
.I '1234567890qwertyuiopasdfghjkl;zxcvbnm,.'
.I 10x4 
.br
creates a 10 by 4 array filled with the symbols of a typewriter 
keyboard. The position to achieve is the ordering of the keys on
the typewriter. Quoting is necessary to prevent the shell from
treating the ``;'' as a special character. By adding the option
.I facekeys
the program turns into a tough typing tutor, especially if you decide
not to take your eyes off the screen.
.SH DIAGNOSTICS
An unknown keyword or an illegal combination of keywords on the command
line generates a complete list of possible keywords and restrictions on
their combinations.
.br
If you type an undefined key during the game, the program lists the keys
that are valid.
.br
On startup fatal diagnostics from the curses screen handling package
are possible if your terminal is ill-defined.
.br
If the program detects an internal error a diagnostic starting with the
letters
.I aargh:
is printed. If you manage to get one of these, I like to know how
you did it.
.SH AUTHOR
P. Knoppers - knop@duteca.UUCP.
.br
Paul Lew added arrow keys.
.br
Bo Kullmar added the clock and the move counter.
.br
Larry Hastings suggested the selecttile method.
.SH COPYRIGHT
The
.I puzzle15
program is protected by copyright (C) 1984, 1988, 1989 by P. Knoppers. 
Distribution of unmodified copies of the program with source is unrestricted. 
You are not allowed to distribute modified copies. This is to prevent 
uncontrolled spreading of a zillion different versions. 
You can mail suggestions for improvements to me. I 
.I may
incorporate them in a future version.