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}]    [-{border|bd}   {color}]   [-
     face{0|1|2|3|4|5} {color}] [-[no]orient] [-[no]practice]  [-
     {font|fn} {fontname}] [-username {string}]


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 com-
     binations).

     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 dif-
     ferent  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 dia-
     monds 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 "prac-
     tice").  This is good for learning moves and experimenting.

     Click "mouse-right", or press "R" or "r" keys  to  randomize
     the puzzle (this must be done first to set a new record).

     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.

     "S" or "s" keys reserved for  the  auto-solver  (not  imple-
     mented).

     Press "U" or "u" keys to undo move.

     Press "G" or "g" keys to get a saved puzzle.

     Press "W" or "w" keys to write or save a puzzle.

     Press "C" or "c" keys to clear a puzzle.

     Press "Esc" key to hide program.

     Press "Q", "q", or "CTRL-C" keys to kill program.

     Use the key pad, "R" keys, or arrow  keys  to  move  without
     mouse clicks.
     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  puz-
     zle  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>        <username>|"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 on a color screen
             as if monochrome (resource name "mono").

     -[no]{reverse|rv}
             This option allows you to see the  skewb  window  in
             reverse video (resource name "reverse").

     -{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").

     -{border|bd} color
             This  option  specifies  the  border  color  of  the
             cubelets in the skewb window (resource name "border-
             Color").

     -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  lower-
             case  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"). Unfor-
             tunately, it will not normally say its  solved  when
             its randomized. This would be cheating.

     -[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").

     -{font|fn} ontname
             This option specifies the font  that  will  be  used
             (resource name "font").

     -username string
             This option specifies the user name for any  records
             made  or  else it will get your login name (resource
             name "userName").


RECORDS

     You must randomize the puzzle before a record is set, other-
     wise an assumption of cheating is made if it is solved after
     a get.


SAVE FORMAT

     The format is not standard.  The reason  for  this  is  that
     this is simple and I do not know what the standard is.

     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 cubies
          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), xrubik(6), xdino(6), xpyraminx(6), xoct(6), xmball(6),
     xmlink(6),   xpanex(6),   xcubes(6),  xtriangles(6),  xhexa-
     gons(6), xabacus(6)


COPYRIGHTS

     (Reg.) Copyright 1994-2005, David Albert Bagley


BUG REPORTS AND PROGRAM UPDATES

     Send bugs (or their reports, or fixes) to the author:
          David Albert Bagley, <bagleyd@tux.org>

     The latest version is currently at:
          ftp://ftp.tux.org/pub/tux/bagleyd/xpuzzles
          ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/games/strategy