XGalaga v2.0
Copyright (c) 1995-1998 Joe Rumsey
<mrogre@mediaone.net>
XGalaga Home Page: http://rumsey.org/xgal.html
Please see the file INSTALL for installation instructions.
This is the first game I've written for X from "scratch" (the
graphics interface is borrowed, I wrote everything else), but is by no
means my first game. I have written several popular shareware games
for the Amiga, and plan to start porting them to X. This project is
to help me get used to X and to fine tune the graphics routines to
make the next project easier.
Previous versions of this game were released as shareware. However,
it was never really worth my while. Therefore, with apologies to the
good souls that sent their payments in, I have placed it under the GNU
GPL. See COPYING for details
See the file INSTALL for installation instructions.
Note that XGalaga is a major X server hog. I doubt it will run
well over a network. Run it on the same machine as your display if at
all possible. On my 486DX/66 w/ accelerated graphics, the X server
uses every available cycle to keep up, but the game still runs at
nearly 30 frames/sec in buffered mode (and in non-buffered mode would
run much faster than that if it weren't being purposely held to 30 fps)
You may find this amusing when you realize the original Galaga was
probably a 6502 or Z-80 with 16k RAM.
Command line options:
-scores Print out the high score tables and exit
-display <display> Set your display
-mouse Use mouse control (same as 'm' at the title screen)
-keyboard Use keyboard control (same as 'k')
-nosound Turn sound off on platforms with sound support
-b turn buffered mode off, use this if it runs
too slowly. Will cause flicker, maybe lots,
maybe only a little.
-level <level> Set the starting level to <level>
<anything else> print usage and version.
Basic instructions:
It's Galaga, you know how to play Galaga, stop bothering me.
(Ship follows the mouse, button fires. Auto-fire by holding it
down, so no-one accuses me of breaking their mouse!)
Keyboard commands:
p - pauses
q - end this game
b - Toggle buffering (flicker vs. speed.)
o - Toggle OR mode. Don't use this, it sucks.
s - toggle sound if your system supports it
m - Turn mouse control on (also works to start the game)
k - Turn keyboard controls on (also works to start the game)
Controls: left_arrow - move left
right_arrow - move right
space_bar - fire
Tech stuff about the graphics:
Why are the graphics so much snazzier than anything this side of
XDoom? (which I now hear may only really work well on Linux, and which
certainly doesn't come with source code) libXsprite, that's why!
Originally the netrek graphics routines, then souped up for xpm
support by Bill Dyess and others, I have turned it into a library for
general use. Want to use it yourself? Go ahead! It is free and
quite powerful, as you can see. Much more than just sprite handling,
it takes care of every aspect of the X interface. Perfect for getting
games written quickly and painlessly.
Credits:
Galaga code:
Joe Rumsey (mrogre@mediaone.net)
X interface:
Bill Dyess(dyessww@eng.auburn.edu),
Rob Forsman(thoth@cis.ufl.edu),
and about a million others.
Sound server/interface:
Sujal Patel (smpatel@wam.umd.edu)
Paul Kendall (paul@kcbbs.gen.nz) (Sun and NAS support)
Pixmaps:
Joe Rumsey (ogre@atomic.com)
Mike McGrath (mcgrath@epx.cis.umn.edu)
Thanks: Alec Habig for mirroring it at indiana
Johnathan Hardwick for testing on many
different platforms and sending bug fixes
Koala team in France for bug fixes and for writing the XPM
lib.
All the dupes^H^H^H^H^Hnetrekers who helped
test it at the earliest stages.
Bill Clarke (bill@discworld.anu.edu.au) for high score hacks
Everyone that's written me thanking me, and especially
the few who sent the five bucks in.
