.TH XTROJKA 6 "30 Oct 1995"
.SH NAME
xtrojka \- a game of skill.
.SH USAGE
.B xtrojka [-s] [-h] [-display display_name]
.SH OPTIONS
.IP \-s
Display high-scores.
.IP \-h
Show a short help text.
.IP \-display\ display_name
Specifies the display on which
.IR xtrojka
will be run. See 
.BR X11 (7)
for further details.
.SH DESCRIPTION
.IR xtrojka
is the X version of an old game called Trojka. It finally
packs the thrills of Tetris
and the combinations of Columns into one (I hope) attractive game.
.PP
The name
.IR Trojka
is derived from the Russian word "Trojka", which
means "three", or "triple".
The aim of this game is to control and to place the falling blocks,
so that at least three blocks horizontally or diagonally, or both,
have matching patterns or colors. This sequence is then removed, and the above 
blocks will collapse. The latter sequence is repeated as long as
there are matching patterns after each collapsion.
A sequence of three immediate collapsions results in a socalled
"Trojka",  which is rewarded with bonus points.
If you reach the top of the screen, the game is finished.
.PP 
.IR xtrojka
is menu-controlled, so here comes a short description of the menu's.
.PP The
.B TROJKA
Menu
.LP
.TP 15
.I New\ game
start a new game. Your game must be finished.
.TP
.I Abort\ game
finish a game by selecting this menu option.
.TP
.I About
This option puts a little about box in the top-left corner of the screen.
.TP
.I Quit
Indeed, this item quits the program.

.PP The
.B OPTIONS
Menu
.LP
.TP 20
.I Score\ status
When this options is tagged, you permanently see the highscores in a window.
If the highscore file is installed in a shared directory, you can see the
new scores of other players appear. When you are not playing, the scorewindow
is
.I always
displayed.
.TP
.I Auto\ position
When checked, the score status window will be automatically positioned in the
neighbourhood of the main window. This may be annoying on some small 
resolutions so turn this option off then.
.TP
.I Wizard
When this option is checked, you play in a socalled wizard mode. This means
that combinations of blocks appear at the bottom of the screen. Only real
Trojka wizards know how to cope with this. If you played in wizard mode,
an asterisk will appear in the highscore list.

.PP The
.B SPEED
Menu
.LP
With this menu you can select your favorite game speed. Beware, the speed
will slowly increase, the longer you play. Once playing, you cannot switch
back to a slower speed, that wouldn't be cool.

.SH PREFERENCES
The speed and preferences are automatically stored in your homedir under
the name
.I \.xtrojka\.prefs\.bin
This is a binary file, it cannot be edited.

.SH KEYS
The falling blocks are controlled using the arrows, but of course
you can also use the keys of your alltime favorite Vi-editor:
.PP

.TP 20
Left arrow,h
left
.TP
Right arrow,l
right
.TP
Insert, Down arrow ,j,<SPACE>
drop
.TP
Up arrow, k
increase speed

.SH FILES
.TP 15
 __SCOREDIR__
The 
.IR xtrojka
highscore file
.TP
 .xtrojka.prefs.bin
The file in your homedir where the preferences are stored. This is
a binaryfile which you cannot edit. The preferences have to be set from
the menu.

.SH HISTORY
The first version was written in 1989 for MS-Dog. Not long thereafter (in 1990)
it was ported to the local Prime system at the Eindhoven Polytechnic. The
Unix terminal-version became available in 1992 together with the MS Windows-
version.  The Macintosh version became
available in 1992. In 1994, the X-version was written and released in 1995
after minor bugfixes.

.SH AUTHORS
The MS-DOS, UNIX, Macintosh and this version as well as the whole game-concept
is (c) copyrighted by Maarten Los.
Prime version (c) Jac Goudsmit, Joran Jessurun, Richard Moeskops and me.
MS Windows version (c) Jac Goudsmit.
.PP
Send all comments and bug-reports to:
.PP
maarten@djoe.iaf.nl

.SH BUGS
The argument parsing is poor. Arguments have to be given one
by one each starting with a '-' sign. The preferences are stored
in a very Unix-unlike way, a not editable binary file. The
locking system of the multiuser scorefile watcher is poor.  The sound
is also poor. In fact, there isn't any sound at all.

.SH DISCLAIMER
All brandnames listed are trademarks of their respective owners.
See also the Copyright notice that comes with the source code.



