xref: /dragonfly/games/atc/atc.6 (revision 2038fb68)
1.\" Copyright (c) 1990, 1993
2.\"	The Regents of the University of California.  All rights reserved.
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4.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
5.\" Ed James.
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35.\"	@(#)atc.6	8.1 (Berkeley) 5/31/93
36.\" $FreeBSD: src/games/atc/atc.6,v 1.6.2.1 2001/07/22 11:32:34 dd Exp $
37.\" $DragonFly: src/games/atc/atc.6,v 1.5 2008/05/02 02:05:03 swildner Exp $
38.\"
39.\" Copyright (c) 1986 Ed James. All rights reserved.
40.\"
41.Dd May 31, 1993
42.Dt ATC 6
43.Os
44.Sh NAME
45.Nm atc
46.Nd air traffic controller game
47.Sh SYNOPSIS
48.Nm
49.Op Fl u?lstp
50.Op Fl gf Ar game
51.Op Fl r Ar seed
52.Sh DESCRIPTION
53.Nm
54lets you try your hand at the nerve wracking duties of the air traffic
55controller without endangering the lives of millions of travelers each year.
56Your responsibilities require you to direct the flight of jets
57and prop planes into and out of the flight arena and airports.
58The speed (update time) and frequency of the planes depend on the
59difficulty of the chosen arena.
60.Sh OPTIONS
61.Bl -tag -width ".Fl u"
62.It Fl u
63Print the usage line and exit.
64.It Fl \&?
65Same as
66.Fl u .
67.It Fl l
68Print a list of available games and exit.
69The first game name printed is the default game.
70.It Fl s
71Print the score list (formerly the Top Ten list).
72.It Fl t
73Same as
74.Fl s .
75.It Fl p
76Print the path to the special directory where
77.Nm
78expects to find its private files.
79This is used during the installation of the program.
80.It Fl g Ar game
81Play the named game.
82If the game listed is not one of the ones printed from the
83.Fl l
84option, the default game is played.
85.It Fl f Ar game
86Same as
87.Fl g .
88.It Fl r Ar seed
89Set the random seed.
90The purpose of this flag is questionable.
91.El
92.Sh GOALS
93Your goal in
94.Nm
95is to keep the game going as long as possible.
96There is no winning state, except to beat the times of other players.
97You will need to: launch planes at airports (by instructing them to
98increase their altitude); land planes at airports (by instructing them to
99go to altitude zero when exactly over the airport); and maneuver planes
100out of exit points.
101.Pp
102Several things will cause the end of the game.
103Each plane has a destination (see information area), and
104sending a plane to the wrong destination is an error.
105Planes can run out of fuel, or can collide.
106Collision is defined as adjacency in all three dimensions.
107A plane leaving the arena
108in any other way than through its destination exit is an error as well.
109.Pp
110Scores are sorted in order of the number of planes safe.
111The other statistics are provided merely for fun.
112There is no penalty for
113taking longer than another player (except in the case of ties).
114.Pp
115Suspending a game is not permitted.
116If you get a talk message, tough.
117When was the last time an Air Traffic Controller got called away to the phone?
118.Sh THE DISPLAY
119Depending on the terminal you run
120.Nm
121on, the screen will be divided into 4 areas.
122It should be stressed that the terminal driver portion of the
123game was designed to be reconfigurable, so the display format can vary
124depending on the version you are playing.
125The descriptions here are based on the ASCII version of the game.
126The game rules and input format, however, should remain consistent.
127Control-L redraws the screen, should it become muddled.
128.Ss RADAR
129The first screen area is the radar display, showing the relative locations
130of the planes, airports, standard entry/exit points, radar
131beacons, and ``lines'' which simply serve to aid you in guiding
132the planes.
133.Pp
134Planes are shown as a single letter with an altitude.
135If the numerical altitude is a single digit, then it represents
136thousands of feet.
137Some distinction is made between the prop planes and the jets.
138On ASCII terminals, prop planes are
139represented by an upper case letter, jets by a lower case letter.
140.Pp
141Airports are shown as a number and some indication of the direction
142planes must be going to land at the airport.
143On ASCII terminals, this is one of '^', '\*[Gt]', '\*[Lt]', and 'v', to indicate
144north (0 degrees), east (90), west (270) and south (180), respectively.
145The planes will also take off in this direction.
146.Pp
147Beacons are represented as circles or asterisks and a number.
148Their purpose is to offer a place of easy reference to the plane pilots.
149See
150.Sx THE DELAY COMMAND
151section below.
152.Pp
153Entry/exit points are displayed as numbers along the border of the
154radar screen.
155Planes will enter the arena from these points without warning.
156These points have a direction associated with them, and
157planes will always enter the arena from this direction.
158On the ASCII version of
159.Nm ,
160this direction is not displayed.
161It will become apparent what this direction is as the game progresses.
162.Pp
163Incoming planes will always enter at the same altitude: 7000 feet.
164For a plane to successfully depart through an entry/exit point,
165it must be flying at 9000 feet.
166It is not necessary for the planes to be flying in any particular
167direction when they leave the arena (yet).
168.Ss INFORMATION AREA
169The second area of the display is the information area, which lists
170the time (number of updates since start), and the number of planes you
171have directed safely out of the arena.
172Below this is a list of planes currently in the air, followed by a
173blank line, and then a list of planes on the ground (at airports).
174Each line lists the plane name and its current altitude,
175an optional asterisk indicating low fuel, the plane's destination,
176and the plane's current command.
177Changing altitude is not considered
178to be a command and is therefore not displayed.
179The following are some possible information lines:
180.Bd -literal -offset indent
181B4*A0: Circle @ b1
182g7 E4: 225
183.Ed
184.Pp
185The first example shows a prop plane named `B' that is flying at 4000 feet.
186It is low on fuel (note the `*').
187Its destination is Airport #0.
188The next command it expects to do is circle when it reaches Beacon #1.
189The second example shows a jet named `g' at 7000 feet, destined for
190Exit #4.
191It is just now executing a turn to 225 degrees (South-West).
192.Ss INPUT AREA
193The third area of the display is the input area.
194It is here that your input is reflected.
195See the
196.Sx INPUT
197heading of this manual for more details.
198.Ss AUTHOR AREA
199This area is used simply to give credit where credit is due. :-)
200.Sh INPUT
201A command completion interface is built into the game.
202At any time, typing `?' will list possible input characters.
203Typing a backspace (your erase character) backs up, erasing the last part
204of the command.
205When a command is complete, a return enters it, and
206any semantic checking is done at that time.
207If no errors are detected, the command is sent to the appropriate plane.
208If an error is discovered
209during the check, the offending statement will be underscored and a
210(hopefully) descriptive message will be printed under it.
211.Pp
212The command syntax is broken into two parts:
213.Em Immediate Only
214and
215.Em Delayable
216commands.
217.Em Immediate Only
218commands happen on the next update.
219.Em Delayable
220commands also happen on the next update unless they
221are followed by an optional predicate called the
222.Em Delay
223command.
224.Pp
225In the following tables, the syntax
226.Em [0\-9]
227means any single digit, and
228.Aq Em dir
229refers to a direction, given by the keys around the `s' key: ``wedcxzaq''.
230In absolute references, `q' refers to North-West or 315 degrees, and `w'
231refers to North, or 0 degrees.
232In relative references, `q' refers to \-45 degrees or 45 degrees left, and `w'
233refers to 0 degrees, or no change in direction.
234.Pp
235All commands start with a plane letter.
236This indicates the recipient of the command.
237Case is ignored.
238.Ss IMMEDIATE ONLY COMMANDS
239.Bl -tag -width "aaaa"
240.It "a [ cd+- ]" Em number
241Altitude: Change a plane's altitude, possibly requesting takeoff.
242`+' and `-' are the same as `c' and `d'.
243.Bl -tag -width "aaaaaaaaaa" -compact
244.It a Em number
245Climb or descend to the given altitude (in thousands of feet).
246.It ac Em number
247Climb: relative altitude change.
248.It ad Em number
249Descend: relative altitude change.
250.El
251.It m
252Mark: Display in highlighted mode.
253Plane and command information is displayed normally.
254.It i
255Ignore: Do not display highlighted.
256Command is displayed as a line of dashes if there is no command.
257.It u
258Unmark: Same as ignore, but if a delayed command is processed,
259the plane will become marked.
260This is useful if you want to forget about a plane during part,
261but not all, of its journey.
262.El
263.Ss DELAYABLE COMMANDS
264.Bl -tag -width "aaaa"
265.It "c [ lr ]"
266Circle: Have the plane circle.
267.Bl -tag -width "aaaaaaaaaa" -compact
268.It cl
269Left: Circle counterclockwise.
270.It cr
271Right: Circle clockwise (default).
272.El
273.It "t [ l-r+LR ] [ dir ] or tt [ abe* ]" Em number
274Turn: Change direction.
275.Bl -tag -width "aaaaaaaaaa" -compact
276.It "t\*[Lt]dir\*[Gt]"
277Turn to direction: Turn to the absolute compass heading given.
278The shortest turn will be taken.
279.It "tl [ dir ]"
280Left: Turn counterclockwise: 45 degrees by default, or the amount
281specified in
282.Aq dir
283(not
284.Em to
285.Aq dir . )
286`w' (0 degrees) is no turn.
287`e' is 45 degrees; `q' gives \-45 degrees counterclockwise, that is,
28845 degrees clockwise.
289.It "t- [ dir ]"
290Same as left.
291.It "tr [ dir ]"
292Right: Turn clockwise, 45 degrees by default, or the amount specified in
293.Aq dir .
294.It "t+ [ dir ]"
295Same as right.
296.It tL
297Hard left: Turn counterclockwise 90 degrees.
298.It tR
299Hard right: Turn clockwise 90 degrees.
300.It "tt [abe*]"
301Towards: Turn towards a beacon, airport or exit.
302The turn is just an estimate.
303.It "tta" Em number
304Turn towards the given airport.
305.It "ttb" Em number
306Turn towards the specified beacon.
307.It "tte" Em number
308Turn towards an exit.
309.It "tt*" Em number
310Same as ttb.
311.El
312.El
313.Ss THE DELAY COMMAND
314The
315.Em Delay
316(a/@) command may be appended to any
317.Em Delayable
318command.
319It allows the controller to instruct a plane to do an action when the
320plane reaches a particular beacon (or other objects in future versions).
321.Bl -tag -width "aaaa"
322.It ab Em number
323Do the delayable command when the plane reaches the specified beacon.
324The `b' for ``beacon'' is redundant to allow for expansion.
325`@' can be used instead of `a'.
326.El
327.Ss MARKING, UNMARKING AND IGNORING
328Planes are
329.Em marked
330by default when they enter the arena.
331This means they are displayed in highlighted mode on the radar display.
332A plane may also be either
333.Em unmarked
334or
335.Em ignored .
336An
337.Em ignored
338plane is drawn in unhighlighted mode, and a line of dashes is displayed in
339the command field of the information area.
340The plane will remain this way until a mark command has been issued.
341Any other command will be issued, but the command line will return to a
342line of dashes when the command is completed.
343.Pp
344An
345.Em unmarked
346plane is treated the same as an
347.Em ignored
348plane, except that it will automatically switch to
349.Em marked
350status when a delayed command has been processed.
351This is useful if you want to forget about a plane for a while, but its
352flight path has not yet been completely set.
353.Pp
354As with all of the commands, marking, unmarking and ignoring will take effect
355at the beginning of the next update.
356Do not be surprised if the plane does
357not immediately switch to unhighlighted mode.
358.Ss EXAMPLES
359.Bl -tag -width gtte4ab2 -offset indent
360.It atlab1
361Plane A: turn left at beacon #1
362.It cc
363Plane C: circle
364.It gtte4ab2
365Plane G: turn towards exit #4 at beacon #2
366.It ma+2
367Plane M: altitude: climb 2000 feet
368.It stq
369Plane S: turn to 315
370.It xi
371Plane X: ignore
372.El
373.Sh OTHER INFORMATION
374.Bl -bullet
375.It
376Jets move every update; prop planes move every other update.
377.It
378All planes turn at most 90 degrees per movement.
379.It
380Planes enter at 7000 feet and leave at 9000 feet.
381.It
382Planes flying at an altitude of 0 crash if they are not over an airport.
383.It
384Planes waiting at airports can only be told to take off (climb in altitude).
385.It
386Pressing return (that is, entering an empty command) will perform the
387next update immediately.
388This allows you to ``fast forward''
389the game clock if nothing interesting is happening.
390.El
391.Sh NEW GAMES
392The
393.Pa Game_List
394file lists the currently available play fields.
395New field description file names must be placed in this file to be playable.
396If a player specifies a game not in this file, his score will not be logged.
397.Pp
398The game field description files are broken into two parts.
399The first part is the definition section.
400Here, the four tunable game parameters must be set.
401These variables are set with the syntax:
402.Pp
403.Dl "variable = number;"
404.Pp
405Variable may be one of:
406.Li update ,
407indicating the number of seconds between forced updates;
408.Li newplane ,
409indicating (about) the number of updates between new plane entries;
410.Li width ,
411indicating the width of the play field; or
412.Li height ,
413indicating the height of the play field.
414.Pp
415The second part of the field description files describes the locations
416of the exits, the beacons, the airports and the lines.
417The syntax is as follows:
418.Bd -literal -offset indent
419.Bl -tag -width airport: -compact
420.It beacon :
421(x y) ... ;
422.It airport :
423(x y direction) ... ;
424.It exit :
425(x y direction) ... ;
426.It line :
427[ (x1 y1) (x2 y2) ] ... ;
428.El
429.Ed
430.Pp
431For beacons, a simple x, y coordinate pair is used (enclosed in parenthesis).
432Airports and exits require a third value, which is one of the directions
433.Em wedcxzaq .
434For airports, this is the direction that planes must be going to take
435off and land, and for exits, this is the direction that planes will be
436going when they
437.Em enter
438the arena.
439This may not seem intuitive, but as there is no restriction on
440direction of exit, this is appropriate.
441Lines are slightly different, since they need two coordinate pairs to
442specify the line endpoints.
443These endpoints must be enclosed in square brackets.
444.Pp
445All statements are semi-colon (;) terminated.
446Multiple item statements accumulate.
447Each definition must occur exactly once, before any item statements.
448Comments begin with a hash (#) symbol and terminate with a newline.
449The coordinates are between zero and width-1 and height-1 inclusive.
450All of the exit coordinates must lie on the borders, and
451all of the beacons and airports must lie inside of the borders.
452Line endpoints may be anywhere within the field, so long as
453the lines are horizontal, vertical or
454.Em exactly
455diagonal.
456.Ss FIELD FILE EXAMPLE
457.Bd -literal
458# This is the default game.
459
460update = 5;
461newplane = 5;
462width = 30;
463height = 21;
464
465exit:		( 12  0 x ) ( 29  0 z ) ( 29  7 a ) ( 29 17 a )
466		(  9 20 e ) (  0 13 d ) (  0  7 d ) (  0  0 c ) ;
467
468beacon:		( 12  7 ) ( 12 17 ) ;
469
470airport:	( 20 15 w ) ( 20 18 d ) ;
471
472line:		[ (  1  1 ) (  6  6 ) ]
473		[ ( 12  1 ) ( 12  6 ) ]
474		[ ( 13  7 ) ( 28  7 ) ]
475		[ ( 28  1 ) ( 13 16 ) ]
476		[ (  1 13 ) ( 11 13 ) ]
477		[ ( 12  8 ) ( 12 16 ) ]
478		[ ( 11 18 ) ( 10 19 ) ]
479		[ ( 13 17 ) ( 28 17 ) ]
480		[ (  1  7 ) ( 11  7 ) ] ;
481
482.Ed
483.Sh FILES
484Files are kept in a special directory.
485See the
486.Sx OPTIONS
487section for a way to print this path out.
488It is normally
489.Pa /usr/share/games/atc .
490.Pp
491This directory contains the file
492.Pa Game_List ,
493which holds the list of playable games, as well as the games themselves.
494.Pp
495The scores are kept in
496.Pa /var/games/atc_score .
497.Sh AUTHORS
498Ed James, UC Berkeley: edjames@ucbvax.berkeley.edu, ucbvax!edjames
499.Pp
500This game is based on someone's description of the overall flavor
501of a game written for some unknown PC many years ago, maybe.
502.Sh BUGS
503The screen sometimes refreshes after you have quit.
504