1     ______      _
2    / __/ /_  __(_)___  ____ _
3   / /_/ / / / / / __ \/ __ `/            original source available at
4  / __/ / /_/ / / / / / /_/ /             ftp.x.org:/contrib/games/multiplayer
5 /_/ /_/\__, /_/_/ /_/\__, /  V6.20
6       /____/        /____/
7
8
9 To create the executable, you can either use one of the supplied makefiles
10 or the Imakefile. You should take a look at the beginning of the Imakefile,
11 if you need to change one of the parameters.
12
13 After linking, you should be able to just use it as the manual page says.
14 But if you want to install it to be use by more persons or if you're just
15 curious, you might want to know a bit more about internals.
16
17
18 Since the main purpose for me was not directly writing a game, but more to
19 experiment with some algorithms, many things are configurable in the program.
20 All the parameters that would change the executable are to be set in the file
21 'global.h'. One important thing is to name a directory, where the program can
22 later on read and write data-files for the pixmap-data, that is needed for the
23 smooth ball animation in the deluxe-version of pool. If the data-files are not
24 accessible, the program has to recompute it, which might take a lot of time.
25 (For information, on my 1280 pixel wide screen, I need 37x37=1369 bitmaps for
26  half balls and 75x37=2775 bitmaps for full balls in the default size. When
27  too many bitmaps will get neccessary you might get memory problems, e.g.
28  on X-Terminals.)
29
30 An interresting thing to experiment with might be the Real-Class. Real is
31 usually defined as float or double. But there is also a complete inline-class
32 available for it. Unfortunately using the class isn't too fast, but this
33 probably depends on the smartness of the compiler. (Anyway, does anybody have
34 a similar Real-Class implemented by using integer? I could really use it on
35 my slow 386).
36
37 There is also the main DEBUG-flag, which enables debugging switches all over
38 the source and should usually be unset, even so the switch don't consume too
39 much time.
40
41 Constant game parameters like object size and friction are all defined in
42 'global.C'. But for not always re-compiling the program when changing them
43 they can also be set dynamically in the file 'presets.txt'. The correct syntax
44 and the current value can be seen with the option -presets when starting the
45 game.
46
47
48 After installation, I would be pleased if you send me a short note
49 just for curiosity and tell me:
50 - if there were any problems and what they were
51 - if you like it and what you think is missing
52 The more notes I get, the higher the chances that I will spend
53 more time on that packages.
54
55
56 Have fun.
57
58        __  __     __                __     __  __                 _
59       / / / /__  / /___ ___  __  __/ /_   / / / /___  ___  ____  (_)___ _
60      / /_/ / _ \/ / __ `__ \/ / / / __/  / /_/ / __ \/ _ \/ __ \/ / __ `/
61     / __  /  __/ / / / / / / /_/ / /_   / __  / /_/ /  __/ / / / / /_/ /
62  _ /_/ /_/\___/_/_/ /_/ /_/\__,_/\__/  /_/ /_/\____/\___/_/ /_/_/\__, /
63 /__________________________________e-mail: Helmut.Hoenig@hub.de______/
64
65
66
67 History:
68 ========
69
70 V6.3  - just a few includes were changed to make the program more portable.
71       - a SOLARIS switch was added
72 V6.9  - new background colors / new balls / includes Xos.h /
73         improved color handling / less ANSI C
74 V6.11 - new flags: -nohints, -red, -green, -blue
75         minor corrections
76 V6.15 - enhanced (much faster on X-Terminals) ball animation
77         waits with select(..) to reduce CPU-usage in idle periods
78         interpixel-motion for fine adjustment of cursor
79 V6.18 - corrections in setting up colors (fvwm now loses the colormap struggle :-)
80         enhanced reset feature
81         pool9-class
82 V6.19 - update for gcc-2.7.0
83 V6.20 - removement of the 64bit limitation?
84       - Imakefile supplied
85