Tetrinet for Linux
by Andrew Church <achurch@achurch.org>
and Petr Baudis <pasky@ucw.cz>
Version 0.11
For general information on Tetrinet, consult the file tetrinet.txt (the text file distributed with the original Windows version).
The following notes apply to the Linux version of Tetrinet:
Distribution/license information
This program is public domain, and may be modified and distributed without limitation.
Requirements
You must be using a 50-line text display to run this version of Tetrinet; Xwindows is not yet supported. One option is to open an xterm window in Xwindows and resize it to be 50 lines high. The other option (recommended) is to use a 50-line text console.
To get a 50-line text console, if you use LILO to boot, add the following line to the top of your /etc/lilo.conf file:
vga = extended
run /sbin/lilo, and reboot. If you use a boot disk without LILO, insert it into your floppy drive, give the following command:
rdev -v /dev/fd0 -2
and reboot.
Another option is to use the SVGATextMode program, available on Sunsite ({http,ftp}://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/) and other places, to switch your console to 50-line mode without rebooting. You may also use that program to set up a larger display (for example, I use 100x60); Tetrinet will detect this and rearrange the display to make the best use of the available space.
NOTE: Xwindows graphics display really isn't supported, despite the presence of the "xwin.c" file! Don't be fooled! (The file is there to remind me to implement Xwindows support someday. Note how well it's working.)
Compilation
Type "make". This will generate two programs: "tetrinet" and "tetrinet-server". The former is the main program; the latter is a standalone server.
Starting the client
Tetrinet requires two command-line arguments: your nickname and the server to connect to, in that order. For example:
tetrinet MyNick tetrinet.somerandom.net
Tetrinet will function only as long as it remains connected to the server; there is no "Client Settings" option as in the Windows version. This may be remedied in a future version.
You can also give Tetrinet any of the following options:
-fancy Use "fancy" TTY graphics. (Note that this will slow
down redraws somewhat.)
-fast Use the "tetrifast" mode to connect to the server.
This mode eliminates the delay before a new cube
appears, thus speeding the game up noticeably. This
mode is incompatible with the classic mode and the
server has to support it. If in doubt, ask the other
players.
-log <file> Log network traffic to the given file. All lines
start with an absolute time (seconds) in brackets.
Lines sent from the client to the server are prefixed
with ">>>", and lines from the server to the client
are prefixed with "<<<". This could be used with a
utility program to replay a game later on (though such
a program is not currently included in the Tetrinet
distribution.)
-noshadow Do not make pieces cast "shadows" when they are slowly
falling. (Normally the area under piece is filled by
dim dots to help to determine where the piece would hit
the ground if one would press the spacebar.)
-noslide Do not allow pieces to "slide" after being dropped
with the spacebar. (Normally, there is a short time
after pressing the spacebar during which a piece can
"slide" left or right before it solidifies.)
-slide Opposite of -noslide; allows pieces to "slide" after
being dropped. If both -slide and -noslide are given,
-slide takes precedence. If both -windows and -slide
are given, this overrides the "no sliding" part of
-windows without affecting the other changes in
program behavior.
-shadow Opposite of -noshadow; makes pieces cast "shadows".
-windows Behave as much like the Windows version of Tetrinet as
possible. (See "Differences from Windows Tetrinet".)
Implies -noslide and -noshadow.
Starting the server
There are two ways to start the Tetrinet server. One way is to give the "-server" option to the Tetrinet program:
tetrinet -server
Note that this is the deprecated way and support for this may be removed in the future releases. You must also explicitly enable it in the Makefile during compilation.
The other is to run the "tetrinet-server" program. Both of these are exactly equivalent. The server can be stopped with ^C or a "kill" command.
If you want the server to run in the background, use an "&" after the command, for example:
tetrinet -server &
Configuring the server
The server is configured via the ".tetrinet" file in your home directory. This contains all the settings for the server in a simple format. The following is a sample .tetrinet file:
winlist Alcan;0;3;1 AndrewK;0;2;1
classic 1
initiallevel 1
linesperlevel 2
levelinc 1
averagelevels 1
speciallines 1
specialcount 1
specialcapacity 18
pieces 14 14 15 14 14 14 15
specials 18 18 3 12 0 16 3 12 18
linuxmode 0
ipv6_only 0
Note that this file is automatically re-written at the end of a game or when the server is terminated. If you want to modify parameters for a running server, send the server a HUP signal, using the command:
kill -HUP <pid-of-server>
where <pid-of-server> is the process ID of the server. A simpler alternative is:
killall -HUP tetrinet-server
Three of the configuration lines require special explanation. The winlist line is, as its name suggests, the winlist for the server; each parameter contains four semicolon-separated fields:
name ; team ; points ; games
"team" is a flag which is either 1 if the entry is for a team or 0 if the
entry is for a player. "points" is just the number of points for the
player (see the main Tetrinet documentation); "games" is the number of
games in which that player has participated since getting on the winlist.
The pieces line contains percentage frequencies for each type of piece. The order is: bar, square, reverse-L (green), L (purple), Z (red), S (blue), and T.
The specials line, likewise, contains percentage frequencies for each type of special. The order is: A, C, N, R, S, B, G, Q, O.
The "linuxmode" setting selects whether the client should try to remain compatible with Windows clients. This only affects the winlist display; if linuxmode is set to 1, the server will send the number of games played by each player as well as points won. This is set to zero by default.
If the "ipv6_only" setting is set to a nonzero value, the server will only listen for IPv6 connections; if zero (default), the server will listen on both IPv4 and IPv6 if possible.
Keys
The display mode can be selected by one of the following keys:
F1 Show Fields
F2 Partyline
F3 Winlist
F10 can be used to quit at any time.
In Partyline mode, the following commands are available. To use a command, simply type the command and arguments into the Partyline input buffer and press Return (just like IRC).
/team [name] Set your team name. If a name is not given, play
alone.
/start Start a game (if you are the first player on the
server).
/stop, /end Stop the game currently in progress (either command
may be used).
/pause Pause the game.
/unpause Unpause the game.
/ Quote a following slash, for example:
"/ /start starts a game."
The following keys are used for controls on the "Show Fields" screen:
Up, X Rotate piece clockwise
Z Rotate piece counterclockwise
Left Move piece left
Right Move piece right
Down Accelerate piece downward
Space Drop piece (note that by default, pieces can still
"slide" after dropping!)
D Discard the current (leftmost) special item
1..6 Use the current special item on the given player
T Open a window for sending a message to other players
Ctrl-G Close the text input window (text there is saved for
the next time you press T)
The following keys are used for editing text, both in the Partyline screen and in the text buffer on the Show Fields screen:
Left Move cursor left one space
Right Move cursor right one space
Ctrl-A Move cursor to beginning of line
Ctrl-E Move cursor to end of line
Backspace, Delete character to left of cursor
Delete
Ctrl-D Delete character under cursor
Ctrl-U Delete entire line
Enter Send text (closes input window in Show Fields mode)
Differences from Windows Tetrinet
Although Linux Tetrinet is designed to play more or less the same as the original Windows version, there are a few differences; some of these are simply "missing" features in the Linux version, and some are features I have introduced into the Linux version because I believe they make the game more interesting or fun. Features marked with (*) below can all be disabled with the -windows command-line option to make playing against Windows opponents fairer.
- Messages about specials (i.e. in the Attack/Defense window) are not numbered.
- If a Block Bomb is done on someone who has two "o" (bomb) specials right next to each other, one of them will be sent flying rather than exploding. (This is a bug.)
- Blocks scattered by a Block Bomb will only go to empty spaces on the board, rather than appearing on top of already-existing blocks. "Holes" will not be scattered. (*)
- Pieces may go over the top of the board. In the Windows version, a player loses if at any time any square goes off the top of the board. In this version, a player only loses if there is no room for the next piece to enter the board.
- Pieces dropped (with the spacebar) can still slide left and right after dropping. Idea from Mark H. Weaver's Netris. (*) This feature alone can be disabled with the -noslide command-line option. It can also be enabled with -slide even if other Linux-specific features are disabled with the -windows option.
- Blockquakes will cause blocks to wrap around the edge of the screen rather than disappearing off the edge. (*)
- Blockquakes will never move rows more than one block to the left or right. (Can anyone determine how quakes work in the Windows version?)
- Specials collected will always appear at the end of the specials bar (in the Windows version, they randomly appear at the beginning or the end). (*)
Acknowledgements
Tetrinet was originally written by St0rmCat, who has asked not to be contacted with respect to Tetrinet.