Provided by: xpuzzles_7.7.1-1.1_amd64 bug

NAME

       xskewb - Skewb X widgets

SYNOPSIS

       /usr/games/xskewb   [-geometry   [{width}][x{height}][{+-}{xoff}[{+-}{yoff}]]]   [-display
       [{host}]:[{vs}]]    [-[no]mono]     [-[no]{reverse|rv}]     [-{foreground|fg}     {color}]
       [-{background|bg}  {color}]  [-face{0|1|2|3|4|5}  {color}]  [-{border|bd} {color}] [-delay
       msecs]  [-[no]sound]  [-moveSound  {filename}]  [-{font|fn}  {fontname}]   [-view   {int}]
       [-[no]orient]  [-[no]practice]  [-userName  {string}]  [-scoreFile  {filename}]  [-scores]
       [-version]

DESCRIPTION

       The original puzzle has each face cut by a diamond, so that there are 5 pieces,  4  corner
       pieces  and  one diamond piece in the center.  This was designed by Uwe Meffert and called
       the Pyraminx Cube.  Douglas Hofstadter later coined it a Skewb and it stuck.   The  puzzle
       has  period  3  turning  (i.e.  each half turns with 120 degree intervals).  The Skewb has
       2^5*3^8*6!/2^6 or 3,149,280 different combinations (with centers oriented 2^5*3^8*6!/2  or
       100,766,960 different combinations).

       More  recently,  Disney  released  Mickey's Challenge, its a spherical skewb with a pretty
       good  internal  mechanism.   Mickey's  challenge  has  2^5*3^8*6!/36  5,598,720   visually
       different  combinations).   It  also  comes with a pretty neat book.  Also released is the
       Creative Puzzle Ball or Meffert's Challenge which has 4 rings in different colors.

       Mach Balls of the Hungarian Gyula Mach  are  similar  but  they  do  not  have  a  ratchet
       mechanism  and do not turn as easily or smoothly.  One must match the 12 different symbols
       of 4 each at the 12 intersection points.

FEATURES

       Press "mouse-left" button to move a piece.  Release "mouse-left" button on a piece on  the
       same face.  (Clicks on diamonds are ignored).  The pieces will then turn towards where the
       mouse button was released.

       Click "mouse-center", or press "P" or "p" keys to toggle the practice  mode  (in  practice
       mode   the   record  should  say  "practice").   This  is  good  for  learning  moves  and
       experimenting.

       Click "mouse-right", or press "Z" or "z" keys, to randomize the puzzle (this must be  done
       first to set a new record).

       Press "R" or "r" keys to read a saved puzzle.

       Press "W" or "w" keys to save (write) a puzzle.

       Press "U" or "u" keys to undo a move.

       Press "E" or "e" keys to redo a move.

       Press "C" or "c" keys to clear the puzzle.

       "S" or "s" keys to start auto-solver.

       Press  "O"  or  "o" keys to toggle the orient mode.  One has to orient the faces in orient
       mode, besides getting all the faces to be the same color.  To do this one has to  get  the
       lines  to  be oriented in the same direction, this only matters with center diamond piece.
       This does add complexity so there are 2 sets of records.

       Press "V" or "v" keys to change the view of the cube.

       Press ">" or "." keys to speed up the movement of pieces (not implemented).

       Press "<" or "," keys to slow down the movement of pieces (not implemented).

       Press "@" key to toggle the sound.

       Press "Esc" key to hide program.

       Press "Q", "q", or "CTRL-C" keys to kill program.

       Use the key pad or arrow keys to move without the mouse.
       Key pad is defined for the Skewb2d as:
         /     Counterclockwise

       7 8 9   Upper Left, Up, Upper Right
         ^
       4<5>6   Left, Clockwise, Right
         v
       1 2 3   Lower Left, Down, Lower Right

       If the mouse is on a diamond, the above keys will  not  move  cube  because  the  move  is
       ambiguous.  Also if the mouse is on a triangle, not all the keys will function because the
       puzzle will only rotate on the cuts, i.e. a triangle with a Upper Left - Lower  Right  cut
       will  rotate only Upper Left & Lower Right, a triangle with a Upper Right - Lower Left cut
       will rotate only Upper Right & Lower Left.  Therefore, a triangle can only move tangential
       to  the center of the face. No doubt this is confusing, but the physical skewb is the same
       way. In fact, that is part of its appeal.

       Key pad for other than Skewb2d, use must use your intuition (is this a cop out or  what?).
       The  key  pad  is  defined  differently  depending on which side of the cube your mouse is
       pointing  at.   One  thing  that  stays  the  same  is  "5"  is  Clockwise  and   "/"   is
       Counterclockwise.

       Use  the  control  key  and the left mouse button, keypad, or arrow keys to move the whole
       cube.  Its also possible to rotate whole cube with an axis through a face with alt key  is
       pressed (Tab key when using Windows).  This is not recorded as a turn.

       The title is in the following format (non-motif non-opengl version):
              xskewb{2|3}d<dimension>:   (<Number  of  moves>/{<Record  number  of  moves>  <user
              name>|"NEVER noaccess"|"practice"}) - <Comment>
       If there is no record of the current puzzle, it displays "NEVER noaccess".

OPTIONS

       -geometry {+|-}X{+|-}Y
               This option  sets  the  initial  position  of  the  skewb  window  (resource  name
               "geometry").

       -display host:dpy
               This option specifies the X server to contact.

       -[no]mono
               This option allows you to display the skewb window on a color screen as if it were
               monochrome (resource name "mono").

       -[no]{reverse|rv}
               This option allows you to see the skewb window in  reverse  video  (resource  name
               "reverseVideo").

       -{foreground|fg} color
               This   option  specifies  the  foreground  of  the  skewb  window  (resource  name
               "foreground").

       -{background|bg} color
               This  option  specifies  the  background  of  the  skewb  window  (resource   name
               "background").

       -face{0|1|2|3|4|5} <color>
               This option allows you to change the color of a face (resource name "faceColorN").
               In mono-mode, color is represented as the first letter of the color name.  On  the
               2-D  version,  the  faces  are  ordered top to bottom and left to right on the "t"
               configuration. The "+-" configuration is physically consistent with the former, so
               it  is ordered "0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4".  If you has two colors that begin with the same
               letter you should have one in uppercase and one in lowercase to  distinguish  them
               in  mono-mode.  You can change the colors of the faces to make a stupid cube (i.e.
               all White or in mono-mode all "W"). Unfortunately, it will not  normally  say  its
               solved when its randomized. This would be cheating.

       -{border|bd} color
               This option specifies the border color of the pieces in the skewb window (resource
               name "borderColor").

       -delay msecs
               This option specifies the number of milliseconds it takes to  move  pieces  (1-50)
               (resource name "delay").

       -[no]sound
               This  option specifies if sliding pieces should make a sound or not (resource name
               "sound").

       -moveSound filename
               This option specifies the file for the move sound for the twisting of  the  puzzle
               (resource name "moveSound").

       -{font|fn} ontname
               This option specifies the font that will be used (resource name "font").

       -view <int>
               This  option allows you to change the view of the cube for OpenGL with choice of 4
               views (resource name "int").

       -[no]orient
               This option allows you to access the orient mode (resource name "orient").

       -[no]practice
               This option allows you to access the practice mode (resource name "practice").

       -userName string
               This option specifies the user name for any records made or else it will get  your
               login name (resource name "userName").

       -scoreFile filename
               Specify an alternative score file (resource name "scoreFile").

       -scores This option lists all the recorded scores and then exits.

       -version
               This option tells you what version of xskewb you have.

RECORDS

       You  must randomize the puzzle before a record is set, otherwise an assumption of cheating
       is made if it is solved after a get or an auto-solve.

SAVE FORMAT

       Here is the format for the xskewb configuration, starting position, and  the  movement  of
       its pieces.

       Skewb2d with default colors, not randomized:
         0       R     Red
       1 2 3   B W G   Blue, White, Green
         4       P     Pink
         5       Y     Yellow

              orient: 0-1 <0 false, 1 true; if 1 then lines on pieces to be oriented>
              practice: 0-1 <0 false, 1 true>
              moves: 0-MAXINT <total number of moves>

              startingPosition:  <2  dimensional  array  of  face  and corner position and center
              diamond position, each face has 4 corner pieces and one  center  piece,  if  orient
              mode  then  orientation  number  follows  face number: 0 up, 1 right, 2 down, and 3
              left>

       This is then followed by the moves, starting from 1.
              move #: <face> <corner> <direction> <control>
       Each turn is with respect to a corner on a face.
       The corners start at the upper right and work clockwise.
       Direction is represented as 0 upper right, 1 lower right, 2 lower left, 3  upper  left,  5
       clockwise, 7 counterclockwise, 8 up, 9 right, 10 down, and 11 left.
       Control  is  represented  as 0 or 1, 1 if the whole cube is moved at once (here the corner
       does not matter), 0 if not.  The xskewb record keeper does not count a control move  as  a
       move, but here we do.

REFERENCES

       Beyond  Rubik's  Cube: spheres, pyramids, dodecahedrons and God knows what else by Douglas
       R. Hofstadter, Scientific American, July 1982, pp 16-31.

       Mickey's Challenge by Christoph Bandelow.

       Magic Cubes 1996 Catalog of Dr. Christoph Bandelow.

SEE ALSO

       X(1), xcubes(6), xtriangles(6), xhexagons(6), xmlink(6), xbarrel(6), xpanex(6), xmball(6),
       xpyraminx(6), xoct(6), xrubik(6), xdino(6), xabacus(6)

COPYRIGHTS

       ® Copyright 1994-2010, David A. Bagley

BUG REPORTS AND PROGRAM UPDATES

       Send bugs (or their reports, or fixes) to the author:
              David A. Bagley, <bagleyd@tux.org>

       The latest version is currently at:
              http://www.tux.org/~bagleyd/puzzles.html
              ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/games/strategy