NAME

       Maelstrom - an arcade-style game resembling Asteroids

SYNOPSIS

       Maelstrom [options]

       Maelstrom [-netscores] -printscores

DESCRIPTION

       This  is  a Linux port of the Macintosh game by the same name. This version is remarkably faithful to the
       original.

       You pilot your ship through the dreaded "Maelstrom" asteroid belt -- suddenly your  best  friend  thrusts
       towards  you and fires, directly at your cockpit.  You raise your shields just in time, and the battle is
       joined.  The deadliest stretch of space known to mankind has just gotten  deadlier.   Everywhere  massive
       asteroids  jostle  for  a chance to crush your ship, and deadly Shenobi fighter patrols pursue you across
       the asteroid belt.  But the deadliest of them all is your sister ship, assigned to you  on  patrol.   The
       pilot,  trained  by your own Navy, battle-hardened by months in the Maelstrom, is equipped with a twin of
       your own ship and intimate knowledge of your tactics.  The lovely Stratocaster R&R facility never sounded
       so good, but as you fire full thrusters to dodge the latest barrage you begin to think you'll  never  get
       home...

OPTIONS

       -display host:0
              Runs Maelstrom on the given X11 display.

       -fullscreen
              Puts  a  big  black border around the Maelstrom screen, and centers Maelstrom within it. This help
              create a "full screen" effect on large displays.  During the game the screen mode can  be  toggled
              using Alt+Return.

       -privatecmap
              Runs  Maelstrom  with  a private (custom) colormap. This prevents Maelstrom from locking up all of
              the colors on your display. It is only useful on 256 color (pseudo-color) displays.

       -gamma [0-8]
              Sets the gamma correction level for Maelstrom. The  higher  the  gamma  correction,  the  brighter
              Maelstrom  will  appear  on  your  monitor.  If  no gamma level is given, Maelstrom will print the
              current gamma level saved in your custom configuration.  Once  this  option  is  used,  the  gamma
              correction level is saved, and this option doesn't need to be used later unless you want to change
              it again.

       -volume [0-8]
              Sets the sound volume.

       -nofade
              Prevents Maelstrom from doing the screen fading. This is useful if you find the fading annoying.

       -realfade
              Causes the entire display to fade, not just inside the Maelstrom window.

       -netscores
              Tells Maelstrom to use the Internet Maelstrom Score Server for the high score list.

       -printscores
              Prints  out  a  list  of the current high scores. If used with the -netscores option, it will will
              connect to the Internet Maelstrom Score Server and print out the world-wide Maelstrom high scores.

       -player N[@host][:port]
              Tells Maelstrom that it is playing a network game, and that player N is at host host  and/or  port
              port.

       -server N@host[:port]
              Tells  Maelstrom  to  use  a network address server at host host (and port port) for a multiplayer
              game with N players.

       -deathmatch [N]
              Configures a multiplayer game to continue until someone gets N frags (default = 8). A  frag  is  3
              shots at a player.

       -version
              Prints the version of the Maelstrom binary.

       -speedtest
              Runs  Maelstrom  in  a  graphics test mode. It prints the number of milliseconds it takes for your
              graphics display to display a full  48-frame,  360  degree  rotation  of  your  ship.  It  is  for
              comparative information only.

NOTES

       maelstrom is an alias for Maelstrom; you may use either to start the game.

       Maelstrom_sound  is  the  Maelstrom  sound  server.  You  do  not need (nor should you try) to start this
       yourself; Maelstrom uses it transparently.

AUTHOR

       The original Maelstrom was written for the Macintosh by Andrew Welch.  The Linux port  was  done  by  Sam
       Lantinga <slouken@devolution.com>.

       The  author  has  approved  the  inclusion  of  Maelstrom in Debian distributions, including commercially
       distributed versions, as long as Maelstrom is not sold independently and remains freely available.

       This manual page was contributed by Robert Leslie <rob@mars.org>.

                                                   29-Dec-1996                                      MAELSTROM(6)