NAME

       xbomb - a version of the popular minesweeper program with some novel features.

SYNOPSIS

       xbomb [-hexagon|-square|-triangle] [-1|-2|-3] [-hiscore]

OPTIONS

       -hiscore
              command line option displays the current hi-score table without starting the game.

       -hexagon | -square | -triangle
              Selects the type of grid to use when starting the game.

       -1 | -2 | -3
              Selects the level to use when starting the game.

       The standard X window options also apply to this program.

DESCRIPTION

       A  game  of  logical  deduction  against the clock. The purpose of the game is to find the
       location of the hidden bombs in a grid.  Each of the locations in the  grid  is  initially
       covered,  by uncovering a locations, a number or a bomb will be revealed underneath.  If a
       bomb is revealed then the game is finished.  A number indicates  the  number  of  adjacent
       locations  that  contain bombs.  Locations that have not been uncovered but are thought to
       contain bombs can be marked as such so that they can be identified.

       There is a choice of hexagonal, square or triangular units that  make  up  the  grid,  the
       level  of  difficulty increasing as the number of sides decreases.  In all cases the grids
       are of the same size and contain the same number of bombs for the same levels.

       There are three levels to the game:

       Easy   8 by 8 grid with 10 bombs.

       Medium 16 by 16 grid with 40 bombs.

       Difficult
              30 by 16 grid with 99 bombs.

       A high score table is maintained for each of the  levels  for  each  of  the  grid  types,
       storing the username, the time to complete the puzzle and the date that it was finished.

MOUSE OPERATION

       The game is played with the mouse, with all three buttons having different actions.

       Left Button
              Uncover  the  current location if it is hidden or uncover all surrounding locations
              marked as not containing bombs if  the  square  is  already  uncovered.  The  first
              selection made in a game is always a 'safe' square.

       Middle Button
              Uncover all surrounding locations that are not marked as containing a bomb.

       Right Button
              Mark the current grid location as having a hidden bomb (toggle).

KEYSTROKES

       There are a number of keystroke shortcuts for the game:

       1 2 3  Select level 1, 2 or 3 for the next game.

       s      Start a new game.

       q      Quit the program.

       h      Print the high-scores.

       H or Control-H
              Use the grid of hexagons for the next game.

       S or Control-S
              Use the grid of squares for the next game.

       T or Control-T
              Use the grid of triangles for the next game.

       X RESOURCES
              The  name  of  the  class  used  is  XBomb,  the  widget hierarchy used is (Widget-
              Class:name):

                   XBomb
                        Form:form
                             Command:start
                             MenuButton:menu
                                  SimpleMenu:levelmenushell
                                       smeBSBObject:Easy
                                       smeBSBObject:Medium
                                       smeBSBObject:Difficult
                             MenuButton:menu
                                  SimpleMenu:typemenushell
                                       smeBSBObject:Hexagon
                                       smeBSBObject:Square
                                       smeBSBObject:Triangle
                             Command:hiscore
                             Command:quit
                             Core:grid
                             Command:clock
                             Command:uxb

       The extra resources that are available for the grid are:

       grid.bomb
              The colour of the bombs - default black.

       grid.bombreal
              The colour of the real bombs - default red.

       grid.bombmark
              The colour of the bombs that are marked by the user - default orange.

       grid.number
              The colour of the number '1' when drawn in the grid - default navy blue.

       grid.number2
              The colour of the number '2' when drawn in the grid - default dark green.

       grid.number3
              The colour of the number '3' when drawn in the grid - default dark red.  The  other
              numbers up to 12 also have their own resources.

       grid.hidden
              The colour of the hidden squares - default grey50.

       grid.correct
              The colour of the squares that were correctly guessed - default green

       grid.font
              The font that is used for the number in the grid - default lucidasans-24

BUGS

       None known.

AUTHOR

       Andrew M. Bishop.

                                         January 5, 2008                                 XBomb(6)