3 # Frequently asked questions
5 # $Id: FAQ,v 1.1 1995/07/11 07:50:43 mhw Exp $
10 [1] Where can I find the latest version?
11 [2] The pieces look bizarre in my xterm window, and don't erase
13 [3] If I drop a piece and then slide it off a cliff, shouldn't
14 it automatically drop again?
15 [4] When I try to play a networked game, it just hangs.
16 [5] Is the game fair? Is there an advantage to being the -w or the
18 [6] I'm using a slow terminal, and the game response is sluggish.
23 [1] Where can I find the latest version?
25 My machine doesn't currently have a constant hostname, but you can
26 usually find the hostname from `finger mhw@cs.brown.edu`, at least
27 until the Fall of 1995.
29 If you find my machine, you can get the latest version via
30 anonymous ftp from the /pub directory. If anonymous ftp isn't
31 working, it's probably not my machine, so please don't badger it
32 with lots of retry attempts.
34 Unfortunately that is not a permanent site. If that machine
35 doesn't exist, try mailing me.
37 [2] The pieces look bizarre in my xterm window, and don't erase
40 Try disabling standout mode with the -S option. If this fixes it,
41 it's probably because the bold font on your xterm is set wrong.
42 It's a good idea to fix it, since the blocks look much nicer when
45 If the blocks don't erase correctly and are drawn larger than normal
46 characters, check your .Xdefaults file. If you set the "font", make
47 sure you also set the "boldFont" to something of the same size. For
48 example, I use 6x10 font for xterms, and here are the relevant lines
54 Make sure you capitalize the F in "boldFont"
56 [3] If I drop a piece and then slide it off a cliff, shouldn't
57 it automatically drop again?
61 [4] When I try to play a networked game, it just hangs.
63 There are two possibilities. First, versions 0.1d? are incompatible
64 with current versions. This is unfortunate, but remember, those were
65 very developmental versions. I needed to fix up the protocol, and
66 I didn't want a whole bunch of messy compatibility code (at least
67 not yet :-) Ask your opponent to get the latest version.
69 The other possibility is that you've typed in the wrong hostname, or
70 there's a port number mismatch, if either of you used the -p option.
72 [5] Is the game fair? Is there an advantage to being the -w or the
75 The game is fair. The game is completely symmetric once the
76 connection is established. Furthermore, a random number seed is
77 exchanged at the start of the game, so both players will get the
80 There is a built-in random number generator, so even if the C
81 library on your system has a non-standard generator, both
82 players will still get the same sequence.
84 There is no attempt to synchronize the start of the game
85 accurately for networks with high latency. This should be fixed
86 at some point, but I doubt such a small head start makes much
87 difference for a game lasting several minutes.
89 [6] I'm using a slow terminal, and the game response is sluggish.
92 Try the -S option. This disables use of standout mode (bold/inverse),
93 which require control sequences to be sent twice (or more) per line.
94 This looks nice, but can make the game unplayable on a slow terminal.
96 Also, you can type 's' to toggle spying (updating your view of the