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2 Games and Demos XSKEWB(6)
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xskewb - Skewb X widgets
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/usr/games/xskewb [-geometry [{width}][x{height}][{+-
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}{xoff}[{+-}{yoff}]]] [-display [{host}]:[{vs}]] [-[no]mono]
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[-[no]{reverse|rv}] [-{foreground|fg} {color}] [-
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{background|bg} {color}] [-{border|bd} {color}] [-
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face{0|1|2|3|4|5} {color}] [-[no]orient] [-[no]practice] [-
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{font|fn} {fontname}] [-username {string}]
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2 The original puzzle has each face cut by a diamond, so that
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there are 5 pieces, 4 corner pieces and one diamond piece in
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the center. This was designed by Uwe Meffert and called the
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2 Pyraminx Cube. Douglas Hofstadter later coined it a Skewb
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and it stuck. The puzzle has period 3 turning (i.e. each
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half turns with 120 degree intervals). The Skewb has
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2^5*3^8*6!/2^6 or 3,149,280 different combinations (with
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centers oriented 2^5*3^8*6!/2 or 100,766,960 different com-
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2 More recently, Disney released Mickey's Challenge, its a
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spherical skewb with a pretty good internal mechanism.
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2 Mickey's challenge has 2^5*3^8*6!/36 5,598,720 visually dif-
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ferent combinations). It also comes with a pretty neat
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book. Also released is the Creative Puzzle Ball or
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2 Meffert's Challenge which has 4 rings in different colors.
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2 Mach Balls of the Hungarian Gyula Mach are similar but they
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do not have a ratchet mechanism and do not turn as easily or
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smoothly. One must match the 12 different symbols of 4 each
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at the 12 intersection points.
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2 Press "mouse-left" button to move a piece. Release "mouse-
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left" button on a piece on the same face. (Clicks on dia-
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monds are ignored). The pieces will then turn towards where
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the mouse button was released.
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2 Click "mouse-center", or press "P" or "p" keys to toggle the
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practice mode (in practice mode the record should say "prac-
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tice"). This is good for learning moves and experimenting.
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2 Click "mouse-right", or press "R" or "r" keys to randomize
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the puzzle (this must be done first to set a new record).
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2 Press "O" or "o" keys to toggle the orient mode. One has to
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orient the faces in orient mode, besides getting all the
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faces to be the same color. To do this one has to get the
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lines to be oriented in the same direction, this only
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matters with center diamond piece. This does add complexity
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2 Games and Demos XSKEWB(6)
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so there are 2 sets of records.
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"S" or "s" keys reserved for the auto-solver (not imple-
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2 Press "U" or "u" keys to undo move.
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2 Press "G" or "g" keys to get a saved puzzle.
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2 Press "W" or "w" keys to write or save a puzzle.
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2 Press "C" or "c" keys to clear a puzzle.
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2 Press "Esc" key to hide program.
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2 Press "Q", "q", or "CTRL-C" keys to kill program.
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2 Use the key pad, "R" keys, or arrow keys to move without
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2 Key pad is defined for the Skewb2d as:
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7 8 9 Upper Left, Up, Upper Right
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4<5>6 Left, Clockwise, Right
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1 2 3 Lower Left, Down, Lower Right
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2 Note: Top, Left, Right, and Down only work when the control
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key is pressed and there is no analog for Skewb3d.
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2 If the mouse is on a diamond, the above keys will not move
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cube because the move is ambiguous. Also if the mouse is on
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a triangle, not all the keys will function because the puz-
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zle will only rotate on the cuts, i.e. a triangle with a
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2 Upper Left - Lower Right cut will rotate only Upper Left &
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2 Lower Right, a triangle with a Upper Right - Lower Left cut
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will rotate only Upper Right & Lower Left. Therefore, a
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triangle can only move tangential to the center of the face.
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2 No doubt this is confusing, but the physical skewb is the
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same way. In fact, that is part of its appeal.
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2 Key pad for Skewb3d, use must use your intuition (is this a
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cop out or what?). The key pad is defined differently
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depending on which side of the cube your mouse is pointing
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at. One thing that stays the same is "5" is Clockwise and
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"/" is Counterclockwise.
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2 Use the control key and the left mouse button, keypad, or
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arrow keys to move the whole cube. This is not recorded as
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2 Games and Demos XSKEWB(6)
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2 The title is in the following format (non-motif version):
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xskewb{2|3}d<dimension>: (<Number of moves>/{<Record
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number of moves> <username>|"NEVER
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noaccess"|"practice"}) - <Comment>
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2 If there is no record of the current puzzle, it displays
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-geometry {+|-}X{+|-}Y
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This option sets the initial position of the skewb
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window (resource name "geometry").
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This option specifies the X server to contact.
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This option allows you to display on a color screen
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as if monochrome (resource name "mono").
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This option allows you to see the skewb window in
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reverse video (resource name "reverse").
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-{foreground|fg} color
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This option specifies the foreground of the skewb
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window (resource name "foreground").
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-{background|bg} color
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This option specifies the background of the skewb
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window (resource name "background").
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This option specifies the border color of the
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cubelets in the skewb window (resource name "border-
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-face{0|1|2|3|4|5} <color>
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This option allows you to change the color of a face
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(resource name "faceColorN"). In mono-mode, color is
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represented as the first letter of the color name.
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On the 2-D version, the faces are ordered top to
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bottom and left to right on the "t" configuration.
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The "+-" configuration is physically consistent with
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the former, so it is ordered "0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 4". If
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you has two colors that begin with the same letter
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you should have one in uppercase and one in lower-
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case to distinguish them in mono-mode. You can
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change the colors of the faces to make a stupid cube
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(i.e. all White or in mono-mode all "W"). Unfor-
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tunately, it will not normally say its solved when
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its randomized. This would be cheating.
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2 Games and Demos XSKEWB(6)
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This option allows you to access the orient mode
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(resource name "orient").
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This option allows you to access the practice mode
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(resource name "practice").
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This option specifies the font that will be used
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(resource name "font").
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This option specifies the user name for any records
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made or else it will get your login name (resource
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2 You must randomize the puzzle before a record is set, other-
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wise an assumption of cheating is made if it is solved after
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2 The format is not standard. The reason for this is that
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this is simple and I do not know what the standard is.
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2 Skewb2d with default colors, not randomized:
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1 2 3 B W G Blue, White, Green
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orient: 0-1 <0 false, 1 true; if 1 then lines on cubies
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practice: 0-1 <0 false, 1 true>
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moves: 0-MAXINT <total number of moves>
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startingPosition: <2 dimensional array of face and
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corner position and center diamond position, each face
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has 4 corner pieces and one center piece, if orient
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mode then orientation number follows face number: 0 up,
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1 right, 2 down, and 3 left>
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2 This is then followed by the moves, starting from 1.
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move #: <face> <corner> <direction> <control>
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2 Each turn is with respect to a corner on a face.
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2 The corners start at the upper right and work clockwise.
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2 Direction is represented as 0 upper right, 1 lower right, 2
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lower left, 3 upper left, 5 clockwise, 7 counterclockwise, 8
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up, 9 right, 10 down, and 11 left.
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2 Control is represented as 0 or 1, 1 if the whole cube is
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moved at once (here the corner does not matter), 0 if not.
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2 Games and Demos XSKEWB(6)
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2 The xskewb record keeper does not count a control move as a
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move, but here we do.
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2 Beyond Rubik's Cube: spheres, pyramids, dodecahedrons and
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2 God knows what else by Douglas R. Hofstadter, Scientific
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2 American, July 1982, pp 16-31.
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2 Mickey's Challenge by Christoph Bandelow.
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2 Magic Cubes 1996 Catalog of Dr. Christoph Bandelow.
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2 X(1), xrubik(6), xdino(6), xpyraminx(6), xoct(6), xmball(6),
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xmlink(6), xpanex(6), xcubes(6), xtriangles(6), xhexa-
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(Reg.) Copyright 1994-2005, David Albert Bagley
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2 BUG_REPORTS AND PROGRAM UPDATES
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2 Send bugs (or their reports, or fixes) to the author:
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David Albert Bagley, <bagleyd@tux.org>
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2 The latest version is currently at:
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ftp://ftp.tux.org/pub/tux/bagleyd/xpuzzles
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ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/games/strategy
added
removed
xskewb/vms/xskewb.hlp
