NAME

xpipeman - connect the pipes to stop the leaks (X Windows)

SYNOPSIS

/usr/games/xpipeman

DESCRIPTION

Xpipeman is a game of skill requiring the user to connect together pieces of a pipe to allow a liquid to flow through without leaking out. The liquid flows out of the block marked with an "S". The aim of the game is to connect as many pieces of pipe to the start block as possible.

A random sequence of blocks is generated and displayed down the right hand side of the screen. The next pipe block that has to be placed is under the arrow marked "next". After a block has been placed a new block is displayed on the end of the sequence and the next block appears under the arrow.

After a period of time the liquid starts to flow. It first fills up the "flow start" meter at the right of the screen. When this is full it then begins to flow out of the start block and into any pipe blocks connected to it.

To finish successfully each level a certain number of blocks have to be connected to the start. This is indicated by the "Remaining" count. This count is decremented as the liquid flows through the blocks. This is the minimum number of blocks that must be connected, any further blocks connected generate extra points. The number of blocks that must be connected increases with each level.

To make life more difficult there are also object blocks where pieces of pipe cannot be placed. The number of object blocks also increases with each level.

Blocks can be moved and placed either by using the mouse and its buttons or by using the keyboard. For the mouse, button 1 (left) moves the next pipe block to the position pointed to by the mouse. Button 2 (middle) places a piece of pipe. Pipes may not be placed on the start block, objects, or any filled/partially filled pipe sections. Once a block has been placed it may NOT be moved.

At higher levels some pieces of pipe only let the liquid flow one direction. These pipe sections have an arrow within them indicating the allowed flow direction. Successful connection of one of these sections earns extra bonus points.

The game is over when the required number of blocks have not been connected or there are no more levels (I doubt the latter will happen before the first!).

The default keyboard setup is as follows:

z: move one square left
x: move one square right
´: move one square up
/: move one square down
spc: place a piece of pipe
tab: speed up the flow

If no more blocks can be placed then pressing the tab key will cause the flow to speed up.

RESOURCES

xpipeman.scorefile

Set this to the path of your personal score file. The file will be created if it does not exist. The default: ./xpipescores

OPTIONS

In addition to the normal XToolkit options, xpipeman accepts command line options for the following resource:scorefile

For example: xpipeman -scorefile myscorefile

SCORING

Each pipe connected to the flow scores 10 points. Any pipe placed on top of another piece of empty pipe incurs a penalty of 20 points. Any pipe not connected to the flow also incurs a penalty, but this time of only 10 points. A bonus 40 points is awarded each time there is a flow crossover and a bonus of 10 points is awarded for each one way pipe used (later levels). The name for the high score list comes from the USER environment variable.

FILES

./xpipescores -- the score file

BUGS

Type ahead may be a problem on some slower machines. To reduce the problem try to use the mouse instead of the keyboard. (I have a SPARCstation which seems to work fine!). Other tips to reduce type ahead: plan the flow by looking at the sequence down the right hand side of the screen and most of all don't panic as the flow approaches!.

AUTHOR

This was written by Nigel Paver

: JANET: pavern@uk.ac.man.cs
: INER: pavern%uk.ac.man.cs@nsfnet-relay.ac.uk

with acknowledgements to Brian Warkentine (brianw@Sun.COM).