MASTERBALL(6)MASTERBALL(6)NAMExmball - Masterball X widget
SYNOPSIS
/usr/games/xmball [-geometry
[{width}][x{height}][{+-}{xoff}[{+-}{yoff}]]] [-display
[{host}]:[{vs}]] [-[no]mono] [-[no]{reverse|rv}] [-{foreground|fg}
{color}] [-{background|bg} {color}] [-{border|bd} {color}]
[-wedge{0|1|2|3|4|5|6|7} {color}] [-wedges {int}] [-rings {int}]
[-[no]orient] [-[no]practice] [-base {int}] [-username {string}]
DESCRIPTION
The original puzzle has 8 sectors on a sphere (longitudinal cuts), with
each sector divided into 4 segments (latitudinal cuts). There are
essentially 3 varieties: Geomaster 8 colors (beachball, default colors
in this puzzle), Duomaster 2 colors (black and white beachball), and a
variety of picture Masterballs. For some reason, they say the Geomas‐
ter is harder than the Duomaster. The picture Masterballs are the
hardest since all the pieces have a set solved postion. On the Duo and
Geo Masterballs pieces could be swapped or in a different order and
still be in a solved postion. Zurick University's Mathematics faculty
has calculated that Masterball's 32 segments can be arranged in
355,682,548,566,633,480,192,000,000 different possible combinations.
Masterball was invented by Dr. Geza Gyovai Hungarian Engineer, manufac‐
tured by Whole Systems Design, Inc..
FEATURES
Press "mouse-left" button to move a sector. Release "mouse-left" but‐
ton on another piece and the pieces will turn towards where the mouse
button is released. Usually, a click and release on the same wedge is
ambiguous and the puzzle will not turn.
Click "mouse-center", or press "P" or "p" keys to toggle the practice
mode (in practice mode the record should say "practice"). One must
double click on "mouse-center" if the puzzle is being worked on. This
is good for learning moves and experimenting.
Click "mouse-right", or press "R" or "r" keys to randomize (this must
be done first to set a new record). One must double click on "mouse-
right" if the puzzle is being worked on.
Press "I" or "i" keys to increase the number of rings.
Press "D" or "d" keys to decrease the number of rings.
Press "O" or "o" keys to toggle the orient mode. One has to orient the
wedges in orient mode, besides getting all the wedges to be the same
color. To do this one has to get the numbers to be on the same side of
the ball in clockwise order.
Press "2", "4", "6", or "8" keys (not the keypad 2, 4, 6, 8) to change
to 2, 4, 6, or 8 wedges, respectively. Note: if there were odd number
of wedges, there would be no 180 degree turn and therefore the puzzle
would be inoperable.
"S" or "s" are reserved for the auto-solver (unimplemented).
Press "U" or "u" keys to undo move.
Press "G" or "g" keys to get a saved puzzle.
Press "W" or "w" keys to write or save a puzzle.
Press "Q", "q", or "CTRL-C" keys to kill program.
Use the key pad, "R" keys, or arrow keys to move without mouse clicks.
Key pad is defined for Masterball as:
/ Counterclockwise
7 8 9 Upper Left, Up, Upper Right
^
4<5>6 Left, Clockwise, Right
v
1 2 3 Lower Left, Down, Lower Right
Use the control key and the left mouse button, keypad, or arrow keys to
move the whole Masterball. This is not recorded as a turn.
The title is in the following format (non-motif version):
xmball.{2|4|6|8<wedges>}: <number of sectors per wedge> @ (<Num‐
ber of moves>/{<Record number of moves> <username>|"NEVER noac‐
cess"|"practice"}) - <Comment>
If there is no record of the current puzzle, it displays "NEVER noac‐
cess".
OPTIONS-geometry {+|-}X{+|-}Y
This option sets the initial position of the masterball window
(resource name "geometry").
-display host:dpy
This option specifies the X server to contact.
-[no]mono
This option allows you to display on a color screen as if
monochrome (resource name "mono").
-[no]{reverse|rv}
This option allows you to see the masterball window in reverse
video (resource name "reverse").
-{foreground|fg} color
This option specifies the foreground of the masterball window
(resource name "foreground").
-{background|bg} color
This option specifies the background of the masterball window
(resource name "background").
-{border|bd} color
This option specifies the border color of the sectors in the
masterball window (resource name "borderColor").
-wedge{0|1|2|3|4|5|6|7} <color>
This option allows you to change the color of a wedge (resource
name "wedgeColorN"). In mono-mode, color is represented as the
first letter of the color name. The wedges are ordered clock‐
wise. If you have two colors that begin with the same letter
you should have one in uppercase and one in lowercase to dis‐
tinguish them in mono-mode. You can change the colors of the
wedges to make a stupid Masterball (i.e. all White or in mono-
mode all "W"). Unfortunately, it will not normally say its
solved when its randomized. Similarly, with the Duomasterball
(black and white), it may be solved color-wise but not by its
internal representation. This would be cheating.
-wedges <int>
This option allows you to change the number of wedges (resource
name "wedges").
-rings <int>
This option allows you to change the number of rings (resource
name "rings").
-[no]orient
This option allows you to access the orient mode (resource name
"orient").
-[no]practice
This option allows you to access the practice mode (resource
name "practice").
-base int
This option specifies the base used (default is base 16)
(resource name "base"). When there are 12 wedges there is not
much room, so base 10 was not used as the default.
-username string
This option specifies the user name for any records made or
else it will get your login name (resource name "userName").
SAVE FORMAT
The format is not standard. The reason for this is that this is simple
and I do not know what the standard is.
Masterball numbered clockwise, with default colors, not randomized:
0 Y Yellow
7 1 D B Dark Green, Blue
6 2 C R Cyan, Red
5 3 O M Orange, Magenta
4 G Green
wedges: 1-8 <number of wedges around ball>
rings: 1-MAXINT <number of slices around ball>
orient: 0-1 <0 false, 1 true; if true then numbers on puzzle to
be oriented and ordered>
practice: 0-1 <0 false, 1 true>
moves: 0-MAXINT <total number of moves>
startingPosition: <2 dimensional array of sector wedge position,
if orient mode then orientation number follows each wedge num‐
ber>
This is then followed by the moves, starting from 1.
move #: <wedge> <ring> <direction> <control>
Each turn is with respect to a sector defined by wedge and ring.
Direction is represented as 0 up, 1 right, 2 down, 3 left, 4 upper
right, 5 lower right, 6 lower left, 7 upper left, 9 clockwise, and 15
counterclockwise.
Control is represented as 0 or 1, 1 if the whole ball is moved at once,
0 if not. The xmball record keeper does not count a control move as a
move, but here we do.
Caution: the program may crash on corrupted input.
REFERENCES
http://wsd.com/masterball
SEE ALSOX(1), xrubik(6), xskewb(6), xdino(6), xpyraminx(6), xoct(6), xmlink(6),
xpanex(6), xcubes(6), xtriangles(6), xhexagons(6), xabacus(1)COPYRIGHTS
® Copyright 1994-99, David Albert Bagley
BUG REPORTS AND PROGRAM UPDATES
Send bugs (or their reports, or fixes) to the author
David Albert Bagley, <bagleyd@tux.org>
The latest version is currently at:
ftp://ftp.tux.org/pub/tux/bagleyd/xpuzzles
ftp://ftp.x.org/contrib/games
V5.5 20 June 1999 MASTERBALL(6)
