3 # Frequently asked questions
5 # $Id: FAQ,v 1.3 1996/02/09 08:47:23 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.
20 [7] Why can't my terminal hide the cursor?
24 [1] Where can I find the latest version?
26 ftp://ftp.netris.org/pub/netris/
28 The latest version is available via anonymous ftp from
29 ftp.netris.org in /pub/netris.
31 Unfortunately this machine is currently on the far end of a
32 14.4kbps modem connection, and may go away at any time without
33 notice, but I'll do my best to keep it up. If you have trouble
34 contacting the ftp server, try mailing me at <mhw@netris.org>.
36 [2] The pieces look bizarre in my xterm window, and don't erase
39 Try disabling standout mode with the -S option. If this fixes it,
40 it's probably because the bold font on your xterm is set wrong.
41 It's a good idea to fix it, since the blocks look much nicer when
44 If the blocks don't erase correctly and are drawn larger than normal
45 characters, check your .Xdefaults file. If you set the "font", make
46 sure you also set the "boldFont" to something of the same size. For
47 example, I use 6x10 font for xterms, and here are the relevant lines
53 Make sure you capitalize the F in "boldFont"
55 [3] If I drop a piece and then slide it off a cliff, shouldn't
56 it automatically drop again?
60 [4] When I try to play a networked game, it just hangs.
62 There are two possibilities. First, versions 0.1d? are incompatible
63 with current versions. This is unfortunate, but remember, those were
64 very developmental versions. I needed to fix up the protocol, and
65 I didn't want a whole bunch of messy compatibility code (at least
66 not yet :-) Ask your opponent to get the latest version.
68 The other possibility is that you've typed in the wrong hostname, or
69 there's a port number mismatch, if either of you used the -p option.
71 [5] Is the game fair? Is there an advantage to being the -w or the
74 The game is fair. The game is completely symmetric once the
75 connection is established. Furthermore, a random number seed is
76 exchanged at the start of the game, so both players will get the
79 There is a built-in random number generator, so even if the C
80 library on your system has a non-standard generator, both
81 players will still get the same sequence.
83 There is no attempt to synchronize the start of the game
84 accurately for networks with high latency. This should be fixed
85 at some point, but I doubt such a small head start makes much
86 difference for a game lasting several minutes.
88 [6] I'm using a slow terminal, and the game response is sluggish.
91 Try the -S option. This disables use of standout mode (bold/inverse),
92 which require control sequences to be sent twice (or more) per line.
93 Standout mode makes the pieces look much more like blocks, but can
94 make the game unplayable on a slow terminal.
96 Also, you can type 's' to toggle spying (updating your view of the
99 [7] Why can't my terminal hide the cursor?
101 Netris uses the termcap library to look up the "vi" and "ve"
102 capabilities, which make the cursor invisible/visible
103 respectively. These capabilities aren't very consistently
104 reported among un*xes, so I use compiled-in vt220 codes for
105 several vt100-like terminals. Most emulators probably won't
106 support the codes, but they'll probably ignore them quietly.
108 Try setting the TERM environment variable to "vt100" or "vt220"
109 before running Netris. If that doesn't work, your terminal
110 probably doesn't support cursor invisibility.