penetrate — simulates a classic arcade shooting game

Synopsis

penetrate [-display host:display.screen] [-root] [-window] [-install] [-noinstall] [-visual visual] [-bgrowth microseconds] [-lrate number] [-smart number] [-fps]

Description

Penetrate simulates the arcade classic with the cities and the stuff shooting down from the sky and stuff. The computer plays against itself, desperately defending the forces of good against those thingies raining down. Bonus cities are awarded at ever-increasing intervals. Every five levels appears a bonus round. The computer player gets progressively more intelligent as the game progresses. Better aim, more economical with ammo, and better target selection. Points are in the bottom right, and high score is in the bottom left. Start with -smart to have the computer player skip the learning process.

Options

-display host:display.screen
Specifies which X display we should use.
-root
Draw on the root window.
-window
Draw on a newly-created window. This is the default.
-install
Install a private colormap for the window.
-noinstall
Don't install a private colormap for the window.
-visual visual
Specify which visual to use. Legal values are the name of a visual class, or the id number (decimal or hex) of a specific visual. Possible choices include

default, best, mono, monochrome, gray, grey, color, staticgray, staticcolor, truecolor, grayscale, greyscale, pseudocolor, directcolor, number

If a decimal or hexadecimal number is used, XGetVisualInfo(3X) is consulted to obtain the required visual.

-foreground color
Specifies the default foreground color.
-background color
Specifies the default background color.
-bgrowth integer
Specifies the growth rate of the bomb explosions.
-lrate integer
Set the initial rate of laser fire.
-smart
Have the computer player skip the learning process.
-fps
Display the current frame rate and CPU load.

Bugs

The layout of the screen isn't quite the same as the game this program tries to emulate. In this this program, the missiles come out of the cities; when really, there are supposed to be three missile bases on hills, with the cities in the valleys between them.

See http://www.mame.net/ for details.

Author

Adam Miller <adum@aya.yale.edu>, 1999.