NAME

superbreak −  3-D version of the game "breakout"

SYNOPSIS

/usr/people/mexdemos/superbreak [h] [−r bricks] [−l layers] [−c chances] [−p paddlesize] [−b ballsize] [−f friction]

DESCRIPTION

Try to destroy as many bricks as possible while keeping the ball from reaching the bottom of the playing area. 

Playing the Game

Control the paddle by moving the mouse.  To release a ball, press the left mouse button.  Once the ball is in play, keep it from reaching the bottom of the playing area by hitting it with the paddle.  Use the ball and paddle to hit as many bricks as possible. 

To display the menu of player options, press the right mouse button.  Freeze ball motion by holding down the middle mouse button. 

After five balls have been lost, the game is reset and all options except the number of viewing windows are returned to their initial values. 

COMMAND LINE OPTIONS

prints a usage help statement sets the number of bricks per side.  bricks is an integer value between 1 and 7.  The default value of bricks is 5.  sets the number of brick layers.  layers is an integer value between 1 and 4.  The default value of layers is 4.  sets the number of balls a player gets.  chances is an integer value between 1 and 10.  The default value of chances is 5.  sets the size of the paddle.  paddlesize is an integer value between 1 and 100.  The default value for paddlesize is 20.  sets the ball size.  ballsize is an integer value between 1 and 100.  The default value for ballsize is 10.  sets the friction of the paddle.  friction can be any postive integer.  The default value of friction is 20. 

MENU OPTIONS

Press the right mouse button for the pop-up menu containing player options. 

stay still - maintains the current viewing position, regardless of viewing option.  With this option the player is free to move the paddle without altering the current viewing position.  This is most helpful when using the follow mouse option.  The stay still option can also be used with other viewing options to create interesting effects. 

follow mouse - allows the player to circle around the playing area using the mouse. Moving the mouse left or right rotates the viewing angle to the left or right.  Similarly, moving the mouse up or down rotates the viewing angle up or down. 

follow paddle - displays the playing area from the paddle’s perspective.  Whenever the playing field is viewed from behind the paddle, the paddle appears transparent. 

follow ball - displays the playing area from the ball’s perspective.  Use this option in conjunction with the auto on option described below. 

three views/one view - toggles between one view in one window (the default), and three views in three separate windows. When in three views mode the main window will show the follow mouse view, the second window will show the follow paddle view, and the third window will show the follow ball view. The player may freely switch between these three views.  Because of the added computation involved, using the three views option will slow down the game on the screen. 

auto off/auto on - toggles between computer controlled mode (the default), and player controlled mode.  In automatic mode the computer automatically keeps the paddle directly under the ball, freeing the user to demostrate the various display modes, features, and views while keeping the ball in play.  Automatic mode is almost indispensible when using the follow ball option. 

clear bricks/opaque bricks - toggles between opaque bricks (the default), and transparent bricks. Transparent bricks allow the player to see the ball while it is moving behind them. 

reset - this option resets the game. 

exit - this option exits the game. The player must confirm the intention to exit before the game is over. The game may also be left at any time, without confirmation, by hitting the escape key. 

NOTE

This game will run only in the window manager. 

AUTHOR

Eric Brechner - 07/29/86

Version 2.5  —  April 22, 1987