xref: /csrg-svn/games/tetris/tetris.6 (revision 57278)

.\" Copyright (c) 1992 The Regents of the University of California.
.\" All rights reserved.
.\"
.\" %sccs.include.redist.man%
.\"
.\"	@(#)tetris.6	5.1 (Berkeley) 12/22/92
.\"
.Dd ""
.Dt TETRIS 6
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm tetris
.Nd the game of tetris
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm
.Op level
.Op \-keys
.br
.Nm
0
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
command runs display-based game which must be played on a CRT terminal.
The object is to fit the shapes together forming complete rows,
which then vanish.
When the shapes fill up to the top, the game ends.
You can optionally select a level of play, or custom-select control keys.
.Pp
To select a level of play,
specify a number from 1 to 9 as the first argument.
The default level is 2;
higher levels mean a faster game, as described below.
If you specify multiple levels, only the first is used.
.Pp
The default control keys are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width <space>x
.It j
move left
.It k
rotate 1/4 turn counterclockwise
.It l
move right
.It <space>
drop
.It p
pause
.It q
quit
.El
These can be changed by putting the replacements on the command line,
preceded by a hyphen (``-''), in the order above
(but note that if you want to specify a space,
you must quote it from the shell).
For example, running:
.D1 1 "tet 2 -jkl\e pq"
will play at level 2, using the default key assignments.
Selecting the same key twice in the specification string causes an error.
The current key settings are displayed at the bottom of the screen during play.
.Sh PLAY
At the start of the game, a shape will appear at the top of the screen,
falling one square at a time.
The speed at which it falls is determined directly by the level:
if you select level 2, the blocks will fall twice per second;
at level 9, they fall 9 times per second.
(As the game goes on, things speed up,
no matter what your initial selection.)
When this shape
.Dq "touches down"
on the bottom of the field, another will appear at the top.
.Pp
You can move shapes to the left or right, rotate them counterclockwise,
or drop them to the bottom by pressing the appropriate keys.
As you fit them together, completed horizontal rows vanish,
and any blocks above fall down to fill in.
When the blocks stack up to the top of the screen, the game is over.
.Sh SCORING
You get one point for every block you fit into the stack,
and one point for every space a block falls when you hit the drop key.
(Dropping the blocks is therefore a good way to increase your score.)
Your total score is the product of the level of play
and your accumulated
.ie t points\(em200
.el points -- 200
points on level 3 gives you a score of 600.
Each player gets at most one entry on any level,
to a total of nine scores in the highscores file.
Players who no longer have accounts are limited to one score.
Also, scores over 5 years old are expired.
The exception to these conditions is that the highest score on a given level is
.Em always
kept,
so that following generations can pay homage to those who went before.
.Pp
The score list is produced at the end of the game.
Optionally, you can read the current scores without playing
by selecting level 0.
The printout includes each player's overall ranking,
name, score, and how many points were scored on what level.
Scores which are the highest on a given level
are marked with asterisks
.Dq * .
.Sh FILES
.Bl -tag -width /var/games/tetris.scoresxx
.It /var/games/tetris.scores
high score file
.El
.Sh BUGS
The higher levels are unplayable without a fast terminal connection.
.Sh AUTHORS
Adapted from a 1989 International Obfuscated C Code Contest winner by
Chris Torek and Darren F Provine.
.Pp
Manual entry written by Nancy L Tinkham & Darren F Provine.