xevil1.5.README This is basically a text dump of http://graphics.lcs.mit.edu/~hardts/xevil.html Look at the web page for more up to date information. Steve Hardt 6/1/96 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISCLAIMER XEvil is not for happy, fun-loving, i'm-ok-you're-ok type of people. XEvil involves people getting lit on fire, ripped up by chainsaws, and munched on by aliens. If this sort of blatent, gratuitous, and unnecessary violence offends you: 1.Go fuck yourself. 2.Read some other web page, you little nerd. New features since version 1.4: Cloaking device. Works properly against machine players. Cursor is invisible when in playing field. The cursor can be anywhere on one of the playing windows. It no longer has to be inside the playing field. Walkers. (They look a bit like Star Wars AT-STs.) Dopplegangers are less annoying. They can't collide with you anymore andthey are a bit smarter. Corpses no longer collide with other objects. Easier to grab ladders when jumping through the air. Doors. Can't chainsaw, shoot lances, or throw grenades through walls. Heros can get around a bit better, can jump up onto ledges. Try the HIVE scenario. It got a bit more interesting. Heh, heh, heh. WHAT IS XEVIL Death, kill, maim, extreme violence. XEvil is a side-view, fast-action, kill everything game. Play is against human or computer players. XEvil is keyboard controlled with configurable controls. A game can be played on one or more X workstations (over the net by opening multiple X displays). There are several styles of game play: Scenarios One or more humans. Different levels have different scenarios that must be completed. Levels One or more humans. Kill everything then go to the next level. Kill,Kill,Kill Zero or more humans. Everything tries to kill everything. You can also just watch computer players fight each other. Duel Two or more humans. Each human has three lives. Human players try to kill each other. Extended Duel Like Duel except the game never ends. It just keeps track of how many kills each player has. Training One human player. Really just for learning the controls. XEvil has an assortment of characters, weapons, and items. Ninjas, aliens, chopper-boys, chainsaws, flame-throwers, the Altar-Of-Sin, and soul-swappers, to name a few. The keyboard controls can be configured with X resources or at runtime with the graphical interface. The game clock speed can be adjusted. Sometimes when the net is slow or the machine is hosed it helps to kick up the XEvil clock speed. WHY XEVIL The creation of XEvil is just one step in my complicated and devious plot to achieve world domination. Soon I will control the minds of millions of weak-willed souls all over the planet. I will have an army of obedient slaves devoted solely to my bidding! HA, HA, HA. WO HO HO HO. Hee hee hee hee hee hee. More maniacal laughter. SPELLING XEvil is spelled with a capital 'X', a capital 'E', and small "vil". This really isn't very important, but then again maybe you're curious. XEVIL ON ATHENA If you are a member of the MIT community, you can play XEvil on any of the public workstations. To play XEvil: add games xevil For instructions: add games man xevil OBTAINING AND INSTALLING XEVIL XEvil requires Xlib and a C++ compiler. However, even if you do not have a C++ compiler, the distribution includes executables for several common architectures. XEvil works on color, black & white, and grey scale X displays. XEvil has been compiled successfully for at least the following architectures: DEC Alpha [xevil1.5.alpha] A decmips machine such as a DEC 5000, DEC 3000, DEC 2100 [xevil1.5.decmips] Silicon Graphics (Indy, Indigo II, Reality Engine, etc) [xevil1.5.iris] Sun 4 or Sun 5 [xevil1.5.sun4] 386 Linux machine [xevil1.5.linux] IBM RSAIX such as a RS/6000 [xevil1.5.rsaix] HP series 700 machines [xevil1.5.hp700] If you have one of the above, you don't have to compile. The executables for these architectures are available. The sources, executables, and man pages are available via anonymous ftp from ftp.x.org. under the directory /contrib/games/xevil1.5. Relevant files at ftp.x.org: xevil1.5.tar.Z Source code, man pages. xevil1.5..Z Compressed executable for a specific architecture where is one of { alpha decmips iris sun4 sun5 linux rsaix hp700 } XEVIL MAILING LIST xevil@mit.edu The purpose of this list is to: 1. inform people of changes to and new releases of XEvil. 2. give playing hints and tips. 3. offer suggestions for improvements to XEvil, e.g. new creatures, witty sayings at the beginnings of games, new weapons, ideas for demo screens at game startup, etc. 4. give a place for bug reports. 5. problems with compiling/installation. (Of course you should read all the documentation before asking for help.) To add yourself to the XEvil mailing list. Members of the MIT community: blanche xevil -add < username > Non-MIT people should send e-mail to hardts@mit.edu. Please specify the exact e-mail address where you would like your mail sent. IMPLEMENTATION NOTES XEvil is written in C++ and straight Xlib. I used g++ and several versions of Silicon Graphics' C++ compiler. I developed XEvil mostly on Silicon Graphics machines, but I also did quite a bit of work on DEC 5000 and Sun 4 machines. To maximize portability I chose not to use any libraries for the user interface and, instead, to do it myself. So if the Ui is a bit rough for your taste, bite me. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 1, or (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Steve Hardt hardts@mit.edu (valid until Nov. 1996) hardts@netscape.com hardts@alum.mit.edu 2043 McClendon Houston, TX 77030 (713) 667-7946