penetrate - simulates a classic arcade shooting game

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

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.

-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.

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.

Copyright © 1999 Adam Miller. Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. No representations are made about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

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