| XSKEWB(6) | Games Manual | XSKEWB(6) |
xskewb - Skewb X widgets
/usr/games/xskewb [-geometry [{width}][x{height}][{+-}{xoff}[{+-}{yoff}]]] [-display [{host}]:[{vs}]] [-[no]mono] [-[no]{reverse|rv}] [-{foreground|fg} {color}] [-{background|bg} {color}] [-face{0|1|2|3|4|5} {color}] [-{border|bd} {color}] [-delay msecs] [-[no]sound] [-moveSound {filename}] [-{font|fn} {fontname}] [-view {int}] [-[no]orient] [-[no]practice] [-userName {string}] [-scoreFile {filename}] [-scores] [-version]
The original puzzle has each face cut by a diamond, so that there are 5 pieces, 4 corner pieces and one diamond piece in the center. This was designed by Uwe Meffert and called the Pyraminx Cube. Douglas Hofstadter later coined it a Skewb and it stuck. The puzzle has period 3 turning (i.e. each half turns with 120 degree intervals). The Skewb has 2^5*3^8*6!/2^6 or 3,149,280 different combinations (with centers oriented 2^5*3^8*6!/2 or 100,766,960 different combinations).
More recently, Disney released Mickey's Challenge, its a spherical skewb with a pretty good internal mechanism. Mickey's challenge has 2^5*3^8*6!/36 5,598,720 visually different combinations). It also comes with a pretty neat book. Also released is the Creative Puzzle Ball or Meffert's Challenge which has 4 rings in different colors.
Mach Balls of the Hungarian Gyula Mach are similar but they do not have a ratchet mechanism and do not turn as easily or smoothly. One must match the 12 different symbols of 4 each at the 12 intersection points.
Press "mouse-left" button to move a piece. Release "mouse-left" button on a piece on the same face. (Clicks on diamonds are ignored). The pieces will then turn towards where the mouse button was released.
Click "mouse-center", or press "P" or "p" keys to toggle the practice mode (in practice mode the record should say "practice"). This is good for learning moves and experimenting.
Click "mouse-right", or press "Z" or "z" keys, to randomize the puzzle (this must be done first to set a new record).
Press "R" or "r" keys to read a saved puzzle.
Press "W" or "w" keys to save (write) a puzzle.
Press "U" or "u" keys to undo a move.
Press "E" or "e" keys to redo a move.
Press "C" or "c" keys to clear the puzzle.
"S" or "s" keys to start auto-solver.
Press "O" or "o" keys to toggle the orient mode. One has to orient the faces in orient mode, besides getting all the faces to be the same color. To do this one has to get the lines to be oriented in the same direction, this only matters with center diamond piece. This does add complexity so there are 2 sets of records.
Press "V" or "v" keys to change the view of the cube.
Press ">" or "." keys to speed up the movement of pieces (not implemented).
Press "<" or "," keys to slow down the movement of pieces (not implemented).
Press "@" key to toggle the sound.
Press "Esc" key to hide program.
Press "Q", "q", or "CTRL-C" keys to kill program.
Use the key pad or arrow keys to move without the mouse.
Key pad is defined for the Skewb2d as:
/ Counterclockwise
7 8 9 Upper Left, Up, Upper Right
^
4<5>6 Left, Clockwise, Right
v
1 2 3 Lower Left, Down, Lower Right
If the mouse is on a diamond, the above keys will not move cube because the move is ambiguous. Also if the mouse is on a triangle, not all the keys will function because the puzzle will only rotate on the cuts, i.e. a triangle with a Upper Left - Lower Right cut will rotate only Upper Left & Lower Right, a triangle with a Upper Right - Lower Left cut will rotate only Upper Right & Lower Left. Therefore, a triangle can only move tangential to the center of the face. No doubt this is confusing, but the physical skewb is the same way. In fact, that is part of its appeal.
Key pad for other than Skewb2d, use must use your intuition (is this a cop out or what?). The key pad is defined differently depending on which side of the cube your mouse is pointing at. One thing that stays the same is "5" is Clockwise and "/" is Counterclockwise.
Use the control key and the left mouse button, keypad, or arrow keys to move the whole cube. Its also possible to rotate whole cube with an axis through a face with alt key is pressed (Tab key when using Windows). This is not recorded as a turn.
The title is in the following format (non-motif non-opengl version):
You must randomize the puzzle before a record is set, otherwise an assumption of cheating is made if it is solved after a get or an auto-solve.
Here is the format for the xskewb configuration, starting position, and the movement of its pieces.
Skewb2d with default colors, not randomized:
0 R Red
1 2 3 B W G Blue, White, Green
4 P Pink
5 Y Yellow
startingPosition: <2 dimensional array of face and corner position and center diamond position, each face has 4 corner pieces and one center piece, if orient mode then orientation number follows face number: 0 up, 1 right, 2 down, and 3 left>
This is then followed by the moves, starting from 1.
Beyond Rubik's Cube: spheres, pyramids, dodecahedrons and God knows what else by Douglas R. Hofstadter, Scientific American, July 1982, pp 16-31.
Mickey's Challenge by Christoph Bandelow.
Magic Cubes 1996 Catalog of Dr. Christoph Bandelow.
X(1), xcubes(6), xtriangles(6), xhexagons(6), xmlink(6), xbarrel(6), xpanex(6), xmball(6), xpyraminx(6), xoct(6), xrubik(6), xdino(6), xabacus(6)
® Copyright 1994-2010, David A. Bagley
Send bugs (or their reports, or fixes) to the author:
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| 22 Oct 2010 | V7.6.4 |