TETRIS(6)

BSD Games Manual

TETRIS(6)

NAME
tetris the game of tetris
SYNOPSIS
tetris [-ps] [-k keys] [-l level]
DESCRIPTION
The tetris command runs display-based game which must be played on a CRT te
rminal. 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.
The default level of play is 2.
The default control keys are as follows:
j
k
l
space
p
q

move left
rotate 1/4 turn counterclockwise
move right
drop
pause
quit

The options are as follows:

-k
The default control keys can be changed using the -k option. The k
eys argument must have the six keys in order, and, remem
ber to quote any space or tab characters from the shell. For examp
le:
tetris -l 2 -k 'jkl pq'
will play the default games, i.e. level 2 and with the default cont
rol keys. The current key settings are displayed at the
bottom of the screen during play.
-l

Select a level of play.

-s

Display the top scores.

-p

Switch on previewing of the shape that will appear next.

PLAY
At the start of the game, a shape will appear at the top of the screen, fal
ling 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 fa
ll 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 touches down on the bottom
of the field, another will appear at the top.
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.

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 points -- 200 points on level 3 gives you a score of 600. Each
player gets at most one entry on any level, for a total
of nine scores in the high scores file. Players who no longer have account
s are limited to one score. Also, scores over 5 years old
are expired. The exception to these conditions is that the highest score o
n a given level is always kept, so that following genera
tions can pay homage to those who have wasted serious amounts of time.
The score list is produced at the end of the game. The printout includes e
ach 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 *.
FILES
/var/games/bsdgames/tetris-bsd.scores

high score file

BUGS
The higher levels are unplayable without a fast terminal connection.
AUTHORS
Adapted from a 1989 International Obfuscated C Code Contest winner by Chris
Torek and Darren F. Provine.
Manual adapted from the original entry written by Nancy L. Tinkham and Darr
en F. Provine.
Code for previewing next shape added by Hubert Feyrer in 1999.
BSD

May 31, 1993

BSD