1ATC(6)                         BSD Games Manual                         ATC(6)
2

NAME

4     atc — air traffic controller game
5

SYNOPSIS

7     atc [-u?lstp] [-gf game name] [-r random seed]
8

DESCRIPTION

10     atc lets you try your hand at the nerve wracking duties of the air traf‐
11     fic controller without endangering the lives of millions of travelers
12     each year.  Your responsibilities require you to direct the flight of
13     jets and prop planes into and out of the flight arena and airports.  The
14     speed (update time) and frequency of the planes depend on the difficulty
15     of the chosen arena.
16

OPTIONS

18     -u    Print the usage line and exit.
19
20     -?    Same as -u.
21
22     -l    Print a list of available games and exit.  The first game name
23           printed is the default game.
24
25     -s    Print the score list (formerly the Top Ten list).
26
27     -t    Same as -s.
28
29     -p    Print the path to the special directory where atc expects to find
30           its private files.  This is used during the installation of the
31           program.
32
33     -g game
34           Play the named game.  If the game listed is not one of the ones
35           printed from the -l option, the default game is played.
36
37     -f game
38           Same as -g.
39
40     -r seed
41           Set the random seed.  The purpose of this flag is questionable.
42

GOALS

44     Your goal in atc is to keep the game going as long as possible.  There is
45     no winning state, except to beat the times of other players.  You will
46     need to: launch planes at airports (by instructing them to increase their
47     altitude); land planes at airports (by instructing them to go to altitude
48     zero when exactly over the airport); and maneuver planes out of exit
49     points.
50
51     Several things will cause the end of the game.  Each plane has a destina‐
52     tion (see information area), and sending a plane to the wrong destination
53     is an error.  Planes can run out of fuel, or can collide.  Collision is
54     defined as adjacency in all three dimensions.  A plane leaving the arena
55     in any other way than through its destination exit is an error as well.
56
57     Scores are sorted in order of the number of planes safe.  The other sta‐
58     tistics are provided merely for fun.  There is no penalty for taking
59     longer than another player (except in the case of ties).
60
61     Suspending a game is not permitted.  If you get a talk message, tough.
62     When was the last time an Air Traffic Controller got called away to the
63     phone?
64

THE DISPLAY

66     Depending on the terminal you run atc on, the screen will be divided into
67     4 areas.  It should be stressed that the terminal driver portion of the
68     game was designed to be reconfigurable, so the display format can vary
69     depending on the version you are playing.  The descriptions here are
70     based on the ascii version of the game.  The game rules and input format,
71     however, should remain consistent.  Control-L redraws the screen, should
72     it become muddled.
73
74   RADAR
75     The first screen area is the radar display, showing the relative loca‐
76     tions of the planes, airports, standard entry/exit points, radar beacons,
77     and ``lines'' which simply serve to aid you in guiding the planes.
78
79     Planes are shown as a single letter with an altitude.  If the numerical
80     altitude is a single digit, then it represents thousands of feet.  Some
81     distinction is made between the prop planes and the jets.  On ascii ter‐
82     minals, prop planes are represented by a upper case letter, jets by a
83     lower case letter.
84
85     Airports are shown as a number and some indication of the direction
86     planes must be going to land at the airport.  On ascii terminals, this is
87     one of `^', `>', `<', and `v', to indicate north (0 degrees), east (90),
88     west (270) and south (180), respectively.  The planes will also take off
89     in this direction.
90
91     Beacons are represented as circles or asterisks and a number.  Their pur‐
92     pose is to offer a place of easy reference to the plane pilots.  See THE
93     DELAY COMMAND section below.
94
95     Entry/exit points are displayed as numbers along the border of the radar
96     screen.  Planes will enter the arena from these points without warning.
97     These points have a direction associated with them, and planes will
98     always enter the arena from this direction.  On the ascii version of atc,
99     this direction is not displayed.  It will become apparent what this
100     direction is as the game progresses.
101
102     Incoming planes will always enter at the same altitude: 7000 feet.  For a
103     plane to successfully depart through an entry/exit point, it must be fly‐
104     ing at 9000 feet.  It is not necessary for the planes to be flying in any
105     particular direction when they leave the arena (yet).
106
107   INFORMATION AREA
108     The second area of the display is the information area, which lists the
109     time (number of updates since start), and the number of planes you have
110     directed safely out of the arena.  Below this is a list of planes cur‐
111     rently in the air, followed by a blank line, and then a list of planes on
112     the ground (at airports).  Each line lists the plane name and its current
113     altitude, an optional asterisk indicating low fuel, the plane's destina‐
114     tion, and the plane's current command.  Changing altitude is not consid‐
115     ered to be a command and is therefore not displayed.  The following are
116     some possible information lines:
117
118           B4*A0: Circle @ b1
119           g7 E4: 225
120
121     The first example shows a prop plane named `B' that is flying at 4000
122     feet.  It is low on fuel (note the `*').  Its destination is Airport #0.
123     The next command it expects to do is circle when it reaches Beacon #1.
124     The second example shows a jet named `g' at 7000 feet, destined for Exit
125     #4.  It is just now executing a turn to 225 degrees (South-West).
126
127   INPUT AREA
128     The third area of the display is the input area.  It is here that your
129     input is reflected.  See the INPUT heading of this manual for more
130     details.
131
132   AUTHOR AREA
133     This area is used simply to give credit where credit is due. :-)
134

INPUT

136     A command completion interface is built into the game.  At any time, typ‐
137     ing `?' will list possible input characters.  Typing a backspace (your
138     erase character) backs up, erasing the last part of the command.  When a
139     command is complete, a return enters it, and any semantic checking is
140     done at that time.  If no errors are detected, the command is sent to the
141     appropriate plane.  If an error is discovered during the check, the
142     offending statement will be underscored and a (hopefully) descriptive
143     message will be printed under it.
144
145     The command syntax is broken into two parts: Immediate Only and Delayable
146     commands.  Immediate Only commands happen on the next update.  Delayable
147     commands also happen on the next update unless they are followed by an
148     optional predicate called the Delay command.
149
150     In the following tables, the syntax [0-9] means any single digit, and
151dir⟩ refers to a direction, given by the keys around the `s' key: ``wed‐
152     cxzaq''.  In absolute references, `q' refers to North-West or 315
153     degrees, and `w' refers to North, or 0 degrees.  In relative references,
154     `q' refers to -45 degrees or 45 degrees left, and `w' refers to 0
155     degrees, or no change in direction.
156
157     All commands start with a plane letter.  This indicates the recipient of
158     the command.  Case is ignored.
159
160   IMMEDIATE ONLY COMMANDS
161     a [ cd+- ] number
162           Altitude: Change a plane's altitude, possibly requesting takeoff.
163           `+' and `-' are the same as `c' and `d'.
164           a number    Climb or descend to the given altitude (in thousands of
165                       feet).
166           ac number   Climb: relative altitude change.
167           ad number   Descend: relative altitude change.
168
169     m     Mark: Display in highlighted mode.  Plane and command information
170           is displayed normally.
171
172     i     Ignore: Do not display highlighted.  Command is displayed as a line
173           of dashes if there is no command.
174
175     u     Unmark: Same as ignore, but if a delayed command is processed, the
176           plane will become marked.  This is useful if you want to forget
177           about a plane during part, but not all, of its journey.
178
179   DELAYABLE COMMANDS
180     c [ lr ]
181           Circle: Have the plane circle.
182           cl          Left: Circle counterclockwise.
183           cr          Right: Circle clockwise (default).
184
185     t [ l-r+LR ] [ dir ] or tt [ abe* ] number
186           Turn: Change direction.
187           t<dir>      Turn to direction: Turn to the absolute compass heading
188                       given.  The shortest turn will be taken.
189           tl [ dir ]  Left: Turn counterclockwise: 45 degrees by default, or
190                       the amount specified in ⟨dir⟩ (not to ⟨dir⟩.)  `w' (0
191                       degrees) is no turn.  `e' is 45 degrees; `q' gives -45
192                       degrees counterclockwise, that is, 45 degrees clock‐
193                       wise.
194           t- [ dir ]  Same as left.
195           tr [ dir ]  Right: Turn clockwise, 45 degrees by default, or the
196                       amount specified in ⟨dir⟩.
197           t+ [ dir ]  Same as right.
198           tL          Hard left: Turn counterclockwise 90 degrees.
199           tR          Hard right: Turn clockwise 90 degrees.
200           tt [abe*]   Towards: Turn towards a beacon, airport or exit.  The
201                       turn is just an estimate.
202           tta number  Turn towards the given airport.
203           ttb number  Turn towards the specified beacon.
204           tte number  Turn towards an exit.
205           tt* number  Same as ttb.
206
207   THE DELAY COMMAND
208     The Delay (a/@) command may be appended to any Delayable command.  It
209     allows the controller to instruct a plane to do an action when the plane
210     reaches a particular beacon (or other objects in future versions).
211
212     ab number
213           Do the delayable command when the plane reaches the specified bea‐
214           con.  The `b' for ``beacon'' is redundant to allow for expansion.
215           `@' can be used instead of `a'.
216
217   MARKING, UNMARKING AND IGNORING
218     Planes are marked by default when they enter the arena.  This means they
219     are displayed in highlighted mode on the radar display.  A plane may also
220     be either unmarked or ignored.  An ignored plane is drawn in unhigh‐
221     lighted mode, and a line of dashes is displayed in the command field of
222     the information area.  The plane will remain this way until a mark com‐
223     mand has been issued.  Any other command will be issued, but the command
224     line will return to a line of dashes when the command is completed.
225
226     An unmarked plane is treated the same as an ignored plane, except that it
227     will automatically switch to marked status when a delayed command has
228     been processed.  This is useful if you want to forget about a plane for a
229     while, but its flight path has not yet been completely set.
230
231     As with all of the commands, marking, unmarking and ignoring will take
232     effect at the beginning of the next update.  Do not be surprised if the
233     plane does not immediately switch to unhighlighted mode.
234
235   EXAMPLES
236           atlab1    Plane A: turn left at beacon #1
237
238           cc        Plane C: circle
239
240           gtte4ab2  Plane G: turn towards exit #4 at beacon #2
241
242           ma+2      Plane M: altitude: climb 2000 feet
243
244           stq       Plane S: turn to 315
245
246           xi        Plane X: ignore
247

OTHER INFORMATION

249     ·   Jets move every update; prop planes move every other update.
250
251     ·   All planes turn at most 90 degrees per movement.
252
253     ·   Planes enter at 7000 feet and leave at 9000 feet.
254
255     ·   Planes flying at an altitude of 0 crash if they are not over an air‐
256         port.
257
258     ·   Planes waiting at airports can only be told to take off (climb in
259         altitude).
260
261     ·   Pressing return (that is, entering an empty command) will perform the
262         next update immediately.  This allows you to ``fast forward'' the
263         game clock if nothing interesting is happening.
264

NEW GAMES

266     The Game_List file lists the currently available play fields.  New field
267     description file names must be placed in this file to be playable.  If a
268     player specifies a game not in this file, his score will not be logged.
269
270     The game field description files are broken into two parts.  The first
271     part is the definition section.  Here, the four tunable game parameters
272     must be set.  These variables are set with the syntax:
273
274           variable = number;
275
276     Variable may be one of: update, indicating the number of seconds between
277     forced updates; newplane, indicating (about) the number of updates
278     between new plane entries; width, indicating the width of the play field;
279     or height, indicating the height of the play field.
280
281     The second part of the field description files describes the locations of
282     the exits, the beacons, the airports and the lines.  The syntax is as
283     follows:
284
285           beacon:   (x y) ... ;
286           airport:  (x y direction) ... ;
287           exit:     (x y direction) ... ;
288           line:     [ (x1 y1) (x2 y2) ] ... ;
289
290     For beacons, a simple x, y coordinate pair is used (enclosed in parenthe‐
291     sis).  Airports and exits require a third value, which is one of the
292     directions wedcxzaq.  For airports, this is the direction that planes
293     must be going to take off and land, and for exits, this is the direction
294     that planes will be going when they enter the arena.  This may not seem
295     intuitive, but as there is no restriction on direction of exit, this is
296     appropriate.  Lines are slightly different, since they need two coordi‐
297     nate pairs to specify the line endpoints.  These endpoints must be
298     enclosed in square brackets.
299
300     All statements are semi-colon (;) terminated.  Multiple item statements
301     accumulate.  Each definition must occur exactly once, before any item
302     statements.  Comments begin with a hash (#) symbol and terminate with a
303     newline.  The coordinates are between zero and width-1 and height-1
304     inclusive.  All of the exit coordinates must lie on the borders, and all
305     of the beacons and airports must lie inside of the borders.  Line end‐
306     points may be anywhere within the field, so long as the lines are hori‐
307     zontal, vertical or exactly diagonal.
308
309   FIELD FILE EXAMPLE
310     # This is the default game.
311
312     update = 5;
313     newplane = 5;
314     width = 30;
315     height = 21;
316
317     exit:           ( 12  0 x ) ( 29  0 z ) ( 29  7 a ) ( 29 17 a )
318                     (  9 20 e ) (  0 13 d ) (  0  7 d ) (  0  0 c ) ;
319
320     beacon:         ( 12  7 ) ( 12 17 ) ;
321
322     airport:        ( 20 15 w ) ( 20 18 d ) ;
323
324     line:           [ (  1  1 ) (  6  6 ) ]
325                     [ ( 12  1 ) ( 12  6 ) ]
326                     [ ( 13  7 ) ( 28  7 ) ]
327                     [ ( 28  1 ) ( 13 16 ) ]
328                     [ (  1 13 ) ( 11 13 ) ]
329                     [ ( 12  8 ) ( 12 16 ) ]
330                     [ ( 11 18 ) ( 10 19 ) ]
331                     [ ( 13 17 ) ( 28 17 ) ]
332                     [ (  1  7 ) ( 11  7 ) ] ;
333
334

FILES

336     Files are kept in a special directory.  See the OPTIONS section for a way
337     to print this path out.  It is normally /usr/share/bsd-games//atc.
338
339     This directory contains the file Game_List, which holds the list of
340     playable games, as well as the games themselves.
341
342     The scores are kept in /var/games//atc_score.
343

AUTHOR

345     Ed James, UC Berkeley: edjames@ucbvax.berkeley.edu, ucbvax!edjames
346
347     This game is based on someone's description of the overall flavor of a
348     game written for some unknown PC many years ago, maybe.
349

BUGS

351     The screen sometimes refreshes after you have quit.
352
353BSD                             January 1, 2004                            BSD
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