1FREECIV(6) Games Manual FREECIV(6)
2
6 freeciv-gtk2, freeciv-gtk3, freeciv-gtk3.22, freeciv-sdl2, freeciv-qt -
7 The clients for the Freeciv game
8
10 freeciv-gtk2|freeciv-gtk3|freeciv-gtk3.22|freeciv-sdl2|freeciv-qt [
11 -A|--Announce protocol ] [ -a|--autoconnect ] [ -d|--debug level ] [
12 -F|--Fatal [ signal_number ] ] [ -f|--file filename ] [ -h|--help ] [
13 -l|--log filename ] [ -M|--Meta URL ] [ -n|--name name ] [ -p|--port
14 port ] [ -P|--Plugin string ] [ -r|--read filename ] [ -s|--server ad‐
15 dress ] [ -S|--Sound name ] [ -t|--tiles name ] [ -v|--version ] [ --
16 client-specific-parameters ]
17 freeciv-gtk2 accepts the standard Gtk parameters following --; see the
19 Gtk documentation. It also accepts [ -h|--help ]
20 freeciv-gtk3 accepts the standard Gtk parameters following --; see the
22 Gtk documentation. It also accepts [ -g|--gtk-warnings ] [ -h|--help ]
23 [ -r|--resolution WIDTHxHEIGHT ]
24 freeciv-gtk3.22 accepts the standard Gtk parameters following --; see
26 the Gtk documentation. It also accepts [ -h|--help ] [ -r|--resolution
27 WIDTHxHEIGHT ]
28 freeciv-qt accepts the standard Qt parameters following --; see the Qt
30 documentation. It also accepts [ -h|--help ]
31 freeciv-sdl2 accepts the following parameters following --: [
33 -f|--fullscreen ] [ -F|--Font ize ] [ -h|--help ] [ -s|--swrenderer ] [
34 -t|--theme string ]
35
38 Freeciv is a free turn-based multiplayer strategy game, in which each
39 player becomes the leader of a civilization, fighting to obtain the ul‐
40 timate goal: To become the greatest civilization.
41 Players of Civilization II® by Microprose® should feel at home, since
43 one aim of Freeciv is to have compatible rules.
44 Freeciv is maintained by an international team of coders and enthusi‐
46 asts, and is easily one of the most fun and addictive network games out
47 there!
48 This is the client program used to connect to a Freeciv server - see
50 also freeciv-server(6) . freeciv-gtk2, freeciv-gtk3, freeciv-gtk3.22,
51 freeciv-qt, and freeciv-sdl2 can also spawn their own local server for
52 single-player games.
53 This manual page only lists the command line arguments. For more de‐
55 tails about using freeciv-gtk2, freeciv-gtk3, freeciv-gtk3.22, freeciv-
56 sdl2, or freeciv-qt, see the Client Manual which can be found at the
57 Freeciv website ⟨https://www.freeciv.org/⟩ as well as the documentation
58 which is part of the Freeciv distribution.
59
61 The following options are accepted by all clients. They may not be com‐
62 bined; that is, "-np caesar 5557" will not work, instead you would need
63 to enter "-n caesar -p 5557". All options have a short form (single hy‐
64 phen and single letter) and a long form (double hyphen and a complete
65 word); their effects are identical.
66 -A protocol, --Announce protocol
68 Uses protocol when searching for games on a LAN. Possible val‐
69 ues for protocol are:
70 IPv4
72 IPv6
74 none
76 -a, --autoconnect
78 Skips the connect dialog, automatically inserting the default
79 values. This is quite convenient when all has been set up prop‐
80 erly.
81 -d level, --debug level
83 Sets the amount of debugging information to be logged in the
84 file named by the -l option. Acceptable values for the
85 level_number are:
86 fatal for fatal messages only.
88 error for fatal and error messages.
90 normal for fatal, error and normal messages (default).
92 verbose for fatal, error, normal, and verbose messages.
94 -F [ signal_number ], --Fatal [ signal_number ]
97 Raise a custom signal on failed assertion. If signal_number is
98 not specified, then the ABRT signal will be used.
99 -f filename, --file filename
101 Loads a saved game file (filename). This is for reloading previ‐
102 ously saved games, or for starting scenarios from the command
103 line.
104 -h, --help
106 Prints a short summary of the standard command line options.
107 -l filename, --log filename
109 Defines a log file, filename, to be produced during processing.
110 Use the -d option to set how much is logged. By default, fatal,
111 error, and normal messages are printed to standard output. With
112 a log file, such messages go to the log instead. If filename
113 already exists, it is appended to.
114 -M URL, --Meta URL
116 Specifies the URL of the metaserver to connect to. A metaserver
117 is a place where Freeciv servers can publish their presence.
118 Freeciv clients consult the metaserver to offer users a selec‐
119 tion of games to join. By default, the standard metaserver run
120 by the Freeciv maintainers will be used.
121 -n name, --name name
123 Specifies the user name (name) to use to connect to the server.
124 This option is critical when reconnecting to a game. Please note
125 that you might need to quote your username.
126 -p port, --port port
128 Specifies the server port to connect to. By default this is
129 5556, if in doubt ask the server administrator.
130 -P string, --Plugin string
132 Specifies the plugin to use for sound output. Available options
133 for string are:
134 none
136 sdl
138 -r filename, --read filename
141 Specifies a file, filename, of server commands which a server
142 spawned by the client will automatically read and process, as if
143 you had typed them in at the server's prompt.
144 -s address, --server address
146 Specifies the game server address to connect to. This server
147 might easily run on the same machine as the client.
148 -S name, --Sound name
150 Specifies the sound set to use. A file called name.soundspec is
151 searched for in the usual places (see the FILES section).
152 -t name, --tiles name
154 Specifies the map graphics ("tiles") to be used within the game.
155 A file called name.tilespec is searched for in the usual places
156 (see the FILES section). Currently the following tilespecs are
157 distributed with Freeciv:
158 • amplio2.tilespec
160 • cimpletoon.tilespec
162 • hex2t.tilespec
164 • isophex.tilespec
166 • isotrident.tilespec
168 • trident.tilespec
170 -v, --version
172 Prints the version number and exits.
173 -- All parameters following this -- will be considered as client-
175 specific parameters.
176 -- -f, -- --fullscreen
178 Starts the client in full screen mode. Only implemented in the
179 freeciv-sdl2 client.
180 -- -h, -- --help
182 Print the client-specific parameter help.
183 -- -r WIDTHxHEIGHT, -- --resolution WIDTHxHEIGHT
185 Behave as if screen resolution were WIDTHxHEIGHT. Only imple‐
186 mented in the freeciv-gtk3 and freeciv-gtk3.22 clients.
187 -- -t theme, -- --theme theme
189 Use a particular GUI theme. Only implemented in the freeciv-sdl2
190 client.
191
193 freeciv-gtk3 --name "King Richard" --server io.daimi.aau.dk
194 Starts the GTK3 client using the name King Richard and connect‐
195 ing to the server at io.daimi.aau.dk.
196 freeciv-sdl2 -a -t trident
198 Starts the SDL2-client with the trident tiles and autoconnects
199 to localhost.
200
202 ~/.freeciv/freeciv-client-rc-[version-number]
203 This is where your local settings will be stored.
204 tilespecs
206 These are searched for in the data path; see ENVIRONMENT.
207 soundspecs
209 These are searched for in the data path; see ENVIRONMENT.
210 The freeciv-modpack(6) utility can be used to locate and download addi‐
212 tional content such as tilesets and soundsets and (for client-spawned
213 servers only) scenarios and rulesets; it saves files under ~/.freeciv .
214
216 The Freeciv client accepts these environment variables:
217 FREECIV_CAPS
219 A string containing a list of "capabilities" provided by the
220 server. The compiled-in default should be correct for most pur‐
221 poses, but if you are familiar with the capability facility in
222 the source you may use it to enforce some constraints between
223 clients and server.
224 FREECIV_COMPRESSION_LEVEL
226 Sets the compression level for network traffic.
227 FREECIV_DATA_ENCODING
229 Sets the character encoding used for data files, savegames, and
230 network strings). This should not normally be changed from the
231 default of UTF-8, since that is the format of the supplied rule‐
232 sets and the standard network protocol.
233 FREECIV_INTERNAL_ENCODING
235 Sets the character encoding used internally by the freeciv
236 client. This generally needs to match the GUI toolkit, so its
237 default depends on the specific client; most clients default to
238 UTF-8.
239 FREECIV_LOCAL_ENCODING
241 Sets the local character encoding (used for the command line and
242 terminal output). The default is inferred from other aspects of
243 the environment.
244 FREECIV_MULTICAST_GROUP
246 Sets the multicast group (for the LAN tab).
247 FREECIV_DATA_PATH
249 A colon separated list of directories pointing to the freeciv
250 data directories. By default Freeciv looks in the following di‐
251 rectories, in order, for any data files: the current directory;
252 the "data" subdirectory of the current directory; the subdirec‐
253 tory ".freeciv/3.0" in the user's home directory; and the direc‐
254 tory where the files are placed by running "make install". If
255 not set, FREECIV_SAVE_PATH A colon separated list of directories
256 pointing to the freeciv save directories. By default Freeciv
257 looks in the following directories, in order, for save files:
258 the current directory; and the subdirectory ".freeciv/saves" in
259 the user's home directory.
260 (This does not affect where the server spawned by the client
262 creates save game files; these are always created in
263 ".freeciv/saves" in the user's home directory.)
264 FREECIV_SCENARIO_PATH
266 A colon separated list of directories pointing to the freeciv
267 scenario directories. By default Freeciv looks in the following
268 directories, in order, for scenario files: the current direc‐
269 tory; the "data/scenarios" subdirectory of the current direc‐
270 tory; the subdirectories ".freeciv/3.0/scenarios" and then
271 ".freeciv/scenarios" in the user's home directory; and the di‐
272 rectory where the files are placed by running "make install".
273 (This does not affect where the server spawned by the client
275 creates scenario files; these are always created in
276 ".freeciv/scenarios" in the user's home directory.)
277 FREECIV_OPT
279 Specifies a file to contain local settings, instead of
280 ~/.freeciv/freeciv-client-rc-[version-number].
281 HOME Specifies the user's home directory.
283 http_proxy
285 Set this variable accordingly when using a proxy.
286 LANG or LANGUAGE
288 Sets the language and locale on some platforms.
289 LC_ALL or LC_CTYPE
291 Similar to LANG (see documentation for your system).
292 USER Specifies the username of the current user.
294
296 Please report bugs to the Freeciv bug tracker
297 ⟨https://osdn.net/projects/freeciv/ticket/⟩ .
298
301 See the Freeciv homepage ⟨https://www.freeciv.org/⟩ .
302 Updates and new info is first posted there.
304
306 The Freeciv Team <freeciv-dev AT freelists.org>.
307 This manpage was originally put together by Florian Ernst <flo‐
309 rian_ernst AT gmx.net> using the Client Manual and the comments in the
310 sourcecode. It was updated by Ben Bettin <bwbettin AT gmail.com> to add
311 new features, integrate information from the website's online documen‐
312 tation, and for slight formatting adjustments. Feel free to use it as
313 you wish.
314
317 freeciv-server(6) freeciv-modpack(6) and the Client Manual at the
318 Freeciv homepage.
319 June 28th 2023 FREECIV(6)