syntax used is lua.
.B yoink
looks for configuration files and loads them in this order, the options from
-each subsequent configuration files taking precedence over the same options from
-previous files.
+each subsequent configuration files taking precedence over the same options if
+they exist in previous files.
.TP
1. @DATADIR@/yoinkrc
This is the base configuration file which should be considered read-only. Look
file.
.PP
Options that are passed as arguments take precedence over options loaded from
-the configuration file(s). This mechanism is good for running the game with a
-temporary setting which you do not intend to retain. Examples:
+the configuration file(s). This mechanism can be used to play the game with
+temporary settings which you do not intend to retain. Here are some examples of
+passing options on the command-line:
.PP
.TP
yoink fullscreen=true
Here is a list of some of the options available:
.TP
.B detail
-The level of detail. Possible values are high, medium, and low. This effects
-the number of objects drawn to the screen. A high level of detail will draw
-everything but could cause poor frame rates if the graphics driver can't keep up
-with the load. Lower levels will omit certain details which aren't crucial for
-playing the game with the benefit of higher frame rates. See the Notes for more
-ways to get good performance.
+The level of detail. Possible values are 1, 2, or 3, 1 meaning the least amount
+of detail and 3 meaning the most. This effects the number of objects drawn to
+the screen. A high level of detail will draw everything but could cause poor
+frame rates if the graphics driver can't keep up with the load. Lower levels
+will omit certain details which aren't crucial for playing the game with the
+benefit of higher frame rates. See the Notes for more ways to increase the
+game's performance. The default value is 3.
.TP
.B doublebuffer
-If true, double-buffering will be used to render animations with minimal
-distortions. Otherwise, a single buffer will be used. The recommended value is
-true.
+If true, double-buffering will be used to help minimize distortion and artifacts
+caused by the animation of the game. Otherwise, a single buffer will be used.
+The default value is true.
.TP
.B fullscreen
If true, the window will capture the display and render the game in full screen
-splendor. A value of false means the game will run in a window.
+splendor. A value of false means the game will run in a window. The default
+value is false.
.TP
.B maxfps
-The maximum number of frames to be drawn per second. A value of 50 is pretty
-good. If your computer is pretty old, can get away with decreasing this value
-and still have reasonably smooth animation. You can set this to a very high
-number to effectively render as many frames as is possible, but the actual rate
-could be limited by vertical display synchronization, depending on the X11
-driver and settings used. You should not set this option higher than the point
-where the vertical synchronization effectively limits the draw rate or else the
-game may not be able to update the physics on schedule which could actually
-significantly lower the quality of the animation.
+The maximum number of frames to be drawn per second. If your computer is really
+old, you can get away with decreasing this value and still have reasonably
+smooth animation. You can set this to a very high number to effectively render
+as many frames as is possible, but the actual rate could be limited by vertical
+display synchronization, depending on the X11 driver and settings used. You
+should not set this option higher than the point where the vertical
+synchronization effectively limits the draw rate or else the game may not be
+able to update the physics on schedule which could actually significantly lower
+the quality of the animation. The default value is 40.
.TP
.B printfps
-If true, the current number of frames being draw per second will be printed to
-the console. This is usually off by default, but you can set this to true if
-you're interested in the draw rate you're actually getting.
+If true, the current number of frames being drawn per second will be printed to
+the console. The default value is false.
.TP
.B resizable
If true, the window will be resizable by the window manager. This option is
-meaningless if the game is drawing to the full screen.
+meaningless if the game is drawing to the full screen. The default option is
+true.
.TP
.B showcursor
This option effects the visibility of the cursor while it is "hovering" over the
-window. If the value is true, the cursor will be visible. Otherwise, the
-cursor will be hidden.
+display. If the value is true, the cursor will be visible. Otherwise, the
+cursor will be hidden. The default value is true.
.TP
.B timestep
-The amount of time in seconds between each update of the physics state. A value
-of 0.01 or lower is ideal for accurate physics approximations. Values that are
-much higher cause the CPU to do less work, but accuracy will suffer. Errors
-could be introduced in the game with extremely high values.
+The number of times per second the simulation state will be updated. A value
+of 100 or higher is ideal for a better physical simulation. Values that are
+much lower cause the CPU to do less work, but accuracy will suffer. Errors
+could be introduced in the game with extremely low values. The default value
+is 80.
.TP
.B videomode
The resolution or size of the window. The value is an array with three number
elements representing the width, height, and bits per pixel that make up the
-video mode. A typical value is {800,600} for a size of 800x600 pixels with
-millions of colors (the third number is optional).
+video mode. The third number is optional. The default value is {800, 600}.
.PP
This is only a list of the more useful options. You'll have to use the source
to find out about the more esoteric options, but you probably won't need to.
.B yoink
will look for a file at
.I $HOME/.yoinkrc
-and load it as a configuration file. Saving options within the game will cause
-this file to be over-written with the new options, unless the
-.I YOINKRC
-variable is set.
+and load it as a configuration file.
.TP
USER
.B yoink
accelerated OpenGL driver installed and working, depending on how fast your CPU
is. Yoink is really not all that heavy on graphics, but it doesn't take much to
overload a software implementation. If you're stuck without hardware
-acceleration, there are some things you can do to get better frame rates:
+acceleration, there are some things you can do to get better frame rates, in
+order of effectiveness:
.TP
1. Decrease the resolution.
Use the
.I videomode
-option. This speeds up software renderers considerably.
+option or just resize the window if the
+.I fullscreen
+option is false and the
+.I resizable
+option is true. This speeds up software renderers considerably.
.TP
-2. Decrease the level of rendering detail.
+2. Decrease the timestep.
+Use the
+.I timestep
+option. You can set the timestep to be as low as the your
+.I maxfps
+option, but it is not recommended to set this lower than the target frame rate.
+Remember the trade-off here is decreased simulation accuracy. Try this to set
+your frame rate to 30Hz and your timestep to 60Hz:
+.PP
+yoink maxfps=30 timestep=maxfps\\*2
+.TP
+3. Decrease the level of rendering detail.
Use the
.I detail
option. The game world may look sparse or incomplete, but that may be better
than choppy animation.
-.PP
-On the other hand, if you already get high frame rates, you may also want to cap
-the rate so that your computer doesn't do more work than it really needs to.
-You can get reasonably smooth animation at around 30fps, but you can probably
-tell a difference between that and a higher rate like 50fps. The latter will
-look noticeably smoother and nice, while the former is just "okay." See
-the
-.I maxfps
-option.
.br
.SH BUGS
.PP
projects / chaz / yoink / blobdiff