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0001 <?xml version="1.0" ?> 0002 <!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//KDE//DTD DocBook XML V4.5-Based Variant V1.1//EN" "dtd/kdedbx45.dtd" [ 0003 <!ENTITY kubrick "<application>Kubrick</application>"> 0004 <!ENTITY package "kdegames"><!-- kdebase, kdeadmin, etc --> 0005 <!ENTITY % addindex "IGNORE"> 0006 <!ENTITY % English "INCLUDE"><!-- change language only here --> 0007 0008 0009 <!-- Do not define any other entities; instead, use the entities 0010 from kde-genent.entities and $LANG/user.entities. --> 0011 ]> 0012 <!-- kdoctemplate v0.8 October 1 1999 0013 Minor update to "Credits and Licenses" section on August 24, 2000 0014 Removed "Revision history" section on 22 January 2001 0015 Changed to Installation/Help menu entities 18 October 2001 0016 Other minor cleanup and changes 18 October 2001 --> 0017 0018 0019 <!-- 0020 This template was designed by: David Rugge davidrugge@mindspring.com 0021 with lots of help from: Eric Bischoff ebisch@cybercable.tm.fr 0022 and Frederik Fouvry fouvry@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de 0023 of the KDE DocBook team. 0024 0025 You may freely use this template for writing any sort of KDE documentation. 0026 If you have any changes or improvements, please let us know. 0027 0028 Remember: 0029 - in XML, the case of the <tags> and attributes is relevant ; 0030 - also, quote all attributes. 0031 0032 Please don't forget to remove all these comments in your final documentation, 0033 thanks ;-). 0034 --> 0035 0036 <!-- ................................................................ --> 0037 0038 <!-- The language must NOT be changed here. --> 0039 0040 <book id="kubrick" lang="&language;"> 0041 0042 <!-- This header contains all of the meta-information for the document such 0043 as Authors, publish date, the abstract, and Keywords --> 0044 0045 <bookinfo> 0046 <title>The &kubrick; Handbook</title> 0047 0048 <authorgroup> 0049 <author> 0050 <firstname>Ian</firstname> 0051 <othername></othername> 0052 <surname>Wadham</surname> 0053 <affiliation> 0054 <address><email>iandw.au at gmail com</email></address> 0055 </affiliation> 0056 </author> 0057 <!-- TRANS:ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS --> 0058 </authorgroup> 0059 0060 0061 0062 <copyright> 0063 <year>2008</year> 0064 <holder>Ian Wadham</holder> 0065 </copyright> 0066 <!-- Translators: put here the copyright notice of the translation --> 0067 <!-- Put here the FDL notice. Read the explanation in fdl-notice.docbook 0068 and in the FDL itself on how to use it. --> 0069 <legalnotice>&FDLNotice;</legalnotice> 0070 0071 <!-- Date and version information of the documentation 0072 Don't forget to include this last date and this last revision number, we 0073 need them for translation coordination ! 0074 Please respect the format of the date (YYYY-MM-DD) and of the version 0075 (V.MM.LL), it could be used by automation scripts. 0076 Do NOT change these in the translation. --> 0077 0078 <date>2020-12-10</date> 0079 <releaseinfo>1.1</releaseinfo> 0080 0081 <!-- Abstract about this handbook --> 0082 0083 <abstract> 0084 <para> 0085 &kubrick; is a game based on the <trademark>Rubik's Cube</trademark> puzzle. 0086 The cube sizes range 0087 from 2x2x2 up to 6x6x6, or you can play with irregular <quote>bricks</quote> 0088 such as 5x3x2 or <quote>mats</quote> such as 6x4x1 or 2x2x1. The game has a 0089 selection of puzzles at several levels of difficulty, as well as demos of 0090 pretty patterns and solution moves, or you can make up your own puzzles ... 0091 </para> 0092 </abstract> 0093 0094 <keywordset> 0095 <keyword>KDE</keyword> 0096 <keyword>kdegames</keyword> <!-- do not change this! --> 0097 <keyword>game</keyword> <!-- do not change this! --> 0098 <keyword>Kubrick</keyword> 0099 <keyword>one player</keyword> 0100 <keyword>Rubik</keyword> 0101 <keyword>Cube</keyword> 0102 <keyword>Rubik's Cube</keyword> 0103 </keywordset> 0104 0105 </bookinfo> 0106 0107 <!-- The contents of the documentation begin here. Label 0108 each chapter so with the id attribute. This is necessary for two reasons: it 0109 allows you to easily reference the chapter from other chapters of your 0110 document, and if there is no ID, the name of the generated HTML files will vary 0111 from time to time making it hard to manage for maintainers and for the CVS 0112 system. Any chapter labelled (OPTIONAL) may be left out at the author's 0113 discretion. Other chapters should not be left out in order to maintain a 0114 consistent documentation style across all KDE apps. --> 0115 0116 <chapter id="introduction"> 0117 <title>Introduction</title> 0118 0119 <note><title>Gametype:</title><para>Logic</para></note> 0120 0121 <note><title>Number of possible players:</title><para>One</para></note> 0122 0123 <para>&kubrick; is based on the famous 0124 <ulink url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubik%27s_Cube"><trademark>Rubik's Cube</trademark> 0125 </ulink> puzzle, invented by 0126 <ulink url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ern%C5%91_Rubik">Professor Ernő Rubik</ulink> 0127 in Hungary in the 1970s. His original puzzle was a cube that appeared to 0128 consist of 27 smaller colored cubes, called <quote>cubies</quote>, 0129 arranged in a 3x3x3 stack. When you turned the faces of the cube, the 0130 colors of the cubies became shuffled and the challenge was to unshuffle 0131 them, so that each face of the cube contained a single color.</para> 0132 0133 <para>In &kubrick; the cube sizes range from 2x2x2 (easy) up to 6x6x6 (very 0134 hard), or you can play 0135 with irregular <quote>bricks</quote> such as 5x3x2 and <quote>mats</quote> 0136 (one cubie thick) such as 6x4x1. 0137 The game has a selection of puzzles at several levels of difficulty, 0138 as well as some demonstrations of pretty patterns and solution moves. It is 0139 also possible to make up your own puzzles.</para> 0140 0141 </chapter> 0142 0143 <chapter id="howto"><title>How to Play</title> <!-- do not change this! --> 0144 0145 <note><title>Objective:</title><para>Return all the pieces of the cube to 0146 their starting positions after the computer has made several shuffling moves. 0147 </para></note> 0148 0149 <para>&kubrick; starts with an animated demonstration that randomly chooses 0150 cubes of various dimensions, shuffles them and solves them. If you have 0151 never seen a <trademark>Rubik's Cube</trademark> before, the demonstration 0152 will give you 0153 a general idea of how to play. Just click anywhere with the mouse to 0154 stop the demonstration and start playing. You will then see a new puzzle 0155 or the puzzle you were last working on, exactly as it was when you left it. 0156 </para> 0157 0158 <para>&kubrick; has a choice of three views, showing one, two or three cubes, 0159 all of which are the same cube viewed from different angles. Use the 0160 <guimenu>View</guimenu> menu or toolbar buttons to switch between views.</para> 0161 0162 <para>Use <menuchoice><guimenu>Game</guimenu><guisubmenu>Choose Puzzle Type</guisubmenu> 0163 </menuchoice> menu item to choose the size of cube and degree of difficulty for 0164 the type of puzzle you wish to try. Then use <menuchoice><guimenu>Game</guimenu> 0165 <guimenuitem>New Puzzle</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item each time you wish 0166 to re-shuffle the cube and start a new puzzle of that type.</para> 0167 0168 <sect1 id="making-moves"> 0169 <title>Making Moves</title> 0170 0171 <para>You can use either the mouse or the keyboard to move the cube.</para> 0172 0173 <para>Use the &LMB; or keyboard to rotate single slices of the cube around any 0174 axis, as when solving a puzzle. Square slices (⪚ 4x4 cubies) rotate by 90 0175 degrees at a time. Rectangular slices (⪚ 5x3 cubies) rotate by 180 degrees.</para> 0176 0177 <para>Use the &RMB; to rotate the whole cube around any axis. 0178 Or use the <keycap>C</keycap> key, within a keyboard sequence. Such moves 0179 do not lead to a solution of the puzzle, but you might use them to 0180 examine the current position more closely or to get the cube into position for 0181 a sequence of solution moves, such as untwisting two corners.</para> 0182 0183 <para>All moves, however they are made, are displayed progressively in 0184 the toolbar using the widely-recognized Singmaster Notation. See the 0185 section <link linkend="singmaster-moves">Singmaster Moves</link> for 0186 more details.</para> 0187 </sect1> 0188 0189 <sect1 id="mouse-moves"> 0190 <title>Using the Mouse to Move</title> 0191 0192 <para>To move using the mouse, click the <mousebutton>left</mousebutton> 0193 or &RMB; on any colored sticker on any cubie in the view, hold the button 0194 down, drag and let go.</para> 0195 0196 <para>When using the &LMB;, the sticker and a whole slice 0197 of the cube will move in the direction you indicated. The slice tilts 0198 slightly to help you see what will happen when you let go. If you are 0199 not happy with that, just move the mouse back to where you started.</para> 0200 0201 <para>If you are using the &RMB;, the mouse pointer sticks to the 0202 cube and the whole cube rotates with it until you release the button. 0203 </para> 0204 </sect1> 0205 0206 <sect1 id="keyboard-moves"> 0207 <title>Using the Keyboard to Move</title> 0208 0209 <para>There are two styles of keyboard moves: XYZ moves, described here, and 0210 Singmaster moves, which are described in the section 0211 <link linkend="singmaster-moves">Singmaster Moves</link>.</para> 0212 0213 <para>To move the cube with XYZ, first use key <keycap>X</keycap>, 0214 <keycap>Y</keycap> or <keycap>Z</keycap> to select an axis. 0215 On the screen, the X axis runs from left to right, the Y axis from bottom 0216 to top and the Z axis towards you from behind the screen. Now, to move the 0217 whole cube use key <keycap>C</keycap> or to move a slice use keys 0218 <keycap>1</keycap> to <keycap>6</keycap> (to select a slice number).</para> 0219 0220 <para>Finally use the &Left; arrow key for anti-clockwise rotation and 0221 &Right; arrow key for clockwise. The slice that is going to move (numbered 0222 1 to 6) will blink, until you hit an arrow key.</para> 0223 0224 <para>You can make further moves by using one, two or 0225 three of the above keys. For example, to move the same slice again, 0226 just hit an arrow key.</para> 0227 0228 <para>If you have used the &RMB; to rotate the cube, the meanings 0229 of X, Y and Z may have changed, so the cube is automatically realigned, using 0230 the <menuchoice><guimenu>Move</guimenu> 0231 <guimenuitem>Realign Cube</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item, before the 0232 keyboard move you have requested can be executed.</para> 0233 </sect1> 0234 0235 <sect1 id="singmaster-moves"> 0236 <title>Singmaster Moves</title> 0237 0238 <para>Professor David Singmaster, an English mathematician, was one of the 0239 first to investigate <trademark>Rubik's Cube</trademark> and its relationship 0240 to the branch of mathematics known as 0241 <ulink url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_theory">Group Theory</ulink>. 0242 In his book, <quote>Notes on Rubik's 'Magic Cube'</quote>, Fifth Edition, published 0243 in 1980, he sets out a way of describing sequences of cube moves briefly. 0244 Mathematicians call this a <quote>notation</quote> and Singmaster's Notation 0245 is now widely used internationally in books and on websites when discussing 0246 problems and solutions in <trademark>Rubik's Cube</trademark> puzzles. For 0247 example, see the Wikipedia article and its links on the subject of 0248 <ulink url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubik%27s_Cube"><trademark>Rubik's 0249 Cube</trademark></ulink>.</para> 0250 0251 <para>The &kubrick; program uses a modified form of Singmaster Notation to 0252 display all moves, by whatever method they are made, using an area of the 0253 toolbar. It also allows moves to be entered from the keyboard in Singmaster 0254 Notation. The notation has been modified for use on larger cubes, bricks and 0255 mats than the original size 3 cube and to allow convenient entry from the 0256 keyboard, without clashing with &kubrick; shortcuts or other actions.</para> 0257 0258 <para>Briefly, Singmaster imagines that you are looking at the cube from 0259 slightly above and to the right of it, exactly as in the standard 0260 <guilabel>Front View</guilabel> of &kubrick;. You can see three faces at 0261 the top, front and right of the cube and these Singmaster has called (in 0262 English) <quote>Up</quote>, <quote>Front</quote> and <quote>Right</quote>, or 0263 <command>U</command>, <command>F</command> and <command>R</command> for short. 0264 The three faces you cannot see, which are on the <guilabel>Back View</guilabel> 0265 in &kubrick;, are at the bottom, back and left of the cube and Singmaster calls 0266 these (in English) <quote>Down</quote>, <quote>Back</quote> and <quote>Left</quote>, 0267 or <command>D</command>, <command>B</command> and <command>L</command> for short. 0268 Singmaster uses <command>U</command> and <command>D</command> for the top and 0269 bottom faces because <command>B</command> is reserved for the back face.</para> 0270 0271 <para>This is all summarised in the table below: now to the moves. A single 0272 letter or keystroke from <command>UFRDBL</command> represents a clockwise move 0273 of that face through a right angle (90 degrees) for a square face or through 0274 180 degrees for a rectangular face (as on a brick or mat). Here is where it 0275 gets tricky. 0276 </para> 0277 0278 <para><quote>Clockwise</quote> means clockwise when you are looking directly 0279 at that face. That is easy enough with the <command>UFR</command> faces you can 0280 see, but the faces you cannot see appear to move anti-clockwise when you use 0281 <command>DBL</command> moves. That is because you are looking at them from behind. 0282 On &kubrick;'s <guilabel>Back View</guilabel>, the <command>DBL</command> moves 0283 will be seen to go clockwise, as expected. Rather than trying to imagine yourself 0284 looking at the back of the cube when making <command>DBL</command> moves, it might 0285 be easier to think of them going anti-clockwise in the normal <guilabel>Front 0286 View</guilabel>.</para> 0287 0288 <para> 0289 <segmentedlist><title>Singmaster Notation (Modified)</title> 0290 <?dbhtml list-presentation="table"?> 0291 <segtitle>Key</segtitle><segtitle>Meaning</segtitle> 0292 <seglistitem><seg><command>R</command></seg><seg>Right face. In English, 0293 <command>R</command> is for <quote>Right</quote>.</seg></seglistitem> 0294 <seglistitem><seg><command>L</command></seg><seg>Left face. In English, 0295 <command>L</command> is for <quote>Left</quote>.</seg></seglistitem> 0296 <seglistitem><seg><command>U</command></seg><seg>Up or top face. In English, 0297 <command>U</command> is for <quote>Up</quote>.</seg></seglistitem> 0298 <seglistitem><seg><command>D</command></seg><seg>Down or bottom face. In English, 0299 <command>D</command> is for <quote>Down</quote>.</seg></seglistitem> 0300 <seglistitem><seg><command>F</command></seg><seg>Front face. In English, 0301 <command>F</command> is for <quote>Front</quote>.</seg></seglistitem> 0302 <seglistitem><seg><command>B</command></seg><seg>Back face. In English, 0303 <command>B</command> is for <quote>Back</quote>.</seg></seglistitem> 0304 <seglistitem><seg><command>'</command></seg><seg>Suffix for a reverse or anti-clockwise 0305 move. <command>R'</command> is the reverse of <command>R</command>.</seg></seglistitem> 0306 <seglistitem><seg><command>2</command></seg><seg>Suffix for double move. 0307 <command>R2</command> rotates <command>R</command> twice.</seg></seglistitem> 0308 <seglistitem><seg><command>+</command></seg><seg>Suffix for two-face move. 0309 <command>R+</command> is <command>RL'</command> in another form.</seg></seglistitem> 0310 <seglistitem><seg><command>-</command></seg><seg>Suffix for anti-two-face move. 0311 <command>R-</command> is <command>RL</command> in another form.</seg></seglistitem> 0312 <seglistitem><seg><command>.</command></seg><seg>Prefix for inner-slice move. 0313 <command>.R</command> is one step in from the <command>R</command> face.</seg></seglistitem> 0314 <seglistitem><seg><command>C</command></seg><seg>Prefix for whole-cube move. 0315 In English, <command>C</command> is for <quote>Cube</quote>.</seg></seglistitem> 0316 </segmentedlist> 0317 </para> 0318 0319 <para>Singmaster uses a letter followed by an apostrophe to represent an 0320 anti-clockwise or reverse move of a face. Mathematicians would say 0321 <command>F'</command> as <quote>F prime</quote> or <quote>F dash</quote> 0322 and it indicates an anti-clockwise move of the front face.</para> 0323 0324 <para>&kubrick; cannot tell if you are going to type an apostrophe, 0325 another letter or some other symbol after a letter, so it will not make a 0326 clockwise move of a face immediately after you type the letter. You can force 0327 &kubrick; to move by hitting the &Enter; or <keycap>Return</keycap> key. 0328 You can also use the &Space; bar and it will leave a space in the display of 0329 moves, allowing you to separate groups of moves for readability.</para> 0330 0331 <para>On cubes, bricks or mats of size 3 or more, you might wish to 0332 move an inner slice, rather than a face. To do this, type one or more periods 0333 or dots before the face letter. For example, <command>..F</command> moves the 0334 slice that is two layers behind the front face and <command>..B</command> 0335 would move the slice two layers in front of the back face, assuming there are 0336 5 or 6 layers that can move. The reverse of those moves would be 0337 <command>..F'</command> and <command>..B'</command>.</para> 0338 0339 <para>Finally, the <command>C</command> prefix moves the whole cube in the same 0340 way as a face. For example, <command>CF</command> moves the cube clockwise along 0341 with the front face and <command>CF'</command> moves it anti-clockwise.</para> 0342 0343 <para>If you have previously rotated the cube by hand, using the &RMB;, 0344 and you then make a Singmaster or other keyboard move, the cube will 0345 be realigned automatically to standard <command>UFR</command> view and some 0346 <command>C</command> moves will be generated and displayed. This ensures that 0347 you and &kubrick; have the same idea of top, front and right. Similar moves 0348 are generated when you use the <menuchoice><guimenu>Move</guimenu> 0349 <guimenuitem>Realign Cube</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item or the 0350 <guiicon>Realign Cube</guiicon> icon on the toolbar.</para> 0351 </sect1> 0352 </chapter> 0353 0354 <chapter id="rules_and_tips"><title>Game Rules, Strategies and Tips</title> <!-- do not change this! --> 0355 0356 <sect1 id="rules"> 0357 <title>Rules</title> 0358 0359 <para>There are no rules in &kubrick; other than having to move one slice at 0360 a time until all the cubies and their stickers are back in their original 0361 positions. No other rules are necessary, because the way the cube is built 0362 makes it almost impossible to perform any other moves.</para> 0363 0364 <para>In the original 3x3x3 <trademark>Rubik's Cube</trademark>, the inside 0365 of the cube contained an 0366 ingenious mechanism that made it possible to turn groups of 9 cubies (3x3) 0367 called <quote>slices</quote>, all at once as a group. To make any other 0368 moves you had to physically break the cube or take it apart and re-assemble 0369 it. The equivalent in &kubrick; would be to change the source program.</para> 0370 </sect1> 0371 0372 <sect1 id="complexity"> 0373 <title>The Complexity of the Puzzle</title> 0374 0375 <para>The outside faces of the cubies have stickers of 6 different colors, 0376 one for each of the 6 faces of the main cube. As you rotate the slices, the 0377 stickers become shuffled and the faces of the main cube become a jumble 0378 of colors. It looks like a simple puzzle, but as you move further away 0379 from the starting position, you begin to realise, as one writer put it, 0380 that you are like a small child who has let go of a helium balloon only 0381 to see it move more and more beyond reach or hope of return.</para> 0382 0383 <para>Mathematicians calculate that a 3x3x3 cube can be shuffled into 0384 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 different patterns, yet they conjecture that all 0385 positions can be solved in 20 moves or less. The method that can do that 0386 (as yet undiscovered) is called 0387 <ulink url="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God%27s_algorithm">God's 0388 Algorithm</ulink>. Practical methods can take more than 100 moves. As 0389 there are 12 face-move possibilities at each step, the chances of solving 0390 the cube by trial and error are rather remote. Some cubes have 9-part 0391 pictures on the faces and that makes them even more complex, because you 0392 then have to get the orientations of the stickers correct as well as the 0393 positions.</para> 0394 </sect1> 0395 0396 <sect1 id="strattips"> 0397 <title>Strategies and Tips</title> 0398 0399 <para>&kubrick; shuffles the cube by a pre-selected number 0400 of random moves when setting a puzzle. The difficulty depends on how many 0401 cubies there are in your cube, how many shuffling moves there are and whether 0402 you can view the shuffling moves as they happen.</para> 0403 0404 <para>One kind of puzzle has a small number of shuffling moves (3, 4 or 5) and 0405 the idea is to solve the cube in that number of moves (or less). This is fun, 0406 challenging and quite quick to play.</para> 0407 0408 <para>Then there is the traditional puzzle, with 10 to 20 or more shuffling 0409 moves. The 3x3x3 cube has been very well explored and written about, but 0410 other sizes are not so well known and understood.</para> 0411 0412 <para>&kubrick; also has bricks and mats you can play with. Some of them are 0413 easier to solve than cubes and could be fun for children too.</para> 0414 0415 <para>Another game you can try is to find pretty patterns for sizes other 0416 than 3x3x3.</para> 0417 0418 <para>&kubrick; can be used as a <quote>laboratory</quote> for studying cubes 0419 and finding sequences of solution moves, since all moves can be 0420 undone or redone to any degree, either instantaneously or at a selectable 0421 speed of animation.</para> 0422 0423 <para>It is also possible to save and restore a partly 0424 solved cube at any time and the current state of the cube is automatically 0425 saved and restored when you quit and restart &kubrick;.</para> 0426 0427 <para>On a cube with an odd number of cubies per face, the stickers at the 0428 centres of the six faces maintain their positions relative to each other, 0429 regardless of how you move. You can use those centres as anchors or guide 0430 posts for your moves.</para> 0431 0432 <para>The <guimenu>Settings</guimenu> menu has options to turn animations 0433 on or off and to vary the speed of animations. These can be useful when 0434 trying to follow a sequence of moves and understand what is happening.</para> 0435 0436 <para>If you are in real trouble, &kubrick; has a <quote>solve</quote> action 0437 which appears to show God's Algorithm in animated form then reshuffles the 0438 cube. Actually the computer cheats. It remembers the shuffling moves and 0439 then just undoes and redoes them.</para> 0440 0441 <para>Another source of ideas is the <menuchoice><guimenu>Demos</guimenu> 0442 <guisubmenu>Solution Moves</guisubmenu></menuchoice> menu item. One 0443 systematic way to solve a cube is to solve the bottom layer first, then 0444 the edge cubies in the middle layer and finally the top layer. The demos 0445 show sequences of moves on the 3x3x3 cube that will rearrange a few cubies 0446 at a time, without messing up parts of the cube you have already solved. 0447 One of the demos plays a complete solution of an example cube, using these 0448 methods, but it requires over 100 moves.</para> 0449 </sect1> 0450 0451 </chapter> 0452 0453 <chapter id="interface"><title>Interface Overview</title> <!-- do not change this! --> 0454 <!-- This section has to do with menubar. Describe every single entry in order. Use <variablelist> and <varlistentry>. Split the chapter into sections using <sect1(2,3)> for better viewing.--> 0455 0456 <sect1 id="menu-items"> 0457 <title>Menu Items</title> 0458 <variablelist> 0459 0460 <varlistentry> 0461 <term><menuchoice> 0462 <shortcut><keycap>N</keycap></shortcut> 0463 <guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>New Puzzle</guimenuitem> 0464 </menuchoice> 0465 <menuchoice> <!-- Alternate shortcut, empty guimenu text to satisfy parser.--> 0466 <shortcut><keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>N</keycap></keycombo> 0467 </shortcut><guimenu></guimenu> 0468 </menuchoice></term> 0469 <listitem><para><action>Generate a new puzzle of the type currently selected. 0470 </action></para></listitem> 0471 </varlistentry> 0472 0473 <varlistentry> 0474 <term><menuchoice> 0475 <shortcut><keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>O</keycap></keycombo> 0476 </shortcut> 0477 <guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>Load Puzzle...</guimenuitem> 0478 </menuchoice></term> 0479 <listitem><para><action>Load a previously saved puzzle, with all of its 0480 dimensions, settings, current state of the cube and history of moves, using 0481 a file selection dialog box to locate the required file. 0482 </action></para></listitem> 0483 </varlistentry> 0484 0485 <varlistentry> 0486 <term><menuchoice> 0487 <shortcut><keycombo action="simul">&Shift;<keycap>U</keycap></keycombo> 0488 </shortcut> 0489 <guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>Restart Puzzle...</guimenuitem> 0490 </menuchoice></term> 0491 <listitem><para><action>Undo all previous moves and start again. 0492 </action></para></listitem> 0493 </varlistentry> 0494 0495 <varlistentry> 0496 <term><menuchoice> 0497 <shortcut><keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>S</keycap></keycombo> 0498 </shortcut> 0499 <guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>Save Puzzle...</guimenuitem> 0500 </menuchoice></term> 0501 <listitem><para><action>Save the current puzzle, with all of its 0502 dimensions, settings, current state of the cube and history of moves, using 0503 a file selection dialog box to name a new file if the puzzle has not 0504 previously been saved and loaded. 0505 </action></para></listitem> 0506 </varlistentry> 0507 0508 <varlistentry> 0509 <term><menuchoice> 0510 <guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>Save Puzzle As...</guimenuitem> 0511 </menuchoice></term> 0512 <listitem><para><action>Save the current puzzle under a new file name, with 0513 all of its dimensions, settings, current state of the cube and history of 0514 moves, using a file selection dialog box. 0515 </action></para></listitem> 0516 </varlistentry> 0517 0518 <varlistentry> 0519 <term><menuchoice> 0520 <guimenu>Game</guimenu><guisubmenu>Choose Puzzle Type</guisubmenu> 0521 </menuchoice></term> 0522 <listitem><para><action>Choose a type of puzzle to play from a series of 0523 sub-menus graded by difficulty, based on cube dimensions and number of 0524 shuffling moves, or use sub-menu item <guimenuitem>Make your own...</guimenuitem> 0525 to create your own puzzle, using a dialog box. 0526 </action></para></listitem> 0527 </varlistentry> 0528 0529 <varlistentry> 0530 <term><menuchoice> 0531 <shortcut><keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>Q</keycap></keycombo> 0532 </shortcut> 0533 <guimenu>Game</guimenu><guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem> 0534 </menuchoice></term> 0535 <listitem><para><action>Quit</action> &kubrick;, automatically saving the 0536 current puzzle's dimensions, settings, state of the cube and history of moves. 0537 </para></listitem> 0538 </varlistentry> 0539 0540 <varlistentry> 0541 <term><menuchoice> 0542 <shortcut><keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>Z</keycap></keycombo> 0543 </shortcut> 0544 <guimenu>Move</guimenu><guimenuitem>Undo</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term> 0545 <listitem><para><action>Undo a previous move</action> (repeatedly if required).</para></listitem> 0546 </varlistentry> 0547 0548 <varlistentry> 0549 <term><menuchoice> 0550 <shortcut><keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;&Shift;<keycap>Z</keycap></keycombo> 0551 </shortcut> 0552 <guimenu>Move</guimenu><guimenuitem>Redo</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term> 0553 <listitem><para><action>Redo a previously undone move</action> (repeatedly if 0554 required).</para></listitem> 0555 </varlistentry> 0556 0557 <varlistentry> 0558 <term><menuchoice> 0559 <shortcut><keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>D</keycap></keycombo> 0560 </shortcut> 0561 <guimenu>Move</guimenu><guimenuitem>Main Demo</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term> 0562 <listitem><para><action>Start/Stop demo of random puzzle solving</action> 0563 on the start page of &kubrick;.</para></listitem> 0564 </varlistentry> 0565 0566 <varlistentry> 0567 <term><menuchoice><shortcut><keycap>S</keycap></shortcut> 0568 <guimenu>Move</guimenu><guimenuitem>Solve</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term> 0569 <listitem><para><action>Solve the cube.</action> This shows all your moves being undone, 0570 then all the shuffling moves being undone and then the shuffling moves 0571 being re-done, leaving you set up to have another go at the 0572 puzzle.</para></listitem> 0573 </varlistentry> 0574 0575 <varlistentry> 0576 <term><menuchoice> 0577 <shortcut> 0578 <keycombo action="simul">&Shift;<keycap>U</keycap></keycombo> 0579 </shortcut> 0580 <guimenu>Move</guimenu><guimenuitem>Restart Puzzle</guimenuitem> 0581 </menuchoice></term> 0582 <listitem><para><action>Undo all previous moves and start again. 0583 </action></para></listitem> 0584 </varlistentry> 0585 0586 <varlistentry> 0587 <term><menuchoice> 0588 <shortcut> 0589 <keycombo action="simul">&Shift;<keycap>R</keycap></keycombo> 0590 </shortcut> 0591 <guimenu>Move</guimenu><guimenuitem>Redo All</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term> 0592 <listitem><para><action>Redo all previously undone moves.</action></para></listitem> 0593 </varlistentry> 0594 0595 <varlistentry> 0596 <term><menuchoice><shortcut><keycap>Home</keycap></shortcut> 0597 <guimenu>Move</guimenu><guimenuitem>Realign Cube</guimenuitem> 0598 </menuchoice></term> 0599 <listitem><para><action>Adjust the orientation of a rotated cube by the 0600 minimum amount needed to make the rotations a combination of 90 degree 0601 moves</action>, thus setting the axes parallel to the XYZ axes. In 0602 addition, some whole-cube 90 degree moves are inserted in your list of 0603 moves to achieve the desired effect.</para> 0604 0605 <para>This is to standardise the view's perspective so that the top, front 0606 and right sides are visible together and keyboard moves become properly 0607 meaningful. The inserted moves can be undone and redone, exactly as if 0608 you had made them directly yourself.</para> 0609 0610 <para>For example, if you have used the &RMB; to turn the cube upside-down, 0611 the top or Up (<command>U</command>) face is now what used to be the bottom 0612 or Down (<command>D</command>) face and what used to be the Y axis is 0613 pointing downwards. In this situation, <menuchoice><guimenu>Move</guimenu> 0614 <guimenuitem>Realign Cube</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu item will redefine 0615 the faces and axes so that the new top face is known as Up (<command>U</command>) 0616 and the Y axis is again the one that points upwards.</para></listitem> 0617 </varlistentry> 0618 0619 <varlistentry> 0620 <term><menuchoice> 0621 <guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>1 Cube</guimenuitem> 0622 </menuchoice></term> 0623 <listitem><para><action>Show a view of the front of the cube.</action></para></listitem> 0624 </varlistentry> 0625 0626 <varlistentry> 0627 <term><menuchoice> 0628 <guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>2 Cubes</guimenuitem> 0629 </menuchoice></term> 0630 <listitem><para><action>Show views of the front and back of the cube.</action> 0631 Slice moves and rotations can be performed on either picture and the other will 0632 move simultaneously.</para></listitem> 0633 </varlistentry> 0634 0635 <varlistentry> 0636 <term><menuchoice> 0637 <guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>3 Cubes</guimenuitem> 0638 </menuchoice></term> 0639 <listitem><para><action>Show a large view of the front of the cube and two smaller 0640 views of the front and back.</action> Slice moves can be performed on any of the 0641 pictures and the others will move simultaneously, but only the large one can 0642 be rotated.</para></listitem> 0643 </varlistentry> 0644 0645 <varlistentry> 0646 <term><menuchoice> 0647 <shortcut><keycombo action="simul">&Ctrl;<keycap>D</keycap></keycombo> 0648 </shortcut> 0649 <guimenu>Demos</guimenu><guimenuitem>Main Demo</guimenuitem> 0650 </menuchoice></term> 0651 <listitem><para><action>Run the Main Demo</action>, in which a cube changes 0652 shape, shuffles and solves itself as it rotates at random.</para></listitem> 0653 </varlistentry> 0654 0655 <varlistentry> 0656 <term><menuchoice> 0657 <guimenu>Demos</guimenu><guisubmenu>Pretty Patterns</guisubmenu> 0658 </menuchoice></term> 0659 <listitem><para><action>Show a sub-menu in which pretty patterns on the 0660 3x3x3 cube can be selected and the moves to create them are demonstrated.</action> 0661 There is also an <guimenuitem>Info</guimenuitem> item that tells you a little 0662 more about such patterns.</para></listitem> 0663 </varlistentry> 0664 0665 <varlistentry> 0666 <term><menuchoice> 0667 <guimenu>Demos</guimenu><guisubmenu>Solution Moves</guisubmenu> 0668 </menuchoice></term> 0669 <listitem><para><action>Show a sub-menu in which sequences of moves used 0670 to solve the 3x3x3 cube can be selected and the sequences are demonstrated.</action> 0671 There is also an <guimenuitem>Info</guimenuitem> item that tells you a little 0672 more about such solution moves.</para></listitem> 0673 </varlistentry> 0674 0675 <varlistentry> 0676 <term><menuchoice><shortcut><keycap>W</keycap></shortcut> 0677 <guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Watch Shuffling</guimenuitem> 0678 </menuchoice></term> 0679 <listitem><para><action>Show animations of shuffling moves as they occur.</action> 0680 This is an aid for beginners, but might be a form of cheating for experienced players. 0681 </para></listitem> 0682 </varlistentry> 0683 0684 <varlistentry> 0685 <term><menuchoice><shortcut><keycap>O</keycap></shortcut> 0686 <guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Watch Your Own Moves</guimenuitem> 0687 </menuchoice></term> 0688 <listitem><para><action>Show animations of your own moves as they occur.</action> 0689 This is an aid for beginners, because it slows down the animations. Experienced 0690 players can turn this option off and moves are then animated at high speed, 0691 taking about a tenth of a second to turn 90 degrees. 0692 </para></listitem> 0693 </varlistentry> 0694 0695 <varlistentry id="settings-menu-toolbar"> 0696 <term><menuchoice> 0697 <guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>Configure Toolbars...</guimenuitem> 0698 </menuchoice></term> 0699 <listitem><para><action>Open a dialog where you can configure the toolbar 0700 actions</action> for &kubrick;.</para></listitem> 0701 </varlistentry> 0702 0703 <varlistentry id="settings-menu-configure"> 0704 <term><menuchoice> 0705 <guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>&kubrick; Game Settings</guimenuitem> 0706 </menuchoice></term> 0707 <listitem><para><action>Open a game settings dialog.</action> See 0708 <link linkend="configuration">Game Configuration</link> section for more 0709 details.</para></listitem> 0710 </varlistentry> 0711 0712 </variablelist> 0713 0714 <para> 0715 Additionally &kubrick; has the common &kde; <guimenu>Settings</guimenu> and <guimenu>Help</guimenu> 0716 menu items, for more information read the sections about the 0717 <ulink url="help:/fundamentals/menus.html#menus-settings">Settings Menu</ulink> and 0718 <ulink url="help:/fundamentals/menus.html#menus-help">Help Menu</ulink> of the &kde; Fundamentals. 0719 </para> 0720 0721 </sect1> 0722 0723 </chapter> 0724 0725 <chapter id="faq"><title>Frequently Asked Questions</title> <!-- do not change this! --> 0726 <!--This chapter is for frequently asked questions. Please use <qandaset> <qandaentry> only!--> 0727 0728 <qandaset> 0729 <!--Following is a standard list of FAQ questions.--> 0730 0731 <qandaentry> 0732 <question><para>How do I pause the game?</para></question> 0733 <answer><para>&kubrick; does not have a <quote>Pause</quote> feature, because 0734 none is required. If a demo is running, just click anywhere to stop it.</para> 0735 </answer> 0736 </qandaentry> 0737 0738 <qandaentry> 0739 <question><para>Can I change the way this game looks?</para></question> 0740 <answer><para>Currently you can change the view, using the <guimenu>View 0741 </guimenu> menu, the amount and speed of animation and the bevel on the edges 0742 of the cubies, using the <guimenu>Settings</guimenu> menu.</para></answer> 0743 </qandaentry> 0744 0745 <qandaentry> 0746 <question><para>I have made a mistake. Can I undo?</para></question> 0747 <answer><para>Yes. This is one of the strengths of &kubrick; as compared to 0748 a real puzzle. You can undo and redo moves to any level, or undo 0749 all moves and start again. To undo and redo moves, use the 0750 <guimenu>Move</guimenu> menu or the corresponding keyboard shortcuts and 0751 toolbar buttons. 0752 </para></answer> 0753 </qandaentry> 0754 0755 <qandaentry> 0756 <question><para>Can I use the keyboard to play this game? </para></question> 0757 <answer><para>Yes. &kubrick; has keyboard moves based on the X, Y and Z axes 0758 and others based on <link linkend="singmaster-moves">Singmaster notation</link>, 0759 which uses one-letter abbreviations for Front, Back, Left, Right, Up and Down 0760 faces of the cube.</para></answer> 0761 </qandaentry> 0762 0763 <qandaentry> 0764 <question><para>I cannot figure out what to do here! Are there hints?</para> 0765 </question> 0766 <answer><para>No. However, the 3x3x3 <trademark>Rubik's Cube</trademark> 0767 has been extensively 0768 analysed and you can find solution methods on the Internet and in menu item 0769 <menuchoice><guimenu>Demos</guimenu><guisubmenu>Solution Moves</guisubmenu> 0770 </menuchoice> (the <guimenuitem>Info</guimenuitem> item and demonstrations of moves).</para> 0771 </answer> 0772 </qandaentry> 0773 0774 <qandaentry> 0775 <question><para>I have to quit the game now. Can I save my position?</para> 0776 </question> 0777 <answer><para>Yes. In fact your position is saved automatically when you quit, 0778 just as when you put a real cube back on the shelf. You can also save a 0779 particular position by using menu item <menuchoice><guimenu>Game</guimenu> 0780 <guimenuitem>Save Puzzle...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> and the corresponding 0781 shortcut keys and toolbar button.</para></answer> 0782 </qandaentry> 0783 0784 <qandaentry> 0785 <question><para>How do I restore the game I saved?</para></question> 0786 <answer><para>Your automatically saved game is restored automatically when you 0787 start &kubrick;. To load other saved games, use <menuchoice><guimenu>Game 0788 </guimenu><guimenuitem>Load Puzzle...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> and the 0789 corresponding shortcut keys and toolbar button.</para></answer> 0790 </qandaentry> 0791 0792 <qandaentry> 0793 <question><para>Where are the high scores?</para></question> 0794 <answer><para>&kubrick; does not have such a feature.</para></answer> 0795 </qandaentry> 0796 0797 </qandaset> 0798 0799 </chapter> 0800 0801 <chapter id="configuration"><title>Game Configuration</title> <!-- do not change this! --> 0802 0803 <para>To open a configuration (settings) dialog use one of the menubar items: 0804 <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu><guimenuitem>&kubrick; Game 0805 Settings...</guimenuitem></menuchoice> or <menuchoice><guimenu>Game</guimenu> 0806 <guisubmenu>Choose Puzzle Type</guisubmenu></menuchoice> with the 0807 <guimenuitem>Make Your Own...</guimenuitem> option at the end, which 0808 will display a dialog with options to change cube dimensions and shuffling 0809 difficulty. Below is a list of the options available.</para> 0810 0811 <variablelist> 0812 0813 <varlistentry><term><guilabel>Watch shuffling in progress?</guilabel></term> 0814 <listitem><para><action>Provides an animated view of the cube 0815 when it is being shuffled by the &kubrick; program.</action> You can 0816 select the speed of animation.</para> 0817 </listitem></varlistentry> 0818 0819 <varlistentry><term><guilabel>Watch your moves in progress?</guilabel></term> 0820 <listitem><para><action>Provides an animated view of your own 0821 moves at a speed you can select.</action></para> 0822 </listitem></varlistentry> 0823 0824 <varlistentry><term><guilabel>Speed of moves:</guilabel></term> 0825 <listitem><para><action>Sets the speed at which animations go. 0826 </action> The range is 1 to 15 degrees of turn per animation frame.</para> 0827 </listitem></varlistentry> 0828 0829 <varlistentry><term><guilabel>% of bevel on edges of cubies:</guilabel></term> 0830 <listitem><para><action>Sets the percentage of bevelled edge on 0831 each cubie, relative to the size of the colored stickers.</action> It affects 0832 the overall shape of each cubie. The range is from 4% to 30%.</para> 0833 </listitem></varlistentry> 0834 0835 <varlistentry><term><guilabel>Cube dimensions:</guilabel></term> 0836 <listitem><para><action>Sets the three dimensions of the cube, 0837 brick or mat in cubies per side.</action> Dimensions can range from 2x2x1 0838 up to 6x6x6: the larger the dimensions, the harder the puzzle. Only 0839 one of the dimensions can be 1, otherwise the puzzle becomes too easy.</para> 0840 </listitem></varlistentry> 0841 0842 <varlistentry><term><guilabel>Moves per shuffle (difficulty):</guilabel></term> 0843 <listitem><para><action>Sets the number of moves the 0844 &kubrick; program will use to shuffle the cube.</action> The number can range 0845 from 0 to 50: the more moves, the harder the puzzle. 2, 3 or 4 shuffling moves 0846 make for relatively easy puzzles, especially if the shuffling moves can be 0847 watched.</para> 0848 0849 <para>Selecting zero moves can be useful if you wish to experiment with 0850 different sequences of moves and what they do to the cube, such as when you 0851 are searching for pretty patterns or new solving moves.</para> 0852 </listitem></varlistentry> 0853 0854 </variablelist> 0855 0856 </chapter> 0857 0858 <chapter id="credits"> 0859 0860 <!-- Include credits for the programmers, documentation writers, and 0861 contributors here. The license for your software should then be included below 0862 the credits with a reference to the appropriate license file included in the KDE 0863 distribution. --> 0864 0865 <title>Credits and License</title> 0866 0867 <para> 0868 &kubrick; is Copyright 2008 Ian Wadham <email>ianw@netspace.net.au</email> 0869 </para> 0870 0871 <para> 0872 &kubrick; was inspired by Professor Ernő Rubik's famous <trademark>Rubik's Cube 0873 </trademark> puzzle. 0874 </para> 0875 0876 <para> 0877 The programming is original work in C++ but owes several good ideas to the 0878 Rubik XScreensaver, a C program by Marcelo Vianna, and GNUbik, a C program 0879 by John M. Darrington. 0880 </para> 0881 0882 <para> 0883 Documentation Copyright 2008 Ian Wadham <email>ianw@netspace.net.au</email> 0884 </para> 0885 0886 <!-- TRANS:CREDIT_FOR_TRANSLATORS --> 0887 0888 &underFDL; <!-- FDL: do not remove --> 0889 &underGPL; <!-- GPL License --> 0890 0891 </chapter> 0892 0893 &documentation.index; 0894 </book> 0895 0896 <!-- 0897 Local Variables: 0898 mode: sgml 0899 sgml-minimize-attributes:nil 0900 sgml-general-insert-case:lower 0901 sgml-indent-step:0 0902 sgml-indent-data:nil 0903 End: 0904 0905 vim:tabstop=2:shiftwidth=2:expandtab 0906 --> 0907