XFrisk documentation

Downloading

XFrisk is available for download as source code, binary packages for several platforms and bleeding edge CVS code for the impatient. Note that this documentation refers to the latest released version, which is 1.2 at the time of writing. For CVS versions you are on your own.

Downloading the files is pretty straightforward so we won't get into that in this document. Consult your web browser's manuals or a person knowledgeable in internet use for help in case you need it.

The binary packages are ready for installing as-is, the packages do not need to be uncompressed beforehand. The source package on the other hand has to be uncompressed before it is useful for the compiler and other tools. Here is a suggestion on how to do it:

  gzip -d xfrisk-1.2.tar.gz
  tar -xf xfrisk-1.2.tar

As always with UNIX there is more than one way to do it. Uncompressing the archive creates a new subdirectory under the current working directory, named XFrisk-1.2. The sources are contained in this directory.

Compiling

Note that the XFrisk Makefile is NOT compatible with BSD style make, you need GNU make. In case GNU make is installed as gmake on your platform, substitute it for the make commands in the following.

Here are the commands needed for compiling XFrisk:

  cd XFrisk-1.2
  make

Easy.

Installing

Installing is another very easy step, just type

  make install

This step installs the following files (assuming prefix of /usr/local):

• /usr/local/bin/xfrisk - the XFrisk game client
• /usr/local/bin/friskserver - server
• /usr/local/bin/aiColson - AI player by Jean-Claude Colson
• /usr/local/bin/aiConway - AI player by Andrew Conway
• /usr/local/bin/aiDummy - dumb AI player
• /usr/local/lib/Countries.risk - Country file for the client
• /usr/local/lib/Help.risk - Help file for the client
• /usr/local/lib/World.risk - World map for the client

Starting and stopping

If you do not have access to a public XFrisk server, you can start your own by typing:

  friskserver

The XFrisk server will be listening on port 5324/TCP

The XFrisk server does not detach itself to the background, so if you want to run it in the background, redirect its output to a file and auto-background it, like this (example for bash shell):

  friskserver >& log-friskserver &

More than one human player can play using the same X client program, but in case you need more opponents, start AI clients like this:

  aiColson <serverhost>

where serverhost is the computer running the XFrisk server, in your case probably localhost. To add all AI clients distributed with XFrisk, run:

  aiColson localhost >& log-aiColson &
  aiConway localhost >& log-aiConway &
  aiDummy localhost >& log-aiDummy &

Now you are ready to start the XFrisk game client for human players. The syntax is the same as for AI clients, so just run:

  xfrisk localhost

and you're ready to go.