notes on bringing up search;

in the directory called search is the source for the game, as well
as a few other little things that happened to be in that directory
at the time. checkmate is another multiplayer game, similar to 
blockade. two things must be done to bring up search;

1) in the search files are pathnames such as /nmpc/usr/ordy/bin/xxxx
which is where the executable lived on our system. these need to
be changed, as needed. it is best to put the programs in a private
directory. search is composed of three main programs.
	   search ; owned by the player, it does a stty to make
   	   the terminal raw mode with no echo. it execl's sslave,
	   which must be setuid the game owner. sslave makes an entry
	   in a lock file, and if a game is not going, starts it.
	   the main game is called 'sgame', and peridocally looks
	   into the lock file to see if any new players want to get in.
	   sgame should be setuid too, but it really isn't critical.
	   when a player leaves the game, sgame kills the sslave, which
	   it has permission to do, and search is waiting for sslave,
	   at which point search, owned by the player, can restore the
 	   terminal to normal modes.

2) because search uses cursor control on crt terminals to make objects
move, it must know about each terminal in the system. on our system,
this information resides in a file called /etc/ttys. sslave reads it,
and finds out what type of terminal the user is at. sslave passed this
information to sgame, through the lock file entry. if you cannot figure out
what type of terminal you are at from within the program, you may have
to ask the user at game entry time, not too bad really.
search also uses a unix system call called 'empty', which is used to see
if input is pending from a terminal. it is a small call in the kernel, but
is the key to checkmate, and search. in the directory called unix
is more rap on the empty call, it came from Rand, through the unix users
group.

we have found search to be a real threat to real work at our installation.!!!
on our 11/34, with a cache, we can support over 10 players with good
iteration time!!!! search is a action game, and should iterate as fast as
possible, although with only 2-3 players it is usually too fast. the
rules are in the search directory, and can be roffed off.

we are working on bringing up search on an inter campus network of
machines similar in power to 11/70's. the goal is to have a continious
game going, with up to 24 or so players, all over campus. many features
can be added, but with our little 11/34 it is rough to get enough cpu.
if you make any changes or require some more info, feel free to contact
me, as the game is still evolving, and new ideas are essential to keeping
the interest level up.


						Greg Ordy
						4530 Berwald
						So. Euclid, Ohio 44121
						216 - 382 - 6255

