FREECIV(6) Games Manual FREECIV(6)
NAME
freeciv-gtk2, freeciv-sdl, freeciv-xaw - The clients for the Freeciv game
SYNOPSIS
freeciv-gtk2|freeciv-sdl|freeciv-xaw [ -A|--Announce protocol ] [ -a|--autoconnect ] [ -d|--debug level_number ] [ -F|--Fatal [ signal_num-
ber ] ] [ -h|--help ] [ -l|--log filename ] [ -M|--Meta URL ] [ -n|--name name ] [ -p|--port port ] [ -P|--Plugin string ] [ -r|--read
filename ] [ -s|--server address ] [ -S|--Sound name ] [ -t|--tiles name ] [ -v|--version ] [ -- client-specific-parameters ]
freeciv-gtk2 accepts the standard Gtk parameters following --; see the Gtk documentation. It also accepts [ -h|--help ]
freeciv-sdl accepts the following parameters following --: [ -e|--eventthread ] [ -f|--fullscreen ] [ -h|--help ] [ -t|--theme string ]
freeciv-xaw accepts the standard X11 toolkit parameters following --; see X(7) . It also accepts [ -h|--help ]
DESCRIPTION
Freeciv is a free turn-based multiplayer strategy game, in which each player becomes the leader of a civilization, fighting to obtain the
ultimate goal: To become the greatest civilization.
Players of Civilization II(R) by Microprose(R) should feel at home, since one aim of Freeciv is to have compatible rules.
Freeciv is maintained by an international team of coders and enthusiasts, and is easily one of the most fun and addictive network games out
there!
This is the client program used to connect to a Freeciv server - see also freeciv-server(6) . freeciv-gtk2 and freeciv-sdl can also spawn
their own local server for single-player games.
This manual page only lists the command line arguments. For more details about using freeciv-gtk2, freeciv-sdl, or freeciv-xaw, see the
Client Manual which can be found at the Freeciv website <http://www.freeciv.org/> as well as the documentation which is part of the Freeciv
distribution.
OPTIONS
The following options are accepted by all clients. They may not be combined; that is, "-np caesar 5557" will not work, instead you
would need to enter "-n caesar -p 5557". All options have a short form (single hyphen and single letter) and a long form (double hyphen
and a complete word); their effects are identical.
-A protocol, --Announce protocol
Uses protocol when searching for games on a LAN. Possible values for protocol are:
IPv4
IPv6
none
-a, --autoconnect
Skips the connect dialog, automatically inserting the default values. This is quite convenient when all has been set up properly.
-d level_number, --debug level_number
Sets the amount of debugging information to be logged in the file named by the -l option. Acceptable values for the level_number
are:
0 for fatal messages only.
1 for fatal and error messages.
2 for fatal, error and normal messages (default).
3 for fatal, error, normal, and verbose messages.
-F [ signal_number ], --Fatal [ signal_number ]
Raise a custom signal on failed assertion. If signal_number is not specified, then the ABRT signal will be used.
-h, --help
Prints a short summary of the standard command line options.
-l filename, --log filename
Defines a log file, filename, to be produced during processing. Use the -d option to set how much is logged. By default, fatal,
error, and normal messages are printed to standard output. With a log file, such messages go to the log instead.
-M URL, --Meta URL
Specifies the URL of the metaserver to connect to. A metaserver is a place where Freeciv servers can publish their presence. Freeciv
clients consult the metaserver to offer users a selection of games to join. By default, the standard metaserver run by the Freeciv
maintainers will be used.
-n name, --name name
Specifies the user name (name) to use to connect to the server. This option is critical when reconnecting to a game. Please note
that you might need to quote your username.
-p port, --port port
Specifies the server port to connect to. By default this is 5556, if in doubt ask the server administrator.
-P string, --Plugin string
Specifies the plugin to use for sound output. Available options for string are:
none
sdl
-r filename, --read filename
Specifies a file, filename, of server commands which a server spawned by the client will automatically read and process, as if you
had typed them in at the server's prompt.
-s address, --server address
Specifies the game server address to connect to. This server might easily run on the same machine as the client.
-S name, --Sound name
Specifies the sound set to use. A file called name.soundspec is searched for in the usual places (see the FILES section).
-t name, --tiles name
Specifies the map graphics ("tiles") to be used within the game. A file called name.tilespec is searched for in the usual places
(see the FILES section). Currently the following tilespecs are distributed with Freeciv:
o amplio2.tilespec
o hex2t.tilespec
o isophex.tilespec
o isotrident.tilespec
o trident.tilespec
-v, --version
Prints the version number and exits.
-- All parameters following this -- will be considered as client-specific parameters.
-- -e, -- --eventthread
Initializes the event subsystem in other thread. Only available for the freeciv-sdl client under Linux or BeOS.
-- -f, -- --fullscreen
Starts the client in full screen mode. Only implemented in the freeciv-sdl client.
-- -h, -- --help
Print the client-specific parameter help.
-- -t string, -- --theme string
Use a particular GUI theme. Only implemented in the freeciv-sdl client.
EXAMPLES
freeciv-gtk2 --name "King Richard" --server io.daimi.aau.dk
Starts the GTK2 client using the name King Richard and connecting to the server at io.daimi.aau.dk.
freeciv-sdl -a -t trident
Starts the SDL client with the trident tiles and autoconnects to localhost.
FILES
~/.freeciv-client-rc-[version-number]
This is where your local settings will be stored.
tilespecs
These are searched for in the data path; see ENVIRONMENT.
soundspecs
These are searched for in the data path; see ENVIRONMENT.
The freeciv-modpack(6) utility can be used to locate and download additional content such as tilesets and soundsets and (for client-spawned
servers only) scenarios and rulesets; it saves files under ~/.freeciv .
ENVIRONMENT
The Freeciv client accepts these environment variables:
FREECIV_CAPS
A string containing a list of "capabilities" provided by the server. The compiled-in default should be correct for most purposes,
but if you are familiar with the capability facility in the source you may use it to enforce some constraints between clients and
server.
FREECIV_COMPRESSION_LEVEL
Sets the compression level for network traffic.
FREECIV_DATA_ENCODING
Sets the data encoding (used for data files, savegames, and network strings).
FREECIV_INTERNAL_ENCODING
Sets the internal encoding (used for GUI strings).
FREECIV_LOCAL_ENCODING
Sets the local encoding (used for terminal output).
FREECIV_MULTICAST_GROUP
Sets the multicast group (for the LAN tab).
FREECIV_PATH
A colon separated list of directories pointing to the freeciv directory. By default freeciv looks in the following directories, in
order, for any data files: the current directory; the "data" subdirectory of the current directory; the subdirectories ".freeciv"
and ".freeciv/2.3" in the user's home directory; and the directory where the files are placed by running "make install". This set-
ting has no effect if FREECIV_DATA_PATH, FREECIV_SAVE_PATH and FREECIV_SCENARIO_PATH are defined together.
FREECIV_DATA_PATH
A colon separated list of directories pointing to the freeciv data directories. By default freeciv looks in the following directo-
ries, in order, for any data files: the current directory; the "data" subdirectory of the current directory; the subdirectory
".freeciv/2.3" in the user's home directory; and the directory where the files are placed by running "make install". If not set,
FREECIV_PATH is used instead.
FREECIV_SAVE_PATH
A colon separated list of directories pointing to the freeciv save directories. By default freeciv looks in the following directo-
ries, in order, for any data files: the current directory; and the subdirectory ".freeciv/saves" in the user's home directory. If
not set, FREECIV_PATH is used instead, looking also in "saves" potential subdirectories.
FREECIV_SCENARIO_PATH
A colon separated list of directories pointing to the freeciv data directories. By default freeciv looks in the following directo-
ries, in order, for any data files: the current directory; the "data/scenario" subdirectory of the current directory; the subdirec-
tory ".freeciv/scenarios" in the user's home directory; and the directory where the files are placed by running "make install". If
not set, FREECIV_PATH is used instead, looking also in "scenario" and "scenarios" potential subdirectories.
HOME Specifies the user's home directory.
http_proxy
Set this variable accordingly when using a proxy.
LANG or LANGUAGE
Sets the language and locale on some platforms.
LC_ALL or LC_CTYPE
Similar to LANG (see documentation for your system).
USER Specifies the username of the current user.
BUGS
Please report bugs to the Freeciv bug tracker <http://gna.org/projects/freeciv/> .
MORE INFO
See the Freeciv homepage <http://www.freeciv.org/> .
Updates and new info is first posted there.
AUTHORS
The Freeciv Team <freeciv-dev AT gna.org>.
This manpage was originally put together by Florian Ernst <florian_ernst AT gmx.net> using the Client Manual and the comments in the
sourcecode. It was updated by Ben Bettin <bwbettin AT gmail.com> to add new features, integrate information from the website's online docu-
mentation, and for slight formatting adjustments. Feel free to use it as you wish.
SEE ALSO
freeciv-server(6) freeciv-modpack(6) and the Client Manual at the Freeciv homepage.
December 10th 2011 FREECIV(6)