CHING(6) Games Manual CHING(6)NAME
ching - the book of changes and other cookies
SYNOPSIS
/usr/games/ching [ hexagram ]
DESCRIPTION
The I Ching or Book of Changes is an ancient Chinese oracle that has been in use for centuries as a source of wisdom and advice.
The text of the oracle (as it is sometimes known) consists of sixty-four hexagrams, each symbolized by a particular arrangement of six
straight (---) and broken (- -) lines. These lines have values ranging from six through nine, with the even values indicating the broken
lines.
Each hexagram consists of two major sections. The Judgement relates specifically to the matter at hand (E.g., "It furthers one to have
somewhere to go.") while the Image describes the general attributes of the hexagram and how they apply to one's own life ("Thus the supe-
rior man makes himself strong and untiring.").
When any of the lines have the values six or nine, they are moving lines; for each there is an appended judgement which becomes signifi-
cant. Furthermore, the moving lines are inherently unstable and change into their opposites; a second hexagram (and thus an additional
judgement) is formed.
Normally, one consults the oracle by fixing the desired question firmly in mind and then casting a set of changes (lines) using
yarrow-stalks or tossed coins. The resulting hexagram will be the answer to the question.
Using an algorithm suggested by S. C. Johnson, the UNIX oracle simply reads a question from the standard input (up to an EOF) and hashes
the individual characters in combination with the time of day, process id and any other magic numbers which happen to be lying around the
system. The resulting value is used as the seed of a random number generator which drives a simulated coin-toss divination. The answer is
then piped through nroff for formatting and will appear on the standard output.
For those who wish to remain steadfast in the old traditions, the oracle will also accept the results of a personal divination using, for
example, coins. To do this, cast the change and then type the resulting line values as an argument.
The impatient modern may prefer to settle for Chinese cookies; try fortune(6).
SEE ALSO
It furthers one to see the great man.
DIAGNOSTICS
The great prince issues commands,
Founds states, vests families with fiefs.
Inferior people should not be employed.
BUGS
Waiting in the mud
Brings about the arrival of the enemy.
If one is not extremely careful,
Somebody may come up from behind and strike him.
Misfortune.
7th Edition May 20, 1985 CHING(6)
Check Out this Related Man Page
omega(6) Games Manual omega(6)NAME
omega - a hack-style game with quests.
SYNOPSIS
omega [save file]
DESCRIPTION
omega is a complex rogue-style game of dungeon exploration. Unlike other such games, there are a number of ways to "win", depending on
various actions taken during play. The ways you can get your name on the hiscore board include becoming the highest ranked head of a guild,
sect, college, etc., as well as gaining the most points figured from possessions and experience. The game (via the oracle) may impose some
structure on your exploration, but you need not follow all of the oracle's advice. There *is* a "total winner" status, by the way.
If the save file is not specified, omega gives the player the choice of generating a random character, or playing themselves, doing a short
quiz to determine an approximation of their abilities. If the save file is given, omega will restore that save file, and if successful,
the save file is deleted. Note that some installations of omega compress the save file, using either compress(1) or gzip(1) - if this is
the case, and you have a save file that is uncompressed (such files are generated by omega if it receives a signal during play, for exam-
ple), you can compress it (with compress(1) or gzip(1)) and remove the .Z or .gz extension. Alternatively, you may simply run with the
uncompressed save file - this will not affect the game in any way, but takes more disk space between games.
omega offers a richness of playing detail that goes beyond a simple game like rogue. However, the majority of gameplay is very similar to
rogue, hack, ultrarogue, larn, and other such games. The player is represented by the highlighted "@" symbol, objects and terrain features
are represented by non-alphabetic symbols, monsters are represented by the various upper and lower case letters, and other humans are rep-
resented by a non-highlighted "@".
omega currently consists of a countryside in which are sited a city, various villages, several dungeons, and some "special" sites, such as
the temples of the various priesthoods. The game starts in the city of Rampart, where all the guilds have headquarters. As a dungeon is
explored, all generated levels are saved in memory. However, only one dungeon is "remembered" at a time, so if you enter two dungeons, the
first will be forgotten (it will be regenerated should you wish to enter it again). However, if a dungeon is "completed", this fact will be
remembered, basically meaning that the unique monster at the bottom will not be regenerated if you've killed it already.
SEE ALSO compress(1), gzip(1), nethack(6)AUTHOR
Laurence Brothers
omega(6)