vimtronner

![vimtronner][game_play_img]

#vimtronner

A multiplayer, realtime, command-line game that teaches you the core
vim keys. Be the last player alive by either controlling your bike
safely around obstacles or insert your own walls so that others crash into
them. Just remember, you can't do both at the same time!

Inspired by Patrick Moody's
vimsnake and, of course,
TRON.

Quickstart Guide

Greetings, programs! Before we can enter the grid, we need to have
node (http://nodejs.org) installed. There are
many paths to do so; we like to install it through brew
(http://brew.sh/).

``sh
$ brew install node
`

Install the vimtronner module via npm:

`sh
$ npm install -g vimtronner
`

Start a practice game:

`sh
$ vimtronner
`

Press i to start the game. After a countdown, the game
starts. Your bike moves continuously. You can control its
direction:

* go left by pressing h
* go down by pressing j
* go up by pressing k
* go right by pressing l

To start creating insert walls, enter INSERT mode by pressing
i. BUT remember; you can change your direction while in
INSERT mode. To return to normal press ESC or CTRL-[. Press
q to quit anytime.

When you're ready to face other players, connect
as a client to the public vimtronner server,
stating the number of players you want.

`sh
$ vimtronner -C -N 4
`

Look in the lower left-hand corner for your game name.

![Game name found in lower left-hand corner][game_name_location_img]

Then have the other players join that game as a client:

`sh
$ vimtronner -G simplistic-trail
`

The game will start once all players have declared they are ready by
pressing i.

Good luck. It's in your hands to see if you're a User ... or a loser!

Controls

Your bike will continually move on its own;
you only have control over which direction it is heading in or
whether you can build walls. Just remember, you can't do both
at the same time!

`
left...................h
down...................j
up.....................k
right..................l
insert mode............i
normal mode...esc/ctrl-[
`

Launching

$3

Launching vimtronner with no options kicks it off in a single-player
practice mode:

`sh
$ vimtronner
`

Use this mode to become familar with the vim keys and how to rapidly
switch between INSERT mode to build walls and normal mode to control
your direction.

$3

To play a multiplayer game, you connect as a client (with the -C or
--client flag) to our public multiplayer server, passing in the
number of players who want to play with the -N or --number option.

`sh
$ vimtronner -C -N 6
`

A game is created with a random name you can find in the lower left-hand
corner.

![Game name found in lower left-hand corner][game_name_location_img]

You can also explicitly give a name to a game when you create it through
the -G or --game option.

`sh
$ vimtronner -C -N 6 -G mygame
`

Other players can then join your game by starting vimtronner in
client-only mode (-C or --client) and passing in the name of the
game (-G or --game).

`sh
$ vimtronner -C -G simplistic-trail
`

The game will only start one all players have connected and declared
they are ready by entering INSERT mode (pressing i). You can quit at
anytime (press q) with the last bike remaining being considered the
winner.

At the end of the match, you can all play again by everyone
declaring they are ready by pressing i.

NOTE: Games on the public server have a time to live of 3 minutes.
This is to ensure system resources are not overwhelmed with dead games.
Blame the MCP.

$3

You can start yor own multiplayer on your local network for others to
join. Simply launch vimtronner with the number of players
you want before starting a game with the -N or --number option and
_WITHOUT_ the client flag (-C or --client)

`sh
$ vimtronner -N 3
`

This starts your own vimtronner on your machine, which you are
immediately connected to. Like on the public server a random name is
given to your game (displayed in the lower left-hand corner)

![Game name found in lower left-hand corner][game_name_location_img]

You can explicitly give a name to a game when you create it through
the -G or --game option.

`sh
$ vimtronner -N 3 -G mygame
`

Other players can then join your game by starting vimtronner in
client-only mode (-C or --client) and passing in the name of the
game (-G or --game) and the address of your machine (-A or
--address).

`sh
$ vimtronner -C -G simplistic-trail -A 10.0.1.144
`

By default, vimtronner launches and connects to port 8766. You can
override this through the -P or --port flag. So when launching a
local multiplayer game:

`sh
$ vimtronner -N 3 -P 8000
`

And when others want to join:

`sh
$ vimtronner -C -G simplistic-trail -A 10.0.1.144 -P 8000
`

Note: that if the game host quits, the game ends immediately and everyone
is disconnected.

$3

You can launch a vimtronner server to host multiple games without also
starting a game. Simply pass in the -S or --server flag.

`sh
$ vimtronner -S
`

Now anyone can create a game on the server by connecting as a client
(-C or --client flag) to the server's address (-A or --address)
to create games:

`sh
$ vimtronner -C -A 10.0.1.144 -N 5
`

And join them:

`sh
$ vimtronner -C -A 10.0.1.144 -N 5 -G simplistic-trail
`

As always they can give games a specific name (-G or --game
option) when creating them. You can also set a port number for your
server to listen to with the -P or --port option (it defaults to
8766). Players use the same option when connecting.

$3

To see a list of all games running on a server, simply connect as a
client and pass the -L or --list flag.

`sh
$ vimtronner -C -L
`

This works in tandem with the -A/--address and -P/--port options
to specify the server we are connecting to.

$3

`sh

Usage: vimtronner [options]

Options:

-h, --help output usage information
-V, --version output the version number
-S, --server launches in server only mode
-C, --client launches in client only mode
-A, --address