trix.c is a solitaire game, sort of a puzzle.

The purpose of the game is to compose figures using the colored triangles. Each triangle is divided into three colored triangle; one color per "side". There are 76 triangles which cover all the possible combinations of three colors out of six. The number of colors (six) is a compromise between a reasonably high number of pieces, and the complexity of the game.

Few figures are included as examples of what can be done. The figure below is an example.

Initially the pieces are stored in the upper part of the window. They can be dragged on the board, in the lower part of the window, with the mouse. A piece is rotated by clicking on it with the mouse.

There are only two rules for this game:

• two adjacent triangles must have the same color on the side they touch each other;
• the (outer) border of the figure must be a unique color.
• the figure can have holes: in this case the border of the holes must have the same color as the outer border of the figure

Before you can play you need to

• get the source code;
• make the executable. Here is a simple Makefile:
  

  
  # Compiler Flags
  CFLAGS = 
  
  # X LIBRARY (uncomment your flavor)
  XLIB = -L/usr/X11R6/lib -lX11
  # XLIB = -L/usr/lib -lX11
  # Xlib = -L/usr/openwin/lib -lX11
  
  # X Include (uncomment your flavor)
  XINC = 
  # XINC = -I/usr/openwin/include
  
  trix: trix.c
  	cc -o trix trix.c $(XINC) -lm $(XLIB)
  
  

• run the executable:
  $ trix trix.dat

It is possible to save the status of the current game; this is written in the file trix.dat in the current directory.
It is also possible to start the game with a saved configuration, just type the configuration file on the command line:

Many features are missing:

• the menu is very limited;
• a selection of possible figures;
• a routine that resets the game (there is one, but the body is empty);
• ..
.

The program is still in a crude form. It uses only the basic X11 library and compiles (and run) under Linux, DigitalUnix, and Solaris.

Marco Corvi - 1999