substrate(6)

📦
version 6.15 · 2 versions
, in alpine 3.24, arch rolling, nixpkgs unstable

💎 substrate(6) — XScreenSaver manual, but make it crystal-city cute 💎

✨ NAME ✨

substrate — grow crystal-like lines on a computational substrate. Literally crystal vibes on a computational substrate, bestie.

🌈 SYNOPSIS 🌈

substrate [--display host:display.screen] [--visual visual] [--window]
       [--root] [--window-id number] [--foreground color] [--background color]
       [--wireframe] [--max-cycles cyclecount] [--growth-delay delayms]
       [--initial-cracks numinitial] [--max-cracks nummax] [--sand-grains
       numgrains] [--circle-percent circlepercent] [--fps]

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Okay so picture this: lines like crystals grow on a computational substrate. A simple perpendicular growth rule creates intricate city-like structures. Iconic. Optionally, cracks may also be circular, which gives you a cityscape more familiar to places for which city planning is a distant, theoretical concern. No cap, that’s the whole vibe. 🏙️✨

💅 OPTIONS 💅

substrate accepts the following options — yes bestie, read them like a group chat:

  • --wireframe — (Default: False) Don’t draw sand-painting colored effects, only make a wireframe. It’s giving bare-bones crystal skeleton. 💀
  • --max-cycles cyclecount — (Default: 10000) Maximum number of growth cycles before restarting. The higher this is, the more complex the art. More cycles = more drama, periodt.
  • --growth-delay delayms — (Default: 18000) Delay in ms between growth cycles. More delay, slower (but smoother and less CPU intensive) art. Lowkey a chill pill for your CPU. 🧚
  • --initial-cracks numinitial — (Default: 3) Initial number of cracks in the substrate. Gotta start somewhere, bestie.
  • --max-cracks nummax — (Default: 100) Maximum number of cracks in the substrate at a single time. It’s a whole crack limit. 🫶
  • --sand-grains numgrains — (Default: 64) Number of sand grains dropped during coloring. More grains cause a denser colour but use more cpu power. Sparkle costs CPU, iykyk. 🍓
  • --circle-percent circlepercent — (Default: 0) The percentage of the cracks will be circular. Crank it if you want round lil plot twists. 🌸
  • --fps — Display the current frame rate and CPU load. Frame rate check, main character energy. 🔥
  • --visual visual — Specify which visual to use. Legal values are the name of a visual class, or the id number (decimal or hex) of a specific visual. Pick your visual wisely, queen. 👑
  • --window — Draw on a newly-created window. This is the default.
  • --root — Draw on the root window.
  • --window-id number — Draw on the specified window.

Also hanging out in the synopsis: --display host:display.screen, --foreground color, and --background color — they’re part of the command up top, bestie. 🫶

🌸 ENVIRONMENT 🌸

  • DISPLAY — to get the default host and display number.
  • XENVIRONMENT — to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources stored in the RESOURCE_MANAGER property.
  • XSCREENSAVER_WINDOW — the window ID to use with --root.

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

X(1), xscreensaver(1) — go read those too, bestie. ✨

Copyright © 2003 by J. Tarbell <complex@complexification.net>. XScreenSaver port: Mike Kershaw <dragorn@kismetwireless.net>

👑 AUTHOR 👑

J. Tarbell <complex@complexification.net>, Jun 2003. Mike Kershaw <dragorn@kismetwireless.net>, Oct 2004.

💖 cute sign-off: this page is from X Version 11, version 6.15 (30-Mar-2026), for substrate(6). Go grow some crystal cities, bestie — slay. 💖
📦 where this page comes from