XPYRAMINX(6)

📦
version 8.9.4 · 2 versions
, in debian trixie, ubuntu questing, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ XPYRAMINX ✨

okay bestie, sit DOWN, because this is xpyraminx from the Games Manual, section 6 — the Pyramid X widget 💅 and it's giving puzzle-girl excellence. She's long, she's iconic, and this is part one, so hydrate and let's go 🫶

🎀 NAME 🎀

xpyraminx — the Pyramid X widget. that's it. that's the whole name. short, sweet, ate 🍓

💖 SYNOPSIS 💖

/usr/games/xpyraminx [-geometry
[{width}][x{height}][{+-}{xoff}[{+-}{yoff}]]] [-display [{host}]:[{vs}]]
[-[no]mono] [-[no]{reverse|rv}] [-{foreground|fg} {color}]
[-{background|bg} {color}] [-{border|bd} {color}] [-face{0|1|2|3}
{color}] [-frame {color}] [-delay msecs] [-[no]sound] [-moveSound
{filename}] [-{font|fn} {fontname}] [-view {int}] [-{size {int} |
sticky}] [-{mode {int} | both}] [-[no]orient] [-[no]practice] [-userName
{string}] [-scoreFile {filename}] [-scores] [-version]

like. look at her. so many flags. she's high maintenance but she's WORTH it 💜

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

The original puzzle has 9 triangles per face (size = 3) and has period 3 turning — which basically means the face or points turn in 120 degree intervals, no cap. The puzzle was designed by Uwe Meffert and called the Pyraminx. This has 2^5*3^8*6!/2 or 75,582,720 different combinations. not me doing math at 3am 😭

Another puzzle, Senior Pyraminx 3x3x3, exists only on paper — it has period 2 turning (so, edges turn with 180 degree intervals), but the corners would literally fall off unless it had some tricky mechanism. (This may be the same as the Master Pyraminx which has 446,965,972,992,000 different combinations. the way that number is just. enormous. 💀)

Another puzzle — and this one was not widely distributed — is the Junior Pyraminx (and similarly the Junior Pyraminx Star, an octahedron formed by two tetrahedra, this has 7!*3^6 or 3,674,160 different combinations), and it has 4 triangles (size = 2) per face. This puzzle has been recently reissued by Meffert as Pyramorphix (http://www.mefferts-puzzles.com). At the time the designer made this computer puzzle, he thought it only had period 2 turning (i.e. the edges rotate). Turns out the puzzle has a period 4 turning (edges turn with 90 degree intervals) which makes it analogous to the 2x2x2 Rubik's cube. This puzzle makes various non-tetrahedral shapes. The puzzle contained here has no period 4 turning flexibility. read that again bestie, NO period 4. periodt 🫶

You're able to simulate Halpern's Tetrahedron or Pyraminx Tetrahedron (period 3 turning and sticky mode). You can also simulate one with variant turning (period 2 turning and sticky mode). cute, versatile, slay.

🌈 FEATURES 🌈

okay this is the part where she tells you how to touch her. let's go.

  • Press "mouse-left" button to move a piece. Release "mouse-left" button on a piece on the same face and in the same row (but not an adjacent piece, or the move is ambiguous 🙈). The pieces will then turn towards where the mouse button was released.
  • Click "mouse-center", or press "P" or "p" keys to toggle the practice mode (in practice mode the record should say "practice"). This is good for learning moves and experimenting. bestie mode fr.
  • Click "mouse-right", or press "Z" or "z" keys, to randomize the puzzle (this must be done first to set a new record). no skipping this step, iykyk.
  • Press "G" or "g" keys to read (get) a saved puzzle.
  • Press "W" or "w" keys to save (write) a puzzle.
  • Press "U" or "u" keys to undo a move.
  • Press "R" or "r" keys to redo a move.
  • Press "C" or "c" keys to clear the puzzle.
  • Press "S" or "s" keys to start auto-solver. Only works where size < 4 (or sticky mode set) in Period 2 mode or size < 5 in Period 3 mode. she has limits, respect them ✨
  • Press "O" or "o" keys to toggle the orient mode. You have to orient the faces in orient mode, besides getting all the faces to be the same color. To do this you have to get the lines to be oriented in the same direction — this only matters with center pieces, if at all (i.e. those pieces not on a corner or edge). This does add complexity, so there are 2 sets of records. double the drama, double the records 👑
  • Press "2", "3", "B", or "b" keys (not the keypad 2, 3) to change modes to Period 2, Period 3, or Both.
  • Press "Y" or "y" keys to toggle sticky mode (increase/decrease is disabled here if sticky mode is on). "Sticky" and "Period 2" turning allows only the edges to turn, and the 2 center rows turn together. It is as if the middle cut of the three cuts did not exist. "Sticky" and "Period 3" turning allows only the faces to turn, it is as if the middle cut of the three cuts did not exist.
Beware, the "Sticky" mode is a hack and much could be done to improve its look. she's a little rough around the edges, be nice to her 😭
  • Press "I" or "i" keys to increase the number of pieces.
  • Press "D" or "d" keys to decrease the number of pieces.
  • Press "V" or "v" keys to change the view of the puzzle.
  • Press ">" or "." keys to speed up the movement of pieces.
  • Press "<" or "," keys to slow down the movement of pieces.
  • Press "@" key to toggle the sound.
  • Press "Esc" key to hide program.
  • Press "Q", "q", or "CTRL-C" keys to kill program.

Use the key pad or arrow keys to move without the mouse. Key pad is defined for Pyraminx as:

   /     Counterclockwise

   8 9   Up, Upper Right
   ^
 4<5>6   Left, Clockwise, Right
   v
 1 2     Lower Left, Down

Use the shift keys to access "Period 3" turns from "Both" mode, otherwise it assumes "Period 2" turning. Faces and points turn in "Period 3" and edges (2 points) turn in "Period 2".

Use the control key and the left mouse button, keypad, or arrow keys to move the whole tetrahedron. This is not recorded as a turn. (so go ahead and spin her around for the aesthetic 💅)

The title is in the following format (non-motif version):

xpyraminx.{2|3|both<turning modes>}: {1|2|3|4|5|6|7|sticky<number
of pieces per edge>} @ (<Number of moves>/{<Record number of
moves> <user name>|"NEVER noaccess"|"practice"}) - <Comment>

If there is no record of the current puzzle, it displays "NEVER noaccess". brutal. but okay.

👑 OPTIONS 👑

every single one, bestie. no skipping. she's thorough and so am i 🎀

  • -geometry {+|-}X{+|-}Y — sets the initial position of the pyraminx window (resource name geometry).
  • -display host:dpy — specifies the X server to contact.
  • -[no]mono — lets you display the pyraminx window on a color screen as if it were monochrome (resource name mono).
  • -[no]{reverse|rv} — lets you see the pyraminx window in reverse video (resource name reverseVideo).
  • -{foreground|fg} color — specifies the foreground of the pyraminx window (resource name foreground).
  • -{background|bg} color — specifies the background of the pyraminx window (resource name background).
  • -{border|bd} color — specifies the border color of the pieces in the pyraminx window (resource name borderColor).
  • -face{0|1|2|3} <color> — lets you change the color of a face (resource name faceColorN). In mono-mode, color is represented as the first letter of the color name. The faces are ordered top to bottom and left to right. If you has two colors that begin with the same letter you should have one in uppercase and one in lowercase to distinguish them in mono-mode. You can change the colors of the faces to make a stupid pyraminx (i.e. all White or in mono-mode all "W"). Unfortunately, it will not normally say its solved when its randomized. This would be cheating. (we do not cheat here 💀)
  • -frame color — specifies the color of the frame (resource name frameColor).
  • -delay msecs — specifies the number of milliseconds it takes to move pieces (1-50) (resource name delay).
  • -[no]sound — specifies if sliding pieces should make a sound or not (resource name sound).
  • -moveSound filename — specifies the file for the move sound for the twisting of the puzzle (resource name moveSound).
  • -{font|fn} ontname — specifies the font that will be used (resource name font).
  • -size <int> — lets you change the number of pieces on a edge (resource name size).
  • -sticky — lets you set the sticky mode (resource name sticky).
  • -mode <int> — lets you set the turning mode (resource name mode).
  • -both — lets you set the turning mode to both period 2 and period 3 (resource name mode set at 4).
  • -[no]orient — lets you access the oriented mode (resource name orient).
  • -[no]practice — lets you access the practice mode (resource name practice).
  • -userName string — specifies the user name for any records made, or else it will get your login name (resource name userName).
  • -scoreFile filename — specify an alternative score file (resource name scoreFile).
  • -scores — lists all the recorded scores and then exits.
  • -version — tells you what version of xpyraminx you have.

💜 RECORDS 💜

You must randomize the puzzle before a record is set, otherwise an assumption of cheating is made if it is solved after a get or an auto-solve. no shortcuts, no sneaky business, we keep it honest fr 🫶

💾 SAVE FORMAT 💾

okay bestie, here's the tea on how the xpyraminx config file, the starting position, and the movement of its pieces all get written down. fair warning: this format is not standard, and that's on purpose, fr. the reason? it's simple to produce, and the standard notation just doesn't scale nicely when you've got a variable number of pieces and turning modes. so we vibed our own. 💅

Pyraminx with default colors, not randomized:

       0     B     Blue
         1     R   Red
       2     Y     Yellow
         3     G     Green

then the actual fields, one by one:

  • size: 1-7 <number of triangles in the same orientation as the face per row>
  • mode: 2-4 <period 2 turning, period 3 turning, or both (4)>
  • orient: 0-1 <0 false, 1 true; if 1 then lines on pieces to be oriented>
  • sticky: 0-1 <0 false, 1 true; if 1 then some pieces move together>
  • practice: 0-1 <0 false, 1 true>
  • moves: 0-MAXINT <total number of moves>
  • startingPosition: <2 dimensional array of face piece position, each face has size * size pieces, if orient mode then orientation number follows face number: 0 up, 1 upper right, 2 right, 3 down, 4 lower left, and 5 left>

then come the moves, starting from 1. 🎬

move #: <direction> <control> <face> <position>

each turn is with respect to a face and position, okay?

  • position is 0 to size * size - 1. position 0 is the triangle furthest from the center, increasing clockwise. 🔄
  • direction is represented 0 up, 1 upper right, 2 right, 3 down, 4 lower left, 5 left, 9 clockwise, and 15 counterclockwise.
  • control is represented as 0 or 1, 1 if the whole tetrahedron is moved at once (here position does not matter), 0 if not. lowkey important: the xpyraminx record keeper does not count a control move as a move, but here we do. 🙈
🫶 rescue mission time: if you have a Pyraminx you cannot solve (2x2x2 or 3x3x3), enter it in pyraminx.log file. have size = 2 or 3, mode = 3, orient = 0, practice = 0, randomized = 1, and moves = 0, and the number representation for the color of the pieces (usually 0=B, 1=R, 2=Y, 3=G). bring up xpyraminx, hit 'g' so it will get your configuration and then 's' to solve your pyraminx and then 'w' to write out the steps. then examine your pyraminx.log file. ✨

📚 REFERENCES 📚

the lore, the canon, the sacred texts, bestie:

  • James G Nourse, The Simple Solutions to Cubic Puzzles, Bantam Books, New York, November 1981, pp 8-15.
  • Mastering the Magic Pyramid by Tom Werneck, Evans Brothers Limited, London, 1981. pp 109-111.
  • Douglas R. Hofstadter, Beyond Rubik's Cube: spheres, pyramids, dodecahedrons and God knows what else, Scientific American, July 1982, pp 16-31.
  • John Ewing & Czes Kosniowski, Puzzle it Out: Cubes, Groups and Puzzles, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1982, pp 60-61.
  • Magic Cubes 1996 Catalog of Dr. Christoph Bandelow.

👀 SEE ALSO 👀

go read these too, they're all in the same cinematic universe:

X(1), xcubes(6), xtriangles(6), xhexagons(6), xmlink(6), xbarrel(6), xpanex(6), xmball(6), xoct(6), xrubik(6), xskewb(6), xdino(6), xbevel(6), xabacus(6)

⚖️ COPYRIGHTS ⚖️

® Copyright 1994-2024, David A. Bagley

🐛 BUG REPORTS AND PROGRAM UPDATES 🐛

got bugs? reports? fixes? (we love a fix queen 💅) send them to the author:

       David A. Bagley, <bagleyd AT verizon.net>

the latest version is currently living at:

       https://www.sillycycle.com/puzzles.html
       http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/Linux/games/strategy/

and that's a wrap on XPYRAMINX(6), bestie!! 🎀 this whole thing is version V8.8.4, dated 15 Aug 2024, so you know it's fresh. now go solve something iconic, you absolute main character. ✨👑💖

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