NAME¶
xmj, mj-server, mj-player - programs for playing Mah-Jong
SYNOPSIS¶
- xmj [--id idnumber]
-
[ --server address]
[--name playername]
[--connect]
[--show-wall | --no-show-wall]
[--size N]
[--animate | --no-animate]
[--tileset directory]
[--tileset-path directory-path]
[--dialogs-popup | --dialogs-below |
--dialogs-central ]
[--use-system-gtkrc |
--no-use-system-gtkrc]
[--gtk2-rcfile file]
[--echo-server]
[--pass-stdin]
[--monitor]
- mj-server [--server address]
[--timeout seconds]
-
[ --pause deciseconds]
[--random-seats | --id-order-seats]
[--disconnect-penalties N1,N2,N3]
[--end-on-disconnect]
[--exit-on-disconnect]
[--save-on-exit]
[--option-file file]
[--load-game file]
[--no-id-required]
[--no-manager]
[--auth-basic id:password]*4
[--debug]
[--logfile file]
[--no-special-scores]
[--seed N]
[--wallfile filefP]
[--hand-history]
[--nohist]
- mj-player [--id idnumber]
[--name playername]
-
[ --server address] [--password
password]
[strategy options]
DESCRIPTION¶
A set of three programs to play Mah-Jong on Unix systems, against people or
programs, over the Internet.
- mj-server
- is the program that handles communications and control of
the game; the rules and scoring are enforced there. Players, human or
computer, connect to a server via the network.
- mj-player
- is a computer player. At present, it is fairly simplistic,
having only offensive tactics with no knowledge of defensive play.
- xmj
- is the X client for human players.
QUICK START¶
If you don't want to read this long document: to start a game against three
computer players, start
xmj, select "New local game..." from
the "Game" menu, and click "Start Game". (Wait about ten
seconds for everything to start up.)
OPTIONS¶
All Programs¶
- --server address
- specifies the network address to listen on (for
mj-server) or to connect to (for mj-player and xmj).
If address contains a colon, it specifies an Internet socket, and
should have the form host:port . If address does not contain
a colon, it is interpreted as a Unix file name and a Unix socket is used.
The default value for address is localhost:5000 . address
can also be set in a dialog box in xmj.
xmj and mj-player¶
- --id idnumber
- The server assigns a unique integer ID (which is currently
just 1 to 4 in order of connection) to each player. This ID should be
quoted when reconnecting to a game in progress (after, for example, losing
a network connection or accidentally killing xmj). The default ID
is 0, which denotes no pre-assigned ID.
- --name name
- Players can give themselves names which will be used by
client programs. This option specifies the name. For xmj, the
default is the value of the environment variable LOGNAME, or failing that
the username of the logged in user. For mj-player, the default is
"Robot( PID)" where PID is the process id.
xmj¶
- --connect
- By default, xmj does not automatically connect to a
server, but waits for the user to connect via a menu. If this option is
specified, xmj immediately connects.
- --show-wall
-
- --no-show-wall
- Tells xmj (not) to display the wall. By default, the
wall is shown only if running on a big enough screen. This option is also
controllable via the Display Options preference panel.
- --size number
- This option adjusts the size of the main window. It should
be thought of as the length of a tile rack, measured in tiles. The
default, and the largest value accepted, is 19, or 18 if on an 800x600
display. The smallest usable value is 14. This option is also controllable
via the Display Options preference panel.
If the --show-wall option is given, a --size smaller than 19
will have no effect.
- --animate
-
- --no-animate
- This option switches on (off) some animation. Not all tile
movements are animated: only those that involve moving tiles to or from a
hand from outside. This option is also controllable via the Display
Options preference panel.
- --tileset directory
- xmj needs pixmaps to display the tiles and the tong
box. This option tells it which directory to find them in. The default is
set at compilation time; the default default is to use the compiled-in
tiles.
- --tileset-path directory-path
- This gives a colon-separated (or semicolon-separated under
Microsoft Windows) list of directories in which to look for the directory
named by the --tileset option.
- --dialogs-popup
- By default, most of the dialog boxes for player actions are
part of the main window. If this option is used, they will instead appear
as separate transient windows.
- --dialogs-below
- By default, dialog boxes appear in the centre of the table.
If this option is given, dialogs (apart from some popups) are positioned
below the table area. Please let me know which style you prefer!
- --dialogs-central
- The default: dialog boxes appear in the middle of the
table. These options are also controllable via the Display Options
preference panel.
- --gtk2-rcfile file
- If xmj is compiled with GTK+2, this option specifies a GTK
rc file to be used instead of the program's compiled-in style file. This
may be used to change the appearance of the program. See description under
the Display Options... panel for more details. The file should be
an absolute filename; if it is relative, it will be sought in the current
directory (Unix) or the program directory (Windows). This option is also
controllable via the Display Options preference panel.
- --use-system-gtkrc
-
- --no-use-system-gtkrc
- When xmj is compiled with GTK+2, by default it ignores the
system provided settings, to ensure a consistent behaviour across systems.
If you wish it to use your system settings, set this option. This option
is also controllable via the Display Options preference panel.
- --echo-server
- If this option is given, xmj will echo to stdout all
the protocol messages received from the server. This option is for use in
debugging.
- --pass-stdin
- If this option is given, xmj will send any text
given on stdin to the server. This option is for use in debugging.
- --monitor
- If this option is given, xmj will send requests to
the server only in direct response to user actions; it will take no action
itself (and hence all auto-declaring and playing is also disabled). This
option is for use in debugging.
mj-server¶
- --timeout seconds
- When a discard is made, there is a limit on the time
players have to claim it. This option sets the timeout; a value of zero
disables it. The default is 15 seconds.
This value can also be set via a GameOption request from a player.
- --pause deciseconds
- This will make the server enforce a delay of
deciseconds/10 seconds between each action in the game; the purpose
is to slow programmed players down to human speed (or, in a teaching
situation, to slow the game even more). The current server considers that
50 (i.e. 5 seconds) is the maximum reasonable value for this option.
The option can also be requested by players, via a PlayerOption protocol
request.
- --random-seats
- By default, players are seated in order of connection to
the server. This option seats them randomly. It will become the default
later.
- --id-order-seats
- This option causes the players to be seated in numerical
order of their ids. It is used by the xmj program to make the New local
game.. work as expected.
- --disconnect-penalties N1,N2,N3
- This specifies the penalties applied by the following
option for players who disconnect before the end of a game. N1 is
the penalty for disconnecting in the middle of a hand; N2 at the
end of a hand but in the middle of a round; N3 at the end of a
round (other than end of game). They all default to 0 if not
specified.
- --end-on-disconnect
- If this option is given, a disconnection by one player will
gracefully terminate the game. Mid-hand, the hand is declared a wash-out;
after Mah-Jong has been declared, then if a losing player disconnects,
their tiles are shown, the hand is scored, and then the game ends; if a
winning player disconnects, the hand is a wash-out. The disconnecting
player may be assigned a penalty, according to the
--disconnect-penalties option, which will be included in the scores
printed out by the server. (The penalties will not be visible to the other
players.)
- --exit-on-disconnect
- If this option is given, the server will quit if any player
disconnects, rather than waiting indefinitely for reconnection.
- --save-on-exit
- If this option is given, the server will save the state of
the game if it quits as a result of a player disconnecting. (It will not
save the state if it quits as the result of an internal error.)
- --option-file file
- This names a file of protocol commands which will be
applied to every game when it starts. Its main purpose is to set
non-default game options, via the GameOption protocol message (note that
this is a CMsg, not a PMsg). However, users will normally set options and
preferences via the xmj control panel, not by this means.
- --load-game file
- This names a file containing a saved game (as a suitable
sequence of protocol commands). The server will load the game; clients
connecting will be treated as if they had disconnected and rejoined the
game.
- --no-id-required
- In the most common case of resuming a saved game, namely
one human playing against three robots, the robots will not have the same
names or ids as the robots in the original game. This option tells the
server that if it cannot match a reconnecting player by id or name, it
should anyway match it to one of the previously disconnected players. (In
this case, the human normally connects first with the same name, so is
correctly matched.)
- --no-manager
- Usually, the first player to connect becomes the game
manager, and can change all the game settings. If this option is given, no
player will be allowed to change the game settings.
- --auth-basic id:password
- This provides basic (insecure, since the password is
transmitted in plaintext) authorization: the player with id id must
give the specified password to connect. Note that if this argument is
given, it must be given four times, once for each authorized player - any
player id not mentioned will not be allowed to connect. A player may be
allowed to connect without a password by making password
empty.
- --debug
- This enables various debugging features. In particular, it
enables protocol commands that allow one to change the tiles in a
hand...
- --logfile file
- The server will write a complete record of the game to
file; this will be quite large, and is only useful for automatic
comparison of different computer players.
- --no-special-scores
- This option suppresses the scoring of points and doubles
for flowers and seasons. It is primarily intended for running tests of
different players; for human use, a game option will be provided to
eliminate the specials altogether.
- --seed n
- This option specifies the seed for the random number
functions. Used for repeatable tests.
- --wallfile file
- This names a file containing space separated tile codes
giving the wall; used for repeatable tests. (This is a testing option; it
is not robust.)
- --hand-history
- This is an option to facilitate certain automatic analyses;
if set, a history of each hand is dumped to the file hand-NN.mjs .
- --nohist
- Another option only used in automatic comparison: this
saves some CPU time by disabling the book-keeping required to allow
players to disconnect and reconnect.
mj-player¶
- --password password
- sets the password if basic authorization is in use.
- strategy options
- The player has some options which can be used to change its
"personality". The meanings are rather approximate, since they
actually change parameters which are used in a rather complex way, but the
idea is right. These options, each of which takes a floating point value
in the given range, are:
- --chowness -1.0 .. 1.0
- This affects how much the player likes chows: at 1.0, it
will go all out for the chicken hand, at -1.0 it will never chow. The
default is 0.0.
- --hiddenness 0.0 .. 1.0
- Increasing this makes the player reluctant to make exposed
sets. At 1.0, it will never claim (except possibly to go mah-jong). The
default is 0.0.
- --majorness 0.0 .. 1.0
- Increasing this biases the player towards collecting major
tiles. At 1.0, it will discard all minor tiles, if possible. The default
is 0.0.
- --suitness 0.0 .. 1.0
- Increasing this makes the player try to go for one-suit
hands. The default is 0.0
In practice, the
--majorness option seems not to be very useful, but the
other options change the personality without completely destroying the playing
ability.
In fact, all these options take a comma-separated list of values, which allows
the specifications of a set of strategies, which the player will switch
between. In this case, the
--hysteresis hhh option
specifies how much better a strategy should be to switch to it.
However, use of this option, and multiple strategies, is probably only
useful if you first read the code to see how it works.
USING THE XMJ PROGRAM¶
The main window contains a menu-bar and a table area; the table is in a tasteful
shade of dark green. The table displays a stylized version of the game:
stylized in that there is no jazzy graphics or perspective, and the tiles are
not intended to be pictures of real objects, and so on. Otherwise, the layout
is as one would expect of a real game. However, the wall may or may not be
displayed, depending on option settings and screen size. (See above.)
Specifically, the four players are arranged around the four edges of the table,
with "us" at the bottom. For each player, the concealed tiles are
displayed nearest the edge of the table; our own tiles are visible, the other
players' tiles are face-down. In front of the concealed tiles are (to the
player's left) any declared sets, and (to the player's right) flowers and
seasons, and the tong box if the player is East. The tong box displays the
wind of the round in a white circle. If necessary, the flowers and seasons
will overflow into the concealed row.
The discards are displayed face-up in the middle of the board: they are laid
down in order by each player, in the natural orientation. TODO: add options to
display discards randomly, or face-down. If animation (see
--animate
option) is not being used, then the most recent discard will be highlighted in
red.
The name of a face-up tile can be displayed by right-clicking in the tile.
Alternatively, the Tiletips display option can be set, in which case the name
of a tile is displayed whenever the mouse enters it.
Our tiles are displayed in sorted order, which happens to be Bamboos (1-9),
Characters (1-9), Circles (1-9), Winds (ESWN), Dragons (RWG), Flowers,
Seasons. We can also arrange the tiles ourselves - see the "Sort tiles in
hand" display preference described below.
Actions are generally carried out by clicking a button in a dialog box that
appears in the middle of the board. For many actions, a tile must be selected.
A tile is selected or unselected by single-clicking it; when selected, it
appears as a depressed button. The program will generally pre-select a
sensible tile: specifically:
during the initial declaration of special tiles, the rightmost special is
selected;
after we draw a tile from the wall, the drawn tile is selected;
when declaring concealed sets after going Mah Jong, the first undeclared tile is
selected.
To describe the possible actions, let us run through the course of a game.
First select "New local game..." from the "Game" menu. A
panel will appear. The default options are to play a game against the
computer, so click "Start Game". After a second or two, a game will
start. (NOTE: this assumes correct installation. If this fails, start a server
and players manually, and use the "Join server..." menu item.)
The first thing that happens is a dialog box "Ready to start next
hand". The server will not start playing a hand until all players have
indicated their willingness to continue play.
Next, the tiles are dealt. Then each player in turn is expected to declare
flowers and seasons. When it is our turn, a dialog will appear with the
following buttons:
- Declare
- declare the selected flower or season. (Note: the program
auto-selects the rightmost special tile.) If no tile is selected, this
finishes declarations. This button will not appear if the game is being
played without flowers and seasons.
- Kong
- If we have a concealed kong, we can declare it now with
this button.
- Finish
- Finish declaring specials and kongs.
When all players have finished declaring specials and kongs, a dialog box
appears, asking (on East's behalf) permission to continue.
During play, when we draw a tile from the wall, it will be auto-selected. We may
also of course select a different tile. A dialog will appear giving us the
following possibilities:
- Discard
- discard the selected tile. This button also serves to
declare a flower or season, and the label changes to "Declare"
when one is selected.
- &Calling
- discard the selected tile and declare a calling hand. This
button is only shown when calling is allowed (by default, only Original
Call is allowed).
- Kong
- declare a concealed kong of the selected tile, or add the
selected tile to an exposed pung, as appropriate. Note: In most
rules, a concealed kong can only be declared (or a tile added to an
existing pung) immediately after drawing from the wall, but not after
claiming somebody else's discard. Up to and including version 1.10, the
server enforced this rule strictly. As from version 1.11, it allows a tile
to be added to a pung that you have just claimed: in real life, this
corresponds to correcting your Pung! claim to a Kong! claim, which is
allowed by all rules. (Obscure note: if you are playing the KongHas3Types
option, the resulting kong will be counted as annexed, instead of the
exposed kong that would have resulted from a genuine change of claim. This
is a bug, but not worth the trouble of fixing.)
- Mah Jong!
- declare Mah Jong! (no selection needed)
If the wall is not being shown, the dialog will note the number of tiles left in
the live wall.
A tile can also be discarded simply by double-clicking it.
When another player discards, a dialog appears to allow us to claim it. If the
dialogs are in the middle of the table, the dialog displays the tile in a
position and orientation to indicate the player who discarded; if the dialogs
are at the bottom, this is not done, to save space. In any case the dialog
displays the name of the tile, and buttons for the possible claims. If the
wall is not being shown, the dialog will note the number of tiles left in the
live wall. There is also a `progress bar' which shows how time is running out.
The buttons use one variant of traditional English terminology, viz:
- No claim
- we don't claim this tile. If there is no timeout in
operation, it is necessary to click this to indicate a "pass",
and in any case it is desirable to speed up play.
- Chow
- claim for a sequence. If our claim is successful and there
is more than one possible sequence to be made, a dialog will appear asking
us to specify which one.
- Pung
- claim for a triplet.
- Kong
- claim for quadruplet.
- Mah Jong!
- claim for Mah Jong. If the claim succeeds, a dialog box
will appear asking whether we want the tile for "Eyes",
"Chow", "Pung", or a "Special Hand" (such as
Thirteen Unique Wonders). (The term "Eyes" is used instead of
"Pair" so that in the keyboard accelerators, E can be used,
leaving P for "Pung".)
When a player (including us) claims, the word "Chow!" etc. will appear
(in big letters on a yellow background, by default) for a couple of seconds
above the player's tiles.
When all players have claimed, or timed out, the successful claim is
implemented; no additional announcement is made of this.
If a player adds a tile to an exposed pung, and that tile would give us Mah
Jong, then a dialog box pops up to ask whether we wish to rob the kong.
After somebody goes Mah Jong, we are asked to declare our concealed sets. A
dialog appears with buttons for "Eyes", "Chow",
"Pung". To declare a set, select a tile, which must be the
first tile in the set for a chow, and click the appropriate button. (If
we are going Mah Jong, the first undeclared tile is auto-selected.) When
finished, click "Finished" to reveal the remaining tiles to the
other players. If we are the winner, there will be a button for "Special
Hand": this is used to declare hands of non-standard shape, such as
Thirteen Unique Wonders. (Note: the Seven Pairs hand, if in use, should be
declared by means of the "Eyes" button, not the "Special
Hand" button.)
At this point, a new top-level window appears to display the scoring
information. The scoring is done entirely by the server, not by the players;
the server sends a text description of the score calculation, and this is
displayed for each player in the Scoring window. The information in the
Scoring window remains there until the next hand is scored; the window can be
brought up at any time via the "Show" menu.
Finally, the "continue with next hand" dialog appears. The hand just
completed will remain visible on the table until the next hand starts.
Keyboard Accelerators
There are keyboard accelerators for all the actions in the course of play. For
selecting tiles, the Left and Right arrow keys can be used to move the
selection left or right along the row of tiles. In all dialogs, Space or
Return will activate the shadowed button, which is usually the commonest
choice. Each button can also be activated by typing the underlined letter. (In
the Windows GTK1 build, use l (ell) and r instead of Left and Right. The
button accelerators do not work, for reasons unknown to me.)
The menus are also accessible via accelerators. To open a menu, press Meta-X
(Alt-X on Windows), where X is the underlined letter in the menu name. (Meta-X
is often (confusingly) Alt-X on Linux systems.) Then each entry has an
underlined letter which if pressed will activate it.
An additional top-level window showing the state of the game can be obtained by
selecting "Game info" from the "Show" menu.
There is also a facility for sending text messages to the other players. Select
"Messages" from the "Show" menu, and a window will appear:
in the top is a display of all messages sent, and below is a single line in
which you can enter your message. It will be sent when you hit Return. The
message window pops up automatically whenever a message is received, unless
prevented by a display preference. If the "Display status and messages in
main window" display option is set, then this window will instead appear
in the main window, above the table. In that case, there is a checkbox
"Keep cursor here" next to the message entry line. Checking this box
will ensure that the keyboard focus stays in the message entry field, even
when you click on buttons in the game. (Consequently, you will be unable to
use keyboard accelerators while this option is checked.)
Starting games and re-connecting¶
The "Game" menu has the "New local game..." item to start a
new game on your local computer, and the "Join server..." item to
connect to an existing game. The dialogs for both these have the following
entries:
- Checkboxes for Internet/Unix server
- These specify whether the server is listening on an
Internet socket or a Unix socket. If an Internet (TCP) socket, the host
name ("Join Game..." only) and port number should be entered in
the appropriate boxes; if a Unix socket, the file name of the socket
should be entered. These fields are remembered from game to game.
- "Player ID" and "Name" fields
- The "Player ID" should be left at 0, unless
reconnecting to an existing game, in which case it should be the ID
assigned by the server on first connecting to that game. The
"Name" field can be anything. When reconnecting to an existing
game, if the ID is given as 0, the server will try to use the
"Name" to identify the player. (This may not be true in future.)
The "Name" field is remembered from game to game.
The "Join server..." dialog then simply has a "Connect"
button to establish the connection. The "New local game..." has the
following fields:
- For each of three further players,
- A checkbox to say whether to start a computer player. (Some
of) these should be unchecked if you wish other humans to join the games.
If checked, there is a text entry to set the players' names, and a text
entry field in which options can be given to the players; the latter
should only be used if you understand the options!
- An "allow disconnection" checkbox
- If this is checked, the server that is started will
continue to run even if players disconnect. If it is not checked, the
server will quit if any player disconnects. If you are playing one against
the computer, this should generally be left unchecked, in order to avoid
server processes accidentally being left lying around. If playing against
people, it should be checked, to allow players to go away, or to guard
against network outages.
- As "save game state on exit" checkbox
- If this is checked, the server will save the game state
(see below on on saving and resuming games) when a player disconnects and
causes it to quit.
- A "seat players randomly" checkbox
- If this is left unchecked, players will be initially seated
as East, South, West, North in order of connection. (We always connect
first.) If it is checked, the seating will be random.
- A numeric entry field
- to specify the time limit for claiming discards. If set to
0, there will be no time limit.
- A button to start the game
- Note that it takes a few seconds to start a game, during
which time the dialog stays up with the button pressed. (TODO: fix this!)
Saving and resuming games¶
At any time during the play of a game, you can choose the "Save" entry
from the "Game" menu. This causes the server to save the current
state of the game in a file. The file will be named
game-date.mjs by default; if a name has previously been
specified, or if the game was resumed from a file, that name will be used. To
specify a name, use the "Save as..." entry in the "Game"
menu. Note that for security, directories cannot be specified (except by
resuming a game), so the file will be created in the working directory of the
server.
To resume a saved game, use the "Resume game..." entry from the
"Game" menu. This is just like the "New local game..."
panel, but it has a box to specify the file containing the saved game. At
present, you must type the name of the file into this box. TODO find a file
selector widget for this.
Setting display and game options¶
The "Options" menu of
xmj brings up panels to set various
options related to the display and to the game rules. Most of these options
can be stored in the preferences file, which is
.xmjrc in your home
directory on Unix, and
xmj.ini in your home (whatever that means)
directory on Microsoft Windows.
Display Options¶
This panel controls options related to the local display. At the bottom are
three buttons: "Save & Apply" applies changes and saves them in
the preferences file for future sessions; "Apply (no save)" applies
any changes, but does not save them; "Cancel" ignores changes. Note
that many display options can also be controlled by command-line arguments; if
an option is specified both in the preferences file and on the command line,
the command line takes priority.
- Position of action dialogs.
- This determines where the dialogs for user actions in the
game are popped up; see the description of the --dialogs-central
etc. options above. This option is stored in the preferences file as
Display DialogPosition posn
where posn is one of "central", "below" or
"popup".
- Animation
- determines whether tile movements are animated (see the
--animate option above). This option is stored in the preferences
file as
Display Animate bool
where bool is "0" or "1".
- Display status and messages in main window
- puts the game status and message (chat) windows in the main
window, above the table, instead of having separate popup windows. This
option is stored in the preferences file as
Display InfoInMain bool
where bool is "0" or "1".
- Don't popup scoring/message windows
- will prevent the automatic popup of the scoring window at
the end of a hand, the message window on the arrival of a message, and the
game status window at the end of the game. This option is stored in the
preferences file as
Display NoPopups bool
where bool is "0" or "1".
- Tiletips always shown
- means that the name of a tile is displayed whenever the
mouse enters it, and the name of the selected tile is always shown.
(Otherwise, right-click to display the name.) This option is stored in the
preferences file as
Display Tiletips bool
where bool is "0" or "1".
- Display size
- This drop-down list specifies the size of the display. The
size should be thought of as the length of a tile rack. This is only
relevant if the wall is not being displayed. Values range from 14 to 19;
if "(auto)" (the default) is specified, the client tries to
choose a size as big as will fit in the display. This option can also be
specified by the command line --size argument. This option is
stored in the preferences file as
Display Size n
- Show the wall
- "always" is equivalent to the --show-wall
option; "never" is equivalent to the --no-show-wall
option; and "when room" is the default. This option is stored in
the preferences file as
Display ShowWall when
where when is one of "always", "when-room" or
"never".
- Sort tiles in hand
- By default, the program maintains your own tiles in sorted
order. If you prefer to leave them unsorted (which is often recommended in
real life, to avoid giving information to your opponents), or to arrange
them yourself, you can set this option to "never", or to
"on deal" if you want them to be sorted at the beginning, but
then left alone. To rearrange tiles, use the Shift-Left and Shift-Right
(i.e. the left and right arrow keys while holding Shift) - these move the
selected tile left or right in your hand. (In the Windows GTK1 build, use
L (Shift-l) and R (Shift-r) instead.) On GTK2 builds, you can also drag a
tile to its new position with the mouse. This option is stored in the
preferences file as
Display SortTiles when
where when is one of "always", "deal" or
"never".
- Iconify all windows with main
- If this option is set (the default), then when the main xmj
window is iconified, (almost) all other open windows such as dialogs will
also be iconified; when the main window is uniconified, the other windows
will also be uniconified. If it is not set, all windows are independent of
one another. This option is stored in the preferences file as
Display IconifyDialogs bool
This option is not currently supported under Microsoft Windows.
- Tileset
- this is the tile pixmap directory, also given by the
--tileset option. This option is stored in the preferences file as
Display Tileset dirname
- Tileset Path
- this is the search path for tileset directories, also given
by the --tileset-path option. This option is stored in the
preferences file as
Display TilesetPath search-path
- Main font selection...
- This button brings up a font selection dialog to choose the
font used in buttons, menus, etc. in the client. This option is stored in
the preferences file as
Display MainFont font-name
where font-name is a font name, which may be an X LFD in the Unix
GTK+1 version, or a Pango font name in the Windows and Unix GTK+2
versions.
- Text font selection...
- This button brings up a font selection dialog to choose the
font used in text display (such as scoring info and chat) in the client.
This option is stored in the preferences file as
Display TextFont font-name
- Table colour selection...
- Unaccountably, not everybody likes my choice of dark green
for the table background. This button brings up a colour selection box to
allow the table colour to be changed.This option is stored in the
preferences file as
Display TableColour col
where col is a GTK colour specification. The format depends on
whether xmj is built with GTK+1 - in which case it is an X color of the
form rgb:RRRR/GGGG/BBBB - or GTK+2 - in which case it is a GTK2 color of
the form #RRRRGGGGBBBB. GTK+2 programs will convert an old GTK1
specification.
- Gtk2 Rcfile:
- In the GTK+2 build, xmj by default ignores completely the
system and user settings for look and feel, and uses its own built in
settings. These settings use the Clearlooks theme, if it is available, to
provide a simple but clean look with slightly rounded tiles; and fall back
to a plain theme, as compact as possible with the standard engine. If you
wish, you can use this option to specify the name of a GTK rcfile which
will be read instead of the built in settings. A minimal set of settings
will be read before your file is read. Such a file can specify many
details of the appearance, provided that you know how to write a GTK
rcfile. You will need to know that xmj uses the following styles and
bindings:
gtk-font-name = fontname
can be used to change the overall font used by widgets. This will overridden
by the font specified by the Main Font option, if set.
style "table"
is used to give the green (or whatever you set) colour to the table. All
widgets that should have this style are named "table", so the
appropriate binding (already set in the minimal set) is
widget "*.table" style "table"
style "playerlabel"
is used to give the white text colour to the player status labels in the
corners of the board (if shown). All widgets that should have this style
are named "playerlabel", so the appropriate binding (already set
in the minimal set) is
widget "*.playerlabel" style "playerlabel"
style "tile"
is used in the default settings for all widgets named "tile",
which are all tiles except the tiles in your own concealed hand. This
style is not used in the minimal settings, but if set it should be bound
with
widget "*.tile" style "tile"
style "mytile"
is used in the default settings for the concealed tiles in your hand, which
are active buttons. These tiles are all named "mytile". This
style is not used in the minimal settings, but if set it should be bound
with
widget "*.mytile" style "mytile"
style "claim"
is used to set the yellow background and large font of the claim
announcement popups. These popups are named "claim", so the
appropriate binding (already set in the minimal set) is
widget "*.claim" style "claim"
style "text"
is used to change the font for the text widgets such as message boxes and
input fields. In the minimal settings, it is empty, but is defined and
bound to the relevant widgets. The binding should not be changed, but the
style itself can be redefined. If the Text Font option is set, this style
will be redefined in order to implement it.
binding "topwindow"
is defined and bound to the top-level window to implement the use of the
left and right arrow keys to change the selected tile. It is probably not
helpful to change this.
The distribution contains three example gtkrc files, called
gtkrc-minimal, gtkrc-plain, and gtkrc-clearlooks,
which contain the program's compiled in settings.
This option is stored in the preferences files as
Display Gtk2Rcfile file-name
Note that if the file-name is relative, it will be interpreted relative to
the current directory in Unix, or the program directory in Windows.
- Use system gtkrc
- As noted above, xmj does not normally load the system
settings in the GTK+2 build. If this option is checked, it will (after the
minimal settings, but before the default or user-specified settings). This
option is stored in the preferences files as
Display UseSystemGtkrc bool
where bool is 0 or 1.
- Note for GTK+1 builds
- Under a GTK+1 build, xmj does what any other application
does. This should allow the use of a .gtkrc file to change colours, using
the styles and bindings given above. However, this is not a supported
activity.
Playing Preferences¶
This panel controls what actions the client may take on your behalf. The first
(and currently only) section specifies when the client should declare tiles
and sets for you. It has the following checkboxes:
- flowers and seasons
- if checked, will be automatically declared as soon as
drawn.
- losing hands
- if this is checked, then when somebody else goes out, the
client will declare your closed sets. It declares in the order pungs,
pairs, chows.
- winning hands
- this is the same for when you go out.
The panel has "Save & Apply", "Apply (no save)" and
"Cancel" buttons, as in the display options panel.
Game Option Preferences¶
This panel controls preferred game options which will be sent to the server when
a game starts. Preferences will only be applied if we are the game manager, or
the game has no manager. (Normally, the first human player to connect to the
server becomes the game manager.)
For details of options and their meanings, see the Game Options section in the
rules.
The panel has two action buttons, "Save Changes" and
"Cancel", with the obvious meanings. Note if a game is in progress,
changed preferences are NOT applied to it; however, there is a button in the
Current Game Options panel to apply preferences.
The main body of the panel is a scrollable window listing all the known options.
If no preference is stored for the FooBar option, then there is an "Add
pref" button next to a description of the FooBar option. If this button
is clicked, an entry for setting the option appears. The format of this entry
depends on the type of the option (see the Game Options section of the rules
for details of types):
- Boolean (on/off) options
- have a checkbox.
- Integer options
- have a spinbutton for numerical entry: the value can be
typed in, or the up and down arrows can be used to change it
- Score options
- have radio buttons for selecting Limit, Half-Limit, or
other; for other, the number of doubles and/or points is entered with
spinbuttons. (Note: the underlying protocol allows percentages (possibly
more than 100%) of limits to be specified for scores; however, the current
graphical interfaces allow only limits or half-limits. Even half-limits
are pretty strange, but some bizarre sets of rules, such as those of the
British Mah-Jong Association (which plays a weird American/Western/Chinese
mix), allow other fractions of limits.)
- String options
- have a simple text entry field.
All option entries have a "Reset" button which returns the entry to
its previous state.
A preference is removed by clicking the "Remove pref" button.
Current Game Options¶
When there is a connected game, this panel allows its game options to be
modified (if we have permission to do so). The three action buttons are
"Apply changes", which applies the panel's settings to the current
game; "Apply prefs", which applies our preferences (as described
above) to the current game; and "Cancel".
The body of the panel contains entries for all the options of the current game,
in the same format as the preferences panel (see above).
UPDATES¶
The latest release of the Unix Mah-Jong programs should be available at
http://mahjong.julianbradfield.org/
RULES¶
The game currently implemented is a version of the classical Chinese game. The
most convenient and comprehensive set of rules is that provided by A. D.
Millington, "The Complete Book of Mah-Jongg", Weidenfield &
Nicolson (1993), ISBN 0 297 81340 4. In the following, M 103 denotes item 103
of the rules laid out in Chapter 3 of that book. I here describe only the
differences from these rules, some of which differences are consequences of
using computers, and some of which are points where my house rules differ from
Millington's version. In due course, all variations (of Chinese classical)
will be accommodated, if there is sufficient desire.
Classification of tiles (M 1-8): the tiles are a standard Chinese set. The tiles
do not have Arabic numerals, except for the flowers and seasons, where the
identifying Chinese characters are too small to be legible. A numbered set is
included in the distribution and can be used via the Tileset display
preference.
The flowers and seasons may be removed from the tile set by unsetting the
Flowers game option.
Preliminary (M 9-10): nothing to say.
Duration of the game (M 11-14): standard rules. In particular, the title of East
does not pass after a wash-out.
Selection of seats (M 15): the players are seated in the order they connect to
the server, or randomly, according to the option given to the server.
The deal etc. (M 16-27): There is no attempt to simulate the usual dealing
ritual (M 16-20, 23-26); the wall is built randomly by the server. The dead
wall is also maintained by the server.
The existence of a dead wall is controlled by the
DeadWall game option;
normally there is a dead wall.
The deal wall is either 14 tiles and kept at 13 or 14 during play (as in most
authors), or is 16 tiles, not extended during play (per Millington (M 22)),
according to the
DeadWall16 game option.
Replacement tiles for kongs are always taken from the loose tiles, but
replacements for bonus tiles may be drawn from the live wall (M 31), or from
the loose tiles, according to the
FlowersLoose game option.
Object of game (M 28-31): all winning hands must comprise four sets and a pair,
with the exception of the Thirteen Unique Wonders. If the
SevenPairs
game option is set, then a hand of any seven pairs is also allowed as a
winning hand.
Bonus tiles (M 31): M requires that bonus tiles must be declared in the turn in
which they are drawn; otherwise the player may not exchange or score them (and
thus they cannot go out). We do not make this restriction, as it is (a)
pointless (b) unenforceable in real life. Bonus tiles may be declared at any
time after drawing from the wall. (Obviously, there is no reason not to
declare them immediately.)
Commencement of the Game (M 32-33): standard.
Playing procedure (M 34-38): standard. In particular, the other players have to
give permission for east to start playing (M 34). The display of discards
cannot be controlled by the server; the current X client displays them in an
organized fashion, rather than the random layout required by M 35.
Chow (M 39-42): standard.
Pung (M 43-45): standard.
Kongs (M 46-52): M distinguishes three types of kong: concealed, claimed (by
Kong), and annexed (formed by adding a discard to an exposed pung), and allows
claimed kongs to be counted as concealed for the purposes of doubling
combinations. I have not seen this anywhere else; normally, a claimed kong is
treated as exposed for all purposes. We follow the normal convention; however,
the game option KongHas3Types can be set to implement M's rules. In this case,
the xmj program will distinguish claimed kongs by displaying them with the
last tile face down, whereas annexed kongs are all face up.
Players may declare a concealed kong, or add to a pung, only when they have just
drawn a tile from the wall (live or dead); not just after a claiming a
discard. (A silly restriction in my view, but one that all rule sets seem to
have (M 51).) As from program version 1.11 (protocol version 1110), we also
allow a player to add to a pung they have just claimed (see note above in the
description of play).
Calling and Mah Jong (M 53-54): standard. (I.e. there is no "Calling"
declaration.)
NOTE: M permits players to change their mind about making a claim (M 69); we do
not, and all claims are irrevocable. As a special concession, we allow adding
to a just claimed pung, so simulating the effect of correcting a pung claim to
a kong.
Original Call (M 55): the Original Call declaration must be made simultaneously
with the first discard, rather than afterwards. NOTE: the server does *not*
check that the declarer does indeed have a calling hand, as a mistaken
original call does not damage the other players or the progress of the game.
The server does, however, thereafter prevent the declarer from changing their
hand; therefore a mistaken original call will make it impossible to go out.
(Note: in M, an Original Caller may change their hand, but will thereby lose
the ability to go out (M 55(b)); is this a better way to treat it?) Note also:
as per M, an original call can be made even if another player has claimed a
discard before, unlike the Japanese version.
Robbing a Kong (M 57-60): Robbing a kong is implemented. However, as with
discards, we require that kongs are robbed before anything else happens, and
in particular before the konger draws a replacement tile. Therefore, after a
kong, all other players must either claim Mah Jong or pass. (The provided
programs will pass automatically if robbing is not possible.) As for discards,
there is a time limit.
Precedence of claims for discard (M 61-65): Many rules allow a discard to be
claimed up until the time the next discard is made. M does this, with
elaborate rules for the precise specification. For ease of implementation, we
do not allow this: instead, all players are required to make a claim or pass,
and once all players have claimed, the successful claim is implemented
irrevocably. The server imposes a time limit; players that do not claim within
the limit are deemed to have passed. This defaults to 15 seconds, but can be
changed or disabled by the
Timeout game option.
Irregularities in Play (M 66-81): the server does not permit unlawful moves, and
so no irregularities can arise.
False Declaration of Mah Jong (M 82-83): such declarations are not permitted by
the server.
False Naming of Discards (M 84-88): this also cannot happen.
Incorrect Hands (M 89): cannot happen.
Letting Off a Cannon (M 90-96): as in M. However, if a player makes a dangerous
discard, but has no choice, the server will determine this; it is not
necessary to plead "no choice" explicitly, and neither is the
player's hand revealed to the other players.
Wash-Out (M 97-99): standard.
Points of Etiquette (M 100-102): not applicable.
Displaying the Hand (M 103-106): The format of display is a matter for the
client program, and cannot be controlled by the server.
After Mah Jong, the players are responsible for declaring concealed sets in
whatever way they wish. The winner, of course, is required to declare a
complete hand; but the losers may declare as they wish. Once a set is
declared, it cannot be revoked. Note that the losers may declare multiple
scoring pairs.
Procedure in Settlement (M 107-111): The settlement is classical: that is, the
winner gets the value of their hand from all players; the losers pay one
another the differences between their scores; except all payments to or from
East are doubled; and if players let off a cannon, they pay everybody's debt.
Unlike normal play (M 110), all hands are scored by the server, rather than by
the players. Settlement is also computed by the server. Some variations in
settlement are provided: if the LosersSettle game option is set to false,
there are no payments between losers; if the EastDoubles game option is set to
false, payments to or from East are not doubled; if the DiscDoubles game
option is set to true, then the discarder of the tile that gave Mah-Jong will
pay double to the winner, and a self-draw is paid double by everybody.
Method of Scoring (M 112-122): The method is standard (M 112), viz calculate
points obtained from sets and bonuses, and then apply doubles.
The following points are given for tiles:
- Bonus tiles:
- 4 each (M 114(a))
- Pungs:
- 2 for exposed minor tiles; 4 for exposed major or concealed
minor; 8 for concealed major. (M 114(b))
- Kongs:
- 8 for exposed minor; 16 for exposed major or concealed
minor; 32 for concealed major. (M 114(c))
- Chows:
- no score. (M 114(d))
- Pair:
- 2 for a pair of Dragons, Own Wind, or Prevailing Wind. A
pair that is both Own and Prevailing Wind scores 4. (M 114(e)) Non-winning
hands may score more than one pair.
- Basic points:
- the winner gets 20 points for going Mah Jong. This can be
changed by the MahJongScore game option (M 115(a) has 10
points).
- Seven Pairs hand:
- If Seven Pairs hands are allowed, they receive an
additional score of 20 points, changed by the SevenPairsVal game
option.
- Winning from wall:
- if the final tile is drawn from the wall, 2 points are
added (M 115(b)).
- Filling the only place:
- if the final tile is the only denomination that could have
completed the hand, 2 points are added (M 115(c)). NOTE: As in M, if all
four copies of a tile are exposed on the table, it does not count as
available for completing the hand.
- Fishing the eyes:
- a player who completes by obtaining a pair gets 2 points if
the pair is minor, or 4 if major (M 115(d)). Note: to obtain these points
for a discard, the player must actually claim the discard for a pair: e.g.
if waiting on 5677, and 7 is discarded, the player must claim for the
pair, not the chow.
The following doubles apply to all hands. All possible clauses apply unless
stated otherwise.
- Having own flower or own season.
- No extra score. Changed by the FlowersOwnEach game
option.
- Having own flower AND own season,
- 1 double. (M 116(a)). Changed by the FlowersOwnBoth
game option.
- Having all four flowers,
- 1 double. (M 116(b)). Changed by the FlowersBouquet
game option.
- Having all four seasons,
- 1 double. (M 116(b)). Changed by the FlowersBouquet
game option.
- Each set of dragons,
- 1 double. (M 116(d))
- A set of the player's own wind,
- 1 double. (M 116(e))
- A set of the prevailing wind,
- 1 double. (M 116(f))
- "Little Three Dragons": two sets and a pair of
dragons.
- 1 double. (M 116(g))
- "Big Three Dragons": three sets of dragons.
- 2 doubles. (M 116(h))
- "Little Four Winds": three sets and a pair of
winds.
- 1 double. (M 116(i))
- "Big Four Winds": four sets of winds.
- 2 doubles. (M 116(j))
(Note: the definitions of these last four doubles when applied to
non-winning hands are subject to wide variations. Possibly there should be
options to allow other possibilities.)
- Three concealed pungs:
- 1 double. (M 116(k)) (Note: if the KongHas3Types game
option is set, a claimed kong counts as concealed for this hand; see the
note above under "Kongs".)
The following doubles apply to the winning hand only:
- No score hand: four chows and a non-scoring pair.
- 1 double. (M 117(a)) (Note: like M, we allow any of the
extra points (Fishing the Eyes, etc) to go with this double. Some rules
say that the extra points invalidate this hand. Possibly there should be
an option for this.)
- No chows:
- 1 double. (M 117(b))
- Concealed hand:
- 1 double (M 117(c)), changeable with the
ConcealedFully game option. (Note: this means a hand that is fully
concealed after going out. Another common value for this is 3 doubles, in
which case 1 double is usually given for a semi-concealed hand (see
below).) (Note: if the KongHas3Types game option is set, a claimed kong
counts as concealed for this hand; see the note above under
"Kongs".)
The following doubles normally apply to the winning hand only; however, the
LosersPurity game option can be set to allow losing hands to score them
(this is a highly deprecated American feature, but has been requested by a
user).
- Semi-concealed hand:
- no doubles, changeable with the ConcealedAlmost game
option. (Not in M) (Note: this means a winning hand that is concealed up
to the point of going out, or, if enabled, a concealed losing hand.
According to a discussion on rec.games.mahjong, a winning semi-concealed
hand is classically awarded one double (with three given for fully
concealed). One book in my possession (U.S.A., early 1920s) awards this
double only to a hand that is concealed except for the pair.) (Note: if
the KongHas3Types game option is set, a claimed kong counts as concealed
for this hand; see the note above under "Kongs".)
- One suit with honours:
- 1 double. (M 117(d))
- One suit only:
- 3 doubles. (M 117(e))
- All majors:
- 1 double. (M 117(f))
- All honours (in an unlimited game):
- 2 doubles. (M 117(g)) (Note: such a hand will also score
the double for all majors.)
- All terminals (in an unlimited game):
- 2 doubles. (Not in M) (Note: such a hand will also score
the double for all majors.)
The following doubles apply only to the winning hand:
- Winning with loose tile:
- 1 double. (M 117(h)) (Note: with the default settings,
replacements for bonus tiles come from the live wall. Hence this double
applies only to winning after Kong.)
- Winning from the bottom of the sea (winning with last
tile),
- 1 double. (M 117(i))
- Catching a fish from the bottom of the sea (winning with
last discard),
- 1 double. (M 117(j))
- Robbing a kong,
- 1 double. (M 117(k))
- Completing Original Call,
- 1 double. (M 117(l))
Limit (M 118-120): the limit is 1000 by default, and can be changed by the
ScoreLimit game option. The
NoLimit game option can be used to
play a game "with the roof off".
The following hands are limit hands:
- Heaven's Blessing: East wins with dealt hand. (M
122(a))
- Earth's Blessing: player wins with East's first discard. (M
122(b))
- Gathering Plum Blossom from the Roof: winning with 5
Circles from the
- loose wall. (M 122(c))
- Catching the Moon from the Bottom of the Sea: winning with
1 Circle as
- the last tile. (M 122(d)) (Note: M says that the tile must
be drawn. It seems more reasonable also to allow it to be the last
discard, which is what we do. Objections?)
- Scratching a Carrying Pole: robbing a kong of 2 Bamboos. (M
122(e))
- (Note: these last three limits are rather arbitrary, but of
the
- arbitrary limits they are apparently the most common. There
should be options to disable them.)
- Kong upon Kong: making a Kong, making another Kong with the
loose
- tile, and with the second loose tile obtaining Mah Jong.
(Also, of course, with three or four successive kongs.) (M 122(f))
- Four Kongs. (M 122(g))
- Buried Treasure: all concealed and no chows. (M
122(h))
- The Three Great Scholars: three sets of dragons and no
chows. (M 122(i))
- (Note: in most rules I have seen, there is no restriction
to a no chow hand. Since in M's rules, three sets and a chow scores at
least (10 (M has 10 for Mah Jong) + 12 (at least 3 pungs)) times 8 (2 for
each set of dragons) times 4 (for Big Three Dragons) = 704, this is
significant with the default limit. For us, with 20 for going out, Big
Three Dragons is over the default limit anyway.)
- Four Blessings o'er the Door: four sets of winds and a
pair. (M 122(j))
- All Honours. (M 122(k))
- Heads and Tails: all terminals. (M 122(l))
- Imperial Jade: contains only Green Dragon and 2,3,4,6,8
Bamboo. (M 122(m))
- (Note: another rather arbitrary hand, but widely
adopted.)
- Nine Gates: calling on 1-1-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-9-9 of one
suit. (M 122(n)).
- Wriggling Snake: 1-1-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-9-9 plus 2, 5 or 8
of
- one suit (M 122(o)). (Note: another rather arbitrary
hand.)
- Concealed Clear Suit: one suit only and all concealed. (M
122(p))
- Thirteen Unique Wonders: one of each major tile, and a
match to any of
- them. (M 122(q))
- East's 13th consecutive Mah-Jong. (M 122(r))
General note: there are many other doubles and limits kicking around. I welcome
opinions on which should be possible options; and also on which of the above I
should eject from the default set. I dislike Imperial Jade, Wriggling Snake,
and the ones depending on a specific tile (Gathering Plum Blossom, Catching
the Moon, Scratching a Carrying Pole): which of these are so commonly adopted
that they should be in even a fairly minimalist default set?
GAME OPTIONS¶
This section describes the options that can be set in the game. Whether an
option can be used, depends on the version of the programs. This is described
by a "protocol version number"; this is not strictly speaking a
version just of the communication protocol, but a version number reflecting
the combination of protocol and programs. When playing by oneself, this does
not matter, but in the case of a networked game, players might have different
versions of the software, in which case the game is played according to the
lowest version of any player.
Game options can be controlled in two ways: the
--option-file argument to
the
mj-server program gives options to be applied to the game, or
options can be set by the players, using the interface described in the manual
section for
xmj.
In the user interface, the options are referred to by a one line description,
but each option also has a short name, given here.
Options are of several types:
- bool
- boolean, or on/off, options.
- int
- integer options
- nat
- non-negative integer options
- string
- is a miscellaneous type, whose values are strings of at
most 127 characters which must not contain white space
- score
- is the type used for options that give the score of some
combination or feature in a hand. A score is either a limit (or a
half-limit; the underlying protocol supports percentages of limits, but
the current user programs only support limits and half limits); or a
number of doubles to be awarded; or a number of points to be added. It is
possible (though never needed) to have both points and doubles. If
points/doubles are specified as well as a limit, they will be used in a
no-limit game. (The server implements a hard limit of 100000000 on all
scores to avoid arithmetic overflow, but that's unlikely to worry
anybody.)
Currently supported options¶
The following options are implemented in the versions of the program with which
this document is distributed. If playing against people with older versions of
the software, some options may not be available. The list gives for each
option the short name, type, and short description, followed by a detailed
explanation.
- Timeout (nat) time limit for claims
- This is the time in seconds allowed to claim a discard, or
to rob a kong. If set to zero, there is no timeout. The default is 15
seconds.
- TimeoutGrace (nat) grace period when clients
handle timeouts
- This period (in seconds) is added to the Timeout above
before the server actually forces a timeout. This is for when clients
handle timeouts locally, and allows for network lags. If this option is
zero, clients are not permitted to handle timeouts locally. The current
server also only allows players to handle timeouts locally if all of them
wish to do so.
- ScoreLimit (nat) limit on hand score
- This is the limit for the score of a hand. In a no-limit
game, it is the notional value of a "limit" hand. The default is
1000.
- NoLimit (bool) no-limit game
- If this option is set, the game has no limit on hand
scores. The default is unset.
- MahJongScore (score) base score for going
out
- This is the number of points for obtaining Mah-Jong. The
default is 20.
- SevenPairs (bool) seven pairs hand
allowed
- If this option is set, then Mah-Jong hands of seven pairs
(any seven pairs) are allowed. The default is unset.
- SevenPairsVal (score) score for a seven pair
hand
- This gives the score (in addition to the base Mah-Jong
score) for a seven pairs hand. The default is 20.
- Flowers (bool) play using flowers and
seasons
- If this option is set, the deal includes four flowers and
four seasons in the Chinese Classical style. If unset, only the 136
standard tiles are used. The default is set.
- FlowersLoose (bool) flowers replaced by loose
tiles
- If playing with flowers, this option determines whether
flowers and seasons are replaced from the live wall (unset), or by loose
tiles (set). The default is unset.
- FlowersOwnEach (score) score for each own
flower or season
- This option gives the score for having one's own flower or
season. If one has both, this score will be given twice. The default is no
score.
- FlowersOwnBoth (score) score for own flower
and own season
- This is the score for having both one's own flower and
one's own season. Note that this is awarded in addition to twice the
previous score. The default is 1 double.
- FlowersBouquet (score) score for all four
flowers or all four seasons
- This is the score for having all four flowers or all four
seasons. The default is 1 double.
- DeadWall (bool) there is a dead wall
- This determines whether there is a dead wall, so that play
ends when it is reached (set), or whether all tiles may be drawn (unset).
The default is set.
- DeadWall16 (bool) dead wall is 16 tiles,
unreplenished
- If this option is set, then the dead wall initially has 16
tiles, and does not have any more tiles added to it (this is the set-up
described by Millington). If the option is unset, then the dead wall
initially has 14 tiles, and after two loose tiles have been taken, two
tiles are moved from the live wall to the dead wall (this is the set-up
described by almost everyone else). The default is unset in versions 1.1
onwards, and set previously. (To be precise, the protocol level default is
set, but all servers from 1.1 onwards will change this to unset.)
- ConcealedFully (score) score for fully
concealed hand
- This is the score for a winning hand with no open sets. The
default is 1 double.
- ConcealedAlmost (score) score for almost
concealed hand
- This is the score for a hand that is concealed up to the
point of going out. The default is no additional score.
- LosersPurity (bool) losing hands score
doubles for pure, concealed etc.
- If this option is set, losing hands will score various
doubles for one suit, almost concealed, etc. See the rules for details.
This option is an (Anglo-)Americanism alien to Chinese Classical (see
Foster for a spirited but faulty argument in its favour, and Millington
for the rejoinder). The default is unset.
- KongHas3Types (bool) claimed kongs count as
concealed for doubling
- If this option is set, claimed kongs count as concealed for
various doubling combinations, although they score as exposed for basic
points. See the note above under "Kongs". The default is unset.
- LosersSettle (bool) losers pay each
other
- If this option is set, the losers pay each other the
difference between their scores. If it unset, they pay only the winner.
The default is set.
- EastDoubles (bool) east pays and receives
double
- If this option is set, payments to and from East Wind are
doubled, as in the Chinese Classical game. The default is set.
- DiscDoubles (bool) the discarder pays
double
- If this option is set, the settlement procedure is changed
to a style common in Singapore. That is, if the winning player wins off a
discard, the discarder pays double the hand value, and the other players
pay the hand value. If the winner wins from the wall, then all other
players pay double the hand value. The default is unset. Note: EastDoubles
and DiscDoubles can be set together, but nobody plays such a rule.
- ShowOnWashout (bool) reveal tiles on
washout
- If this option is set, the players' hands will be revealed
in the event of a washout.
- NumRounds (nat) number of rounds to play
- This option says how many rounds to play in the game. For
aesthetic reasons, the possible values are 1, 2, or a multiple of 4. In
the 2 round case, the East and South rounds will be played. It defaults to
the usual 4 rounds.
Both in the option file and in the
.xmjrc file, options are recorded in
the format used by the server protocol. This is a line of the form
GameOption 0 name type minprot enabled value desc
The meanings of the elements are:
- GameOption 0
- identifies this as a game option line (the 0 is an
irrelevant field from the protocol).
- name
- is the name of the option.
- type
- is the type of the option.
- minprot
- is the minimum protocol version with which the option can
be used (which is not necessarily the version at which it was
introduced).
- enabled
- will always be 1.
- value
- is the value: a decimal (signed) integer for nat and
int; 0 or 1 for bool; the string for string; and for
score, if the score is c centi-limits, d doubles and
p points, the value is c*1000000 + d*10000 +
p.
- desc
- is a short description of the option, which is not required
but is usually copied in from the server.