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BS(6)				     Games				 BS(6)

NAME
       bs - battleships	game

SYNOPSIS

       bs [-b |	-s] [-c]

DESCRIPTION
       This program allows you to play the familiar Battleships	game against
       the computer on a 10x10 board. The interface is visual and largely
       self-explanatory; you place your	ships and pick your shots by moving
       the cursor around the `sea' with	the rogue/hack motion keys hjklyubn.
       If your UNIX has	a modern (non-BSD) curses, your	arrow keys will	also
       work.

       Note that when selecting	a ship to place, you must type the capital
       letter (these are, after	all, capital ships). During ship placement,
       the `r' command may be used to ignore the current position and randomly
       place your currently selected ship. The `R' command will	place all
       remaining ships randomly. The ^L	command	(form feed, ASCII 12) will
       force a screen redraw).

       The command-line	arguments control game modes.

		-b selects a `blitz' variant
		-s selects a `salvo' variant
		-c permits ships to be placed adjacently

       The `blitz' variant allows a side to shoot for as long as it continues
       to score	hits.

       The `salvo' game	allows a player	one shot per turn for each of his/her
       ships still afloat. This	puts a premium scoring hits early and knocking
       out some	ships and also makes much harder the situation where you face
       a superior force	with only your PT-boat.

       Normally, ships must be separated by at least one square	of open	water.
       The -c option disables this check and allows them to close-pack.

       The algorithm the computer uses once it has found a ship	to sink	is
       provably	optimal. The dispersion	criterion for the random-fire
       algorithm may not be.

AUTHORS
       Originally written by one Bruce Holloway	in 1986. Salvo mode added by
       Chuck A.	DeGaul (cbosgd!cad). Visual user interface, `closepack'
       option, code rewrite and	manual page by Eric S. Raymond
       <esr@snark.thyrsus.com> August 1989. Keypad support and ANSI/POSIX
       conformance, November '93. See http://www.catb.org/~esr/	for updates,
       also other software and resources by ESR.

bs				  11/02/2025				 BS(6)

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<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=bs&sektion=6&manpath=FreeBSD+Ports+15.0>

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