Frequently asked Questions
More or less frequently asked questions about Enigma
Servers sometimes don't work properly -- due to bugs, hardware errors
or just maintaining. We can't really help you at this point, as we
don't own these servers. Please try one of the mirrors (replace
“download” in the url by “download2”), or retry
tomorrow.
There exists another game called Enigma, which is a text-based
puzzle game with elements of Boulderdash and Sokoban, visit
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/˜sgtatham/enigma/
to learn more about it. If you want to install our Enigma,
download the one in our download section on this
website.
There are in principal three kinds of updates: The world record list (aka
ratings, aka statistics), the levels, and the program.
-
Enigma updates the world record list automatically, if you activated this in
the options menu: “Ratings update: Auto”. If you want to update
manually, read the following question.
-
To update levels, you could either wait for the next release of Enigma, or
manually put new levels into your user path: Single levels into subfolder
“levels/auto”, whole levelpacks into a distinct subdirectory of
“levels”.
-
To update the program, simply deinstall the old Enigma and install the
new one. Your scores and settings should be kept.
Go into the options menu and set “Ratings update” to
“Auto”. Enigma then tries to auto-update scores about once a week.
If you want to update manually, download ratings.xml from the link given
here and copy it into your user path.
Don't worry; Enigma won't access the internet as long as you don't activate
it in the options menu: See the button named “Ratings update”. It's
“off” by default, you can activate and deactivate it.
If you want to update manually, download ratings.xml from the link given
here and copy it into your user path.
If the level is in the 1.0-xml format, you can simply download
and copy it into the subfolder “levels/auto” of your user path.
Then restart Enigma, enter the level pack menu, choose group
“User” and level pack “Auto”. There it should appear now.
If it doesn't appear, the level might have an earlier format.
If you're experienced enough to work with level files, read
the question “How can I convert my old 0.92/0.81/… level files
to 1.00?” below.
Note that the new level might be buggy. If so, Enigma will
probably complain about it at the startup. In this case it
might be better to remove the level from “levels/auto” again.
We are working on this. Until then, you have to create an
Enigma level on your own. You can use the ralf_sokoban-library
for this, take a look at the level files in the
“data/levels/enigma_sokoban”-subdirectory of your installation
directory.
That's your screen saver. Mouse movements during Enigma are sometimes
not noticed by the screen saver, and so it thinks you're not using
your computer. You can either deactivate your screen saver, or try
to toggle from window-mode to fullscreen-mode (see “options
menu”).
If you are using GNOME, you can run this in a terminal window:
gnome-screensaver-command --inhibit
(it will not quit—just leave it running!) Then run Enigma. When you're done
with Enigma, press Ctrl+C on the “inhibit” command, and your screen
saver should be working again. Closing the terminal window should also stop the
“inhibit” command.
Please send us copies of the two files (see “Where are these
enigma.score and state.xml files?” below). If you once installed an
earlier version of Enigma, please also attach the file
“enigmarc.lua2” from the same directory. We can then analyse the
problem.
Meanwhile, you can try to delete “state.xml” and
“enigma.score” and restart Enigma twice and report us if the error
continues.
This is a known problem. It results from a 0.92-score that
exceeds 9 hours. Make a backup of “enigmarc.lua2” (in your user
path), then either remove or rename it (this way you'll loose
all your 0.92-scores), or open it in a text editor. There you can
search for a line that contains the value of your error message
(“44734” in our example) and delete this single line (you'll loose
the 9-hour-score only). Save “enigmarc.lua2” and delete
“state.xml” and “enigma.score”, so Enigma is forced to
recreate them. Restart Enigma twice and check if everything is working.
This is a bug in SDL, one of the libraries Enigma uses. Try:
export SDL_VIDEO_X11_DGAMOUSE=0
enigma
This should already suffice. If it works, you can alias enigma to include the
export command. Please drop a note to our mailinglist at enigma-devel@nongnu.org, including
information about your computer, Linux distribution and SDL version, so we're
informed how often and on which systems this strange bug appears.
A keylogger is a program which redirects mouse or keyboard input. Such
programs may be used as spyware to steal information about you. However, like
many other games as well, Enigma redirects mouse and keyboard inputs, too:
Function keys must be evaluated, mouse input is used as a force instead of
coordinates. That's why the message appears. If you downloaded Enigma from our
homepage, you should move Enigma into Kaspersky's trusted zone. If you want
to check for Enigma's integrity, use the checksums in the download section.
Your music player should use ALSA instead of OSS. In case of xmms: Right-click,
“Options”, “Preferences”, “Audio I/O Plugins”,
“Output Plugin”: Choose ALSA, if possible.
This happens only the first time you start Enigma, and only
if no thumbnails had been downloaded with Enigma. It's normal
and will disappear when all thumbnails are created.
Their path is called “user path”. You can see it when you
enter the “Options”-menu from the main menu; or pressing
F2 in main-menu. The default user paths are as follows:
On a Linux/Unix-system:
˜/.enigma
On an NT-based Windows-system (NT∗, 2000, XP, Vista) in English language:
C:\Documents and Settings\YourUserName\Application Data\Enigma
On an NT-based Windows-system (NT∗, 2000, XP, Vista) in German language:
C:\Dokumente und Einstellungen\YourUserName\Anwendungsdaten\Enigma
On a DOS-based Windows-system (95, 98, ME) in English language:
C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Enigma
On a DOS-based Windows-system (95, 98, ME) in German language:
C:\WINDOWS\Anwendungsdaten\Enigma
(Correspondingly in other languages; replace “YourUserName” with your
user name.)
On a Mac OS X: Use the finder, menu titled “Go”, select “Go to
folder”, then type in: “/Users/YourUserName/.enigma”
You can either post this to the developers mailing list:
enigma-devel@nongnu.org
to mag-heut.net or fill in a bug report
at Berlios: http://developer.berlios.de/projects/enigma-game/
then click on “Bug Tracking” (“Fehlerverfolgung”) and
“Submit a Bug”. For this, you need an accout at Berlios. To create
one, use “New User” (“Neuer Benutzer”) on the left.
Please include the following basic information:
- What computer and operating system are you using?
- Where and which Enigma version did you download?
- What did you do when the bug happened?
- What exactly did you see then?
- Is the bug ongoing or reproducable?
Especially the fourth point is important. There are dozens of
ways an application can “crash” or “freeze”. Just
describe what exactly you've done and what the monitor
showed right after this.
If you observed a “hard bug” (crash, freeze etc.; not a faulty
level), please start Enigma from the console using
“enigma --log”
and try to reproduce this bug. This will create two files
stdout.txt and stderr.txt in the installation directory,
filled with valuable information for us. Please attach them
to your mail to us. (See also here.)
Sorry, this happens too often. It's not that we're not
interested in your mail; we're just busy, and sometimes
even no one has an answer and waits for the others to
answer. So, please write us a second time and ask anew.
In particular, if you just wrote to encourage us to
continue development, we've surely already read it and
felt that warm gladness it creates in us. Thank you a
lot for this; and you have to admit, that any reply
would just hold us back from further programming ;-)
When you start Enigma the first time, you are led to the Tutorial.
It's filled with easy and practice levels. After you have played them
for a while, you should start with the level pack “Enigma I” and
slowly play through all the level packs. You may of course start
with another level pack, but the levels are ordered in a way to
introduce not too many new game objects at once.
When you start Enigma the first time, you'll start in the
“Tutorial level pack”, which is composed of easier levels
for practice. If you find yourself prepared enough, you
can switch to the “real” level packs: Click on the button
labeled “Level Pack”, then “Enigma” on the right side and
one of the packs “Enigma I” to “Enigma VI”.
Instead of the “Enigma group” you can also take a look at the
“Deja Vu” and the “Sokoban” groups.
In short: There are two degrees of difficulty between which you can choose:
easy-mode and normal-mode. However, not all levels support easy-mode.
A golden medal on a level shows that you solved it in normal-mode,
a silver one that you solved it in easy-mode. If there is a feather,
this means there is an easy-mode you didn't solve yet.
The buttons on the bottom mean from left to right:
- record-mode (for advanced users, consult manual for this),
- start next level relative to chosen record-mode,
- toggle between easy- and normal-mode,
- enter level pack menu to choose another level pack,
- back to main menu.
Please consult the manual for details.
There are several ways to find this out. We encourage you to
just experiment with them, get ready for some surprises!
Or, you can visit www.mag-heut.net and
search the forum for information. Or, you can look into the manual, some
objects are explained there.
If you need detailed information about an object, e.g. if you
want to write a level, take a look at the reference
manual. However, for this you'll have to know the name of the object.
Don't despair. There are dozens of levels that even experts
need weeks to solve.
There are some hints in the manual and some hints on http://www.mag-heut.net/.
There is no sense in playing levels you don't like.
In particular, nothing happens if you complete all
levels; there is no hidden level or such, which you
could miss if you don't solve all levels.
Apart from that, different people prefer different levels.
That's why we won't remove seemingly less interesting levels
from the standard level packs. But you're invited to compose
your own level pack out of levels you liked most! Read
Chapter 2 of the reference manual for details. You may even
post your new level pack to mag-heut.net after this.
Well, open source software lives from constructive criticism.
Write levels you like, and send them to us, or distribute them
yourself, e.g. via http://www.mag-heut.net/.
If you want to “unsolve” a single level, go to the level menu,
point at it (don't click!) and press “u”.
If you want to reset all your scores (do you really want to
do this?) then remove the file “enigma.score”. You
might also have to rename/delete your old 0.92-scores file
(“enigmarc.lua2”). Please note that deleting “enigma.score”
deletes all your personal ratings of levels, too!
Do you remember the title or a part of it? Then click on
“Search” in the level pack menu, and enter it.
Alternatively, you can search through the “History” level
pack which you can find in the “User” level group (go to
level pack menu, choose “User” on the left side and then
“History” on the right). Here all levels are crossreferenced
that you played a while ago, in chronological order.
Note that neither method will take you to the level pack from
which you played the level. If you search its level pack, you
can enter the level info page (right-click on it in the level
menu). Read the line “Level Path”. This might give you
an idea in which level pack you have to search the level.
Read the section “Score Registration”
here
or section 4.3 (“Registering Scores”) of the manual.
Yes. All scores that are incompatible to the 1.00 version of levels will not
be considered in the statistics. You will notice a small red triangle on the
level preview icons in the level menu. If you solve these levels again with
1.00 your new score will be registered next time.
There may be some levels with shortcuts that are not intended by the
authors. Some levels do have unconventional solutions. But we are not aware
that someone is intenionally cheating. Have a look at the user forum
http://www.mag-heut.net/.
Many “professional” players are listening and may
even give you some hints.
Your score should still be the same. But you are competing with other players
worldwide for the best score. If you set the option “Ratings
update” to “Auto” Enigma will download a list of updated
statistics and world records about once in a month. Sorry, someone else will
have beaten your world record.
- First of all, some nice words to enigma-devel@nongnu.org
always help to keep on developing ;-)
What did you like and what annoys you?
- Then, you can spread the word about Enigma! Give copies of Enigma
to friends and help them on their first steps.
- Send us bug reports!
- Or help other users on http://www.mag-heut.net/.
- You can construct new levels and send them us or post them
to http://www.mag-heut.net/; see: “How can I write a level for
Enigma?”
- You can translate Enigma into other languages. This needs
some patience, as nearly all texts in Enigma can be translated
(including those in the levels, the manuals, homepage and this FAQ!).
- You can sign up for the devel-mailing list and respond
to users that have problems, e.g. installing Enigma.
- But the most important: If you know how to program, are able to
draw graphics, or synthesize sounds, and willing to invest some
time in a non-profit project; then you are most welcome to enter
our team! Please write a mail to enigma-devel@nongnu.org in which you state what you're interested in and
would like to do. There are some ideas in the
developers section.
We are working on this … Well, indeed what we most need is your time
to help us with the tasks mentioned above.
Read the reference manual, visit mag-heut.net, or study the
existing levels; they're in the subdirectories “data/levels/∗”
of your installation path.
If it's too difficult for you to program your level, ask people
on mag-heut.net for help -- they might convert your ideas to
a real level!
Yes and no. For earlier versions of Enigma, there are editors
like Star.LUA and BlackballEd. However, Enigma continued evolution
and at the moment (Feb.2007) those editors are not compatible
with Enigma 1.00 anymore. You can use them to create outlines
of your future level, but you'll still have to work with the
code to make it compatible.
BBE and Star.LUA are designed for Windows and Linux only.
For Mac-users there is no editor yet.
See http://blackballed.sourceforge.net/ and
http://www.capkoh.narod.ru/SL_MainPage.html.
Yes, we certainly would. Please send an email to enigma-devel if you have
levels that you would like to share with others. The mailing list has a
message size limit of 300k, so please ask before you want to send files larger
than this.
Note that we generally only accept levels that have the same or a more
liberal license as the rest of Enigma.
Look into the reference manual or analyze a level in which it appears.
Building the Windows version of Enigma is a little more difficult than
building the Unix versions. The main development of Enigma happens on Linux,
so that's what the build process is optimized for.
The official Enigma releases for Windows are in fact compiled on a Linux
machine, using MinGW as a cross-compiler. MinGW is also available as a native
compiler that runs on Windows, but you need quite a few additional Unix tools
to actually build the game. Please refer to the file doc/README.mingw32 for a
few more instructions on how to build Enigma using MinGW.
With a little work it should be possible to build Enigma using recent versions
of VisualStudio, but so far no one has bothered to adapt Enigma's source code
accordingly and to create suitable project files.
This is not that an easy project. If you use a lua-based level, it's
definitely easier than one of the few old-version-xml's in existence.
First of all, you have to encapsulate the lua in a 1.00-xml-corset.
You can read about this in the reference manual,
sections 3.2, 3.3, and possibly 3.5. You might also take a look at
http://enigma.mal2.ch/index.php?title=XML-Metadaten
but this is in German (English version?).
Next, you have to remove all “Require” or
“dofile”-lines from the lua code and replace them with library-calls
from the xml-part, see section 3.3.6, element “dependency”.
Finally, some game objects have to be replaced; in particular,
“fl-ice_001” doesn't exist anymore. Replace it with
“fl-ice”. If you used BBE, some attribute names might have to be
corrected, e.g. of “it-magnet”. At this point, your level should
already run in Enigma. Give it some fine-tuning and test whether all parts
work correctly. If you still observe a problem and can't solve it yourself
(the reference manual gives extensive information about each game object),
then post it to enigma-devel@nongnu.org.
We might be able to detect the problem and repair your level.
We do always appreciate new ideas and input. Enigma has a rather large zoo of
objects. Every new one has to fulfill certain criterea to be selectable as a
valuable addition.
- It must reveal new aspects that are not yet covered by other objects.
- It must be good for and should inspire many new levels.
- It must be well defined in its behaviour in relationship to all other existing objects.
Finally we need images, the C++ code and may be special sounds. The more you can
deliver besides the basic idea the sooner we will evaluate and discuss your
proposal.
YES! Please do so. Or give them the link to our download
section.
You just have to obey the GPL conditions which
even allow you to sell Enigma under certain conditions. We can not grant anyone
special conditions besides this open license. Please ask your lawyers if GPL
is compatible to your demands. If you are non familiar with GPL,
Wikipedia
may give a first overview on the main duties and rights of GPL.
We are interested in knowing the distribution of Enigma. Please drop a note
and we may even set a link to your page. If you distribute Enigma or write
articles about Enigma in the printed media we would be glad to receive a free
of charge author's copy.
When Enigma got public the services of
Savannah (nongnu.org)
seemed appropiate. As time went on, the development switched between different
source code repositories like Arch
and CVS. Finally after release of
Enigma 0.92 we were looking for a provider who offered
Subversion repository support.
At that point of time Berlios was one
of the few that offered the required services. Thus you will find the post 0.92
development on Berlios and
older repositories at Savannah.
In 2011, Berlios stated that they did not find financial support, such that their
further operation was questionable. Although the Fraunhofer Insitute later agreed
to sponsor Berlios, we already started to think about transfering our code base to
Sourceforge.
A second argument for this was the availability of GIT as version control system.
The current bug tracker is still located at Berlios, until we transfer its
content to Sourceforge. There also is an obselete bug tracker at Savannah.
Other services like the Forum started and are
still running as private services supplied by Enigma users at their addresses.
The homepage is still served by Savannah. But this limits us to static
content. Thus we reserved the domain enigma-game.org,
which may be used in the future for dynamic services like score uploading, a network
game server and more. Currently the address is redirected to Savannah and we are
just using email services at this address.
Not yet, but maybe you want to organize one?
You might want to try some of the old Oxyd® games, visit yahoos
Oxyd group for
this. In particular, take a look at www.oxyd-game.com,
where you can download Oxyd® Extra 2.0 and new games might be
announced.
Then you should try Ozone, which adds the third dimension to Enigma:
http://ozone.game-host.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
Finally, there is Mulg, a game similar to Oxyd® for Palms, with over 370
levels, a Java-based level-editor and a feature to use with a tilt sensor!
Visit http://www.harbaum.org/till/palm/mulg/.
The original Oxyd® series by Meinolf Schneider (at Dongleware) was
the main inspiration for Enigma, and still gives impulses to its
development. If you can, take a look at them, and as well at its
latest descendant: Oxyd® Extra v2.0 (www.oxyd-game.com) by Jens Duttke.
However, Enigma evolved beyond this. It absorbed ideas from many
other games, and emulates them in special levels, like “Enigris”.
And it developed totally new objects and gaming ideas; and still
keeps on living …
