This tutorial will explain you how to redirect the output of scorched3d to a separate X session (grafic session) to be capable to switch between the desktop & the game with a simple key combination.

in this turial we assume that your default X session is #0, so, we'll add a new session #1, also it's assumed that the path to your scorched3d binary is /usr/bin/scorched3d, you might have to customize them according to your distribution/installation

switching between them will act like Alt+Tab, the shortcut keys are:

Ctrl+Alt+F7 for the session #0 (desktop)

Ctrl+Alt+F8 for the session #1 (game)

Contents 1 Ubuntu 2 Configure X Authority File 3 Create the Launcher Script 3.1 Beryl Users 4 Move the script in place 4.1 Ubuntu 4.2 All distributions with su command enabled

Ubuntu

if your distro is ubuntu, you'll have to do the following step in order to continue:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-common

wich creates an X authorithy file in your home folder

Configure X Authority File

as regular user launch the command:

auth

inside the application, send the command:

list

you should get an output similar to the following:

yourhostname:0 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 9fde426e5g03b20f4b7e51cb329d3033

localhost.localdomain/unix:0 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 9fde426e5g03b20f4b7e51cb329d3033

yours might be DIFFERENT, it's normal

now we'll add a new key for the X session #1 by typing add :1.0 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 and copying the long string in at the end of the line wich starts with your yourhostname:0

eg, in this case:

add :1.0 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 9fde426e5g03b20f4b7e51cb329d3033

we can check the result by sending the list command again:

yourhostname:0 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 9fde426e5g03b20f4b7e51cb329d3033

yourhostname:1 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 9fde426e5g03b20f4b7e51cb329d3033

localhost.localdomain/unix:0 MIT-MAGIC-COOKIE-1 9fde426e5g03b20f4b7e51cb329d3033

when done, send the command:

exit

Create the Launcher Script

open your favourite text editor (in this tutorial kwrite) and create the script scorched3d:

cd

kwrite scorched3dc

add the following lines in it:

#!/bin/bash

xinit /usr/bin/_scorched3dc $* -- :1

Beryl Users

beryl crashes when launching another X session, we can temporaneally disable it while running the game by sending the USR2 signal; so the script becomes:

#!/bin/bash

killall -USR2 beryl-manager

xinit /usr/bin/_scorched3dc $* -- :1

killall -USR2 beryl-manager

save & close the file

to make the script executable like a binary, you need to send the command:

chmod a+x scorched3dc

Move the script in place

Ubuntu

rename the current game binary:

sudo mv /usr/bin/scorched3dc /usr/bin/_scorched3dc

replace the call with the new script:

sudo mv ./scorched3dc /usr/bin/scorched3dc

All distributions with su command enabled

get superuser privileges with the following command:

su

rename the current game binary:

mv /usr/bin/scorched3dc /usr/bin/_scorched3dc

replace the call with the new script:

mv ./scorched3dc /usr/bin/scorched3dc

that's it! when you'll start a game, the video will be redirected to the session #1 instead of #0