The generic method of specifying options has resulted in the addition of a number of new parameter-setting commands previously unavailable. Extending the parsing routines also allowed incorporation of more complex default functions, such as specifying colors and stipple patterns in the command line. Since all the default values previously loaded from the default .xbattle file are now command line accessible, the default storage format was changed to be just like a .xbo file. The palette is created by adding colors to the defaults as they are specified using the color option. These colors can be used for side colors, inverse side colors, or board colors.
Negated options take no parameters , since they are just being turned off.
Significant internal changes were made to the way everything is drawn in version 5.4. Methods 1-4 are flicker free, but are somewhat slower due to the need to copy things from pixmap to window. With any reasonably fast X terminal, however, methods 1-3 should be sufficiently speedy and significantly less annoying. Method 2 will only work with square cells. As depicted in this example with 5 sides, things can get a little strange looking for more than 4 sides, since the tangents will not be horizontal or vertical, but at least the option works.