ok, so i recently learned that xterm emulates a Tektronix 4010 terminal, which had a vector drawn screen instead of raster scanned. so, my question is, are there any programs that can use the vector capabilities of a tek terminal as output? i saw a test routine using gnuplot that draws a graph with a sine wave, but that's just a single one-shot demo. i was thinking along the lines of the original "Spacewar" game (which later became Asteroids displayed on an Atari "Quadrascan" XY monitor), or any other arcade games that came out about that time that used vector scanned graphics. somewhere, i think i've even seen a vector version of "Lunar Lander". my favorite vector scan game was "Omega Race". i also remember the TV series "Battlestar Galactica" used Tek terminals for their displays and instrumentation (it was even mentioned in the credits). so, if anybody knows any software (games or otherwise) that can use tek terminal output, please point me in the right direction.

Actually: a 4014 terminal, which is the 4096x3072 resolution version (and 14" display) OF the 4010 (which is only 1024x768 on a 12" screen).
And no, there aren't many programs around for that in Linux, the mode was essentially there for connecting to external (often UNIX) mini-computers etc that had programs for a 4010 or 4014.

Note that a 401x is cumulative, you can NOT erase on the screen, just erase the whole screen at once. So any character, dot or line drawn is there to stay until you're starting a whole new image. The main advantage versus the real Tektronix was that you could debug from the VT window, while drawing output on the Tek one. As the 4014 was much higher resolution than the screens/windows at that time the final program would be run against a real Tektronix display.

i found a 4014 emulator on github that had some demo plot files. and i already noticed the need to clear the screen between plots. i do have an old DOS game called "Fly-8" that uses wireframe graphics, but i don't think it supported real XY vector output (but it did have several 3D output modes)