diff --git a/game/game.cpp b/game/game.cpp
index b26bf61..4f05dd0 100644
--- a/game/game.cpp
+++ b/game/game.cpp
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 #include <cmath>
 
-//#define QUICK_TEST
+#include "options.hpp"
 
 Game::Game()
 {
@@ -19,49 +19,49 @@ Game::Game()
 
     // XXX
     // one dummy ship for testing
-#ifdef QUICK_TEST
-    m_state->addPlayer();
-#endif
+    if (ISSET_FLAG(TEST_AUTORUN)) {
+        m_state->addPlayer();
+    }
 }
 
 bool Game::cycle(float dt)
 {
-#ifdef QUICK_TEST
-    // XXX the following is just testing code to do things
+    if (ISSET_FLAG(TEST_AUTORUN)) {
+        // XXX the following is just testing code to do things
 
-    static float total = 0.0;
-    static float acc = 0.0;
+        static float total = 0.0;
+        static float acc = 0.0;
 
-    //if (total == 0.0) {
-    //    float speed = 0.005;
-    //    m_state->players[0]->addCommand(new game::SetSpeedCommand(speed));
-    //    for (int i=0; i<100; i++) {
-    //        float a = 2.0 * M_PI * util::randf_0_1();
-    //        m_state->players[0]->addCommand(new game::ShootCommand(a));
-    //    }
-    //}
-
-    acc   += dt;
-    total += dt;
-
-    float spawnInterval = 0.1;
-    while (acc > spawnInterval) {
-        acc -= spawnInterval;
-
-        float angle = 360.0 * util::randf_0_1();
-        float speed = 0.01;
-
-        m_state->players.back()->addCommand(new game::SetSpeedCommand(speed));
-        m_state->players.back()->addCommand(new game::ShootCommand(angle));
-
-        //static bool done = false;
-        //if (total >= 10.0 && !done) {
-        //    done = true;
-
-        //    m_state->players[0]->addCommand(new game::ClearTracesCommand());
+        //if (total == 0.0) {
+        //    float speed = 0.005;
+        //    m_state->players[0]->addCommand(new game::SetSpeedCommand(speed));
+        //    for (int i=0; i<100; i++) {
+        //        float a = 2.0 * M_PI * util::randf_0_1();
+        //        m_state->players[0]->addCommand(new game::ShootCommand(a));
+        //    }
         //}
+
+        acc   += dt;
+        total += dt;
+
+        float spawnInterval = 0.1;
+        while (acc > spawnInterval) {
+            acc -= spawnInterval;
+
+            float angle = 360.0 * util::randf_0_1();
+            float speed = 0.01;
+
+            m_state->players.back()->addCommand(new game::SetSpeedCommand(speed));
+            m_state->players.back()->addCommand(new game::ShootCommand(angle));
+
+            //static bool done = false;
+            //if (total >= 10.0 && !done) {
+            //    done = true;
+
+            //    m_state->players[0]->addCommand(new game::ClearTracesCommand());
+            //}
+        }
     }
-#endif
 
     // std::cout<<"adding dt: " << dt << std::endl;
     m_time_for_next_step += dt;
diff --git a/game/main.cpp b/game/main.cpp
index 707c21a..946b8e0 100644
--- a/game/main.cpp
+++ b/game/main.cpp
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 //        {"add",     no_argument,       0, 'a'},
 //        {"append",  no_argument,       0, 'b'},
 //        {"delete",  required_argument, 0, 'd'},
+          {"autorun", required_argument, 0, 'a'},
           {"port",    required_argument, 0, 'p'},
           {"fps",     no_argument,       0, 'f'},
           {0, 0, 0, 0}
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
     int option_index = 0;
 
     while(1){
-        c = getopt_long (argc, argv, "p:f",
+        c = getopt_long (argc, argv, "p:fa",
                        long_options, &option_index);
         if (c == -1)
             break;
@@ -54,6 +55,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
                 strcpy(port,optarg);
                 break;
 
+            case 'a':
+                SET_FLAG(TEST_AUTORUN, true);
+                break;
 
             case '?':
                 /* getopt_long already printed an error message. */
diff --git a/game/options.hpp b/game/options.hpp
index 920831a..f2271e1 100644
--- a/game/options.hpp
+++ b/game/options.hpp
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 #pragma once
 
-#define TEST_FLAG1 0
-#define SHOW_FPS 1
-#define TEST_FLAG2 2
+#define TEST_FLAG1   0
+#define SHOW_FPS     1
+#define TEST_FLAG2   2
+#define TEST_AUTORUN 3
 //...