Copyright: Help File ® Curtis Cameron
Citation: Copyright 1996 Curtis Cameron


Dominoes Contents
Dominoes for Windows

Dominoes plays the classic game of single-spinner dominoes, where you line up the dominoes, and try to make the ends add up to a multiple of five.  It features an easy to use drag-n-drop interface, with all the dominoes nicely drawn and visible at all times. Play against either one, two, or three computer opponents, and select the skill level of each. With this version, you can also play against other people over the internet.  Change the colors and the sizes of the tiles to suit your taste. Registered users also get to see statistics of how well you are doing. The help file is context-sensitive, and contains strategy tips as well as the basic rules.

Contents

General Info About the Game

How to play Dominoes
Strategy

New - Internet Play

Playing with other people over the internet

Using Dominoes For Windows

Menus and controls of Dominoes

Computer skill levels

Giving the program to your friends

Revision History

Does the computer cheat? And other common questions

Using the keyboard instead of the mouse to play

Dominoes for Windows is shareware.  If you continue using the program after initially evaluating it, you must register.

As new versions of the game come out, they will be made available on the web at the address http://members.aol.com/FREEWHL44/ .  Registered users can upgrade without losing their registration.


Introduction to Dominoes
Dominoes for Windows

Introduction to Dominoes


Answers to Common Questions
Dominoes for Windows

Answers to Common Questions

Does the computer player cheat? He always seems to a) draw just the right domino, b) know what I have, c) beat the pants off me.

No, he doesn't cheat.  When he draws his dominoes at the beginning of the game and when going to the bone yard, he selects them randomly.  When deciding which domino to play, he makes the decision based only on the information that a real player would have.  But since he's a computer, and the decision is based on considering many different possibilities, he can consider all of them quickly.  That's exactly what computers do well.  Actually, I had a few other ideas to make him smarter, such as making guesses at what you might be out of based on what you play, instead of only when you are forced to draw.  But I never implemented these ideas because he already is such a tough player.

Sometimes it won't let me play a domino off the ends of a double. Why not?

In this version of the game, the only double that can be played from its ends is the very first double played in each hand.  The reason for this rule is that it increases the strategic content of the game, as opposed to the luck factor.  When someone plays the first double, he is staking out a controlling position in the game.

When I start the game, I see a message that the file CTL3DV2.DLL has not been installed correctly, but the game plays fine.  What's it mean?

CTL3DV2.DLL is a utility that makes some of the windows have a nice 3D-look.  To work correctly, that file must be in your \windows\system directory, and not in the same directory as the games.  The included program install.exe is supposed to take care of this for you, as well as installing icons to start the games in Windows.  If you skipped this step, then you can manually take care of this file by opening File Manager (in Windows 3.1) or Windows Explorer (in Windows 95), and dragging the file out of the directory with the games, into your system directory.  If the same or a newer version of that file is already in your system directory, then just delete the one in the directory with the games.

When I draw a domino, am I really selecting the one I'll get?

Yes, both at the beginning of each hand, and when drawing from the bone yard, you decide which one you get.

I thought Dominoes was a children's game, on par with tic-tac-toe.

You forgot to phrase your response in the form of a question.  There are many different ways to play dominoes (see next question).  Some games are very simple blocking games, where a player wins if he is the first to domino.  Others keep score by counting only the points in your opponent's hand when you domino.  These games are simple to play, but adults quickly get bored with them, like tic-tac-toe.  On the other hand, domino games like the version played here are high in strategy, and tend to be played by people who are old enough to know what's good (in some people this might require very advanced age).

The version of dominoes I've always seen is different.  Where did these rules come from?

They're the ones I've always played, and are described in the book Domino Games by Victor Lewis.  But dominoes is a "folk" game, and there tend to be variations on the rules that vary with geography.  I've tried to allow options to play as many variations as I can, such as the number of dominoes to start with, and who gets to play first.  Some of the other variations (such as the San Francisco area "Five-Up") are more significant and would be difficult for me to implement.

Now that I've become better at the computer game, I want to try to play against another person.  Is there anything I should know?

Not much.  Make sure you agree on the rules, such as who plays first. When you score, you need to ask to have your score recorded.  You can't count on the scorekeeper noticing, and it's customary for him not to record it even if he does notice, if you don't ask for it. By the way, there is an easy way to keep score.  Make one pencil mark for each five points, the first two marks in the shape of a large "plus" sign, the next two marks in the shape of a smaller plus sign in the upper left corner of the first one, then the next two marks in the upper right corner, etc., until you fill up all four corners.  Completed, each one of these will be 50 points.  It looks like this:

In this example, Royce has 65 and Earl has 45.


Revision History
Dominoes for Windows

Revision History

v2.06  Fixed several bugs in internet play, including one which would sometimes play a spurious domino, and another which would cause the guest's computer to get confused and ask the host's computer for an update.  Allowed a second host to connect to a guest and chat but not play.  When a guest was disconnected while it was his turn, added a button to resume play instead of it's being automatic.  Allowed the host to save and open game files, as well as change any of the game rules while connected to a guest.  Added a button to check the network connection.

v2.01  In internet play, if the first domino played was not a double, there could be confusion about which number is on the left and which is on the right.  Fixed this.

v2.00  First internet-playable version.

v1.66  Added the menu choice to make play slower or faster.

When making an install disk for a friend, it might not realize it if the disk became full and somefiles couldn't be copied, and wouldn't report any errors.  Fixed this.

v1.65  Added the highlight which, in a game with more than two players, shows whose turn it currently is.

v1.61  Added the ability to print a registration form.

v1.60  Made the game remember where the windows were placed last time, so that if you have a favorite way of arranging the score, hand, and table windows, you have to do it just once.

Fixed the other half of the bug that would sometimes cause it to mistakenly think the game was blocked after the first play.

v1.54  Fixed a bug that would sometimes, in certain situations, cause it to mistakenly think that the game was blocked, when someone could really play.

v1.53  Fixed the bug that would not count the doubles correctly if you were dragging one of the dominoes at the time it was looking to see if anyone had enough doubles to allow a re-shuffle.

Fixed a couple of other very minor bugs that most people would never see.

v1.52  Changed the way that the "Hand" window moves when it has to expand and shrink with the changing number of dominoes.

Fixed the way the layout of the Table would be optimized with a large Table or small domino size.  Before, if the Table was bigger than about twenty dominoes wide by ten tall, the iterative routine to find the new spinner position would diverge.  In practice, you would see a problem only if your display resolution is 1280x1024 or greater, which I think is still pretty rare for PC's.  The problem was that the loop gain in the feedback was dependent on the area of the Table, and with a very large Table the gain would be large enough to move a pole to the right half of the s-plane.  Made the gain independent of area, and did more analysis of the loop to choose a gain value that settles quickly.

Finally fixed the way the spots are drawn on the Table dominoes when they are at the largest size.

v1.51  Fixed the "Overall score" display, which would before show the human player's score for all players.

Added the choice to reshuffle if you have more than a certain number of doubles.  Added the setting of this certain number on the Game Options window.

Fixed the display of previously opened files.  Before, it would sometimes lose track of one of them.

v1.50  It now allows you to use the keyboard to play the game, as well as the mouse.

Fixed the bug that would cause the score box not to be updated properly, if File, New Game was selected with a different player or a different number of players.

v1.38  Fixed the very minor bug that would sometimes cause the spots in a domino (pips) to be drawn without the little reflection spot.

Allowed drawing the dominoes after a shuffle, immediately after the dominoes are drawn instead of waiting for a fraction.

v1.37  Fixed the bug that would prevent the "score" box from being displayed for first-time users.

v1.36  Added the menu option to view the overall score.  Previously, the only time it could be seen was at the end of a game.

v1.35  Changed the game-saving method.  Before, it would save the old game when you exited or opened a new game.  Now, it asks you if you want it saved.  I did this because if you saved a hand that you wanted to play later, that hand would be overwritten with a later setup if you weren't very careful.

Improved the way the dominoes are laid out on the table when one of the arms bends at an edge.

In versions 1.1 through 1.3, the dominoes would not be drawn properly the first time the game was run. Successive times the game was started would be no problem. This was fixed in v1.35.

In versions 1.1 through 1.3, the computer opponents would be set to the easiest level (Selectric) by default, instead of the intended hardest (Deep Thought) skill level.  This was fixed in v1.35.

v1.3  Added the history of open games.

Fixed the bug that would sometimes let someone play two dominoes in one turn. Fixed the bug that would not count a domino at the end of the hand, if that domino was picked up by the mouse when the hand ended.

v1.21  If the option was selected to allow the person who dominoed last to play first next game, there was a bug which would keep this from working right. It was fixed with this version.

If this option were selected and the previous hand was blocked (no one dominoed), previous versions would give the next down to the person with the fewest points in his hand, or in case of a tie, to the person who downed last. This version changed that to decide the down as if it were the first hand in a game, either by drawing for down or by highest double.

v1.2  In previous versions, if the shuffling process was interrupted to open a new game, then things could get confused. This was fixed in this version by waiting for all event handlers to finish before opening a new game or starting a new game.

Added was the ability to select how many dominoes each player starts with at the beginning of a hand.

v1.1  The ability to save the game setup and open it later was added. Also, when the game is exited the complete setup is automatically saved so that when the game is started again, you are right where you left off.

Added was the ability to let the person who dominoed, go first the next hand.

v1.0  This was the original released version.


Using the Keyboard
Dominoes for Windows

Using the Keyboard Instead of the Mouse to Play

Starting with version 1.40, you can now use the keyboard to play the game instead of the mouse.  Why?  If you have one of those notebook PCs with a trackball or "pencil eraser" mouse, it might be easier.  Or if you're one of those never-give-up DOS types who hasn't yet grown his third arm for the mouse.  Here's how.

Drawing dominoes when shuffling

Hitting the Enter key or the space bar will randomly select one of the dominoes for you.

Drawing a domino from the Bone Yard

Hitting the "D" key will randomly select one of the dominoes in the Bone Yard.  Of course, it only works when you don't have any in your hand that you can play.

Selecting a domino and playing it

You can use the cursor (up/down/left/right) keys to move the highlight (the border of the domino is drawn in a different color), and the Enter key or the space bar to play the highlighted one.  Only dominoes that can be legally played will be highlighted (this is so that fewer keystrokes are required).

If a domino can be played in more than one place, and those places are not equivalent to each other, then it will not be played, but instead you will see each unique place to play it, flash briefly.  Now you can use the cursor keys to select a direction, and that domino will be played on the arm that goes out from the spinner in that direction.

If there is only one domino that can be legally played, then you can hit Enter or the space bar without using the cursors at all.

If a domino can be played in more than one place, but those places are equivalent to each other, then it will automatically be played on the shorter arm.

You can also use the numeric keys to type the two numbers corresponding to the domino you want to play.  This domino will then be highlighted, and pressing Enter or the space bar will play it.  If there is more than one place to play it, then type first the number of the side that matches the end you want to play to.  For example, if there is a three end and a four end on the table, and you have the 3-4, then by first typing 3, then 4, it will be played so that the 3's match up.


How to Play Dominoes
Dominoes for Windows

How to Play Dominoes

In the game of Dominoes, each player takes turn placing domino tiles end-to-end.  One end of the domino played must match the outside end of the last domino, so that the two matching ends are together.  Doubles, however, are played sideways.  The first double played is called the "spinner", and after both sides have been played to, its ends can be played as well.

Scoring

After each play, the outside ends of the last dominoes are added, and if the total is a multiple of five, then the person who played last scores that many points.  If a double is the last tile in an arm, then it is played sideways and both of its ends count towards the total.  If dominoes have been played off the spinner, then the last domino in each of those arms is scored too.

If a player can't play with a domino in his hand, he must draw a tile from the "Bone Yard", where the leftover dominoes are kept, until he draws one that he can play.  A player is not allowed to draw unless he must to be able to play.
When a player plays his last domino, he gets to score the total of the spots in his opponent's hand(s), rounded to the nearest five.  If all players still have dominoes and the Bone Yard has been emptied, and none can play, then the game is blocked.  All players then count the total spots in their hands, and the person with the fewest gets to score the points in his opponent's hand, rounded to the nearest five.


Strategy
Dominoes for Windows

Strategy

The strategy of dominoes can be broken down into three categories:
1. Scoring
2. Preventing your opponent from scoring
3. Blocking

These are listed in order of increasing difficulty, and therefore are charactersitics of domino players of increasing ability.

Scoring

You can more quickly and easily figure if you will be able to score on a play by looking at the points on the board before you play, and figuring the difference between what's there and what it will need to score.  For example, if there are currently 17 points, then you can make it a multiple of five and therefore score by taking away two, or by adding three.  Then look for dominoes in your hand that can do this.

There are certain "magic" or "repeater" dominoes which you should try to hold on to because they make scoring easier.  If your opponent has just scored, then you won't be able to score without one of these, and if you score, it then makes it more difficult for your opponent to score.  These dominoes are the 0-0, 0-5, 5-5, and 6-1.  If you opponent scores with a blank, five, or a non-double six or one on an end, then you would also be able to score with one of these.

Other magic dominoes can score when there is a double on an end.  These are the 1-2, 2-4, and 3-6, which can duplicate the points in a 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3.  Other magic dominoes are the 3-1, 4-3, and 6-2, which will score five fewer points after a 3-3, 4-4, and 6-6, respectively.

Preventing your opponent from scoring

After you get good at finding scoring tiles in your hand, you will be able to start looking for potential scoring plays that your opponent could make, and play ones from your hand that give him the least opportunity.

Blocking

The simplest form of blocking is achieved by noticing when your opponent is forced to draw from the Bone Yard, and making a mental note of which numbers he could have played to.  Then, try to make those numbers his only options again.

You can also consider that if you have several of one number, or if several have already been played, your opponent is more likely to be out of them.

Another strategy related to blocking, is to use you low dominoes to try to force the low dominoes out of your opponents hand, then when you go out, he will have more points left in his hand.  Try to remember to use your larger dominoes for scoring, and your smaller ones for blocking.


Menu and Controls Index
Menus and Controls

To learn more about a command in one of the following menus, click its name.

File  New game, Save game, Save current game as, Open saved game, View statistics, Exit, Open file history.
Options  Game options, Players, Colors, Enable sounds, Enable status bar, Play speed, Optimize table layout, Last domino played, Hand domino size, Table domino size, Begin network play.
Help  Register, Contents, About.


File Menu
Dominoes for Windows

File menu

New game   Starts a new game, erasing any score so far in this game.

Save game...   Saves the game to the file name that was opened last.

Save current game as...   Lets you save the current game, including the disribution of all the dominoes and everyone's score, to a file that you name.  By default, the files will have the extension .dom .  Also, the saved file is in simple text format, so it can be easily e-mailed.  Any time you exit Dominoes, it will ask if you want the game to be saved to the currently opened game file.  Then next time you start, that file will be automatically loaded, so you will be in the exact situation where you left off.

Open saved game...   Lets you open a game file that you previously saved. Only registered users can open saved games.

View statistics...   Dominoes for Windows keeps track of how many times you and your computer opponents win, and the scores.  It can report to you whether you are winning your share of games, where 100% is considered your share.  For example, in a two-player game, a score of 100% means that you have won half of the time.  It also tells you how many points you score relative to your opponents.  Both of these statistics are kept separately depending on the skill level you have selected for your opponent.

Exit   Closes Dominoes for Windows, and the help file if it is open.

Open file history  If you save a game, you can quickly get back to any one of the last four open games by clicking its name here. Since this is really the same as opening a saved file, it is only available for registered users. This feature can be used if there are two or more people who might play the game at different times, because it lets a person switch back to his game easily.


Options Menu
Dominoes for Windows

Options menu

Game options...   Here you can choose how many players there are in a game, and if there are four, you can either be all playing individually or as partners.
You also have a choice of who gets to start playing the first hand of each game.  In the default way, you will each draw a domino and the person drawing the most spots will get to play first. The other way is for the person who holds the highest double will always start with that one.  After the first hand, you can either alternate who gets to go first, or selct to let the person who dominoed last go first. If you choose the dominoed-last option and the previous hand was blocked (no one dominoed), then the down will be decided as if were the first hand of the game, either by drawing for down or by highest double.

You can change the number of tiles that each player draws at the beginning of each hand.  Valid choices are between 5 and 11, but not more than 28 dominoes divided by the number of players.

Also, you can define how many points there are in a game.

Players...   You can name your computer opponents, and choose how skilled each is.

Colors...   You can make the dominoes and the table surface any color scheme you want.  If you are not registered, then the colors will not be saved for the next time.

Enable sounds   If this is checked, then clicking, sliding, and shuffling sounds will be made.  This feature requires a Windows sound driver, and that the files click1.wav, click2.wav, click4.wav, and shuffle.wav be present in the same directory as the program.

Enable status bar   If this is checked, a small strip will be placed across the bottom of the main window, prompting you with instructions.  After you learn how the program works, you may want to turn this off, and use the extra space to make the table bigger.

Optimize table layout   When one of the arms of the dominoes reaches and edge of the table, the next domino will be bent around so that it will fit.  Sometimes, this can result in one of the arms being curled up in one corner of the table, with the rest of the table area hardly used.  If you would like them rearranged, click this item and the layout will be optimized so that each of the four arms has room to grow.

Last domino played  Select this option to view what the last domino played by each player was.

Play speed  If you would like your opponent(s) to play either faster or slower, you can now set this here.  You can also change the value by editing the dominoes.ini file.  The lower the number, the faster it plays.  Faster=3, Medium=5, Slower=9.

Hand domino size   The dominoes that are displayed in your hand can be made to be larger or smaller independent of the size of the dominoes displayed on the table.

Table domino size   Larger dominoes are easier to see, but they can get crowded on a small table.  Pick a size that is easy for you to see, but not bigger than they need to be.  With smaller dominoes, the layout of the table will be more orderly.  If you ask for a domino size that would be too big to fit them on the table well, you will be told that you need to resize the table by dragging its border with the mouse, then try again.

Begin network game...  This allows you to start an internet game.  Choose either "as a guest" or "as the host".


Help Menu
Dominoes for Windows

Help menu

Register  Dominoes for Windows is shareware.  This means that you can obtain the program for free, and give it to your friends.  If you continue to use it after seeing what it can do, you are then expected to pay for it.  To find out exactly how this is done, read the Register help page.

Contents  Select this to bring up the Contents page of the help file, dominoes.hlp (you're reading that file now). You can also bring up the help file at any time while using Dominoes by clicking the F1 key. Also, the F1 key is context-sensitive, meaning that it will open to the help page appropriate to what you are doing at the time.

About...   Displays a window with info about Dominoes for Windows.


Register
Dominoes for Windows

Registering

Dominoes for Windows is shareware.  You can try it out for an evaluation period without it costing you anything.  If you continue to use the program, the license agreement between you and me says that you must then register by sending $15 U.S. to this address:

Curtis Cameron
1520 Glastonbury Dr.
Plano, Texas  75075

Also include your return e-mail address or postal address.

Dominoes for Windows and Win42 can be registered together for $25 instead of $15 each.

In addition to meeting the license terms, you will receive a "code word" which will make the program load much faster, and enable some of the features which have been disabled.

This code word is specific to you - it is dependent on the spelling of your name, and when registered your name will appear on the opening title for Dominoes.  See Giving the program to your friends for information on which files to copy so that your name won't be on every copy that gets made after that.

When you receive your code word, go to the Register window by clicking Help, then click Register.  Enter your name, with the same spelling that is tied to your code word.  Capitalization or punctuation don't matter.  Then enter your code word and click the Register button.  From this point forward, the program will load much faster and all the features of the game will be enabled.


Giving Dominoes to your friends
Dominoes for Windows

Copying the program for your friends

Please give the game to as many people as you think might like it.  The simplest way is to tell your friend to get it from the web page at the address http://members.aol.com/FREEWHL44/ .  Doing it this way will require some familiarity with the computer's file system and how to unzip files.  For the novice, both Dominoes for Windows and Win42 have a feature which allows you to make a fresh install disc by selecting Copy the program for a friend... in the File menu.  This will copy all the files you need, assuming that you haven't deleted any since you installed them on your machine.

In the program's directory:
The following files should be together in their own directory.  When copied to the friend's computer, they all should all be placed in a directory that is created just for Dominoes and Win42.

dominoes.exe  The program itself.
dominoes.hlp  The help file (you're reading it now).
threed.vbx  This is a library file that must be present for Dominoes to run.  Some computers already have a threed.vbx file in their windows system directory, but it's a good idea to keep this one in the same directory as the program, since there are some minor compatibility problems between different versions.
cswscktl.vbx This is a library file that must be present for Win42 to run.  This one gives Win42 the capability to send data over the internet.
*.wav  All file names with the .wav extension are the various clicks and sound effects.

In the windows system directory
These two files can be found in the windows system directory, usually at the location \windows\system.  Copy them to the windows system directory on the destination computer too.

vbrun300.dll This file must be present for Dominoes to run, but since many other programs also require the same file, keeping it in the system directory lets them all share the same copy, and uses less room on your disk drive.
ctl3dv2.dll This is another shared library file.  To work properly, it must be in the windows system directory.


Skill levels
Dominoes for Windows

Skill levels

You can choose how much skill your computer opponents have.  There are four levels, and each is explained below.

Selectric	This is the easiest level.  A player with this skill level will only try to match the ends and get rid of his dominoes, but pays no attention to scoring.  It has all the brains of the classic typewriter.

ENIAC	A player with this skill level will try to get rid of his dominoes and score as many points as possible.  He is not able, however, to consider how many points someone else might score as a result of his play.  The name is that of the first electronic computer, the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator.

HAL 9000	HAL can do everything ENIAC does, plus consider the points that someone else might score, and the probability of doing so.  The HAL 9000 was the name of the computer that achieved self-awareness in Arthur C. Clarke's classic story, 2001: A Space Odyssey.  By the way, Mr. Clarke emphatically denies the rumor that the letters H-A-L were chosen because they alphabetically precede I-B-M.

Deep Thought	This level player can do what HAL can do, plus he will notice whether his opponents are out of a particular suit, or likely to be so, and attempt to block them from playing.  This is the most difficult level - Curtis Cameron himself can beat this level only about a third of the time.  Deep Thought was the name of the computer built by a race of philosophers, to calculate the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything, in Douglas Adams's book The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  The answer, revealed after 75000 generations of computing, was forty-two.  The problem is that you don't really understand the question.


Winsock

Winsock is a standard way of connecting to the internet from Windows - it's an adapted version of the Sockets standard that was created by UC-Berkeley.  It allows Dominoes, or any other internet application, to send and receive data in the same manner, no matter what kind of network interface you are using.  There will be a file called winsock.dll which takes requests from Dominoes and then does the specific tasks that need to be done with your network connection.  This is a very useful standard that's been adopted by the computer folks.  The internet explosion wouldn't be possible without Sockets or something like it.


I.P. Address

To connect to other players, you need to know their I.P. address.  This is the address that uniquely identifies that network connection spearately from every other computer on the internet.  An I.P. address has the form of four numbers separated by dots, such as 168.35.14.73 .  You can also use the computer name, which looks like joe243.saturn.iadfw.com .


internet play
Dominoes for Windows

Playing with other people over the internet

Introduction

Besides being able to play against the computer simulating real people, this version will let you connect to other people over the internet and play with or against them.  You can connect to one, two, or three other people, and the computer will still simulate any missing positions.  It's easy to set up, but you'll need to contact that person before connecting, to make sure you're both ready.  Once you've connected, you'll be able to send each other messages within the Dominoes game.

What's Required

All that you need is to have an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or Online Service (such as America Online or CompuServe) which provides a Winsock-compliant network connection.  I'm not aware of any services that give you access to the internet which are not Winsock-compliant, so this should be easy.

Coordinating With Other People

Once you've made a connection to someone, you can chat with him through the Dominoes game.  However, before you make the connection, you'll need to coordinate with him so that you'll both be ready at the same time, and so that the person doing the connecting will know the correct address of the other's computer.  You can do this in several ways:

1. Send each other e-mail.
2. Talk to each other on the telephone.
3. Meet at a chat room.  There is a dedicated chat room for anyone wanting to play Dominoes.  You can also meet other people you don't know, and play a "pick up" game.  The address of the Dominoes Chat Room is http://members.aol.com/FREEWHL44/domchat.html .

When you coordinate with someone, there needs to be one person as the "host", and the other players will be "guests".  Make the most computer-literate person the host.  Each guest will need to start Dominoes, and click Options, Begin network play, ...as a guest, and then tell the host what his computer's I.P. address is.

Making The Connection - The Guest's Role

For a guest, the connection process is very simple - you start Dominoes and begin a network game as a guest.  You then need to tell the host your computer address, which will be displayed on the Network Connection window that pops up.  Then, just wait for the host to make the connection.  When he does, the game that's current on the host's computer will appear on yours.  Also, the rule options that the host uses will be in effect, and you will be told what the rules are.  You'll be able to play the game just as you would without a network connection, but the plays for the other players will actually be coming from the host's computer.  When it comes time to hit the button to deal a new hand, you won't see it (only the host does), so you will instead just wait for the host to hit the button on his screen.  You can use the "Chat" area to send messages to the other players.

Making The Connection - The Host's Role

As a host, you will do the same, except you will begin a network game as host.  You will then see a setup area for each of the other three positions in the game.  To connect to a remote player, click the Setup button that corresponds to that position, and a box will pop up for you to enter the I.P. address of the guest.  Then click the Lookup button, and the I.P. address and computer name info for the guest should be displayed.  Next hit the Connect button.  You'll see a notice in the Chat area telling you that a connection has been established.  After this, you can connect to someone else, or just continue with the game.  When it comes to a remote player's turn, you'll probably notice a delay, mostly because a human doesn't play as fast as the computer does.

Registering and Network Play

To get the most out of the network capability of Dominoes, you should be registered.  If someone is not registered, then the network connection will automatically disconnect after five hands.

Network Firewalls

Corporations and other large organizations will typically isolate the computers on their network from the rest of the world with a network "firewall."  Two computers within that organization can talk to each other, but they are prevented from connecting to computers on the other side of the firewall.  This is done for the sake of security, so that an outsider can't have access to the organization's data.  There will be a few computers which can actually access the outside world, and the other computers will get access to the internet using one of these computers as a proxy.  Dominoes is not able to use proxies, therefore you won't be able to connect two computers on opposite sides of a firewall.