Sunny 1,000 Collection/SUNNY1000.iso/Files/Dos/Boardak/2BOARD.ZIP/MILL.DOC

Text File | 1996-05-09 | 8.3 KB | 188 lines

TOMMY'S MILL (C) COPYRIGHT 1987-1996 BY TOMMY'S TOYS
P. O. BOX 11261, DENVER, CO 80211 USA.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
CATALOG #TM-064-1A

INSTRUCTIONS:

MILL OR MERRILLS IS AN ANCIENT EARTH GAME, DATING BACK 25488 THOUSAND YEARS.
THE BASIC BOARD DESIGN, 3 CONCENTRIC SQUARES, HAS BEEN FOUND ON ETRUSCAN
POETRY, ROMAN TILES, AND THE STEPS OF THE ATHENIAN ACROPOLIS.  IT WAS DESCRIBED
BY THE ROMAN WRITER OVID.  MERRILLS BOARDS HAVE BEEN FOUND IN VIKING REMAINS.
SHAKESPEARE REFERS TO IT IN MIDSUMMER'S NIGHT DREAM AS NINE MEN'S MORRIS, OR
SIMPLY MORRIS, FROM ITS SUPPOSED RESEMBLANCE TO A MOORISH DANCE.  IN GERMANY
AND SCANDINAVIA THEY CALL IT MUHLE, THE MILL, TO DESCRIBE THE WAY ONE PLAYER
CAN GRIND THE OTHER DOWN LIKE MILLSTONES DO.  IN FRANCE THEY CALL IT MORELLES
FROM THE FRENCH WORD MEREL MEANING COUNTER OR PIECE. YET OTHER ENGLISH NAMES
ARE NINEPENNY AND FIVE-PENNY MORRIS.  WHOEVER THIS MORRIS GUY IS HE SURE WASN'T
PENNILESS (HA HA).  TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT, THIS GAME GOT LOST IN THE
MODERN SHUFFLE AND FEW PLAY IT TODAY SO THIS TOY IS DEDICATED TO BRING IT BACK
INTO VOGUE.

THE BOARD:
THE BOARD IS 3 CONCENTRIC SQUARES, WITH THE CORNERS AND MIDSEGMENTS MARKED AND
USED AS BOARD POINTS, 8 PER SQUARE.

THE 24 BOARD POINTS ARE ARRANGED IN 16 HORIZONTAL & VERTICAL SEGMENTS OF 3
POINTS EACH (E.G., 1-2-3 AND 1-10-22).  IN OLDEN DAYS THEY USED TO DRAW THE 4
DIAGONAL SEGMENTS 1-4-7, 3-6-9, ETC., BUT NOT ANY MORE.

PLAYERS AND PIECES:
EACH PLAYER (WHITE, BLACK) GETS 9 IDENTICAL PIECES.

THE PLAY:
WHITE PLAYS FIRST.

IN THE FIRST 9 ROUNDS, EACH PLAYER LAYS A PIECE DOWN ON AN EMPTY POINT.
AFTER THE 9TH ROUND, EACH PLAYER MUST MOVE A PIECE ALONG A SEGMENT TO AN
ADJACENT VACANT POINT.

THE RULES:
1. WHEN A PLAYER HAS ARRANGED 3 OF HIS PIECES ONTO A SINGLE SEGMENT,
   FORMING WHAT IS CALLED A MILL, HE GETS TO CAPTURE ONE OF THE OPPONENT'S
   PIECES, PERMANENTLY REMOVING IT FROM THE BOARD.
2. HOWEVER, A PIECE THAT IS A PART OF A MILL IS PROTECTED FROM CAPTURE.
   NOTE: AS A GAME OPTION A PLAYER MAY TAKE FROM AN OPPONENT'S MILL IF THAT
   MILL IS THE ONLY 3 PIECES HE HAS LEFT.
3. THE FIRST PLAYER WHO IS REDUCED TO 2 PIECES LOSES THE GAME.
4. IF A MILL IS OPENED BY MOVING ONE PIECE OUT OF ALIGNMENT, AND THEN
   CLOSED BY REVERSING THE MOVE, IT COUNTS AS A NEW MILL.
5. A PLAYER WHO CANNOT MOVE IN HIS TURN LOSES THE GAME.
6. ANOTHER GAME OPTION IS TO LET A PLAYER REDUCED TO 3 PIECES JUMP TO ANY
   FREE POINT ON THE BOARD INSTEAD OF BEING RESTRICTED TO ADJACENT POINTS
   (KIDDIE OPTION).

GAME MODES:
THE COMPUTER CAN PLAY EITHER, NEITHER, OR BOTH SIDES, THE KEYBOARD (YOU)
PLAYING THE REST. YOU CHANGE THE MODE BY PRESSING FUNCTION KEYS F2 & F3: THE
MODE IS DISPLAYED IN THE UPPER RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE SCREEN.

TO ENTER A MOVE FROM THE KEYBOARD:
JUST TYPE IT IN, USING SPACES TO DEMARCATE, E.G.,
     1<SPACE>2                   MOVE FROM 1 TO 2
     23<SPACE>                   LAY PIECE DOWN AT 23
     1<SPACE>2<SPACE>11          MOVE FROM 1 TO 2, CAPTURING PIECE AT 11
     1<SPACE>2<SPACE>0           MOVE FROM 1 TO 2, DECLINING THE CAPTURE

TO ABORT A MOVE BEING ENTERED AND START A NEW ONE, HIT SOMETHING ILLEGAL,
SUCH AS THE "A" KEY.


TO ENTER A MOVE USING THE MOUSE:
JUST POINT AT THE DESIRED SPACE AND CLICK THE MOUSE BUTTON.  TO DECLINE A
CAPTURE, AFTER POINTING AND CLICKING THE FROM AND TO SQUARES, POINT AT THE
TIME DISPLAY IN THE CENTER OF THE BOARD AND CLICK.

AUTO GAME SAVE/RESTORE:
IF YOU EXIT THE PROGRAM DURING A GAME IN PROGRESS THE COMPUTER AUTOMATICALLY
SAVES THE GAME ON DISK ON DOS FILE "MILL.TMP", THEN RESTORES IT THE NEXT TIME
YOU RUN THE PROGRAM.

OTHER COMMANDS:
INSTEAD OF A MOVE, YOU CAN ENTER THE FOLLOWING COMMANDS INSTEAD:

     S                           SAVE THE GAME ON A DOS FILE YOU NAME.  THE NAME
                                 "MILL.TMP" IS USED FOR THE AUTO SAVE FUNCTION
                                 AND IS THEREFORE PROHIBITED HERE.  THIS IS
                                 USEFUL FOR SAVING COMPLETED GAMES AS WELL AS
                                 PARTIALLY-COMPLETED GAMES.

     R                           RESTORE A PREVIOUSLY-SAVED GAME FROM A DOS
                                 FILE. IF THE GAME PLAYS TO A FINISH THE PROGRAM
                                 WILL LET YOU BACKSTEP.  BUT IF YOU UNDO THE
                                 BACKSTEPS BACK TO THE GAME END, THE GAME
                                 FINISHES AND YOU WOULD HAVE TO RESTORE FROM
                                 THE BEGINNING IF YOU WANT TO PLAY WITH IT
                                 FURTHER.

     X OR ESC                    RESIGN.

     .                           BACKSTEP. **

     /                           UNDO BACKSTEP. **

    **NOTE: WITH EITHER OF THESE COMMANDS, THE COMPUTER CONTINUES TO BACKSTEP
    OR UNDO BACKSTEPS UNTIL IT REACHES A KEYBOARD PLAYER; THUS, IF BOTH SIDES
    ARE PLAYED BY THE COMPUTER, THE GAME IS STEPPED UNTIL IT REACHES THE END
    OF THE LINE.  TO ABORT THIS, CHANGE THE MODE!

YES/NO QUESTIONS USING THE MOUSE:
IF YOU ARE ASKED A YES/NO QUESTION YOU CAN CLICK THE "Y" IN THE QUESTION TO
ANSWER YES AND THE "N" IN THE QUESTION TO ANSWER NO.

STRATEGY:
IF BOTH PLAYERS PLAY PERFECTLY, THE GAME IS ALWAYS A DRAW (HA HA).

HINTS:
OPENING ROUNDS:
1. THE BEST POINTS TO SEIZE ARE THE SECOND SQUARE MIDPOINTS 5, 11, 14, 20.
2. WATCH OUT FOR FORKS (SUCH AS PIECES ON 16, 17, AND 20, WITH 18, 23 OPEN).

MIDGAME:
3. TWO MILLS ARE SURE TO WIN AGAINST ONE: ONE MILL IS LEFT OPEN AS A RESERVE
   AGAINST OPENING OF THE OPPONENT'S MILL, WHILE THE SECOND IS REPEATEDLY
   OPENED AND CLOSED.
4. BEWARE THE DEADLY DOUBLE-MILL, SUCH AS PIECES ON 22,23,24,19,21: MOVING
   BETWEEN 20 AND 23 CLOSES A MILL ON EVERY TURN, FORCING THE OTHER PLAYER TO
   RESIGN.

FREE PLUG:
   RYEDALE FOLK MUSEUM, HUTTON-LE-HOLE, YORK YO6 6UA, ENGLAND.
   FOR $7 THEY WILL SEND YOU A MERRILLS SET, OFFICIAL GAME RULES AND
   ENTRY FORM FOR THE ANNUAL MERRILLS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP.
   (SEE THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, NOV. 8, 1988, 16-17.)

DIFFICULTY LEVELS:
 THE DIFFICULTY LEVELS ARE 0 (EASIEST) TO 9 (HARDEST), CORRESPONDING TO
 THE NUMBER OF MOVES OF LOOKAHEAD.  (MAX LEVEL IS 2 IN UNREGISTERED SHAREWARE
 VERSION).  AFTER A BEST MOVE HAS BEEN SHOWN BY THE COMPUTER, YOU CAN HIT
 THE ESC KEY TO CAUSE THE SEARCH TO BE ABANDONED AND THAT MOVE USED.

OTHER FUNCTION KEY COMMANDS:

FUNCTION KEY       FUNCTION
------------       --------
   F1              TOGGLE SOUND ON/OFF*
   F2              TOGGLE WHITE MODE TO COMPUTER/KEYBOARD*
   F3              TOGGLE BLACK MODE TO COMPUTER/KEYBOARD*
   NOTE: THE DEFAULT IS FOR KEYBOARD TO PLAY WHITE, COMPUTER TO PLAY BLACK
   F5              DISPLAY THESE INSTRUCTIONS
   F7              QUIT
   F8              DECREASE DIFFICULTY LEVEL
   F9              INCREASE DIFFICULTY LEVEL
   F10             (COLOR MONITORS ONLY) CHANGE SCREEN BORDER COLOR

*NOTE FOR TOGGLE SWITCHES, THE SCREEN LEGEND DISPLAYS THE MODE THAT WILL BE
ENTERED BY HITTING THE FUNCTION KEY, WHICH IS THE OPPOSITE OF THE MODE IN
EFFECT AT THE TIME.

GAME SPEED CONTROL: THE UP ARROW INCREASES, AND THE DOWN ARROW DECREASES
THE TIME PAD BETWEEN THE COMPUTER'S MOVES.  THE VALUE OF THE TIME PAD,
FROM 0.1 TO 10.0 SECONDS, IS DISPLAYED IN THE LOWER RIGHT HAND CORNER OF
THE SCREEN.

NOTES IN GAME FILE: WHEN THE PROGRAM READS IN A PREVIOUSLY-SAVED GAME FROM
A FILE, ALL LINES CONTAINING A "." IN COLUMN 1 WILL BE IGNORED.  YOU CAN
USE THIS FEATURE TO INSERT NOTES TO YOURSELF IN THE FILE.

MOVE BUFFER: THE VALUE OF THE MOVE BUFFER POINTER, AND THE SIZE OF THE
MOVE BUFFER, ARE SHOWN BENEATH THE MOVE REPORT AREA.  IF YOUR GAME TAKES
TOO MANY MOVES, THE COMPUTER CANNOT REMEMBER THEM.

COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS:
   S    START UP WITH SOUND OFF
   M    FORCE MONO DISPLAY MODE
   C    FORCE COLOR DISPLAY MODE
   D    DISABLE MOUSE CHECK

EXAMPLE: >MILL MS

----------------------
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TOMMY'S TOYS, P.O. BOX 11261, DENVER, CO 80211 USA.

HAVE FUN!