MacWorld 1997 February/Macworld (1997-02).dmg/Games World/Shareware Games/Board/Kazcheckers/user manual

Text File | 1996-09-10 | 13KB | 287 lines

This is the user manual for "Kaz's Checkers". Please print it out and read through it,
especially the system requirements, before running the program.

Contents.

1_______________Introduction
2_______________System requirements
3_______________Installation
4_______________Running the game
5_______________Starting a new game
6_______________Loading a game
7_______________Playing the game
8_______________Viewing other turns
9_______________The Hall of Fame
10______________Instructions
Appendix A______The rules of checkers
Appendix B______Troubleshooting
Appendix C______Credits/ acknowledgments


1. Introduction.

Checkers is a very simple yet challenging board game that has entertained people
for over three millennia. Its origins have been traced back to ancient Egypt,
around 1600 BC. Over the years, the game has evolved into many different variants,
including Anglo-American, Chinese, Polish, Spanish, Italian, and Turkish checkers.

Kazís Checkers follows the rules of the most internationally accepted variant -
Anglo-American checkers. You may challenge another player, a computer opponent of
varying skill (single skill level in unregistered version), or pit two computer
opponents against each other. The game boasts many other features, allowing players
to select computer skill levels, save and load games, view game histories and record
their best scores in the Hall of Fame.

2. System requirements.

Kazís Checkers for Macintosh requires a reasonably fast Macintosh computer to run.
A colour monitor capable of 256 colours and a resolution of 640 by 480 is essential.
The program itself is not very large, and requires little disk space to run. It may
be played off either floppy or hard disk, although the latter is recommended due to
superior speed of operation.

3. Installation.

Installation of the program is extremely simple. Simply create a separate folder for
the game and copy the program file off the floppy disk into that folder. Any other
files (for example, Hall of Fame, saved game files) may be copied freely, however
the program will only read those that are in the same folder.

4. Running the game.

When you first start up the program, you are presented with the main menu. Whenever
you quit a part of the program, be it the game, the hall of fame or instructions, you
will return to this screen. The menu contains five options:

New game
Load game
Hall of fame
Instructions
Quit

To select an option, use the up and down arrows or the mouse to position the
highlight or cursor above the desired option. Then press the Return key, the space
bar or the mouse button. Alternatively, you may use the hotkeys, which are
displayed in red.

5. Starting a new game.

To start a new game, select the ëNew gameí option in the main menu. The new game
dialog will appear.

Here you will specify the parameters for the game. The name of the game refers to
the file name that the game will be saved as. All games are saved automatically
after every move, and contain the entire game history. They can be kept after
the completion of a game as a record.

The two boxes in the middle of the dialog allow you to specify who will control
each colour. The text box beside the ëComputerí option allows the player to select
a skill level for each computer player, between 1 (fastest and easiest) and 8
(slowest and toughest). This setting has no effect when a human player is selected.

Once you are satisfied with all the settings, you may click the ëStartí button.
If you do not wish to start a new game, you may press ëCancelí.

6. Loading a game.

You may load a saved game either to play on if possible, or simply to view any
position at any stage of the game. The load game dialog simply prompts you for the
name of the file to load. Make sure that the spelling is correct, including
punctuation and capitalisation. Click the ëLoadí button to load the game, or
press ëCancelí to return to the main menu.

7. Playing the game.

The rules of Anglo-American checkers can be found in appendix A. This section
concentrates on the game interface.

The game screen is the main screen of the program. It contains the board displaying
the current position of the pieces. To the right of the board are two panels
displaying statistics about each player. Between these panels is the turn indicator.
This not only indicates the number of the turn, but its colour also indicates who
is next to move. Above the red panel is a bar which moves whenever the computer
is thinking. It appears only when there is a computer player. Beneath the red
panel is a button which can be used at any time to return to the main menu.

The black pieces start the game, moving down the board. To move a piece, simply
highlight it by clicking on it once. Then click once on the destination. If the
move is valid, it will be executed. If either the piece that is selected cannot
move at all, or the move is invalid, a warning sound will be heard.

To capture a piece, follow the usual method, by selecting the piece to move, then
click on the other side of the opposing piece. When there is an opportunity to
capture a piece more than once, there is no need to reselect a piece - simply click
on the next destination.

Play continues until one player wins, either by blocking all the opponentís pieces
or by capturing all the opponentís pieces.

8. Viewing other turns.

You may view the position at any point in the game using the two arrow buttons on
the turn indicator. The left arrow moves back one turn, while the right arrow moves
forward one turn. If an arrow is darkened, you are either at the beginning or the
end of the game, and can go no further.

This function is available after a game has been finished. You may even load a
completed game and view its history. This can be a valuable strategy in improving
your game.

After rolling back to a previous turn, you may decide to move a piece from that
position. This is allowed, but you will be denied a score for the game in progress.
A warning is displayed before proceeding with this action.

When rolling back to a turn where a computer player is in control, the computer
will not move. You may move for the computer for this turn, incurring the same
penalties as described above.

9. The Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame can be accessed from the main menu, and displays the best ten
players of all time, playing either the computer or another human player.

Most normal games are awarded scores based on the number of moves made, the number
of pieces left at the end of the game, any multiple captures made during the game
and several other criteria. Each human playerís score is displayed at the end
of the game.

Some games, however, are not awarded scores. There may be two reasons for this:
1. A player rolled a turn back and played from a previous position.
2. The game was loaded from a file. Games must be played in one sitting.

These two criteria eliminate cheats from manipulating games to their own advantage,
and then being entered into the Hall of Fame.

If, at the end of the game, your score earns you a place in the Hall of Fame, you
will be presented with a dialog in which you are to enter your name. Your name will
then be stored in the Hall of Fame.

10. Instructions.

This screen details the rules of the game and basic functions used to interact with
the program. It can be used as a quick reference in the case of problems. More
detailed explanations, however, can be found only in this manual.

Appendix A: The rules of Checkers.

Although the mechanics of Checkers are very simple, it makes for a surprisingly
challenging and intriguing game. There are two players - traditionally red and
black. The board is essentially the same as a chessboard - containing alternately
coloured squares arranged in 8 rows and 8 columns.

The object of the game is to render the opponent unable to move. This can be
achieved by either eliminating all their pieces, or by blocking all their pieces
from moving.

Each player starts with 12 pieces, placed on opposite ends of the board. The pieces
are placed in three rows, each occupying a dark square. Players then take turns
moving one piece at a time. Black starts, moving down the board. Red moves up the
board.

Pieces can be moved one square at a time in a diagonal direction. A normal checker
can move only forwards, towards the opposite end of the board.

Pieces may capture opposing pieces by ëjumpingí over them. That is, if a piece
is adjacent to an opposing piece, and there is a vacant space on the opposite side,
the piece moves to that vacant space, removing the opposing piece from the board.
Furthermore, if there is any opportunity to capture an opposing piece, it must
be taken.

If, after capturing a piece, that same piece is able to capture another piece, it
must do so in a similar fashion in the same turn. This sequence is continued until
no more captures are possible.

When a piece reaches the opposite side of the board, it becomes a king. (Kings
are represented in Kazís Checkers with an extra ring inside them.) Kings have
the added advantage of being able to move backwards, which makes them much more
powerful than ordinary checkers.

As has already been stated, the object of the game is to prevent the opponent
from moving. This can be achieved either by eliminating all opposing pieces, or
by blocking all possible moves with oneís own pieces.

Appendix B: Troubleshooting.

Q) When I start up the program, the main screen does not appear.
A) Kazís Checkers requires a reasonable advanced Macintosh. If it fails to start,
your system is probably outdated. Perhaps it is time to upgrade.

Q) The main screen appears, but does not display properly.
A) Kazís Checkers requires a display with a resolution of at least 640x480 pixels.
256 colours or more are recommended, but it is possible to make do with 16.
Monochrome and 4 colour displays are not recommended. Again, perhaps it is time
to upgrade the computer.

Q) I canít use the Apple menu!
A) Unfortunately Kazís Checkers does not allow other programs to operate
simultaneously with other programs. To access other functions, you must quit the
program. This applies also to other controls in the menu bar.

Q) Why canít I my games have names of over 32 characters in length?
A) Unfortunately, the Macintosh operating system does not support file names
longer than 32 characters. Buy Windows 95, which can do 255. :-)

Q) My saved game wonít load!
A1) Make sure you spelt the name correctly, including all capital letters and
punctuation.
A2) Make sure that the saved game file is in the same folder as the program. Kazís
Checkers will only look in its own folder for saved game files.

Q) I canít seem to move any of my pieces!
A1)  Check who is controlling that particular colour in the status boxes on the
right.
A2)  Check that it is actually that colourís turn using the turn indicator.
A3)  Check that there is no capture possible. If one of your pieces can capture,
it must. The other pieces cannot move.
A4)  Check that you are not in the middle of a multiple capture sequence.

Q) The computer is really stupid!
A) Perhaps you should start again with a higher skill level. If you can't seem
to do this, you probably have the unregistered version. Read the license and order
form to find out how to register.

Q) The computer keeps thinking for aeons!
A) Thatís the price you will have to pay when playing on a higher skill level.
As long as the little progress bar is moving, there is no problem. Faster computers
tend to perform better here. Also, check that the computer is actually supposed
to be moving.

Q) My screen saver went on, when I activated the computer all I got was a blank
window.
A) The best solution is to turn off the screen saver. You can still return to the
main menu by pressing ëQí on the keyboard. Then load the game you were playing
last, and it should return to the last move.

Q) The program suddenly quit, reporting that an error of type 25 occurred.
A) This is a memory related error, and I am still working on a solution. Start
the program and load the last game you were playing.

Appendix C: Credits / acknowledgments.

Kazís Checkers was designed and coded by Andrew Kisliakov, over a period of five
months (Feb-Jun í96).

Thanks go to the following people, listed in alphabetical order, who provided help,
comments and suggestions throughout the development of the program:

Michael Aouad
Greg Basford
Nigel Bertram
Glen Boultwood
Derek Fung
Ben Grosman
Steven Houvardas
Dave Kermode
Daniel Kisliakov
Fordson Ko
Shalindra Kulasuriya
Albert Leung
Duane Morin
Bek Oberin
Stephen Ooi
Chris Reedy
Andrew Tyson
Haoran Un

as well as many others who I donít know or remember. Thank you all.