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CD Direkt 1995 #3
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mancala.doc
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1994-10-23
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┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ __ __ ___ _ _ ____ ___ _ ___ │
│ | \/ | / _ \ | \ | | / ___| / _ \ | | / _ \ │
│ | |\/| | | |_| | | \| | | | | |_| | | | | |_| | │
│ | | | | | _ | | |\ | | |___ | _ | | |___ | _ | │
│ |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| \_| \____| |_| |_| |_____| |_| |_| │
│ │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ (C) Copyright 1990-1994, RCSOFT Written by Renier Crause │
╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ Introduction │
╘═════════════════════════╛
Mancala is often called the national game of Africa. I've never seen
a computer implementation, of this simple, but brilliant game, so I've
decided to write one myself. It seems fit that someone from Africa
should write an implementation of an African game.
Mancala has very simple rules, and each turn only has one of six
possible moves, but still the it requires quite a bit of skill and
foresight to realize what the consequences of each move will be. It
is not for nothing that Mancala is sometimes called African Chess.
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ Requirements │
╘═════════════════════════╛
This program requires the following:
■ MS-DOS 3.x of higher
■ 286 or higher CPU
■ VGA/MCGA Adapter with Color Monitor.
■ Mouse with driver loaded.
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ The Rules │
╘═════════════════════════╛
Mancala is not really a game on its own, but more a collection of over
two hundred games, all linked to the same fundamental rules.
Essentially Mancala is a two-player board game. The board consits of
two rows of cups, six cups on each side, and several playing pieces,
usually called seeds or stones. The board is then divided into two
halves along the length of the board. Player 1 in the computer
version always playes the bottom side and Player two the top cups.
Each Player also has a home cup which contains the pieces he has
captured. The home cup for Player 1 is at the right end of the board,
and Player 2 at the left.
This computer version of Mancala, implements 3 different variations of
play: ■ Awari
■ Ayo
■ Oware
In all these variations, play is based on the principal of sowing.
Sowing is done by taking up all the stones in any of your cups, and
then distributing these stones in an anti-clockwise direction around
the board, starting with the cup adjacent to the cup to be sowed from.
You must drop excatly one stone in each cup, and no cups may be
skipped from this sowing procedure. When the end of your cups are
reached you keep on sowing in an anti-clockwise direction, by
continuing on your opponents side. In Awari the sowing also includes
the home cups, but not in Ayo or Oware. Note that you may only start
sowing from any of the cups on your own side.
Because the game is based on where the last stone of a sowing lands,
my implementation as an optional guide, which will highlite the cup
the last stone will land. Because it is sometimes difficult to
distinguish the stones in a cup, the right mouse button will also
indicate how many stones there are in any cup. The total number of
stones in the home cups, are continuesly displayed at the bottom of
the home cup.
All three variations start with four stones in each cup, and none in
the home cups. Player 1 starts the first game, and the the loser of
the previous game gets to start the next. It does have a small
advantage to start, especially in Awari.
The purpose of the game is to capture as many stones as possible, the
player with the most stones, in the end, wins the game.
Play continues until all the stones on either side of the board are
depleted. Since there are only 48 stones in total, any player who has
25 or more stones naturally wins, and the game is ended.
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ Awari │
╘═════════════════════════╛
Awari is the simplest and easiest of the variations, and should be
learned first.
In Awari you can capture stones on any side of the board by sowing,
and droppping your last stone an empty cup directly opposite the the
stones you want to capture. Thus, for example, if your last stone
lands in your last cup, which is empty, you will capture all the
stones in your opponents first cup, which is directly opposite the
empty cup. This last stone of the sowing is also caputured. Note
that any number of stones can be captured in a single sowing. If your
last stone lands in a non-empty cup, you caputure no stones. Either
way, your turn is over, and your opponent plays, by sowing from any of
his cups.
As sowing in Awari includes the home cups, your last stone can land in
a home cup. If your last stone lands in your own home cup, you get
another turn. Thus if you have, for example, only one stone in your
last cup, and decide to sow it, this stone will land in the home cup,
and you get another turn.
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ Ayo │
╘═════════════════════════╛
Ayo is a little bit more skillful than Awari, but easier than Oware.
The rules are still simple though. Ayo is actually the most
satisfying of the rules for me.
Sowing doesn't include the home cups.
To capture your opponent's pieces, your last stone of a sowing must
land in a cup at the opposite side of the board, which contains either
1 or 2 stones, (2 or 3 after sowing). You then capture these 2 or 3
stones, and they are placed in your home cup. The capture is also
recursive of nature. That is, if the penultimate cup, after sowing,
also contains 2 or 3 stones, then these stones are also captured, and
the same for the cup before it, and before it, etc. This must be in
running order from the last cup, thus if the penultimate cups has four
stones, the cup before it is not captured.
Note that stones can only be captured on the opponent's side of the
board, not on your own side. Thus you shoud try to protect the stones
on your side, by not leaving one or two stones in a cup. Empty cups,
or cups with more than 2 stones are safe.
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ Oware │
╘═════════════════════════╛
Oware is the most difficult of the variations implemented, and I would
strongly advise that you first master Awari and Ayo before playing
Oware.
Again sowing excludes the home cups.
To capture stones, your last stone of a sowing must land in a cup
that contains excatly 3 stones (4 after sowing). The last cup can be
on either side of the board. If your last stone captures, or lands in
an empty cup, it marks the end of your turn, and your opponent sows
next.
If your last stone of a sowing lands in a cup containing 1,2 or more
than 3 stones, you take up these stones in the last cup, and continue
sowing leaving that cup empty. This keeps on going until your last
stone lands in an empty cup, or a cup containing 3 stones.
While you are sowing, if you ever sow a stone into a cup containing
exactly three stones, the player on whose side these stones are, can
take them, and place them in his own home cup, except of course for
the last stone, where the player who sowed gets the stones,
independently of the side it's on.
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ The controls │
╘═════════════════════════╛
The entire game is controlled with mouse. In all buttons the first
letter of the text on the button will also activate it.
The game will start with a title screen. Press any key, or a mouse
button to continue to the menu screen. On the menu screen you can
select the variation of the game you want to play by clicking wi