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Text File | 1992-10-03 | 17KB | 357 lines

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * VGA-RENJU * * Release 2.0 * * Sep 25, 1992 * * * * John Girard * * 446 Novavista Drive * * Winnipeg, MB * * CANADA * * R2N 3V9 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Introduction ************ History of the Game VGA-RENJU is a variation of the game of Go, an ancient game from the Orient. Go has been played for at least 2000 years and is considered the most popular game in the world today. Despite this, Go is not very well known in North America. Go is a game of position played on a board of 19 vertical lines and 19 horizontal lines. The intersections of these lines are called points and this is where the players place the game pieces known as stones. Go is a very complex game which challenges Chess in terms of movement strategy. VGA- RENJU is modelled after a simpler variation known by many names including: Renju, Moku and Go-Moku. System Requirements VGA-RENJU is designed to be played on IBM PC or true compatible equipped with a VGA monitor and a mouse. I had considered supporting other PC configurations and will in the future if there is a demand for it. Shareware Registration VGA-RENJU is shareware. That means you are free to try the game, but if you continue to use the game you should register with the author by sending a registration fee of $5.00 to the author at the above address. That really is quite a good deal and by supporting shareware authors you will be able to continue obtaining quality software at very reasonable prices. You may also freely copy this game and give it to your friends provided you do not charge for the program and do not alter any part. When you register the game, please let me know what version you have and what you think of the game. I would appreciate any comments you have on improving the game or any problems that you discover. All registered users will be notified of new versions and changes that have been made. Users who submit a registration of $10.00 or more will be sent the currnt version with their name on the title screen. Playing VGA-RENJU ****************** When you start the program, a title screen will appear with a dialogue box asking if you would like to see the instructions. The first time you play you should quickly review the instruction by clicking your left mouse button on the Yes box. Throughout the game you will see similar dialogue boxes. You also use the left mouse button to register your answer. After the instructions a Set-Up box will appear. You may use the left mouse button to change any of the settings by clicking the boxes. Each of the options are described below under the title Options. Starting Game Play VGA-RENJU is a two player game. Player 1 is always a human but Player 2 may be either a human or the computer. Each player is assigned a colour, either Green or Yellow, during the game Set-Up. The default is that Player 1 is Green as Green moves first. Players alternate placing stones on the board points by clicking the left mouse button on the point desired. The object of the game is to either capture five of your opponent's pairs or to form a five stone chain ( a contiguous line in any direction). A variation of the game eliminates the pair capture option, in which case the game is won by forming a five stone chain. After each human move, three boxes will "light-up" allowing you to: QUIT: once clicked you will be given a chance to end your session and return to DOS. NEW: allows you to start a new game with the same setup. SETUP: brings up the SetUp options menu, allowing you to change settings. NOTE: This option will end the current game and start a new game with the new settings. BACK: this returns the board to state it was in prior to the players last turn. This is really useful when playing the computer and you make a silly move. When playing the two player version, you may wish to not permit this feature. If you do allow Take Backs in the two player version beware that the board returns to the previous state of the current player. So if it is Green's turn and the Back box is clicked the board returns to the state prior to Green's last move. This effectively eliminates Yellow's last move. HELP: clicking this will make the computer make your move for you. Again this is quite handy when playing the computer. The move will be made with the same level of logic the computer is using. DEMO: plays a computer vs computer game using the Easy level of play. INSTR clicking this will bring up the online instructions. When you click Done on the instructions you will return to the game in progress. ABOUT: displaying information about VGA-Renju. Legal Moves Players must make legal moves, if not the computer will tell you! For a move to be legal, the point must be vacant. You may not put a stone on top of another one. The second part of a legal moves deals with Forks. Forks may be legal or illegal depending on what you selected during the Set-Up - the default is that Forks are illegal. Once you are familiar with the game try changing this option to make Forks legal. You will find that the game strategy becomes very different - it really becomes a new game. The on line rules describe a Fork quite well with coloured pictures that I recommend you review. A fork is formed when two rows of exactly three stones are joined at a common pivot. If either row has more than three stones it does not constitute a fork nor does five in a row. All of the examples below are Forks: X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X However none of these are Forks: X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X Don't worry if your are not clear on what is or is not a Fork. If you form a Fork while playing, a red line will be drawn over the stones forming the Fork. If this happens click the left mouse button and the offending stone will be removed. You will then have to choose a new point to place the stone. Pair Capture If you selected Yes to Pair Capture during Set-Up (the default) then if is possible to win the game by capturing five pairs of stones from your opponent. Like the Fork option changing this to No during Set-Up will change the game's strategy. A pair capture occurs when you trap exactly two of your opponent's adjacent stones between two of your own. When this happens the two stones trapped will be removed from the board and placed beside the board under the Pairs Lost. A pair capture must be an aggressive move, see the online rules for examples. Game Board The majority of your screen is the game board. To place a stone you simply click the desired point with the left mouse button. Some mice are more sensitive than others, so if the stone does not appear, click the left mouse button again. Once you have played a while you will know how long you must hold the button down. Message Box If you make an illegal move, win or lose the game a message will appear where the Help Box and Score Board normally are. After reading the message click your left mouse button any where on the screen and the message will disappear. Marking Stones The last move made by the computer is marked with a dot. This avoids 'losing' the computer's move. In the two player version the last move made by each player is marked. Ties A tie is declared when the current player may not make a legal move. Options ******* Set-Up Box The Set-Up box is displayed at the beginning of each session. After completion of the game you are given an opportunity to change the options but you may not change the option during a game. If you are not happy with the options selected click on the Quit box, choose Yes to Play Again and Yes to Change Set-Up. The Set-Up box will then be displayed. Each option is explained below: BOARD SIZE: A game of Go is played on a 19 by 19 board. In VGA-RENJU you may choose any size between 9 by 9 to 19 by 19. The default is 12 by 12. PLAYER 2: Allows you to select you opponent, either a human or the computer. The default is the computer. PLAYER 2 COLOUR: Allows you choose your opponent's colour, remember that Green moves first. The default is Yellow. SOUND: You may choose NONE (good for those late nights), BEEPS (makes those annoying little sounds when you make mistakes, lose stones etc) or MUSIC (plays songs and has beeps). If you choose MUSIC you may end a song early by clicking the right mouse button. The default is BEEPS. HANDICAP: If you play the computer you may give it a handicap. The number you choose for a handicap will result in that number of the computer's coloured stones being placed on random points of the board. You may choose between O and 9 or ?. If you select ?, the computer decides how many stones to play. The default is 0. LOGIC LEVEL: Three levels of Logic are available: Easy, Medium and Hard. The higher the level the more difficult it is to beat the computer and the longer the computer will think between moves. In the Easy and Medium level games the computer chooses its move almost instantaneously but in the hard level the computer will take several seconds on a large board. This will depend on your machine's capability. The default is hard. FORKS: You may make Forks either Legal or Illegal as explained above. PAIR CAPTURE: You select Yes or No. Game Variations By varying the Forks and Pair Capture options you may change the game, effectively making new versions. The default game is quite similar to the game of Renju or Moku (Forks are illegal and Pair Capture on). By making Forks legal and turning Pair Captures off the game becomes very simple, a good game for children. The object is just to get five in a row. Some people find the Fork rule really frustarting, other find it really challenging and a good way to 'suck-in' the computer. Experiment with different options. Files ***** You should received two files: Renju.Txt This file - ASCII instructions VGARenju.exe Main Program Please feel free to pass this program to friends, BBSs etc but make sure both files are included. If you archive the files please call the archive VGAREN2 with the appropriate extension (zip, arj, pak etc). Disclaimer ********** VGA-RENJU is sold 'as-is', without any warranty as to performance or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. Because of the many hardware and software environments into which this program may be used, no warranty of fitness for a particular purpose is offered. The user must assume the entire risk of using the program. Any liability of the seller will be limited exclusively to product replacement or the refund of the registration fee. Modifications ************* Version 1.1 Changed the design so that the board is not completely redrawn everytime there is a Fork or Pair Capture. Eliminated the bug that added one to the handicap after every game if the the computer was green. Added option to view instructions while playing a game. More than one function may be executed during each turn. For example, you may use both Help and Instr in one turn. The mouse is much more sensitive when placing stones on the board, version 1.0 required many 'double' clicks. This may cause problems on 486s and even fast 386s. Version 2.0 Logic changed in all three levels (Easy, Medium and Hard), new algorithms are much less predicatble. Viewing instruction during a game is easier. Changed screen layout by adding options for SetUp, New, Demo and About. Other Games by John Girard ************************** Pegasus (Requires EGA/VGA and mouse) Pegasus is based on a game of Solitaire that is thought to have been invented in the early 1700s by Frenchmen inprisoned in Solitary confinement. Although that is disputed, it is known that the game was very popular in England by the end of the 1700s. The games are played on a board with 33 holes. Pegasus includes two games: Classic Solitaire Normally the game starts with 32 pegs in the holes, although the number of starting pegs may vary. The aim is to remove pegs by jumping them, leaving a single peg in the center. Several boards designs and different games are provided, plus there is an option to create your own board layout. Fox & Goose Fox & Goose picks up where Classic Solitaire leaves off. Played on the same board this game is a computer verus human hunt game. The computer tries to capture Geese by jumping them while you try to surround the Fox. Sound easy ... well try it. Several boards are provided and you may change the number of Geese to increase or decrease the level of difficulty.