Crystal Ball is a rulebook designed to be used with another Macintosh program called GameMaster. GameMaster is a game shell that allows the user to play two player games, called rulebooks, over a network (either the internet or an appletalk network). Crystal Ball will not work without GameMaster, and must be launched from within GameMaster. GameMaster is available for ftp from redback.cs.uwa.edu.au in the "/Others/RhysHollow" directory. It is in the GameMaster User Kit (GMUseKit.cpt), which also comes with 10 or so other rulebooks including Chess, Othello, Connect 4, Dots&Boxes etc. All rulebooks released after the User Kit (Isolation, GravityWars and now Crystal Ball) are also available from this site.
Now onto what Crystal Ball actually is. Ever since GameMaster's release I have wanted some sort of Opponent server for internet opponents. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the internet, unless you know the address of your potential opponent, you cannot connect to them, nor can you connect to strangers.
Crystal Ball attempts to address these limitations by providing an Opponent
Finding service. When you connect the Crystal Ball rulebook to a special
server (called "Spirit World", mainly due to a case of metaphor mania), you
register as a potential GameMaster opponent. Your internet address, your
name and your preferred rulebook is added to the list of other opponents
connected to this spirit world. This list is distributed to all Crystal
Balls that are connected, and is displayed in the Crystal Ball game window.
From this list, the player can select an opponent to play with.
Installation.
This rulebook can be installed very simply. Just drop it into the folder that contains all of your other rulebooks. It should now appear in the "New" menu of GameMaster (if it doesn't, Quit GameMaster and launch it again). You can also use the "Open…" menu item from the file menu to open the rulebook (or a saved game), or you can just double click on the Crystal Ball's icon.
Typical use of this rulebook would be as follows.
• I wish to play a game, so I launch GameMaster and I start a new game of Crystal Ball. (not really a game I know, but still :-)
• I type my name and my preferred rulebook into the fields provided at the top of the game window. If I have no preferred rulebook, I type in "Anything" or something to that effect.
• I connect to the local Spirit World (either I have remembered it's address, or I chose "Save" last time I was connected to the Spirit World, and I have now re opened that game. All saved connected games remember the last address they were connected to)
• When Crystal Ball connects, it displays a list of all the other people connected to the same Spirit World. I notice that my name is there, and I know that it is now in the lists of all those other people.
• I find on this list another person who wishes to play what I want to play. I make a note of his address, I start a new game of my preferred rulebook, and I connect that game to him. If this person is a stranger (which he most probably is), it might be more polite to connect to him with "Simple Talk" first, just to introduce yourself and get acquainted.
• If I don't find anyone who wishes to play my preferred rulebook, I put GameMaster in the background and carry on with something else. Hopefully, someone will connect to that Spirit World in the next hour or so who wishes to play what I do, and that person will initiate the connection. GameMaster will notify me if anyone tries to connect to me.
• When I decide I am no longer available for a game, I disconnect Crystal Ball using the "Disconnect" item of the game menu. My name will then disappear from the other user's list, and the Spirit World will forget about me.
NOTE: Spirit World does not record your name or address at any time. Only when you are connected to Spirit World, does it know of you. If you disconnect, it forgets about you.
This is just how I imagine Crystal Ball would be used. Of course the tricky part is finding a Spirit World to connect to. I shall be maintaining a list of Spirit World sites, and keeping it at the GameMaster home ftp site (redback.cs.uwa.edu.au:/Others/RhysHollow/SWsites.txt). The list is a text file called "SWsites.txt".
I have also included in this release, a saved game of a connected Crystal Ball. This game will be connected to redback.cs.uwa.edu.au, where for the time being a Spirit World will be located. Choosing the menu item "Connect" for this saved game should automatically prompt you to connect to redback. I have no idea how long this location will be valid though.
The Game Window
Crystal Ball's game window has the following components :
Player Name : This text field should reflect your name, or the name you wish your opponents to know you by. If you have not supplied a player name, this field will be the Owner Name of the macintosh it is running on (or "unnamed" if the macintosh has no Owner Name).
Pref. Rulebook : This text field should reflect your preferred rulebook, or the rulebook you would most like to play. If you have no preference, "Anything" or "Everything" might be appropriate.
NOTE: These fields must be correct _before_ you connect. Changing them after you connect will only affect your next connection, not the present one. It _is_ possible to connect to the same Spirit World more than once, but only if the preferred rulebooks are different.
The rest of the game window is taken up by the opponent list. When Crystal Ball is launched, this will be empty. After you connect, the list of opponents at that Spirit World will be displayed (if you are the only one connected, only your name will appear). Each column is labeled ("Player", "Address","Rulebook"). The list may be sorted by these fields by clicking on these labels. The underlined label is the current sort criteria. When Crystal Ball is disconnected, the list is not cleared. There are two ways of telling if a game of Crystal Ball is connected :
• The crystal ball picture in the top right of the window. If this has stars above it, then the game is connected. If this has a cloth draped over it, then the game is not connected.
• The "Connect" item of the game menu. If it is "Disconnect" then the game is connected. If it is "Connect" then the game is not connected.
Unfortunately, Crystal Ball cannot fill in the address of the "Connect" dialog automatically. All it can do is display the opponent list. You must copy down (or remember) the address of your desired opponent and fill it in manually. It is perfectly alright to leave Crystal Ball connected while you are playing other rulebooks, in fact it is recommended.
Also note that connecting Crystal Ball to another GameMaster (instead of a Spirit World) will do nothing. It will just sit there with an empty list.
Spirit World
If anyone is interested in establishing a Spirit World of their own, then they should mail me (rhys@cs.uwa.edu.au). By not making it readily available, I hope to maintain the list of Spirit Worlds, and keep everything sane. This may of course change in the future, I shall see how it goes.
If you have any comments, suggestions or questions, mail me (rhys@cs.uwa.edu.au). If you would like to send me a postcard (I know _I_ would like you to), post it to
Rhys Hollow
24 Arnisdale Rd
Duncraig WA 6023
AUSTRALIA
Have fun.
Rhys Hollow. 16th December, 1993. (Perth, Western Australia)
