Crazy Collection 10/CC-10_2.iso/gms__os2/mlgp2/data.a00/MORRIS.HLP

OS/2 Help File | 1995-08-08 | 115.1 KB | 395 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. How to play ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

How to play

Morris is a board game where you place and move a number of markers along the
paths of a board. The goal of the game is to move your markers to a position
where your opponent can't move any of his markers. If you manage this, you have
won!

You can also win Morris in another way. If you move your markers so that you
get three-in-a-row along a path, you are allowed to remove one of your
opponent's markers. If you manage to remove so many of his markers that he only
has two left, he can never move them to a position where you can't move yours.
And, of course, he can never get three-in-a-row and therefore not remove any of
your markers. If you manage this, you have also won.

Remember, however, that it's only along a path that you can get three-in-a-row.
If there isn't a path that connects your three-in-a-row formation, the
formation is not valid. I know, I've made that mistake myself!

The first phase of Morris is the place phase, where you shall place your
markers on the board, one at a time. You can place your markers on any of the
free spots. When you and your opponent have placed all your markers, the move
phase starts.

During the move phase, you can move your markers along a path to a free spot.
The move phase continues until one of you have won, in one of the two different
ways I told you above.

To move a marker you point at it with the mouse, press and hold the left mouse
button and move the marker to the spot you want. After that you release the
mouse button. If you don't like this drag-and-drop way of moving the markers,
you can change it to a point-and-click method in the Mouse movement page
notebook instead. If you use the point-and-click method, you point at the
marker you want to move, and click with the left mouse button. Then you move
the mouse to the spot you want to drop the marker at, and click the left mouse
button again.

During both the place and the move phase, the mouse pointer shows you what you
shall do:
When this hand is shown, you shall place or move one of your markers.
This hand tells you that you are allowed to remove one of your opponent's
markers. Click on the one you want to remove.

If the hand is darkened, you are not allowed to do what you are trying to.
Maybe you are moving a marker to a spot without following a path, placing a
marker on an already occupied spot etc.

If you get three-in-a-row and your opponent also has three-in-a-row, Morris has
a setting on the Misc. game settings page notebook that defines what action
should be possible. I won't tell you about all the rules for them here, but I
suggest that you read the help texts on the Misc. game settings notebook in the
Game... menu choice in the Settings menu. Just press the help button for that
notebook and I will describe the different options in detail.
Morris has four different boards you can play:
Three Men's Morris
Six Men's Morris
Nine Men's Morris
Twelve Men's Morris

OK, I think that's about it. I don't have any further rules I need to tell you,
I hope.

But before you begin, I can show you some neat tips & tricks if you like to. I
can also show you what keys to use, see the keys help section for that.

Oh, just one more thing. To start a new game, please press Morris' start
button. It looks like this and is always located in the upper left corner of
the game's window.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Tips & tricks ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Tips & tricks

o Try to get as good starting position as possible during the place phase. It
  will help you a lot, especially on the Nine and Twelve Men's Morris boards.
  In a good starting position, you control points that are connected to many
  paths. This way you have many choices of where to move your pieces, which is
  important to avoid getting locked.

o If you think the graphics is a little slow, turn off the shades to speed it
  up. You do this on the Board background page notebook, found in the Settings
  menu, Look and feel menu option.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Menu commands ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Menu commands

Select the menu command you want to know more about from the following list:

o New - Start a new game
o Load, Quick Load - Load a saved game
o Save, Quick Save - Save the current game
o Pause - Temporarily suspend the game
o Hint - Please help me....
o Undo - Ooops, sorry...
o Statistics - See how you're doing
o Game - Change game specific settings
o Look-and-feel - Change the feeling of the game
o Interface - How do I look?
o Sound - Change the sound and music
o Help index - Where can I get information?
o How to play - Yes, what shall I do?
o Tips & tricks - Neat stuff...
o Menu commands - What's on the menu today?
o Keys help - What keys can I use?
o Help using help - Help me...
o Product information - Who is responsible for this...


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Keys help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Keys help

The keys in Morris are very simple:


The Arrow keys move the hand over the board.

The Space bar and the Enter key places, picks up and removes the markers.


Pressing Alt and Backspace undoes your last move.

Keyboard shortcuts common for all games:
Ctrl-P pauses the current game.
Ctrl-N starts a new game.
Ctrl-S toggles sound on/off.
Ctrl-M toggles music on/off.

That's all the keys you will use. Easy, aren't they?


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Morris Introduction ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Welcome to Morris!

Morris is a board game that will challenge your brain. When the game starts,
you and your opponent have a number of markers. The first thing you shall do is
to place them on the board, one at a time. When you have placed all your
markers, you shall try to move them so that you get three-in-a-row along a path
on the board. When you do, you are allowed to remove one of your opponent's
markers.
In Morris there are two ways you can win. Firstly, you can move your markers to
a position where you lock all your opponent's markers, so he can't move any of
them. Secondly, you can remove his markers one by one, until he only has two
left. When he does, he can never move his markers to a position where you can't
move any of yours. And since he only has two left, he can't get three-in-a-row
and thereby never remove any of your markers. This means he can't win!

In Morris you can choose between four different board styles. All boards have
different number of markers and also different paths that you can move your
markers along. The four different boards are called Three, Six, Nine and Twelve
Men's Morris. But actually, I have no idea why! They never told me...
OK, give Morris a try and see if you can beat your opponent!

Before you begin I advise you to read the following topics as well:

o How to play - The rules for Morris.
o Tips & tricks - You don't want this, do you?
o Keys help - To see what keys use.
To start the game, please press the start button. It looks like above, and it's
always located in the upper left corner of the game's windows.

Note that this introduction is only displayed automatically the very first time
you start the game. If you want to see it some other time, just press the F1
key.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. Statistics ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Statistics

On the three statistics pages you can view various statistics, and see how you
and your opponent are doing.

Page 1 and 2 show statistics for the two players, while page 3 shows statistics
about how many game rounds they have played and cancelled. You also see some
information on the current game.

Help on buttons


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Morris boards page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Morris boards page

On this notebook you can select which of the four different boards you want to
use. The boards are called Three, Six, Nine and Twelve Men's Morris. To choose
a board, just click on its icon.

Help on buttons


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. Player settings page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Player settings page

o Opponent (player 2)
     Here you can select if you want to have the computer or another human as
     your opponent.

o Player 1
     Here you can select which of the two markers (black or white) that player
     1 should use. Just click on the corresponding icon.

o Help on buttons


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9. Computer skill page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Computer skill page

On this page you select how intelligently the computer should play. You can
choose between lousy, bad, medium, good and excellent.

Help on buttons


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10. Misc. game settings page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Misc. game settings page

o Three-in-a-row removal

  This setting defines whether or not you should be allowed to remove those of
  your opponent's markers that are in three-in-a-row formations.

     Never
     If you select this, you are not allowed to remove any markers that are in
     a three-in-a-row formation. This means that you are not allowed to break
     any of your opponent's three-in-a-row formations.

     Always
     This setting is the absolute opposite. It means that you are allowed to
     remove any of your opponent's markers, even those that are in
     three-in-a-row formations.

     When no other exists
     With this setting you are allowed to remove markers that are in a
     three-in-a-row formation, but only when you have no other possibilities,
     i.e. all your opponent's markers are in three-in-a-row formations.

o Cheat options

  I'll tell you what these options are if you promise not to use them. Deal?

     Allow undo
     This option allows you to undo all the moves you have made. To undo the
     last move, select Undo from the Game menu. You can undo your moves until
     you are in the starting position. However, you can not undo a move when
     the game is over, of course. And the best of it all, if you play against
     the computer, it's not allowed to undo any of its moves. Yeah! Now we're
     talking!

     Allow playing hints
     If you want Morris to give you hints on good moves, activate this option.
     To ask Morris for a hint, select Hint from the Game menu.

o Time limit

  This option will limit the time you and your opponent have to make your
  moves. You enter the time limit in the input field. Valid entries are 5 to
  9999 seconds. By the way, did you know that 9999 seconds is 2 hours, 46
  minutes and 39 seconds? I bet you didn't!

  When you have entered the time limit you shall also define if it should be
  for each move or for a full game. If you select per move, it means that each
  of your moves mustn't take more than the time you defined. If you select per
  game instead, it means that all your moves together mustn't take more than
  the time you defined. If it does, you loose. If you think this was too
  complicated and don't want to bother about any time limits, select none
  instead.

o Help on buttons


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11. Board background page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Board background page

o Background
     Here you can select which of the four available backgrounds you want to
     use. Just click on the corresponding icon. Each background also have
     different colors and graphics for the spots and the paths.

o Shadow
     When you have chosen a background that you like, you can adjust how dark
     the shading under the hand (the pointer) should be. You can choose between
     none, light, medium and dark shading and you will see what it will look
     like in the preview window.
     Yes, yes, I admit it's an unnecessary option, but I like it and that's
     reason enough!

o Help on buttons


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12. Marker animation page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Marker animation page

This is a page with a lot of settings. I think I'll describe them for you in
some kind of chronological order. OK?

Firstly, select which of the three events, computer placement, computer
movement and removal that you want to adjust.
Computer placement is when the computer places its markers during the place
phase. Computer movement is when it moves its markers during the move phase,
and removal is when one of its markers is removed.

Secondly, select if that event should have no animation, a move animation or a
dissolve animation.

Thirdly, select how fast that animation should go (if you didn't select no
animation as option, of course).

The different events, animations and speeds are most easily understood by
looking at the preview. This will give you a good idea of what it will look
like when you are finished.

Also, you can have different animations and speeds for every event.

Help on buttons


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13. Mouse movement page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Mouse movement page

Here you can choose which of the two different methods you shall use for moving
your markers.

With the drag-and-drop method you point at the marker you want to move, click
and hold the mouse button, drag the marker to where you want to move it and
finally release the mouse button. If you use the click-move-click method you
point at the marker, click the mouse button, point at the position you want to
move it to and finally click the mouse button again.

You can use both the left and the right mouse buttons to perform the actions,
it doesn't matter which.

If you check the hide mouse pointer the mouse pointer (the arrow) will not be
visible when the mouse is inside the Morris' window.

Help on buttons


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14. Misc. settings page ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Misc. settings page

o Game help line
     Here you can choose if the help line (at the bottom of the game's window)
     should display no help messages, a medium amount of help messages or many
     help messages.

o User input
     You can control Morris with the keyboard or the mouse. Here you select
     which input device you want to use. If you decide to use the keyboard, I
     suggest you take a look at the keys help section, so I can tell you what
     keys to use.

o Scrolling timer
     On the Misc. game settings page notebook in the Game... menu choice in the
     Settings menu, you can decide if you want to play with a time limit or
     not. If you decide to use the time limit feature, you can decide if the
     timer should be displayed with a scrolling motion or a simple flip motion.
     Check the preview window to see which of the two you prefer.

o Help on buttons


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15. Hint ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Hint

This menu option gives you a hint on a good move you can make.

Note that this menu option is only available when you have activated the allow
playing hints feature (on the misc. game settings page in the game notebook
from the settings menu, puh!)


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16. Undo ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Undo

This option is really useful, it undoes your last move.

Note that this menu option is only available when you have activated the allow
undo feature (on the misc. game settings page in the game notebook from the
settings menu, puh!)