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1994-07-09
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TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
T
A TTTTTTTTTTTT A CCCCC K K SSSSSSS
A A T T A A C K K S S
A A T T A A C KK SS
AAAAAAA T T AAAAAAA C K K SSS
A A T T A A C K K SS
A A T T A A CCCCC K K S
SS
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Modeled after the arcade game called Ataxx, it's a new strategy
game for the Amiga world. I'm pretty sure I have all the kinks worked
out. Hope you all like it. But what you all want to know is how to
play.
HOW TO PLAY
-----------
Attacks is a strategy game played by two, one, or no players on
a seven by seven grid. Some of the squares of the grid are empty,
some have barriers, and some are occupied by either of the two playing
sides.
A move is accomplished by selecting a piece of your color
(indicated by the color of the mouse), dragging it to an empty
location, and then releasing the mouse button. This should be a
maneuver that you are all very familiar with. If not, I suggest
reading the manual that came with your Amiga, unless you've thrown it
out already.
An empty square is simply a square that is not occupied
by a block square (shaded dark grey) or a circular piece of either
color. Simply put, an empty square is drawn as a plain light grey
square.
There are two types of moves: GROW and JUMP. If the destination
square is adjacent to the starting square of a move, then the move is
a GROW. In this CASE, a new piece of the player's color is put in the
destination square. A JUMP is when the move goes two squares away
from the starting square. Here, the piece is removed from its
original location and placed in the destination square. These are the
only allowable moves. You cannot move more than two spaces away.
IMPORTANT!
The results of a move are what makes Attacks the game that it is.
Every opposing piece that is adjacent to the destination of a move (be
it a GROW or a JUMP) is changed to the color of the player that made
the move. You'll probably notice that this changes the face of the
game dramatically.
Also, if you're trying to save precious memory by skimping on the
stack, think again. This program needs about 10000 bytes of stack
space to run properly in every mode. So go ahead and beef up your
stack. Your mom would be proud of you.
WINNING
-------
The winner is simply the person with the most squares occupied
with their color at the end of the game. The game is concluded when
either all the empty squares are filled or only one color is remaining.
MENU OPTIONS
------------
Like most things, this program has options. There is most
everything that I wanted implemented, but the menus may not be crystal
clear upon first glance. So here are the gory details about what they
do (at least what they are supposed to do). Like similar keyboard
shortcuts on other programs, using the right Amiga button in
conjunction with the letter indicated in the menu selection will allow
you to do the menu selection with the keyboard only. Only the
indicated menu selections have shortcuts.
Project It seems like every program has a menu column labeled
------- "Project". So why shouldn't I?
New Game
--------
This tells the program that you are done with the current game.
The program responds by drawing a new board randomly selected from an
internal list and setting up a new game.
Edit Board
----------
So, you don't like the boards that I have, hunh? Well, here's
your chance to go ahead and make the perfect setup for yourself.
Interestingly, the game changes dramatically with different board
setups. Experiment to your heart's desire. During editing, the menus
change. This new menu strip is explained later in the Editing
section.
About
-----
This is the obligatory self-glorification part of the program.
It'll show you an address where I can be reached in case you win the
lottery and care to share your wealth. Simply click the left mouse
button to continue on your merry way.
Quit
----
If you don't know what this means, you probably don't know how to
turn your computer on either.
Commands In trouble? or just curious about what's happening? Check
-------- out this menu column. Important: whenever you Backup or
Redo, the program disables the computer's ability to make
moves. This is done so that you can take your time while
looking at the effects of the help functions. Once you
make a move with your mouse or force the computer to move,
the computer will assume that you are done with the help
and will continue to play as usual.
Backup A Move
-------------
When this menu item is selected, the game reverts to the previous
state. That is (in most cases) the last move is undone, and it is now
the previous player's turn to move. This can be done all the way back
to the beginning of the game, but not back to previous games.
Redo A Move
-----------
You backed up a move, but change your mind? No problem. Attacks
remembers not only all the moves you made in the past, but also all
the moves you made in the future, if that makes any sense. What it
means is that moves that were backed up may also be replayed.
However, if you back up some moves and then start playing, you no
longer have those moves that you backed up. Aaah, it's really easier
to do than it is to explain. Just fool around with these two options
until you get the feel of it. Incidentally, it is often instructive
to Backup and then Redo an entire game.
Force Computer to move
----------------------
This allows you to let the computer take over for just this one
turn. It also tells the program that you are through backing up and
redoing moves. Please note that if you back up some moves and then
choose this option, you will no longer be able to "Redo" the moves you
backed up.
Options These are the parameters that you can modify to affect
------- how the game is played. Note that when a new game is
started, the settings in this menu column are not changed.
Red is Human <- Default
Red is Computer
Blue is Human
Blue is Computer <- Default
----------------
These tell Attacks how many players you want. The sides which
aren't played by humans (who must all use the regular mouse--yep, you
have to share) are automatically tackled by the computer. The check
marks indicate what the current settings are. The default is Red (who
usually plays first) is Human, and Blue is played by the Computer.
Since most people who have computers are lonely geeks who aren't too
bright, I figured that this is the most popular configuation. (Moving
first is typically, but not always an advantage.)
Tries to Lose
Easy
Kinda' Good <- Default
Good
Very Good
-----------
Here you find the difficulty level at which the computer will play.
The first one means that the computer will play to lose (but it's not
terribly bright about it). The other settings are pretty explanatory,
but you should know that the brighter the computer gets, the longer
it takes to think through its moves. The levels beyond Very Good take
so long that I have not even bothered to allow them as options. As
you know, the difficulty is a combinatoric explosion, or Order(n!).
WHILE THE COMPUTER IS THINKING
------------------------------
Well, your options are limited. All you really can do is abort the
computer's thinking. It then stops playing, allowing you to move for
it, back up and redo, and of course you can always force the computer
to move again. This is a life-saver if you set the game to