The Best of Select: Games 4

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_____________________________________________________ | | | GoGame | | | | | | The Ancient Game of GO | | by TMW Co | | | | | | (c) Copyrighted 1991 TMW Co. | | El Cajon, California | | | | Version 4.0 Dated 5 June 1991 | | | |_____________________________________________________| 1.0 Table of Contents: 2.0 Installation Mouse provisions Game storage 3.0 History of the Game of Go 4.0 Qualities of this program Improvements since the last release 5.0 Operating Summary 6.0 Operating Details 6.1 Initial Menu 6.2 Player Selection Menu 6.3 File Selection Menu 6.4 Settings Menu 6.5 Records Menu 6.6 Problem Solving Menu 6.7 Setup Menu 6.8 Game Menu - Player Source 6.9 Game Menu - File Source 6.10 Game Menu - Machine Source 6.11 Game Editing Menu 7.0 Structure of the programs 2.0 INSTALLATION Simply copy everything into a directory somewhere..... UnZip, if necessary, and then - - GO. Any key gets you past the important Sign On page. Then a '1' starts the machine playing with itself. Come back and read the Sign On page at your leisure. Mouse provisions: You can point to where to move with Cursor keys, if you want too. However, the GoGame program will capitalize on a Microsoft (or compatible) mouse if one is detected to be present. Your mouse driver must have been previously loaded - a message will remind you if nothing is detected. Earlier versions of GoGame required a special menu in the Mouse directory - GO.DEF and then required compiling it into GO.MNU. The mouse software would then call this whenever you started to run the program called GO. None of this is necessary any more, and in fact, it sometimes now gets in the way of the built in mouse provisions. If you find GO.DEF or GO.MNU anywhere, (left over from an earlier installation) - delete them. Game storage: Earlier versions of GoGame required that games be stored in a special \GAM directory under the directory containing the game itself. That was more trouble than it was worth. Now the default is to store games wherever the game itself is stored. You can even change this and keep games wherever you wish, by using the Records Menu Path choice. 3.0 HISTORY OF THE GAME OF GO " GO is .. an ancient, ancient two player board game which takes simple elements - line and circle, black and white, stone and wood - combines them with simple rules and generates subtleties which have enthralled players for millennia. Go's appeal resides not only in its Oriental elegance, but also in practical and stimulating features in the design of the game." (extracted from the American Go Journal, New York, NY) The game originated in China a few thousand years B.C. It was brought to Japan in our Middle Ages. GO is now very popular there. Most of the current champions are Japanese. The playing area (go-ban) consists of up to 19 by 19 lines (the limit of human comprehension). White and black stones (ishi) are alternately placed on the intersections of the lines. Once placed, the stones stay put, unless they are captured by being surrounded. Stones that are adjacent along lines (not diagonally) are considered connected and in the same unit. They live or die as a unit. When a unit is completely surrounded and no longer touches any vacant location, the unit is captured and counts as points for the capturee. The object of the game is to surround and control vacant territory. Try for too much territory and your opponent may live within it - neutralizing it. Try for too little and you end up with too little. The game is over when there is nothing more to be gained by either side. At this time, the side with the most vacant space (eyes) within its control plus opponent captures - wins. 4.0 QUALITIES OF THIS PROGRAM This program is an excellent learning mechanism. Analysis of professional games and your own games is the key to improving your play. White and Black may be played by human players or may be played by the machine or may be played back from a prerecorded file. You may change this assignment whenever you wish; taking over from the machine or from a recorded file. You may add commentary and/or board marks to a recorded game file. GoGame does not support illustrating possible variations in the play. Be sure to store the modified file after editing. The moves that the machine makes are better than random moves. Corner Joseki is played, after which the sides are staked out in a reasonable way. The machine will probably capture if it can and will avoid capture if it can. Looking ahead through combinations of moves is time consuming and the levels of tactical look ahead can be adjusted to taste. The program is strongly "influence" oriented. Detecting the end of productive play is very difficult, and the machine doesn't do it very well yet, although it will eventually Pass. Human players may choose to take back a move. If playing against the machine, its last move is taken back, before the players last move is taken back. Speed. Presently, the machine averages less than a minute per move for a 300 move game. This is on an early AT class machine, with 3 levels of tactical Look Ahead. Total elapsed time taken by each color is displayed after each move. The program uses character graphics and should be usable on color or monochrome systems without special graphics hardware. On laptops or other mono systems, you may need to reverse the sense of the screen so that the Xs come out as the Black stones and the Os come out as White. A Problem Solving section has been added to the program with this release. You can set up problems and let him try to look ahead far enough to solve them. The Look Ahead mechanism from the main game has been isolated and made available for this. See the Problem Solving Menu instructions. The numbers of levels of look ahead specified here also are used in the main game. Consequently, you may trade off increased run time for more levels of look ahead. The Problem Solving section has been tested against some of the "How to Capture Stones" problems in Graded Go Problems for Beginners" Volume 2, published by the Nihon Ki-in. With look ahead level set to 1 (essentially no look ahead, just the built in move evaluator), 5 of 10 problems were solved correctly. Setting the level to 3 solved an additional 4 problems - totaling 9 of 10. The other problem required 4 level of look ahead. Generally speaking, the look ahead is more effective when it looks ahead further. The default setting while playing a game is 3 levels. Since the last release, many improvements have been made to GoGame: All Run Time Errors causes have been tracked down and eliminated (I hope). The program has been run for hours and days without failure. The program now uses an overlay structure, allowing it to run in smaller memory computers. Code is brought into memory from disc, as needed. Consequently, small memory causes more disc activity and slower game run time. It is no longer necessary to run a separate Batch program to create a list of available stored games. The program will look in the directory you specify for game files ending with the extent that you specify. The internal format of the game files has been changed to fit the Ishi Press Standard format for interchanging game data. A subset of the Ishi standard is accommodated. GoGame does not allow illustration of variations in the main line of play of a game. However, the standard comment and location marking capabilities are supported. Your old game files will have to be severely edited to continue to be readable. Personal preferences can now be accommodated with respect to various settings. The game may be played with various board sizes ranging from 9x9 to full size 19x19. (Playing on a smaller board is a good way to learn.) The delay between moves while replaying from a file may be changed from very short (to hurry to the end of the file) to very long (to savor each move). The following features may be toggled on or off: Labeling of the rows and columns at the edge of the board Numbering stones as they are played Making sounds when a stone is placed on the board or a unit of stones is attacked (atari) Tactical look ahead moves may be shown These personal preferences are kept in a Configuration file called GoGame.cfg. The format is straight forward and need not concern you. The configuration file will automatically be written or rewritten whenever you change any of the preferences. 5.0 OPERATING SUMMARY This program is largely menu directed, and most of the choices should be self evident. Each of the menus is described below in the section on Operating Details. A fundamental choice needs to be made at the Initial Menu; that is to choose who is to play Black and White. You may choose a human player or the machine or you may get moves from a prerecorded file. Numeric keys or the numeric keypad are used to make menu choices and to point to where you want to move. The directional arrow keys may also be used to designate where you want to place the next stone. Microsoft, Logitech and compatible mice are also supported for designating where you want to move. Multiple digit numeric input needs numeric mode and a carriage return, as expected. After playing back a file or letting the machine play for awhile, you may take over by choosing (in the Initial Menu) a new source of Black or White moves. You may change to a player or to the machine. You cannot start playing back a file other than from the beginning of the file. A game may also be recorded as it is played. Recorded games (extent .GO) are expected in the same directory as the game program. You may easily change this from the game menus. You may ask the machine to show you some suggestions when it is your turn to play. Similarly, you may ask to see any Joseki (conventional balanced opening moves) applicable to the particular corner position on the board. You may take back a move or more than one if you are surprised by an opponent (and he agrees to let you). When the machine is playing, it may be interrupted only while the "Escape to interrupt" message is displayed after the completion of a move. You can bail out completely, at any time, without saving anything, by using the Control and Break keys. A small display in the lower right hand corner of the screen is to keep you entertained while the program is working on it's next move. It is to assure you that the program has not locked up somewhere and forgotten you. If shows progress while working on the corners, sides, calculating the links between units of stones, attacking and defending, progress of look ahead examination, calculating the influence of the stones on the board and finally deciding on the best move. Some interesting displays are available under Debug mode. (Problem Solving menu - choice 3.) Debug mode may be toggled ON or OFF and a Log of what the program is seeing may also be turned ON or OFF. A <space> while "Wait" is displayed will pause things. A 'd' while waiting brings up the Debug menu with more amazing displays. Any key while waiting restarts the action. When you Quit the program, the current game is always saved as "TempHist.go". Starting up again where you left off is a matter of selecting "Continue last game" when designating where the Black or White moves are to come from. 6.0 OPERATING DETAILS Each of the menus that you are liable to encounter are detailed below. The menu choices are shown in the same order as the keys on a numeric key pad. 6.1 Initial Menu GO game - Initial menu - (version_date) 7- Assign WHITE 8- Assign BLACK 9- Assign Handicap 4- Records menu 5- Continue last game 6- Start another game 1- Start/resume play 2- Settings menu 3- Problem Solving 0- Quit to DOS Choice? Choice 1 - Start/resume play. This is the main path to the playing venue. Here you start or continue playing the game. Choice 2 - Settings menu. Leads to another menu allowing you to specify your preferences for a number of things - the board size, the speed of replay from files, whether to display move numbering, whether to display the labels on the side of the board, whether to make a sound like the stone clicking on the board as a move is made. From the settings menu you can also set up problems by adding Black or White stones to a board. Choice 3 - Problem Solving. Leads to another menu which allows manipulation and study of problems. You can set the number of levels of Look Ahead to be searched while playing the game or while working on a problem. Choice 4 - Records Menu. This choice leads to another menu where you can specify where you want to store games, can enter data about the game you are playing and can arrange to store the game permanently. Game data may be reviewed here and can include Names, dates, location, handicap, etc. Choice 5 - Continue the last game. This selection automatically chooses the TempHist.Go file, ( which was saved when you last left the game ) plays it back to the end of file, resets Black and White to the same names they had when the game was interrupted and returns to the playing venue. Choice 6 - Forget the whole thing and start everything over. Choice 7 and 8 - These allow the designation of the source of the White and Black moves. A subsequent menu allows selection of: A human player or The program/machine or A previous file Choice 9 - Assign the handicap that will given to Black at the start of the game. The handicap may range from 2 through 9 stones. The program will correctly place the stones if you are using a 19x19 board. Use the Setup Menu to place more stones or to place them where you want to on smaller boards. One oft used convention is that the handicap should change by 1 whenever one side or the other wins three games in a row. Black always makes the first move. The first move may consist of placing all of the handicap stones . Choice 0 - Quit. Back to DOS. Any game underway is saved as TEMPHIST.GO and, if you have requested it, it is additionally stored by the name you have given it. Certain choices are available only until a game has been started, and will not be shown on the menu when they may not be made. 6.2 Player Selection Menu Player Selection Menu 7- Player 8- Old File 9- Machine 0- Return to Main Menu Choice? Choice 7 - Allows specifying a name for the human player. Choice 8 - Drops to the File Selection Menu Choice 9 - Calls for the machine to play that color. 6.3 File Selection Menu File Selection Menu 7- 8- Up one file 9- Up one page 4- TempHist.go 5- 6- 1- Select this file 2- Down one file 3- Down one page 0- Forget it Choice? With any luck, a list should be displayed, showing the game files available in the chosen directory and ending with the chosen file extent. One of the files will be designated with an arrow. Move the arrow up or down one file or up or down one page with the above keys or the corresponding cursor keys. When you are pointing to the file you want, tell him with '1'. That file will be loaded and any initial commentary will be displayed. The chosen game can be played back as far as you want, even to the end of the recording/file. Then you will have to come back to the Initial Menu, to designate how to continue the game - either with human players or the machine or some combination. The new file format includes provisions for multiple 'Events' in the same file. While you need an external Editor to create a multiple event file with GoGame, you can read any event you wish. If a multiple event file is detected, you will be asked which event you want to load into memory. 6.4 Settings Menu GO game - settings menu 7- Add White stones 8- Add Black stones 9- Remove stones 4- Sound 5- Show Tactics 6- Move numbering 1- Edge labeling 2- Replay delay 0.5 3- Board size 19 0- Return to Main menu Choice? Choice 1,4,5,6 - Toggle on or off the various personal preferences. the changes are automatically tracked in the GoGame.cfg file. Choice 2 - Allows changing the speed of automatic replay from a file. Choice 3 - Allows playing with a different board size. Choice 7,8 and 9 - Displays the current board and lets you setup problems or otherwise modify the board either with a mouse of with the cursor keys. Choice 0 - As it says, here you return to the calling menu. 6.5 Records Menu GO game - Records menu 7- Store game 8- Review game data 9- Enter game data 4- Game file path 6- Game file extent (current file path) (current extent) 0- Return to Main menu Choice? Choice 4 - Change the current game directory path, if you want to. Choice 6 - Change the current game file extent (usually .GO), if you want to. Choice 7 - Prepare to store the game you are about to play or have just finished playing. Here is where you enter the desired file name. Choice 8 - Display the data that has been associated with this game - data such as Date, Players, Komi, Handicap, Location, etc. Choice 9 - Enter game data. 6.6 Problem Solving Menu: GoGame - Problem Solving Menu 7- Tactical lvl 3 8- Prune ON 9- White next 4- Prob solving ON/OFF 5- Read in board 6- Write out board 1- Go do it 2- Settings menu 3- Debug things 0- Return to Main Menu Choice? D- Debug toggle ON/OFF Basically, you can set up a problem situation and ask him to try to look ahead to determine the best move. You can easily store and retrieve a situation. Choice 1 - When you are ready to ask him to solve a problem, here is where you tell him to go. He gets ready and then you point to the stones of interest with the cursor keys or the mouse. Choice 2 - Convenient path to the Setup menu for adding black or white stones to the problem (or the game) board. The Setup Menu is described below. Choice 3 - Path to the Debug menu. This menu lets you see many of the internal workings of the program, things you probably don't really want to know about. Choice 4 - Here to tell the rest of the program that you want to do problem solving rather that playing an ordinary game. Turn it back OFF again when you want to play again. Choice 5,6 - These choices allow you to write out the problem board that you have set up and retrieve it quickly. It is written to a file called BanMap and easily restored along with the color for the next move. Choice 7 - The default tactical look ahead while the game is playing is 3 levels. This means that it tries up to 20 moves around a target clump of stones, then all reasonable answers to each of these moves by the other side and then all reasonable answers by the first side to each of these moves. This rapidly gets to be a lot of trials. The number of trials is displayed if you have chosen to See Tactics. This menu choice lets you change the number of levels for problem solving and also FOR THE MAIN GAME. You can set the levels to high numbers, like 6 or 7 and let him run all night if you want too. Choice 8 - Usually you let the program do "A B tree pruning" to decrease the number of trials that must be made. Situation occur where there is no use exploring a branch of the tree any more because the best that could happen here is worse than the worse that could happen in another branch. Choice 9 - Here you choose the point of view of the problem that is to be solved. Is it Black to move or White to move... Choice D - An easy way to toggle on or off the debug displays while the program is determining a move. Debug displays take time and slow down play. You can pause and savor a display by hitting the space bar while WAIT is displayed. Any key gets you going again. Debug displays include displays of Units, Links between units, Groups build by linked units, Sector Lines (long weak links) between units and internal maps of liberty counts etc. 6.7 Setup Menu GO GAME- Setup menu This menu is shaped differently because the board must be displayed at the same time. White stones (or Black stones or Remove stones ) 8- Cursor up 6- Cursor right 4- Cursor left 2- Cursor down 0- Return to previous Menu Choice ? Choices 2,4,6 and 8 all move the cursor as indicated. The cursor may also be moved with your mouse. If pointing with the cursor keys, the CR picks a spot, 0 returns to calling menu. If pointing with the mouse, the left button picks, the center returns. 6.8 Game Menu - Player Source GO GAME - Game Menu White move (Or Black move) 9- Take back 8- Cursor up 7- Show Joseki 6- Cursor right 5- Pass 4- Cursor left 3- Show suggestion 2- Cursor down 1- Score 0- Halt/Quit Choice? Choice 1 - The program will calculate an approximation of the score. It counts the locations where each side has the predominance of "Influence". Since this is time consuming, it is no longer calculated for every move, but only on demand. Choice 2,4,6,8 - These or the cursor keys or moving the mouse can be used to designate where to make a move. Choice 3 - The program will go through the work of calculating where to move and then show you his top 5 choices. The higher the points, the better the move (in the program's opinion). Choice 5 - I want to Pass. Two passes in a row end the game. Choice 7 - For all corners that are not yet beyond the stored Joseki, the program will show the candidate places for the next move color to move. Choice 9 - I want to take back the last move. If the machine has played since my move, take his move back first, then mine so I can try again. 6.9 Game Menu - File Source GO GAME - Game Menu 9- Back 10 moves 8- Back a move 7- Get nnn moves 6- Edit game record 4- Score 3- Get 10 moves 2- Get a move 1- Auto Replay 0- Halt/Quit Choice ? This menu is used when the source of moves is an old file. It lets you go forwards and backwards through the file. Choice 1 - Display moves from the file at a rate determined by the replay delay specified elsewhere. The delay between moves can be adjusted from very short, (say 0.1 seconds) to relatively long (say 15 seconds). While moves are being displayed under control of this mode, any key will interrupt the process and bring you back to this menu. Choice 2,3 - display 1 or 10 moves from the file. Choice 4 - Calculate and display the rough score. Choice 6 - Go to the special menu to edit game files. Choice 7 - Get any number of moves from the file. Choice 8,9 - Removes 1 or 10 moves from the board display. Choice 0 - Go back to the Main Menu. 6.10 Game Menu - Machine Source GO GAME - Game Menu 9- Takeback 4- Score 1- Continue 0- Halt/Quit Choice ? You get to this menu if you interrupt the machine while it is playing. It can only be interrupted for a second or so right after a move has been made. 'Escape to interrupt' will be displayed. While it is being displayed, the Escape key will bring up this menu. Choice 1 - Go back and play some more. Choice 4 - Calculate and display the rough score. Choice 9 - Take back the last move. then come back here to this menu for further instructions. Choice 0 - Go back to the Main Menu. 6.11 Game Editing Menu Game Editing menu 9- Mark move number 8- Mark triangle 7- Mark diamond 6- Mark characters 5- Mark all 4- Delete some marks 3- Delete all marks 2- Edit commentary 1- Delete comment 0- Thru/return Choice ? This menu allows you to modify the file that you are playing back. You control the appearance of the display of the current move by adding the move number, a triangle or a diamond or one or two characters to the board symbol. You can also add comments to be displayed with the move. Be sure to save the file that you have modified as you exit the program. (Main Menu - Records Menu - Save Game option). Board symbols go away when the next move is displayed. Choice 1 - Deletes the comment that had been displayed with this move. Choice 2 - Allows typing in a comment which will be displayed with this move. This is not a full fledged editor, rather a limited mechanism to annotate your games. Choice 3,4 - Delete some or all of the marks that you just asked for. Use this if you have accidentally marked too many. Choice 5 - Marks all moves on the board with their number. Choice 6,7,8,9 - These choices add the appropriate symbols to the board symbol. 7.0 STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAMS GOGAME.DOC - This file which contains information and history about the game, program installation, and operating instructions. GOGAME.CFG - The Configuration file that keeps your current preferences. It will be created the fist time it is needed. GO.EXE - The program that does it all. Signs on and initializes data areas. Allows selection of White and Black players and the handicap. Provides for recording the game. Administers the actual move by move play and determines the machines next move. GO.OVR - The overlay file which is brought in memory as needed. Allows running with small memories. JOSEKI.JOS - Joseki data file. PATTERNS.DAT - Patterns data file. xxxx.GO - Files of recorded games. Pre-recorded games are mostly from recent championships and have been recorded from Go World magazine (published by Ishi Press, San Jose, California) and other sources.