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1995-05-24
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Help file for Oxo3d version 1.11
================================
Oxo3d is Copyright (C) Nick Craig-Wood 1995
Oxo3d is a 3 dimensional noughts-and-crosses player for the Psion 3a range of
computers.
It is supplied as two files
OXO3D.TXT - this file
OXO3D.OPA - the executable
License
=======
Oxo3d (The Software) is Copyright (C) Nick Craig-Wood 1995 (NCW) and may not
be used or copied except as in accord with the terms and conditions below.
You may NOT Make the Software available to any third party EXCEPT with these
terms and conditions imposed on said party.
You may NOT Make the Software available to any third party EXCEPT at no
benefit to yourself or any third party, excepting that benefit contained
within the Software.
You MUST make sure the Software is distributed whole, intact and unmodified,
including all the files in the original distribution.
You may NOT may not sell, hire or include the Software in a package which is
sold or hired, modify, translate, disassemble, decompile, reverse engineer,
or create derivative works based upon the Software or include whole or part
of the Software into other works.
The Software is supplied "as is", NCW makes no warranty, express or implied,
as to the merchantability or its fitness for any particular purpose. It may
or may not perform in accordance with the documentation or your expectations.
In no circumstances will NCW be liable for any damage, loss of profits,
goodwill or for any indirect or consequential loss arising out of the use of
the Software, or inability to use the Software, even if NCW has been advised
of the possibility of such loss.
These conditions supersede any prior agreement, oral or written, between you
and NCW relating to the Software.
You agree that except for written separate agreements between NCW and you,
this agreement is a complete and exclusive statement of the rights and
liabilities of the parties.
You acknowledge that you have read this agreement, that you understand this
agreement, and by loading, running or copying the Software you agree to be
bound by this agreement's terms and conditions.
Introduction
============
Oxo3d is a program to play 3 dimensional noughts-and-crosses (or
tic-tac-toe). This is a game with considerably more strategy than the more
common 3x3 version.
The very first version of this game was written 10 years ago now on a
Sinclair ZX81 in BASIC. It used to take 60 seconds to think of a move, and
it used to beat the author nearly all of the time. However computing has
moved on, and the Psion 3a version plays at a much higher strength in only 4
seconds or so. The author has improved too!
Oxo3d is written in interpreted OPL. In order to get it to run fast enough,
a complicated heuristic has been developed for the computer player. The
player does only one move of look-ahead, but even so plays well enough to
beat most people most of the time.
A 2 level look-ahead version was developed, but it took too long to play so
development concentrated on the heuristic player. In a faster language (C or
assembler) a version with look-ahead would be feasable, and would certainly
play even better.
Installing Oxo3d
================
Copy the file OXO3D.OPA to any APP directory and install it using Psion-I as
normal. (See the user guide if you are in doubt.)
This should produce an icon in the system screen (or whichever group you
installed it in).
Using Oxo3d
===========
Move the highlight in the system screen to under the Oxo3d icon and press
return. The computer will be busy for a short while and then will produce a
dialogue box as below.
+-------------------+
| New Game |
+-------------------+
| * Level Hard | - select level Hard, Medium or Easy
| * Sound On | - beep on or off
| * Go first Yes | - you first or psion first
| |
| Cancel Play | - Esc to cancel
| Esc Enter | - Enter to play
+-------------------+
This dialogue box can be shown at any time with Psion-N, or selected off the
menu as New Game.
Select your options and press Enter to start the game. The screen will clear
and a representation of the board as below will appear (see the section on
playing the game for interpretation of the board).
[ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ]
If you selected No to Go first then the psion will think for a short while
before placing its X.
You now place your O by moving the cursor around the board with the arrow
keys and pressing enter. When you do this a O will appear on the board and
the psion will think of a reply to your move, moving the cursor to the
position in which it went.
When one player or the other wins, the winning line will be highlighted and
the game will pause. To start a new game select the New Game off the menu or
press Psion-N.
To exit the game select Exit from the menu or press Psion-X.
Menus and other options
=======================
Oxo3d has a standard menu available when the menu keu is pressed. It has two
headings
+-------------------+
| Oxo 3d |
+-------------------+
| About =A | - shows the version number of Oxo3d
| Help =H | - shows help for Oxo3d (as does the help button)
| Options =O | - shows the options dialog
| New Game =N | - starts a new game
| Previous Go =P | - shows the last move made
| Exit =X | - exits Oxo3d
+-------------------+
and
+-------------------+
| Cheat |
+-------------------+
| Undo =U | - undoes the last move
| Redo =R | - redoes the last move
| Place X Shift=X | - puts an X on the board at the cursor position
| Place O Shift=O | - puts an O on the board at the cursor position
| Erase Shift=E | - puts a blank on the board at the cursor position
+-------------------+
Options
=======
When the game is running it is possible to change the options by selecting
Options off the menu or Psion-O. This will produce a dialog box
+-------------------+
| Oxo 3d Options |
+-------------------+
| * Level -Hard- | - select level Hard, Medium or Easy
| * Sound On | - beep on or off
+-------------------+
Previous Go
===========
Previous Go from the menu or Psion-P will show where the last move was. If
your press it again then it will show the move before than.
Cheating
========
Oxo3d has a comprehensive cheat system. However using any of these features
will brand you a cheat very visibly on the screen!
Other Keys
==========
Pressing the diamon button will rotate the cube (see the how to play section
for an explanation). There are 3 possible rotations and these are shown in
the diamond section in the top right of the screen.
Pressing Help will bring up some help for Oxo3d.
Pressing Ctrl-Menu will change the size of the status window at the right
hand side of the screen. This increased the size of the playing area
slightly.
How to play 3D Noughts-and-Crosses
==================================
You are O and it is your object to get 4 in a row to win the game. The Psion
takes X and it will be trying to do likewise.
The board is a 4x4x4 area arranged into a cube. Oxo3d represents that as a
board like this.
[ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ][ ][ ][ ]
Layer 1 Layer 2 Layer 3 Layer 4
Each groups of 4x4 positions represents one plane on the cube. To play the