Checkers

Play a classic game of checkers on your palm.

Checkers v1.2

Copyright(c) 1999, Sven Boden

All Rights Reserved

Thank you for trying Checkers v1.2 for the Palm Pilot. The latest version

of this game can be found at www.palmgear.com and any of the larger palm

pilot archives. The game can be registered at www.palmgear.com

1. Installation

As with all software installations, you should back up your Palm Pilot before

installing new software. You are responsible for assuring that your pilot has

been properly backed up before installation. Ensure you have enough free memory

before attempting to install the program. Delete any previous versions of the

program before installing this release. Use the standard Pilot installer to

install the .prc to your Pilot.

2. Game play

Checkers is a pilot version of the well-known game of checkers/draughts.

It has a competent Pilot opponent. Currently it can only play checkers

by the official rules as defined by the "American Checker Federation" and

the "British Draught Federation". This means e.g. that kings can't fly and

men can only capture forward. The game supports 1 player games with a

competent opponent especially at levels 3 and 4.

The only difference between the evaluation and the registered version is that

gameboards are not saved in the former version and that the evaluation

version will expire after a while.

The exact rules that were implemented can be found at the following URLs:

http://www.mcn.net/~jimloy/rules.html

http://www.primenet.com/~krow/rules.htm

The menu options that are available:

Commands

New...

Shows a dialog that can be used to start a new game.

You can choose the player mode: You vs Pilot and Pilot vs You.

Notice that black always begins and that after the first game

is played the colors are switched every round regardless of who

has won or last.

Furthermore you can specify the strength of the computer player

here.

If you begin a new game while an old one is still in progress

this will be recorded as a draw. For the moment the counting

rule is not implemented, you're the one that determines a

draw (the pilot player will always oblige).

Statistics...

Shows statistics on the current streak of games. Who has won, lost

how many games. These numbers are only reset when you press the

reset button.

Help

About...

The mandatory about screen

3. Registration

---------------

This program is shareware. You will notice this fact whenever you start

Checkers 10 times. The shareware version won't also save your game when

you exit the program. For the rest the registered and the evaluation version

are the same.

Registration can be done by contacting PalmGear H.Q. at

www.palmgear.com

When you have registered with PalmGear H.Q. your email address and id

information will be mailed to me. I will mail you the registration info for

the MS-DOS registration program.

Allow 4 days for delivery of the key. Normally you should receive it within

48 hours, depending on the speed of processing.

You should note your registration key, as it will be required should

you wish to take advantage of future releases of the application, or if

your Pilot batteries fail.

4. Support

----------

Support for either an unregistered version or a registered

version of this product is neither offered, nor implied

in any way. However, we will do our best to answer any questions.

You are encouraged to email any problems and/or bugs to

[email protected] where registered users will be given

resolution priority.

5. Disclaimer

-------------

Users of Checkers must accept this disclaimer of warranty:

'Checkers 1.2' is supplied as is. The author disclaims all

warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation,

the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose.

The author assume no liability for loss of data, damage, direct

or consequential, which may result from the use of "Checkers 1.2".

6. History

----------

v1.2 10/07/1999: - Size reduction of 40%.

- Increase in thinking speed of 10 a 30%.

- Noticable improvement in AI module.

- Change in registration method as people found the

old way too cumbersome, and some had fear for viruses.

v1.1a 03/06/1999: - Error fixed in "copy protection". People with '.' and ','

could not be registered.

v1.1 01/06/1999: - First public release.

v1.0 10/04/1999: - First playable version.

7. Future

---------

I did not implement every feature that I thought of. What follows is a list of

not yet implemented features. Write me a mail to vote for the ones that

you think should be incorporated in a next version or if you have other

ideas for future features:

* Allow for variations of the official rules as "men can jump backwards",

"flying kings".

* Interruption: Be able to interrupt the computer player at all times. This was

not implemented yet since the computer player does not think too long.

Implementing it would make the thinking a little slower and some way of

interrupting the game would have to be devised: some sort of suspend/resume

command via the menu's.

* Undo ability: This is implemented in the game (because of the algorithm for

the computer player), but it is not visible to the user. I found it unfair

towards the pilot. He can't undo your moves, can he?

8. Contacts

-----------

e-mail: [email protected]

Copyright(c) 1999, Sven Boden

All Rights Reserved

9. Other games by the same author

---------------------------------

Connect 4:

This game can be found at the following URL:

http://www.palmgear.com/software/showsoftware.cfm?prodID=3221

It's an implementation of the "Four in a row"/"Connect 4" game

with a higly intelligent opponent.