4]------------------ 3]DOT 3]By Frans Pretorius 4]------------------ Dot is a simple game in which players try to make blocks by connecting dots on a grid. Human players may compete, and a rather talented computer player is available. The game can be started from either the Workbench, by double-clicking on its icon, or from the CLI by first CD'ing to the directory on disk which contains the game, then typing: dot . When the game is loaded, a screen will open containing various gadgets. The five gadgets on the left side of the screen -- Computer, Player 1, etc. -- allow you to select how many players get in the game by clicking on them to toggle the players ON and OFF. A minimum of two players is allowed. The large proportional gadget on the right of the screen allows you to select the grid size, from 5-by-5 to 30-by-30. For the first few games keep the setting at 5-by-5 to get familiar with the game. A note of caution: The larger the grid, the longer the computer player requires to calculate moves near the end of the game. I advise not to play the computer with grid sizes larger than about 15-by-15. Clicking on the gadget labeled Start begins the game, while Quit exits. After clicking on Start, there is a slight pause while the grid is drawn, along with some gadgets and a scoreboard. The player whose turn it is has his or her score highlighted with a green box. Each player in turn draws a line on the grid by connecting adjacent dots. Click on a dot, then click on another no more than one unit away. If a block is formed with this line, it is filled and the player gets one point and may play again. If no block is made, it is the next player's turn. The main object complete more filled boxes than your opponents. In this version of the game, all boxes which can be made are filled at the beginning of a player's turn. The game requires about 120k free chip RAM (not necessarily continuous), so if you have a limited memory situation it may be a good idea to close as many other windows as possible.