* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * TRIKTRAK v 1.0 ------ Written in M2Amiga Modula-2 by Walter Verbrugge * * - This program was tested on an A1200 (WB 3.0) and an A500 (WB 1.3) - * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * INTRODUCTION ~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a shortened translation of the Dutch manual, because you English speaking guys are more familiar with Backgammon and may not even bother to try Triktrak. Both games are similar (same board, same number of men) but the rules ARE different. This English manual is shorter because I left out everything I thought was unnecessary. I just translated the important stuff. Here are a few terms I have used to describe the game. They may not be correct, but I don't know the English backgammon terms. You're always welcome to correct my mistakes by writing to me on the address listed below. MAN/MEN : The pieces (stones) you move on te board. I believe that's how they are called in the game of checkers. WEDGE(S) : The triangles on the board on which you place your men. There are twenty-four wedges in total. SHAMBLES : (Literally translated from Dutch.) This is the vertical bar dividing the board in two halves. It's used to place the captured men on. TRIKTRAK ~~~~~~~~ Instead of me explaining all the details I suggest you run the program and do the following: Click on the cycle gadget until you read: DEMO! Click on the START button. The computer will play against itself, so you can figure out how the game is played. If you think: "We don't play backgammon like that!" Indeed, you don't! But we play Triktrak like that. Maybe you want to give it a try. HOW TO WIN ~~~~~~~~~~ As in backgammon, the goal of Triktrak is to remove all your men from the board. First you move them from their starting position to the last of the four compartments with the help of the dice. When the lot (15 of them) have arrived in that compartment, you can start removing them. It should be clear how, just by watching the demo. I believe the rules are less stringent than for backgammon, at least as far as removing your men is concerned. The first player to have taken all 15 of his men off the board is the winner. RULES OF TRIKTRAK ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ After rolling the dice, you MUST use the lowest die first. E.g. if you throw a 5 and a 2, you have to advance one of your men 2 wedges first and then you can move the same or another man 5 wedges. If the first move (2) isn't possible, you also lose the second (5). If you throw a 1 and a 2, you are very lucky. You get the following sequence of moves: 1-1-2-2-5-5-6-6. So eight moves! This is called a 'triktrak' and is the best possible throw. If you thow a 'double' (e.g. 4 and 4) you get the two fours first and then you get the number of points on the opposite side of the dice. The total is always seven, so if you throw 4 and 4 you also get 3 and 3. If you throw 1 and 1 you also get 6 and 6. If you have finished your move or you can't move, it's the next player's turn, unless you've just thrown a triktrak or a double. After a triktrak or double you always get to throw again, whether you could move any of your men or not. You MUST check whether you can use both dice! If you make the second move impossible with your first move, the computer won't allow it, unless the second move is impossible no matter what you do. If both dice can be used, the computer won't accept anything else. So if the computer refuses your intended move, it probably isn't a bug in the program, but a false move! You can place as many men as you like on a wedge. All 15 if you want to. If a wedge contains 2 or more men of a player, his opponent can't put one of his men on that wedge. It's considered occupied. If however you only have one man on a particular wedge, your opponent may capture that man by placing one or more of his men on the same wedge (if the dice allow it, of course). The captured man will be placed on the 'shambles'. If you have one or more men on the shambles, they MUST be moved back into the game before you can move any other men. If moving a man off the shambles is impossible, you lose your entire throw. Again: if you just threw a triktrak or a double, you may try again. PLAYING TRIKTRAK ON YOUR AMIGA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the program is started, you should see the board in its initial set-up. You'll only see 3 white and black men, but the number 5 written on them means, as you guessed, that there are 3 piles of 5 men. Anytime there's a pile (more than 3 men on a wedge) a digit will appear on at least one of them. Screen gadgets: although there's no drag bar or depth gadget, you can still use these 'intuition' functions by clicking/dragging in the right place. *** The MODE button *** Before you start a game you should select the desired mode with the cycle gadget. There are four options: WHITE : You play with the white men against your Amiga. You throw first. BLACK : You play with the black men against your Amiga. Ami throws first. 2 PL. : Two human players will compete. Ami just checks if the rules of the game are respected. DEMO! : The Amiga plays against itself. You might fancy a bet with a friend! Click in the cycle gadget until you can read the desired mode in it. While a game is on, this gadget is disabled. To change modes you must either finish or abort the current game. *** The START/STOP button *** Once you have selected the desired mode, click on START to start the game. This button will then contain the text STOP. It can be used to abort the current game. There won't be a requester asking for confirmation however, so be careful. *** The QUIT button *** This button replaces the close gadget of a normal intuition window. If you click on it, the game will be removed from memory. No requester, so watch out. It may take a little while before the STOP or QUIT buttons react to your clicking. Don't worry. They WILL once the computer has finished with what it was doing. There's absolutely no need to click here repeatedly. Just be patient for a few seconds if necessary. *** The dice *** Both dice are buttons. You roll the dice by clicking on them. They'll stop rolling automatically. If you're not supposed to roll the dice, they'll be disabled. *** The display gadget *** The second button isn't really a button at all. Clicking on it is useless. It just displays some information to let the players know what's happening or what they're supposed to do next. You can see the following text here: §§§§§§§§ : Waiting for you to select the desired mode and click on START. ######## : Waiting for you to click on a die. These characters are displayed in the colour of the player who's supposed to throw the dice. So are the dice, by the way. So the colour is either black or white. ******** : Means the dice are rolling. Just ignore this, because you'll see the dice rolling, obviously. ???????? : Means the computer is checking whether moving is possible. You must wait until these question marks disappear before you can make your move. If it's Ami's turn to play, she's also calculating which moves she considers best. Just wait and see. -------- : Means moving is impossible. The screen will also blink once. Now it's the next player's turn to play, unless you just threw a triktrak or a double. In that case you get to throw again. 11225566 : Shows the sequence of moves. In this case the player just threw a triktrak! Of course, depending on the throw, this can also be 5522---- or 46------ or something similar. The digits are displayed in the colour of the current player. The current move is coloured differently. So you won't lose track! *** THROWING and MOVING *** When the computer is playing, everything will be done automatically. When it's your turn to play, you need to throw the dice first. Just click on one of them and wait for them to stop rolling. Now the computer will check whether you can move at all. If you can't, the display gadget will contain -------- and the screen will blink. If so, the next player steps in (unless you threw a triktrak or a double). If moving is possible, the wedges on the board will serve as buttons. Click on the wedge containing the man you want to move. The man will be moved automatically to its destination wedge (if possible or valid). If the computer refuses your move, you either clicked on a wedge NOT containing one of your men, OR the man there can't be moved, OR the move is invalid because it would prevent your next move (as I explained: you must play all your moves if possible). If you've got one or more men on the 'shambles' the computer will place these men back on the board for you. You never need to click on the shambles. This is always automatic. *** WON !!! *** You know how a game of Triktrak is won. When a game is over, the shambles will contain the following text: either 'WHITE WINS' or 'BLACK WINS'. Now you can either start a new game (and maybe select a new mode first) or decide to quit. THE COMPUTER'S LEVEL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There's only one level. I just tried to make the Amiga as strong as I was capable of. I hope that's good enough for you. Thanks for reading this manual and playing the game. Enjoy! THE AUTHOR ~~~~~~~~~~ If you find bugs or want to ask or tell me something, write to: Walter Verbrugge Markegemstraat 136 B-8720 Wakken BELGIUM - EUROPE Fido: 2:292/603.34 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ___ \ / \ / __ ___ * * / \ \ /\ / /\ \ / |_ |_ * * ( C ) \/ \/ /~~\ \/ |__ | reeware * * \___/ ---- Walter Verbrugge -------------- * * ----------------------- 2:292/603.34 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *