MAXS Othello, written by Ari Tsironis, V0.80 28-12-93 DISCLAIMER: THIS SOFTWARE IS FREEWARE, DISTRIBUTE IT, USE IT, CRASH IT ETC. JUST DON'T MAKE ANY PROFIT FROM ITS USE. I ACCEPT NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY HARM, INJURY, OR DAMAGE, TO ANYBODY OR ANYTHING, WHETHER DIRECT, INDIRECT, OR INCIDENTAL. SYNOPSIS: Here's a BRILLIANT ;-] version of Othello for MAXS BBS boards only! It has GREAT User vs Sysop and User/Sysop vs Amiga modes, chat window, chat samples, small animations, heaps and heaps of options, etc, etc. Sheees I could go on forever, and I probably will :-] COMPATIBILITY: This door was developed on a WB2.04 A3000/040, and tested on a WB2.04 A500. Someone wanna' test it on a WB1.3 machine? INSTALLATION: What could be simpler? Wading through MAXS General after a particularly evil strike by J.Mainas? I don't think so! ;-] eg: KEY FUNCTION EXTRAS LOW HIGH PATH/FILENAME O 34 0 10 10000 DOORS:Othello/Othello DOORS:Othello/ The PATH/FILENAME contains the normal stuff to find the door, plus the argument "DOORS:Othello/", so that the door can find all of its config and data files. *NOTE* You can name the directory/path anything you want, but it must be short enough so that it and the argument fit! If this doesn't make sense then don't worry, you'll get it after a while >-] *NOTE* You must have the "/" after the argument path, otherwise this door won't run! CONFIGURATION: There SHOULD be 8 files, ALL have to be named exactly as shown, otherwise NO Othello! Othello 32612 ;Othello Door. othello.config 100 ;Othello config file. othello.doc ???? ;You're reading it, and I'm not gonna' get myself into an infinite loop :-} othello.sample 29696 ;Raw sound sample. othello.text 680 ;Help file, you're supposed to finish it :-D board.ansi 2173 ;ANSI of the Game Board. menu.ansi 1177 ;ANSI of the Menu Screen. scores.ansi 2979 ;ANSI of the High Scores Screen. Upon initial start-up, a further two files will be created by the door. scores.data 432 ;Contains 8 best scores, binary, do NOT try and modify. user.data ???? ;Grows as more users use the door, also do NOT try and modify. Well ya can try and cheat, but I hope your AMI somehow magically types "delete BBS: all" ;-] The three ANSI files are modifiable by yourself either completely or partially, depending on the file. And I suggest you do just that, otherwise you'll have a Door that looks like it's running on BBFNW, (my BBS)! board.ansi ;Colours and characters of everything are completely modifiable, but nearly everything is position dependant! eg Try moving the game grid and watch what happens :-D menu.ansi ;Everything completely modifiable, except the keys themselves. scores.ansi ;As above with board.ansi. The help file is basically blank, fill it in yourselves, or you'll have all of MAXS NET poking fun at ya! ;-] othello.text ;Completely modifiable. The Sound Sample file can be any sound file, either IFF, RAW even an executable :-D But anything other than a RAW file, will cause noise, ranging from a few farts 'n' burps all the way to a MAXS flamefest! If you don't want a sample, then delete the othello.sample file, and you'll be chatted by a "3 BELL" sonata. Size is limited to approximately 128K, NO I'm NOT writing a double buffered version, (well, do ya' really wanna' know how much I get paid per hour? ;-]) othello.sample *NOTE* Ya' need to set the sample rate in the config file! The config file, you shouldn't have to change anything in here, it's here only for the more morbid and masochistic of you. othello.config It currently contains 7 parameters, using a keyword arrangement. VARIABLE= Where VARIABLE can be in any case and is NOT position dependant. is currently an integer value. Spelling is crucial though, if you spell it wrong, then it defaults to an internal value! SAMPLE_RATE=?? ;Sample rate in Hz of your RAW sample. (100-28400) default=12500 CHAT_LINES=?? ;Number of chat lines under game board. (1-3) default=2 NO_OF_CHATS=?? ;Number of Chats one user can make. (1-10) default=3 STALEMATE_CHECK=?? ;Number of pieces left on board, before Algorithm starts looking for single and double stalemates. If you don't "get it", then leave it alone! (1-100) default=80 The next three basically control how the computer opponent works! The computer opponent uses a pretty simple weighted summation technique, to work out its next move. The three weights, (co-efficients) are the main controllers of the opponent, and thus by modifying these, you can play against an idiot or a champion! *NOTE* I haven't experimented enough myself with these values, ie play around, using trial 'n' error, if you're game! COMPUTER1=?? ;The "degrading" weight assigned to the positions surrounding the corners, and the rows/columns "just in" from the edges. ie. Most of the time you do not want to land in these positions. (1-10) default=3 COMPUTER2=?? ;The "upgrading" weight assigned to the edges. (1-10) default=2 COMPUTER3=?? ;The "upgrading" weight assigned to the rows columns "just in" from the rows/columns for COMPUTER1 above! ie COMPUTER1 could be said as having the 2nd lot of rows/columns, where the edges are the 1st, and these ones are the 3rd. (1-10) default=3 TO DO?: Hmmm, very good question! This started as a quick 'n' dirty game door specifically for MAXS, and turned into a bit of a monster. Reason being, is that there will be a whole host of "board type" games using this exact same format, eg Checkers etc. Which will become available, upon completion, at your local, friendly, neighbourhood BBS. PAYMENT: As I stated in the Disclaimer this software is Freeware, but if you regularly use or are going to regularly use this door, then I'd very much like a message in MAXS NET or KRAM NET. Feel free to complain/bitch/criticise/praise/thank/applaud etc :-] This one has hit nearly 3000 lines of code, (WOW, GOSH, HOLY SH*T, THUNDEROUS APPLAUSE :-D), so if you are gonna' use it, then I DAMN well expect payment, (in the form of a MAXS/KRAM message, of course). Ari...