Chess Guess README.TXT file
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/___ / / /___ \__/ \__/ /___/ \_/ /___ \__/ \__/ by Max Monahan
1. DISCLAIMER:
-----------
Use this program at your own risk. I've made all reasonable
efforts to iron out any bugs but I haven't tested it on your computer.
2. INSTALLATION:
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Just unzip the ChessGes.zip file into a subdirectory of your choice;
eg to C:\Games\ChessGuess (for least inconvenience and setup)
See the Files at the end for a listing of the files involved.
The entire game should take a little more than 1 Megabyte in space.
3. System Requirements:
--------------------
A pooter with a rodent. This game runs in a DOS window. I've tested
it on a Windows 95 system. To my knowledge it doesn't run on a Windows NT
system. I don't know about Windows 98 or Windows 3.X.
4. How to Play:
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4.1 Chess Guess Basic Idea
----------------------
The basic idea of this game is to identify the 5 chess pieces on a
chessboard.
4.2 How Chess Pieces Move
---------------------
Firstly, you need to know how the chess pieces are able to move in a
game of chess. (But you won't be moving any pieces in this game.)
Skip to 4.3 if you know how to play chess.
King : Can move only 1 square but in any of 8 directions.
Rook : Can move 1 - 8 squares in a straight line either
horizontally or vertically but cannot move through
any other pieces.
Bishop: Can move 1 - 8 squares diagonally in a straight line but
cannot move through any other pieces.
Queen : Can do any move a Rook or Bishop can do.
Knight: Only piece which can move "over" other pieces. It can move
1 square horizontally followed by 2 squares vertically or
1 square vertically followed by 2 squares horizontally.
Basically it moves in an "L" shaped path.
4.3 The actions
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The game is really simple, there are basically 2 types of moves
involved.
a> Enquiring about how many pieces can attack a square:
Just click a square with the LMB (Left Mouse Button).
The number indicated in the square you just clicked indicates
how many of the 5 pieces are capable of attacking that square in
a single move. So the number will be in the range 0 to 5 with 0
meaning no pieces could possibly attack that square in a single
move and 5 meaning all the pieces are capable of attacking it.
This information helps you determine what the piece is that you
are trying to "guess". Play the game and you'll soon understand.
Each attack square selected constitutes a turn.
b> Guessing what chess piece is on which square:
Click a piece to the right of the board using the LMB. The cursor
then becomes the chess piece you selected. Move it over the square
you think it should go and click the LMB again. Simple :)
If you change your mind about this piece after selecting it,
but not placing it, you can cancel it by clicking the RMB (Right
Mouse Button) or selecting another piece with the LMB.
Each piece guess (right or wrong) constitutes a turn.
4.4 Game Types
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Classic Short : Determine where each of the 5 randomly placed
chess pieces are.
Unlimited attack selections using LMB on board.
Try to do it in as little moves or in as short
a time as possible.
EASY : 2 wrong guesses of pieces allowed
NORMAL: 1 wrong guess of piece allowed
HARD : 0 wrong guesses allowed (Best way)
Classic Long : Same as short version except there is no
indication of where the pieces have been placed.
Unlimited attack selections using LMB on board.
Try to do it in as little moves or in as short
a time as possible.
EASY : 2 wrong guesses of pieces allowed
NORMAL: 1 wrong guess of piece allowed
HARD : 0 wrong guesses allowed (Best way)
Preset Games : Consists of several concocted (not random)
situations where the 5 chess pieces are placed on
the chess board and 3 attack squares have been
revealed which give enough info to solve the level
WITHOUT guessing. No more attack selections are
allowed. (I can't guarantee there isn't more than
one solution but there is only a single preset
solution.)
Mission Impossible : Guess the 5 randomly placed pieces with NO
attack squares revealed. This game is REALLY,
REALLY hard. Here are the odds of completing it:
Odds 1/5 x 1/4 x 1/3 x 1/2 x 1/1 = 1/120
(That is, 1 chance in a 120!)
(These odds do change if playing as normal or easy.)
5. Contacting the author:
----------------------
Email: Monahan@labyrinth.net.au or M.Monahan@bom.gov.au
Home Page: http://www.oocities.org/Heartland/Woods/1386/
6. Freeware:
---------
This program is basically freeware. I'll send you the source
code if you send me the source to a game you have written using
DJGPP + Allegro. I'm just learning to program in C so any source
code is greatfully received. I don't guarantee this program is at
all well written, in fact I'd probably say it is poorly written
seeing as this is my first project in C. If you do acquire
the source code and make any changes I want to know about it.
If you like my program (or hate it) please drop me an Email.
See section 5 for an Email address or home page URL.
7. Credits:
--------
Programming Tools:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DJGPP (thanks to D.J.Delorie et al)
Allegro Library (thanks to Shawn Hargreaves et al)
upx for compression (Markus Oberhumer & Laszlo Molnar)
BGui Allegro addon for the GUI routines (Dan Huizenga et al)
Programming:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max Monahan (me)
Thanks also go to the Allegro Mailing List
Graphics Tools:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Corel Depth
Corel Photopaint
Povray : V.Saari's chess board scene I've modified
Paint Shop Pro
BetaTesters:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Me
David Monahan
Jeff Monahan
Shannon Monahan
Melissa Monahan
Samantha Monahan
David Sykes
8. Rating:
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This program is rated G for general audience. The "pawn" was
taken out of this game to avoid the XXX rating.
9. Screen dump:
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If you would like to take a snapshot of a screen while
playing then press the "F12" key and it will save it
to a file "chessave.pcx" in your Chess Guess directory
(if you started the game in the ChessGuess directory or
ran the bat file to start the game, ensuring that any
bat file does a cd to the main ChessGuess dir before
starting the game ).
The file may be placed on the desktop if you haven't cd'd
to main chessguess directory before running the game.
You could then print it out and pass the puzzle on to
someone or work it out on paper later.
10. Requests:
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Additional features or Bug Reports are invited. Please don't ask me to
turn it into a fully fledged chess game as I don't have the inclination
or the know-how to write one.
Additional features: More game types eg: "Zero In" : Given the 5 unknown
pieces and no attack numbers revealed try to select
as many squares as possible which will have an attack
count of zero. The game ends when any non-zero value
is selected, or all zeroes have been guessed.
. In-game chess piece movement tuition.
. Variations on the preset games.
. Chess piece animations.
. Top ten score saver.
. Optional chess piece graphics and board.
. Isometric view.
. 3D version with rotatable view (I wish).
. Preset game editor.
. Windows (winallegro) version.
11. Frames Per Second Count:
------------------------
Run the program with -cheat to display the frames per second in the
top left hand corner or toggle it on and off in the game using F10.
12. Files:
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README.TXT (If this file is missing you're not reading this)
ChessGes.dat Datafile (Sound,Graphics)
ChessGes.exe The Chess Guess program
ChessGes.ico icon for Chess Guess (256 cols?)
ChessGuess.PIF It's a pif file of course!
ChessGes.bat It starts Chess Guess after cd'ing to ChessGuess dir
ChessGes.h Header files
ChessGes.c Source code (may not be in distribution)
ChessGes.pcx Saved screen dump pcx file if you pressed F12 in the game
No chess pieces were harmed in the making of this game!
Enjoy,
Max