/NSIGNON /C Version 3.1 (gogame31) ----------------------------------------------- | | | GO | | V3.1 | | Copyright 1990 TMW Co 6/90 | ----------------------------------------------- Choose: 7 - History of the Game 9- Structure of this Program 1 - Qualities of this Program 6- Operating Details 0 - Play GO 3- Operating Summary Shareware If you want telephone support or if you merely want to show your appreciation: Register by sending your comments/critique/suggestions and $20 to the author: TMW Co 1361 Eastside Rd. El Cajon, Cal 92020-1420 You are encouraged to pass this program on to others. /Q /NDETAILS /C 6/1/90 OPERATING DETAILS Initial Menu Certain choices are available only until a game has been started: Choice 5 - Change the directory where games are stored. The default is .\gam. ( Directory GAM below where the game itself is ) Choice 2 - Enter data about this game that will be stored with it. Data includes the date, the participants, the location, etc. This data will be displayed when the game is later recalled. Choice 4 - Prepare to save this game. The program will add the extent .gam to the file name that you give. Choice 9 - Assign the handicap that will given to Black at the start of the game. It may range from 2 through 9. One oft used convention is that the handicap should change by 1 whenever one side or the other wins three games in a row. /P /C Operating details - cont The following choices are always available, even after the game has been started. Choice 7 and 8 - These allow the designation of the source of the White and Black moves. A subsequent menu allows selection of: A human player or The program/machine or A previous file or The previous game (TempHist.gam) A previously recorded file or the last game is chosen from those files listed in GAME.LST; and can be played back as far as you want, even to the end of the recording/file. Then you will have to come back here, to the Initial Menu, to designate how to continue the game - either with human players or the machine or some combination. Choice 6 - Forget the whole thing and start everything over. Choice 1 - Start/resume play. This is the main path to the playing venue. Here you start or continue playing the game. Choice 0 - Quit. Back to DOS. /P /C Operating details - cont. The playing field: If playing back from a recorded file, you can play one move at a time, and savor it, or you can play 10 or any number of moves. To get to the end of the file, ask for a large number - say 300 moves. Every few moves, the program recalculates who is leading and by how much. You can also Halt/Quit back to the Initial menu. If manually playing, you have the following choices: Choice 9 - Take back the last move I made. If the machine has made a move in the meantime, take it back first, then mine. Choice 8 - Show me the Joseki (conventional, balanced) choices from the present situation in each of the corners. Choice 7 - Enter the desired move by typing in the location - 'A15'. /P /C Operating details - cont Choice 5 - Enter a Pass. You may Pass at any time. When both sides pass, the game is over. Choice 3 - The machine will enter a random move for you. Choice 2 - The machine will calculate the best moves and show you the top 5 candidates. The higher points, the better (In the opinion of the program!) Choice 1 - Signify that you intend to enter the move using the cursor directional keys. 'Return' when at the right place. Moving the mouse has the same effect. Press the left button when at the right place. Choice 0 - Here to Halt/Quit back to the Initial menu. /P /Q /NSTRUCTURE /C 6/1/90 STRUCTURE of this set of programs: GO.EXE - The program that does it all. Supplies these introductory remarks and initializes data areas. Allows selection of White and Black players and the handicap. Provides for recording the game. Administers the actual move by move play and determines the machines next move. JOSEKI.JOS - Joseki data file. PATTERNS.DAT - Patterns data file. xxxx.GAM - Files of recorded games. Pre-recorded games are mostly from recent championships. GAME.LST - Names of files of recorded games. Created by GAMELIST.BAT. The program uses character graphics and should be usable on color or monochrome systems without special graphics hardware. Commentary may be edited into game files. Use a non-document mode editor and start in column 10. /P /Q /NHISTORY /C Brief HISTORY of the game: Ancient, ancient two player board game which takes simple elements- line and circle, black and white, stone and wood - combines them with simple rules and generates subtelties which have enthralled players for millennia. Originated in China a few thousand years B.C. Brought to Japan in our Middle Ages. GO is now very popular there. Most of the current champions are Japanese. The playing area (go-ban) consists of 19 by 19 lines (the limit of human comprehension). White and black stones (ishi) are alternately placed on the intersections of the lines. Once placed, the stones stay put, unless they are captured by being surrounded. The object of the game is to surround and control vacant territory. Try for too much territory and your opponent may live within it. Try for too little and you end up with too little. The game is over when there is nothing more to be gained by either side. At this time, the side with the most vacant space (eyes) within its control - wins. /P /Q /NOPERATION /C OPERATING SUMMARY: This program is largely menu directed, and most of the choices should be self evident. The numeric keypad is used to make menu choices and to point to where you want to move. The directional arrow keys may be used to designate where you want to place the next stone. Microsoft, LOGITECH and compatible mice are also supported for designating where you want to move. Multiple digit numeric input needs numeric mode and a carriage return, as expected. Recorded games (extent .GAM) are expected in a \gam directory under the current directory that the game program is running in. You may change this from the Initial menu (Choice 5). Run GAMELIST.BAT to create or update the list of available recorded games. It will build a list of games in the game directory designated above. This is needed to allow choosing which to play back. /P /C Operation - cont.... You may ask the machine to show you some suggestions when it is your turn to play. Similarly, you may ask to see any Joseki (conventional balanced moves) applicable to the particular corner position on the board. When the machine is playing, it may be interrupted only while the "Any key to interrupt" message is displayed. Some interesting displays are available under Debug mode. (Initial menu - choice 3.) Debug mode may be toggled ON or OFF and a log of what the program is seeing may also be turned ON or OFF. A while "Wait" is displayed will pause things. Any key restarts. When you Quit the program, the current game is always saved as "TempHist.gam". Starting up again where you left off is a matter of selecting "Continue last game" when designating where the Black or White moves are to come from. /P /Q /NQUALITIES /C The QUALITIES of this Program: This program is an excellent learning mechanism. Analysis of professional games and your own games is the key to improving your play. White and Black may be played by human players or may be played by the machine or may be played back from a prerecorded file. You may change this assignment whenever you wish; taking over from the machine or from a recorded file. You take over by choosing (in the Initial Menu) a new source of Black or White moves. You may change to a player or to the machine. You cannot start playing back a file other than from the beginning. A game may also be recorded as it is played. Human players may choose to take back a move. If playing against the machine, its last move is taken back, before the players last move is taken back. /P /C Qualities - cont.. The moves that the machine makes are better than random moves. Corner Joseki is played, after which the sides are staked out in a reasonable way. The machine will probably capture if it can and will avoid capture if it can. It does not look ahead very far as yet. It is strongly influence oriented. Detecting the end of productive play is very difficult, and the machine doesnt do it very well yet, although it will eventually Pass. Speed. Presently, the machine takes about one minute for a move when there are about 100 stones on the board. This is on an AT class machine. Total elapsed time taken by each color is displayed after each move. /P /Q