E-Mail 3D Tic Tac Toe, V1.3

Help and Information

General Information

How To Play 3D Tic Tac Toe

How To Play E-Mail 3D Tic Tac Toe

Game Series

Technical support

Registration

Upgrade Policy

Distribution


General Information

Hansen Software introduces a new way to play games.  Designed specifically for two people to play by E-mail, moves are automated by the cutting and pasting of E-mail text to the Windows clipboard.  This particular game is of  the classic, Three-Dimensional Tic Tac Toe.

Hansen Software

155 E. "C" St., Suite "D"

Upland, CA  91786

74721.3027@Compuserve.com

http://members.aol.com/hansensw2

Copyright © 1997 - present, Hansen Software

  All rights reserved

Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP)

Update History


How to play 3D Tic Tac Toe

3D Tic Tac Toe is identical to ordinary "2D" Tic Tac Toe, except that it uses 4, 4x4 grids, one stacked on top of another, like this:

A "Win" is then achieved not only horizontally, vertically, and diagonally (in one plane), but also in a variety of ways up and down through the third dimension:  Straight up and down, diagonally side to side, and (as seen in the picture above) diagonally corner to corner.

In this program, the boards are laid out in 2 dimensions across the screen, therefore the user will have to visualize the boards in 3D.  It doesn't matter which (end) board is the top board, as long as they're in sequence (the end result is the same).


How to play E-mail 3D Tic Tac Toe

Playing it is much easier than it sounds, so once you've played a round, it will seem simple.   Computer veterans can probably figure it out on their own.  For others, a description is included here:

1)  Two players (each with E-mail capabilities, and each with a copy of Hansen Software's E-Mail 3D Tic Tac Toe), decide who will take the first turn.  A new game is started, with each making the appropriate selection in the "New Game" form.

2)  The first person takes his turn by clicking on the board.

3)  He then "commits" it by pressing the "Commit Move" button.  Prior to committing it, the move may be moved around.

4)  He then "sends" it to the Windows clipboard by pressing "Send Last Move to Clipboard" (it's the same button as "Commit Move", but the text on it changes).

5)  He then opens his E-mail software, creates a new E-mail to his opponent, then pastes the E-mail games text into the E-mail.  He sends the E-mail.

6)  His opponent then receives the E-mail, and copies the E-mail games text to his Windows clipboard.

7)  He (the second player) then opens his copy of E-Mail 3DTTT (if it's not already open), and presses "Play Move from Clipboard".  The first player's move then appears on the board.  It's shown in yellow so that he can better see where the incoming moves are played.

8)  He then presses his opponent's "Commit Move" button, and that changes the move to black, and then it's his turn.

9)  He then takes his turn like the first player did (#2-4), and sends his move back to the first player (like the first player did in #5).

10)  This continues back and forth until the end of the game.


Technical support

At $7.00 per copy, technical support must be very limited (the author has bills to pay...).  Hopefully, this "Help" file will explain everything well enough.  If not, or you find a "bug", or have comments or suggestions, please contact Hansen Software at 74721.3027@Compuserve.com (it's safe to assume that everyone using this program will have E-mail access).

"Bugs", if any are found, will be fixed promptly, then made available through the following sources:

Hansen Software Web site:  "http://members.aol.com/HansenSW2"

Compuserve (forum unknown at the time of this writing)

America On-line (forum unknown at the time of this writing)

Exec-PC BBS (search file areas using "HS3DT*.*")

By mail (add $3.50 for S&H).


Registration

Prior to registration (during the "trial" period), generic player names ("Home Player" and "Away Player") are used in place of where actual player names are used in the registered version.  Also, after registration, the "About" box may be set so that it does not display when the game is started.

To register E-mail Games, open the registration form (found in the "File" menu) and fill in your name and address.  Printout the form, then mail it along with a check for $7.00 (U.S.) to Hansen Software.  Within two weeks (probably sooner) you will receive the password by mail, and thanks from the author for helping to make this software possible.

Discount:  Register more than one game at a time (different games, and/or more than one copy of the same game), and deduct 20% from the total.

International orders:  To tell you the truth, I'm not sure how to handle this.  There could be differing postage rates to different countries, problems with the exchange rate, and who knows what else.  On the other hand, there's no reason why this program couldn't be used anywhere in the world (even the English language probably isn't an obstacle to its use).  To be safe, include an extra $3.00 per copy (less the discount, if applicable), and hopefully that will cover any additional expenses.  Check the Hansen Software Web site for the latest info on this.


Distribution

Hansen Software's E-Mail 3D Tic Tac Toe may be distributed freely (in its unregistered form, of course).  Distributing password information is unethical, and is against U.S. copyright law and international treaties.

When distributing, please use an original Hansen Software .ZIP file.  The latest versions may be downloaded from the Hansen Software Web site:  "http://members.aol.com/HansenSW2."

Contents of  "HS3DT13.ZIP":

HS3DT13.EXE	(3D Tic Tac Toe executable file)

HS3DT13.HLP	(This "Help" file)

THREED.VBX	(A Visual Basic "custom control" which handles the details of most 3D graphics).

CMDIALOG.VBX	(A Visual Basic custom control which handles details of selecting colors & print options).

COMMDLG.DLL	(A dynamic link library which works with CMDIALOG.VBX).

README.WRI	(A Windows "Write" file for program information prior to running).

FILE_ID.DIZ	(Used by most on-line services for file description - "Description In Zip").

VENDINFO.DIZ	(Used by many shareware vendors for automated file description and handling).

The file "VBRUN300.DLL" is also necessary to use this program, but it is not included in the .ZIP package in order to reduce file size (and therefore reduce the on-line time necessary to download it).  This file is commonly used by many software programs, so it should reside in your Windows "System" directory if it doesn't already.  It is available through virtually all on-line services.

Professional shareware vendors may distribute Hansen Software's E-mail Games without requesting permission (in its unregistered form), although notification will be appreciated.  Please do not modify the original Hansen Software .ZIP file, and please make it clear that you are distributing the software, not selling it.


The Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP)

The ASP is an association of shareware authors, publishers, and distributors.   The following statement is provided to you, the purchaser, by the ASP:

"Hansen Software is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP).  ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you.  If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help.  The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products.  Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI  49442-9427 USA, FAX 616-788-2765 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536."

(Internet address 70007.3536@Compuserve.com)

http://www.asp-shareware.org


Upgrade Policy

New versions of this program which provide minor feature enhancements or fix bugs (if any are found), may be upgraded at no extra charge, although it will be the user's responsibility to acquire them (probably by downloading from an on-line service, or from the Hansen Software Web site).

If major changes are made in the future, which raises the price of the program, then users of previous versions may upgrade for only the price difference between their version and the new one, plus a $3.00 processing fee.  To do so, fill in your (old) registration information to the "new" registration form, print it out, then mail it along with the fee (price difference + $3.00).  The new password will be E-mailed to you (or mailed, in the absence of an E-mail address).


"Game Series"

"Game Series" is this program's method of allowing the user to play more than one game at a time (3, to be exact).  If the user only plays one game at a time, then this feature would be unimportant.

It's called a "series", because within each one, you can only have one game running at a time.  Start a new game, and that ends the one in progress - - unless, you select a different game series first, in which case you can come back to the one in progress, by selecting that game series again.


Update History

V1.1

Released 2/22/97

This was the first public release of the program, and the first program using the Hansen Software E-Mail Games method of game-play.

V1.2

Released 3/1/97

1)  Fixes a problem related to the pasting of the Home Player's last move, after the Home player has won the game.

2)  Rewrites some sections of this Help file, to improve readability.

3)  Adds the "VENDINFO.DIZ" file for easier handling by shareware vendors.

V1.3

Released 3/3/97

Fixes a problem when opening the Help file by pressing "F1" (it would attempt to open the V1.1 Help file, instead of V1.2).