rockbox/apps/plugins/othelo.txt

Introduction to Othelo
======================

Othelo is based on a popular board game.  This is by no means the first
computer port of this game - the most famous port I can name was "Reversi".

The objective is to 'capture' more squares of the board than your opponent.

Each turn you claim a single, previously unclaimed, square of the board.  But
EVERY move MUST result in the taking of at least one of your opponents
squares.

An opponents square may be captured by placing your pieces either side of it.
Either vertically, horizontally or diagonally.

The rules are mind-numbingly simple ...but, like Chess, the strategy for
regular success is far from obvious.

Further guidance on playing can be found at:
http://home.nc.rr.com/othello/strategy/midgame/
...although I would like to add that all of the AI Bots (Computer opponents)
(currently three thereof) were written by yours truly without reference to
these type of guides.


Controls
========

Othelo can be found under games->othelo from the Rockbox main menu.

At any time during play:
F1  will change the player and dreamer for the BLACK opponent
F2  will change the player and dreamer for the WHITE opponent
F3  will terminate the current game
OFF will switch off the Othelo game.  When Othelo is restarted from the menu,
         play will start with a new board.
ON  will suspend the current Othelo game.  When Othelo is restarted from the
         menu, play will continue from where it left off.

Either player may be a Human or Computer, and this may be changed at any time
during play with F1 and F2.  The current choice is indicated by an H or C
above the respective F1 and F2 buttons on the Jukebox.


Computer Advice
===============

When a Human is playing, he may select any of the AI Bots to offer advice (it
is described as the Computer "dreaming" for you).

The default advice/help level is 0 (zero) ...no advice
Bot 1 help will simply highlight all possible valid moves
Bot 2 will advise you which moves would steal the most pieces per turn
Bot 3 will offer even deeper insights about strategic positioning
Bot 4 hasn't been written yet ...watch this space

In each case a 'valid' move is displayed as a dot in the centre of the square
and a 'choice' move is highlighted with a cross.


AI Opponents
===========

There are currently three AI opponents C-1, C-2 and C-3 respectively.  Each
has it's own style of play.  Losing against one of the opponents does not
necessarily mean that you will lose against another.

It can be interesting to set both opponents to Computer mode and watch them
play against each other.


Navigation
==========

During the turn of a Human, the up, down, left and right cursor keys navigate
the board highlight in a suspiciously expected manner the chosen square.  When
the cursor is highlighting the square you wish to play in, press PLAY.  If you
have chosen an invalid move, the board will flash and you will be expected to
try again.

Button repeat _is_ enabled for navigation.

The AI opponents will pause slightly before making their move, to allow you to
see the result of your move.  If you wish to force the Computer opponent to
wait longer before playing, you may keep PLAY depressed ("keep your finger on
the piece you just played") and the Computer will make his move immediately
you remove your finger from the keypad.


Display
=======

The main board is that great big grid thing taking up most of the screen.

Above F1 and F2, on the bottom line of the screen, is the identity of each
player.  Such as:
"O:C-1" ...this means that, the player represented by the "O" graphic is a
                            [C]omputer and is controlled by AI Bot #1
"O:H-2" ...this means that, the player represented by the "O" graphic is a
                            [H]uman player, and has AI Bot #0 dreaming for him
etc.

The scores are shown toward the bottom right of the screen and the current
player has a small arrow (->) next to his name, indicating that he should
hurry up and actually make a move, today preferably ...although if the music
does run out, you can always use the ON button to suspend the game while you
go and queue up some more :)

During play the rest of the screen (the big lump on the right at the top) will
show a pointless graphic to make the screen look pretty.  When the game is
quit or finished naturally, this area will display the identity of the winner,
and a secret "end of play" message.


Source Code
===========

The source code is scruffy, but well documented.


Future Development
==================

Better AI Bots.  A perfect AI Bot is easy and you can add tolerances to it
from there (to dumb it down a bit) ...the dilemma is the vast quantity of RAM
required to run it.  So the Bots really need to be strategy and not logic
based.

Remote control support.  Save wear and tear on your Jukebox keys - that really
weren't designed with games players in mind.

Tidy code to conform to whatever complaints I get about it.


Coding standards, bugs'n'stuff
==============================

Remember, if you don't like the code ...throw it away and never look at it
again! ...Please do not tell me, I don't care.  Any complaint requiring a
response should be written on the back of notes valued at five thousand shiny
new pennies of the British realm.

On the other hand, I love getting compliments, I am pleased to hear about bugs
I can fix - although they don't tend to happen too often in my code ...go on
then find one!  If you can think of any clever short cuts I have missed or
fancy your hand at writing the next AI Bot - gimme a shout and I will explain
all there is to know about possibility lists, and perhaps even answer such
questions as "why is there only one equals sign in this IF statement" and "why
are there lines of code with question marks in them"


Greetz
======

mk, pajaco, Hardeep, DevZer0, jzoss, LinusN


Author
======

BlueChip
Yep, the lot - and right chuffed with miself too :)