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Text File | 1994-01-09 | 30.6 KB | 576 lines

DYNAMO DRAUGHTS ----------------- Welcome to DYNAMO DRAUGHTS! The aim of this program is to introduce the CONTINENTAL version of draughts to the UK/USA, and hopefully get people interested in this game. DRAUGHTS has always suffered in comparison with CHESS - this is a great shame, as both the ENGLISH 8 by 8 and the CONTINENTAL 10 by 10 are very subtle and complex games - indeed the 10x10 game aurguably offers more permutations than CHESS, and is very highly regarded in Europe. Please give the SHAREWARE version to your friends - it is limited to 10 seconds maximum move time, but you will need to be a good player to beat it! Tests show that DYNAMO is at least as strong as DAMOCLES, the worlds strongest 10x10 program, proing that DYNAMO is one of the best in the world! Note how powerful the sweeping kings are in the continental game - the side that gets an early king usually has a decisive advantage. One rule that throws beginners is the one that stipulates that you MUST jump the maximum number of opponents, when given a choice. This is necessary to enable the winning side to force some of the endgames - you will get the idea when you are on the recieving end of the computers shots! If you ever find yourself unable to make a move, don't blame the program - you are probably trying to make an illegal move! You can hit F1 to display all possible moves. DYNAMO can also play the SPANISH, POOL, and RUSSIAN variants of draughts - see below for details on these games. The ENGLISH version of draughts is implemented in our BLITZ and SAGE programs - see our adverts at the end of this document for details. We now also supply special PROFESSIONAL editions of DYNAMO, SAGE and DAMA ITALIANA - again see the end of this document. Installing DYNAMO DRAUGHTS on WINDOWS. -------------------------------------- To install DYNAMO DRAUGHTS to run under windows, follow these steps:- 1) Run windows, and select the GAMES group. 2) Hold the ALT key down, and double-click the mouse at an empty position where you want DYNAMO DRAUGHTS to appear. 3) The cursor will be in the DESCRIPTION box - type the name of the program - ie. DYNAMO DRAUGHTS. 4) Now click the cursor on the COMMAND LINE box, and enter the path for DYNAMO DRAUGHTS - ie. C:\DYNAMO\DYNA63.EXE - if in doubt, use the BROWSE option. 5) Now click on the CHANGE ICON box - you will be asked to select an icon from the Program Manager. Click OK on that, then enter the path for DYNAMO DRAUGHTS - ie. C:\DYNAMO\DYNAMO.ICO or use browse again. 6) Click on OK, and you are ready to go! (SHAREWARE VERSION USERS NOTE - MANY FEATURES DISCUSSED HERE ARE NOT AVAILABLE ON THE SHARE VERSION - YOU NEED TO BUY THE FULL VERSION FOR THESE FEATURES) COMMAND SUMMARY --------------- When playing, move your cursor by using the numbers around the '5' on the numeric keypad and hit RETURN to select piece. Think of the keypad as a compass, with the numbers around the central '5' steering you in a given direction - ie. the '7' key moves you up-left. If the piece you select is able to move in more than one direction, you will then need to select a direction key (1,3,7,9). KING moves may require you to select a DESTINATION square, and hit RETURN. If you have a MOUSE you can simply click the left button on source and destination squares. You can use the right mouse-button to get pull-down menus. To abort the computers thinking, hit the ESC key ONCE, or hit CTRL-F to force an early move. ESC - Abort back to main menu. -,+ - Alter average response time in seconds. (Zero for EASYMODE) F1 - Show moves, ie. all of your movable pieces. F2 - Make me take your go - so that you swap sides with computer. F3 - Auto-play. (Hit ESC to end) F5 - Toggle Two-player/Setup mode on/off - Allows moves without comp reply. F6 - Invert board, so that BLACK is at bottom. F7 - Switch sound on/off. F9 - Kills flashing cursor. m - Toggle a different colour set-up. u - Undo a move. v - View (load and replay) a game file from disk. . - Display board numbering. CTRL-B - Toggles the Computers Best line of play THINK-DISPLAY on/off. CTRL-I - Invert square colours. CTRL-N - Toggle to algebraic CHESS notation, or back to numbers. CTRL-K - Invert notation, ie. change A1 from bot left to top right. The above 2 commands are useful because there are so many different systems for numbering moves worldwide. EXTRA commands on FULL NON-SHAREWARE VERSION... F4 - Change IQ (Only used if TIME is zero) WARNING - very high IQ's can take forever! Generally you should set a target response time. s - Save current game to disk. Enter a filename when prompted. l - Load a game from disk. Enter a filename when prompted. (have a look on the disk for .E demo files to load) o - Output game moves to screen, printer or text-file (Pro ver). CTRL-J - Toggles display of full jump-moves on output-game. CTRL-P - Print a board position. (PRO version) CTRL-O - Output control codes to printer. (PRO version) r - Replay game - hit SPACE next move, ESC to abort (and play on..) or +/- for forwards/backwards, HOME/END for game start/finish. c - Change/Enter Game-comment text. POSITION EDIT commands.. x - Exchange side to play for EDIT. (use F2 to swap sides with comp) & - (SHIFT-7) Clears the whole board. e,k,w,b,W,B - Set current square to empty/killed/white/black Man/K. To use the above commands, move the CURSOR to the square you want to edit, and hit e/k/w/b/W/B. When you KILL a square it becomes non-playable - ie. for novelty board shapes, etc. NOTE - when you edit the board, you lose stored moves up to that point - ie. the board becomes a new START POSITION. PLAYING THE GAME ---------------- +--------------------+ Black side, moving down.. |:: 1:: 2:: 3:: 4:: 5| | 6:: 7:: 8:: 9::10::| |::11::12::13::14::15| |16::17::18::19::20::| |::21::22::23::24::25| |26::27::28::29::30::| |::31::32::33::34::35| |36::37::38::39::40::| |::41::42::43::44::45| |46::47::48::49::50::| +--------------------+ White side, moving up. INTERNATIONAL DRAUGHTS is traditionally played on the BLACK squares of a 10 by 10 board - DYNAMO can re-size the board, but for clarity let us discuss the INTERNATIONAL game. The squares are numbered from 1 (top left) to 50 (bot right), with black men on squares 1-20 and white on squares 31-50. Men can move diagonally forward 1 step onto empty squares, or jump over and capture an adjacent opponent's piece IN ANY DIRECTION, if there's a clear space immediately behind it - Note that men can leap BACKWARDS, unlike the ENGLISH game. One VERY important rule - IF YOU CAN JUMP, YOU MUST! If, after jumping, the same piece can make futher leaps - IT MUST DO SO. Futhermore, if you have an option of more than one series of jumps, YOU MUST TAKE THE OPTION(S) THAT CAPTURES THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PIECES! When a man reaches the top row of the board, it becomes a KING. In European draughts, Kings can sweep ANY distance along a diagonal, rather like BISHOPS in chess. Futhermore they can leap an opponent, land on ANY space beyond, and then make futher leaps - in a different direction if necessary. You are still forced to make moves that jump the MAXIMUM number of opponents! This is critical, since the One final rule - a man is not crowned until the END of a multijump sequence - ie. a man can leap into and then backwards out of the KING ROW without being crowned - it is only crowned if it finally comes to rest on the king row. The best way to get to grips with the rules, and get the feel of the game is to look at some actual play - you can try setting up and replaying the following games on DYNAMO - either by entering the position & moves yourself with the F5 keys or position edit functions, or simply loading the game file - I have left given sample games on the disk. To understand the nature of 10x10 draughts, you need to look at the nature of the pieces. Notice how powerful the kings are in the game - as a very rough guide, you can say that your first king is worth 3 men, although this can vary widely, depending on how your opponent is positioned. For instance, if both sides have a king, subsequent kings are worth a lot less. It is also important to note that even if one side is reduced to only 1 king, the opponent will generally need 4 kings to trap it and force a win - although sometime he can do it with 3. For this reason, it is generally considered important to get the first king - then, unless you opponent is able to quickly recapture it or break through himself, he will lose. This consideration of kings gives us clues on how to play the opening and mid-game with the men. Your prime objective is to prevent your opponent breaking through for a king - however, since men can jump backwards, this does liberate you from having to keep large forces on the back rank - an advanced man can still prevent the enemy sneaking around the back of him. On the other hand, it is not desirable to push pieces to far forward too early - an isolated man that is too far advanced can often be lost early on. As a rule of thumb, try to keep your forces centralised in an effective block of pieces, rather than broken up into scattered men - large blocks of pieces are more immune to enemy traps and shots, and can be used to engineer your own shots. The concept of traps and shots is very important in all the variants of Draughts - the fact that you MUST jump, and jump the MOST, make these powerful weapons. Even if your enemy doesn't walk directly into your trap, you can often use a long-standing threat of a trap to force your opponent into making weak moves. Let us consider some real play - perhaps first we should look at some shots - here are some I have encountered when playing DYNAMO myself. They domonstrate the importance of tactics in this game. (to see this game, VIEW (load & replay) the file AUTHOR2.E) Me (white) vs Dynamo PRO version 6.3 (black, 5 seconds a move) Dec 1993 1. 32-28 17-21 2. 37-32 21-26 3. 41-37 19-23 4. 28-19 14-23 5. 33-28 13-19 6. 46-41 10-14 7. 34-30 8-13 8. 30-25 20-24 9. 39-33 2-8 10. 43-39 5-10 11. 49-43 12-17 12. 31-27 17-21 13. 39-34 ... forms diagram position below.. +------------------------------+ |::: x ::: ::: x ::: x ::: | x = Black men moving down. | x ::: x ::: x ::: x ::: x :::| |::: x ::: ::: x ::: x ::: x | | x ::: ::: x ::: x ::: :::| |::: x ::: ::: x ::: x ::: o | | x ::: o ::: o ::: ::: :::| |::: ::: o ::: o ::: o ::: o | | o ::: o ::: o ::: ::: o :::| |::: o ::: o ::: o ::: o ::: o | | ::: o ::: o ::: ::: o :::| o = White men moving up. +------------------------------+ Consider this position, with Black to move and win - Dynamo suprised me with this shot! 13. ... 26-31!! 14. 37-17 11-31 15. 36-27 16-21 16. 27-16 18-22 17. 28-17 24-30 18. 35-24 19-46 19. 47-41 46-11 20. 38-33 11-39 21. 43-34 and black has a winning advantage in material. Here is a game I played against a much earlier version of DYNAMO running on a humble 386 computer at 3 seconds a move. This shows that you don't need fancy hardware to get a good game from DYNAMO! (to see this game, VIEW (load & replay) the file AUTHOR.E) Me (white) vs DYNAMO 4.6 (black). Feb 1993. 1. 32-28 17-21 2. 37-32 11-17 3. 34-30 21-26 4. 41-37 6-11 5. 30-25 20-24 6. 31-27 17-21 7. 46-41 18-23 8. 40-34 13-18 9. 34-30 11-17 10. 28-22 17-28 11. 33-13 9-18 12. 38-33 forms this diagram.. +------------------------------+ |::: x ::: x ::: x ::: x ::: x | x = Black | ::: x ::: x ::: ::: x :::| |::: ::: x ::: ::: x ::: x | | x ::: ::: x ::: x ::: :::| |::: x ::: ::: x ::: x ::: o | | x ::: o ::: ::: ::: o :::| |::: ::: o ::: o ::: ::: o | | o ::: o ::: ::: o ::: :::| |::: o ::: o ::: o ::: o ::: o | | ::: o ::: o ::: o ::: o :::| o = White +------------------------------+ Black to move and win - can you see it? 12 ... 14-20! 13. 25-14 23-28 14. 33-13 26-31 15. 37-17 12-21 16. 14-23 8-46 17. 30-19 46-14 18. 27-22 and DYNAMO has a substantial material advantage. Here is another very interesting game, sent to me by a corrospondent, played by DYNAMO PRO against a very strong Dutch program called TRUUS, recognised as the worlds strogest program. The games were played with both programs running on a 386sx25 computer, at about 18 seconds per move. Ideally, for serious play, one should use a 486 at about 30 seconds per move - a 386sx25 at 18 seconds per move is the same as a 486sx33 at about only 4 seconds per move! Even so, you still get an idea of relative program strength at this level, although the play below is far from perfect. I am not claiming that DYNAMO beats TRUUS every time - it has lost many games as well - however this proves that DYNAMO can hack it with the very best! This game illustrates some interesting points in the 10x10 game - note how DYNAMO gets a man through to square 25 early, and this holds an 'elbow' of black men at 20,14 & 10. You will often see this sort 'clamp' in draughts, and it is one of the occasions when it is justified to put a piece on the side - if it ties up your opponents pieces in some way. DYNAMO is able to exploit this and is eventually able to engineer a shot that removes the man at 14, so that his man at 25 can jump to square 5 and crown as a king. This also illustrates the difficulty in accessing the exact worth of a king - DYNAMO sacrificed 2 men to make the king, and the sacrifice proved worthwhile in the end, as TRUUS was not able to counter-sacrifice and make his own king in a satisfactory way. (To see this game VIEW (load and replay) the file DVT.E) Dynamo v6.3 PRO (White) versus TRUUS (Black) 1. 32-28 19-23 2. 28-19 14-23 3. 37-32 10-14 4. 34-30 5-10 5. 30-25 17-21 6. 41-37 21-27 7. 32-21 16-27 8. 31-22 18-27 9. 40-34 13-18 10. 35-30 8-13 11. 46-41 12-17 12. 37-32 7-12 13. 32-21 17-26 14. 41-37 2-8 15. 45-40 11-16 16. 50-45 6-11 17. 40-35 11-17 18. 37-32 17-21 19. 33-29 21-27 20. 32-21 26-17 21. 30-24 23-28 22. 38-33 17-21 23. 33-22 18-27 24. 42-37 12-18 25. 37-31 21-26 26. 31-22 18-27 27. 39-33 16-21 28. 34-30 8-12 29. 24-19 14-34 30. 25-5 34-25 31. 35-30 25-34 32. 36-31 27-36 33. 33-29 34-23 34. 5-16 13-19 35. 44-39 9-13 36. 48-42 19-23 37. 39-33 4-9 38. 16-38 12-18 39. 42-37 13-19 40. 45-40 9-13 41. 40-34 18-22 42. 38-32 13-18 43. 43-38 3-9 44. 34-30 22-27 45. 32-16 15-20 46. 30-24 19-30 47. 16-32 30-35 48. 32-3 35-40 49. 3-25 40-45 50. 25-14 36-41 51. 47-36 26-31 52. 36-27 18-22 53. 27-18 45-50 54. 14-28 50-45 55. 28-11 45-43 56. 49-38 1-7 57. 33-28 7-11 58. 38-32 11-16 59. 32-27 and DYNAMO wins. SPANISH, AMERICAN POOL and RUSSIAN games ---------------------------------------- Ok, having covered the 10x10 INTERNATIONAL draughts game, we shall look at the other games that can be played by DYNAMO. You select these games from the TITLE screen of DYNAMO, with the F7 key. Now all these games have the powerful sweeping kings from the INTERNATIONAL game, so a lot of the tactics discussed above will also apply to these games, although some of the rule differences affect strategy. Also the smaller 8x8 board changes the nature of the game - it is generally necessary to keep some men back on the back rank as a defensive measure. The SPANISH game is played on an 8x8 board, with one unusual feature: the long diagonal runs from bottom right to top left - ie. the board is 'inverted'. While this looks unusual, historically this setup is the original. The other difference in SPANISH draughts is that men are not allowed to make backward jumps. In other respects the game is the same as European (International) Draughts, ie. kings sweep diagonals, and you are obliged to take the maximum number of pieces. Just as a little sample, here is a game of SPANISH draughts illustrating a neat little trap. Note how the 17-13 move forces the advantage - all captures are compulsory! Once black has that early king, white is powerless. You can play this game on DYNAMO by using two-player mode (Hit F5). 10-14, 22-18, 12-15, 23-20, 5-10, 27-22, 1-5, 20-16, 14-19, 21-17, 10-14, 25-21, 5-10, 30-27, 7-12, 16-7, 3-12, 27-23, 12-16?, 17-13!,10-17, 23-20, 16-23, 24-20, 15-24, 22-15, 11-20, 28-19-10-3=K.. for black win. The POOL DRAUGHTS game is played on a normal 8x8 board. The game is popular in the USA, and gets its curious name from POLISH draughts - POOL is a corruption of this! In this game you are NOT obliged to take the route that jumps the maximum number of pieces - you have a free choice. However you are still forced to jump when you can, and kings may NOT pass-up jumps in a multi-jump sequence by landing on 'quiet' squares - they must take all opportunities until the sequence is over. This rule is easier to see than describe - try it out! There is a special opening book supplied with the PRO version of DYNAMO for pool, see POOLBOOK.DOC on the disk. The board is numbered in the same way as the ENGLISH game - however the strategy is rather different. Again, limited space prevents further analysis of this fine game, but you will find DYNAMO a mean opponent! Here are a number of demonstration games, showing interesting tactical traps.. (VIEW games GAME01.POL, GAME02.POL..upto GAME10.POL on disk) 1>11-16 23-18 16-20 24-19 8-11? A natural looking move, but a loser. 19-15! 10-19 27-24 20-27 31-8 4-11 18-14 9-18 22-8 and White gets a king and wins. 2>9-14 22-18 6-9 26-22 12-16 24-19? 9-13! 18-9 5-14 19-12 14-17 21-14 10-19 and Black is a piece up. 3>11-15 23-18 8-11 26-23 9-13 23-19 4-8? Beware of moving back men - you may offer your opponent a king! 19-16! 12-19 18-14 10-26 30-16 11-20 21-17 13-22 25-4 and White wins. 4>11-15 23-19 8-11 22-17 9-14 27-23 15-18 32-27? 12-16! 19-12 10-15 17-19 11-16 23-14 16-32 and Black wins. 5>10-15, 23-18,12-16,21-17,16-19,17-14,8-12? This move loses to this tactical exchange : 22-17!,15x13,24x8,9x18, 26-22, 4x11,22x8, and now Black must give a piece to stop the king 7-11,8x15 and White, a piece up, should win. 6>11-16,24-19,8-11,22-18,10-14,25-22,6-10,29-25,1-6? This fatally weakens Blacks back rank, allowing a break-through thus :-19-15!,10x19, 22-17,7-10,18-15,11x18,26-22,19x26,22x15,10x19,17x1 & Whites king wins. 7>11-15 23-19 8-11 26-23 9-14 22-17 6-9 17-13 1-6 30-26 4-8 25-22? A fatal mistake.. 12-16! 19-12 14-18 23-14 10-17 21-14 9-25 29-22 15-19 24-15 11-25 and Black wins. 8>10-15 23-18 12-16 26-23 8-12 24-19 15-24 28-19 7-10 27-24 16-20? Blacks attack on Whites right flank fails to 31-26! 20-27 18-14 9-18 22-8 27-18 26-22 4-11 22-8 and White wins. Black does have other options, but all lead to defeat - try them against DYNAMO! 9>11-15 24-20 15-19 23-16 12-19 27-24 10-15 31-27? The evacuation of the back square 31 is a loser here - whatever path White takes, Blacks deadly tactical threats win the day.. 9-14! 27-23 8-12 23-16 12-19 32-27 3-8 27-23 8-12 23-16 12-19 22-17 7-11 17-10 11-16 20-18 6-31 and Black wins. 10>11-15 22-18 15-22 26-17 8-11 24-19 11-16 17-13 9-14 25-22 4-8 22-17 8-11 29-25? This loses to this really neat combination.. 14-18! 23-14 16-23 27-18 10-15 25-22 11-16 18-20 6-9 13-6 2-25 and Black wins. When pulling a shot, you should beware that your opponent does not have something up his sleeve in reply, or you could be a victim of the BOOMBERANG shot... White: 12,18,23,24,26,28,30 Black: 2,3,6,7,11,13,21 (TRAP01.POL on disk) 6-10! A cunning move, that lures White into playing what he thinks is a winning shot.. 18-14? 10-17 26-22 17-19 24-8 and White thinks he has a king, and is home and dry, but.. 21-25!! 30-21 13-17 21-14 7-10 14-7 2-4 and Black has the 'move' against Whites men .. 28-24 4-8 24-19 8-11 and Black wins. Along similar lines, here is another super shot.. (TRAP02.POL on disk) White: 17,19,21,22,23,25,27,28,30,31,32 Black: 1,2,3,4,6,10,11,12,14,16,20 3-7! Again, the bait is dangled.. 19-15? 10-26 17-3 26-17 21-14 However Whites king is short-lived.. 20-24!! 27-20 11-15 20-18 2-7 3-10 6-29 and White is lost. By the way, DYNAMO can see & analyse all the above shots, although he will sometimes play a different line to the main lines given above. The above games and problems are taken from an excellent book 'Tournement Checkers', by Vladimir Kaplan, ISBN 0-8008-4205-7 - although I don't know if it is still in print. The RUSSIAN DRAUGHTS game (or SHASHKI) is essentially the same as POOL DRAUGHTS with one difference - a man is crowned INSTANTLY on entering the king-row, and can then go on to make futher leaps AS A KING within the same turn. These are called FLYING KINGS. Well, that's the rules. Confused? This sort of thing is easier to see than describe, so play some experimental games, or set AUTO-PLAY and watch the computer play itself! SHAREWARE VERSION USERS NOTE:- If you like DYNAMO, please buy the full version on GAMES-PACK-4 which has extra Strength Levels above 10 secs/move, position Edit, Game Replay/Load/Save/Backtrack and more. It also plays a MUCH stronger, faster game. In addition we are constantly updating and improving our programs - by the time you get this program, it is probably already out of date! Remember SHAREWARE IS NOT, I REPEAT NOT, FREE SOFTWARE - IT IS TRY BEFORE YOU BUY!!! If you like and use this program you are OBLIGED to register! The registered version comes with printed documents and professional packaging. PLEASE support quality shareware like this!! NEWSFLASH - NEW PRICES ------------------------ GAME-PACK-1 CHESSMATE-2600 - New version of our top-rate chess program. Now has very nice shaded effect color pieces, plus full game store/replay features, and more.. SAGE-DRAUGHTS-2700 - Probably the worlds strongest draughts program, new graphics, mouse & many features. Forget those other weak shareware programs, and learn how to REALLY play! ADDIX-II - Great educational strategy game - an addictive two player game (Computer plays one player) also helps with Maths skills. BLITZ - Innovative Checkers game on Vari-size board- many added functions! Both DOS and WINDOWS versions supplied here - for even more advanced versions of SAGE and BLITZ, see the PROFESSIONAL version below.. DROP-IT - Variant on CONNECT-4 theme, with re-sizeable board & more.. FALLZONE-II - Action - help ERIC battle through a multi-level game.. RANGER - ERIC takes on more aliens.. other great strategy/mind games.. GAMES-PACK-1 (5.25 or 3.5 disk) costs only 8 pounds !! (USA $15) GAME-PACK-2 FLIPIT - Very strong REVERSI/OTHELLO game, many features, such as re-sizeable board, full game store/replay options, and an extensive tutorial on playing the game. Also includes OCTOTHELLO - othello on an octagonal board! Forget all those other weak programs, this one can REALLY play! JAX - Addictive little brain teaser. RENJU - Fiendish japanese board game - easy to learn, hard to beat. MINEZONE-II - Neat deduction game - another outing for ERIC. CASCADE-II - Drop marbles & collect targets in this addictive game! STELLAR-COMBAT - A neat shoot-em up. DECODE - Crack the code! + More great games. GAMES-PACK-2 (5.25 or 3.5 disk) costs only 8 pounds!! (USA $15) GAME-PACK-3 CAPTAIN ERIC-II - ERIC has to find his way through a dangerous landscape with monsters lurking all around, and many problems to solve. He must also find ammo for his gun, as well as the keys for the next level. Excellent graphics, fast and furious fun! ERICS-REVENGE - Further levels for ERIC to beat - many new puzzles to solve, and many new monsters to beat. FALL-ZONE-II - Another fine action/strategy game - ERICS out again! BOMB-RUN - Bomb strategic targets in this super arcade game. (CGA/VGA) WALL-RUN - Try to out-wall your computer opponent - addictive action! RACER - Fast Car-racing game... + many more great games.. GAMES-PACK-3 (5.25 or 3.5 disk) costs only 8 pounds!! (USA $15) GAME-PACK-4 DYNAMO DRAUGHTS - Play the EUROPEAN 10x10 game, with sweeping KINGS & MEN jumping backwards! Very Strong player, Full Game edit/replay + more.. Also plays SHASHKI (RUSSIAN), SPANISH and AMERICAN POOL draughts! Includes tutorial texts on these fascinating games - as played by hundreds of thousands of players across Europe & America. For an even more advanced version, see PRO version below.. BLOCKADE - An exciting new OTHELLO-ish board game, many features. Its a sort of two-player version of LIFE - you play the computer and try to capture his cells, while generating new ones of your own. you score points for capturing key areas. A truely innovative game, invented by PC SOLUTIONS! CONTAX - Another PC Solutions invention! A fine strategy game (CGA/VGA). The traditional GOMOKU/RENJU type game, but with a twist - you can only occupy cells already adjacent to both one of yours and an opponents piece. This simple rule radically alters the topography of the game, considerably sharpening tactical play. SOLO - New twists to SOLITAIRE game... + all our new releases! GAMES-PACK-4 (5.25 or 3.5 disk) costs only 8 pounds!! (USA $15) X-WORD For Crossword & Scrabble enthusiasts! Solve complex anagrams, search for letter patterns, with a dictionary of over 140,000 words and phrases. Also CASCADE (word puzzle game) & other puzzles.. X-WORD (5.25 or 3.5 disk) costs only 8 pounds!! (USA $15) UTILITY PACK Sprites'n'Fonts - Mouse driven sprite/font/graphics designer, with built- in screen designer. C-Tools - Sprites/Fonts library,+ other I/O - make small EXE. (C source) Includes example C code to use graphics from SPRITES'n'FONTS. XCELCOPY - Fast Disk-Copy utility, better thabn DISKCOPY, many features! LIFEPIX - Fractalish generator. (C source) BATFX - Menus for BATCH files. MACLAN - Structured Assembly language for the A86 assembler. (with source) CGA Enhancer, PC-XT Speedup, DMOUSE screen designer, CBM64-IBM Converter. Easy-Ed, Phonetic Word-Finder, Flexi-Label (Mail list & labels..) + more.. UTIL-PACK 1 (5.25 or 3.5 disk) costs only 8 pounds!! (USA $15) PCS PROFESSIONAL EDITIONS In addition to the standard versions you have just seen listed, PC SOLUTIONS now also market special PROFESSIONAL versions of SAGE DRAUGHTS, DYNAMO DRAUGHTS and DAMA ITALIANA. While the Standard versions you have seen are superb programs, with infinite play-levels, superb graphics, full game store/edit/replay, board position/problem edit and solve, and an enhanced playing power that equals or surpasses any other program - up to grandmaster level, the PROFESSIONAL editions of DYNAMO, SAGE and DAMA ITALIANA have even more features. To start, you have even larger opening and endgame databases, for more accurate and stronger play - with the option to extend the database yourself. The play is so strong that even the World Draughts Champion uses our program to help with analysis! There are advanced game annotation features, with the ability to output the resultant game or board position to a word processor. SAGE PROFESSIONAL also comes with the PRO version of BLITZ. Also included with each of the PROFESSIONAL editions of our programs is BASIC CHECKERS - a simple 8x8 english draughts program WITH ITS BASIC SOURCE CODE - so you can have a go at writing your own program! This program will run under the QBASIC interpreter supplied with MSDOS 5/6, so no other purchase is necessary to use it. The code is heavily annotated - you do not need a high level of programming skill to start learning! Each PRO program comes with both DOS and complimentary WINDOWS versions - ie. SAGE PRO comes with BLITZ for WINDOWS. The PROFESSIONAL versions of SAGE DRAUGHTS, DYNAMO DRAUGHTS or DAMA ITALIANA cost 29 pounds sterling, or $49 (USA) or 72,000 lire (Italy) or 255 francs (France) or 75 Dm (Germany) - pay with a normal cheque in your currency. The price includes first-class/air-mail postage cost. HOW TO ORDER ------------ Some programs have both Windows & DOS versions, others DOS only. In either case, easy WINDOWS install is provided for all programs. SPECIAL OFFER - Buy two or more packs, and P & P is free! PLEASE specify disk size when ordering. Remember - our programs come with high quality packaging and full printed documentation. Each pack also comes with several extra PC Solutions shareware 'new releases' for free! Please indicate where you saw our advert. Add 1 pound UK P&P, or 3 pounds overseas airmail (USA $7) if you are only ordering one pack - otherwise P & P is FREE. Send Cheques/P.O.'s to:- PC SOLUTIONS, Dept XX , P.O. Box 954, Bournemouth BH7 6YJ, ENGLAND. PRICING SUMMARY --------------- Here is a summary of our pricing. Note that we can now take payment in FRENCH Francs, US Dollars, Dutch Guilders, Italian lire or GERMAN D.Mark. TOTAL for each STANDARD SOFTWARE-PACK:- (Games pack 1,2,3,4,Util Pack,X-WORD) UK 8 pounds each - no extra postage due if buying 2 or more packs, otherwise add 1 pound UK Post (or 3 pounds overseas). USA $15 each, minimum 2 packs France 80 Fr each, minimum 2 packs Germany 24 Dm each, minimum 2 packs Netherlands 29 Fl each, minimum 2 packs Italy 25000 lire each, minimum 2 packs TOTAL for each PROFESSIONAL edition pack (DYNAMO-PRO,SAGE-PRO,DAMA ITALIANA) UK 29 pounds each USA $49 dollars each France 255 Francs each Germany 75 Dm each Netherlands 84 Fl each Italy 72000 lire The reason we have a minimum order of TWO STANDERDS PACKS for overseas customers, if not paying in sterling, is because we have to pay large bank-charges on non-sterling currency cheques. This way you can just use your normal cheques - NO MONEY ORDER NECESSARY - we absorb the cost! It is also less trouble and safer if you use your normal cheque. This minimum order does not apply to the PROFESSIONAL editions of our programs