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- Laser Chess
- (c) 1990 Peter Venable
-
-
- Laser Chess is a high-tech variation of the ancient game of Chess. As in
- Chess, the object of the game is to eliminate the king of the opponent. The
- major difference in Laser Chess is implied by its title: It has a piece known
- as a laser. This laser can shoot at other pieces on the board and destroy them.
- Many of the pieces in play have mirrors or reflective properties which bounce
- the laser beams in different directions. In this way, complex shots may be
- lined up, using both friendly and hostile mirrors. A piece called a beam
- splitter gives you the ability to target more than one piece simultaneously.
-
- One each player's turn, he may either fire his laser or move a piece. A
- piece may also be rotated. Rotating mirrors changes the directions they will
- reflect laser beams. A player may rotate a piece and pass on firing or moving.
- Any piece may capture as in Chess. Also, pawns may transform into another piece
- if they reach the opposite side of the board. Whenever any pieces are shot and
- destroyed or captured a damage report appears in the left margin of the screen.
-
- Following is a description of each of the pieces.
-
-
-
-
- King
-
- As in Chess, the object of the game is to eliminate the opponent's king.
- However, there is no rule Laser Chess which forbids moving into check.
- Rotating the king has no effect. The king may move one space in any dirction.
-
-
- Laser
-
- The laser may be fired on any move in place of moving a piece. The
- beam fires in whatever direction the laser is pointing. It may be rotated
- before firing by passing to the rotation stage, rotating it, and then
- firing. The laser moves identically to the king.
-
-
- Super Pawn
-
- The super pawn may move forward one space, either diagonally or straight.
- When fired upon from the back, it is destroyed. If it is shot from any other
- direction, the beam is reflected from its front.
-
-
-
- Queen
-
- Like a queen in Chess, the queen may move as far as is not blocked, either
- diagonally or in a straight line. When the queen is fired upon, she is killed
- unless her eyes are pointing in the direction from which the beam comes, in
- which case the beam jumps one space past her, sparing her and any piece which,
- may be immediately beyond her.
-
-
- Knight / Beam Splitter
-
- The knight moves like a knight in Chess. It moves two spaces in one
- direction and one in the other. When shot at from the front or back, it splits
- the beam so that it reflects both to the left and right. If a laser hits it
- from the side, however, it is blown up.
-
- Bishop
-
- The bishop may move an unlimited distance in a diagonal line, as in Chess.
- If it gets shot in the back, it reflects the beam back towards its source. It
- dies if a laser beam hits it in the front. Beams hitting from the sides are
- bounced toward the front.
- Rook
-
- The rook, also known as a castle, moves the same as in Chess. It may move
- an unlimited distance either horizontally or vertically. When the mirror is
- turned diagonally, any laser beams hitting it are reflected 90° from the angle
- at which they hit. When it's turned so that the mirror is flat, lasers hitting
- the surface of the mirror are rebounded toward their source, while those
- hitting the edge kill the rook.,
-
-
- Mirror Pawn
-
- Like the super pawn, the mirror pawn may move one space forward or
- diagonally forward. Laser beams which hit the hypotenuse of the triangle
- bounce at a 90° angle. Shots hitting the other two sides destroy the pawn.
-
-
- Shield Pawn
-
- The shield pawn moves in the same way as the other two types of pawns. Any
- beam which hits from the direction in which the shield is pointing will be
- absorbed without damage. Shots from other directions will destroy the piece.
-
- Key Assignments:
- These keys are used to move the cursor:
- \ / \ /
- Q W E I 7 8 9
- ─ S D ─ ─ J L ─ ──┼── ─ 4 6 ─
- Z X C K 1 2 3
- / \ / \
-
- These keys are also available during the game:
- SPACE - In MOVE mode: Selects a piece
- In ROTATE mode: Rotates a piece
- ENTER or TAB - In MOVE mode: Moves selected piece to cursor
- In ROTATE mode: Finish rotating
- ESC - Finished with turn
- P or F5 - Switches between the MOVE and ROTATE modes.
- F9 - Fires the laser
- Control-Q - Quits the Game
-
- When available, these keys are listed in the left margin of the screen.
- If a key is not on the list, it is not currently available.
-
-
-
- About the Author:
- Laser Chess 2.0 was written in Turbo C in three days (7/24/90 - 7/26/90) by
- Peter Venable, age 15. The original version was written over a few weeks the
- previous year, but it had low quality graphics. The new version used only a few
- portions of the original code. Laser Chess is written for EGA graphics with
- 640K of memory. Some assistance in graphics design and testing was provided by
- my sisters, Lisa and Mindy Venable.
-
- This program may be copied for use by anyone on the following conditions:
- It must not be sold
- It must not be altered
- It must not be used commercially without the author's written permission
- Failure to comply is a violation of applicable copyright laws.
-
- Source code and the software used to generate the graphics for this program may
- be obtained for $50.
-
- The author may be contacted at the following addresses:
- Peter Venable Peter Venable
- Faith Academy c/o David Bartholomew
- P.O. Box 820 2746 Darnby Drive
- 1299 Makati Oakland, CA 94611-1716
- Philippines U.S.A.