MiniChess - 22/08/2003
(formerly known as "Chessmaster 83")
by Thomas Williamson, Biobytes Soft. (first author)
and Guillaume Hoffmann (current author)
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ FEATURES \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
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- Better than beginner AI. Not the best AI in the world,
but it gives me a whack or two before I beat it. Besides,
the ENTIRE engine is 842 bytes!!!! If you are a super
master at chess, and don't find playing my AI fun, see
the next feature....
- ALL illegal moves detected except En Passant! That includes jumping
over pieces and putting your king in check, as well a castling!
- Partial pawn promotion. You always get a queen, but %99.9 of the time
that's what you need anyway!
- Check, Checkmate, and Stalemate detection!
- 1 or 2 player.
- AI tweaking. Make it play more defensive, offensive, or neutral.
- Change AI sides. It can be black or white.
- Autosave feature. Leave a game at any time and pick it right back
up again!
- All in UNDER 3,4k!!! But you need 1800 bytes of free ram to run it.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ INSTALLATION \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
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In order to play the game, you must send 'cmaster.8xp' (or .83p)
to your calc.
For Ti83 you need Venus 2.3 (or higher version) and for Ti83+ you
need ION or MirageOS.
You can get all of them at http://www.ticalc.org
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ HOW TO PLAY /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
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Title/options screen:
[^/v] - move cursor
[2nd] - change option / continue game / new game
Board screen:
[</>/^/v] - move cursor
[2nd] - pick up/pick down piece
Both screens:
[CLEAR] - exit game
When you press [CLEAR], Chessmaster 83 will autosave your game,
and you can start up again by going to 'Let's Play' instead of
'New Game' in the options. If you want to directly change the
options in-game, just press [ALPHA], and then select "Let's Play"
to continue the game.
To castle, make sure your king and castle are in the right position.
Then just simply select your king, and then 'place' it on the
castle you want it to castle with. The game checks for MOST illegal
castling positions.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ OPTIONS /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
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Difficulty How hard the AI is.
Beginner 1 move total depth, 3 move max depth
Amateur 2 move total depth, 4 move max depth
Players Setup of who plays
1 pl. One player against the AI
2 pl. Two players playing head on!
CPU Color Which side the AI plays from
Black The darker color on the top side of the
board
White The lighter color on the bottom side
CPU Priority Tweaking how the AI plays
Neutral Default mode
Offensive Plays more offensively minded
Defensive yada yada yada....
Let's Play Play from previously autosaved game
New Game Set up board for a new game!
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/THE SIDE BAR/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
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If you can't see the pieces you'll notice that on the side
bar, the piece's name that your selector is over is displayed
to the right of the current color in play.
Directly underneath the current color in play is the space
where check, checkmate, and stalemate are announced.
Goodbye! I hope you LOVE this game!
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ HISTORY \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
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- 22/08/2003:
- fixed the "new game" bug
- removed the contrast/APD stuff, because after all
the TI-OS is quickly accessible.
- optimised
size: ~3315 bytes
- 20/08/2003:
- renamed it "MiniChess"
- the cursor moves "around" the board
- [ALPHA] displays the options
- in-game APD and contrast change
- removed the additionnal graphic sets
- removed the "see CPU think" feature"
- removed the "CPU vs CPU" feature
- changed a little the graphic set
- optimised
- now requires 1800 bytes of free ram
- Ti83 version for Venus
size: ~3480 bytes
- 14/06/2002:
- first release by Thomas Williamson (ported from 85-86)
as "ChessMaster 83"
size: ~6745 bytes
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ TO DO \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
- a Ti82 version
- maybe change a little the AI so that it eventually
decides to put me checkmate when I only have the king
left :)
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/SPECIAL THANKS\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
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Guillaume Hoffmann:
Thomas Williamson for allowing me to take over this game.
Thomas Williamson:
Thomas Nussbaumer for 'lending' his puzzles and supplying the
puzzle data in one file I could easily rip from in QBasic!
Me for designing an engine from scratch! That's right. I had
no help! But....if you want give me some of your remarks
on the engine and how I could make it better, I'd be glad
to hear from you!
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ CONTACT \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
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Questions, comments, suggestions, optimisations :
Guillaume Hoffmann : guillaumh@gmail.com
Thomas Williamson : jedivsith@yahoo.com