
                        (C) Archimedes World 1992




!Draughts
=========

Rules:

  Draughts is played on a checkered 8 by 8 board.  There are two players, each with 12 pieces (or 'men') placed on black squares on the three rows at each side of the board.  To win the game, a player has to wipe out all enemy pieces from the board or force his opponent into a position from which he is unable to move.
  
Moving
======
  All moves are diagonal, onto unoccupied black squares.  A piece may only move one square at a time unless jumping an enemy piece.  Men may move forwards but are unable to move backwards.  One they reach the back row of their opponent's side of the board they are transformed into kings.  Kings may move both forwards and backwards.

Taking
======
  If a piece's path is blocked by an enemy piece, and the square beyond is unoccupied, it may jump the enemy piece and land in the square beyond.  It may continue to jump in this manner in the same turn.  Pieces which are 'jumped' are considered to have been captured or taken and are removed from play.

Huffing
=======
  If a player is able to take one or more enemy pieces but does not take any, the other player has the opportunity to do one of the following before making his move:
 
 i)Huff - to remove from play a piece which was able to take on the previous   turn but did not.                                     
ii)Force - to replace his opponent's move with one resulting in the capture    of one or more pieces.


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Using !Draughts
===============

  Upon loading !Draughts and clicking on its icon you are presented with a 3D draughtsboard.  If you prefer a 2 dimensional overhead view, this option may be found on the 'Board' submenu of the main menu.

Moving and Taking
=================

  1) Click select over the piece which will make the move or jump - the square upon which it is situated will turn red to indicate your selection.

  2) If the piece will jump more than one enemy piece click on the square(s) between the piece and its final destination with the adjust button - the squares will turn green.

  3) Click with the select button over the final destination square and the move will be made.

  If after step 1 you change your mind about which piece will make the move or jump, click select over the piece a second time and it will be cancelled.  The same applies to step 2 but use the adjust button instead.
 

Huff and Force
==============

  Both of these options may be located on the 'Huff' submenu of the main menu. They will only work if the last player had the opportunity to take one or more pieces but did not take any. 
 
  Upon choosing the Huff option, any squares with pieces which could have taken last turn on them are coloured yellow.  To huff a piece simply click on it with the select button and a lightning bolt will hit the piece which is then removed from play.

  Choosing Force will reset the board to how it was at the beginning of the previous turn.  The previous move should then be replaced with one involving the capture of at least one piece.
   
  If having chosen either Huff or Force you change your mind, press menu and you will find that the main menu has temporarily changed to a single 'Cancel Huff' or 'Cancel Force' option.  Choosing the entry will cancel the operation.

Playing against the computer
============================

  The 'Players' dialogue box off the main menu allows you to set each player as computer or user controlled.  It also allows you to set the level of the computer's play, by changing how far ahead it looks.  Level 1 is the easiest to beat, while level 5 is the hardest.

'Step thru'
===========

  This option may be found on the main menu and upon choosing it, opens a small window containing five icons.  This window allows you to step through the list of moves made and take over at any point.  This means that you may look back over a game to study your mistakes, and even see how the computer would have played from your position.
  The five icons shown have the following meaning - step back to first move, step back one move, stop (and carry on from this position), step forward one move, step forward to latest recorded move.

Saving and Loading
==================

  Games may be saved part way through for completion at a later date.  The save option is found on the icon bar menu.  To reload a game drag the file to the draughts icon or into the main playing window.  Alternatively, double-clicking on the file will load a new copy of !Draughts with the game file automatically loaded.

Alternative graphics
====================

  On the main menu is a 'Graphics' option, and choosing this will open a small window containing the names of several graphics files.  Choosing any one of these and selecting OK will load it in and the new graphics will be used for each of the pieces on the main playing board.  Draughts also allows you to define your own graphics for use within the program.  To do so, follow this procedure:

  Load one of the supplied graphics files into Paint, and edit each of the 9 sprites to your liking.  If you use the create option, make sure that the sprites are in mode 12 with a mask but no palette.  Do not use colour 0 (white) for anything other than the background.  This is because when Draughts loads a graphics file it translates colour 0 into a mask, so anything in white will become transparent.  The four pieces for use in 3d may be of any size (within reason), but the dimensions of all others must not change.
  When you are happy with the sprites themselves, the first two sprites must now be renamed.  In the 'Normal' sprites file, they are called 'black10' and 'white20' respectively.  They may be called anything, but must have the numbers 10 and 20 on the end of each one respectively.  These new names are used on the main playing board to identify the two players with their pieces.
  Now simply save the edited file (under a different name) back into the directory !Draughts.Graphics .  Any new graphics files will automatically be detected when Draughts loads.

Help
====

  Draughts supports the Acorn !Help application, and gives complete online instructions for playing.