bruceb@telesoft.UUCP (Bruce Bergman @spot) (11/16/87)
I'm looking for a good Backgammon game for the PC. I might even be
willing to pay for something (if reasonable). Does anyone have any
suggestions? As an alternate, a MacIntosh or Sun version would be
acceptable. Any pointers would be appreciated!
Omar just isn't doing it anymore... :^)
Thanks,
bruce bergman
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All expressed opinions belong to "Bill the Cat" or me. :^)hallett@othello.steinmetz (Jeff R Hallett) (11/20/87)
In article <118@telesoft.UUCP> bruceb@telesoft.UUCP (Bruce Bergman @spot) writes: >I'm looking for a good Backgammon game for the PC. I might even be >willing to pay for something (if reasonable). Does anyone have any >suggestions? As an alternate, a MacIntosh or Sun version would be >acceptable. Any pointers would be appreciated! Deflectors up... Lock Phasers on target... FIRE! First, "good Backgammon game for the PC" is an oxymoron since backgammon would require graphics. :^) Phaser Bank Two...FIRE! Secondly, there is a good backgammon game for the Macintosh that is shareware. Yes that means "you might have to pay something", but since you consider it an "alternative", I'm not going to tell you where to find it (Actually, I don't know where to find it. I could mail it to you, but I got it from my univ. public domain house. If there is a university near you, try that or any archive like Info-Mac should have it). If you need it, send me mail and I will mail it to you. The Sun comes with a gammontool that is quite good as well. CEASE FIRE! Note: All flames are purely in jest and should not be taken seriously. Jeff ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "The needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many" -- Kirk (STIII) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
wales@CS.UCLA.EDU (11/24/87)
In article <118@telesoft.UUCP> bruceb@telesoft.UUCP (Bruce Bergman @spot) writes: > I'm looking for a good Backgammon game for the PC. I might even be > willing to pay for something (if reasonable). Does anyone have any > suggestions? As an alternate, a MacIntosh or Sun version would be > acceptable. Any pointers would be appreciated! I bought a PC backgammon game by Spinnaker for about $15 at Crown Books a while back. It requires graphics, but will work on either color or monochrome (there are two versions on the floppy). The floppy is not copy-protected, so the program can be installed on a hard disk. The Spinnaker backgammon program lets you see the "pip count" any time you want. It also gives you advice on request (though said advice is frequently questionable). One minor nit in the Spinnaker game is that it does *not* implement the rule that requires you to use the higher number in situations where you could use one or the other number of the throw, but not both. Other than that, though, I've never seen the program make an illegal move, let the player get away with an illegal move, or refuse to accept a player's legal move. My main gripe with the Spinnaker game is that the default options cannot be "saved away" and must be reset each time you play. Also -- though I might just be crying "sour grapes" and can't be sure -- it's seemed to me that the program often "cheats" by biasing critical dice throws in its own favor (e.g., miraculous come-from-behind wins in the end game by rolling two or three doubles in a row). But even if this is in fact what is happening, I still think the program is pretty good. If I were designing a PC backgammon game, I'd include a mouse interface (to let you point at the piece you wanted to move, and either drag it to its new location, or else use the left button at the starting point and the right button at the destination). Also, a display mode which would show where the pieces affected by the current move came from (e.g., by displaying "phantoms" at the original locations) would be very nice -- especially for the computer's moves. -- Rich Wales // UCLA Computer Science Department // +1 (213) 825-5683 3531 Boelter Hall // Los Angeles, California 90024-1596 // USA wales@CS.UCLA.EDU ...!(ucbvax,rutgers)!ucla-cs!wales "Sir, there is a multilegged creature crawling on your shoulder."