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 CONNECT 4
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 Version 1.10
 TI-83 Plus
 by Adam Ziemba

 Fortress Productions
 http://fortress.fasthost.tv/

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**Please read "disclaimer.txt" before using this program!**
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     CONTENTS:
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 I.   Introduction
 II.  Requirements
 III. Installation
 IV.  How to Use
 V.   Troubleshooting
 VI.  Goals for Next Release
 VII. Contact


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I.   INTRODUCTION
___________________________________________________________

     This program is a remake of a Connect-4 game. You may
be familiar with the Connect-4 program written by Thomas
Nussbaumer for the TI-89. Many features in this game were
based on Thomas Nussbaumer's.
     Originally, I was going to use the Connect-4 algorithm
written by Keith Pomakis (pomakis@pobox.com), which is the
same algorithm Thomas Nussbaumer used. However, that
particular algorithm was written in C, and I found myself
undergoing painstaking efforts to rewrite the algorithm in
Z80 Assembly. Eventually, I gave up and wrote my own
Connect-4 algorithm. Unfortunately, my algorithm does not
quite match the strength of Pomakis'! Nevertheless, this
program will play a decent game of Connect-4. The engine
can be easily tricked, but it is NOT stupid! It will
prevent you from winning at all costs. The only time the
engine will not prevent you from winning is if it's been
tricked, in which case it wouldn't matter what move it made,
it will still loose. The engine's flaw is it's inability
to play offensively.
     Please note that while playing in Tic-Tac-Toe mode,
the Connect-4 engine is brain-dead. The engine will compute
only asininely random moves. This is not a bug. I am able
to make it so that the engine will actually think up
decent moves while in Tic-Tac-Toe, however when this is
implemented, several bugs and errors occur. So this first
release of Connect 4 will not feature a playing Tic-Tac-Toe
engine. A new version will be released as soon as the
engine is repaired to operate error-free.
     Also note that this is only the first release of the
program, so expect an improved version to be released in
the months to follow. I hope to finally implement the two
player link mode, as well as improve the strength of the
1-player engine.

     Enjoy!


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II.  REQUIREMENTS
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     There are certain requirements that must be accorded
with to use Connect-4. Please make sure you're calculator
meets the specifications listed below.

 * TI-83 Plus OS version 1.13 or higher
 * 3376 bytes of RAM for the program itself
 * Roughly 3420 bytes of free RAM for the program to run

Failure to adhere to these specifications will result in
undefined behavoir, and could potentially result in data
loss. If you do not have TI-83 Plus OS version 1.13 or
higher, you can download the newest version online at TI's
website, <http://education.ti.com>.


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III. INSTALLATION
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 1)  Unarchive <Connect4.zip> into the directory
     of your choice and open up that folder.
 2)  Right click on the file <Connect4.8xp> and
     select "Send To > Connected TI Device".
     NOTE: If you use TI-Graph Link Software, I
     strongly suggest you get TI Connect, which is
     available at <http://education.ti.com>.
 3)  To run the program, press [2nd] [0] to access the
     catalog. Then select "Asm(" from the menu and press
     [ENTER]. Then press the [PRGM] key and select
     "CONNECT4" from the menu and press [ENTER] twice.


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IV.  HOW TO USE
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MAIN MENU:
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  up & down      = move the cursor up or down
  left & right   = change selected option (see below)
  [ENTER]        = confirms options and starts the game
  [2nd] + up/down= adjust contrast
  [CLEAR]        = exits the program and returns to TI-OS

Here's a description of each of the options:
 +--------------------------------------------------------+
 | MODE      *Drop      = Coins are dropped in columns    |
 |                        (like normal Connect-4)         |
 |           -TicTacToe = Coins are inserted              |
 |                        (like playing Tic-Tac-Toe)      |
 +--------------------------------------------------------+
 | CONNECT   -3         = Sets the connection length to 3 |
 |           *4         = Sets the connection length to 4 |
 |           -5         = Sets the connection length to 5 |
 +--------------------------------------------------------+
 | WHITE     *Human     = White coin is played by a human |
 |           -Comp      = White coin is played by the calc|
 +--------------------------------------------------------+
 | BLACK     -Human     = Black coin is played by a human |
 |           *Comp      = Black coin is played by the calc|
 +--------------------------------------------------------+
 | SHOW THINK-On        = When the calc makes a move, the |
 |                        positions that the calculator is|
 |                        thinking about are shown        |
 |           *Off       = When the calc makes a move,     |
 |                        "Thinking..." is displayed as   |
 |                        the calculator thinks about     |
 |                        each position                   |
 +--------------------------------------------------------+
* indicates the default setting for that particular option
- indicates other possibilities for that particular option

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GAME PLAY:                                      (DROP MODE)
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  left & right   = move the mounted coin left or right
  down           = drop the coin at the specified column
  [ENTER]        = drop the coin at the specified column
  [2nd] + up/down= adjust contrast
  [PRGM]         = tells the calculator to move for you
                   (NOTE: not usable during Human vs Human)
  [CLEAR]        = exits the program and returns to TI-OS
  [ON]           = abort thinking (during the Comp's move)

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GAME PLAY:                               (TIC-TAC-TOE MODE)
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  left & right   = move the cursor left or right
  up & down      = move the cursor up or down
  [ENTER]        = inserts the coin at the cursors position
  [2nd] + up/down= adjust contrast
  [PRGM]         = tells the calculator to move for you
                   (NOTE: not usable during Human vs Human)
  [CLEAR]        = exits the program and returns to TI-OS


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V.   TROUBLESHOOTING
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     This program has been tested extensively, and it has
no known bugs. However, the program could still potentially
be errorsome. If you think you have encountered any bugs,
please contact me (see CONTACT below).

Here is a list of the known bugs for v1.1:
 * When "Show Thinking" is enabled on a TI-83 Plus Silver
   Edition calculator, the screen display jumbles briefly
   before the computer drops it's coin. This bug causes no
   errors, and is completely harmless. It won't bite, I
   promise :)


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VI.  GOALS FOR NEXT RELEASE
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     Here is a list of features that I hope to implement in
the next release of Connect-4:

 * A working Tic-Tac-Toe engine :)
 * Hashing (using memory to speed up the engine's thinking)
 * Improve the strength of the engine, particularly the
   offensive algorithm
 * 2-player link mode

If you have come up with any additional features you would
like to see implemented, you can e-mail me your thoughts
(see CONTACT below).


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VII. CONTACT
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Questions? Comments? E-mail me at: <Infest997@musician.org>
Visit Fortress Productions at <http://fortress.fasthost.tv>