Welcome to T4 !

Copyright © 1995 by Didier Frick

This program may be freely redistributed in its original form (executable + help file).

It may not be sold, and it is provided "as is", without any warranties express or implied.

A game that will expand your abilities

in

Strategic Planning

Tactical Visualization

Binary Logic

and (hopefully) Shareware Registration !

Rules of the game

Using the program

Setting options

Registering

The author

(version française disponible, contactez l'auteur)

Versions are available for Windows 3.x (16 bit) and Windows NT, Windows 95 (32bit)

Check your favorite archive library for the version you need or contact the author.

Please note:

Writing software takes time. The better the software, the more time it takes. Software authors have to earn a living. If they cannot earn a living by writing shareware for you to use, they will do something else, and you will not get shareware, but expensive software that you cannot test before buying. So, if you like this program, please register !


Rules of the game

This game is played using square pieces divided into four triangles. Such a triangle can be either black or white. This gives 2^4 = 16 possible pieces. Here is an example of a piece:

There is exactly one instance of each possible piece in the game.

A turn is played as follows:

1) One player chooses a piece and gives it to the other player.

2) The other player puts the piece into any empty cell on the board.

3) If the last move was not winning, the players roles are exchanged and they play another turn.

A move is winning if it completes a winning alignment.

A winning alignment is made of 4 pieces having at least one triangle in the same place with the same color, aligned either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Here are two examples:

In this case, all pieces in the row have a black right triangle.

In this case, all pieces in the row have a white top triangle.

These two examples are horizontal for practical reasons, but remember that a winning alignment can also be vertical or diagonal.

Rule of the shareware game:

If you like this program, if you use it, please register your copy !

Everybody will profit in the long run.


Using the program

T4's main window contains two subwindows, the pieces window and the board window.

The pieces window contains all the pieces which have not been played yet. When a game starts, all pieces are in it. If a piece is selected for the next player, it is highlighted with a colored frame, like this:

The board window is where the players actually place their pieces.

When you first start up the program, you will see an empty pieces window and an empty board window.

To start a new game with the current option settings, just click the [image]  button. The program will choose a piece for you to play and the game will begin.

Whenever you have selected a piece for the program to play (if you play against the computer), select the [image] button to tell the program you have made your choice.

If the program detects a winning alignment, it will highlight it by drawing a colored bar over it.

Remember to look at the status bar at the bottom of the window for informative messages.


Setting options

You can change the games options either through the Options menu or by clicking on the [image] , [image] , and [image] buttons in the toolbar. Theres a separate options dialog for each player.

The following options are defined:

 and [image] : player options:

Name

the players name

Type

either Human or Computer

Strength

for computer players only

 : game options:

Who will begin

the player who will put the first piece on the board

Computer vs. Computer mode

you can choose whether you want to click [image] between each turn or let the game run free.


Registering

Please note:

Writing software takes time. The better the software, the more time it takes. Software authors have to earn a living. If they cannot earn a living by writing shareware for you to use, they will do something else, and you will not get shareware, but expensive software that you cannot test before buying. So, if you like this program, please register !

Registered users will have:

- A secret code to disable the display of this message at program startup

- Free upgrade to any new version of T4

- Notification of new versions and programs

- Source code available on request (Borland C++, e-mail only)

- 3 months free service by e-mail

- The possibility of requesting new features and changes

- The Satisfaction of Having Done The Right Thing !!!

No service will be provided to unregistered users !!!

Registration fee:

US$	15

DM	20

CHF	20

FF	80

Send the above mentioned amount to the author by check, (registered) mail, C.O.D , I.M.O, ...

Remember to make sure your name and address will be communicated to the author, as well as the mention "T4 registration".

If you have an e-mail address, please communicate it to the author.

Please use a reliable service to send me your contribution, as the registration will be effective at the time I receive it.

Compuserve users:

This game can be registered through CompuServe's SWREG service (GO SWREG).

The registration number is

7056

Please logon into Compuserve, GO SWREG, and enter the above number when the registration ID is asked for.


The author

Didier Frick

Fbg. du Lac 6

CH-2000 Neuchâtel

Switzerland

Internet mail: dfrick@dial.eunet.ch

CompuServe user ID: 100346,3030

Advertising:

I am a freelance software engineer (BS) doing custom software development  as well as consulting and training for the following platforms and tools:

- MS-Windows (TM) 16/32 bits

- Unix(TM) (AIX, HP-UX, Solaris, Linux)

- Languages: C++, Objective-C, TCL, Smalltalk,

C, Ada, Pascal, Modula-2 , ...

- Class Libraries: OWL, STL, libg++, ...

- Methodologies: Booch (OOD)

- Databases: ObjectStore, ODBC

- Standards: CORBA, ODMG

- TCP/IP network configuration

- TCP/IP client/server apps

I have several years experience developing object-oriented software for the telecommunications and banking application domains.

I am also doing translations of technical documentation from english to french (french is my native language).

 If you are looking for someone who will do contract work for you at a reasonable price and with guaranteed quality, please contact me !