9/21/96

PocketChess for Pilot v1.0

by Scott Ludwig
scottlu@eskimo.com
http://www.eskimo.com/~scottlu

+++

Sections in this document:

1> Intro
2> New features in this release
3> Bug fix history
4> Future enhancements
5> Features of PocketChess v. 1.0

+++

1. Intro

Welcome to the v. 1.0 release of PocketChess for Pilot!
PocketChess v1.0 is a well featured Chess playing program
for your Pilot.

Many people have sent me very useful bug reports, ideas for future
enhancements to PocketChess, and notes of thank yous for
creating PocketChess. I want to thank you all for your support!
The quality and feature set of PocketChess 1.0 reflects this input.
For those feature requests that are not part of 1.0, I'm categorizing
and prioritizing your feedback for the next version. The future major
feature areas are totally feedback driven, so continue the feedback,
no matter how small - I pay attention to detail. As always,
mail to scottlu@eskimo.com.

PocketChess for Pilot is free. In order to install PocketChess on
your Pilot, please see http://www.pilot.org/pinstall.htm for
instructions on how to install an application on your Pilot.

Enjoy!
Scott Ludwig
scottlu@eskimo.com
http://www.eskimo.com/~scottlu

+++

2. New features found in this release

v1.0 is almost exclusively a bug fix release. However, a few feature changes
have been made:

- By popular user request, auto-reversing of board orientation when
  playing you vs. another player has been removed!
- Menu shortcuts no longer need the shortcut stroke! Just enter the character
  of the shortcut directly and that command will execute. Nice feature.
- New Game command can be cancelled
- Options command can be cancelled

3. Bug fix history

v. 1.0 Release:

[fixed] Undoing a pawn promotion would reverse the color of the pawn!
[fixed] Castling on king side denied if castle was legal on queen side.
[fixed] Pilot move calculation would occasionally take uncharacteristically
        long periods of time even on level 1.
[fixed] Using shortcuts would occasionally cause redraw problems in lower
        left of screen.
[fixed] The board would not redraw after dismissing the Alarm dialog, find
	dialog, or low battery dialogs
[fixed] Double board redraw when changing options to pilot vs. pilot play
[fixed] Immediately after completing your move in you vs. pilot play and
        before the pilot completed its move, issuing an undo command would
	undo both your move and the last move the pilot made. Now it only
        undoes your last move.

BETA3 Release:

[fixed] Bringing up the app dialog on Pilots with all existing Pilot
        apps installed would occasionally cause a crash declaring
        "memory chunk underflow". This is a bug in the Pilot ROM,
        however PocketChess now works around it.
[fixed] Incorrect Checkmate declared occasionally causing game to
        end prematurely (especially when playing levels 1 and 2).
[fixed] Castling bug: move king, then undo, and future castling denied
[fixed] Castling bug: if hint suggested you move your king, you couldn't
        castle after that.
[fixed] Castling bug: if squares outside king's castling traversal
        path were challenged, castle denied
[fixed] Castling bug: castling out of check was allowed on the queen
        side.
[fixed] You vs. Another player would not declare checkmate when it
        occured.
[fixed] Sound effects didn't work in large board mode.
[fixed] Stalemate was not correctly declared when it occured.
[fixed] In board setup mode, you could remove your king from the
        board, causing problems when the game was resumed.
[fixed] After checkmate, you could still use all menu items which
        in some cases would allow you to continue playing past
        checkmate!
[fixed] An en-passant move could not be undone.
[fixed] When using hint, algebraic notation of hinted move now remains
        for reference
[fixed] When using undo, algebraic notation of undone move now remains
        for reference

BETA2 Release:

(first released to public with BETA2)

+++

4. Future Enhancements

I do plan on continuing to enhance PocketChess. These are some (not all!)
of the more major enhancements I am looking at. There are many less major
ones that really put the polish on any feature enhancement that are not
listed here.

- Import / export games in PGN format
- Save multiple games
- List of pieces taken
- Lists of moves made
- Timed play
- Score current positions
- In board setup, provide a palette of pieces to add to the board
- Step through series of already made moves and watch them get made
- Pawn promotion to piece other than a queen
- Keep track of win / loss statistics across games

Please send me feedback so I can incorporate your ideas.

+++

5. Features of PocketChess v. 1.0

Because a good number of people have asked, to access all the features
in PocketChess, tap on the menu button found at the lower left of the
Pilot screen, just left of the graffiti area. That'll pull down the
PocketChess menu, giving you access to all the PocketChess commands.
Or if you wish, use the menu shortcut by writing the letter of the
shortcut directly in the graffiti area (not shortcut stroke required!)

PocketChess features:

- A drag / drop move as well as a tap, tap move UI for moving pieces
- Square selection cursor for detailing from, to positions of a chess
  move.
- You vs. Pilot, You vs. Another Player, and Pilot vs. Pilot play. 
- 8 levels of difficulty 
- Playing status includes white / black player indicator, turn 
indicator, last move indicator (in algebraic notation), last piece 
played indicator. 
- Ability to turn off status for larger board size 
- Board setup mode to set up hypothetical chess positions and then play 
them 
- Undo Move command to undo moves. Remembers all moves back to the very 
first move. 
- Hint command. Proposes strategic moves for your pieces. 
- Skip Move command allows you to forgo your move 
- Reverse Board command to flip board presentation 
- Switch sides command which allows you to switch between playing black 
or white sides. 
- New game command 
- Current game is always saved if you switch to another Pilot 
application during play. Last game played is reloaded whenever chess 
is loaded again. 
- Game play allows you to issue any command during game play (even play 
level and play mode). 
- Sound effects to liven game play, including special sound effects for 
check, checkmate, and pawn promotion. Sound effects can be turned off.
- A built in 80 game opening move library
- Animated computer piece move, also used in hint and undo.
- Menu shortcuts (using graffiti command strokes)

Thank you for playing PocketChess!



