The rules of Desdemona are simple. By clicking with <Select> on any legal
square, players must try and fill the board with pieces of their colour. This
is achieved by surrounding enemy squares in any one of the eight possible
directions. Surrounded pieces convert to the colour of their encirclers'.
Good squares to capture include the corners and edges as these are harder to
surround. When the board is full the player with most squares of his or
her own colour remaining is the winner.
Getting Started
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Install Desdemona on the icon bar by double-clicking the Desdemona icon in
the filer window. From the iconbar menu you can find information about the
current release of Desdemona, and can quit the application when you're done.
Click <Select> on the icon to open the main window. The configuration of the
game is set by the row of buttons along the top of the window. The first
button brings up a high-score table of the top five scores recorded. The
second button brings up a window from which the Human and Computer player
options can be set. Note that you can only set the 'Smart' computer level
in the registered version of the game. The final button is used when a game
is running, and passes a move when it is impossible to play.
The Replay Window
-----------------
The third button is the Replay button, which brings up a window controlling
aspects of replaying the game. During play, the progress of the game is
stored in memory by Desdemona. Clicking on Start, End or the arrow buttons in
the Replay window redraws the board at stored turns of the game. By using the
<Resume old game> button in the main window it is then possible to restart
the game from any point.
The Game Controls
-----------------
Start new game This wipes the board, clears the game memory and starts
a new game with Black as Player One. Once this is
clicked, options and replay functions are greyed out.
Resume old game If a game is held in memory then this button can be used
to restart it. This is useful if a game has been ended
and consequently either the Replay window has been used
to alter the current position or computer-player options
have been changed.
End current game This ends the game in progress, but stores its details.
Ended games can be restarted easily from the same point.
This can be useful if you want to change the number of
players or computer difficulty.
Final words
-----------
Desdemona requires RISC OS 3.1 (or above) and 96K free to run.
This application is Shareware, which means you may not distribute it, modify
the code or alter any other part without the permission of the author. To
continue to use the application after a short trial period, you must register
it by sending £4.00 to the address below. Details can be found on the website.The registered copy has a harder computer opponent and no annoying warning window. Future upgrades to Desdemona, such as extra graphics, better computer players or added features, will be made available to registered users.
Constructive criticism, ideas for improvements and general comments are
