Richard's PBeM Server Monthly Post

From: rognlie@lute.gcr.com (Richard W. Rognlie)

Date: Wed, 06 Sep 1995 00:00:00 +0000

Richard's Play-By-eMail (PBeM) Server Monthly Posting

A generic Play-By-eMail Server has been set up at pbmserv@vtsu.prc.com.  It
currently supports a variety of games.  New games this month are:
    Backgammon, Connect4, Connect4x4, Gomoku, Pente, Plotto, Qubic, Score4
    and Survival.
Lines-of-Action and Philosopher's Football (Phutball) are being tested now.

To get more information send mail to pbmserv@vtsu.prc.com with 'help' as the
subject line.

Games Currently Supported

Abalone

On a hexagonal board (radius 5) two to six players have armies of
    marbles.  Players take turns "pushing" 1, 2 or 3 linearly connected
    marbles, attempting to push their opponents' marbles off the board.

Ataxx

On a 7x7 board, the two players of ataxx fight to controll a majority
    of the board via growth and jumps that flip opponents pieces to their
    color.

Backgammon

A classic.

Connect4

On a 7x6 board, two players alternate dropping their pieces from the top
    of the board, down a column, attempting to form four in a row.

Connect4x4

On an 8x8 board, two players alternate inserting their pieces from the
    edges of the board, across a row or up/down a column, attempting to form
    four in a row.

Gomoku

On a 15x15 board, the two players of gomoku try to be the first
    to create a line of 5 or more stones in a row of their color.

Hex

On a 11x11 diamond board, players take turns placing stones of
    their color on the board. The object is to connect your sides of
    the board while preventing your opponent from doing the same.

Jungle

Jungle is sort of a cross between Chinese chess and Stratego. It's
    popular in China as a children's "stepping-stone" to Chinese chess.
    It's also an interesting game in its own right.

Lines-of-Action

The object of the game is to move all your pieces into a configuration
    where they are in a single group connected horizontal, vertically, or
    diagonally.  Pieces may move horizontally, vertically, or diagonally,
    but they must move exactly the number of spaces as there are pieces
    on the row they are moving in.  You may not jump over opponent's
    pieces, nor may you land on your own piece.  If you land on an
	opponent's piece, it is captured and removed from the game.

On a 5x5 board, the two players of neutron fight to either move the
    neutron to their back row or trap it so the opponent cannot move it.

The winner is the player who is able to trap the neutron or gets the
    neutron to his or her own back row. It does not matter if it is your
    opponent who moves the neutron to your back row -- you still win.

On a 8x8 board, the two players of othello fight to control the majority
    of the board by outflanking and flipping their opponents pieces.

Pente

On a 19x19 board, the two players of pente try to be the first
    to create a line of 5 or more stones in a row of their color *or*
    try to capture 5 pairs of their opponents stones.  You capture
    a pair of stones any time you sandwich the stones between a
    pair of your stones.

Philosopher's Football

On a 19x19 board, players take turns either adding men to the field, or
    moving the football.  The football moves by jumping lines of adjacent
    men (and removing them from the board).  The object is to move the
    football to (or past) your goal line.

The players take turns placing one hex shaped piece in turn onto an open
    space (no board).  Pieces are numbered either 1, 2, 3 or 4 and you may
    play a piece of any number at each turn.  The object is to place a pair
    of pieces with your number in a straight line with two pieces in
    between.

Qubic

On a 4x4x4 grid, two players alternate placing their pieces, attempting
    to form four in a row in any direction.

Score4

On a 4x4 grid of pegs, two players alternate dropping their pieces from
    the top of a peg, down a column, attempting to form four in a row in any
    direction.

Survival is played on a hexagonal board made up of 19 numbered hexagons.
    Two players take turns placing pieces on the board with the "arrow" of
	the piece dictating the direction in which the next piece played by that
	player must be played.  The first player who can not move loses the game.

Played on a Go board, Tanbo crudely models a system of plant roots.  Roots
    which are growing, competing for space, and dying.  In beginner play, the
    roots grow much as the roots in a garden. Over time, the roots become
    shrewd and calculating.

To win, a player must eliminate all eight of his opponent's roots.  One
    player will always win.  It's impossible to repeat a board configuration
    in Tanbo.  Therefore a game cannot result in a draw.

Tanbo3d extends the game of Tanbo into three dimensions.

Terrace is played on an 8x8 board consisting of 16 'L' shaped terraces.
    Two corners of the board are "High" and the other corners are "Low".
    Each player has pieces of 4 sizes ('A', 'B', 'C' and 'D'). 'A' pieces are
    the smallest, 'D' pieces are the largest. 'T' pieces are the same size as
    'A' pieces and are each player's "key" piece.

The object of the game is to capture your opponent's "T" or move your "T"
    to the lowest square on your opponent's side of the board.

Trax is a game played with square tiles.  Each tile is identical
    to all other tiles, one side has a white line connecting opposite
    edges and a black line connecting the other edges, and the other
    side has a white line connecting 2 adjacent edges and a black line
    connecting the other edges.

The object of the game is to create a loop of your color while
    preventing your opponent from doing the same.  An alternate winning
    condition is to create a line extending from one edge of the board
    to the opposite edge of the board when the board is at least 8
    tiles wide (or tall).

StdTrax limits the board to an 8x8 area.  Normal Trax allows to board
    to grow to whatever size is necessary.  Normal Trax is also known as
    SuperTrax.

TwixT (Copyright (c) Avalon Hill)

On a 24x24 board, players take turns placing pegs of their color
    on the board.  Any time a peg is placed a "knight's move" from
    another peg of the same color, a strut is placed, connecting them.
    A strut can not cross over (through) another strut.  The object is
    to connect your sides of the board while preventing your opponent
    from doing the same.

An ongoing "King of the Hill" (KotH) tournament in which players
    use the C++ language to create a control program for a robot.  Your
    robot then fights each of the other robots "on the hill".  If you
    do well enough, your robot will "make the hill", bumping the lowest
    robot from the hill.

Robots have the ability to scan for opponents, fire a cannon, move,
    and determine current position and status.

Conceptually based on C-Robots written for the IBM PC by Tom Pointdexter.

--
  /\/\/\  | Richard Rognlie / Pr. Computer Analyst / PRC Inc. / McLean, VA
 /  \ \ \ | E-Mail: rrognlie@qnet.com       rrognlie@vtsu.prc.com
 \  / / / | Phone:  (Home) (703) 361-4764   (Office) (703) 556-2458
  \/\/\/  |                                 (Fax)    (703) 556-1174