Othello (v1.1) for the unexpanded VIC-20
---------------------------------------- 
(c) 2002 Anders Carlsson [Zapac] <anders.carlsson@mds.mdh.se>

This game is part of the Minigame Compo (http://www.ffd2.com/minigame/). It
is written in machine code, and the source will be available as soon as the 
competition deadline has passed (september 2002).

The game plays Othello on an oversized board (14x14 instead of 8x8). So far,
the best score the author has achieved is 167 - 29, i.e. 85% of the board.
A (VICE) screenshot of that game is submitted with this package.

Controls
--------
Move the cursor with keys U N H J as they are positioned on the real VIC-20
keyboard. Use space bar to make your move. An illegal move is greeted with 
a rather high pitched beep. Press 'S' to skip a move.

Computer
--------
The computer algorithm was based upon a Basic listing(1) by Graham Charlton 
and Tim Hartnell. The machine code conversion both is faster and uses less
memory than the original routine. The algorithm is quite brute-force, has
no look-ahead but will evaluate positions close to borders and corners a
little more. The game could also be modified to play against itself.

(1) from "Spela VIC", a combined and translated edition of the two books 
    "Symphony for a Melancoly Computer" and "Zap, Pow, Boom!" from 1983.

Memory usage
------------
The executable is 1014 bytes plus loading address, which means it will fit
within 4 blocks on a standard 1541 disk. Of the 1014 bytes, 18 are workspace
data. The game uses 16-bit zeropage pointers for indexing the screen, which
by the way is 16 column wide and easilly addressed with four ASLs. Due to
differences between VICE's emulation and a real VIC, I had to submit a bug
fixed and prettified version (1.1) which is the preferred one.

Bugs
----
The computer will skip a move if it doesn't find a valid one. However, it 
occasionally may skip for no particular reason which means you get to do two 
moves in a row. If you're also unable to move, skipping your move in this
scenario will end the game.

Future improvements
-------------------
Joystick support (if I could get it to work and fit within 1024 bytes).



