HEXPLODE v1.0   1 September 1997
HEXPL11  v1.1   2 August 1998    (added top-5 lists, menu, setup remembered 
                                  and some bugs fixed)
Written by Andre van Linden (from a idea originating from J. Ansell).
Tested only on 2Mb Psion 3c (when anything is known about other machines, 
please inform me).

Installation

For installation of the game the file HEXPL11.OPA should be in the \APP 
directory and installed by PSION-I.
When you want to see (or use) the source file the following two file 
should also be copied to your PSION:
  \OPL\HEXPL11.OPL
  \OPD\HEXPL11.PIC
The HEXPL11.GIF and HEXPLODE.TXT are just for illustration within your PC.

History

In 1982 the idea for this (then) original game was written by J. Ansell
in the PCM (Personal Computer Magazine). The basic program was written for
the BBC computer and only enabled to play between two human players.
Later on I wrote a freeware version of the game for the IBM personal computer
in which I added some artificial intellegence so one person could try not to
be beaten by the computer! Now finally the version for the PSION is written.
The program is thinking with a mixture of strategy and straight forward 
calculations. Because the calculations take a lot of time the strategy is more
important in lower levels and this makes the (simple OPL) program remarkable 
quick for an already rather strong player.

Playing the game

The purpose of the game is to win and to beat the computer as often as you can! 
The board consists of 25 hexagons. Each of the players on his turn will put
a count in one of the hexagons. You can do this by using the arrow keys and
give ENTER when it is the one you want. Each of the hexagons can contain as 
many counters as it has neighbours. When checking the graph, this means:
                    3
                  4   4
                4   6   4
              4   6   6   4
            2   6   6   6   2
              4   6   6   4
                4   6   4
                  4   4
                    3  
At the moment a hexagon is reaching this maximum amount, it (h)explodes to its
neighbours. Any number of counts in these neighbouring hexagons will be taken
by the exploding hexagon and will increase the total number of the player.
In this way you can win or loose counts. When one of the players is out of
counts he looses. Especially when the board is almost filled, one explosion
can give a chain reaction changing the whole outlook of the board!

When starting you will have several options:
Skill from 1 to 5. Skill level of 1 gives thinking times of 2 seconds, at 2
  this will be around 6. Level 4 will need 20 to 30 seconds and level 5 needs
  approximately 6 to 10 minutes for each move! This level is therefore only
  interesting on a good PC with the emulator. Level 3 is in between 2 and 4,
  meaning under 30 counts total, it behaves like level 2 and after like level 4.
Status will show a figure for how good the computer thinks its move is (this
  is also very much depending on the playing level) and this shows a line for
  his thinking activity. One dot represents one hexagon to be checked!
Last Move tells you what the computer actually did
Player can play black or grey
Show time will show the time for each player, only updated after the move has
  been made. Qualify will make your game qualifying for the top-5 lists.
During the game you can use the MENU for further options. 
All kind of Psion buttions do work, see the menu (Psion-X is Exit).
The program has a top-5 list for each level. Your last setup is remembered.
All is done in a \OPD\HEXPLODE.ODB file, which is automatically created and
updated.

The best strategy you will have to find yourself. In general in the beginning
you should go for the spots which can explode easiest, so corners and sides.
The points in a qualifying game are made up out of direct won points, the 
number of counts needed and time needed. You can only cheat by using the 
emulator on a PC.

Postware.

I very much like the idea of freeware. I would however very much like to have 
some reactions to the program and of course I like to have nice mail and 
postcards. Therefore the only thing you could do to make the maker of the 
program happy is to write me a nice postcard to:

  Andre van Linden
  Albert Plesmanlaan 4
  2171 RE  Sassenheim
  The Netherlands

(Of course you could sent me some cash, so I will try to keep you updated
when new versions of the program will be written).

Or send me a some email to: <andre@alinden.demon.nl>.

You can find this software and other Psion info on the following web page:
<http://www.alinden.demon.nl/psion/>.