Subject: Ackanomic Voting Digest V2 #39
From: [email-masked] (Ackanomic Voting Digest)
To: acka-voting-digest

Ackanomic Voting Digest    Tuesday, April 15 1997    Volume 02 : Number 039

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Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 01:43:00 -0500
From: Acrobot <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  Proposal 1916

Proposal 1916
Minor Returning Player Fix
Guy Fawkes

{{[ I don't know if this has come up or ever will be necessary, but the 
destroyed ZZimsy Undead make it a possibility. ]}}

Amend Rule 252, "Joining the Game" as follows:

In the first paragraph, replace "prompted the creation of an Undead" with 
"prompted the creation of a still-extant Undead".

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Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 01:47:31 -0500
From: Acrobot <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  Proposal 1917

Proposal 1917
Minor Returning Player Fix
Guy Fawkes

{{[ I don't know if this has come up or ever will be necessary, but the 
destroyed ZZimsy Undead make it a possibility. ]}}

Amend Rule 252, "Joining the Game" as follows:

In the first paragraph, replace "prompted the creation of an Undead" with 
"prompted the creation of a still-extant Undead".

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Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 01:47:31 -0500
From: Acrobot <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  Proposal 1918

Proposal 1918
Another Attmept to exorcise
Niccolo Flychuck

This is a Modest proposal.

A proposal that has the following effects:
I. Create a new rule entitled "Demon Transformation " which contains the
following text:
"{{Every PartyChessPieces Demon is transformed into a PartyChessPiece
Cantor}}"

II. Repeal R1230.18  "Creation of a PartyChessPiece Demon"

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Date: Mon, 14 Apr 1997 14:51:37 -0500
From: Acrobot <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  Proposal 1919

Proposal 1919
Viruses Game
/dev/joe

Create a new rule as a member of the Games & Contests Rule Suite, containing
the text below:

{{[ Time to test this system of having G&C in rules. ]}}

This Rule defines the Game "Viruses".

[Gist: Viruses is a multiplayer game based on John Conway's "game"
of Life.  The multiplayer aspect is grafted on by way of "viruses" --
each cell can either be clean or infected by any one player's virus;
when a new cell is born near cells infected with just one virus, the
new cell is also infected.  Moves are simultaneous and secret.]

Equipment: none

Players: minimum 2, maximum 20

Referees: 1, a volunteer who may not also be a player in the game.
The referee receives A$10 at the conclusion of the game for his services.

Winning the game: To win, accumulate 10 VirusPoints, or be the only player
left in the game.  See rule 8, below.

The Rules of Viruses:

1. Getting Started
After agreeing on a set of players, the Referee chooses 20 different squares
at random on a grid of 10 by 10 squares (exception: if there are more than
10 players, then the initial grid is made the smallest square region such
that the number of squares is at least 10 times the number of players, and
the number of randomly chosen squares is 2 times the number of players) and
assignes each player an ASCII character besides '.' and '@' to be used to
mark cells infected with his virus.  The randomly chosen squares are
initially filled by clean cells (not infected by a virus), marked by '@'.
All other squares are empty, marked by '.'.  The referee also chooses a
numbering system for the rows and the columns, and should post this
numbering system in some reasonable format whenever he posts the grid.
After the adjustment described in rule 2, this grid becomes the turn 0
state, and the referee shall post this grid publicly to begin the first
turn.

2. Active Area
Just after the initial random cells are placed on the grid, and after each
generation, the active area of the grid is reset to be the smallest
rectangle such that all the cells are contained in it and none of them lie
in the outermost two rings of squares.  (So, if there was a 2x2 block of
cells and no other cells, the active area would be a 6x6 area with the 2x2
block at the center.)  If there are no cells when the active area is to
be determined, a 2x2 block of clean cells is created and the active area
is a 6x6 block with those cells at the center.  [Preserve a minimal
interesting framework to play from if all the cells die out.]

3. Adjacency
Adjacent squares, for all the rules of this game, are any of the 8
squares which touch a square either along an edge or a corner.  An
adjacent cell is an adjacent square containing a cell.

4. Turns
Each turn lasts 3 days from the time the referee posted the state
of the grid before that turn, unless at some earlier time all players
have submitted the maximum number of valid moves they are allowed for
that turn, in which case the turn ends immediately.

Each turn except the first turn, each player may make one move from
the allowable types.  The first turn, each player may make three "Place"
or "Infect" moves.  All moves are made by private messages to the referee.
The referee shall not reveal any move to any player other than the one who
made it until the end of that turn.

5. Allowable Moves
The following types of moves are allowed:
 a. Place - a player may place one new cell infected with his virus in any
    empty square.
 b. Infect - a player may infect any clean cell with his virus.
 c. Step - a player may move a cell infected with his virus cells to any
    adjacent empty square.
 d. Destroy - a player may destroy a cell infected with his virus.
 e. Uninfect - a player may uninfect a cell infected with his virus
    (turning it into a clean cell).

In each case, the square(s) associated with a move must be given in
order to fully specify the move; these should be specified by column
and row according to the numbering system imposed by the referee.
Any move which does not specify square(s) in the active area meeting the
descriptions above or which is not of one of these types of moves is
invalid.  Two moves conflict if they attempt to step and/or place cells
into the same square or try to infect the same clean cell.

6. Resolving Moves
At the end of a turn, the referee examines all the submitted moves.
First, the referee removes from consideration all invalid moves.
Then, if any player(s) submitted too many moves, only the first one(s)
(up to the allowed limit) for each such player are kept.  
Then, the referee removes from consideration all moves which conflict
with one or more other remaining moves.  Finally, all the moves still
under consideration are applied to the current grid.
[This allows players to "change" their move only if they previously
submitted one which is invalid.]

7. Generations
After applying a set of moves, a generation occurs.  The grid is
altered according to these rules (both rules are applied simultaneously
to all appropriate squares in the grid):
 a. All cells which have 0, 1, or 4 or more adjacent cells are destroyed.
 b. A new cell is created in each empty square which has exactly 3
    adjacent cells.  If the adjacent cells are all clean, or there are
    adjacent cells infected by two or more different viruses, the new
    cell is clean.  Otherwise, it is infected with the one virus which
    infects one or more of the adjacent cells.

8. VirusPoints; Winning the Game of Viruses
After each generation, the player whose virus then infects the most cells
scores one VirusPoint, but if there is a tie for most cells, no VirusPoint
is scored.  When a player has 10 VirusPoints he wins the game.  If only
one player remains in the game, that player wins the game.  If there is
ever a time when no player is left in the game, then one of the players
who was in the game the last time there were any players in the game is
chosen at random to be the winner of the game.  VirusPoints have no
effect outside the instance of Viruses in which they are given out.

9. End-of-turn Information
After applying a set of moves and a generation to the grid, as well as
the size adjustment in rule 2, the referee shall post the current state
of the grid publicly, as well as the list of all valid moves submitted by
players for that turn (except those ignored because a player submitted too
many moves), indicating which ones were conflicting, and also the
adjustment in the size/position of the active area of the grid caused by
rule 2, and the scoring for the round and the total scores.

10. Joining or Leaving a Game in Progress
During the first ten turns, new players may join the game by publicly
announcing their intent, if they have not played in this instance of
Viruses before; each new player gets three Place or Infect moves in
his first turn instead of the usual one move.  If a player retires from
the game or leaves Ackanomic, while there still exist cells infected with
that player's virus, a new player may join and take that player's virus
as his own instead of the usual method of starting (but any new player
doing so gets only one move of any allowed type in his first turn).
Despite all the above, if a game of Viruses has the maximum number of
players then no additional players may join.

If a player retires from the game or leaves Ackanomic and nobody takes
over his virus by the end of the turn after the one during which he
retired, all cells infected by his virus are uninfected just before the
moves are evaluated.

If the referee retires for any reason, the game is put on hold until a
new referee is chosen.  The new referee must not be a current player of
the Viruses game, but may be a former player; any Ackanomic player who
meets this guideline may volunteer by announcing so publically.  When
a new referee is publicly knowable, the current turn restarts with a
full 3-day limit; all moves for this turn sent to the former referee are
ignored.  The current referee may not be a player in the Viruses game,
nor may any player who has been referee within the last two turns.

11. Genocide
When the grid is posted at the end of turn 11 or a later turn, any player
whose virus infects no cells is eliminated from the game, unless this would
eliminate all the players.

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End of Ackanomic Voting Digest V2 #39
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