Subject: Ackanomic Digest V2 #51
From: [email-masked] (Ackanomic Digest)
To: ackanomic-digest

Ackanomic Digest       Wednesday, April 16 1997       Volume 02 : Number 051

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Tue, 15 Apr 1997 23:15:56 -0500 (CDT)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acrobot

Oops... I'm afraid acka-research is a discussion only list.

#retract proposal 1920
#retract proposal 1924
#thanks

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 16 Apr 1997 00:26:36 -0400
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Blueprint III

Blueprint for the "BWG Fluff Buster"

A BWG Fluff Buster is a small cylinder with an end that rotates.  When
the end is rotated, it blows into the air, from its other end, a cloud
of black smoke, a cloud of black smoke, a cloud of white smoke, then
a cloud of black smoke.  It then buzzes for the remainder of the day.

The text enclosed in double dollar signs in this Blueprint is notes and
comments only, and does not describe the behaviour of the BWG Fluff Buster
in any way.

$$

- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
[this is done this way to avoid submitting a 60K proposal.  Please don't
scam me on this.]

Create a new rule entitled "Tromino Go", numbered 1250.11, with
the following text:

"
[Credits: Original game by Sid Sackson; published in the June 1994 issue
of Games magazine.  Adapted for e-mail play by /dev/joe.]

General Equipment: Gamepoints as needed

Players: exactly two players and one referee are required, no more, no
less.

Definitions:

A tromino, or "piece", is an L-shaped group of three like letters, such
as any of these examples:
AA  b    C
 A  bb  CC

A unit of edge is a length equal to the height or width of one letter
on any edge of a tromino.  Each tromino has four 1-unit edges and two 
2-unit edges.

Adjacent (or "touching"), in this game, means bordering on one or more
units of edge.  Trominoes which touch only diagonally are not considered
adjacent.

A group of trominoes is any single tromino not adjacent to another
tromino belonging to the same player, or any set of two or more
trominoes which belong to the same player such that a path can be
made from any one to any other tromino in the set by moving only
between adjacent trominoes, but no tromino in the set is adjacent
to a tromino belonging to that player but not in the set.

A No Man's Land is any area of empty space completely surrounded by
trominoes.

Outside edge is any edge or portion of an edge of a tromino which does
not have another tromino or a No Man's Land adjacent to it.

A group of trominoes is surrounded if no tromino in the group has
any outside edge.

Beginning the game:

As described in rule 1250.1, section VI.  Additionally, the referee
shall randomly select one of the players to go first in the first
round; this begins the first round.

Rules:

1. General play rules

The player who loses each round starts the next round, if there is one;
if a round ends in a tie then the player who played second plays first
in the next round.  The player who plays first in a round always plays
using capital letters, and the other player uses lower case.  The plays
in each round always cycle through the letters A, B, and C, and the
players always alternate making plays, so the first six plays in a
round will always be A, b, C, a, B, and c, and then the sequence repeats.

2. The first four plays in a round

The first player begins by placing an A tromino in an otherwise empty
grid.  (Note that there is no limit to the grid; plays may always expand
in any direction, within the other restrictions of the rules.)

The second player then plays a b tromino so that it touches at least
two units of edge (which may be part of the same edge or different
edges) of the first tromino.  Some possible configurations after the
second play are:

AAb  AA   bbAA   AA
Abb  Abb   bA   bA
       b        bb

The first player then plays a C tromino so that it touches the b tromino
along at least two units of edge, but it does not touch the A tromino.

Then the second player plays an a tromino so that it touches at least
two units of edge of the C tromino, but does not touch the b tromino.

3. Plays Five to Thirty

After the first four plays in a round, until 30 trominoes have been
played,
each player in turn plays a tromino of the next letter in the sequence in
accorance with these three rules:
   i. It may not touch any other tromino of the same letter, regardless
      who played it (so an A tromino may not touch any other A or a
      trominoes, for instance).

 ii. It must touch at least one tromino played by the opponent along
      at least one unit of edge.
 iii. It must touch at least two units of edge of any trominoes already
      played (including the one unit required by rule ii).

4. Moving Trominoes

If 30 trominoes have been played without ending the round, then instead
of adding additional trominoes, each player moves one of his trominoes
of the appropriate letter to a new location.  Only trominoes with
some outside edge may be moved; a tromino which will split the grid
into two pieces if removed may not be moved.  The tromino's new position
must follow the rules in section 3 for playing new trominoes.  When a
round which has progressed to this phase ends, the player who wins
scores double the Gamepoints he would normally score.

5. Handling a Stalemate

In any of the phases of play (rules 2 through 4 above), if a player
cannot make any other legal play, he may pass, leaving the grid unchanged
but advancing to the next letter in sequence and to the other player's
turn.  [This isn't commented on in the original rules, and I don't even
know if it's possible, but just in case, I've put this here.]

6. Winning a Round

A round ends when one or more groups of trominoes are surrounded.
At the end of a round, the player with the fewer surrounded trominoes
wins the round, and scores Gamepoints equal to the number of his
opponent's surrounded trominoes minus the number of his own surrounded
trominoes.  If the two players have the same number of surrounded
trominoes then the round is a tie and nobody scores.

A player may cause his own trominoes to be surrounded by forming a
No Man's Land.  (A player may wish to do this intentionally to prevent his
opponent from surrounding a larger group of trominoes, or because it
simultaneously surrounds a group of his opponent's trominoes.)

7. Concessions

At any time either player may post a public message conceding the current
round of Tromino Go, along with a number of Gamepoints they are conceding.
This does not end the round, and is not a play; the round continues
as usual until it ends normally, or a concession is accepted.

A player may accept any concession made by their opponent during the
current round of Tromino Go by stating so in a public message; if e
does so, the current round ends and e scores the indicated number of
Gamepoints.

8. Winning the Game

When a player has scored 7 or more Gamepoints in a game of Tromino Go,
e wins that game.  A player may also win the game if his opponent
fails to make a play within the 3 day time limit.  These are the only
ways to win the game.

When a player wins an instance of Tromino Go which was not played for
a Duel, an amount of A$ is transferred to that player from the treasury
as follows:  If e won by scoring 7 or more Gamepoints, then e gets 2 times
the difference between his score in Gamepoints and his opponent's score
in Gamepoints.  Otherwise, e gets 14 minus twice eir opponent's score in
Gamepoints.  In addition, at the end of any instance of Tromino Go, the
referee gets A$1 from the treasury for each round completed, to a
maximum of A$10.  No Trophies are awarded for winning this game.

9. How Plays are Made

Players should play by reposting the previous grid, with their new
play added/moved as appropriate, in a public message.  Players need
not wait for the referee to comment on a play before making the next
play; the referee should watch for illegal plays, but need not make
any comment unless an illegal play is discovered, or a play has been
questioned, or a round has ended.

Each player has 3 days from the time of the previous play (or from the
beginning of the round, for the case of the first play) to make a play
when it is his turn, or else e loses the game.

10. Handling Illegal Plays and the End of a Round

If a player believes an illegal play has been made, he may post so
publicly, and the referee should post publicly either that all
plays are legal, or indicate the first illegal play which has been
made.
  - If all plays are legal, then play continues where it left off; no time
    between the the public request to verify the plays and the referee's
    response counts toward the 3 days a player has to make a play.
  - If the referee determines that an illegal play has been made, then
    that play and all plays since that are ignored, and play continues
    with the player who made the illegal play making a new play.  No time
    between the initial post of the illegal play and the referee's post
    indicating the illegal play shall count against the 3 days the player
    has to make a play.

If the referee finds that an illegal play has been made, he may post
so publicly without any request to do so, and the same corrections as
in the preceding section shall be applied.

If the referee posts that a round has ended, e should include with this
message the winner of the round, the Gamepoints scored, and the total
Gamepoints each player has.  If this does not end the game, the next
round begins at the time of this post.  If it does end the game, the
referee should post the final score, who won, and the A$ transfers
resulting from it.

11. Substitutions

A player may appoint another willing player not already involved with the
game to play in his place for any time that e is on vacation.  If a player
leaves the game of Ackanomic, e loses the game of Tromino Go.

The referee may appoint another willing player not already involved in the
game to play in his place for any time that e is on vacation or is no
longer a player in Ackanomic.  If the referee goes on vacation or leaves
Ackanomic without making such an appointment, the Speaker may
appoint a referee.
"

- -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Create a new rule entitled "Double Crash", numbered 1250.12, with
the following text:

"
I. General Equipment: 

Official Dictionary 

II. Players

minimum: 2; maximum 2 

III. Starting an instance of Double Crash

As described in rule 1250.1, section VI.

IV. Rules of the Games

Throughout these rules, an N-round Salvo is a public post taking the form
of a numbered list of N five-letter words. The numbering convention and
format should be: 

        1) [five-letter word]
        2) [another one]
        ...  and so on, up to  ...  
        N) [the last one]

A Reply to a Salvo is a reposting of the Salvo being replied to, with the
addition of a number from 1-5 to the right of each five-letter word. This
number is the number of "crashes" as defined below, of that word with the
Replying player's Target Word. The format should be 

        1) [five-letter word]  2 [actual number will vary]
        2) [another one]       3
        ... and so on, up to ...
        N) [the last one]      1

Two words crash once for each letter that occupies the same position in
each word. (ie, if they have the same first letter, they crash once; if
they have the same third letter, they crash again. HEART crashes once with
SPADE (for the A). STAFF crahses three times with CHAFF. SWORD does not
crash with WORDY. A five-letter word crashes five times with itself.) 

The game consists of several rounds, each of which lasts three days or
until all actions required of players in that round, whichever comes
first. If ever a player fails to complete all required actions before the
end of a round, his opponent wins. If both players so fail, and the game
is being held as a Duel, the challenged player wins. If both players so
fail, and the game is not being played as a Duel, neither player wins, and
the game is over. Each round begins immediately upon the end of the
previous one. 

Round 1) Each player selects a five-letter word from the Official
Dictionary. This is his Target Word, and should be kept secret. Also, each
player posts a 6-round Salvo.
Round 2) Each player Replies to the other's 6-round Salvo.
Round 3) Each player posts a 5-round Salvo.
Round 4) Each player Replies to the other's 5-round Salvo.
Round 5) Each player posts a 4-round Salvo.
Round 6) Each player Replies to the other's 4-round Salvo.
Round 7) Each player posts a 3-round Salvo.
Round 8) Each player Replies to the other's 3-round Salvo. 

Hereafter, each odd-numbered round consists of each player posting a
3-round Salvo; each even-numbered round consists of each player Replying
to the Salvo the other posted the previous round. 

If a player improperly reports the number of crashes any word in any Salvo
has with his Target Word, or if a player selects as his Target Word a word
other than a five-letter word from the Official Dictionary, his opponent
wins as soon as the error is discovered. 

The rounds continue until upon the end of a round of Replies, one or both
Replies indicates that some word in the previous Salvo crashed five times
with the Replying players Target Word. If only one-player posted a Salvo
which included a five-crash word, that player is the tentative winner. If
both players posted such a Salvo, the player who posted a five-crash word
higher in the Salvo's list is the tentative winner, if such a player can
be uniquely defined. (ie, a five-crash word at the #1 slot in a Salvo
beats one at #2.) If the two five-crash words occupy the same position in
their respective Salvos, the player who posted their Salvo first is the
tentative winner. 

Once a tentative winner is found, the two players shall reveal their
respective Target Words. The players may then examine each others' plays
for errors. If no actual errors are found within three days, the tentative
winner wins the game. 

Upon a player winning the game, it ends. If the game was not being played
as a Duel, the winner receives A$25 from the Treasury.  No Trophy is 
awarded to the winner of the game.
"

- -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Create a new rule entitled "Single Capture Go", numbered 1250.13, with
the following text:

"
I. General Equipment: none 

II. Participants:

minimum players: 2; maximum players: 12; one referee

III. Starting an instance of the game:

As described in rule 1250.1, section VI.

Additionally, at the beginning of the game, the referee assigns each
player a different capital Letter of the alphabet. 

IV. Rules of play

The game is played on an N by N grid, where N is the smallest integer such
that N^2 is equal to or greater than 12*(the number of players who begin
the game. 

The grid is labeled according the following convention: 

        a1 a2 a3 a4 a5 ...
        b1 b2 b3 b4 b5 ...
        c1 c2 c3 c4 c5 ...
        d1 d2 d3 d4 d5 ...
        e1 e2 e3 e4 e5 ...
        ...

Each square in the grid may be occupied by exactly one Letter or by the @
character. 

A round begins when the referee announces the beginning of a round. For
all rounds but the first, he should include in this announcement a
depiction of the grid, showing all Letters upon it, as well as a summary
of the any moves made or attempted in the last round and the players
remaining in the game. A round lasts three days after this announcement. 

During the course of a round, each player may privately mail the referee
their play, which shall consist of naming exactly one square on the grid
not occupied by a Letter at the beginning of the round. (ie, e7, assuming
e7 was unoccupied at the beginning of the present round.) If a player
sends the referee two valid moves, only the latter one shall count. 

At the end of a round, the referee shall determine its results as follows.
1) If exactly one player legally played a given grid square that round,
the referee shall place the Letter assigned to that player on that grid
square. 

2) If more than one player legally played a given grid square that round,
the referee shall place a @ character on that grid square. The players who
played that square are still counted as having moved that round. 

3) A Group is a set of identical Letters occupying squares on the grid,
such that each member of the Group occupies a square orthogonally adjacent
to one occupied by at least one other member of the Group. The exception
to this definition is that a single Letter, not so adjacent to any
identical Letters, is considered a Group of one member. 

A Group has Liberty as long as at least one of its members is orthogonally
adjacent to an unoccupied grid square. 

At this point, if any Group does not have Liberty, the player
corresponding to that Group's Letter is doomed. Any player who did not
play in the most recent round is also doomed. 

4) Any Letters on the grid corresponding to a doomed player are
transformed into @ characters. 

5) If exactly one non-doomed player remains in the game, that player wins.
If no non-doomed players remain, the player who had the most correpsonding
Letters on the grid prior to the most recent transformation into @
characters wins. There are no other winning conditions.  The winner
receives a standard Trophy. 

6) All doomed players are removed from the game. If more than one player
remains, the referee announces the start of a new round, as described
above. Otherwise, the game ends. 
"

$$

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 16 Apr 1997 00:40:43 -0400
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Blueprint IV

Blueprint for the "Its late I'm tired"

An Its late I'm tired is a is a large red ball, generally devoid of
treasure clues.  When its owner bounces it against any Tower, it 
politely says "Please overlook minor flaws in Games and Contests 
reorg, and vote for it anyway, I'm out of K and Blueprints for the
month :)".

The text enclosed in double dollar signs in this Blueprint is notes and
comments only, and does not describe the behaviour of the 
Its late I'm tired in any way.

$$

- -------------------------------------------------------------------------
[this is done this way to avoid submitting a 60K proposal.  Please don't
scam me on this.]

- -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Create a new rule entitled "Diplomacy", numbered 1250.14, with
the following text:

"
I.  General Equipment: None.

II.  Number of Players:

Minimum 2, maximum: Number of Ackanomic players less 1. Referees: 1

III.  Starting an instance of the game:

The game is started upon the completion of the following ordered list
of steps:

A.  A player announces their intent to be a referee for a game of
Diplomacy.  For the purposes of this section, they will be referred to
as the "Referee", athough they do not become so until the game actually
starts.  They may abort this procedure at any time before step F occurs,
by publically announcing this action, in which case no instance of a
game occurs.

B.  The Referee announces the following information:

    1) The minimum and maximum number of players in the game.

    2) Any variations to the Rules of Standard Diplomacy.  Such variations
may not scope beyond the game of Diplomacy.  For the purposes of this
game, "Rules of Standard Diplomacy" means the document entitled "Rules
for Diplomacy", copyright 1976, as published by The Avalon Hill Game
Co.  The variant must at least be recognizable as form of the game of
Diplomacy.

    3) If the variant uses countries, the method in which countries shall
be assigned.

    4) If the variant uses orders or moves, and turns, the time limit
by which orders or moves must be submitted from the announced start of
a turn.  If multiple types of turns exist [eg, "move" and "build"],
different time limits may be specified for each type.  For the purposes
of these rules, "moves" should be construed as any possible game action
that requires notifiying the referee.

    5) The method of adjudication.  The valid methods are "manual" and
"automated".  If manual adjudication is specified, the form of all valid
moves in the game and the manner of communication with the referee must
be specified.  If automated adjudication is specified, the referee must
specify instructions on how to use the "judge", or provide a pointer
to a suitable set of instructions.  In either case, it should be such that
a player may play the game with e-mail only access to the Internet.

   6) The default action for all late, ambiguous, or otherwise invalid
orders or moves, and some sort of discussion of what constitutes a late,
ambiguous, or invalid move.

   7) The conditions, if any, under which the game will be terminated
prematurely [e.g., after the Autumn 1930 move], and the method for
determining a winner or winners in such a case.  It is not required that
a winner be determined in this case.

   8) The actions of any bots playing in the game, as per section V.
Bots can replace players who are on vacation or leave the game. [e.g,
bots always submit unambigious hold orders for all their units, and
never submit build orders.]

C.  The referee announces open enrollment in the game, and the deadline
by which open enrollment shall end.

D.  Ackanomic players other than the referee who wish to play shall e-mail
the referee stating this intention.  This step shall end upon the
occurrance of either of the following 2 events:  The open enrollment
deadline occurs, or, the maximum number of players for this instance
of the game have signed up.

E.  Upon the former event occurring, the game cannot start unless at
least the minimum number of players enrolled, and, in this case, this
procedure is aborted with no game instance occurring.

F.  The referee announces the start of the game, the names and e-mail
addresses of all the players, and any necessary initial data [e.g.
country assignments].

IV.  Rules of the Game:

Standard Diplomacy shall be played, except as modified by the details
announced per section III, and except that no physical board and pieces
shall be used (athough it is permissible, but not required, for a web
page to be maintained that simulates such), and except that a referee
shall adjudicate all game moves and maintain the game state.  The
decisions of the referee are final.

Winning the game:  Unless specified otherwise in the details announced
per section III, the first single player to achieve the winning conditions
of Standard Diplomacy shall win the game.  Also, unless countermanded as
per section III, 2 or more players may claim a win by, as a group,
controlling enough of the game space such that if said control were
achieved by a single player, that player would win, provided all players
involved acknowledge this claim seperately to the referee.  [e.g, if 2
or more players control 18 sc's between themselves, they can announce a
co-win].

Upon a winning condition being achieved, the game ends.  All winners
split 8 points evenly.  If the number of winners does not divide evenly
into 8, however, the number of points split is the greatest positive
multiple of the number of winners that is less than 8.  If no such number
exists, no points are awarded.  The Golden Knife is awarded as a Trophy.

If the game ends without a winner or winners being declared, however,
no points are awarded.

Upon the end of a game, the referee receives A$10.

V.  Errata

Upon a player or referee of Diplomacy becoming no longer an active
Ackanomic player, the game is paused until a replacment is found, and
such replacement is acknowledged by the referee, or the Speaker in
the cases where there is no referee, or the player in question is
replacing
the referee.  The game becomes unpaused upon all non-active players being
replaced, or upon being in a paused state for 3 consecutive days,
whichever occurs first.  The replacement shall play in the former
players stead until that player once again achieves active status in
Ackanomic.

A player may resign from Diplomacy, in which case they are treated as a
non-active player as above, except they may never participate in that
instance of Diplomacy again.

No game play shall occur while the game is in a state of pause, and
no time in a state of pause shall count towards any durations in the
game, except for counting towards the pause duration, of course.

If no replacement player is found by the time the game becomes unpaused,
a bot shall play in their stead, as specified in section III.  If the
individual in question is the referee, however, the game ends without a
winner upon it beoming un-paused, if no replacement referee has been
found.

An active Ackanomic player may always replace a bot with the approval
of the referee, provided that player has not previously participated
in that instance of Diplomacy.
"

- -------------------------------------------------------------------------

Create a new rule entitled "Spades", numbered 1250.15, with
the following text:

"
General Equipment: 

1 standard deck without the optional cards
Gamepoints as needed

Number of Players:

exactly 4 players and 1 referee are needed.

Beginning the game:

As described in rule 1250.1, section VI.

Additionally,  the referee begins the game by randomly assigning the
players into a playing order (ensuring that members of the same team do
not occupy adjacent positions if teams are already chosen), and publicly
posting this playing order and announcing that the spades game is
beginning.  Players 1 and 3 shall be team 1; players 2 and 4 shall be
team 2.  Throughout the game, play will rotate through this order, 
returning to player 1 after player 4.

Add to the end of Rule 5, "Winning the Game", the following:

  When either side wins by any of these methods, the referee shall publicly
  post the results of the game, including the final scores.

Rules:

1. Dealing

At the beginning of each round, the referee collects and shuffles into
a random order all of the cards in the deck (except the Jokers, which
are not used), and deals 13 cards to each player (sending each player
eir cards by private email).

2. Bidding

In the first round, player 1 has the first bid; in each later round,
the next player in the sequence has the first bid.  After the deal, the
first bidder (and each other bidder after him) makes a bid.  The valid
bids are 0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13.

3. Trick Play

The main part of a round consists of 13 tricks. In each trick each
player shall play one card from his hand; these cards are then
removed from play for the rest of that round.  The player who made
the highest bid (the first player who made it, in case of a tie) leads
to the first trick; for later tricks, the player who won the previous
trick leads.  The player who leads a trick begins it by playing any
card from eir hand (called the card led).  The other players follow
in order; each player must play a card from eir hand of the same suit
as the card led, if e has one; if not, e may play any card from eir
hand.  The player who played the highest Spade played to a trick wins
the trick, if any Spade was played; otherwise the player who played the
highest card of the suit led wins the trick.

4. Scoring

Each team has a Spadescore in Gamepoints, to which Gamepoints are added
to and subtracted as appropriate; all scoring is in Gamepoints.

After the 13th trick in a round is completed, each team scores as follows:

The bids the two players won are added together, as are the number of
tricks taken by the two players. If they took fewer tricks than their
bid, they score -10 times the bid (-20 times the bid if the bid was 10
or more); otherwise they score 10 times the bid (20 times the bid if it
was 10 or more), and in addition, they score 1 and get one sandbag for
each trick in excess of their bid.

For each player on the team who bid 0, the team scores 100 if e took no
tricks, or -100 if e took at least one trick.

When a team receives their 10th, 20th, 30th, etc. sandbag, they score
- -100.

5. Winning the Game

After the scoring for a round, if at least one team has a Spadescore of
greater than or equal to 500, and the teams aren't tied, the team with
the greater score wins; otherwise, the referee shall begin another round.
If both players on a team post a concession publicly, the other team wins
the game.  If either team forfeits their opponents win.  There are no
other ways to win the game.  No Trophies are awarded for winning.

6. Miscellaneous

Bids and plays of cards may be made either by posting them in a public
message or sending them in a message to the referee and all other players.

Nobody is allowed to reveal to anybody what cards any player has except
as explicitly stated in these rules.

If a player misplays (plays a card not matching the suit of the card led
when e has a card in eir hand matching the suit of the card led, or
attempts
to play a card not in eir hand), the referee should intervene as quickly
as
possible, voiding all plays since (and including) the misplay, and the
misplaying player's team scores -100.  If players on one team misplay
twice
in one hand or three times in a game, that team forfeits.  Any misplays
voided due to an earlier misplay do not count and are not penalized.

7. Time Limit

Whenever action is expected of any player and they fail to act for 3 days,
the referee shall intervene by choosing a valid action for that player,
as follows:

If it occurs during the bidding, a bid of 2 is made.

If it occurs during the trick play, the referee chooses a card at random
from among the cards the player could legally play, and it is played.
"

$$

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 16 Apr 1997 00:45:09 -0400 (EDT)
From: John Frederic Mc Coy <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: CGI: Guess

IdiotBoy
snowgod
Mohammed
Robert Sevin
You can call me Al
Bascule
breadbox

                                   - Vynd

[email-masked]

------------------------------

End of Ackanomic Digest V2 #51
******************************