Readme file for the Amazons program Arrow 0.09b:

By Martin Mueller, http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~mmueller/

This is the same program that played in the 2nd Amazons tournament in December 1999,
with some recent cosmetic changes to the UI.

This program is freeware. If you enjoy playing it, I would appreciate a postcard.

To play a game:

- start program
- in menu 'Amazons', choose 'Players' dialog
- select black and white players. The following settings are available:

	"human": Human player
	"Arrow-tournament": maximum 50 sec. per move, about 15 min/game
	"Arrow-10sec": 	about 10 sec. per move
	"Arrow-5sec": 	about 5 sec. per move
	"Arrow-1sec": 	about 1 sec. per move
	"Arrow-0sec":	no search, only static evaluation
	"Random": random player
	"Test1,3..8": some experimental players with different evaluation functions.
	"Test2" is analysis mode, 10 minutes/move. Interrupt by 'cmd-period' to force a move.

- to play a move: click amazon, click destination square, click arrow destination.
	A partially executed move can be changed by clicking elsewhere. There is some
	minimal feedback about the input state now.
- take back a move: press leftmost button '<-'. enter other move.
- save game as SGF: 'save' or 'save as' in file menu
- load game: 'open' in file menu. Can read SGF and 
	(at least one version of) Yamashita's files.

- 'cmd-M' generates a single computer move using the current engine.

Known Bugs:
- Redraw bug if board is made smaller
- Too few moves generated for a 'blocker' that need not block
- Too easy to kill queens in opening
- game files have creator 'GoBd' (same as Smart Go Board and Explorer)

History:
Nov/Dec 1999: Arrow versions 0.01 to 0.09 are written in the two weeks
just before the second Amazons tournament in Hamamatsu. Arrow takes third place in
a field of eight programs. See the tournament report:
H. Iida and M. Mueller. Report on the Second Open Computer-Amazons Championship. ICGA Journal Vol.23 No.1, March 2000. 


Aug 2, 2000:
After some UI improvements, Arrow 0.09 is released as freeware.

Nov 8, 2000:
Some UI bugs discovered by Markian Hlynka have been fixed for Arrow 0.09b. A new
experimental version 'Test8' seems slightly stronger than Arrow in general play,
but suffers from occasional big blunders, so the default engine remains the same for now.