          H  H N   N EEEE FFFF AAAA TTTTT AAAA FFFF L
          H  H NN  N E    F    A  A   T   A  A F    L
          HHHH N N N EEE  FFF  AAAA   T   AAAA FFF  L
          H  H N  NN E    F    A  A   T   A  A F    L
          H  H N   N EEEE F    A  A   T   A  A F    LLLL

                           Kings Table
                         by Nathan Letwory


# disclaimer #

this program comes as is, with NO WARRANTY. The author of the program 
cannot be held responsible for ANY damage that might occur to hardware 
or software during use of this program.
Use of this program is at own risk! Allthough the program works fine 
on the hardware of the author, it is no garanty it will do so on yours.

# ---------- #

(c) 2001, Nathan Letwory

-------------------------
- COPYRIGHT INFORMATION -
-------------------------

This program makes use of the Allegro Gaming library (Shawn Hargreaves, 
et al.). All other code is written from scratch and not to be used unless 
the author gives explicit and personal permission.


----------------
- INSTALLATION -
----------------

- Zip everything into one directory. (There is a windows executable included. This 
program makes use of Allegro WIP 3.9.34, so you need thos dll's).
- The program is small and simple. It doesn't need much. There are no makefiles for 
Linux and DOS, but they consist only of one line:

DOS (DJGPP):
	> gcc main.cpp -o hnefatafl.exe -lalleg

	hnefatafl.exe will be the executable. Just run it.

LINUX:
	> gcc main.cpp -o hnefatafl `allegro-config --libs`

	hnefatafl will be the executable. You probably need to be root to 
	play it (in X) for best results. NB: the marks around allegro-config
	--libs are BACKTICKS.

If you have the Windows binary and all3934.dll installed on your computer you 
can run it by simple opening Windows Explorer, browsing to the directory to 
where you unzipped the zip-file. Double-click the executable hnefatafl.exe. Enjoy!

_______________________________________________________________________________________
#######################################################################################
_______________________________________________________________________________________


----------
- MANUAL -
----------

|| History ||

Hnefatafl is Old Norse for Kings Table. This game was know in Scandinavia before 
400 A.D. and was carried by the Vikings to their colonies in Iceland, Greenland, 
Brittain, Ireland and Wales. Pieces of the game have been reported to be found even 
in the Ukrane.

Although by the later Middle Ages chess had taken over, hnefatafl survived. It is known to 
be played in Wales in 1587 and Carl von Linne writes in his Iter Laponicum how people played 
it in 1732.

Hnefatafl (Kings Table) is a strategy game, a basic form of tactical combat, where a 
bodyguard of 12 men are protecting there lord (king from now on) from a larger hostile 
force (24 men).

|| Rules ||

On a board with 11x11 squares there are 12 light pieces and a king and 24 dark pieces. The king 
and his men are the light pieces.

The king's side moves first. They win the game if they can manage to get their king out into 
one of the corner squares. Brown can win by trapping the king.

1> All pieces including the king move like castles in chess (i.e. either vertically or
horizontally). No piece is allowed to jump another, be it an opposing piece or one of the 
moving player's pieces. Diagonal moves are not allowed. Only the king may land on the centre or 
corner squares. Other pieces may cross the centre square but not stop on it. They are also not 
allowed to stay on the corner squares.

2> Ordinary pieces are captured when they are surrounded on two opposite sides by the opposing 
player. When the piece is taken it is removed from the board. It is possible to capture more
than one piece in the same move. The corner squares are counted as opposing piece 
whenever a piece is beside it. A piece beside these squares can be captured when an opposing 
piece moves opposite the special square with the piece in between.

3> If a piece is moved so that it stops in between two opposing pieces, it is NOT taken. This is 
known as a 'resting' or 'defensive' move. One of the opposing pieces may be moved away and back 
again (taking two turns!) to take the resting pieces. Of course when the player moves one of his 
pieces, the resting piece will probably be moved.

4> Taking the king is more difficult. The king must be surrounded on ALL FOUR sides. If he is 
surrounded only three sides with the fourth side being the board edge, the king is NOT captured. 
If the king is the only piece which could be moved and he is blocked off from any other square, 
the game is drawn. If the kins is surrounded on three sides with the centre being the fourth, the 
king is captured and the attacking player wins.


## In-game use ##

>> keys <<

In the menu system ESC can be used to quit from the program. When in one of the other menu screens
it will bring back to the main menu (as will any other key and clicking with the mouse).
Click on the menu-items to get the desired link.

In the game the player can use A, S, W and D to play with the left fountain, 2, 4, 6 and 8 from 
the keypad to play with the right fountain. TAB causes the fountains to explode. ESC quits the game 
immediately and goes straight back to the main menu. F12 takes a screenshot. Screenshots are saved 
always under the same name 'screenshot.bmp', so be sure to rename it if you want more screenshots.

Otherwise everything is handled with the mouse. Selecting and deselecting pieces and moving pieces by 
clicking on the destination square.




That's it. I hope you enjoy this game. I'll be perfecting this game (certainly the AI-part), so be
sure to check my homepage for new releases, or just check the Allegro Depot!
