Very good, the controls are smoother and the thinking time for the CPU is realistic.

I was going to say that you need to decrease the thinking time, but now I've changed my mind.

Changed the pink! Also subtly changed the board.

This shouldn't be an issue if you play the game normally, but if you click "new game" when a piece is falling sometimes it will freeze in the slot it is in and float in midair. When you try to put a piece in that column the next game your piece will go where that old one is hovering. I've only gotten it to do this a couple times though, it doesn't happen every single time. You can use this bug to give the computer an extra turn at the start, but it doesn't really make the game harder.

I think it was good. Um when you click on new match and you've already put a few counters down, the counters stay there until you click on new game

The computer seems to think really hard on five in a line. I was listening to music on my computer and his thinking would make it pause for a second, every time. Maybe it's just my computer.

No, this is cheating!



Look at all those pieces he put in before me!

Zhylliolom wrote:

This shouldn't be an issue if you play the game normally, but if you click "new game" when a piece is falling sometimes it will freeze in the slot it is in and float in midair. When you try to put a piece in that column the next game your piece will go where that old one is hovering. I've only gotten it to do this a couple times though, it doesn't happen every single time. You can use this bug to give the computer an extra turn at the start, but it doesn't really make the game harder.

I just used this... clicked new game at a special time while the computer's piece was falling.

Zhylliolom wrote:

The computer seems to think really hard on five in a line.

Zhy, my computer does that too. It takes about six or seven minutes to think. I was also listening to music at the time ... but I've stopped that now and it's still doing it. The cursor even changes to the 'thinking' hourglass sometimes.

Next: three dimensions!

Seconds, I meant seconds!                                                                                     
                                                                                                                             
Oops!

I encountered Zhylliolom’s problem as well after accidentally double-clicking on the New Game button.

And the three-in-a-row game is no game at all, is it? The player that goes first always wins (just like tic-tac-toe)!

PS: Actually, worse than tic-tac-toe. In TTT the person going first never loses, but can still be forced into a draw. In TIAR, the person going first wins – all the time.

Last edited by JaneFairfax (2007-04-14 19:43:36)

Try fewer columns then. Four columns already makes the game absolutely unlosable to the starting player; more columns will make the job of winning even easier for the guaranteed victor.

For 4 columns
Drop your 1st coin in columns 2 or 3, say column 2. (Column 3 makes no difference; it would just be looking at the same game from the opposite side of the table.) Your opponent can drop in any of colmns 1, 2, 3, 4. If 2, drop your 2nd coin in column 3 and you’ve won. Anywhere else, drop your 2nd coin on top of your 1st one. Then your opponent is forced to drop their 2nd coin on top of your 2nd coin to block you. Your 3rd drop is invariably in column 3. If your opponent had dropped their 1st coin in columns 1 or 4, they would now have to drop in columns 4 or 1 (respectively) to block you; then drop your 4th coin on top of your 3rd coin, and you’ve won.

This leaves the following the scenario where your opponent had dropped their 1st coin in column 3. Your 3rd coin is on top of that coin. It is in line with your 2nd coin, so your opponent can’t drop their 3rd coin in columns 1 or 4. They have to drop on top of your 3rd coin in column 3. Now drop your 4th coin in column 4. After your opponent drops in the same column to block you, drop your last coin again in that column – and you should have completed a diagonal line of three.

For > 4 columns
Drop your 1st coin at least two spaces clear of each corner. If your opponent drops on top of your coin, or anywhere except adjacent to your coin, drop your 2nd coin next to your 1st coin and you’ve won. Otherwise drop your 2nd coin on top of your 1st coin, forcing your opponent to drop their 2nd coin in the same column to block you. Now drop your 3rd coin next to your 1st coin. After your opponent has dropped next to your 3rd coin to block you, drop your 4th coin on top of your 3rd coin, and you’ve won.

Last edited by JaneFairfax (2007-04-14 22:09:14)