This
checkers java applet do not show "men" or pieces to move,
it allows you to play the game by changing the colors of the checkered
board; it simulates a conquered territory by switching to red your
conquered squares. It starts in a situation where red, the user is
the first player, and green, the computer, moves second. You can change
this by pressing new game: A window pops up where you can choose between
several altenatives:
Human versus
computer: You play against the computer, and you move first.
Human versus
human: You can play the game against a friend (on the same computer.
There is no network option).
Computer
versus human: You play against the computer, and the computer
moves first. Note that you will have to click anywhere on the
board before the computer does a move.
Computer
versus computer: This will let the computer play against itself.
You will have to click in the board somewhere before each move:
The players will wait to do something until you indicate you are
ready for the next move. So if you do not mouseclick in the board,
nothing happens.
There is another
button undo move in the applet. You can press this button to
undo the last move. Note that you typically must press this button
twice, because to change your move you must undo the computers move
first, and then your move.
There are two
status lines. One indicates whose turn it is, and how many counters
each player has. The other one tells you if the computer is thinking.
This applet
tells much about creating a board game in java. This applet uses
the minimax principle that is very important in chess
programs and many other games. It combines this principle
with the alpha-beta search strategy that accelerates search.
If you understand this program, it will be a lot easier for you
to create other games.
This applet
has been trained with a genetic algorithm. The genetic
algorithm is included in this sourcecode, so if you download it
you can train it yourself. There is much experimentation to do
here! If you want to learn more about Artificial Intelligence
in board games, this is your chance.
