Fourcube is a 3-D tictactoe program for the Color Computer.
Features include:

* 100% machine language
* rotating board display
* 6 selectable strength levels
* demonstration mode
* rules mode (see below)
* human vs. human mode
* "Faircube" option to reduce first player advantage
* help screen
* operate via joystick or keyboard
* full color display on CoCo 3 RGB output (no artifacting)

Any CoCo with at least 32K of RAM should run the program.
Joysticks are optional.
Deluxe joysticks are preferred, centered in both directions.
To run: LOADM "FOURCUBE"
If you have a CoCo 3, you might like to invoke the high-speed
poke: POKE &HFFD9,0 before you EXEC.

Fourcube is played on a 4x4x4 grid of cells. One player has
red tokens, the other player has yellow tokens. The players
alternate placing one token of their color in any empty cell.
Tokens are not captured and do not move from their cells once
placed. The object is to get four of your color tokens in any
straight line. If neither side can do this, the game is a
draw. If you press "R" you will enter "rules mode"
which shows you these rules on screen. If you press the spacebar
after reading the rules, you will see examples of winning rows.
Each example can be rotated with the left or right arrows, or
with the joystick. Note that when you rotate a winning row, the
four tokens remain in line as the board rotates. Then you can
return to "game mode" by pressing some key, possibly Enter. The
rules screen will tell you what key to press.

Here are the key commands available to you in game mode:

J      will toggle the joysticks on or off.
H      will show you a help screen, listing these key commands.
1-6    will select the strength level. 1 is weakest, 6 is strongest.
R      will enter rules mode as described above. You can enter rules
       mode at any time without affecting the game position.
<- ->  left and right arrows (or joystick left and right) will
       rotate the board.
dn up  up and down arrows (or joystick up and down) will scroll a
       cursor through the cells, one level at a time, like reading
       the pages of a book (forward for down arrow, backward for
       up arrow.) The cursor will cycle around to the top again
       after the last cell on the bottom. If you want to make the
       cursor disappear again, rotate the board. You might find that
       these operations are a little fussy if you have high speed
       invoked. If you keep the machine on low speed, the CoCo should
       never take more than 75 seconds to move, even at strength 6.
       In fact, it will frequently move instantly.
Enter  (or black fire button) will make your move in the cell
       indicated by the cursor. While the computer is thinking about
       its move, you won't be able to enter any commands.
       If you press Enter/fire at the start of a game, the computer
       will move first. (See F below.)
T      will take back the last move. If you are playing against the
       computer, its move and your move are both taken back at once.
       You can take back moves all the way to the beginning (I think.)
       If the game is over, though, you can't take back moves.
S      will step forward again through moves which you took back.
F      If you press F at the start of the game, the computer will
       move first, but will avoid playing in any of the 8 corner
       cells or 8 central cells. This is the "Faircube" option. This
       way, the advantage of the first move is reduced, and the game
       is more fair. If you wish to move first in Faircube, simply
       avoid playing in any of the 8 corner cells or 8 central cells
       on your first move.
B      enters "Board mode." Two humans can play each other. The
       computer will recognize when one side has won, or a drawn
       position is reached (all rows blocked.)
D      is "Demo mode." The computer will play against itself,
       game after game. The board will rotate one notch for each new
       game.

That's about all I could remember. Sorry, I don't have my CoCo working
right now, and it's been a while. I hope you enjoy the game!

David Bush   twixtplayer@yahoo.com