mm_textitems.txt File of text items for the Mastermind program. ======================================== GameInfo Mastermind--The Idea of the Game Mastermind is a game of skill in which two players engage in a battle of wits and logic. One of the players, the "Codemaker", chooses a secret code which the other player, the "Codebreaker", must then attempt to discover. A "move" in the game of Mastermind consists of the following two steps: 1) The Codebreaker supplies a "guess" for the secret code hidden by the Codemaker. 2) The Codemaker then "scores" the guess against the actual code and provides the Codebreaker with this score. The idea is that each successive score will give the Codebreaker more information about the hidden code, so that successive guesses become more and more "educated", until the identity of the secret code is determined. Screen 1 of 2 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Generally, the Codebreaker is limited to a fixed number of guesses. There may be a penalty if the Codebreaker fails to guess the secret code before this fixed number of guesses is exceeded and/or a bonus if the correct guess is made within a certain (small) number of guesses. There are many variations of the game. A standard one is the version in which the players agree in advance to exchange the roles of Codemaker and Codebreaker a given number of times. The winner is the player with the smaller total number of guesses (or the larger total number if the points (i.e., the guesses) are "awarded" to the Codemaker). Screen 2 of 2 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ---------------------------------------- GameOrigins The Original Game of Mastermind--Coding, Guessing and Scoring In the original, non-computer version of Mastermind the necessary equipment includes the following: First A "decoding board", containing (usually ten) rows of holes for the "coding pegs" and "scoring pegs" (or "key pegs", as the scoring pegs are often called). Each of these rows contains a number of large holes for the coding pegs and an equal number of smaller holes for the scoring pegs, adjacent to the larger holes. For a given board this number is usually either four or five. The board also has a special row containing just four (or five) of the larger holes. The secret code is placed in this row. Second A shield that either sits on or plugs into the decoding board and hides the Codemaker's secret code from the Codebreaker. Screen 1 of 3 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Third A quantity of colored coding pegs which fit the larger holes, usually a dozen or so of either six or eight different colors (excluding both black and white). Fourth About forty or fifty (depending on whether each row of the board contains four or five holes of each size) smaller scoring pegs, divided equally between black and white. In this original version, the Codemaker chooses colored pegs for his code and places them in the holes behind the shield. The Codebreaker then chooses colored pegs for his guess and inserts these pegs into the first of the "guess rows". The Codemaker compares the guess with his secret code and indicates to the Codebreaker his score for that guess by inserting the appropriate number of black and/or white pegs into the smaller holes. Scoring is really quite straightforward if one is careful; at the same time, it is easy to make mistakes if one is not careful. Scoring proceeds as follows. Screen 2 of 3 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Codemaker compares the guess with his secret code and notes the following two things: First The number of pegs that match in both color and position in the two codes (referred to as "exact matches"). Second The number of pegs which match only in color but not in position in the two codes (referred to as "color matches only"). The Codemaker then inserts in the smaller holes opposite the guess a number of black pegs equal to the number of exact matches and a number of white pegs equal to the number of color matches only. This is the "score" used by the Codebreaker to aid him in making subsequent guesses, which proceed similarly. Important Note: You must remember that each peg in a guess is matched up with only *one* peg in the secret code (if possible) and vice versa. Screen 3 of 3 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ---------------------------------------- ProgramInfo The Program Mastermind--Coding, Guessing and Scoring There is, of course, no reason why both the Codemaker and the Codebreaker in a game of Mastermind have to be human! Enter the Mastermind program, which can play the part of either Codemaker or Codebreaker and let you play the other. If you are familiar with the original game of Mastermind (either from having played it or from having selected items 2 and 3 from the main menu of this program, then it is an easy matter to make the transition to coding, guessing and scoring in Mastermind, the computer version. In the original Mastermind, codes are formed by using large colored pegs, with up to eight different colors allowed and the size of the code is usually either four or five pegs. In the Mastermind program, these colored pegs are simply replaced by digits from the set {1, 2, ..., 8}, and a "peg position" becomes simply a digit position within the code. However, since no confusion should arise, we shall continue to use the "color" and "peg" terminology. Also, in this version, the code size is fixed at four pegs. Screen 1 of 3 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In the original Mastermind, scores are indicated by using smaller black and white pegs to indicate, respectively, the number of exact matches and the number of color matches only. In the Mastermind program, a score is always entered (and displayed) as a two-digit number; that is, even if the leading digit is a zero, this zero must be entered (and will be printed). A moment's thought should convince you that the maximum value of the sum of these two digits is equal to the size of the code (i.e., the number of digits in the code). In the Mastermind program, of course, the terminal screen replaces the decoding board of the original game. Guesses are listed down the screen from top to bottom, and scores are placed on the same line as the guesses to which they apply. Screen 2 of 3 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Play Options and Rules The Mastermind program offers essentially just two different play options. As a user, you can request the computer to: 1) be the Codemaker any number of times in a row, or 2) be the Codebreaker any number of times in a row One of the endearing features of the game of Mastermind is that it is a game with few rules. In fact, once you understand the basic mechanics of the game, there are virtually no additional "rules", in the usual sense of the term, to learn. Nevertheless, despite its outward lack of complexity in the form of rules, Mastermind will often require all of the ingenuity you can muster when you are the Codebreaker, and even as Codemaker you must keep your wits about you at all times while scoring. Screen 3 of 3 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ---------------------------------------- CodemakerRules In this game you are the Codemaker and I am the Codebreaker. So that you know that I can't cheat I won't ask you to enter your secret code! I will, however, ask you to score very carefully since there is no way of backtracking once an error has been made. Remember, each time you score, to type in EXACTLY TWO DIGITS WITH NO SPACES BETWEEN THEM. And remember: 1) The first of your score digits is the number of my guess digits that are correct and in the correct position. 2) The second of your score digits is the number of my guess digits that are correct but not in the correct position. Got it? OK. First, write down your secret code, choosing four digits from the set { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 }, and keeping in mind that repetitions are allowed. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ---------------------------------------- CodebreakerRules Since I am to be the Codemaker and you are to be the Codebreaker, you must provide the guesses. Remember that each guess must consist of four digits from the set { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 }. Be sure to type the four digits with no spaces between them, and remember that repetitions are allowed. Remember also that you have a maximum of ten guesses! Finally, when you see your score remember that: 1) The first of the score digits is the number of your guess digits that are correct AND in the correct position. 2) The second of the score digits is the number of your guess digits that are correct but NOT in the correct position. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ---------------------------------------- Apology Uh oh! I seem to have used up all of my guesses! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ---------------------------------------- Error Something seems to be wrong! Are you sure you scored correctly? Check your scoring and then ... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ---------------------------------------- ======================================== This line at the end of the file is simply ignored.