Download ya-mancala-101.hqx (106,332 KB)
From: Keith Rose
Subject: YA-Mancala v1.0.1 - a classic board game - upgrade/bug fix
This is a maintenance release of YA-Mancala that (hopefully) addresses
the proverbial post-release bugs in YA-Mancala v1.0.
Attention all board game lovers: here is YA-Mancala v1.0.1
(Yet-Another Mancala). This program is, as the name suggests,
an implementation of the classic board game Mancala. For those
who don't know the game, it is one of the oldest known board
games. It is traditionally played with stones on a carved
wooden board, or with a set of cups. The game has very simple
rules, so it is easy to learn. But like all good games, there
are subtlties of strategy lurking beneath the simplicity. This
game is suitable for children of all ages.
There are a few other implemenations of Mancala floating around
the Net and some of them are cheaper than this one (Shareware
Can$10), so you may be asking yourself why you should bother
downloading YA-Mancala. Well, quite simply, this program is
better (IMHO, of course). Here's why:
-It supports multiple colour depths. The graphics are optimised
for either black and white or 256 colours or grays, but it runs
fine at other depths. Please note that in order to run the game
in Thousands or Millions of colours you will have to double or
triple the default partition size. The default (620K) should be fine
at 256 colours or less. In fact, users with lower colour depths can
reduce this even further. In b/w, the game only requires about 100K.
In 24 bit colour it should run in 1800K.
-It should support all Macintosh models that support Colour Quickdraw,
under any version of the operating system since 6.0.5. (It is now know
not to work on pre-colour quickdraw machines like the Mac Plus. A b/w
only version that will support those machines should appear soon.
(Contact krose@mips2.phy.queensu.ca for details.)
-It is perfectly happy on all monitors, including 9" displays. It
should be great on your PowerBooks too.
-It features a multi-level artifical opponent that is fairly kind
to the novice, but is pretty competitive for advanced players.
-It has an (IMHO) attractive, uncluttered interface. It is
pretty nice to look at, and tries to conform to the principle of
least annoyance.
Anyway, I think it's a good program, and a great game. Try it
and I think you'll like it.
This version is a 68k binary. I haven't forked out the bucks
for a PowerMac yet. A native version will be released as soon as
possible. If you pay the shareware fee, I might be able to afford
one sooner. :) But you richer folks shouldn't worry, the program
shouldn't even hiccup under emulation.
Note to the Moderators: This program should be placed in the
game/brd directory. It supercedes (and hence should replace)
all previous versions of the program. Permission is
hereby granted to include this program on the Info-Mac cd-roms.