Introduction

Welcome to the network Octi server. The rules of Octi are below. The commands are the same for all pbmserv games.

Octi is (c) Donald Green, and a registered trademark of GATC.

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Rules of Octi

Set-up

At the start of the game, you have the following:
- a piece (called a "pod") on each of your home octi spaces,
- 4 pods stored offboard,
- 25 prongs.

Object of the Game

To occupy any ONE of your opponent's home octi squares.

Movement

1. Add a prong to a pod
2. Move a prong on a pod to a new location
3. Add a pod: the pod can be placed on any home octi space, whether empty or occupied by a friendly piece
4. Move a pod: move a pod one space in the direction of a prong. The pod can move either to an empty space, or to a space occupied by a friendly piece(s).
5. Jump or capture: a pod may jump over an adjacent piece (in the direction of a pod), so long as the space beyond is empty. Multiple jumps are allowed, so long as each jump is in the direction of a prong, and the jumping piece does not jump over the same square more than once. At the end of the move, any or all of the pieces jumped may be captured.
Stacks: any or all of the pieces in a stack may move or jump in the same turn. All moving pieces are deemed to be moving simultaneously, so they can't jump over each other or get in each others' way.

Board Display

      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9      |Black(x)  Res Cap Prongs
                                             |          1   1   11
    +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |
    |   |   |   |   |   |\|/|   |   |   |    |     \|/
  9 |   |   |   |   |   | o |   |   |   |  9 |  A   x- -x-
    |   |   |   |   |   |/|\|   |   |   |    |          |\
    +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |
    |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |
  8 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |  8 |
    |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |
    +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |
    |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |
  7 |   |   | x |   | x | A | + |   |   |  7 |
    |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |
    +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |
    |   |   |   |   |\|/|   |   |   |   |    |
  6 |   |   |   | x-| o |   |   |   |   |  6 |
    |   |   |   |/|\|   |   |   |   |   |    |
    +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |    H A B
    |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |     \|/
  5 |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |  5 |    G-+-C
    |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |    |     /|\
    +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |    F E D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                        SNIP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+    |
                                             |White(o)  Res Cap Prongs
      1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9      |          1   1   11

The above is a section of the octi display - sorry for the size, but we're trying to fit a lot of information into a fairly small area.

On your left, you can see the board itself. Board coordinates are specified by an XY coordinate; for example, the top left square is 19.

A pod on its own is shown in the square, with lines showing the directions in which it can move.

A stack of pods are shown with a letter (e.g. the letter A in square 67. On the right, you'll see the stack letter followed by all the pods in that stack, complete with their possible directions of movement.

Over on the right, you'll also see the following:

Black(x)  Res Cap Prongs
          1   1   11

This shows the status of the player (in this case, Black)...
Res: number of reserve pieces
Cap: number of pieces that have been captured
Prongs: number of prongs in reserve

Notation

Describing a pod

When a pod is on its own, the square on which a pod sits is sufficient to describe the pod, x co-ordinate then y co-ordinate, e.g. 46. Where there is some ambiguity as to which pod is referred to, e.g. stacked pods, the complete description is: co-ordinates followed by prongs, e.g. 46cdef. In the move descriptions below, I'll just write this as [piece].

Notes:
1. when only one piece in a stack can make a specific move, then you can just use the XY coordinates
2. when there are two identical pieces in a stack, there is no need to distinguish between them

Describing a prong

Moves

Add a pod: [X][Y]
Add a prong: [piece]+[new prong]
Move a prong: [piece]+[new prong]-[old prong]
Move/jump: [piece]-[X][Y]-[X][Y]-...
Capture: [piece]-[X][Y]x-...
Stacks: separate each move with a comma.

Play options

-wrap: if you start a game with the -wrap argument, you are playing on a wraparound board (torus) - a piece going off one side of the board will reappear on the opposite side.

The 3-base option is available as a separate game: Octi3base.

No other arguments are accepted at present, but watch this space for news on superprongs!