# The &kjumpingcube; Handbook

Matthias Kiefer

    matthias.kiefer@gmx.de

1999 2000 Matthias Kiefer
&FDLNotice;
2003-11-06
1.1

&kjumpingcube; is a simple tactical game you can play against a friend or the computer.

KDE KJumpingCube kdegames game strategy

## Introduction

&kjumpingcube; is a simple tactical game. You can play it against the computer or against a friend. The playing field consists of squares that contains points. By clicking on the squares you can increase the points, and if the points reach a maximum the points will jump to the squares neighbors and take them over. The winner is the one who owns all squares.

## Playing &kjumpingcube;

### Rules

1. A move consists of increasing the points of a square by clicking on it. You can only increase a square that doesn't belong to your opponent. By clicking a square that has no owner, you become the owner.

2. If a square has more points than it has neighbors, the points jump to its neighbors and take them over.

3. Neighbor-Fields are only direct neighbors, not the diagonal neighbors.

4. The winner is the one who owns all squares.

## Command Reference

### The menu bar

#### The Game menu

&Ctrl;N Game New

  Start a new game.

&Ctrl;O Game Load...

  Open a previously saved game.

&Ctrl;S Game Save

  Save the current game.

Game Save As...

  Save the current game with a different name.

&Esc; Game Stop thinking

  Stop the computer opponent thinking about its next move. The computer opponent will then make the best move it has found up to the moment you told it to stop.

&Ctrl;Q Game Quit

  Quits &kjumpingcube;.

#### The Move menu

&Ctrl;Z Move Undo

  Undo the last move you made.

H Move Hint

  Get a hint as to the best next move.

#### The Settings menu

Settings Show Toolbar

  Toggle on and off the view of the tool bar.

Settings Show Statusbar

  Toggle on and off the view of the status bar.

Settings Configure Shortcuts...

  Open a dialog where you can change the shortcuts for &kjumpingcube;

Settings Configure KJumpingCube

  Open a configuration dialog, where you may configure the following items:

  Computer Skill

    Lets you choose your playing skill from a submenu. This decides how clever your computer opponent is, if you are playing against the computer.

    You can choose from:

    - Beginner
    - Average
    - Expert
  Board Size

    Lets you choose from a list of playfield sizes.

    Use the slider to select a value between 5x5 squares and 10x10 squares in size.

  Computer Plays

    Sets the computer opponent to be Player 1, Player 2 or both. Normally you would set the computer to play one player, and you would play the other. Player 1 always starts first.

  Board Color

    Choose a color for each player

#### The Help menu

&help.menu.documentation;

### The &kjumpingcube; tool bar

New

  Starts a new game

Open

  Open a previously saved game.

Save

  Save the current game.

Stop Thinking

  Stop the computer opponent thinking about it's next move. The computer opponent will then make the best move it has found up to the moment you told it to stop.

Undo

  Undo the last move you made.

Help

  Open the help for &kjumpingcube; (this document)

## Questions, Answers, and Tips

### Strategy tips

- Try to avoid increasing a square when your opponent owns a neighbor square, that reaches its maximum earlier than your square.

## Credits and License

&kjumpingcube; is Copyright 1998,1999 Matthias Kiefer matthias.kiefer@gmx.de

&kjumpingcube; was inspired by a game that came out for the Commodore64 and for other home computers, too. Sorry, that I don't know the original author's name.

Documentation Copyright 1999 Matthias Kiefer matthias.kiefer@gmx.de

Documentation updated for &kde; 2 and 3 by Lauri Watts lauri@kde.org

&underFDL; &underGPL;

## Installation

### How to obtain &kjumpingcube;

&install.intro.documentation;

### Requirements

In order to successfully compile &kjumpingcube;, you need KDE 2.0. All required libraries as well as &kjumpingcube; itself can be found on ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/.

### Compilation and Installation

&install.compile.documentation;

That should do it! Should you run into any problems, please report them to the author, at matthias.kiefer@gmx.de