
                         ,----------------------------.
                         |    A Nice Game of Chess    |
                         |----------------------------|
                         | a fan mission for Thief II |
                         |    by Kevin Daughtridge    |
                         `----------------------------'



**ATTENTION**: The text below is just a part of the readme file for this FM.
For English, see <fminfo-en.html> in this folder. For Russian, see
<fminfo-ru.html>. For other languages, see below.

**ACHTUNG**: Die eigentliche Lies-mich dieser FM ist <fminfo-de.html> in diesem
Ordner. Der untenstehende Text ist nur ein Teil der Datei.

**ATENCIÓN**: El archivo "léame" primario para esta FM es <fminfo-es.html> en
esta carpeta. El texto por debajo es sólo una parte de ese archivo.

**ATTENTION**: Le principal fichier d'information pour cette FM est
<fminfo-fr.html> dans ce dossier. Le texte ci-dessous n'est qu'une conversion
partielle de ce fichier.

**ATTENZIONE**: Il readme principale di questa FM è <fminfo-it.html> presente
in questa cartella. Il testo seguente è solo una parte di quel file.





The factions of The City often resolve their bitter conflicts with senseless
bloodshed at the expense of innocents. What if they could settle their
differences with a nice game of chess instead? This FM is a real, playable
computer chess game, set in the Thief world with appropriate AI "pieces" in
several different battle scenarios. The Fruit 2.1 chess engine determines the
computer player's moves.



SCENARIOS
---------

    * The City vs. Blackbrook: This is the final, decisive conflict of the two
      powers' long-running war, fought on a misty rural battlefield.

    * Hammerites vs. Undead: The Old Quarter is secure, but now the Order must
      retake another necromancy-infested temple on a snowy night.

    * Pagans vs. Mechanists: In this alternate history, Viktoria managed to
      resurrect Constantine, allowing the Pagans to hold their own against the
      Mechanists in their rainy forest home.



HOW TO PLAY
-----------

Getting started:
    * The difficulty levels of Easy, Normal, and Hard control the computer
      opponent's ability level. On Hard, a one-hour time control is also in
      effect.
    * In the small room, frob one of the gems to choose a scenario. The next
      mission will be the actual game.

Gameplay:
    * Frob the gem above a "piece" (AI character) to select it.
    * Frob one of the different-colored gems that then appear to make a move.
    * The computer opponent will think briefly and then make its move.
    * Frob the logbook on the table to review the moves made so far.
    * Underpromotion is not supported. All pawns will promote to queens.

Endgames:
    * Checkmate, stalemate, and dead positions will be announced automatically.
    * Frob the white flag on the table to resign the game.
    * Frob the gray flag (if present) to draw under the fifty-move rule.
    * On Hard difficulty, the clock on the table shows the time remaining.
    * Draws by agreement and by threefold repetition are not supported.



NEW TO CHESS?
-------------

If you have never played chess or don't quite know all the rules, this FM might
be a good place to start! Here are some tips:

    * The chess Wikibook is one of several good introductions to the game on the
      web.

    * Read the "Rules of Chess" book on the table in-game for a refresher on the
      key rules.

    * When it is your turn, the glowing diagram under each piece shows what
      directions it can move in.

    * If a diagram is gray, that piece can't make any move for this turn. On the
      first turn, only the pawns and knights can move.

    * Save your game often. Like in any FM, the opponents may surprise you and
      force you to change tactics, so have a backup!



THE DETAILS
-----------

Languages: This FM can be played in English, French, German, Italian, Russian,
    or Spanish.

Version: This is version 1.0, released on 2013-04-16 as latrunculi-1.0.zip.

Compatibility: This FM for Thief II: The Metal Age requires the unofficial
    NewDark patch (1.19 or higher). I recommend using Tafferpatcher to get
    everything set up.

Installation: As always, do not unzip this file. Put it in the appropriate
    directory and load it with FMSel or DarkLoader.

Chess engines: If you would like to use a UCI-compliant chess engine other than
    Fruit 2.1, just replace the engine.ose file in the FM directory with that
    engine's program file. (Note that the FM has not been tested with any other
    engine.) You can also replace openings.bin with a different PolyGlot-format
    openings book if desired.

Construction: The FM was built from scratch over a period of three (intensive)
    weeks. It includes various fan-made and self-made resources.

Legal jargon: Copyright (C) 2013 Kevin Daughtridge. You may distribute this
    level in any way as long as it remains unmodified and I am credited for it.
    Please contact me if you are interested in modifying it or reusing
    individual elements. (My custom scripts are licensed under the GPL; see
    the source/ directory.) This level was not made and is not supported by
    Looking Glass Studios or Eidos Interactive.

Contact info: Kevin Daughtridge is kdau on TTLG and can be reached by email at
    <kevin AT kdau DOT com>.



CREDITS AND THANKS
------------------

(Please see the HTML version of this readme for this section, including links
for more information about the resources used.)

