[ You might have been looking for the actual, more complete and professional, gothello. This one is just a basic attempt, dont assume much in this. ]
[ Update: note that this was written when I was in college, and I had just learnt C/C++, and was trying to write some code. This code may perhaps only be useful for studying for college students who are beginning their undergrad studies in computer science/engineering, and are taking their first undergrad AI class ]
[Never heard of Othello/Reversi? Othello (also called Reversi) is an interesting strategy game played on a 8X8 board. Compared to chess, othello is simpler, and more positional rather than tactical. To learn Othello quickly, go through the excellent Colin Springer's guide.]
Gothello is a software program that plays Othello/Reversi at a good (remember, that is relative) skill level.
It is not intended to be the best program available. It was written primarily for pleasure/learning, and partly to compete in a programming competition. It can be used as a low-end non-featured alpha-beta implementation.
Why you should play Gothello? Because it works!! If you are looking for a strong program then you should probably look at Zebra, which is one of the strongest programs in the world, and can be downloaded for free. While Gothello can play decently, it is no match for regular othello players.
Gothello's source code can be useful for learning the basic programming techniques in making game-playing programs such as these. Gothello uses a alpha beta pruning version of the minimax search algorithm. And it evaluates positions based on mobility, potential mobility, and patterns. (all implemented almost trivially)
My friend, Milind Bandekar programmed the wonderful GUI for the program, and helped with other parts of the program.
Gothello is free software, and its source code is available. It is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL). (Those who do not know or have the time to understand what it means - just know that you can do whatever you want to the program and the source code but you cannot make a closed source product out of it. You HAVE to keep it open source and free, even after your own modifications.)
Comments are welcome. Drop an email if you like the program, or are learning from the source, or for suggestions, comments, criticisms, etc. Particularly, if you are interested in the further development of this program, either independently or with me, then surely contact me.
- Gaurang Khetan (website) (Email: grkhetan@yahoo.com)
Download:
Other operating system versions are in the To Do List below.
Note: The future versions of Gothello will not have a MSDOS version.
To Do:
Links: