# Big Bang Backgammon Help

Welcome to Big Bang Board Games! Where the Sun and Moon Gods wage eternal battle-- which used to involve lots of lightning, earthquakes and sacrificial victims, but these days tends to run more towards traditional board games, instant messaging and hot cups of tea.

You can learn basic information about the rules of the game in a separate document: The Rules Of Backgammon.

Big Bang Board Games and The Macintosh

At the core of these games are their use of Apple technology and the iApps. Casual games are not best played full screen. People like to play them while surfing, or iChatting or doing a bit of email-- Big Bang Backgammon recognizes this and becomes part of their Mac OS X experience. You can effortlessly send turns back and forth via email, invite your IM buddy to a match from within the game itself or just scan your local network-- it's never been this easy. And once the game starts, tight integration into Apple's Address Book, iSight, and your iTunes playlists is just what you'd hope to find, and do.

The Big Bang Board games lets you enjoy a casual game within the context of all the great iApps that make using Mac OS X such a pleasure.

Finding/Starting A Game

There are multiple ways you can start a game once you have launched the application:

- Solo Game - just click the Solo button at the top of the main window, and a new solo game will begin.
- Multiplayer via iChat - when you start the application, if iChat is running, you will see some of your available buddies displayed at the bottom of the main window. You can click the up and down arrows near them to scroll through the list. When you find a buddy you'd like to play against, move your mouse over their icon and click INVITE, if they already have the game and SHARE if they don't. If you click SHARE, a copy of that specific game will be sent to them via iChat, and if you click INVITE your friend will be sent your game key. They simply need to accept the key file, double click it, and they'll automatically join your game.
- Multiplayer via Bonjour - if you click the "Network" button at the top of the window it will bring up the Bonjour pane. Bonjour is Apple's easy to use networking technology. Any games in your local area network will automatically be displayed, and you can join via the game list at the top of the window. If you wish to host a game, you may click the "Host Game" button and your game will automatically appear on the local Bonjour network.
- Multiplayer via e-mail - Big Bang games can be played by e-mail! Clicking the e-mail button at the top of the screen will start a new game and give you a chance to name it and enter an opponent's email address. After you finish a turn, you will have a chance to add comments, and the game will automatically form an email to send the game file to your opponent.

Playing Big Bang Games

The interface is simple! Click and hold to pick up a piece, and let go to drop the piece. Type into the window and press return to send chat messages between you and your opponent. The game will automatically enforce the rules and declare a winner. Simple!

Preferences

There are a whole range of preferences you can set under the Preferences menu item. Here's a brief explanation of each one:

- General
  - Maximize new game windows - use a larger game board size.
  - Close current game before starting a new game - if you don't want to end up playing multiple games at once, check this box.
  - Use fantasy game pieces - select between beautiful fantasy pieces or traditional game pieces.
  - Use sticky piece movement - when enabled, a single click will pick up or put down pieces. No more dragging!
  - Display AI chat speech as text - when enabled, your opponent will use a chat bubble, instead of sound, to talk to you.
  - Show legal moves - when you pick up a piece, this option will highlight places that piece can move.
  - Graphics Quality - this slider controls the amount of graphical effects the game uses.
  - Bounce Pieces - this slider controls the amount of "bounce" the pieces have when they move.
  - Show previous moves - this slider limits the number of moves shown on the board. Previous moves will be shown with a series of arrows that grow more transparent as the game progresses, disappearing at the cutoff specified here.
  - Artificial Intelligence - this slider controls the ability of the computer in single player games.
- Address Book
  - The name field and icon will auto-fill with information from your address book, but you can feel free to change it.
  - Share my email with opponents will send your email address to opponents you play against for their records.
  - Share my iChat handle with opponents will send your iChat handle to opponents for their records.
  - Store past opponents in Address Book will store any information your opponents send you in your Address Book.
- iChat
  - iChat Buddies Enabled - when enabled, the iChat integration will be turned on.
  - Delete key files upon use - this option will automatically delete received game keys, keeping your downloads folder nice and tidy.
  - Automatically launch iChat - iChat will be launched when you start your Big Bang game if it is not already.
  - If you are behind a firewall or have a special network setup, you may need to enter your external IP address and a port you'd like to host on here, if you don't want to automatically use the Big Bang Proxy Server hosted by Freeverse.
- Mail
  - Automatically store all Play By Email files in my Documents - store your email games in your Documents folder by default, saving you a step.
  - Automatically quit when I finish my turn - if you open a Play By Email game, this option will automatically close the application when you're done.
  - Use this email address... - choose the email address you use for the purpose of Play-By-Email games.
- iTunes
  - The three sliders at the top control the volume levels of the sound effects, the vocal comments, and the music, respectively.
  - Listen to Game Music / iTunes Playlist / No Music - select the radio button for how you'd like to be serenaded mid-game. If you choose itunes, you may select a playlist from the popup menu below.
  - Mute game music when iTunes is playing - if you select Game Music, this option will automatically disable the in-game music if it detects you playing iTunes.
- iSight
  - If you have a web cam plugged into your computer, you can send images to your opponent simply by choosing the camera "emoticon" that appears when you roll the mouse over your character (either Sun or Moon).
  - Block Opponents from sharing their picture - When checked, you will not receive any video images from your opponent.

## Need help?

Freeverse Homepage (general information)
Freeverse Support (technical assistance)
Freeverse Forums (discussion, chatter, find people for email games)

Big Bang Board games are copyright 2004-2006 Freeverse Software. All Rights Reserved.
All other trademarks are the properties of their respective owners.