Game Options

Play Level

Probe has three skill levels: Beginner, Intermediate and Expert. The level determines the depth and width of the search tree (total number of positions examined) and thus how long Probe requires to select a move.

Special Moves

You can enable or disable these special movement features:

  • Captain (5) can move diagonally. Allow Captains to make diagonal moves.
  • Lieutenant (6) can jump over adjacent pieces. Allow Lieutenants to jump over pieces they are beside.
  • Sergeant (7) can cross barriers. Allow Sergeants to move directly from one side of a barrier to the other.
  • Scout (9) can move two or more squares. Allow Scouts to move two or more squares, including attacks.

Equal Rank Attacks

Decide how you want attacks between equal rank pieces to be resolved:

  • Draw. Have both pieces be removed.
  • Attacker wins. Have the attacker defeat the defender and occupy its square.

Bomb Attacks

Decide how you want Bombs to behave after winning attacks:

  • Bombs remain on board after winning. Let Bombs explode repeatedly.
  • Bombs are removed after winning. Let Bombs explode only once and then be removed.

Power Squares (Enhanced only)

Power Squares permit direct movement between the lanes, for a more open style of play.

  • Enable moves and attacks between Power Squares. Allow pieces to move from one Power Square to another, and attack a piece on another Power Square.
  • Enable moves but not attacks between Power Squares. Allow pieces to move to a vacant Power Square, but not attack a piece on another Power Square.
  • Disable Power Squares. Do not allow movement between Power Squares.

Probe's Pieces

Choose among three options to display Probe's piece ranks:

  • Reveal and then conceal again. This is the default setting. When Probe wins an attack, you will have a moment to memorize the identity of the winning piece before it is concealed again.
  • Reveal and leave displayed. When Probe wins an attack or makes a special move, the identity of the piece remains displayed for the rest of the game.
  • Don't reveal. With this option, you are not shown the identity of a piece when it wins an attack or makes a special move. However, you may be able to guess it, based on the rank of the piece it defeated or the move it made.

Also choose whether you want Probe's moved pieces displayed differently than Probe's unmoved pieces. The default requires you to remember which of Probe's pieces have moved.

Your Pieces

Choose between two options to display your piece ranks:

  • Do not highlight known pieces. Show the piece ranks the same. This is the default.
  • Highlight pieces known to Probe. Identify pieces known to Probe with certainty.

Also choose whether you want your moved pieces displayed differently than your unmoved pieces. The default requires you to remember which of your pieces have moved.

Display Options

Show Pieces As

There are two ways to display pieces on the board:
  • Bitmaps. Use pictures to represent the pieces.
  • Text. Use characters to represent the pieces.

Bitmap Designs

Select the piece set and game board designs you want from the drop down lists. You can also create your own custom piece sets and game boards and add them to the lists. See Customizing Probe to learn how to create your own piece sets and game boards.

Text Characters and Colors

If you want to display the pieces as text, you can select the font, character, font color and background color for each type of piece. Click on the piece to modify its configuration. For colors, click separately on the character and its surrounding background. See the on-screen instructions.

Board Colors

For the barriers in the middle of the board, click separately to change the message text color and barrier background. The background will toggle between color and grayscale, and affects only the portion of your background image that appears within the lines of the barriers. For the grid, click to modify the color selection for the grid lines and Power Squares.

Move Alerts

Choose how you would like to be alerted when Probe is ready to move:

  • Flash piece. Flash the piece Probe is about to move.
  • Sound tone. Play a sound before Probe moves.
  • None. Do not alert you before Probe moves.

You can use a different alert tone by replacing the Move Alert wav file in the Sounds folder. Select Tools | Explore Data Files to access the Sounds folder.

Status

You can configure the status line to provide information about Probe's move search process:
  • Move timer. The timer shows the elapsed time for the move.
  • Progress bar. This option lets you watch Probe's progress as it searches each move in order.
  • Best move. This option displays the current best move, in sort order.

Blitz Options

Select the number of Bombs and mobile pieces you want for Blitz mode games. Your piece set must have at least five mobile pieces. The piece set applies to new setups and new games that use random setups. If you resume a saved game, begin a new game with a strategic setup, modify an existing setup or autoplay a game log, Probe will use the piece set stored with the game, setup or log.