Chapter 1

For a minimum level of skill, the computer player could make random hits on unknown
squares. The engine includes some trivial logic to mark squares as sea, if they are
diagonally adjacent to partial known ships, or directly adjacent to complete known ships, so
random hits on unknown squares would not be a bad start for the computer player.
For a greater level of skill, the computer player could treat Battleships as a constraint
satisfaction problem (CSP), a standard form of problem for which artificial intelligence
research has developed many general methods. A little data from a few hits will generate
enough constraints that a CSP approach can considerably improve on a purely random hit
request. And a carefully chosen initial hit strategy will do better than a purely random initial
hit strategy.
Many of the two-player games mentioned above could be improved by the addition of the
option for a computer opponent. In the case of the more complex games, such as Chess, the
barriers to entry are high, as engines suitable for deployment on Symbian OS already exist,
and have in some cases been ported from bodies of code that have evolved over two or
three decades.
16.6.4 Infrastructure Improvements
Besides improving the game – or using a different game – there are many things we could
do to improve the facilities for games in general, as provided by both Symbian OS and the
TOGS stack.
Symbian OS v7.0 and TOGS as they stand provide an attractive enough platform for turnbased
games played at both short and long distance.
TOGS is designed specifically for two-player turn-based games and can also support twoplayer
chat. For multiplayer games, or for real-time games, GDP and GSDP will still be
useful, but alternatives to RGCP, tailored for multiplayer or real-time requirements, will be
needed. Some GDP implementations are clearly more suitable than others for real-time: any
kind of pull protocol (such as receive-all for GDP-SMS) is clearly ruled out.
Symbian OS also includes a media framework with better sound facilities and support for an
increasing range of graphics and video formats. This has obvious application to games. In
the longer term, it's possible that many aspects of the Symbian OS architecture may evolve
to support real-time games; this requires sound, graphics, and communications
improvements, some of which will be delivered in software, some on silicon.
Here are some more ideas for taking TOGS forward with Symbian OS.
Better long-distance messaging
GDP-SMS provides a messaging transport that shows the viability and usefulness of longrange
wireless messaging. It is the cheapest and fastest way to send a message to another
Symbian OS phone, using only a mobile phone to access a communications network.
Ultimately, the UI behind this kind of messaging will be very simple, because the phone
metaphors (initiate = send first message, listen = wait to receive first message, address =
phone number) are well understood by end users.
More tightly integrated telephony will address push, setup, and the distinction between GDP
and other messages.