Bulls and Cows vs. MASTERMIND

General

• freely selectable length of the code and freely selectable character set ('colours');
  option to allow or forbid repetitions
• option to guess incomplete codes
• option to play 'fair' or 'cheat',
  i.e. the coder changes his solution code during the course of the game
  within the scope of the information he has already given,
  to make it as difficult as possible for his opponent.

To play, you can choose between:

• Bulls and Cows as browsers game:
  
   Start the game

  You can play several games parallel in different browser tabs / windows
  e.g. (match and rematch).
  
  

  • slow, but runs on any operating system without installation
  • requires an HTML5 capable browser and
    a physical keyboard (also on a smartphone)
    
    

  The online-game uses the DOS-emulation JsDOSBox.
  
  The online-version of Bulls and Cows was programed and compiled with Borland Pascal 7.01.
  
  

• A suitable download for the respective operating system:

  • just download, no installation effort,
    only the user rights have to be set to executable:
    • Windows:
      • Click away the warning messages:
        'Allow' or 'Additional information' -> 'Execute anyway'
    • otherwise:
      • Change the program properties -> user rights
        or
        in the terminal with the command 'chmod 755 ...'
    Please ensure that the window is large enough: 25 lines of 80 characters each,
    otherwise there may be problems with line breaks.
    Start the program from the terminal and select option 8 for the configuration in the main menu.
    
  • one version with graphic symbols and
    one version without graphic symbols (if the display causes difficulties)
  • each as a 32-bit version and as a 64-bit version
    the 64-bit version offers the (theoretical) advantage of being able to play even more game variants,
    but at the price of a disproportionately high storage requirement, see comparison of operating systems
    
    
  • Downloads for the specific operating systems: 
    
    DOSBox           Android           Windows           Linux + FreeBSD           macOS           Solaris

• Installing the program DOSBox and the DOS-versions of Bulls and Cows (BC.EXE und BCR.EXE):

  • under Android, OS/2 and RISC OS mostly the only possibility of an installation
  • advantages in the display (window size, graphic characters, line breaks)
  • offers additional options through the DOSBox program itself
  • language packs for DOS
  • different keyboard layouts: best: 'auto' for automatic setting
  • a great number of free DOS games for download on the Internet
  • possibility to install a DOSBox front end:
    • for a graphical DOSBox configuration without a configuration file
    • to manage several games with different search criteria and descriptions
      and also different configurations (e.g. graphics card, etc.)
    • with additional functions
      
      
  • Installation:
    
    
    • For Android you need: the zipped file BC.zip, a program to unzip this file
      and a DOS-emulator for Android, preferably Magic DosBox.
      As a virtual keyboard is Hacker's Keyboard optimal, with all the necessary special characters.
      A useful helper is Total Commander (with built-in editor).
      
      
    • All other operatingsystems:
      
      Please download one of the following archives and unzip it:
      BC.zip ---- BCunzip.exe (Windows, self-extracting) ---- BC.7z ---- BC.tar (Linux, Unix)
      
      If this causes difficulties, the individual files can be downloaded here:
      BC.EXE ---- BCR.EXE ---- README.EXE ---- RTM.EXE ---- DPMI16BI.OVL
      
      Also install DOSBox.
      
      
    After installing DOSBox, configure the DOSBox configuration file as follows
    or make the appropriate settings in the graphical front end:
    memsize=63 (or 64), core=auto, cputype=auto, cycles=auto, xms=true, ems=true, umb=true, keyboardlayout=auto.
    Therefore the Windowsconfiguration as described in the BC.EXE or README.EXE program is not required.
    
    If you do not use a graphical frontend:
    Start DOSBox and make the directory with the BC.EXE file accessible in the DOSBox using the mount command,
    change to this directory and start Bulls and Cows with the command BC.EXE.
    All DOSBox commands such as mount are explained in the DOSBox program itself.
    
    Simulation with instructions of the game Bulls and Cows in the DOSBox version.
    
    The DOS/DOSBox-version of Bulls and Cows was programed and compiled with Borland Pascal 7.01.
    
    

• The installation within a virtual Linux operating system espacially under Windows

  using VirtualBox (or VMware Workstation Player) as virtualization software.
  Background:

  • The Linux-version of Bulls and Cows is much faster than the Windows-version
    and therefore offers the most game variants.
    It also offers advantages in terms of display (window size, graphic characters, fonts).
  • I have the best experiences with Windows 10 with the following installation:
    • Virtualization using VirtualBox (license and options better than VMware Workstation Player)
    • As a guest operating system: Linux Mint 18.3 'Sylvia' - MATE
      (each faster and more stable than the current Mint-version and/or Cinnamon)
    • Bulls and Cows in the Linux-32-bit-version with graphic and special characters,
      Please select the character encoding Western (IBM 850) in the terminal
  • As a 'side effect', a completely new second operating system is available to you,
    with a great number of games and other applications, that you only need to select
    in the application managment or in the package managment.
    
    

• Or you can try out several of the options mentioned parallel:

  Installation options under the different operating systems (in addition to the browser version):
  Used Operatingsystem:	DOS & Win 3.11	Win32	Win64	Android32	Android64	OS/2 RiscOS
  Executable versions of Bulls and Cows:	DOS (BCR.EXE & BC.EXE)	DOS (BCR.EXE & BC.EXE) Win32	Win32 Win64	Android32* * !! only with root rights !!	Android32* Android64* * !! only with root rights !!	---
  DOSBox:	---	Download	Download	Download: selection recommended: Magic DosBox	Download: selection recommended: Magic DosBox	Download
  DOSBox- frontend:	---	Download: D-Fend Reloaded	Download: D-Fend Reloaded	sometimes integrated: Magic DosBox	sometimes integrated: Magic DosBox	---
  VirtualBox: Linux-Download:	---	Version 5.2.x Linux32	current version Linux64	---	---	---
  VMware Player: Linux-Download:	---	---	Download Linux64	---	---	---

  
  

  Installation options under the different operating systems (in addition to the browser version):
  Used Operatingsystem:	macOS until Mojave	macOS from Catalina	Linux32	Linux64	FreeBSD32	FreeBSD64	Solaris32	Solaris64
  Executable versions of Bulls and Cows:	mac32 mac64	mac64	Linux32	Linux32 Linux64	FreeBSD32	FreeBSD32 FreeBSD64	Solaris32	Solaris32
  DOSBox:	Download	Download	packet managment	packet managment	over ports	over ports	---	---
  DOSBox- frontend:	Download: boxer or Dapplegrey	Download: boxer or Dapplegrey	---	---	---	---	---	---
  VirtualBox: Linux-Download:	current version Linux64	current version Linux64	version 5.2.x Linux32	current version Linux64	---	---	version 5.2.x Linux32	current version Linux64
  VMware Player: Linux-Download:	---	---	---	Download Linux64	---	---	---	---

Compare different operating systems

Downloads for the specific operating systems: 

DOSBox           Android           Windows           Linux + FreeBSD           macOS           Solaris

Bulls and Cows for Windows: Download:

Important!
You can play Bulls and Cows also within DOSBox or
a virtual computer with the operating system Linux.
Linux is much faster and DOSBox offers more options.

• bc-windows.exe   with graphic characters
•                                               bc-windows-ascii.exe   without graphic characters
  
  
• bc-windows64.exe   with graphic characters
•                                               bc-windows64-ascii.exe   without graphic characters

Please click warnings from the operating system away with 'Allow'
respectively 'More informations' -> 'Still execute'.
Start the program from the terminal and select option 8 for the configuration in the main menu.

Please choose 'Use Legacyconsole' and the 'Raster Font'
only with the programversion with graphic characters.
To enjoy the game really you need also suitable
Fonts from Uwe Sieber, OEM Codepage 850.

The Windows-versions of Bulls and Cows were compiled with Free Pascal.

        

        

Bulls and Cows for Linux + FreeBSD: Download:

• bc-linux   with graphic characters
•                                               bc-linux-ascii   without graphic characters
  
  
• bc-linux64   with graphic characters
•                                               bc-linux64-ascii   without graphic characters
  
  
  
• bc-freebsd   with graphic characters
•                                               bc-freebsd-ascii   without graphic characters
  
  
• bc-freebsd64   with graphic characters
•                                               bc-freebsd64-ascii   without graphic characters

After download please set the user rights 'Executable'.
Please start your terminal, increase it to maximum size of the window,
respectively choose the profilesettings of the terminal and set the terminalsize 80 coloums and 25 lines.
Start the program from the terminal and select option 8 for the configuration in the main menu.
The Linux- and FreeBSD-versions of Bulls and Cows were compiled with Free Pascal.

Bulls and Cows for Apple Mac OS X / OS X / macOS: Download:

• bc-macos.dmg   with graphic characters
•                                               bc-macos-ascii.dmg   without graphic characters
  
  
• Attention! 32-bit-versions (above) only until macOS Mojave 10.14.
  From macOS Catalina 10.15 only the 64-bit-versions (below) !
  
  
• bc-macos64.dmg   with graphic characters
•                                               bc-macos64-ascii.dmg   without graphic characters

After download please set the user rights of bc-macos(64) respectively bc-macos(64)-ascii 'Executable'.
Start the program from the terminal and select option 8 for the configuration in the main menu.
The macOS-versions of Bulls and Cows were compiled with Free Pascal.

Bulls and Cows for Solaris: Download:

• bc-solaris   with graphic characters
•                                               bc-solaris-ascii   without graphic characters

After download please set the user rights of bc-solaris respectively bc-solaris-ascii 'Executable'.
Please start your terminal, increase it to maximum size of the window.
Start the program from the terminal and select option 8 for the configuration in the main menu.
The Solaris-versions of Bulls and Cows were compiled with Free Pascal.