INTRODUCTION

Thank you for purchasing FaceMe Backgammon (FMBG)! We hope that our application will increase your enjoyment of this classic board game while increasing your playing skills and providing you with hours of entertainment.

FMBG has several modes of play:

1. Computer: Allows you to play games against the computer which uses an A.I. algorithm and uses a neural network algorithm.
2. Pass the Device: Enables two players to play face-to-face using one device. This is a lot of fun when your friend forgot their device and you would like to have some fun together, or when you find yourself with a friend who does not have FaceMe Backgammon.
3. Local WiFi Network: If you and your friend are both connected to the same local network you can start a Local Network game and play a match using the two devices. This is a great way to play and leverage your WiFi network.
4. Bluetooth Connection: Bluetooth has a range of about 30 feet. If you are in a car with a friend, or in the same room, you can use both your devices to play a match. Please make sure to enable Bluetooth on both devices and start a Local Network game.
5. Game Center: This mode allows you to play with your friends no matter where they are, as long as you are both connected to the internet using an iOS device capable of running Game Center games. You can also play against people you don't know and make new friends by using the Auto-Match feature. The Game Center mode also supports leaderboards and achievements that you can brag about to your friends. To properly configure Game Center, follow the instructions on this page: Game Center Tips

If you are not familiar with the Backgammon rules, you can visit the Wikipedia Backgammon page. FMBG implements the Crawford rule.

Advanced Players

If you are an experienced backgammon player, you should change the following settings for faster play:

• Turn on One-Tap-Moves. In this mode, the pieces move just by tapping them once and they move the number of positions given by the left-most unused die. Tap the dice to swap their order.
• Increase the Animation Speed to move the pieces faster on the board.
• Turn on Auto-Play Forced Moves to let the computer make the moves for you when there is only one possible choice of moves.
• Turn off the Display Match Options Dialog if you always play the same number of point matches. You can set the Default Match Length and the Default Doubling Allowed appropriately.
• Change the Computer Level to Expert This mode employs a neural network algorithm which plays significantly better than the intermediate algorithm.

Memory Management Tips

When applications start behaving improperly either by slowing down, failing to connect to the network, or crashing, you may have a memory problem. Starting with iOS 4.0, applications are no longer closed when the user presses the Home button and instead they are put in the background where they continue to use up memory even though they are not running. This can cause a significant problem especially on devices with small memory such as the iPad 1 and some of the older iPhone and iPod Touch devices.

There are two simple solutions to this problem. The first is to resart your device on a regular basis. This closes all the applications and clears the memory allowing the device to once again perform optimally. The second is to fully close the applications that are running in the background. This works quite well but you should still reboot your device at least once a week.

Restarting the device

To restart your device perform the following steps:

1. Exit the current application you are running by pressing the Home button.
2. Press and hold the button on top of the device until you see "slide to power off" option appear on the screen.
3. Slide the red button to the right to turn off the device
4. Press the top button once again and hold it for a couple of seconds, to start up the device.

Fully closing applications

Fully closing an application releases its memory and resources and makes them available for other applications to use. This is very helpful especially for games as they tend to use more graphics and therefore more memory. Follow these steps to close as many apps as possible:

1. Put the current running app in the background by pressing the Home button.
2. Double tap the Home button to bring up the Task Manager.
3. Pick an app screen and swipe it up. This will close the app and remove it
4. Repeat step 4. with as many apps as possible to free up as much memory as possible.
5. Tap the Home button to return to normal mode.