Overview

Scrabble is the widely known desk-based game, which is played on a 15x15 grid board. The game pieces are letter tiles, with a different scoring for each letter.
The purpose of the game is to achieve as many points as possible by creating and placing words on the Scrabble playboard from a limited set of letters, using some of the already-placed letters on the board.

Our game can be played by 1 to 4 players at once playing against each other.  In case of a single player, he or she plays against the speller only -  there is no computer player.  The Players start the Scrabble game each on his/her  local computer, and are connected via a network. One of the players is connected as a server, and all other are connected to her/him as clients. The players can also chat with each other.

When the server starts the game, each player is given 7 letters (tiles), which should be placed on the playboard to form words. The words should be  recognized by an internal speller or be approved by all other players if the speller is off. Each word (except the first word of the game) should include at least one letter of a previous word which is already on the board. In each move a player can form several words by adding letters. The speller checks the words from top to bottom and from left to right, and so should do the players in case the speller is off. The same word can be created as many times a player wishes. If a word is recognized by the speller or other players, the player gets the total points of the words created. A word score depends on the score of the letters, and on their placement on the playboard. There are cells which increase the score of letters (*2 or *3),  or the score of the whole word (*2 or *3). When the player presses the 'Done' button or the player's turn time is up, the new tiles on the playboard are submitted to the Server, which checks the new board, compute the score, and send the new board to all other players. In case of illegal move, the player will get the appropriate message, and will have to compose other words. The player can also click  the 'Pass' button, and the turn will be given to the next player. The 'Undo' button is used to return all tiles, which are currently placed on the board.

System Requirements
 
The program was written using the JDK1.0.2 as a stand alone application, and thus needs a Java compiler in order to run.
The game needs a network for communication, even if there is only one player. Therefor,  Socket Support (TCP/IP stack) must be installed.
The game currently runs only on the Windows NT/95 platform, supporting the JDK1.0.2.

Game Rules

• The first word on the board must cover the red tile in the center of the board.
• When the speller is active, each submitted word must pass spell check. If one of the words don't pass the check, the entire move is considered illegal.
• Each word must have at least one common letter with the previously placed words.
• The same word may be placed many times, even in the same move.
• The words are read from left to right, and from top to bottom.
• Score is depended on the weight of the letters, and placement. There are cells which multiply the weight of the letter by 2 or 3, or the score of the whole word by 2 or 3.
• The winner is the player with the best score by the end of game. Game is ended when players decided to give up !
• If timeout is enabled, the player has to complete his/her move before the time limit expires, or press the 'Pass' button. When the time limit expires, the player will remain with his/hers current letters, and the turn will be passed to the next player.
• Only the Server can start/end a game.
• New players can't connect when there is a game in progress.
• The maximum number of players is 4.
• When a player leaves the game, his/hers score is removed, and he/she can't reenter the game.
• Game can be restored only if currently the 'Scrabble'  Server is connected to a port, and exactly the same players are connected.

The players are identified by nicknames, and no duplicate nicknames are allowed. The 'Scrabble' Server will deny connection if a nick collision is detected.

Typical Scenario
 

• Several players want to play Scrabble.
• All start the application.
• All choose their nick name in the Settings - Properties menu.
• All change the Host name and Port number in the Settings - Properties menu to be the same as of the Server.
• The player who wants to be the Server selects: Connect as Server. All other select: Connect as Client.
• Now all players are connected together and can chat between themselves. The messages can be public or private.
• The Server player starts a new game. The order of the players in the game is random
• Each player receive 7 letters (tiles).
• In his turn, each player can compose words on the playboard using the 7 tiles. When he finished, he can press Done. The words are submitted to the Server, who performs the spell check. If the move is legal, the Server sends it to all other players (with scoring). If the move is illegal, an appropriate message is sent to the player.
• If the player can't compose any word, he can Pass his turn. The Server will then send him 7 new letters, and will pass the turn to the next player.
• The game ends when the Server player decide to stop the Game.
• The winner is the one with the higher score.