Why does everyone hate 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe?

[Krytol]

Why? I think it's a BIT more challenging than, say, Laser Blast....

[Tempest]

I don't hate it, I just look at it as useless filler. I mean did the 2600 really need tic-tac-toe? I also find the fake 3-D perspective to be hard to see.

 

Tempest

[NE146]

Because no one here could win at it!

[moycon]

I never said I hated that game. I kinda liked it. Even if you didn't have a person to play with.... The computer filled in. The graphics are lackluster but get the job done. I'd MUCH rather spend time playing 3-D Tic Tac Toe than Laser Turd.

[Nostalgic]

I actually enjoy a game of 3-D Tic-Tac-Toe now and again. It's pretty challenging against the computer even at the lower levels... mostly because I'm not used to seeing all the possible paths to winning. What's nice is that unlike regular Tic-Tac-Toe, two good players aren't always going to end up in a tie.

 

Maybe it's not graphically impressive, but it doesn't need to be. A grid drawn on paper isn't graphically impressive anyway.

[Rob Mitchell]

3-D Ta-Te-Ti (Spanish for TTT) were very common in the 1970s .. We had a clear acrylic one with metal stilts and with two color sets of glass marbles .. but it sat on the bookshelf in the den for most of its life and got dusted occasionally.

 

So why did Atari made 3-D TTT for the 2600 AND the 8-bit? Did they think they were gonna cash in on the 3-D TTT craze of the 1970s? Both versions are common .. but why would people spend $20 (2600) and $35-40 (8-bit) for these? The 2600 version came out in the second (or maybe third sales season), but the 8-bit cart came out early with the introduction of the Atari 400/800. I bought neither when they were introduced.

 

Given all this .. I have played Atari 3-D TTT only once. I did see one in a Marietta, GA thrift the other day for $4. There it sits in a glass case. Maybe someone will buy it on 1/2 price day.

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[MaxSpeed]

I never said I hated that game. I kinda liked it. Even if you didn't have a person to play with.... The computer filled in. The graphics are lackluster but get the job done. I'd MUCH rather spend time playing 3-D Tic Tac Toe than Laser Turd.

Hey ! I like Laser Turd, certainly more fun the 3D Tic Tac Toe

[King Atari]

I see it as filler, too. It goes along with the math games.

[Godzilla]

i'm 2600 easy :-) I like 3d ttt. fun little game. i never had problem with the 3d-ness of it, in fact that's what i enjoyed about it, all the possiblities the layers create. not a great game, but a mildly good one.

 

i still stand by laser blast tho, that is a fun game that i still really like.

[Sir Plus]

I've always thought that it should be called Tic Tac Toc Toe,

since you have to connect four squares instead of three.

[Inky]

I've always thought that it should be called Tic Tac Toc Toe,

since you have to connect four squares instead of three.

 

Ironically, I thought it should be called Pac Man, but that's just me.

 

[sku_u]

3D Tic Tac Toe is like Hangman: fun on paper but totally unnecessary as a video game cart.

[Sir Plus]

How do you play carts on paper again?

[NE146]

Yeah and how do you challenge the computer on paper?

[Sir Plus]

Just set it on the paper and tell it to turn ITSELF on for a change.

[sku_u]

Very funny

[Sir Plus]

It's pretty challenging for it.

 

 

I can win every time.

[SS]

I dunno. 3D Tic-Tac-Toe isn't really a bad way to waste a few minutes every now and again. Granted, I say that based on the perspective of having picked the thing up for a buck. If I had paid full price for it back in the day or gotten it for Christmas from my Grandmother, my reaction to the game would probably be completely different!

[MegaManFan]

I dunno.  3D Tic-Tac-Toe isn't really a bad way to waste a few minutes every now and again.  Granted, I say that based on the perspective of having picked the thing up for a buck.  If I had paid full price for it back in the day or gotten it for Christmas from my Grandmother, my reaction to the game would probably be completely different!

 

Ditto, at 50 cents it sure ain't killing me. I bought two just to have a label variation!

[Rob Mitchell]

Anybody want to start an online 3D TTT contest?

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[Pitfall Harry]

I hate to rain on this parade, but 3D Tic-Tac-Toe (also known as Qubic) has already been exhaustively solved by computer analysis. In 1977, Oren Patashnik distilled the winning solution into 2929 so-called "strategic moves" and played out the complete game trees from these key positions utilizing some 1500 hours of cpu time. He thereby proved that the first player has a forced win.

 

Later, Victor Allis applied Pn-search and db-search techniques to develop and implement a winning Qubic program, written in 6,000 lines of C code. You can read the details of Allis' program in chapter 4 of his book, Searching For Solutions in Games and Artificial Intelligence. For the thrifty among you, the book in its entirety is available online here...

 

http://www.cs.vu.nl/~victor/thesis.html

 

Anyone who studies Allis' chapter and applies his described methodologies should be able to win an online 3D Tic-Tac-Toe contest.

 

 

Ben

[Sir Plus]

Damn computers take all the fun out of things.

 

...er.... wait a minute....

 

Sir Plus

[Pitfall Harry]

Oh, what the heck! I decided to take a crack at this anyway. Below is a link to my 3-D tic-tac-toe program (Sorry, it's for DOS based PC's only).

 

http://home.earthlink.net/~benandvicky/Ata...ge/BenQubic.exe

 

Anyone who can beat my game on its "Expert" level, with the program going first, has earned my respect. In fact, the first person who does so and can email me the set of moves to prove it will receive a special prize.

 

 

Ben