Minesweeper 3D

Entry for the EuroGraphics 2002 Web3D Game Competition

This is a 3D-version of the traditional Minesweeper game. Here the game area consists of 6x6x6=216 cubic cells, and you are inside it. You can move only through open cells. There are 48 mines. If you open a cell and there is a mine inside it, the mine explodes and you have lost the game. If there is no mine, the cell is opened and the number of surrounding mines is displayed in it. Surrounding mines are counted only in 6 nearest cells. If there are no surrounding mines, 6 nearest cells are opened automatically. You win the game when you have opened all empty cells. Then you will see the clue word needed for the Web3D Competition.

You see a toolbar in the top of the VRML window. In the middle there is a button with a face. It displays current game state: ready, thinking (opening cells), dead (lost the game) or in glasses (won the game). Clicking this button restarts the game. On the left side, the number of non-marked mines is displayed. It can help you to determine how many mines you still haven't found. If you mark too many mines, it can be zero or negative, it means that some cells are marked incorrectly. On the right side, the number of closed cells is displayed. You win the game when this number is equal to the initial number of mines (48).

On every side of a cell there are two buttons: with a question mark and with a flag. If you are sure that there is no mine in this cell, click the button with a question mark, and the cell opens. If you are sure that there is a mine, click the button with a flag, and the cell will be marked. A flag appears on all six sides of a cell, it must not confuse you: many flags on the same cell denote only one mine in it. If a cell is marked, the button with a question mark disappears: you can't open a marked cell. To unmark a cell, click the button with an empty cell. Be careful: don't click these buttons when navigating in the scene.

There may be such situation that you know where is an empty cell but can't open it because it is surrounded by mines. In such case you can't win the game; click the button to restart it. Mine positions are generated randomly.

This game was initially written for Cortona, but has been also adjusted for CosmoPlayer and blaxxun Contact. In Cortona 4, you can turn when holding Space on the keyboard, and slide when holding Alt. In CosmoPlayer, hold Ctrl to turn and Alt to slide.

Sergey Bederov

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