Since I like to play backgammon, this seemed like a useful thing to do. Here's an initial version of a backgammon display package. This is pretty rough, and I expect to update it, but it's pretty usable in its present state. Obviously it still needs some documentation, and there may be a few features missing.
Update
The package described below is currently being developed and is not yet officially released. The latest version of the code can be obtained from GitHub. Comments welcome.
tikz-backgammon.sty
Put this in your local texmf folder:
% Copyright 2012 by Alan Munn
%
% This package may be distributed and/or modified under the
% conditions of the LaTeX Project Public License, either version 1.3
% of this license or any later version.
% The latest version of this license is in
% http://www.latex-project.org/lppl.txt
% and version 1.3 or later is part of all distributions of LaTeX
% version 2005/12/01 or later.
%
% This package has the LPPL maintenance status `maintained'.
%
% The Current Maintainer of this package is Alan Munn.
%
% This package consists of the file tikz-backgammon.sty and documentation files
% tikz-backgammon.tex and tikz-backgammon.pdf
%
% Version 0.5 2012/03/20
%
%
\ProvidesPackage{tikz-backgammon}[2012/03/20 Backgammon game display using TikZ v0.5]
\RequirePackage{etoolbox}
\RequirePackage{tikz}
\usetikzlibrary{positioning}
% Construct the board
%
% alternating colours for the board
\newcommand*{\BW}{\pgfmathifthenelse{mod(\x,2)==0}{1}{0}\let\fillstyle\pgfmathresult}
\newcommand*{\WB}{\pgfmathifthenelse{mod(\x,2)==0}{0}{1}\let\fillstyle\pgfmathresult}
% construct a down point
\newcommand*{\dpoint}{%
\BW
\draw[thick,style=\fillstyle]
(\x,0) -- (\x+3/2,15) -- (\x+3,0) -- cycle; }
% construct an up point
\newcommand{\upoint}{%
\WB
\draw[thick,style=\fillstyle]
(\x,32) -- (\x+3/2,17) -- (\x+3,32) -- cycle; }
% set basic tikzparameters
\tikzset{1/.style={fill=\boardblack},
0/.style={fill=\boardwhite},
stone/.style={scale=1.35,draw=black,circle},
sans/.style={font=\footnotesize\sffamily},
cube/.style={minimum size=.5cm}
}
% initialization
\def\cubepos{above}
\pgfdeclarelayer{board}
\pgfdeclarelayer{pieces}
\pgfsetlayers{board,pieces,main}
% These should be made internal or key values
\newcommand*{\black}{black} % for the stones
\newcommand*{\white}{white}
\newcommand*{\boardblack}{brown}
\newcommand*{\boardwhite}{olive!50}
\newcommand*{\defaultscale}{.2}
\newlength{\betweengameskip}
\setlength{\betweengameskip}{2\baselineskip}
% initial state of the doubling cube
\newcommand*{\doublestate}{neutral}
\newcommand*{\doublenum}{2}
% create 24 counters for the point counts
% create 24 macros for the point state (black,white,none)
\foreach \x in {1,...,24}{
\newcounter{bk@pt\x}
\expandafter\gdef\csname bk@state\x\endcsname{none}
}
% some debugging commands
\newcommand*\showpoint[1]{\the\csname c@bk@pt#1\endcsname}
\newcommand*\setstate[2]{\expandafter\gdef\csname bk@state#1\endcsname{#2}}
\newcommand*\usestate[1]{\csname bk@state#1\endcsname}
% basic command to draw the board
% all of these numbers probably shouldn't be hard coded
%
\newcommand{\drawboard}{%
\begin{pgfonlayer}{board}
% draw the boarder and the point numbers
\draw[line width=4pt] (0,0) -- (0,32) -- (38,32) -- (38,0) -- cycle;
\foreach \x in {1,...,6}{
\node[sans] (\x) at (39.5-\x*3,-1.5) {\x};
\pgfmathparse{int(\x+6)}\let\nodename\pgfmathresult
\node[sans] (\nodename) at (25.5-\x*3-6,-1.5) {\nodename};
\pgfmathparse{int(25-\x)}\let\nodename\pgfmathresult
\node[sans] (\nodename) at (39.5-\x*3,33.5) {\nodename};
\pgfmathparse{int(\x+12)}\let\nodename\pgfmathresult
\node[sans] (\nodename) at (25.5+\x*3-27,33.5) {\nodename};
}
% now draw the first half points
\foreach \x in {0,3,...,15}
\dpoint;
\foreach \x in {0,3,...,15}
\upoint;
% draw the bar and set the anchors for bar and the doubling cube
\draw[very thick,fill=brown](18,0) -- (18,32) -- (20,32) -- (20,0) -- cycle;
\node (barcenter) at (19,14) {};
\node (black double) at (40, 2) {};
\node (white double) at (40, 30) {};
\node (neutral double) at (40,12.5) {};
% draw the other half of the points
\foreach \x in {20,23,...,35}
\dpoint;
\foreach \x in {20,23,...,35}
\upoint;
\end{pgfonlayer}
}
% commands to place markers on a point and set its state
% these are used for setting the initial board and for users
% to make arbitrary board configurations
% placement is still a little off (some overlap)
% first for a black point
\newcommand{\blackpoint}[2]{%
\global\csname c@bk@pt#1\endcsname #2\relax
\setstate{#1}{black}
% check to see if we're on an up point or a down point
\pgfmathparse{ifthenelse(#1>12,"below","above")}\let\pos\pgfmathresult
\begin{pgfonlayer}{pieces}
\foreach \x in {1,...,#2}
\node[fill=\black,style=stone,\pos=.5*\x-.45 of #1] {};
\end{pgfonlayer}}
% same again for a white point
\newcommand{\whitepoint}[2]{%
\global\csname c@bk@pt#1\endcsname #2\relax
\setstate{#1}{white}
\pgfmathparse{ifthenelse(#1>12,"below","above")}\let\pos\pgfmathresult
\begin{pgfonlayer}{pieces}
\foreach \x in {1,...,#2}
\node[fill=\white,style=stone,\pos=.5*\x-.45 of #1] {};
\end{pgfonlayer}}
% now a generic version of the command for use in displaying the board
% this is really an internal command
\newcommand{\placepoint}[2]{%
\let\ptname#1
\ifnumcomp{#2}{<}{1}
{}
{\pgfmathparse{ifthenelse(#1>12,"below","above")}\let\pos\pgfmathresult
\begin{pgfonlayer}{pieces}
\foreach \x in {1,...,#2}
\node[fill=\usestate{\ptname},style=stone,\pos=.5*\x-.45 of \ptname] {};
\end{pgfonlayer}
}
}
% command to place pieces on the bar
\newcommand*{\onbar}[2]{%
\begin{pgfonlayer}{board}
\foreach \x in {1,...,#2}
\node[fill=\csname#1\endcsname,style=stone,above=.5*\x-.35 of barcenter)] {};
\end{pgfonlayer}
}
% user command to set a double
% syntax is \double{<owner>}{amount}
\newcommand*{\double}[2]{%
\let\doublenum#2
\ifstrequal{#1}{neutral}
{\gdef\doublestate{neutral double}}
{\ifstrequal{#1}{white}
{\gdef\cubepos{below}\gdef\doublestate{white double}}
{\gdef\cubepos{above}\gdef\doublestate{black double}}
}
}
% internal command to place the doubling cube in the correct place
\newcommand*{\placedouble}{
\node[draw,style=cube, \cubepos=.5cm of \doublestate %
,font={\bfseries\sffamily}] {\doublenum};}
% command to set a new game and display it
\newcommand*{\newgame}[1][\defaultscale]{%
\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=#1]
\drawboard
\whitepoint{1}{2}
\whitepoint{12}{5}
\whitepoint{17}{3}
\whitepoint{19}{5}
\blackpoint{24}{2}
\blackpoint{13}{5}
\blackpoint{8}{3}
\blackpoint{6}{5}
\double{neutral}{2}
\placedouble
\end{tikzpicture}}
% commands to move first black, then white
\newcommand\blackmove[4]{
\advance\csname c@bk@pt#1\endcsname -1\relax
\ifnumcomp{\the\csname c@bk@pt#1\endcsname}{=}{0}
{\expandafter\gdef\csname bk@state#1\endcsname{none}}
{\expandafter\gdef\csname bk@state#1\endcsname{black}}
\ifnumcomp{#2}{=}{0}{}{\advance\csname c@bk@pt#2\endcsname 1\relax}
\expandafter\gdef\csname bk@state#2\endcsname{black}
\advance\csname c@bk@pt#3\endcsname -1\relax
\ifnumcomp{\the\csname c@bk@pt#3\endcsname}{=}{0}
{\expandafter\gdef\csname bk@state#1\endcsname{none}}
{\expandafter\gdef\csname bk@state#3\endcsname{black}}
\ifnumcomp{#4}{=}{0}{}{\advance\csname c@bk@pt#4\endcsname 1\relax}
\expandafter\gdef\csname bk@state#4\endcsname{black}
}
\newcommand\whitemove[4]{
\advance\csname c@bk@pt#1\endcsname -1\relax
\ifnumcomp{\the\csname c@bk@pt#1\endcsname}{=}{0}
{\expandafter\gdef\csname bk@state#1\endcsname{none}}
{\expandafter\gdef\csname bk@state#1\endcsname{white}}
\ifnumcomp{#2}{=}{0}{}{\advance\csname c@bk@pt#2\endcsname 1\relax}
\expandafter\gdef\csname bk@state#2\endcsname{white}
\advance\csname c@bk@pt#3\endcsname -1\relax
\ifnumcomp{\the\csname c@bk@pt#3\endcsname}{=}{0}
{\expandafter\gdef\csname bk@state#1\endcsname{none}}
{\expandafter\gdef\csname bk@state#3\endcsname{white}}
\ifnumcomp{#4}{=}{0}{}{\advance\csname c@bk@pt#4\endcsname 1\relax}
\expandafter\gdef\csname bk@state#4\endcsname{white}
}
% command to display the current state of the board
\newcommand{\displayboard}{%
\par\vspace{\betweengameskip}
\begin{tikzpicture}[scale=\defaultscale]
\drawboard
\foreach \x in {1,...,24}{
\placepoint{\x}{\the\csname c@bk@pt\x\endcsname}}
\placedouble
\end{tikzpicture}
}
\endinput
% Still to be added:
% Displaying the dice (easy, but I can't be bothered)
Sample document
% This is a test document for the tikz-backgammon package.
\documentclass[12pt]{article}
\usepackage{tikz-backgammon}
\begin{document}
\newgame
\blackmove{13}{8}{8}{5}
\whitemove{1}{7}{1}{7}
\double{white}{4}
\blackmove{24}{18}{24}{18}
\blackmove{8}{2}{8}{2}
\blackmove{8}{4}{13}{10}
\whitemove{12}{16}{12}{15}
\displayboard
\end{document}
Output
Best Answer
Unicode's advantages
As I see it, there are many advantages to using a Unicode font with XeLaTeX/LuaLaTeX, some of which are mentioned in answers to the above questions and in other places, notably Alan Munn's answers to How to use phonetic IPA characters in LaTeX and Preparing a text for conversion to LaTeX: How to convert "ejective stops" in TIPA?:
[ˌɛkspləˈneɪʃən]is easier to (proof)read than\textipa{[""Ekspl@"neIS@n]}.\textipa{...},{\tipaencoding ...}, or\begin{IPA} ... \end{IPA}..texfile from another application (e.g., Excel, Toolbox, ELAN, FLEx, etc.), Unicode input allows you to simply copy and paste without any conversion totipa(or other LaTeX) macros. And if you want to take an example from your.texfile and put it in a Word document, email, or webpage, copy and paste works on the way out too.tipa, as discussed at How to use the real letters in a pdf?.tipa's options give you symbols designed to match Computer Modern, Times, or Helvetica, and that's it.tipamatches Computer Modern quite well, but it merely approximates Times and Helvetica.fontspecin XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX. For example, Charis SIL has alternate glyphs for literacy applications (<ɑɡ> instead of <ag>, etc.) and for localization (e.g., variant glyphs for <Ŋ> and <ʋ>).tipa's advantagesThere are at least two advantages to
tipa, possibly a third:tipacode into Unicode, and it might not be worth it if most of the data you are working with is already coded fortipa.tipahas commands (section 4 of the manual) that allow you to place diacritics manually and make some other fine adjustments to kerning, etc. Some Unicode fonts allow diacritic stacking and correct placement of modifier letters, but this varies widely across fonts.tipa, but personally I've never found usingtipashortcuts to be any faster than using a Unicode IPA keyboard layout with mnemonic, semantic key assignment.Conclusion
The package
tipashould be considered a legacy method for using IPA characters in LaTeX, just as other non-Unicode fonts have been phased out (e.g., IPAPhon and the non-Unicode versions of the SIL and LaserIPA fonts). It may be necessary to usetipain some circumstances for compatibility reasons (using alreadytipa-coded data, following a publisher's style guide, etc.), but in general users should strongly consider using Unicode with XeLaTeX or LuaLaTeX.