Computer Software

Most people understand the rules for Freecell, but not everyone understands Freecell PowerMoves. Understanding PowerMoves is one of the most important keys to winning Freecell, and knowing how they work will increase your chances of winning Freecell.

A Freecell powermove (also called a supermove), is simply a shortcut move. It lets you move a sequence of cards in one move, instead of doing lots of individual moves.

It isn’t a special move though.

It’s just a shortcut, to move all the cards in the sequence in one move, rather than several moves using the available freecells and empty columns.

The number of cards you can move in a supermove sequence is based on how many freecells and empty columns are available. Some freecells games implement this incorrectly, and let you move any number of cards in a sequence.

But this is wrong. If you couldn’t move the sequence using individual card moves, then you can’t move the sequence using a powermove either.

A freecell supermove uses the empty columns and freecells as efficiently as possible, to ensure you can move the maximum number of cards. To work out how many cards can be moved, the following formula is used:

(1 + number of empty freecells) * 2 ^ (number of empty columns)

This is easier to understand by looking at the following chart…

A: Empty Columns
B: Empty Freecells
C: Card Sequence Length

A – B – C
0 – 0 – 1
0 – 1 – 2
0 – 2 – 3
0 – 3 – 4
0 – 4 – 5
1 – 0 – 2
1 – 1 – 4
1 – 2 – 6
1 – 3 – 8
1 – 4 – 10
2 – 0 – 4
2 – 1 – 8
2 – 2 – 12
2 – 3 – 16
2 – 4 – 20

This assumes you are moving the sequence to a non-empty column. If you are moving into an empty column, then the column you are moving into does not count as empty column.

A freecell powermove can always be broken down into several individual moves. Suppose you have 1 empty column, and 1 empty freecell. From the chart above you can see that we can move a sequence of 4 cards. Suppose we want to move 9,8,7,6 sequence onto a 10.

The moves would proceed as follows:
- Move the 6 to the freecell (Now one empty column, no empty freecells)
- Move the 7 to the empty column (Now no empty columns, and no empty freecells)
- Move the 6 onto the 7 (Now no empty columns, and one empty freecell)
- Move the 8 to the freecell (Now no empty columns, and no empty freecells)
- Move the 9 onto the 10 (Now no empty columns, and no empty freecells)
- Move the 8 onto the 9 (Now no empty columns, and one empty freecell)
- Move the 6 to the freecell (Now no empty column, no empty freecells)
- Move the 7 onto the 8 (Now one empty column, and no empty freecell)
- Move the 6 onto the 7 (Now one empty column, and one empty freecell)

So in this example, the powermove has saved us time by allowing us to do 1 move instead of 9.

There are a few things to notice in this example:
- The freecells and empty columns are used temporarily. At the end of the powermove, the number of empty freecells and columns is the same as at the start of the powermove.
- The freecells and empty columns are used as efficiently as possible. There is no way that any more cards could have been moved.
- Only the empty freecells and empty columns were used. Cards in other stacks were NOT used as temporary storage spaces.

This last point is particularly note-worthy. A supermove will only use the freecells and empty columns. It doesn’t account for any other cards in the tableau. This means you can often move a longer sequence by breaking doing the moves yourself, or doing several powermoves.

In the example above, if there had been a spare 9 in the tableau with the right color, a much longer sequence could have been moved. The 8,7,6 sequence would be moved onto the other 9 first. Then we could move another 4 cards using a normal powermove (Because we still have an empty column and freecell). So we could now move 9,10,J,Q onto a King, and then move the 8,7,6 onto the 9 again. So by breaking the sequence up into 2 moves, we are able to move a sequence of 7 instead of 4.

Being aware of this short-coming of supermoves will allow you to move longer sequences, which helps a lot in winning some of the harder freecell deals.

The other thing to be aware of with supermoves is how important empty columns are. If you look back to the chart above, you will see that empty columns are very valuable in freecell. Four empty freecells lets you move a sequence of 5 moves, while two empty freecells and two empty columns lets you move a sequence of 12! So try and empty up columns as soon as you can!

The Final Fantasy series is a superb set of games that have become an important part of video game history. Final Fantasy XI is an especially strong title. It is a terrific modern update on the series, advancing it and taking it into exciting new territory.

Final Fantasy XI is an outstanding entry in a series that is nearly twenty years old. The Final Fantasy series was created by the Japanese company Square Co. in 1987. At the time Square were in a difficult position, as they had focused on making games for the Nintendo Famicom Disk System and this format had become unpopular. The company were eager for success and saw great potential in the role-playing genre. Final Fantasy was their attempt to make a new kind of role-playing title.

Final Fantasy came out in Japan at the end of 1987. It was excellent, offering a fresh and original role-playing experience. Final Fantasy’s strength was that it had a strong narrative that ran throughout the game. This made it very compelling and helped it to capture people’s interest. It was an enormous success and launched what would become a hugely popular franchise. It would lead to Final Fantasy XI and beyond.

When Square made Final Fantasy, they looked at the role-playing genre and explored the possibilities of what it could do. Final Fantasy was innovative, and this sense of invention would become a major element of the series, continuing all the way through to Final Fantasy XI. The first sequel, Final Fantasy II, was equally creative, surprising people by coming up with a completely new plot and characters.

The Final Fantasy series flourished and a number of dazzling games followed. Final Fantasy IV was a gripping, brilliant game and became the second title in the series to be released in North America. Final Fantasy VI had an enthralling story that gave it serious emotion and depth. Final Fantasy X used voice acting and beautiful three-dimensional visuals to create its own game world. These were all strong titles and laid the way beautifully for Final Fantasy XI.

Final Fantasy XI has continued the sense of innovation that is expected of this series. A highly ambitious game, it saw the franchise move into the world of online gaming. Final Fantasy XI is a massively multi-player online role-playing game. It is also unique as it is playable on both consoles and PCs, all of which connect to the same game servers. This has made it the first cross-platform title of its kind.

There was great curiosity about Final Fantasy XI before its release in 2002. Images and previews of the game captured people’s attention. A special bonus disk was included with the release of Final Fantasy X, containing a trailer for the game. Its creator Square Enix also held beta tests for the game to gather players’ feedback and improve it. This allowed them to handle any concerns that people had and fine-tune it.

Final Fantasy XI was launched in Japan on May 16 2002 for the Sony PlayStation 2. The PC release came on November 5th. It had its PC release in North America on October 28 2003, with the European release following in September 2004. The initial Japanese launch was a complicated affair, as the game required a hard drive for the PlayStation 2 console and stocks of these were limited at first. Square Enix responded well to any issues that developed, and also released a game patch to enhance it.

Square Enix adopted an interesting approach to the game, developing it and reworking it even after it had been released. The company has revised it since its launch and made it even better, adding in new areas and new content. This has enriched the Final Fantasy XI experience. There have been two expansions, Rise of the Zilart and Chains of Promathia, to complement the game. A third expansion, Treasures of Aht Urhgan, is planned for spring 2006.

Final Fantasy XI has established itself as a major presence in online gaming. It sold well, building up more than 500,000 subscribers by January 7 2004. There were almost a million game characters active within this time period. It was well received, enjoying many positive reviews from the game press. It was crucial in building up Square Enix’s PlayOnline service and more than fulfilled their hopes for the title.

Final Fantasy XI is a truly great game. It has combined the creativity and innovation that is the hallmark of Final Fantasy with a state of the art online gaming format. It is an amazing experience and has taken the series in a new direction. It will continue entertaining people for a long time to come.

I’ve previously posted an article to farming Arcanist Doan. Well here is an upgraded version using a hunter and a mage. This strategy is much more effective but requires 2 players. You’re both required to be at least level 54 or if you’re well geared and think you’re an awesome player then probably level 50 should work fine.

To start, enter through Scarlet Monastery library side. The mage needs to enter first and make yourself through the mobs. The mage is good because you can blink around them. You can easily teleport from one side of a mob to another mob with your blink ability. Once you’ve received Arcanist Doan you’ll need to wait for the hunter to get through.

The hunter starts little bit after the mage starts. Once you’ve entered, turn on your aspect of monkey. It will help you dodge enemy strikes oftenly. When you get some mobs on you, just run through and feign death. That’s it, they’re all are cheated and you can wait for cool down and make your way through the guards again until you get to Arcanist Doan. Killing Arcanist Doan should be a piece of cake with two players. Just be sure to avoid detonation when he casts it. As mentioned on the previous guide, flee back before he casts and charge back at him when hes over. One of you should be an enchanter to maximize your profits.

He drops 2 blue items, which disenchants in shard that could be sold for 6 gold pieces each, its about 12 gold per one run. Blizzard created an anti-instance farming system that only allows you to do 5 runs per hour, which is equivalent to 60 gold. Divide that with your friend and you’ll still get a good 30 gold pieces for yourself. The previous guide listed with the Rogue can get you about 20 gold pieces per hour. This one is 33% more effective.