Help with tic tac toe

Question

hey all,
i am having problems creating a tic tac toe program. the program should create a board with NxN spaces, where N is obtained through user input.
I created a fully working program that does a 3x3 board, checks for diagonal, vertical, horizontal wins and also allows 1 vs computer or 2 players play, but i am struggling with the NxN board.
here is the code of what i have, can anyone point me in the right direction? all help is appreciated! please keep it simple as possible as i am just learning java!!
import java.util.Scanner;
import java.util.Random;
public class NoughtsCrosses
static final String PLAYER1 = "X";
static final String PLAYER2 = "O";
static final String EMPTY = "�";
static String[][] board = new String[][];
static int turn = 0;
static public void makeBoard(int boardSize)
for (int x = 0; x < boardSize; x++)
for (int y = 0; y < boardSize; y++)
board[x][y] = new String(EMPTY);
static public void playComputer()
Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);
Random generator = new Random();
int move;
printBoard();
System.out.println();
do {
if(turn%2 == 0)
System.out.println("Player 1, place your X");
System.out.print("Make a Move: ");
move = scan.nextInt();
else
System.out.print("Computer, place your O: ");
move = generator.nextInt(10);
System.out.println(move);
getMove(move);
System.out.println();
printBoard();
System.out.println();
} while(winner().equals(EMPTY) && turn < 9);
if (winner().equals(EMPTY))
System.out.println("The Game s a DRAW!");
else
System.out.println("PLAYER " + ((turn - 1) % 2 + 1) + " WINS!!");
static public void playHuman()
Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);
printBoard();
System.out.println();
do {
if(turn%2 == 0)
System.out.println("Player 1, place your X");
else
System.out.println("Player 2, place your O");
System.out.print("Make a Move: ");
int move = scan.nextInt();
getMove(move);
System.out.println();
printBoard();
System.out.println();
} while(winner().equals(EMPTY) && turn < 9);
if (winner().equals(EMPTY))
System.out.println("The Game s a DRAW!");
else
System.out.println("PLAYER " + ((turn - 1) % 2 + 1) + " WINS!!");
static public void getMove(int move)
int row = move/3;
int col = move%3;
if (board[row][col].equals(EMPTY))
board[row][col] = (turn % 2 == 0 ? PLAYER1 : PLAYER2);
turn++;
else
System.out.println("OCCUPIED FIELD! TRY AGAIN!");
static public void printBoard()
for (int x = 0; x < 3; x++)
for (int y = 0; y < 3; y++)
if(y == 0)
System.out.print(" ");
System.out.print(board[x][y]);
if(y < 2)
System.out.print(" | ");
System.out.println();
if(x < 2)
System.out.println(" ---|---|---");
static public String winner()
for (int i = 0; i < board.length; i++)
/** check horizontally */
if (board[0].equals(board[i][1]) && board[i][0].equals(board[i][2]))
if (!board[i][0].equals(EMPTY))
return board[i][0];
/** check vertically */
if (board[0][i].equals(board[1][i]) && board[0][i].equals(board[2][i]))
if (!board[0][i].equals(EMPTY))
return board[0][i];
/** check diagonally */
if (board[0][0].equals(board[1][1]) && board[0][0].equals(board[2][2]))
if (!board[0][0].equals(EMPTY))
return board[0][0];
if (board[0][2].equals(board[1][1]) && board[0][2].equals(board[2][0]))
if (!board[0][2].equals(EMPTY))
return board[0][2];
return EMPTY;
static public void main(String[] args)
Scanner scan = new Scanner(System.in);
int boardSize;
System.out.println();
System.out.println("Welcome to Tic Tac Toe!");
System.out.println("�����������������������");
System.out.println("How big should the board be?");
boardSize = scan.nextInt();
makeBoard(boardSize);
int players = 0;
do{
System.out.println("How many players?");
System.out.println("1 (vs. Computer) or 2 (vs. another player)?");
players = scan.nextInt();
System.out.println();
}while(players < 1 || players > 2);
if (players == 1)
playComputer();
else
playHuman();

Answer 1

well, i figured out how to do it all, thanks to the TREMENDOUS amount of help here...lol...
i just have one more (minor problem)...
i can't get an algorithm working to see if the two diagonals are occupied by x's or o's (see if someone won diagonally)
to check horizontally & vertically on an NxN board, i use following code:
int count = 0;
        /** check horizontally  */
        for (int i = 0; i < myBoard.length; i++)
           for (int j = 0; j < myBoard.length-1; j++)
               if (myBoard[0].equals(myBoard[i][j+1]) && !myBoard[i][0].equals(EMPTY))
count++;
if (count >= myBoard.length-1)
return myBoard[i][0];
count = 0;
count = 0;
/** check vertically */
for (int i = 0; i < myBoard.length; i++)
for (int j = 0; j < myBoard.length-1; j++)
if (myBoard[j][0].equals(myBoard[j+1][i]) && !myBoard[0][i].equals(EMPTY))
count++;
if (count >= myBoard.length-1)
return myBoard[0][i];
count = 0;
now i was messing around ALOT and couldn't figure out how to get the diagonals showing! this is what i came up with:
count =0;
for (int j = 1; j < myBoard.length; j++)
       if (myBoard[0][0].equals(myBoard[j][j]) && !myBoard[0][0].equals(EMPTY))
             count++;
             System.out.println(count);
        if (count >= myBoard.length)
             return myBoard[0][0];
count = 0;
for (int j = myBoard.length-1; j >= 0; j--)
     if (myBoard[0][myBoard.length-1].equals(myBoard[j][j]) && !myBoard[0][myBoard.length-1].equals(EMPTY))
         count++;
         System.out.println(count);
      if (count >= myBoard.length)
          return myBoard[0][myBoard.length-1];
      count = 0;