Topics

What is Shareware

Ordering the registered version

>	Rules of the game

Keys and Mousebuttons

Winopoly

Options

Select players

Rule options

Further options (sound)


order informations
Ordering the registered version of WCanasta for Windows

I wrote this program so that you could have more fun with Windows.  I have released it as shareware for you and your friends and associates to try out at your leisure.  Please honor my trust in you and acknowledge my efforts by paying for them.

Your payment will let me know that my work is appreciated as well as help to support my efforts in providing the best products for you, so that I can continue to improve this program and write new ones.

You can easily order this Program from PSL with your MC, Visa AmEx, or Discover card

> by calling 800-242-4 PSL (from overseas: 713-524-6394)

> or by FAX to 713-524-6398

Please order PSL Item #11642 for WCanasta.

You can also order by sending me a message via CompuServe mail at 100517,3313 or via E-mail at 100517.3313@compuserve.com.  Alternatively, you can use the CompuServe software registration service (go SWREG, enter ID #4183).

For only $22 + $4 S&H you get a 3.5" diskette with the newest release of the registered version of WCanasta and

 - no more shareware reminders

 - access to all game options

 - the ability to see the computer's cards

 - new MIDI-music (if you have a sound card).

The PSL phone numbers are for ordering only.  To contact me for information or to offer suggestions or comments, please write to my address below.  Returns are not allowed.

   Wilfried Lottermoser

   Spechtweg 7

   D-66287 Quierschied

   Germany

CIS: 100517,3313

Email: 100517.3313@compuserve.com

You can always get the latest shareware version of WCanasta in CompuServe's PCPRO forum.

I will ship as soon as possible (normally the same day I get the order).


Shareware

This program is shareware -- not freeware or public domain software.  This means that the program comes in two versions:  a trial version and a full version.

The trial version costs only a little or nothing at all, and the author is not informed about the sale of a trial version.  Thus the advantage for you as a user of the trial version is that you can try out the program in peace, in order to decide whether you want to continue to use it.  After 4 weeks at the most you must decide whether to delete the trial version or to order the full version.

Use of a trial version beyond the 4-week trial period is illegal and tantamount to software piracy.

by ordering the full version you get the newest version on a 3,5" disk

The full version differs from the trial version in that the former

 - doesn't pester you with shareware reminders.

 - features adjustable settings and the capability to play with up to 4 players.

 - allows you to see the computer's cards.

 - allows you to play an awesome MIDI-file as background music (if you have a Sound Blaster-compatible sound card).

 - lets you play with jokers.

Please order the program if you appreciate it .

help.

Of course you can and should give copies of the trial version to all your acquaintances, friends, and colleagues, as I'm happy for it to have as wide a circulation as possible.

Please don't abuse the trust the author has placed in you as a user of shareware:  Order the full version today!


Rules of the game

Two decks, each with 52 cards, are used.

The goal of the game is to be the first player to have at least 5,000 points at the end of a round.  In order to accumulate points players have to make melds (see below, "Playing Cards").

For example:

The Course of the Game

Players take turns taking a card from the stock (face-down pile).  If a player whose turn it is chooses and is able, he or she can play a card or cards.  A player ends his or her turn by

placing a card on the discard (face-up) pile.  (To take a card from a pile, place the mouse pointer on it and click the left mouse button.  When you release the mouse button the card will automatically be sorted into your hand.)

A round comes to an end when a player has played all his or her cards.

Rounds are played repeatedly until one player accumulates at least 5,000 points.

card values

4,5,6,7	5 Points

8,9,10,J,Q,K	10 Points

Aces	20 Points

2 (are wild)	20 Points

Jokers (are wild)	50 Points

playing cards

A card can be played only as part of a meld.

Wild cards can be used in conjunction with natural cards to make melds.

A meld may not contain more wild cards than natural cards or more than 3 wild cards.

Every new meld must contain at least 3 cards.

The first time a player plays cards (in one or more melds) in a particular round, the total value of the cards played must be at least 50 points.

(This value rises to 90 at a score of 1,500; 120 at a score of 3,000.  Multiple melds are permitted.)

A meld with at least 7 cards is called a canasta and yields 500 points if it is natural (that is, contains no wild cards), 300 points if mixed.  (A canasta with wild cards alone yields 1,000 points.)

Thus the following canasta is worth 300 points:

You mark the cards in your hand that you want to play by clicking them with your right mouse button (double-clicking automatically marks all cards with the same value).

Taking Cards from the Discard Pile

Instead of taking a card from the stock, a player can take the entire discard pile if he or she can immediately play its upcard.  In order to play this card, the player must be able to add it to an existing meld or use it with at least 2 natural cards to make a new meld.  The other cards from the discard pile are automatically sorted into the player's hand.

(To take the discard pile just drag its upcard into the play window.  If you don't want to play all of the same kind of card from your hand as the upcard from the stock, mark the cards that you do want to play beforehand with the right mouse button.)

Going out

Going out occurs when a player has emptied his or her hand. The last card played may be placed on the discard pile, but it need not be.

A player must have at least one canasta to go out.

Each player's points for the round are calculated and displayed.

The total value of a player's unplayed cards is subtracted from his or her score.

A player receives 100 bonus points for going out.  If a player makes melds of all of his or her cards in one turn, he or she receives 200 bonus points (this is a concealed going out).

Freezing the Discard Pile with Wild Cards

The discard pile can be frozen by discarding a wild card onto it.  When this has been done, a player is no longer permitted to take the pile merely by placing the upcard in an existing

series; he or she must instead have at least two natural cards of the same kind.  This strategy is especially sensible for a player who isn't sure which natural card, if any, he or she can

discard to prevent the following player from picking up the discard pile.

Threes

Red threes (even just one) are always played immediately and count 100 points (melds of 4 count 800 points).

Black threes serve to freeze the discard pile when they are placed on it.


playeroptions
Options : select players

Here you can enter names for up to 4 players and include them in the game by activating the "Play" option.  Only in the full version can all four players be activated.

All players except for the first can be controlled by the computer.  To have the computer control a particular player, just activate the "Computer" option for that player.

There is a two-player minimum.

All four players are required for doubles; players 1 and 3 form one team, players 2 and 4 the other.

If two people are playing, it makes sense for them to be players 1 and 3, with players 2 and 4 being controlled by the computer.  For then it doesn't matter as much if the human players see each other's cards, since a computer player will always have a turn between their turns.


Rule options
Options : Vary Rules

Except for the settings for point limits, the rules settings are adjustable only in the full version of WCanasta.

Take discard pile only with two in hand:  Requires that player have two natural cards in his or her hand of the same kind as the upcard in the discard pile in order to pick up the discard pile.

Take discard pile only after cards have been played:  The discard pile may be picked up only when cards have been melded in a previous turn.

Joker totally freezes discard pile:  The discard pile can never again be picked up once a player has frozen it, unless the option "for one round only" has been activated.

Permit wild card canastas:  Canastas consisting exclusively of wild cards are allowed and are awarded 1,000 points.

Take discard pile even by melding with mixed cards:  Relaxes the requirement that a player have at least two natural cards that match the upcard in order to take the discard pile.

Disallow melding with canastas:  Melding cards with existing canastas is forbidden.  This makes it harder to go out.

Subtract card values in absence of canasta:  If a player has not yet made a canasta when an opponent goes out, the total value of all his or her cards, played and unplayed, is subtracted.

Subtract values of red threes in absence of other meld:  Red threes count as negative points, if one hasn't made any melds when an opponent goes out.

Replace depleted stock with discard pile:  When the stock is depleted, the discard pile is shuffled, turned over, and placed in the stock location.

3 jokers per deck:  With 6 jokers available altogether, the game is a little easier.

With regard to the settings for point limits, it remains to be noticed only that the point requirement for an initial playing of cards can be set at 0 for players who have a negative score (e.g., as a result of losing the first game, where the value of unplayed cards was greater than the value of played cards).


other options
Options : other options

Animation:  Displays all card movements

Fast cards:  Speeds up card movements

Fast draw:  Speeds up drawing of cards

Sounds:  Card sounds and sounds of opponents in WAV format

Music:  Background music (	K MIDI).  For reasons of legality the music file is contained only in the full version of the program.  For some sound cards it will be necessary to make adjustments to the MIDI-Mapper settings (in the Drivers group of the Control Panel).  Try switching the first 8 channels to, say, OPL3-Synthese or Ad-Lib.

Pause between every player:  A message box appears whenever one player's turn ends and another player's turn begins.

Pause only between human players:  A message box appears whenever one human player's turn ends and another human player's turn begins.

Computer's cards visible:  This option is available only in the full version.  Activating it allows you to see the hand(s) of the computer player(s).

Automeld when taking discard pile:  When this option is activated, the cards in a player's hand that match the upcard of the discard pile are automatically marked and melded with the upcard when the discard pile is picked up.


Keys and Mousebuttons

Operating the game with the mouse is for the most part intuitive and simple.

But a few pointers:

Pressing the 1, 2, 3, or 4 key shows the page of the corresponding player.

with backspace (<-) you can undo the last move, if it was not taking a card from the discard pile or the stack

The right mouse button can be used in both the play window and the hand window to page forward so that one can have a look at the cards an opponent has played or has in his or her hand.  The right mouse button is also used to mark cards in the hand window for melding:  Just place the mouse pointer on the card to be marked and click the right mouse button once.

Use the left mouse button to pick up a card or all marked cards under the mouse pointer.  Pressing the left mouse button when the mouse pointer is in the hand window but not on top of a card displays the previous player's hand window.  Pressing the left mouse button when the mouse pointer is in the play window displays the previous player's play window.

Double-clicking the right mouse button when the mouse pointer is on top of a card in the hand window marks all cards of that denomination (e.g., all tens).

Double-clicking the left mouse button while pointing at a card in the hand window melds it with cards of the same denomination that have already been played.


weitere
Other Programs

The Board Game Winopoly

"Winopoly" -- that sounds a lot like "monopoly."  And a lot like Monopoly is this board game.  It's called "Winopoly" and not "Monopoly" for two reasons.  First, Parker Brothers, who created the game, would not go along with a computer version.  Second, Winopoly is even better than the original!  (Normally, by the way, I'm not nearly so boastful. . . .)

The objective in Winopoly is to drive your opponents into bankruptcy by strategically purchasing and enhancing businesses.  Players move across a game board whose squares consist of various businesses and so-called "action squares".  Players have the opportunity to buy any unowned businesses they land on.  They then earn money from these businesses whenever other players land on and thereby patronize them.  If a player acquires a whole chain of businesses -- e.g., all pharmacies -- he or she can furnish them, add personnel, etc., thereby raising their profitability manyfold.

The action squares have various themes.  On the Question Square, for example, a player's general education is tested with a question; a correct answer wins the player 3000 Winopolitan dollars, an incorrect answer costs the player the same amount.  On the Casino Square one is given the opportunity to play blackjack and win or lose huge sums of money.

Winopoly can be played by up to four players at the same time, up to three of which can be controlled by the computer.  Games can be saved and reloaded, as well as configured by the user.

Owners of sound cards can assign every action of the game its own sound effect; for example, one sound effect might be played every time a player lands on a particular field.  Let yourself be dazzled by Winopoly's aural splendor, which includes cool background music composed specially for Winopoly!

Requirements:

- Windows 3.1 or later

- AT, on which Windows 3.1 runs (preferably 386 or higher)

- 2 MB RAM

- mouse

- sound card supported

Price of full version:  $25