Contents

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Contents lists all Calculation Solitaire help topics.

For Help on Help, Press F1

Playing the Game

Introduction

How To Play

How to Move a Card

Tips and Strategies

Won Games

Commands

Menu Options

Keyboard

Keyboard

Legal Stuff

How To Register

Legal Issues

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments


Introduction

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Solitaires differ widely in the opportunities they afford for the exercise of skill.  Some are purely mechanical, while others torture the mind.

Calculation stands at the top of the list of games that give opportunity for skill.

So says the worlds leading authority on cards & gambling, John Scarne, in his classic work Scarnes Encyclopedia of Card Games.  With sufficient skill, patience, and foresight an experienced player will win 4 to 5 times more often than a beginner.  Some players of this game actually believe that two games out of three can be won with proper application and patience.

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 •	How To Play

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How To Play

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Foundations.  The Ace, Two, Three, and Four that appear in a column on the right side of the play table constitute the foundations.  The foundations are to be built up in arithmetical series as follows, regardless of suit:

A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, Q, K   (interval = 1)

2, 4, 6, 8, 10, Q, A, 3, 5, 7, 9, J, K   (interval = 2)

3, 6, 9, Q, 2, 5, 8, J, A, 4, 7, 10, K   (interval = 3)

4, 8, Q, 3, 7, J, 2, 6, 10, A, 5, 9, K   (interval = 4)

To assist you, the next card value needed in the sequence appears to the left of each foundation.  More comprehensive assistance can be obtained by clicking on a foundation

Wastepiles.  The four piles that appear in a row at the top of the play table constitute the wastepiles.

Play.  Turn up cards from the stock one at a time by clicking on the face down deck of cards.  Place the dealt card either on a foundation or on any one of the four wastepiles.  Only the last card placed on each wastepile is available.  It can be moved to either a foundation or to an empty wastepile.  Cards may be moved to foundations at any time.  Once placed on a foundation they may not be moved.

The game is won when all four foundations have been built up to kings.  If no legal moves remain the program will automatically notify you.

There are no re-deals in Calculation Solitaire.

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 •	How To Move a Card

 •	Menu Options

 •	Tips & Strategies

 •	Contents


Menu Options

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Game

New Game

Select Game

Replay Game

Exit

Options

Undo Last Move

Redo Next Move

Peek

Preferences

Delete Won Games

View

Move List

Score History

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Tips and Strategies

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The correct handling of the kings is of paramount importance.  As a general rule, one wastepile should be dedicated to the kings.  To cover any other card with a king can be dangerous, since it can only be removed when a foundation is completed or a wastepile is emptied.  But when two or three kings have been laid in wastepiles, it may be advisable to use all four wastepiles for lower cards and hope that the remaining kings do not show up too soon.

The policy for the remaining cards is to try to build them in descending sequences on the wastepiles, corresponding to the foundation sequences.

As a general rule, avoid placing more than one card of a particular rank on each wastepile, although this may sometimes need to be disregarded in order to maintain a sequence.

The ability to move an available wastepile card to an empty wastepile is not a valid move in traditional Calculation Solitaire but has been added by Dartcy Productions in this computerized version as an aid to winning.   Make liberal use of this feature!

Use the Undo Last Move and Redo Next Move features to step back a few moves and try alternate solutions.  The Move List feature is extremely powerful and convenient.  Use this to go back to an exact point in the game where, in retrospect, you might have played the cards differently than you did.

It goes without saying that the Peek feature will get you out of many jams.  However, we will not go so far as to sanction this as a legitimate strategy.

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 •	Undo Last Move

 •	Redo Next Move

 •	Move List

 •	How To Play

 •	Contents


How To Register

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CALCULATION Solitaire is shareware which means that if you wish to keep this game you need to register it.  To register your copy send the paltry sum of $6.00 U.S. dollars to:

DARTCY Productions

P.O Box 714

Carmel, NY, 10512

USA

You will find a registration form called REGISTER.TXT in the same directory as Calculation Solitaire, which can be viewed and printed from any text editor.  This form can be easily accessed from within Calculation Solitaire by selecting the Show Registration Form option from the Registration Info menu.  Please send the completed form along with the registration fee.

Registering will provide you with free upgrades to any future upgrades of CALCULATION Solitaire as well as to unlimited free technical support.  Most importantly, registering will give you that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you know you've listened to your conscience and done the right thing.

A workman is worthy of his hire -- This is a quote from the Bible which means that a person should be justly compensated for their labors.

If you like the game but do not think that it is worth the $6.00 then send whatever you feel is a fair price.

Thanks for your support!

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Legal Issues

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CALCULATION Solitaire

THE AUTHOR, ART ARAYA, DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, WITH RESPECT TO THE PRODUCT.  SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, THE PURCHASER ASSUMES THE RISK OF PAYING THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION AND ANY INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES.  IN NO EVENT WILL THE AUTHOR, ART ARAYA, BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER ( INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THIS PRODUCT EVEN IF THE AUTHOR, ART ARAYA, HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Use of this product for any period of time constitutes your acceptance of this agreement and subjects you to its contents.

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 •	Contents

 •	How To Register


New Game

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Select this option to start a new game with a deck randomly chosen by the program.  The new games number will appear on the caption bar in case you wish to replay it at a later time or pass it on to a friend.

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 •	Menu Options

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Select Game

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Select this option to start a new game with a deck of your choosing.  If you find a game that is particularly enjoyable or particularly difficult that you wish to come back to or share with your friends, use this option.  There are 32,000 possible games!

Not all the games are winnable.  This is in contrast to some of the new computerized solitaire games in which all games are winnable.  When playing any card game you have to play the cards as they happen to fall.  Some decks are more difficult than others, and other decks, despite the most skilled of play are not winnable.  We at Dartcy Productions decided not to remove the Lady Luck aspect of card games.

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 •	Menu Options

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Replay Game

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Select this option to replay the same deck of cards.  When you select the Replay Game option the new game is counted as a new game thereby decreasing your winning percentage.  Therefore you may wish to use the Move List or the Undo feature to go back to the beginning of the game instead.

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 •	Menu Options

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Exit

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Self Explanatory.

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 •	Menu Options

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Undo Last Move

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Undoes the last move.  This is an unlimited depth undo in that you can undo all the way back to the beginning of the game if you wish.  You can stop Undoing at any point and begin playing the game from there.  Or you can advance forward through the moves you have already made, using the Redo Next Move feature.  This is a very useful option when you are trying to solve a difficult game.  If you will be undoing many moves you may want to consider using the Move List.

Six ways to undo the last move:

1	Select Undo from the Options menu.

2	Single-click the right mouse button anywhere on the play table

3	Press the Backspace key on the keyboard

4	Press the Delete key on the keyboard

5	Use either the left or down directional arrow on the keyboard

6	Use the Move List

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 •	Redo Next Move

 •	Move List

 •	Menu Options

 •	Contents


Move List

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The Move List is an extremely powerful and convenient feature not seen in any of the famous computerized solitaire games.  Use it to go back to any point in the current game by selecting the desired move from the move list.

The notation used in the Move List:

# -

Move Number

Card -

Cards are notated with two characters.  The first character represents the card value and the second is the first letter of the suit.  So the Ace of Clubs would be notated as AC.

From & To -

UP - the upcard (the card just dealt)

W1, W2, W3, W4 - The four wastepiles

F1, F2, F3, F4  - The four foundations

Related Topics

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 •	Undo Last Move

 •	Menu Options

 •	Contents


Score History

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Show

Your won/lost history is kept for you, and your winning percentage calculated for you.  The fastest time is also recorded.  Use this option to view the score history.

Clear

Reset the score history statistics.

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 •	Menu Options

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Preferences

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Card Back.

Choose from 6 different card back designs.  The designs are displayed against the same background color as the play table so you can see in advance how the table color and card back design will look together.

Table Color

Allows you to change the background color for the play table.  If a  game is currently in progress it will need to be restarted in order for you to be able to change the table color.

Your preferences are automatically saved when you exit the program.  Next time you run the program

it will appear just as you configured it.

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 •	Menu Options

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Keyboard

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A mouse is required to play Calculation Solitaire.  However, the following keyboard moves may be helpful.

Key(s)	Action
___________________________	__________________________
BkSp, Del, Dwn Arrow, Lft Arrow	Undo the last move.
Shft + Del, Up Arrow, Rght Arrow	Redo the next move.
TAB	Cycles the input focus from pile to pile. The dealt card and the wastepiles are the only piles included in the TAB sequence.  The card faces will become inverted momentarily to visually display where the focus is.  All keyboard commands that move cards will be applied to the available card in the pile with the focus.   The pile will retain the focus until:  A different pile is cycled to using the TAB key or the next card is dealt - which will revert the focus to the dealt card.
1, 2, 3, 4	Sends the card with the focus to the corresponding wastepile.
CTRL + 1, 2, 3, 4	Sends the card with the focus to the corresponding foundation.
ENTER	Identical in function to a dbl-click with the mouse. It sends the card with the focus to the first foundation from the top which qualifies as a legal move.
SHIFT	Holding this key down while pressing ENTER will send the card with the focus to the second foundation from the top which qualifies as a legal move.
CTRL	Holding this key down while while pressing ENTER will send the card with the focus to the third foundation from the top which qualifies as a legal move.
ALT	Holding this key down while pressing ENTER will send the card with the focus to the fourth foundation from the top which qualifies as a legal move.
Spacebar	Deals the next card from the deck.

Related Topics

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 •	How To Move a Card

 •	How To Play

 •	Contents


Acknowledgments

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I would like to express my most heartfelt appreciation to the following people, to whom I am most deeply indebted.

John Scarne for introducing me to Calculation Solitaire.

Neil J. Reubenking who wrote a portion of the About Box code.

The Cobb Group for some insightful helpfile tips.

Stephen Murphy for his well designed QCARD.DLL.

Ian Barnes for his CURSOR.DLL which I was able to modify for use with this program.

Daniel Appleman for answering many Windows API questions.

Larry Rebich for his KEYSTATE.BAS, a small section of which I use to set the NumLock key.

The Testers:

Mike Goetchius

Heather Cardarello

Lori Lee

Cary Archiere

My son Joshua

Graphics:

Darcy Araya - daWife - A special thanks to you honey for your patience and support.  I Love You!

Programming:

Art Araya - Me!

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Redo Next Move

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Steps forward to the next move in the games history , or in other words, replays any moves you have undone.  This is an unlimited redo in that you can redo all the way forward to the current point in the game if you wish.  You will use Redo to advance forward in a game after having used either Undo Last Move or the Move List to go back to some earlier point in the game.

Three ways to redo the next move:

1	Select Redo from the Options menu.

2	Press the Shft+Delete keys on the keyboard simultaneously

3	Use either the right or up directional arrow on the keyboard

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 •	Undo Last Move

 •	Move List

 •	Menu Options

 •	Contents


How to Move a Card

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The mechanics of moving a card.  To accommodate the great diversity of our users preferences, we have made it possible to position the cards in various different ways.  Some users prefer to use the keyboard, others prefer the mouse.  Some users prefer dragging a card to a location and others want the convenience of dbl-clicking on a card only.  Although it increased our programming burden we attempted to accommodate all of these preferences.  If you have played computerized solitaire before then you probably wont need to read this next section, just move the cards as you have in the other games.

The Mouse:

To deal the next card from the deck:

1.	Position the cursor over the deck of face down cards and click it with the left mouse button.

To move a card:

1.	Drag the card to the desired location.  If the location dragged to is not a legal move then the card will return to the pile it came from. OR

2.	If  you wish to place it on a foundation then dbl-click on it with the left mouse button.  It will then go to the first foundation from the top where it can legally be moved to.  Hold down the SHFT key while dbl-clicking to send it to the second matching foundation, CTRL for the third, and ALT for the fourth.  If there is no legal foundation for it to go to then nothing will happen when you dbl-click on it.

For example, suppose the second, and third foundations both needed a queen as the next card and that the dealt card happens to be a queen.  To send the queen to the second foundation just dbl-click on it because it is the first foundation from the top where the queen can legally be moved to.  If you wish to send the queen to the third foundation then hold the SHFT key while dbl-clicking on the queen.  SHFT is used because the third foundation is the second foundation from the top where the queen can legally be moved to.

The Keyboard:

Select Keyboard from the Related Topics list below.

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 •	Keyboard

 •	How To Play

 •	Contents


Building

Playing cards in a legal sequence is referred to as building.


The Stock

The remainder of the deck is referred to as the stock.  It is represented on the play table by the face down card.  The number of cards remaining in the stock appears to the right of it.


Available Cards

Cards that may be played onto a foundation pile or an empty wastepile are available.  The last card played on each wastepile, as well as the dealt card, are the available cards.  Released Cards are also available.


Released Cards

Cards that have become playable, by virtue of the fact that they have become exposed by having other cards removed, are known as released cards.  This term only applies to wastepile cards since these are the only piles where cards can be moved elsewhere.


Won Games

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All won games and their solutions are automatically saved to your hard disk in the same directory from which Calculation Solitaire is run, in a subdirectory called WonGames.  If you win the same game more than once each solution will be saved to the same file.  The filename is the number of the game preceded by the letters GAM.  The files are relatively small, most will be only about 1K to 2K in size.  They are text files so they can be viewed in most word processors as well as Notepad, and Write either of which come with all versions of Windows.

The winning time is the first item listed in the file, followed by the games complete move history.  The same notation is used as in the Move List.  Share the solutions with your friends, or send them along to us at Dartcy Productions so that when some frustrated player writes us, we can provide some assistance.  Feel free to delete them if you so desire.  An easy way to delete all saved won games is to select Delete Won Games from the Options menu.

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Peek

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Use this option to see all the cards remaining in the stock.  Yes, this is cheating - solitaire rules strictly prohibit peeking.  Regardless of the prohibition, many solitaire players choose to peek so we are allowing individuals to make their own decision on this issue.

Related Topics

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 •	Menu Options

 •	Tips and Strategies

 •	Contents


Delete Won Games

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Use this option to delete all Won Games from your hard disk.

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 •	Menu Options

 •	Contents