Copyright: ® 1996 G. J. DeBacker


Contents

The Game

Options

Q & A


Contents

The Game

Objective

Dealing

Playing A Bone

Moving The Table

Viewing The Table

Scoring

Options

Q & A


Contents

The Game

Objective

Dealing

Playing A Bone

Moving The Table

Viewing The Table

Scoring

Options

Menus

Players

Game

Sound

Q & A


Contents

The Game

Options

Menus

Players

Game

Sound

Q & A


Q & A
Question & Answer

Q. What do I get when I register Dominoes?

A. When you register Dominoes you receive the latest version of Dominoes along with an additional free game, and the return of that youthful sense of optimism you once had about the world.

And if that weren't enough, the registered version of Dominoes loads much faster and does not display the logo screen in-between games. Wow!

Q. How can I register Dominoes?

A. It could not be simpler. You can register Dominoes in one of two ways. First, by selecting Order Form when the game first strats. Fill out and print up the Order Form and send it along with a check or money order to:

Greg DeBacker

638 San Juan Av.

Santa Cruz, CA

95065

(You can also get to the Order Form by selecting Order Form from the Help menu.)

Or, if you are a member of CompuServe, you can use their software registration feature (GO SWREG). Once there, use SWREG # 9766 and follow the on screen instructions.

Q. How much does it cost to register Dominoes?

A. Ah yes, let's not forget the fine print. As you have astutely guessed by now I'm not just giving this away. No, the countless hours I spent in putting together this truly remarkable game were not all for nothing.

I am charging the unbelievable fair price of  $14.50, plus $2.50 to cover shipping.

Q. What language is Dominoes written in?

A. Dominoes is written in *Visual Basic 3.0.

Q. I had to get a copy of VBRUN300.DLL in order to run Dominoes. What is this file?

A. VBRUN300.DLL is the run-time version of Visual Basic. It is needed to run all programs written in Visual Basic 3.0. VB stands for Visual Basic; RUN stands for run-time; 300 represents the version number; and DLL stands for Dynamic Link Library.

Q. I know my sound card is configured correctly because it works with other Windows programs, but it only works some of the time with Dominoes. What's wrong?

A. If Dominoes encounters any problems with WAV files while you are playing a game it simply stops trying to play them. Go to the Sound section of the Options dialog box and select each WAV file you are using one at time and click on Test. If there is a problem with the WAV file the Test button will tell you there is a problem.

Q. How can I make Dominoes play faster?

A. I've noticed that the number of colors your video driver is displaying has the most effect on the speed of the game. Dominoes will run best at 16 or 256 colors.

All applications use Systems Resources (different from memory). To see how much Free Systems Resources you have select "About..." from the Help menu of Dominoes main window. At the bottom of the About window you will see something like the following:

	Mode: Enhanced
	Free Memory: 22696 kb
	Free User Resources: 83%
	Free GDI Resources: 59%

The last two, User and GDI Resources are the important ones here, Dominoes runs best if they are at about 80% and 60%, respectively. If they are well below these values try closing any other applications that are currently running to free up Systems Resources. Of course, the more memory you have the better.

Q. Where did you get the rules for Dominoes? They're different than the way I play.

A. The rules for this version of Dominoes were taken from the book "Hoyle's Rules of Games, Second Revised Edition", by Albert H. Morehead and Geoffrey Mott-Smith. Library of Congress Catalog Number: 83-61703.

Q. Can I get a copy of the source code for Dominoes?

A. No, I'm sorry, I don't give away the source code, but for a price....

Q. Do the players ever "look" at each others hands?

A. That would be cheating. No, they don't.

Q. What are the files DOMINOES.INI and DOMINOES.INF for?

A. DOMINOES.INI stores the option settings for all the users so that every time a user starts a game the same options (e.g. Play To, Sound, Color, ect) will be set as they were the last time they played.

DOMINOES.INF stores all the information about the players, both human and computer. This is where the Win/Loss numbers are kept. Also, when you have registered, this is where registration information is kept.

If the DOMINOES.INF file becomes corrupted and needs to be deleted it will be recreated the next time you play. If this happens, though, you will lose all the Win/Loss numbers and you will need to supply your registration number the first time you play the game after it has been deleted.

Q. Where do I write to if I have comments about the game?

A. You can write to me at the same address you send your registration fee listed in the first question, or you can E-Mail me at:

CompuServe # 71042,36

Internet # 71042.36@compuserve.com

World Wide Web http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/gregdebacker

I encourage your comments, suggestions, and complaints.

* Visual Basic and Windows are a trade marks of Microsoft Corporation.


Player Options
Player's Options

Access all the options by selecting "Options..." from the Options menu.

Player Options is where you set up the Human Players and Computer Opponents for the game. The list of Human Players on the top and Computer opponents are on the bottom.

Each side has it's own list of players, Add and Remove buttons, and a text box for adding names to their respective lists.

Human/Computer  List	A list of the available human/computer names from which you can chose.
New Human's/Computer's Name	Here you can type in a name, and then click on "Add" to add your name to the list.
Add Button	Adds the name you typed into the text box to the list
Remove Button	Removes the name displayed in the list from the list.
Apply Button	Sets the name selected in the Human List and the name selected in the Computer list as the current player and opponent.

The "Human" and "Computer" selections in their respective lists can not be removed.


Game Options

Access all the options by selecting "Options..." from the Options menu.

Below is a description of the Game Options available to you.

Play To - Determines how far a game is played until a winner is decided. The choices are 100 points, 200 points, 400 points, 500 points.

Speed - Determines how fast the bones are displayed and how long of a pause there is in between plays. The Choices are:

Super Fast	This is as fast as your computer can go.
Fast	There are slight delays between the time you play and when your opponent plays.
Medium	The delays are a little longer than the Fast setting.
Slow	Delays are longer still.

Play Sounds - WAV files are played on certain events when checked.

Red End Marks - The Playable ends of the table are marked in either Red or Green. When this is checked Red End Marks are used, otherwise they are Green.

Color

At the bottom is a picture of a Domino on a colored background. To change the color of the background click anywhere on this picture. A color dialog box will open and you can select a new color.


Sound Options

Access all the options by selecting "Options..." from the Options menu.

If you have a sound card you can attach WAV files to events in Dominoes. Below are a list of the events you can attach WAV files to:

Drop Bone	WAV played when you drop a bone on the table.
Wrong Bone	WAV played when you drop a bone that can not be played.
Lose Round	WAV played when you lose the current deal.
Win Round	WAV played when you win the current deal.
Lose Game	WAV played when you lose the game.
Win Game	WAV played when you win the game.
Score Points	WAV played when anyone scores points.

Dominoes is shipped with several WAV files. However, you can chose to attach your own WAV files to the events listed above.

Above the listed events in the Sound section of the Options box there is a directory and file list box for you to find WAV files on your computer's hard drive. Once you have found the specific WAV file you wish to attach to an event make sure that the specific event is selected and then click on the "Set Wav" button.

If you don't wish to have a WAV file attached to a particular event select that event and click on the "Clear Wav" button.

You can test a WAV file by selecting it from the file list box and then clicking on the "Test" button. If for some reason the WAV files are not playing during the play of the game, and you know that your sound card is set up correctly, the "Test" button will tell you if any errors where encountered while it was trying to play the WAV file.

Any errors encountered playing WAV files during the play of the game will be ignored and no error messages will be displayed. The WAV files will simply no longer play until you have fixed the problem or removed the offending WAV file.


Menus

File

New Game	Starts a new game.
End Game	Ends the game you are playing.
Save Game	Saves the game you are playing to disk.
Save Game As	Allows you to give the saved game a name.
Load Game	Loads a saved game.
Exit	Exit Dominoes.

Options

Opponent	You can show or hide your opponents hand and set the style of play for the opponent.
Display Scores	Displays a break down of the scores for the current game.
Advise Play	The computer will give you advice on your next play.
Auto Play	The computer will play your hand for you.
Statistics	Shows the statistics for the current game and a history of the all the players.
Options	Displays the Options dialog box with all the game options.

Table

Find Left Bone	Move the table to the left playable bone.
Find Right Bone	Move the table to the right playable bone
Find Bottom Bone	Move the table to the bottom playable bone
Find Top Bone	Move the table to the top playable bone

Help

Help Topics	Open this Help file.
About	View the About Box for information about version number and system's resources.
Display All Bones	Displays the entire deck of Dominoes. This can be helpful if you are not familiar with the deck.


Dealing

A full set of Dominoes consists of 28 tiles. These tiles are referred to as bones. The lowest value bone is the 0/0 and the highest value bone is the 6/6. If you are not familiar with the bones you can view the entire deck by selecting Display All Bones from the Help menu.

When you start a new game all 28 bones will be displayed face down on the table and each player will chose one bone to see who deals first. You chose a bone by clicking on it. The player who draws the highest value bone will be the first dealer.

After the dealer has been decided all 28 bones will be redisplayed on the table and each player will draw 7 bones from the 28 bones. These 7 bones are your hand.

The remaining 14 bones will be stored in the Bone Pile. The Bone Pile is a reserve which both players can draw on when they are unable to play a bone from their hand. To draw a bone from the Bone Pile you click on the button labeled Bone Pile to the left of your hand.

When you or your opponent have played all of the bones in your hand the next round will begin with a new deal.

See also Playing A Bone for more information.


Playing A Bone

You play a bone from your hand by dragging it with the mouse and dropping it on the table. The bones you drop on the table must match up with like bones already on the table.

If there were one bone on the table with a 5 on the left side and a 4 on the right side you could only play a bone from your hand that had either a 4 or a 5 on one of it's ends.

As you drag a bone from your hand over the table the bone will shift into place when it moves over the end of an existing bone that has a like number as the bone you are dragging.

Most bones are played end to end. Bones that are double sided will be played crosswise on the table.

Until the Sniff has been played there are only two ends on the table which  can be played on. After the Sniff has been played there are four sides to play on.

See also Scoring for more information.


Scoring

There are two ways to score points in the game.

First, points are scored when the four playable ends of the bones on the table add up to a multiple of 5. If the ends add up to 5, 10, 20, or 35 you score those points. If the ends add up to 7, 13, 22, or 31 then no points are scored.

Until the Sniff has been played there are only two playable ends. After the Sniff has been played there are four playable ends. The top and bottom ends of the Sniff don't count into the scoring until they have sprouted branches.

The second way to score points is to be the first player to play all the bones in your hand. Whoever plays out there hand first gets the remaining points in their opponent's hand.

If you are unable to play a bone when it is your turn you will draw a bone from the Bone Pile. You will continue to draw bones from the Bone Pile until the pile is empty or until you can make a play.

If the Bone Pile empties and you are still unable to play then the play will pass to your opponent. After your opponent plays it will be your turn to play again. If neither you nor your opponent can play, and the Bone Pile is empty, then the next deal will begin.


Moving The Table

After several bones have been played on the table you will not be able to see the entire table at one time. There are two ways you can move the table to bring different ends into view, or to center or rotate the table.

The diagram below describes the buttons on the panel in the upper left-hand corner of the table.

You can also use the Table menu to move quickly to one of the four playable ends.

Find Left Bone	Move the table to the left playable bone.
Find Right Bone	Move the table to the right playable bone
Find Bottom Bone	Move the table to the bottom playable bone
Find Top Bone	Move the table to the top playable bone

These menu options have hot keys you can use to execute the menu commands quickly. To execute the hot keys you hold down the Ctrl key while you press the letter associated with the menu.

Find Left Bone	Hot Key = Ctrl+Z
Find Right Bone	Hot Key = Ctrl+X
Find Bottom Bone	Hot Key = Ctrl+C
Find Top Bone	Hot Key = Ctrl+V

At first the corresponding letter used for the hot key might not make sense. The letters Z, X, C, V are in order from left to right on the keyboard. These letters also go in the same order as the buttons described in the diagram above (Z - Left, X - Right, C - Bottom, V - Top).

Also, all of these letters are right next to one of the Ctrl keys so you should be able to execute the commands easily with one hand.

See also Viewing The Table for more information.


Viewing The Table

After several bones have been played on the table you will not be able to see the entire table at one time. Along with different ways to move the table there are some visible clues to tell you what part of the table you're looking at.

The panel in the upper left-hand corner of the table tells you the value of the playable ends and the total value of these ends. When an end is currently visible on the table it's value will be displayed in green on the panel. When it is not currently visible it will be displayed in red. Partial bones are not displayed.

The playable ends will always be marked with either a red or green line. Even if a domino appears to be the last bone on an end, if it is not marked with a colored line it is not.

See also Moving The Table for more information.


The Objective
The Objective   See Also

The name of the game is Sniff. Sniff is the most popular of all domino games and has been played all over the world for hundreds of years. The domino deck consists of 28 tiles. These domino tiles are commonly referred to as Bones. The lowest value bone is the 0/0 and the highest value bone is the 6/6. If you are not familiar with the bones you can view the entire deck by selecting Display All Bones from the Help menu on the main screen.

The objective to the game is, of course, to win. This is done by scoring points during the play of the game and by being the first to play all of the domino tiles in your hand.

The flow of the game is much like a card game in that each hand begins with a deal and continues with consecutive hands until a player has met or exceeded an agreed upon winning score.

A deal is considered finished when one player has played all of the bones in their hand or when both players can no longer play.

Each player's hand consists of 7 bones. The remaining 14 bones go in the Bone Pile. The bone pile is used by both players to draw from when they don't have a play.


Graphical Device Interface: Used under Windows to create, track and remove graphics.


Creates, tracks, and removes windows and their properties.


The Sniff is the first Double Sided bone played in a deal. This domino is labeled with a red Sniff. This is the only domino that can be played on all four sides. The top and bottom sides do not count into the score until they have sprouted branches.


The Bone Pile consists of the 14 bones leftover after the deal. You can see how many bones there are in the bone pile by selecting Statistics from the Options menu.


Dealing	Playing A Bone

Moving The Table	Viewing The Table

Scoring	Game Options