The Arsenal Files 3

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Text File | 1994-10-02 | 27KB | 650 lines

╒════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Crazy8's │ │ Version 3.00 Evaluation Copy │ ╘══╤══════════════════════════════════╤══╛ │ │ │ │ │ Dean Software │ │ 4914 78th Avenue │ │ Hyattsville, MD 20784 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ (301) 577-1902 Voice │ │ │ │ │ ╘══════════════════════════════════╛ INTRODUCTION Crazy8's Version 3.00 software and all accompanying documentation is copyright (C) 1994 by Dean Software, all rights reserved. No portion of this publication or program may be reproduced, photocopied or transmitted; nor may it be rented, leased, translated, disassembled, decompiled, altered, or modified in any manner except as provided by the license below. Any violation of these terms by the user constitutes cause for immediate termination of this license. Crazy8's is a copyrighted program and is protected under the United States Copyright Law and various International Treaty provisions. It is offered "as is" for personal use. We make no claim as to the program's suitability for any specific purpose and shall not be held responsible for any consequential damages that may possibly occur through the use or misuse of the program. Your first use of Crazy8's constitutes your agreement to the following provisions: Shareware License: A limited license at no charge is granted to all to use, test and duplicate in its entirety the copy of Crazy8's you received for no more than 30 calendar days. Thereafter, if you did not license Crazy8's directly from us, you must either pay the license fee to continue to use Crazy8's or immediately cease all use of Crazy8's. You will be in violation of this limited license agreement if you use this version of Crazy8's for more than 30 days without paying the license fee. By your reading of this license and/or use of the software, you agree to adhere to the terms set forth herein. If you disagree with the terms set forth herein, you must immediately cease all use of this software and you must also immediately destroy all copies of this software and documentation currently in your possession. License: Upon payment of the registration fee, we will grant a non-exclusive license to use Crazy8's by one person regardless of whether the license is owned by the person or by a business (the "licensee"). Licensed copies of Crazy8's may be kept only on computers actually used by the licensee. The user is granted a license to distribute the program as he/she received it to anyone he/she sees fit to do so provided the original files are complete and unaltered in any way. Crazy8's may not be "resold" by Shareware distributors for a cost exceeding $5.00. The Shareware distributor should have a notice prominently displayed in their advertisement stating that the programs they distribute are copyrighted by others and by paying the Shareware distributor a fee to purchase the disk does not constitute the registration of the program. [ 2 ] Section 1. GENERAL 1.1 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS. Crazy8's will run on almost any minimal system configuration although an EGA or VGA display is necessary. A mouse is also a nice addition if you have one, but not necessary. 1.2 BASIC HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE RECOMMENDATIONS As noted earlier, the program has been operated on several systems with varying degrees of performance. Although designed for optimum performance on today's newer systems, the program will nonetheless function on older machines. 1.2.1 The minimum hardware configuration is as follows: ■ - 256K random access memory (RAM) ■ - Sufficient hard disk space ■ - One 360K double-sided, double-density or 1.2 megabyte high-density 5.25" disk drive OR One 720K double-sided, double-density or 1.44 megabyte high-density 3.5" disk drive ■ - Color (EGA or VGA; preferably, VGA) display 1.2.2 The minimum operating system is: MicroSoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) 3.30 or higher. Section 2: GETTING STARTED 2.1 SYSTEM BASICS. Simply follow the onscreen prompts when playing Crazy8's. See Section 1 for system requirements. Crazy8's is a simple, text-oriented game and demands little system overhead. 2.2 PROGRAM INSTALLATION. The following files should be on your distribution diskette(s) or in your downloaded file: [ 3 ] One of the following files will be used to install your software, whether it came from a shareware distribution diskette or was downloaded from a BBS: CRZ300.EXE <-- a self-extracting file or CRZ300.ZIP <-- a .ZIP to be unzipped by PKUNZIP Installation is as simple as copying one of the above files to either your hard drive (in the sub-directory of your choice) OR to another floppy diskette and then unzipping the file. Any .ZIP files MUST be unzipped with PKUNZIP, Version 2.04g or higher. (In some cases you may receive a self-extracting file with an .EXE extension instead of a .ZIP file. If so, simply copy this file to your hard drive sub-directory of choice OR another floppy diskette and extract the files by typing the file name (CRZ300.EXE). You may delete the original file from the sub-directory once the files have been extracted. Be careful not to destroy the original self- extracting file, wherever it may be located.) When completed, you will have the following files in your selected sub-directory or your floppy diskette: CRZ300.COM <-- The main executable CRZ300.DOC <-- This file ORDER.DOC <-- Order form - PLEASE print this out and use it when ordering registered copies. README.BAT <-- Displays README.DOC file. README.DOC <-- Contains additional information. FILE_ID.DIZ <-- Identification file. Once all files have been unzipped or extracted, simply type CRZ300.COM to begin the program. You may print any of the .DOC files to the printer (LPT1) by using the DOS command below at at the DOS prompt: TYPE EIGHTS.DOC > PRN or TYPE ORDER.DOC > PRN or TYPE README.DOC > PRN All .DOC files are standard ASCII text files and may also be browsed or printed with any text editor or word processor that is capable of handling text files. [ 4 ] IMPORTANT NOTE: Also be aware that the program attempts to write a file that contains the configuration save information to the default DOS disk drive and/or subdirectory that the program was started from. Anytime the program is started it also attempts to read this same file (CRAZY.CFG) containing those saved game parameters. The handling of this file is done automatically by the program. If the file does not exist, it will create one if possible. For this reason, if you are playing from a floppy, make certain the diskette is NOT write protected or the program will be unable to save your game parameters. (NOTE: This feature is NOT supported in the evaluation copy of the program. You may change the game parameters for the current session, but the CRAZY.CFG file will not be created or read. See Section 2.3.1 for additional information.) 2.3 THE GAME PARAMETERS SCREEN This screen allows you to set the parameters used during game play. The following parameters you may set as follows: PLAYER NAME - Enter your name. If you simply hit the ENTER key at this point, the game will refer to you as "PLAYER 1" during play. (NOTE: This parameter cannot be changed in the evaluation copy of the program and will always default to "PLAYER 1") PAUSE INTERVAL (1-9, SECONDS) - Use this option to adjust the pause intervals (in seconds) used during message displays. This can be useful for slowing down the messages on faster systems. Entering a 1 gives the fastest pauses, 9 gives the slowest. Hitting ENTER gives a default value of 3. NUMBER OF COMPUTER PLAYERS (1 OR 3) - Enter the number of computer opponents you wish to play against. Hitting ENTER gives a default value of 3. NUMBER OF POINTS IN GAME - Enter the number of points you wish to play to before game ends. If you simply hit the ENTER key, this value will default to 200 points. VERIFY CARDS PLAYED - This option provides a yes/no prompt every time a card is selected for play, allowing the player an opportunity to change his mind if he wishes. This is especially useful for beginners while learning game strategy. Defeating this option with a N response speeds the game up considerably for more advanced players. If Y is entered, the selected card is displayed and a yes/no prompt is given - the card played may be changed if a negative response is given. If N is entered, the selected card is not displayed and a yes/no prompt is not given; the selected card is played IMMEDIATELY and cannot be changed. Hitting ENTER gives a default value of Y. (NOTE: This parameter cannot be changed in the evaluation copy of the program and will always default to Y) [ 5 ] (Please note that in the case of an eight being played, you always have the option of canceling the play by selecting "X" from the keyboard or the red "X" in the middle of the suit grid if you are using a mouse. This is to afford the player the utmost opportunity to consider playing an eight since they are so important to game strategy. No matter whether VERIFY CARDS PLAYED is set to Y or N, you always will be able to cancel an eight played if you change your mind.) BEEP WHEN CARD IS PLAYED - Enter a Y here to have the program beep whenever a card is played onto the DISCARD pile. This is especially helpful if you have the PAUSE INTERVAL set to a lower number and the game is playing quickly. Enter a N here to turn the beep off. Hitting ENTER gives a default value of Y. DRAW TWO CARDS WHEN TWO IS PLAYED - Enter Y or N for this option. If Y is entered, every time a two is played the next player draws two cards. This option also effects scoring. If Y is entered, twos score 20 points; if N is entered twos score 2 points. Please note that even when the next player must draw two cards, he then proceeds with his turn as usual. Hitting ENTER gives a default value of Y. SKIP TURN WHEN JACK IS PLAYED - Enter Y or N for this option. If Y is entered, every time a jack is played the next player loses one turn. This option also effects scoring. If Y is entered, jacks score 15 points; if N is entered jacks score 10 points. Hitting ENTER gives a default value of Y. PARAMETERS OKAY - Enter Y or N for this option. If Y is entered, all parameters are accepted and program proceeds. If N is entered, you are returned to the top of the PARAMETERS screen and may start over. You MUST enter Y or N - there is no default. MOUSE ACTIVE - If the program detects a mouse driver, the version is displayed and you are then asked if you wish to have the mouse active. If Y is entered, the mouse is active and you may use it or the keyboard, either one. If N is entered, only the keyboard is active and all mouse functions are disabled. You MUST enter Y or N - there is no default. (See Section 2.7 USING THE MOUSE, below). (NOTE: This feature is NOT supported in the evaluation copy of the program and will always default to N) 2.3.1 THE CURRENT GAME PARAMETERS SCREEN This screen recaps the current parameter settings and gives you the opportunity to change them if desired. If you enter Y to change a parameter, you must reenter all of the parameters described in Section 2.3 (see above). [ 6 ] The CURRENT GAME PARAMETERS SCREEN is displayed under two circumstances: 1. Anytime the GAME PARAMETERS SCREEN in Section 2.3 (see above) is exited. 2. Whenever the game is first started and the parameters file CRAZY.CFG is detected and read. In this case, the GAME PARAMETERS SCREEN is bypassed unless you decide to change an existing parameter (see below). When the CURRENT GAME PARAMETERS screen is presented to you, review the existing parameters. Select Y if you wish to change any of the parameters, and you will go to the GAME PARAMETERS SCREEN (see Section 2.3, above). If you select N, the currently listed parameters will be used and the game will proceed. You must enter Y or N - there is no default. (NOTE: This screen is supported in the evaluation copy of the the program, however circumstance 2 as described above will never occur and you will be taken immediately to the GAME PARAMETERS SCREEN (see Section 2.3). You may change the game parameters for the current session, but the CRAZY.CFG file will not be created or read. See Section 2.2 for additional information.) 2.3.2 SELECT CARD BACK COLOR AND PATTERN This screen allows you to choose the color of the card back as well as the pattern displayed upon the card backs. These selections are NOT saved in the parameter file and will not be retained. To select the color, either type the number below the desired color block or use the cursor keys to move the cursor that appears below the color blocks. Press ENTER to complete the selection. If you are using a mouse, you may also click on the desired color block. To select the pattern, either type the number below the desired pattern block or use the cursor keys to move the cursor that appears below the pattern blocks. Press ENTER to complete the selection. If you are using a mouse, you may also click on the desired pattern block. (NOTE: This feature is NOT supported in the evaluation copy of the program. The selection screen is not presented to the player and these values will always default to a preset color and pattern.) [ 7 ] 2.4 KEYS TO KNOW There are only five letter keys used during play, four of which are only used during the player's turn. Otherwise, the number keys are used to play cards from the player's hand. The letter keys used are: D - used to draw a card if desired P - used to pass player's turn if desired T - used to toggle table off or on (see below) Q - used by player to terminate the game if desired B - "Boss" key. If the "B" key is pressed at any time, a DOS screen is displayed. Press any other key to return to the game. This option does not appear on any menu. Use the number keys to play cards in your hand (numbers appear below the cards). Please note that if you are holding more than nine cards in your hand, you must include the zero in order to play cards with corresponding numbers of less than ten. Also, be sure to read any messages that appear in the communications box at the bottom of the screen since many of them give information directly related to the progress of the game. If the messages appear and/or disappear too quickly or too slowly then increase or decrease the pause interval adjustment option on the PARAMETERS SCREEN as described above. The "Table" key is an extra option that has been added for informational purposes. Its purpose is to simply display all cards that have actually been played and are in the discard pile. Cards remaining in either player's hand or in the deck are not displayed. While looking at this table is not really "cheating" as such, you can often determine what the other player is holding and play accordingly. This feature has merely been included to help you develop better playing strategies and to see how the computer plays. Five additional letter keys are used ONLY when an eight has been played: H - declare new suit as Hearts C - declare new suit as Clubs D - declare new suit as Diamonds S - declare new suit as Spades X - cancel current card selection and select new card [ 8 ] These two keys may be used during Player 1's turn to view other game information: F1 - view HELP screen F2 - view scorecard 2.5 RULES OF THE GAME Crazy8's is based on the traditional card game of Crazy Eights and is extremely easy to play, even for children. Please remember there are many variations to this game and we have tried to faithfully incorporate some of the more common options into this software. The only other liberty taken herein is the maximum number of eighteen cards in each hand due to display limitations. Each player is dealt eight cards, then the deck is placed in the middle with a discard card showing face up on the discard pile. Players alternate turns. On each turn, a player must try to play a card by matching either the discard card value or the discard card suit. For example, if the six of diamonds is showing on the discard pile the next player must try to play either a six or a diamond. If the player is unable to play either a six or a diamond and is holding an eight in his hand, he may play the eight and declare the suit as whatever he pleases. If the player is holding no eights in his hand and is unable to make a play, he must draw a card from the deck at which time he may attempt to play again or pass his turn. (Note: An eight may be played at any time the player feels it is strategically advantageous for him, as in the situation where he is holding card(s) of high point value and the other player is about to go out; the player is NOT restricted to playing an eight only if he cannot make any other play.) If at any time during play all cards from the deck have been drawn then the top card in the discard pile is set aside, all remaining cards in the discard pile are replaced in the deck and the deck is reshuffled. The discard card that was set aside is then used to restart the discard pile and the game is resumed. Please note that a maximum of thirteen cards may be held at once within a hand, after which the turn must be passed if the player is unable to make a play. Also, if the respective option(s) are active, be sure to use jacks and twos in your playing strategy. [ 9 ] The overall object is to play all of your cards while you try to force your opponent to hold as many cards in his hand as possible, which count against him in scoring (see SCORING section below). 2.6 SCORING After one of the players has played all the cards from his hand, the opponent's hand will be scored and the value of the cards remaining in his hand will be added to the winning player's score. This continues through subsequent hands until one of the players meets or exceeds the game point limit (see PARAMETERS SCREEN section above, default is 200 points). The point values for individual cards are as follows (note that points for jacks and twos may vary according to options set when game starts - see PARAMETERS SCREEN section above): Ace 1 point Two 2 points (20 points if draw option is set to Y) Eight 50 points Jack 10 points (15 points if lose turn option is set to Y) Queen 10 points King 10 points All other cards score face (pip) value. Obviously, given the high point values of certain cards, play strategy dictates that you try to play them as soon as possible, especially if the opponent is about to go out. 2.7 USING THE MOUSE You may use the mouse to perform certain functions. This in many cases speeds up play or just makes playing simpler and more enjoyable. To play cards from your hand, simply place the cursor on desired card and press the left mouse button. To draw a card from the deck, place the cursor on the deck and press the left mouse button. To pass your turn, press the right mouse button (cursor position doesn't matter). Make sure you still watch the communication box for informational messages. You may also still use any of the keyboard functions at any time. If you are on a "STRIKE ANY KEY TO CONTINUE" message you may press any mouse button to continue. To implement the "BOSS" key function, press both the left and right buttons at once (on a two-button mouse) or press the middle mouse button (on a 3-button mouse). Strike any key or mouse button to break out of the "BOSS" screen. [ 10 ] Within the communications box, you may click on any of the "action" words with the first letter highlighted (Draw, Pass, Table, Quit), or any additional "action" words with the first letter highlighted that are presented to you during the normal course of play. You may also click on the "F1" or F2" buttons in the upper left-hand corner of the screen for those functions. (NOTE: On certain tested systems, the mouse event trapping routines used in the development of this program encounter some difficulty in detecting the simultaneous pressing of the left and right mouse button for a 2-button mouse. If this is the case on your system, you will have to rely on the "B" key to invoke the "BOSS" screen. We are working on this problem and apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Also, be aware that because of possible display anomalies it is NORMAL for the mouse cursor to periodically disappear from the screen during screen refresh functions.) 2.8 REPORTING ERRORS OR DISCREPANCIES Every effort has been made to ensure that the product you receive is free from errors or bugs. Should you have a problem that is related to the program, please contact us at the address below. To improve the playability of our products, we gladly accept any suggestions or ideas for improvements to the program. You may contact us at: Dean Software Customer Service and Support 4914 78th Avenue Hyattsville, MD 20784 (301) 577-1902 Voice (5:00 pm - 7:00 pm EST) 3.0 TRADEMARK ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS PKUNZIP is a registered trademark of PKWARE, Inc. MS-DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Other products and marks mentioned in this documentation are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. This documentation is copyright (C) 1994 by Dean Software, all rights are reserved. [ 11 ]