The Soundblaster Multimedia Experience 4/The SoundBlaster Multi Media Experience vol 4.iso/games/mahjong/mahjongg.hlp

Text File | 1994-08-31 | 6KB | 122 lines

POBJECT:

HThe object of the game is to remove as many of the tiles from the
Hplaying board as possible within the rules of the game. Tiles are
Halways removed in pairs and can only be removed from the left or
Hthe right edges. Any tile that is not on a left or right edge is
Hconsidered blocked and cannot be removed. Note though that the tiles
Hare arranged in 5 levels and each level has a left and right edge so
Hthere are many more unblocked tiles than it would first appear. Note
Hthat the tile on the top of the pile blocks all four tiles below it,
Hand tiles on row 5 block both rows 4 and 6.

PSUITS OF TILES:

HThere are several different suits of tiles and the suit of a tile
Hdetermines the rule used for determining matching pairs that can be
Hremoved together. Hit a key to see the suits of tiles and the rules
Hfor matching them.
@

PMATCHING RULES:

HA further explanation of the matching rules shown on the last screen
His in order. Most of the suits require an exact match. This means that
Hyou must match a tile to another that is exactly the same. For example
Ha Bamboo 1 matches another Bamboo 1 but does not match a Bamboo 3 or a
HDot 1. The other matching rule allows any tile in the same suit to
Hmatch any other tile in that suit. Thus, any of the four seasons (SUM,
HAUT, WIN, SPR) match each other and any of the four flowers (MUM, PLUM,
HBAM, ORC) match each other.

PNUMBER OF TILES:

HThere is only one each of SUM, AUT, WIN, SPR, MUM, PLUM, BAM, and ORC.
HThere are four of each of the other tiles for a total of 144 tiles on
Hthe board. The counter in the upper right corner keeps track of how many
Htiles are left in play.
@

PPLAYING THE GAME:

HWhen playing using the mouse you just move the cursor and left click
Hto select tiles. When playing using they keyboard the game board is a
Hgrid marked by letters and numbers. You select tiles by entering a
Hletter for the column and a number for the row. Order doesn't matter,
Hentering A5 is the same as 5A. The single tile on the top is H5.

HThe numbering of the rows is a bit confusing. Row 5 only exists at the
Hvery top level and at the extreme left and right edges. Rows 4 and 6 are
Hactually adjacent to each other.

HIf after you've selected your first tile you change your mind, just hit
H'Enter' instead of your second tile selection.

HYou can quit the game at any time by entering Q instead of a tile
Hselection. There are a number of other commands available; hit the F1
Hkey at any time while playing for a brief listing.
@
PCOMMANDS:

HThere are a number of commands available during game play. You can quit
Hthe game by entering Q. Entering H when asked to select the first tile
Hwill first tell you whether any moves exist and then show you the moves
Hone at a time. Entering H when asked for 2nd tile will show any matches
Hfor the tile selected. Hitting the right mouse button is the same as
Hentering H. You can save the game by hitting S and restore an old game
Hby hitting R. You can play the next board by hitting N or play the same
Hboard again by hitting A. U and Z undo and redo moves. Function key F2
Hshows all previous moves. F3 goes to the setup screen. F5 shows the game
Hstatistics. F7 goes to the tournament setup screen. F8 displays the
Hcomplete tile set. F10 shells to DOS (type 'EXIT' to return).

H                Q:   Quit   N:  New game (next board)
H                H:   Help   A:  Again (replay same board)
H                S:   Save   R:  Restore
H                U:   Undo   Z:  Remove again after undo
H                F3:  Setup  F2: Show all previous moves
H                F5:  Stats  F7: Tournament setup
H                F10: Shell  F8: Display complete tile set
@

PCOMMAND LINE OPTIONS:

HThere are many options you can select when starting the game. You can
Hskip the title screen by using -n (No title). You can play a specific
Hboard by entering -bx where x is any number between 0 and 65535. For
Hexample, you can replay a previous game by noting the board number in
Hthe lower left hand corner before quitting and using that. Or you can
Hplay against another person by both choosing the same board number. You
Hcan play timed games by entering -tx where x is the number of minutes
Hyou want the game to be. You can still continue to play the game after
Hthe time runs out. The amount of time left to play is shown in the upper
Hright corner of the screen. Using -cx allows you to set the background
Hcolor and -dx the mouse cursor color, where x is a number between 0 and
H15. Using -m selects mouse control instead of keyboard; the mouse is
Hthen used to select tiles and to confirm, or to select 'command buttons'
Hon the left edge of the screen for commands. Using -fn allows you to set
Hthe file where statistics are kept to n, or using -f without a file name
Hdisables keeping of statistics. Using -un, where n is a file name, loads
Hthat set of tiles; using -u* picks a tile set at random.
@

PTOURNAMENTS:

HYou can play {ah #ongg as a tournament against other players. You first
Hselect T for tournament from the title screen. The first player sets up
Hthe tournament by selecting the board number (or just leaving the one that
Hwas randomly chosen) and whether or not the game will be timed. After the
Hselections are made the first player enters his name and plays the game.
HA record is kept of his results and the results of each additional player
Hwho plays the tournament.

HIf you go to the tournament screen by accident or just to see the current
Hstandings, you can return to the title screen without entering the
Htournament by entering Q.

HIf there is already a tournament started but you want to start a new one,
Hselect 'N'. This will let you set up a new tournament as was described
Habove.
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