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Text File | 1996-09-29 | 26KB | 588 lines

RUMMY 500 (Version 5.1) - READ500.TXT ===================================== Introduction ------------ Rummy 500 is an exciting member of the Rummy family of card games. Its main differentiating feature is that you can pick up any number of discards if you can lay down some of them immediately. You play against the computer, which can be set to use a number of different skill levels. At Champion and Master levels, the computer is hard to beat and provides a very challenging game. Customizable features include: Colors Sound effects MIDI music Speech synthesized messages Card backs Screen resolution and custom resizing Card sizes AutoMouse (moves mouse pointer automatically) Opponent skill level Rule variations System Requirements ------------------- To use Rummy 500 you need Microsoft Windows 3.1 and a mouse. Rummy 500 also has been tested with no problems under Windows '95. An Intel 486 class system or better with 8 megabytes or more of RAM is the optimum configuration. An Intel 386 class system with 4 megabytes of RAM is considered to be the minimum. Rummy 500 has not been evaluated on less capable systems, but should present no problems other than responsiveness and speed. You are recommended to take advantage of the comprehensive help file information in order to learn how to play Rummy 500. Perhaps the best first step to learning Rummy 500 is to use the "Assistant | AutoPlay" option and watch the computer play against itself. Installation ------------ The installation requirements are that all supplied files reside in the same directory except that VBCTL3D.VBX and WSPLIB20.DLL are to be placed in the windows\system directory. Also, VBRUN300.DLL must be present in your path (typically in the windows\system directory). VBRUN300.DLL should be downloaded separately if you don't already have it on your system. To use the sound effects and Speak-To-Me capability, you must either have a sound card installed in your system, or have the speak.exe driver installed to use your system's regular speaker. Speak.exe is a freely distributed product from Microsoft, and is available on most online services and bulletin board systems. Rummy 500 is distributed with a few sound files, others may be obtained from libraries on most online services and bulletin board systems. To enable sound effects, you must check "Enable" from the "Sounds Effects" option under the "Configuration" menu. Remember to "Save Configuration" to make the setting permanent. Midi music files are not distributed with Rummy 500 for copyright reasons. You may acquire these from regular online sources. You will probably find canyon.mid in your Windows directory as this is distributed with Windows by Microsoft. Note that some systems are unable to handle midi music and other sounds at the same time. Registration ------------ Rummy 500 is shareware, and is fully functional. You may evaluate this program for a period of 21 days after which you must register it or remove it from your system. To not comply with this condition is a violation of United States and international copyright law. To register Rummy 500, please use the printable order form under the "Help" menu of Rummy 500. The cost of registration for the version you are currently evaluating is $15. If you are unable to print the order form, please make sure that you: 1. Specify that you are registering Rummy 500 2. Include sales tax if you are a Massachusetts resident 3. Enclose a check drawn on a U.S. bank, or an international money order, for the correct amount, in U.S. funds, payable to Carol Bufton We return checks made out incorrectly, or drawn on a non-U.S. bank. You will receive your registration code by mail. The registration code is encoded from your name, so be sure to provide your name exactly as you wish to be registered. If you require a diskette (3╜" only), add $5 making the total cost $20. The diskette version may contain a later version of Rummy 500 if improvements have been made since the release of your evaluation copy. Because we cannot track which versions are currently available at what locations, it is possible that Rummy 500 will have been updated since your evaluation copy unless you downloaded a recent version from CompuServe, America Online, or the MeggieSoft Games worldwide web site at: http://members.aol.com/meggiesoft Please allow 28 days for your registration to arrive, although every effort will be made to mail your registration within 5 days. Your registration code licenses you to use the version of Rummy 500 that you are currently evaluating, irrespective of which is the latest version currently available on America Online, CompuServe, our web site, or registered diskette. Your registration may also be valid for future versions as they become available. Note that Version 5 was not a free upgrade. Existing registered customers may upgrade and receive a new registration code for a fee of $8.00. See the "Upgrade" option under the "Help" menu. You may not share your registration code with others. Your registration permits you and other users to use Rummy 500 on any single-user computer system. You may also use Rummy 500 on any other computer system of which you are the primary user, such as a laptop. Distribution ------------ You may distribute Rummy 500 to others provided that you derive no revenue other than that associated with the act of distribution, provided you make it clear that Rummy 500 is shareware, and provided that you distribute the following, and only the following, files intact and unaltered: READ500.TXT - This file RUMMY500.EXE - The program RUMMY500.HLP - The help file RUMCRD1.WMF - The small card images RUMCRD2.WMF - The regular card images RUMCRD3.WMF - The large card images RUMCRD4.WMF - The extra-large card images VBCTL3D.VBX - The Visual Basic 3D Effects extension WSPLIB20.DLL - The WinSpeech function library GENERAL.WSD - The WinSpeech dictionary USENM11A.WSF - The WinSpeech voice font VBRUN300.DLL - The Visual Basic Runtime (if desired) To the best of our knowledge, the wav sound files may also be distributed freely. Revision History ---------------- Version 1.x - Development versions. Version 2.0 - First Shareware release. Fully functional. Version 2.1 - Scoreboards. 2.11 - Minor improvements. Version 2.2 - Player can freely select the last discard. Version 2.3 - Startup window. Version 3.0 - 3D-style user interface. - Multiple player scoreboards . - AutoResume. - Sound effects. 3.01 - Maintenance release 3.02 - Maintenance release Version 3.5 - Conforms to "Hoyle's Rules Of Games". - Suggest. - Undo. - Hall Of Fame. - League Table. - Displays of total games won. - Swap Cards. - AutoPlayer. - Quick Display. - Animate Display (removed in version 3.9). - Updated Help. 3.51 - Revised discard algorithms. Version 3.6 - Changed method of taking discards. - Undo Version 3.7 - Sort by Suit - Show Remaining 3.81 - Overlap Melds - Display Turn Count - "Master" skill level Version 3.9 - Updated user interface - Stagger Player Hand - Cut For Deal - Reset Scoreboard - Restart Round 3.91 - Maintenance release Version 4.0 - Custom card backs - "Trim Corners" - "AutoMouse - Dialogs" 4.01 - Maintenance release 4.02 - Maintenance release Version 4.2 - Expanded "Hint" - Double-click discard. - "Check Meldable Discard" - "Color Opponent Melds" - "AutoSave" - "AutoStart" - Enhanced "Champion" and "Master" Version 4.3 - Trapping and ignoring of double-clicks - Manual arrangement of cards in player's hand - "No Sorting" - Descriptions of melded cards. - "No Bell" - "Display Error Box" Version 5.0: Display - Enhanced 3D cosmetics for main display window, plus cleaner overall appearance and expanded use of status bar. One by-product is that heavily populated player hands will now be spread across the full window width so that the individual cards can be more easily seen when the cards are compressed. - Almost all texts now displayed "unbolded" to be more consistent with the Windows '95 interface (and to make more room on the status bar). - Improved handling of "Large Fonts" display mode. - 3D-Effects updated to improve cosmetics when running under Windows '95. - Dialog background color can now be changed. This affects status bar displays, messages, and some information displays. This has been introduced primarily to assist sight-impaired users who find black on gray difficult to read. - Default dealing method is now card-by-card to add realism. A "Quick Deal" option is added to the "Configuration menu for users who prefer the previous "instant" display method. - New style dialog boxes now include "Assist" button when error messages are displayed in a dialog box. - New "On-Screen" scoresheet displays all round scores for the current game, plus the running totals for the current round and current game. - New color configuration facility showing changes on screen as they are previewed. - Other on-screen counters moved to status bar. - Scoremasts now display player name and opponent skill. - Rummy 500 main window is now dynamically resizable. - Enhanced configuration options now support four screen resolution sizes (640x480 to 1280x1024) plus custom resizing. - Enhanced configuration options now support four different card sizes (Small, Regular, Large, Extra Large). These can be set to change automatically with changes to the window size. Interface - Added support for single-button and non-standard mouse properties by treating use of the ALT key with the left mouse button as being equivalent to the right mouse button. - Added "Drag and Drop" capabilities for moving cards between the stock, discard area, player's hand, and melds. - Added ability for player to set aside cards as a separate group to the right of the player's main hand. This permits meldable cards to be grouped separately from the main hand, for example. - The top card of the stock is now displayed when the mouse is clicked down and "taken" when the mouse button is released. This permits the user to view the card at their own pace. - New status bar button to invoke Assist! (instead of clicking on the status/error message). Assistant - Assistant menu now has "Recall" and "Deduce" options to display information based upon which cards have been seen by the player, and where. - Assistant menu now has "Show Distribution" option to display a map of all known (by the player) card positions. Sound - Added support for playing MIDI music files with single, repeat, cycle and random play options. - Added "shuffle" and "play card" sound effects. - Added "Speak-To-Me" synthesized speech capability (provided via PC Wholeware's WinSpeech program). Logic - Rewritten opponent logic for taking discards, melding and discarding. Used by the opponent, AutoPlayer, and hint suggestions. The new logic is a little slower on the higher skill levels, but should be more challenging. - Improved Suggest (hint) facility which also allows automatic execution of the suggested sequence. Rules - Added "Persian Jokers" rule option based on the "Persian" variation of basic Rummy. This adds four Jokers to the card deck which may be melded as cards of the same rank, but not as parts of runs. Jokers are scored as 20 points each. Aces may not be melded low (as Ace-Two-Three) under this rule option. - New "Born To Meld" rule option. - Optional scoring bonuses for: the Two of Clubs, the Queen of Spades, melding four of a kind, and going out to end the round. - Bonuses and rule options reminder displayed under the stock when bonuses or rule options are in effect. Miscellany - "AutoMouse" options moved to "Player" menu. - Enhanced AutoPlayer information displays of points in hand, etc. - Various minor improvements. - Some maintenance fixes. Price - The registration fee has increased to $15 ($20 with diskette) and a new registration coding introduced. Previous registration codes are not valid for this version. See the "Help" menu for an upgrade form. Version 5.01 - Maintenance release - Fixed problem with Ace sometimes not being able to be melded by the player. - Improved Champion and Master skill level algorithms. 5.02 - Maintenance release - Fixed problem with Joker being meldedable as an Ace. - Fixed problem with opponent red jokers disappearing. - Adjusted Master skill level algorithm to be less aggressive/reckless in latter part of a round. - Fixed problem with "cut for deal" display at larger screen resolution sizes. - Fixed the occasional "Invalid Property Value" problem caused by missing fonts. Rummy 500 will now warn of the condition, but text display will be ugly. - Fixed (hopefully) the occasional "Type Mismatch" problem. 5.03 - Maintenance release - Fixed problem where "Sound Effects" enabled setting not being saved. - Fixed Carefree skill level not to hang on AutoPlayer and not to meld (as defined in help file). - Improved handling of situation when "Speak-To-Me" is enabled when WinSpeech location is not correctly defined. - Altered shuffle method to overcome reports of same hands sometimes being redealt. - Added shuffle after cut for deal to ensure player doesn't take advantage of card positions in the deck. 5.04 - Maintenance release - Fixed problem which could very rarely permit the opponent to not meld a discard that it took. 5.05 - Maintenance release - Corrected default WinSpeech program name to be "wspeech.exe". - Fixed problem where WinSpeech details were not correctly recovered after having been changed. - Fixed problem where Music details were sometimes not correctly updated after having been changed. - Display of cards dealt now in order (non-dealer receives first card) to improve realism. - Corrected window positioning when window size equals screen resolution setting. - Updated help file and order form to accomodate release of Pinochle. - Fixed problem of Hall Of Fame being incorrectly displayed when "Speak-To-Me" option is enabled. 5.06 - Maintenance release - Detects "Invalid File Format" message related to old VBCTL3D.VBX and directs user accordingly. - Detects invalid sound file definitions and ignores sound instead of giving "Bad File Name" message. - Fixed failure to show "True Corners" on some melded cards. 5.07 - Fixed problem where card display in player's hand was sometimes not correctly refreshed when highlighting and melding. Changed shuffle method to attempt to circumvent very rare reports of the same cards being dealt repeatedly. Version 5.1 - Incorporated WinSpeech technology as an integral part of Rummy 500. WinSpeech is licensed by MeggieSoft Games from PC WholeWare. - Speak-To-Me facility now includes ability to change pitch, tempo, and volume. - Changes to file selection facility for music and sound effect files. Frequently Asked Questions -------------------------- Q. In what programming language is Rummy 500 written? A. Microsoft Visual Basic. See the "For The Technically Curious" section of the help file for more information. Q. Where did the name "MeggieSoft Games" come from? A. See "Help | About" when running Rummy 500. Q. Why do I get an "Invalid File Format" message when I try to run Rummy 500? A. Because there is an older, and incompatible, version of VBCTL3D.VBX on your hard disk. Rummy 500 is loading this rather than the version distributed with Rummy 500. Make sure that the copy of VBCTL3D.VBX distributed with this version is present in your \windows\system directory and make sure you delete any older copies of VBCTL3D.VBX which are on your system (possibly in the directory where you previously kept Rummy 500, or your \windows directory). [If you have multiple programs on your system which use VBCTL3D.VBX and they require different versions of VBCTL3D.VBX, you can install a copy of the required version in the same directory as each program that requires it. Such a copy will be loaded in favor of the "central" copy in the /windows/system directory.] Q. Why does my mouse not work correctly in Rummy 500? A. We have had a couple of reported instances of this problem, but we are unable to replicate it or guess at what the problem might be. One customer found that the problem disappeared when he upgraded from Microsoft Windows 3.1 to Windows for Workgroups 3.11. We therefore surmise that this problem is system configuration dependent in some way. Q. What happens if Rummy 500 causes system messages, "bombs out", or freezes? A. These problems are almost always to do with the way your system memory is configured or managed. Check that you have around 450K minimum of low memory available and that your memory manager (e.g., EMM386) is not causing the conflict. Rummy 500 is quite intensive in its use of system resources and runs on 99% of customers' systems without problems. However, sometimes such problems are reported, and all we can do is offer the advice noted here. Q. Why do I get white rectangles displayed where the cards should be (and other strange behavior)? A. Very occasionally we receive reports of this problem, which is a result of your graphics configuration not being able to load and/or display the card images. If your graphics card is manifesting such problems, try setting the number of colors it displays to 256, or even 16. Alas, there is little we can do about this situation without severely comprising Rummy 500's display speed, since this is predicated upon holding relatively large card image maps in memory. However, you might find that an updated driver is available for your graphics card if you contact your system manufacturer. Q. Why do I get "subscript out of bounds" error messages and/or see Rummy 500 start to behave erratically? A. Rummy 500 is designed to respond to single mouse-clicks, not double-clicks. In earlier versions it was possible to trip Rummy 500 if it reacted to the second click before it had finished processing the first click. In versions 4.3 and later, Rummy 500 traps and ignores extra clicks when it is busy. Q. I have my graphics display set to "Large Fonts". Why are some of the fonts displayed smaller? A. Many graphics drivers (particularly for Windows 95) alter the Twips parameter of the display in order to display everything larger - not just the fonts. Rummy 500 compensates for this by shrinking some of the font sizes on those windows which display card images, particularly the main playing window. While this makes everything fit the result is not as attractive as when "Small Fonts" is the enabled graphics display mode. Q. How do I permanently change the default colors or card designs? A. Set up the screen as you want the defaults to be. Then select the "Save Configuration" choice from the "Configuration" menu. Consult the help file for more information. Q. Does Rummy 500 cheat by peeking at the player's cards? A. No! However, at the higher skill levels, Rummy 500 will remember what you have picked up from the discard pile, and will also make probability estimates of which unseen cards might be in your hand versus the stock. Q. The opponent sometimes ignores an obvious pick-up from the discard pile and takes a new card from the stock. Is this a bug in the program? A. No. The higher skill levels are programmed to make a probability estimate on whether taking a new card would be more useful than picking up a discard. For example, an opponent holding two Aces when it hasn't noticed you picking up or discarding any could determine that the probability of the next card in the stock being an Ace is sufficiently high that it should be taken. This is more likely to happen later in the round when there are fewer cards remaining in the stock. Although the opponent will frequently lose out by employing this tactic, benchmark tests show that it wins from it in the long run. Q. Why didn't you respond to the suggestions for enhancement I made? A. Our first priority is to provide a quality game at the lowest possible price and this prevents us from entering into much personal correspondence. Most suggestions are incorporated into the next version of Rummy 500. This is our way of responding positively to your suggestions. Q. Why don't you accept credit cards or online registrations through CompuServe, for example? A. Again, our first priority is to provide a quality game at the lowest possible price and thus we keep our overheads to a minimum. With respect to online registration, our customers obtain Rummy 500 from a wide variety of sources and it would be impractical for us to offer different registration means for each source. Q. I am a shareware distributor. How do I obtain permision to distribute Rummy 500 to my customers? A. As noted earlier in this file, permission is automatically granted provided you distribute only the files noted herein. Include VBRUN300.DLL if your customers might not otherwise have it on their systems. Q. I am a software developer. Are you able to share any of the Rummy 500 program code? A. No. All Rummy 500 code is proprietary to MeggieSoft Games, except for the third-party components which are described in the help file (in the section called "For The Technically Curious"). Q. Does MeggieSoft Games market any other games? A. Rummy 500 was our first offering, released in August 1994. We released our second product, Gin Rummy, in February 1995. Our third game is Pinochle which was released in July 1996. See the help file for more details regarding Gin Rummy and Pinochle. Rummy 500 ⌐ MeggieSoft Games 1994-1996. All Rights Reserved.