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-
-
-
- Cruel V1.00
- Copyright © 1994
- by Perry Rosenboom
- Box 333
- Wantirna South
- Victoria, 3152
- Australia
-
- Documentation Version - January, 1994
-
- *****************************************************************************
-
- Introduction
-
- Welcome to Cruel, as I hope is it known in all countries. This version came
- about because I wanted to put some card games together in one package which
- are of a high quality and presentation, and which are easy to play.
-
- Cruel is the fifth in the package of card games, the first being 'Classic
- Solitaire' (released 1992), the second being "Tut's Tomb" (released early 1993),
- the third being "Aces Up" (released mid 1993), the fourth being "Golf" (released
- towards the end of 1993), the fifth being "Cruel" (released January, 1994),
- and the sixth being "FreeCell" (released January, 1994).
-
- I'm confident that I have achieved my goals, and that you will enjoy Cruel.
-
- More games may be added to the package as (or should I say, "if") I get
- motivated to write new ones (see the section titled "The Complete Package").
-
- Registered users have special privileges - see the information about
- Registration near the end of this documentation file.
-
-
- A Note about this documentation
-
- This file accompanies both the Shareware version and Registered version of
- Cruel. Differences between the two versions will be specified wherever
- appropriate. This means that I only need to maintain one version of the
- documentation (mainly because I hate writing documentation). Having only
- one version of the documentation will also show Shareware Users what you are
- missing by not registering!!!!
-
-
- Systems Supported
-
- This game was developed and compiled using AMOS and AMOS Compiler (Copyright
- Europress) version 1.35, which supports Workbench 1.3, 2, and 3. This means
- that this game should work on A500, A600, A1200, A2000, A3000 and A4000
- machines. I do my best to support machines available at the time of
- writing the game, however I obviously cannot test every aspect of the game on
- every machine. If for some reason the game doesn't work, check the 'Troubles?'
- section below, and send me a polite letter, and I'll see if I can help.
- Obviously, registered user get priority. Abusive letters will get no response.
-
- People who write shareware and public domain software do so because they enjoy
- it - abuse will only result in LESS software being developed for public release.
- We can't hope to make our shareware profitable, but we do hope that we are
- respected for our efforts. End of sermon.
-
-
- Cruel
-
- Object of the game
-
- The object of Cruel is to remove all of the cards which are dealt face up at
- the start of the game. This is done by moving cards in sequential order to the
- discard stacks which are located at the bottom right on of the screen. When
- the dealt cards are gone - you win! It sounds easier than it actually is....
-
-
- The name of the Game
-
- Where did the name come from? I can only guess that it was named because it is
- possible that the game can go down to only two cards remaining, and still
- leave you unable to complete it!
-
-
- Rules
-
- When the cards are dealt, you will see either 8 or 12 piles of placed face up
- onto the playing area (only 8 are available in Shareware version). Only the
- top card of the pile is visible. There are four suit stacks located at the
- bottom right of the screen. Each of the Aces are already positioned on the
- correct stack.
-
- After dealing, all cards are contained in the piles on the playing area, with
- the exception of the Aces.
-
- The only way of removing cards from the playing area is to select a card which
- is one higher than the top card in the suit stack. Cards may only be moved
- to a suit stack which is of the same suit as the card being moved.
-
- Cards may be moved from one playing pile to another provided the card being
- moved is one less in value, and the same suit, as the card which is face up
- in the destination pile. As an example, the Queen of Hearts can be moved onto
- the King of Hearts.
-
- Clicking on the "Deal" button will move the bottom card from a pile, and place
- it on top of the pile. In this way, the top cards can be changed, without
- changing the order of cards in the pile. In this version of Cruel you can
- choose to have all piles dealt when the button is clicked, or a random number
- of piles (see 'Settings' later in this documentation file).
-
- The "Deal" button is disabled until a valid move is made.
-
- The game is over when all cards have been removed from the playing area onto
- the suit stacks, or when you give up and select the "End Game" option from the
- menu.
-
-
-
- How to Play
-
- Only mouse clicks are required to play Cruel.
-
- To move a card from one pile to another click on the card to be moved, and then
- click on the destination pile. The card will then move to the top of the
- destination pile, exposing the next card in the source pile.
-
- To move a card from one pile to a suit stack, either click on the card to be
- moved, and then click on the suit stack, or double click on the card to be
- moved.
-
-
- Tips on playing Cruel
-
- Move cards to the suit stacks as soon as possible.
-
- In playing Cruel, you will notice when moving cards from one pile to another,
- cards can be moved only onto a card of the same suit, and a higher value.
- For example, a seven (7) of clubs can be moved only be moved onto an eight (8)
- of clubs.
-
- This means that you need to move higher cards first and then work your way
- to the lower cards before clicking on the "Deal" button. If you don't
- understand what I'm saying now, don't lose sleep over it. You'll soon see
- what I mean when you play the game!
-
-
-
-
- Menus
-
- A number of menu items are available with Cruel. Clicking on the right mouse
- button will make the menus appear. The menus have been programmed to appear
- wherever the mouse pointer is currently located.
-
- Available menu items are coloured dark green and will change colour to
- light green when they are selected.
-
- A grey menu item means that the item is not available
-
- The Menu Bar available is:
-
- ------------------------
- | Cruel | Options |
- ------------------------
-
- Under the "Cruel" menu bar item, the following submenu items are available:
-
- ----------------
- | Cruel |
- ----------------
- | End Game |
- | New Game |
- | About |
- | Credits |
- | Quit |
- ------------
-
- End Game
-
- Select this to End the current game.
-
- New Game
-
- Select this menu item to begin a new game (when the previous game has been
- ended). This menu item is not available when playing a current game.
-
- About
-
- Displays information about Cruel
-
- Credits
-
- My credits screen - I've got people to thank!
-
- Quit
-
- What can I say? Quit means exit, scram, Outahere, vamoose, goodbye, or
- "Ausgang" for my German speaking friends.
-
- The "Options" menu item looks something like this:
-
- -------------
- | Options |
- ---------------
- | Sound |
- | Settings |
- ----------
-
- Sound (On, Off)
-
- Selecting "Sound" will pop up a sub menu to allow you to turn the sound on
- or off. The current status is marked by a tick.
-
- Settings
-
- Use this menu item to change the settings for Cruel. This menu item is not
- available until the current game is completed.
-
- The Settings Screen
-
- Items which can be altered from the settings screen are:
-
- Sound
-
- Buttons are available to turn the sound on or off (this will alter the
- sound menu items described above). The pitch of the bell which sounds
- when a card is selected but not moved to the discard row (Bell 1) and the
- pitch of the bell which sounds when a card is matched and moved to the
- discard row (Bell 2) can be adjusted using slider bars. The volume of the
- sound can also be adjusted using a slider bar.
-
-
- Title
-
- On or Off - if this option is set "On", the title screen will be shown
- when starting Cruel. When set to "Off" the title will be skipped (Disabled
- in the Shareware Version - I'm going to make you sit through the title
- unless you register!!).
-
- Backs
-
- Clicking on the "Backs" button allows you to select which of the 13 card
- backs you wish to display during your game. Once selected, this back will
- be used until you "Quit" (in the case where you don't save your settings),
- or until you select another card back. To select a card back, just click
- on the back you want. To use random card backs (ie, have Cruel choose one
- at random for you) click on the box marked "Random".
-
- (The ability to select card backs is disabled in the Shareware Version -
- the "Random" option applies).
-
- Piles
-
- You have a choice of playing using either eight (8) piles, or twelve (12)
- piles. (Disabled in Shareware Version - only 8 is available).
-
- Piles Dealt
-
- These buttons determine what action the "Deal" button will take when
- playing the Cruel. "All" means that all piles will be dealt. "Random"
- means that a random number of piles will be dealt, from 1 to the number
- of piles available. If there are only three or less piles available,
- then all piles will be dealt regardless of this setting, otherwise it's
- almost impossible to win!
-
- Default
-
- Clicking on this button resets everything back to the default values.
-
- Defaults are:
-
- Sound - On
- Bell1 - 50
- Bell2 - 60
- Volume - 32
- Title - On
- Backs - Random
- Piles - 8
- Piles Dealt - All
-
- Save
-
- This button saves your Cruel settings to disk. They are automatically
- loaded and used next time. (Disabled in the Shareware Version).
-
- Use
-
- This button allows you to use your settings, without saving them to disk.
- They will be lost when you "Quit" from Cruel.
-
-
- The Shareware version
-
- If you have already registered, then ignore this section.
-
- The shareware version of Cruel differs from the Registered Version in a number
- of ways:
-
- 1. Some features have been disabled in the shareware version.
- Registered users have:
-
- - the option to choose the card back which they would like
- displayed (the shareware version chooses them at random);
- - the ability to skip the title screen (although it's such a good
- title screen, I don't know why anyone would want to skip over it...);
- - the ability to select either 8 or 12 piles.
-
- 2. The shareware version has a message which flashes up at random
- while playing the game, to remind you (just in case you need reminding)
- that the version of the game you are playing is Shareware. This does
- not come up on the registered version.
-
- 3. Registered versions of Cruel contain the name of the person who
- registers in the title screen, and the "About" screen (so everyone
- who registers has their own personal copy of the game).
-
- 4. The Shareware version of Cruel is not supported. In other words, if
- there is a problem, I'll attempt to fix it in the Registered version,
- and registered users will receive the fix.
-
-
-
- Troubles?
-
- Most problems seem to be caused by low memory. If you notice that the screen
- is not refreshing correctly, or that the menu bar doesn't disappear, you've
- got memory problems. Most games these days are designed to work in 1Mb
- minimum, and this game is no different. If you have 1Mb or more and the game
- is still presenting problems (especially after you have been playing the same
- game for some time), then the memory may be fragmented. Try closing down some
- other programs, or closing down the game and restarting it.
-
- The other problem which I have heard of can occur on Workbench 2 and Workbench
- 3 systems. On these systems, it is possible to change the default font to
- something other than 'Topaz 8'. This game was written using the default Topaz
- 8 font, so if you notice that text does not fit properly in boxes or on the
- screen, you may need to alter your Workbench setting and restore 'Topaz 8' as
- the default font.
-
- If you are experiencing an error "Bank not reserved", then you are missing
- a file called "Cards.ABK". If you have copied the game to a hard drive,
- ensure that you also copy "Cards.ABK" to the same directory.
-
-
- Registration Details
-
- If you have already registered, then ignore this section.
-
- This must be the best value in Amiga card games of all time! Users who
- register for the complete package will receive registered versions of all of
- the card games in the set, any changes or bug fixes for all games in the set,
- and the next major upgrade for each game in the set. In addition, I'll also
- send you registered versions of any new card games I add to the set. This
- means that you will receive all version 1.xx and version 2.00 (if and when
- they are written) for all games currently in the set, and registered versions
- of any new games which I add to the set. For details on which card games are
- currently supplied with the set, see the section below titled "The complete
- package".
-
-
- The price....
-
- To register for send the appropriate amount (listed below) to:
-
- Perry Rosenboom
- Box 333
- Wantirna South
- Victoria, 3152
- AUSTRALIA
-
- To make registration easier, you can send local currency (cash please) in
- the following amounts:
-
- Complete Package
- Australia $20.00
- New Zealand $30.00
- England £10.00
- United States $20.00
- Germany Dm 20,00
- Canada $20.00
-
- Please send cash only, as our banks act like robbers and can charge us
- $6.00 to change a cheque! Cheques in Aus$ drawn on an Australian Bank are
- also acceptable. Prices for each individual country are based mainly on
- the current exchange rate that the country has with Australia, at the time I
- wrote the first game.
-
- Why so inexpensive for the complete package? Because the high price of
- quality Amiga games prevents many Amiga owners from buying games. I plan
- to make my millions by asking for a fair registration fee from fellow
- Amiga Users, and registering thousands of users, instead of ripping off a
- few people. Also, I've tried to make the whole process as painless as
- possible by putting in local currency values for countries where I know
- some of my previous games have been. I understand that not everyone
- happens to have a few Australian dollars sitting in their cookie jar!
-
- Well, that's the plan, and those are the reasons - The rest is up to you!
-
-
- Distribution of Cruel and
- other boring terms and conditions
-
- The SHAREWARE Version of Cruel may be freely distributed, providing
- this documentation file accompanies the game. Neither the Game or this
- documentation may be altered in any way without the Author's written
- permission. No more than a reasonable fee for copying and distribution
- should be charged for the Shareware Version of Cruel.
-
- Registered Versions of Cruel are provided only to the registered user and are
- not to be copied or distributed under any circumstances, unless prior
- permission has been provided in writing by the Author (after all, a great deal
- of time has gone into writing this game).
-
- The title screen and the "About" screen clearly states whether the game you
- are playing is the shareware version or registered version.
-
-
- The Complete Package
-
- At the time of writing this documentation, six games have been fully completed.
- I intended to produce a package with a minimum of SIX games, however there is
- now the possibility of additional games. If you have some thoughts on
- particular games which you would like to see included in the package, then
- please write to me!
-
-
- Thanks and Credits
-
- My sincere thanks go to the following people:
-
- Therese and James (my wife and son). Without them, these games would not be
- possible.
-
- Andrew Kreibich for his ideas, suggestions, testing, and for some of the code
- (such as the button routine). Some of Andrew's creations include AMASTERMIND,
- EXPELLO, PARATROOPER, LANDSCAPE, IFSGEN, and more. Andrew can be contacted at
- the above address.
-
- Phil Bonner for his encouragement, suggestions, testing and icons.
-
- Cruel is written using AMOS and compiled with the AMOS Compiler, both of which
- are Copyright © Europress. Perhaps I'll be able to upgrade to AMOS Pro soon?
-
- Thank you to all who register.
-
- Hello
-
- A special hello goes to the following people (in no particular order!):
-
- Rene & Ulla Katoll
- Stan Kendall
- Glenn Beare and Nic Wilson
- Richard Evans
-
- Copyright
-
- Cruel is Copyright © 1994 by Perry Rosenboom, as are the card backs and
- the cards themselves (you wouldn't believe how long it took to draw them!).
-
- If you program in AMOS and would like to use the cards that I've designed
- for your own games, then please let me know when you register.
-
- I'm especially open to people who are prepared to send me some of their own
- code! (Thanks Phil B!)
-