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- ********************************************
- * *
- * A.Green Lizard Productions present *
- * *
- * P O K E R M A N I A V1.0 *
- * *
- * Written by A N D Y G R E E N *
- * *
- * All code, graphics and sounds (c) 1995 *
- * *
- ********************************************
-
-
- *** How to view this document ***
-
- Press the left mouse button to advance a line and the right mouse
- button to return to the title screen.
-
-
- *** System requirements ***
-
- Poker Mania should run on ANY Amiga with at least one meg. of memory.
-
- If you have an external drive (like me), disconnect it to stop the
- annoying clicking of the drive the Amiga does every few seconds to
- test if there is a disk in the drive (make sure your Amiga is turned
- off before you do this though!).
-
- Control is entirely by mouse (both buttons used).
- The ESCAPE key is the only key used - see Pontoon section.
-
- The average playing time is, er, anything from an hour upwards!!
-
- Please also ensure the Poker Mania disk is left in the drive at all
- times whilst playing (for accessing pics).
-
-
- *** POKER MANIA - What is it? ***
-
- 1 Replace the reels of fruit machines with playing cards
- 2 Add fruit machines extras (jackpot, nudges, repeat, etc.)
- 3 Throw in one of many card games (Poker, Pontoon, Higher-Lower, etc.)
- 4 Mix thoroughly, and you have Poker Mania - a game of skill (and luck).
-
- Poker Mania has all these features:-
-
- Poker (ahem), Higher-Lower, Find the Ace, Jackpot, Repeat facility,
- Chase the Ace, Skill Cash, Nudges (yes - nudges!), Cashpots, Random
- bonuses, Pontoon, Gamble facility, and other little extras...
-
-
- *** What's the aim of the game? ***
-
- Whilst fruit machines are infinite, Poker Mania does have a
- distinctive goal. Starting off with one pound, your first aim is to
- attain ONE HUNDRED quid or more by playing Poker and its many sub
- games. If you succeed, you will then be transported to the second
- part; Pontoon, and use your winnings against the computer in the hope
- of accumulating another HUNDRED pounds. Only then will you have
- defeated Poker Mania and declare yourself rich beyond your wildest
- dreams...!
-
- >>> Playing Poker
-
- Poker is played with one complete pack of fifty-two cards that are
- shuffled. Having placed your stakes from a minimum of ten pence to a
- maximum of one pound (if you have it!), you will then be dealt five
- cards. The object is then to exchange any number of your cards for new
- ones in the hope of obtaining the highest winning combination shown
- below. If you are lucky, you will then be paid the stakes placed,
- times whatever the the odds are for that particular win.
-
- For example; The odds for Four of a Kind are 20 to 1. If you placed
- stakes of 80p, then the payout would be; Stakes X Odds = Winnings.
- In this case, you would win £16.00!
-
- >>> Winning combinations (in descending order of rank)
-
- No Hand Description/Example Odds
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- 1 Royal Straight Flush Five cards in sequence of the same
- suit and headed by an Ace only, ie 20 - 1
- Ace King Queen Jack 10 of Clubs
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- 2 Straight Flush Five cards in sequence of the same
- suit but NOT headed by an Ace, ie 15 - 1
- 9 8 7 6 5 of Diamonds, etc.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- 3 Four of a Kind Four cards of the same value regardless
- of what the fifth card is, ie 10 - 1
- 2 2 2 2, 10 10 10 10, etc.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- 4 Full House Three cards of one denomination and
- two of another, ie 8 - 1
- K K K 10 10, A A 4 4 4, etc.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- 5 Flush Five cards of the same suit but not
- in sequence (order), ie 6 - 1
- A 7 3 K J of Spades, etc.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- 6 Straight (or run) Five cards in sequence regardless
- of suit, ie 2 of Diamond, 3 of Spade, 5 - 1
- 4 Spade, 5 Club, 6 Club
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- 7 Three of a kind Three cards of the same value providing
- (sometimes called the other two cards are not equal, ie 4 - 1
- a prial) Three Kings, Three Fours, etc.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- 8 Two Pair Two cards of one denomination and two
- of another, ie 3 - 1
- Two Fours and Two Queens, etc.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- All winnings on the above combinations are automatically transferred
- to your bank and are safe(!). You will then be given the chance to
- win extra money in a sub game.
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- 9 Pair Two cards of the same value, ie
- Two Kings, Two Threes, etc. ? - 1
-
- If you should obtain a pair, which will be quite often, you will enter
- a cash gamble zone. Use your skill (and luck) to determine how much
- you will win by Gambling your way up the scale. If your feeling
- unlucky (or scared), selecting Collect will reward you with the amount
- shown by the fixed Joker. Earn yourself a bonus if you reach the
- top...
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- >>> Placing Stakes
-
- Rather than opt for the simple `10p a go' type of thing, I decided
- to implement the Stakes features, which allows you to place bets from
- ten pence to a maximum of one pound.
-
- Stakes are placed at the beginning of each new round, and it's a
- simple case of using the Up and Down buttons to raise or lower this
- amount, then pressing Start when satisfied. Your Stakes will then be
- deducted from your cash accordingly.
-
- Stakes have an effect on many areas of Poker Mania. Apart from the
- Odds payout on winning hands, it can also determine how hard or fast
- a sub game will be. It's up to you to balance between placing high
- stakes and playing hard sub games (but winning loadsa cash), or lower
- stakes and marginally easier games (winning not so loadsa cash).
-
- Bear in mind that you will only have reached your first goal (getting
- over a hundred quid) if this amount is in the BANK, so constantly
- placing high stakes will rapidly reduce your chances of getting
- anywhere near this goal!
-
- >>> Using Nudges
-
- Now I know what you are all thinking, "How the hell can you have
- nudges in a card game??? It won't work!". Well, surprise surprise, it
- does work, and there's quite a lot of skill involved as well!
-
- Nudges become available only when you didn't have a winning hand. It
- doesn't come up very often, but when it does, that loser of a hand
- could be turned into Three of a Kind, or even a high Straight!
-
- If you're fortunate enough to get nudges, you must first determine the
- exact number you will get (1 to 5) by hitting the STOP button. When
- your cards are redisplayed, select the card you wish to nudge (by
- pressing the corresponding hold button), then hitting the Up or Down
- arrow. So if you `nudged' a card up, a Six of Clubs for example,
- this will be replaced with a Seven of Clubs, and vice-versa.
-
- Note that you are not restricted to just one suit, if a card was an
- Ace of Clubs; nudging this card down will turn it into a King of
- Spades (see the information line on screen for suit orders).
-
- Remember though, you can only nudge a card up or down PROVIDING you do
- not already have the next card in your hand! For example, your hand
- consists of the following:-
-
- 4 of Spades, 5 of Spades, King of Diamonds, 8 of Clubs, 2 of Clubs
-
- You couldn't have a pair of fours or fives because nudging the four of
- Spades up or the 5 of Spades down will inform you that "You already
- have that card!" and the card held will flash. So please bear this in
- mind. In other words, duplicate cards are NOT allowed! This is where
- careful planning is required before you proceed nudging!
-
- During nudges, if you think you have a winning line, oops, I mean
- hand, then press Start and you will paid accordingly. If you selected
- the wrong card to nudge, then selecting Cancel will reactivate the
- Hold buttons.
-
- So there you have it, it may seem strange, but once you've used it a
- few times, you'll find it a real bonus!
-
-
- *** SUB GAMES in Poker Mania ***
-
- You can only enter a sub game if you have a winning hand. Sub games
- have varying degrees of skill and luck involved. Some are hard but
- rewarding, while others simply bump up your bank slowly.
-
- As above (using Stakes), these can affect the final payouts, or level
- of difficulty, so eventually you will know which ones to avoid or
- play.
-
- Higher-Lower - Guess whether the next card in sequence will be
- higher or lower than the previous. You'll only win
- if you get all five cards correctly. Ace counts
- as high or low.
-
- Find the Ace - Briefly; be VERY quick or you'll regret hanging
- about. If you find the Ace, your winnings will
- be based on your reaction speed.
-
- Chase the Ace - Kerboom!
-
- Skill cash - Stop on a winner...
-
- Cash accumulator - Hard but very rewarding...
-
- Hey, I'm giving too much away here! Play these for yourself!!
-
- When you have over fifty pounds in the bank, you may get the option
- to select a sub game yourself...
-
- *** Repeat facility ***
-
- Occasionally, after playing a sub game, and depending on the outcome,
- the repeat facility will be activated. All ya gotta do is time when
- to hit Stop, and hope the rapidly moving Joker will stop on YES.
-
- Oh, watch out for the Bank Zapper...
-
-
- *** PONTOON ***
-
- Right, you've finally succeeded in winning over a hundred pounds,
- so er, congratulations! You'll now play Pontoon where you'll gamble
- your winnings against the computer in the hope of accumulating ANOTHER
- hundred pounds (again, this must be in the bank) and beating Poker
- Mania! If you don't succeed (and the computer plays a mean game),
- you'll return to Poker with any money you have left in the bank and
- resort to trying again!
-
- >>> Using Stakes / Winning
-
- Stakes in Pontoon are played a bit like Poker except you can have a
- maximum of four quid (see below)! This is deducted from your available
- cash and entered into a `cashpot'. Again, the Stakes placed determine
- how much you will be paid (assuming you win).
-
- The payout is as follows:
-
- Pontoon - Cashpot times Four
-
- Five card Trick - Cashpot times Three
-
- Normal win bonus - Cashpot times Two
-
- Dealer wins - Cashpot deducted from your BANK (assuming you've
- any!)
-
- No one wins - Cashpot carried forward to next round
-
-
- >>> How to play
-
- The object of Pontoon is simply to secure a combination of two or more
- cards totalling 21 or less (16 minimum). The Ace in Pontoon can count
- as either 1 or 11, and each court card (Jack, Queen, King), counts as
- 10. All the other cards carry their own values.
-
- Pontoon is played as follows:-
-
- The dealer deals to you your first card. Depending on its value or
- your chances of getting Pontoon, you will then place your stakes from
- a minimum of 10p to a £1.00. So if you get an Ace, 10, or a court
- card (Jack, Queen, King), as your first card, you would be advised to
- place maximum stakes (but I'll leave that up to you).
-
- Right, you've placed your stakes, so, after pressing START, your
- stake money is deducted accordingly and is entered into the Cashpot.
- You are then dealt your second card. If you get Pontoon at this point
- then you can relax as your turn has now ended and its now the dealers
- go. Otherwise, you can now choose whether to Buy, Twist, or Stick
- (stand).
-
- If you choose to Stick (stand), and providing your cards add up to
- sixteen or more, your turn will end and it is now the dealers go to
- try and equal or better your hand.
-
- Twisting simply deals you another card at no cost, making no effect on
- the cashpot.
-
- Buying allows you to place more stakes (providing you have the
- money!), and effectively buy the next card dealt to you. This will
- in turn increase the cashpot and the final amount paid out.
-
- For every card you buy, the maximum stakes are increased by one pound,
- ie the first card is £1.00 max, the second is £2.00 and so on up to
- £4.00. Bear in mind that if you did buy and bet the maximum on each
- card, it would cost you £10.00 just for one round!. But, if you DID
- win on say a five card trick, you would win the total cashpot £10 x 3!
- ...So bet wisely!
-
- Please also note that it is always in the dealers favour to win if
- both yours and the computers cards add up to the same value!
-
- Don't despair if you keep losing! Remember to place LOW stakes if you
- think you're gonna lose and twist (not buy) the next cards.
-
- Don't expect to defeat it on your first go, patient is a necessity!
- Having loads of money before playing Pontoon does NOT necessarily
- increase your chances of beating Poker Mania!
-
- For those who think the computer is a little unfair, or you're unsure
- of what hand beats what, here's a breakdown:-
-
-
- Player Dealer Who wins
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------
- Pontoon Pontoon Dealer
- Pontoon Normal score Player
- Pontoon Five card trick Player
- Pontoon Bust Player
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Normal score Pontoon Dealer
- Normal score Normal score Highest score/Dealer if equal
- Normal score Five card trick Dealer
- Normal score Bust Player
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Five card trick Pontoon Dealer
- Five card trick Normal score Player
- Five card trick Five card trick Highest score/Dealer if equal
- Five card trick Bust Player
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Bust Pontoon Dealer
- Bust Normal score Dealer
- Bust Five card trick Dealer
- Bust Bust Cashpot carried forward
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
- NOTE: If you think you will not be able to acquire a hundred pounds
- in the bank and have insufficient cash (dosh) to do so, pressing ESCAPE
- when the message "Select Stakes then press Start!" appears will abort
- Pontoon and return you back to Poker, collecting any winnings on the
- way.
-
-
- *** You've completed POKER MANIA???!!!! ***
-
- If you DO win the required hundred pounds in the bank, make a note of
- the final amount won (try and beat it another time), sit back,
- view the end piccy, and listen to my rather crap music composition
- entitled `World Revolution' (at least I'm honest!).
-
- Due to the music module eliminating the data files in memory, you will
- be required to reset your Amiga to play another game - sorry!
-
-
- That's all the instructions... play and enjoy!
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- *** TECHNICAL BLURB ***
-
- >>> My set up
-
- One Amiga 500 1.3 (was 1.2) with 1 meg which I've had since '86, with
- a Cumana external drive. This is connected to a CM8533 colour monitor.
- Sound outputs through a well old (but wicked) Sanyo C5 carrying compo.
- Endless program listings was printed through my trusty Star LC-200
- colour printer. I also now have a A1200.
-
- Other bits include a couldn't-do-without Amiga Action Replay MKIII
- and Microdeals sampler cartridge.
-
- >>> Poker Mania Code
-
- Poker Mania was programmed (as if you hadn't guessed!) entirely in AMOS
- Professional V2, and then compiled using AMOS Professional Compiler.
- Although I have been programming in BASIC since the ZX81/Spectrum days,
- this is my first completed project and took roughly four months from
- start to finish.
-
- The actual AMOS source code (contact me if you want to see it!)
- consists of some 1814 lines and 2330 instructions, and is over 62294
- bytes long. The sprites, sounds and playing cards is 186128 bytes long.
-
- >>> Graphics
-
- ALL graphics and pictures were drawn entirely in Deluxe Paint III.
-
- Playing cards:-
-
- Each suit has its own IFF 32 colour screen (making four in total), with
- each card being a massive 56 x 82 in size! These were then grabbed
- using the AMOS Pro Object Editor and saved as a BOB bank. Since this
- ended up being a large file and only five cards were displayed on
- screen at any one time I decided to implement the Squashed Bob
- Procedure (found on AMOS Pro Productivity Disk Two). This neat
- routine compacts all the bobs into a fraction of the original space.
- When a card was needed, the PBOB procedure simply unpacked it back
- into a hidden screen and grabbed as a BOB, ready for use!
-
- These took three days to draw the complete set.
-
- Buttons:-
-
- These are held on one IFF 64 colour screen. Originally Poker Mania
- was to be in 32 colour mode but I wanted to give the flashing buttons
- a more `on' look, so I took advantage of the computers Half Bright
- mode. I think you'll agree the buttons look much more convincing!
-
- Pictures:-
-
- The GLP logo is drawn in 64 colour mode. This lizard was originally
- intended for a graphic maze adventure game I had written called
- Dracula's Tomb, which never materialised. The lizard on its own took
- about three days to do and was copied from an illustration by Malcolm
- Barter (from the Forest of Doom book) - hope ya don't mind!
-
- The title pic is in 16 colours, the main game in 64 (see below), and
- all the mid and end screen in 32. These took roughly a week.
-
- The main game screen took around another two days and many more hours
- twiddling with bits and bobs (I'm a right fussy git!) to give it a
- realistic look(!) and is in 64 colours. Another 48 colours make up
- the rainbows behind the playing cards and the information line -
- a total of 112 colours on screen!
-
- >>> Sounds
-
- All samples were edited in OctaMED Professional V3 (CU coverdisk
- version - by Tenijo Tinnunen of Amiganuts). Samples were taken from
- Soundtracker disks supplied from 17 Bit Software (who provide a
- blindingly fast mail service - well done!).
-
- Those fortunate enough to have stereo linkup (like me), you'll notice
- that samples are played according to button positions. ie, press the
- far left hold button, and the sample will be played out the left
- speaker; press the middle button, and the sample will play out of both
- speakers!! (Just thought I'd mention it...)
-
- >>> Fonts (text)
-
- The fonts were created using the RSI Font Editor (again supplied by
- 17-bit) and took roughly an hour to do. There are two fonts; one for
- the information line (large text and numbers), and the other for the
- credits (cash, stakes, bank - small numbers).
-
- >>> Music
-
- The only music in Poker Mania is when you have finally completed it.
- This is due to vast amount of memory being taken up by the playing
- card graphics. Parts of it may sound `out of tune' to you, as
- I'm tone-deaf and wear hearing aids, I think you'll forgive me!
- (note: you'll need to reset your Amiga if you do complete Poker Mania
- in order to reload all the data files - sorry about this!).
-
- >>> Other programs
-
- Although Poker Mania is my first complete project, I have written
- loads of other stuff that has either been abandoned, or were just
- simple programming teaching exercises:-
-
- 1) A Wordsearch program that allows you to set up a random or definable
- grid using your own wordsearch lists or play the ones already made.
- You can have a maximum of 40 words played on a 18 x 18 grid. Of
- course, you can also save and load these grids via the pull down
- menus. I didn't release this purely because the screen was in
- hi res mode and would become a strain on the eyes. Also, complex
- grids (with long words) took a while to generate (up to five
- minutes, even with the fast Compiler!)
-
- 2) Dracula's Tomb - (A maze adventure) The code and basic graphics
- (control interface and 3D rooms) are there, but I really want a
- random maze generator (20 x 20 and increasing in size for each
- level).
-
- 3) For pure family entertainment I've written a couple of basic
- compendium type games with crude graphics. These are;
-
- Conundrums (for two players); one player enters a word, the
- computer jumbles it up, and the other player has to guess what
- it is within a time limit.
-
- Noughts and Crosses (for 1 or 2 players); played on the ol'
- standard 3 x 3 (but extremely large) grid. There are two levels
- of difficulty against the computer played over a chosen number of
- rounds.
-
- Hangman (for 1 or 2 players), the code and the control interface
- (no typing in this version) there, but as there were already several
- other Hangman games already out on the PD circuit, so yep, I quit.
-
-
- >>> Reference Books
-
- The Pan Book of Card Games by Hubert Phillips
-
- Amiga Game Maker's Manual by Stephen Hill
-
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- *** Contact me!! ***
-
- That about wraps it up for now. Please, Please contact me as to any
- bugs (no ones perfect!), improvements, ideas, etc. Don't be scared to
- tell me if you didn't like Poker Mania, or you think there's room for
- improvement, because, after all, this IS my first complete game and
- without your views I just won't know if you'd like to see more
- projects!!
-
- As of 03/02/95, I am currently unemployed (I'm 26 years of age and
- skint) and as getting a job is like trying to find a needle in a
- haystack, I decided to write this game. So, if anyone requires
- help with AMOS Pro or coding, or needs graphics/sounds, I can't exactly
- say I haven't got the time to help you out, can I??! All letters will
- be personally answered by me.
-
- Here's my address:
-
- Andy Green
- 37 Charlecote Road
- (off Wood Lane)
- Dagenham
- Essex RM8 3LD
-
- Telephone:- 081-517 0294
-
- PS Has anyone got a copy of Spindizzy Worlds? I played the original
- Spectrum Spindizzy years ago and loved it! I know it's not available
- in the shops anymore but if anyone is willing to part with their copy,
- I'll pay you handsomely (with what money I have - providing its in
- good nick)!
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- End of text - press the right mouse button to return to title screen
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
- Greetings and thanks to Chellie, Gemma, Gary, Kelly, Sandra, mum and dad
- and everyone else I know...
-
-
-
-
-
-
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-