I wrote Lembracs for two reasons: 1. I really like word games, and 2. I really need the money. It is NOT in the public domain, and I expect payment if you’ve tried the game and plan to use it. I’m asking $10.00 for it.
The Game
Lembracs—you don’t have to be real clever to see that’s a kind-of messed-up way to spell “scramble”—is a scrambled-word game for up to four players. It gives you a jumbled word and you must put the letters in the right order. You have a choice of words from three through eight letters long. There is a timer to make the game more interesting.
NOTE: Lembracs has a vocabulary of 1200 words—200 of each length—stored in its resource file. Those who know how to use ResEdit can modify or add words by changing the ‘STR#’ resources of the game. Make sure you know what you’re doing, though! ResEdit is not for the casual user. You could ruin the whole game very easily. The default vocabulary will probably be enough to challenge most players.
Playing Lembracs
The first thing to do when starting Lembracs select “Get Players…” from the File menu. A window will pop up with spaces for the names of up to four players. Enter the names of the participants and either click the “Ok” button or press Return. (NOTE: Nothing in the window will respond to mouse clicks until players are named.) The window will disappear, and the names will appear in the name spaces across the top of the Lembracs window.
Lembracs will automatically choose who goes first by randomly ordering the players’ names. The name of the first player will appear in the upper, left-hand name space, the second, below it, the third, at the top of the second column of spaces, and the third, below that. The space of the current player will be inverted to show whose turn it is.
To the right of each name space is a space for the player’s score. These will be set to 0 (zero) initially.
If you want to use the timer, make sure the “Timer On” option of the Options menu has a checkmark to its left. If not, select it.
Make sure the word length you want is checked in the “Word Length” menu BEFORE the play; otherwise, you’ll be given a word of whatever length the the previous player had.
To get a word to unscramble, you press the “Go” button. Letters will appear in the top row of tile “platforms” (just below the buttons). If the timer was turned on, it will begin counting down. You will have one minute to finish the play. Incidently, you can pause the timer just by clicking on it. Clicking it again restarts it.
You click and drag tiles from the top row of tile platforms to the bottom row, arranging them in proper order as you go. IMPORTANT: The unscrambled word must start at the leftmost tile platform on the bottom row.
When you are satisfied that you have correctly unscrambled the word, click the “Score” button. A score of 100 points will be awarded for every letter in the correct position. An additional 100 points per letter will be given if all letters are correct. If the timer is used, an amount equal to the word length times the number of seconds remaining on the timer at the completion of the play will be added to the score. Thus, higher scores can be achieved by using the timer and unscrambling longer words. If all letters are not correct, a window will appear with tiles spelling out the correct word. (Click it to get rid of it.)
Sometimes, you might make a word which is an anagram of the one Lembracs is looking for. If, for instance, you are given the letters A-R-P-T, three different words might be formed, PART, PRAT, or TARP. If Lembracs expects PART, but you play TARP, a message will appear asking if the word you played is valid. All players should agree that it is before the “Yes” button is clicked. If it is, you will be given full credit for the word. However, if the you are given P-R-A-T, which is itself a word, and you play PRAT, your word will be counted incorrect. (You will still be given credit for any letters which might be in the right places.) IMPORTANT: The letters Lembracs gives you to unscramble are NEVER in the right order.
If the timer is being used, running out of time is like pressing the “Score” button.
When the last player plays the last turn of the game—you are given 10 turns—, a “Game Over” message appears. (Click it to get rid of it.) Further play will not be permitted.
To start a new game, either select “New Game” or “New Game, Same Players” from the File menu. With “New Game,” you will then have to choose “Get Players…” again and reenter players’ names. With “New Game, Same Players,” the names of the previous games players are kept, but placed in the name spaces in a new random order.
You can turn the sound on or off using the “Sound” option of the Options menu. Choosing “Print Game” from the File menu prints out the Lembracs window. Make sure your printer is on before selecting it.
The name of the highest scorer and his score are automatically saved in Lembracs’ resource file. You can see them by choosing “High Score…” from the Options menu.
The Edit menu is not used by Lembracs. It’s there for desk accessories.
When you quit Lembracs—by choosing “Quit” from the File menu—the word length and sound and timer settings are all saved for the next session.
That’s it! Lembracs is a simple game, but I think you’ll find it entertaining and even educational. If you do, you should register it. For most people, the effort of writing out a check and sending it off is a greater bother than the burden of the cost itself. Still, it’s the right thing to do.
When you write, tell me how I can improve the game. If there are problems, tell me that as well. If a problem with Lembracs keeps you from registering, at least send me a note saying what it is. I would really appreciate it.
Lembracs was developed on a stock Mac Plus with a meg of RAM using TML Pascal II. Compatiblilty with other machines is uncertain. I’d like some feedback on that.
Please pass Lembracs along to other Mac users. All I ask is that you emphasize that it is not free. Distributors: You may bundle Lembracs with other shareware, even if the packages are sold, as long as is is not altered in any way. I DO NOT give permission to include this game with commercial software. Contact me first about that.
