Amiga Plus Extra 1996 #3/AmigaPlus_CD-ROM-EXTRA_Nr.3.bin/aminet-spiele/brettspiele/pokerdemo/seahaven rules

Text File | 1990-11-17 | 11KB | 209 lines

SeaHaven Towers is (C) 1989 UnSane Creations. The demo version of
SeaHaven Towers is freely distributable, provided the demo
program, the icon, and this text file are included, and none are
modified.


SeaHaven Towers

Introduction
    Last week you broke into the National Defense Computer
Network.  This week you're putting the finishing touches on your
new revolutionary AI system.  Isn't it time you took a break?
Play SeaHaven Towers, the mindless game for people with minds.
Solitaire like you always wished it could be.
    This is a demo of SeaHaven Towers.  It's a working version
of SeaHaven that only plays four different games.  Try it out, give
it to your friends, this demo is freely distributable.  If you like
it, send your address and $29.95 to UnSane Creations and we'll rush
you SeaHaven Towers.
    This readme file is provided to supplement the online help.
It contains a detailed description of the standard rules and
their variations.  Also included is a section of hints for
beginning SeaHaven players called The Advice Column.  And of
course, what readme file wouldn't be complete without the current
UnSane Creations rumors.

Standard Rules
    For those of you experienced at playing different solitaire
games, here is a quick summary of the rules:  The object of the
game is to separate the deck into its four suits, each in an
ordered stack from ace to king.  The cards are dealt face up into
ten piles, five cards per pile, with the remaining two cards on
two of the four towers.  Only the cards on the towers and the top
card on each of the ten piles can be moved.  Cards of the same
suit can be stacked in descending order.  Any card can be placed
on a tower, and only kings can be placed on empty piles.  For a
more detailed explanation, read on.
    The playing field is divided into three different parts.
The stacks, one for each suit, where the cards are stacked from
ace to king, the towers, temporary holding places for cards, and
the piles, where most of the cards are at the beginning of a
game.
    SeaHaven automatically moves cards to the appropriate stack
as they are freed.  For example, if the ace of spades were on one
of the towers in the beginning of the game, the ace would
automatically move up to begin the spade stack.  Then the two of
spades could move up and cover the ace, assuming it were on a
tower or the top of pile.  This would continue until one of the
cards wasn't free;  for instance if the three of spades were at
the bottom of a pile.  This means that it is theoretically
possible for you to begin a new game and find that you've won
without making a single move, even if winning the lottery is
fourteen times more likely.
    Now you may be lucky, but even an incredibly lucky
person couldn't win more than one game with luck alone.  And
where luck doesn't suffice, skill and strategy must.  To win you
must free the cards of each suit sequentially, aces, then twos,
threes, etc...  There are two operations that help you succeed in
this task.  First, cards of the same suit can be placed on one
another in descending order.  For example, the six of diamonds
can be placed on the seven of diamonds, and the five of diamonds
on the six.  If either the five or six of diamonds were
previously over an ace, that card is now free and will be moved
to begin a stack by the computer.  Second, any card can be placed
on a tower.  For example, imagine the five of hearts covering an
ace. The only way to free the ace, if the six of hearts is not at
the top of a pile, would be to put the five on an empty tower.
The ace would then be free to begin a stack as before.
    Sometimes you will want to move a series of cards.  The only
way to do this is by using the towers.  For example, if you
wanted to place both the six and five of diamonds onto the seven,
you would first have to put the five onto an empty tower, move
the six onto the seven, and then move the five back onto the six.
This becomes tedious very quickly.  Therefore SeaHaven gives you
a shortcut;  it allows you to move both the five and the six
together.  This means that you can only move at most one card
more than the number of empty towers.  With all four towers empty
you can move a maximum of five cards, with three empty towers you
can move four, etc...
    And finally, if during the course of a game you empty a
pile, you can start a new one with a king.  Because kings are the
last cards to go up to the stacks, they often get in the way,
filling towers and covering cards you need.  By putting them on
empty stacks, you start a new pile and put them where they can do
no harm.

Variations
    SeaHaven Towers allows you to change its rules, giving you a
total of forty-eight different variations.  You can change
SeaHaven's rules by selecting Change Rules under the Edit menu.
When you do, you see the following options:

        Cards only go on same suit
        Cards go on same color
        Cards go on any suit

        Move one card at a time
        Move multiple cards together

        Cards count down only
        Cards count up or down

        Only kings may be put on an empty pile
        Any card may be put on an empty pile

        Game starts with 8 piles
        Game starts with 10 piles

You can vary the game's difficulty by changing these options,
making SeaHaven challenging for anyone, from the youngest
novice to the oldest master.
    The first set of options affect how cards are stacked in
piles.  The standard rules only let you stack cards of the same
suit.  Alternately, with the second option you can stack cards of
the same color together, clubs with spades and diamonds with
hearts.  Or with the third option you can stack cards of any suit
on cards of any other;  in other words, cards are stacked by
numerical order only.
    The second set controls card movement.  Normally you can
only move one card at a time, meaning the only way to move a
group of cards is by using one or more of the towers.  Changing
this option enables you to move a group of cards without using
the towers, making it possible for you to move any size group of
cards even if all four towers are filled.
    The third set determines the numerical order in which cards
are stacked.  Standard rules only allow you to stack cards in
descending order, but by changing this option, you can stack
cards in both descending and ascending order.  This means that
both a king and a jack can be placed on a queen, both a queen and
a ten on a jack, etc...
    The fourth set only influences empty piles.  Under standard
rules you can only place kings on empty piles, but by changing
this option you can place any card on an empty pile.
    And finally, the last set of options varies the number of
piles the game starts with.  Normally you start with ten piles of
five cards each and two full towers, but you can start with eight
piles of six cards each and four full towers.

The Advice Column
    1.  If you've never played SeaHaven Towers before, start
with simpler rules.  It takes a few games to get used to
SeaHaven;  it is quite likely that you will lose your first
twenty games with the standard rules.  Two good rules to change
are 'move multiple cards together' and 'any card may be put on an
empty pile.'  If the game is still too hard, change a few more
rules.  The point is to learn to play SeaHaven without getting
frustrated.  After all, aren't games supposed to be fun?
    2.  Keep as many towers free as you can.  A large part of
the game is emptying towers so you can make the moves you need to
win the game.  Cards like kings, queens, and other high cards
tend to remain on the towers for a long time.  Before you place a
card on a tower, find its mate.  Don't put the two of spades on a
tower if the ace of spades is at the bottom of a pile of kings.
This doesn't mean that you can't or even shouldn't do it, just be
aware that you're sacrificing a tower when you do.  Plan your use
of the towers.
    3.  Free the aces and other low cards you can.  When the
computer moves cards up to the stacks, it moves them out of play.
If you can even start one suit, you'll find the game becomes
easier.
    4.  Large sequences of cards can't be moved easily.  At the
very most sequences shouldn't be larger than three or four cards.
Since the only way to move sequences is with the towers and there
are only four towers, any sequence larger than five cards can't
be moved at all.  Consider this example.  The ace of clubs is
covered by the five and four of diamonds.  This would mean that
the four of diamonds couldn't go anywhere other than a tower,
since it is already on the five.  Even if the six of diamonds
were at the top of a pile you couldn't use it, because in moving
the five your must first move the four.  The solution in this
instance is to empty a tower.  But for large sequences there is
no solution, the cards covered are out of play for the rest of
the game.
    5.  Piles with only one card are good starting points for
large sequences.  When a sequence doesn't cover anything, you
don't need to move it and its size doesn't matter.  So before you
remove the last card from a pile, try to start a sequence.  Also
see #6.
    6.  Put your kings on empty piles.  Before you empty a pile,
decide whether it is better for you to start a sequence with the
last card of that pile or a king.  But if you do decide to empty
the pile, put a king there.
    7.  Use Undo.  Use it when you're in trouble.  Use it when
you make a mistake.  But use it, even if you have to Undo to the
start of a game.  Undoing is not cheating.  You can always Redo
an undone move.
    8.  If, in time, SeaHaven becomes too easy, make it harder.
You can start with eight piles instead of ten.  If you use eight
piles, change a couple of the other options as well, otherwise
you may find winning impossible.
    9.  And finally, take the preceding with a grain of salt.
Like many other prominent psychologists, astrologists, and Advice
Columnists, I may not have the slightest idea what I am talking
about.  Use your own judgement.

Rumors
    Many people believe that Steve, SeaHaven's programmer, is
really a two-headed Elvis clone.  He has been known on occasion,
usually after the appropriate number of alcoholic beverages, to
hum Elvis songs.  His taste in clothes tend toward sequins and
gaudy colors.  And of course, there are his heads.  If you wish
to speak to Steve, about SeaHaven, his true identity, or anything
else for that matter, feel free to contact him at [phone]
or write to him c/o:
                    UnSane Creations
                    815 Windingpath Lane
                    Manchester, MO 63021
                    USA