Loadstar 22/022.d81/t.ginny 64

Text File | 1986-01-01 | 6.1 KB | 386 lines

             GINNY64
                by
          Royal C. Jones


  GINNY64 is a computerized card game

that's ready to provide a spirited

game of gin rummy anytime you're up

for a challenge.  But don't be fooled

by the innocent-sounding name or be

lulled by its slick graphics.  You

must approach GINNY64 with the same

strategic sense as you would any

human opponent.


  Or you'll get beat.  Badly.  Take

it from some folks that know.

A SPECIAL GIN RUMMY PRIMER


  Gin rummy itself, of course, has

been a favorite card game for years.

But if you've recently emmigrated

from the Betelgeuse region, here's a

quick rundown of the rules:


  The dealer deals the opponent

eleven cards, himself ten, and puts

the deck facedown on the table.  The

opponent, however, promptly addresses

this inequity by discarding a card

faceup.  The dealer then must pick up

a card from either the discard pile or

the deck.  He must then discard a

card faceup onto the discard pile.


  The object of all this

redistribution is to make the cards

in your hand belong to a "match".  A

match consists of at least three

cards and not more than five cards of

the same rank or in a sequence of

the suit.  (Aces are always low

cards, never adjacent to kings.)


  When it is your turn and all but

one card fits into a match, you

discard that card and declare gin.

You get 25 points plus the value of

your opponent's unmatched cards.

(Aces are worth one point, face cards

ten, and all others pip value.)


  You also have another option of

scoring points.  If you are close to

going gin but are afraid that your

opponent will beat you to the punch,

you may declare a "knock" if your

total in unmatched cards is less than

ten.


  A player that knocks scores the

difference in unmatched cards.  For

example, if your total in unmatched

cards was nine, and your opponent's

twenty, you would score eleven

points.


  But you must be careful-- if your

opponent actually has fewer or the

same number of unmatched cards as you

when you knock, he gets the

difference in unmatched cards plus a

bonus of 25 points for the undercut.


  Playing the computer, some hands

will inevitably produce no gins or

knocks before the deck has been

exhausted.  These hands are voided

and play resumes.  The winner of each

hand is the dealer if the next.  As in

all games of gin rummy, the first

player that reaches 100 points wins

the game.


BACK TO GINNY64

  Now that you have the basics of gin

rummy, competing against GINNY64

should be simple.  But what computer

game wouldn't have some added

features you can play with?


  The first screen gives you the

option of dealing first (Y), letting

Ginny go first (N), or lettng the

computer pick at random (R).

Remember that the non-dealer plays

first.


  The second option is between having

a random deal (Y) or a stacked deck

(N).  If you choose to stack the

deck, you will be prompted for a

sequence number that you have used

before.  Or, if you want to repeat a

sequence of cards from the previous

game when there has been no power

down, hit RETURN.  The sequence will

be repeated whether or not it was

originally chosen at random or not.


  This option is designed not so much

to let you cheat, but rather to

equalize conditions of play.  For

example, if you have just beat Ginny

when you had first deal, you can

prove it was not just a fluke by

repeating the sequence and giving the

computer first deal.  In effect, you

have just traded beginning hands.

PLAYING WITH GINNY64


  The actual playing screen consists

of fifteen spaces, filled with as

many as eleven cards (the extra

spaces make rearranging easier.)  To

one side there are the "upcard" pile

and "stock" card deck.  When it is

your turn, you may get the upturned

card by hitting "U", or the stock

card by hitting "S".  The card takes

its place on the screen according to

where the cursor was when these

letters were hit.  The cursor is

moved by the arrow keys.


  After the choice is made, the next

screen then gives you the options of

(M)OVE, (D)ISCARD, (K)NOCK, or (G)IN.

The MOVE option lets you move your

cards so that they form a match.

This is done by moving the cursor to

the card you want moved and pressing

"M", then moving the cursor to the

desired space and pressing RETURN.


  To discard a card, simply move the

cursor to that card and hit "D".  To

knock or go gin, merely hit "K" or

"G".  Note that most knocks or gins

involve a discard-- make sure the

cursor is positioned by the card you

want discarded before knocking or

going gin.


  If you knock or declare gin

inappropriately, you will merely get

an error message and not be

penalized.


  In order for your matches to be

recognized they must follow these

rules:

1. A match cannot occupy more than a
   single row of five positions.

2. Matching cards may share a row
   with unmatched cards but should
   not be separated by them.

3. Sequences must run from low card
   to high, left to right.

4. In the rare cases of ambiguity,
   the match to the left is the one
   considered.

5. Empty positions are of no
   consequence.


SCORING

  If Ginny goes gin, the computer

will display her matches and display

the point value of the unmatched

cards you have in your hand.  If the

the gin occured before you had a

chance to construct your matches, you

can rearrange your hand at this time

to lower Ginny's score.


  If Ginny has knocked against you,

you have the opportunity of "laying

off" cards on its hand-- in other

words, combining your unmatched cards

with Ginny's matches to lower the

count.  To do this, position the

cursor on the card you want to lay

off and hit "L".  Then position the

cursor in Ginny's hand and hit

RETURN.


  As in traditional gin rummy, the

first player to score more than 100

points wins the game. GINNY64 awards

a line bonus of 25 points for each

hand won, but this bonus does not

count towards the 100 points required

to win the game.  Winning the game

entails a 100 point bonus.  All

scores are doubled if the opponent

scores no points.

FILES REQUIRED:

GINNY 64

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