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.NULL.
.NF
TRIVIA 2000
TAK Theory
.P 0
.HEADER/{{TRIVIA 2000/(C) TAK Theory/Page#}}/
.E
0.0 CONTENTS
0.0 CONTENTS Page 2
0.1 Acknowledgements.
0.2 Dedication.
1.0 INTRODUCTION Page 5
1.1 What is Trivial Pursuit?
1.2 What is TRIVIA 2000?
1.3 What is "TAK Theory"?
2.0 START UP Page 9
2.1 What you MUST have to begin.
2.2 What you SHOULD have to begin.
3.0 PLAYING Page 12
3.1 New or old (frozen) game.
3.2 Number of pies needed to win.
3.3 Setting the number of players.
3.4 Entering player names.
3.5 Setting game default values.
3.6 The play.
4.0 CHANGES Page 21
4.1 Game value editor.
4.11 Spelling errors.
4.12 Delay.
4.13 Nbr of pies needed to win.
4.14 Border color (palette).
4.15 Nbr of answer retries.
4.16 Sound.
4.17 Exit game editor.
4.2 Score editor.
4.21 Win pies.
4.22 Turns.
4.23 Player names.
4.24 Correct answers.
4.25 Retries.
4.26 Overrides.
4.27 Exit score editor.
5.0 QUESTIONS Page 37
5.1 Miscellanious
9.0 FORMS Page xx
.E
0.1 Acknowledgements
IBM is a trademark of the International
Business Machine Corporation.
TRIVIAL PURSUIT is a trademark of the Selchow & Righter
Company.
TRIVIA 2000 is a a copyrighted software product of
TAK Theory.
.E
0.2 Dedication
To Linda Maxwell, wherever she may be.
.E
1.0 INTRODUCTION
.E
1.1 What is Trivial Pursuit?
Trivial Pursuit is an excellent board game marketed by
the Selchow & Righter company, the object being to correctly
answer trivia questions for an accumulation of "pies", or
points. The game is an exciting one, and it can go on for
hours depending on the players. It is a "subject" game which
spans the world geographically, touching almost every country
and covers time from biblical days to the present. The
questions are so great in number that there is almose no chance
of repeating a question during the span of many games. Of
course this is further intricated by six different catagories
of subjects per edition. One edition is provided with the
game, and addition editions can obtained.
The game seems to be enjoyed (or at least, played) the most
by "Yuppies", though it seems always well played by elderly
people due to their accumulated experience. And of course
this is complimented by their ability to recall insignificant
facts (trivia).
1.2 What is TRIVIA 2000?
Trivia 2000 is an attempt by TAK Theory to simulate the
board game of Trivial Pursuit on the IBM Personal Computer
and compatables.
The idea of Trivial Pursuit on a personnal computer was a
natural one. Since the game of Trivial Pursuit seems to be
associated with "Yuppies", and "Yuppies" seem to be associated
with personnal computers, TRIVIA 2000 was born.
By the way, TAK Theory fully recognizes the inventors, designers,
the authors and the marketers as being the creators of Trivial
Pursuit. TAK Theory in no way means to take any credit away from
these fine folks. TAK Theory only wishes credit for the trans-
lation and eventual merging of this fine product with the
computer.
This personal computer simulation variation has all the aspects
of the original board game, plus enhancements over and above
its predecessor. Placing the game on a personal computer
combines high tech with game excitement to put players right
into the computer age.
Added features are things like the ability to "freeze" games,
[in case you do not finish one you wish to restart at a later
date], play with less that 2 players [one player can play
the game alone], have the ability to make almost any change
in the middle of the game, and other niceties.
The ability to "freeze" games as mentioned above allows a
certain mobility. That is, a game may be transfered from one
computer to another, via a floppy disc. A floppy disc is
much easier to carry around than the board game! And a game
may be stopped and restarted after lunch, or after a nights
sleep, or after the weekend camping trip, or after the next
full moon, or after...
The ability to play the game with from one to six players
adds a twist not found in the board game. When one might not
be able to find a partner to stay up late one night and play,
that person may play him/herself, as in a game of solitare.
Having the computer keep score and interagate a players answer
to a question relieves the players of the task. Of course, the
players can determin things like how many spelling errors to
allow within an answer and how many retries [if any] to allow
all the players. And these things can be changed at any time
during an on-going game or stored in a frozen game.
Having the computer maintain the score eliminates the needed
for tangable pies [they could get lost, then what would you
use]? The score and other game statistics can be accesses
[displayed] when needed and/or saved/retrieved in/from a frozen
game. The other game statistics are information like how many
turns, how many answer retries and how many overrides for each
player. Also things like how many pies needed to win, how
many spelling errors allow within answers required to get the
question correct, computer responce time delay and even back-
ground color are stored along with begin changable and freez-
able. The computer will notify the players when there is a
winner, and offer to stop, freeze or continue the game for the
remaining players.
The players can choose how many retries to allow all players
in case their answer is wrong. This can be changed at any
time.
The players can choose to override the computers decision of
a wrong answer. In fact, an answer may be correct, yet found
to be wrong by the computer just by nature of how it is keyed
in.
If the players want to finish the game, but do not have the
time needed, they may change the number of pies needed to win.
This number may be from 1 to 6 pies, but never less than the
number of pies of the leading player.
Other options are discussed later in their appropriate section.
.E
1.3 What is "TAK Theory"?
"TAK Theory" is an organization dedicated to the production of
thought initiating software.
.E
2.0 START UP
.E
2.1 What you MUST have to begin.
You must have an IBM Personal Computer, or compatable with at
least 1 Double Sided, Double Density [DS/DD] floppy disc drive,
64k RAM, a monitor, keyboard, and a minimum of MS-DOS 2.1.
The game was developed on DOS 2.1 and later upgraded to handle
later versions of DOS. The current version will run on DOS 3.0.
If you have two floppy disc drives, place your DOS diskette [or
one containing COMMAND.COM] in drive A:, and the Trivia
2000 game diskette in drive B:. TAK Theory requires that
COMMAND.COM to be available in drive A: when the game terminates
[regardless of what the default drive is]. Be sure to always
use a working copy of TRIVIA 2000 instead of the master diskette.
Should you only have one drive, put a copy of TAK Theory's
Trivia 2000 and a copy of COMMAND.COM on a single diskette,
and place in drive A:.
TAK Theory recommends DOS 3.0, and of course any computing is more
interesting with a color monitor!
Once you are satisfied that you have all of these things, we
are satisfied too...so after a boot, type B:TRIV2000 and the
test will begin!
.E
2.2 What you SHOULD have to begin.
A legitimate copy of Trivia 2000, both the master copy
and a working copy for live use.
A complete copy of these instructions.
A general knowledge of personal computers, specifically the
IBM PC or compatable.
If you have an IBM PC rather than a compatable, you're in luck!
The game is designed to driven totally by function keys [except
when actually keying in an answer to a question]. And IBM has
convienently placed all the function keys on the left side of
the keyboard, making them all accessable to your left hand
without having to pick it up. You will notice when the game
is brought up that the function keys are labelled on the
screen in the same format as they are layed out on the key-
board for your convienence. When the player's hand is placed
on the function keys, he/she may play the game without having
to continually glance down at the keyboard.
One additional note. TAK Theory recomends that you always set the
system clock when booting up the machine. This will insure
a correct date is assigned to your freeze games [should you
ever have any]. This will cause the computer to keep track
of when the freeze game was actually frozen, instead of your
own memory. Also the title block date will be up-to-date.
.E
3.0 PLAYING
.E
3.1 New or old (frozen) game.
If this is a new game, it is not frozen. A frozen game refers
to a previous game that was saved to disc prior to shutting
down the computer. The "NEW" option should be used.
If this, however, is a game that is to be continued from a
previous day, you should choose the "FROZEN" option. You will
be prompted for the name of the frozen game, so the game knows
which one you want to continue. This is the name of a previous
game that you were prompted for [and the computer assigned] at
an earlyer date. Of course you can re-freeze this game again
and again as many times as you wish.
Should you enter a frozen game name that does not reside on
the diskette, or you mis-type the name, you will be told that
the frozen game could not be found. Exit the game and enter
a d>DIR to get a directory of all your frozen games.
The NEW or FROZEN game as discussed above is the first
prompt prior to game execution. Use the Function keys F1 for
a new game, or F2 for a frozen game. A new game starts with
game defaults and all player scores of zero. A frozen game
starts with the frozen values of the previous game and all
previous scores (including pie space positioning).
F1 " NEW ". A new game starts with game defaults,
including all player scores of zero.
F2 " FROZEN ". A frozen game starts with the frozen
values and scores of that game that was
frozen.
.E
3.2 Number of pies needed to win.
A game can be played with from 1 to six pies needed to win the
game. Select the Function key of the number of pies you desire.
If you selected the "FROZEN" game option, the number of pies
has already been decided based on that game. Thus, you will
not be prompted for the number of pies needed to win.
.E
3.3 Setting the number of players.
A game can be played with from 1 to six players. This is the
next prompt after selecting a 'NEW' game. Select the Function
key of the number of players you desire.
F1 " 1 ". One player.
F2 " 2 ". Two players.
F3 " 3 ". Three players.
F4 " 4 ". Four players.
F5 " 5 ". Five players.
F6 " 6 ". Six players.
If you selected the "FROZEN" game option, the number of players
has already been decided based on that game. Thus, you will
not be prompted for the number of players.
.E
3.4 Entering player names.
If this is a new game and you were prompted for the number of
game players, you will also be asked if you want to enter the
names of players or not. Use the Function keys to answer yes
or no to this question.
F1 " yes ". You will be asked to key in the player
names (however many you selected) at
the bottom of the screen. These names
will be remembered throughout the game
and even frozen if desired. These names
may be changed using the score editor to
be discussed in a later section.
F2 " no ". You will not be asked to enter player
names. The game will assign player
designators as 'Player 1', 'Player 2',
etc. Again, these can be changed using
the score editor to be discussed in a
later section.
If you selected a "FROZEN" game from 3.X above, you will of
course not be asked to enter player names. The original game
names will be restored from that game.
.E
3.5 Setting game default values.
At this point all needed information to begin has been entered.
You will be given the message 'Ready to begin...' in the message
block (at the bottom of the screen), at which time you have the
option to begin, or make additional changes to the game config-
uration. The main Function-key block will be redisplayed and
you may select one of the following actions you desire.
F1 " Play ". Play the game, starting with player 1.
See section 3.6.
F2 "Chg Edtn". Change the current edition. The disk
that the game came on contains one of
several possible editions. If you have
aquired a diskette containing another
edition which you would like to use in
play, press F2. You then will be asked
to place the new edition diskette in the
default drive and press return. All
game statistics will remain the same,
except the new edition will be in play.
F3 " Score ". Display the score and other game statis-
tics. See section 4.2.
F4 " Freeze ". Freeze the current game, as is, and as
discussed in section X.X.
F5 "New Game". Begin a new game, as if from starting
a brand new game from scratch. I the
current game has not been saved (frozen)
then the game will remind you so, and
ask to freeze it. A new game may indeed
be a 'new' game, or a frozen game. In
the case of a frozen game, see section
3.1 for additional information on frozen
games. You will be advised if the game
name you enter could not be found on
disk.
F6 "UnFreeze". Unfreeze an old game. You will be asked
for the name of a previously frozen game
on the disk. See section 3.1 for some
information on frozen games. You will
be advised if the game name you enter
could not be found on disk.
F7 "Chg game". Change current game settings, like win
pies, delay, spelling errors, palette,
retries, and sound. See section 4.1.
F10 " quit ". End the game. If the game has been
changed since it was last frozen, you
will again be asked if the current game
should be frozen.
.E
3.6 The play.
Once desired game settings and and score modifications have been
made, or a frozen game has been unfrozen, play may begin. Play
will only begin when the F1 key labeled "play" is depressed,
beginning a 'round'. A round is the allowing of all players of
the current game a chance to play. A round cannot be interupted
until the last player has a chance to play. Game modifications
and score edits cannot be made in the middle of a round. Each
time a new round is to begin, the F1 key labeled "play" should
be pressed. Rounds should continue until there is a winner or
the game needs to be stopped (or frozen). If there is a winner,
the game may continue with the remaining players.
When a round begins, the game will display which player is up.
The computer will simulate a roll of the die. With the number
it rolls, it will check both forward and backward movement in
order to place you on a 'pie space' if possible. If it is your
first roll of the game, you can only move forward. You will be
notified if you are on a pie space.
Next, based on your position, the computer will determin the
category of the space you landed on. The computer will in-
dicate your category by blinking the appropriate category box.
Finally, the computer will randomly select a question from the
applicable category and display it. You will be asked to key
in the answer below the question. You may take as long as is
needed to answer. The computer will analyze the answer you key
in and inform you if it matches the correct answer. This is
where the number of spelling errors to allow comes into play.
Your answer may be correct, but so badly misspelled that the
computer could not make it out. Generally, punctuation and
leading/trailing spaces will be overlooked.
If your answer was correct, you will be advised and then given
another roll. If your answer was correct and you were told that
you were on a pie space, you will be advised, awarded a pie, and
given another roll.
If your answer was incorrect, you will be given a chance to
display the correct answer, override the computers judgement,
retry the question, or pass it all together. Select the
function key of your choice.
F1 "display ". Display the correct answer. Once the
correct answer has been displayed, you
will again be given a chance to override
the computers judgement, or continue on.
Use the function key of your choice.
F2 " retry ". Retry the question. If the game values
allow multiple question tries, you may
elect to try the question again. You
may continue retrying questions until
you have reached the retry limit. The
game default retry limit is 3, (for new
games), but may be changed.
F3 "override". Override the computer's judgement. If
you know your answer was correct, or
correct enouph to get credit for, press
the F3 to override the judgement. Com-
puters cannot think. If overrides seem
to be happening frequently, you may wish
to bump the number of spelling errors to
allow. An override will cause your
inputted answer to be correct, and you
will get another roll. See section
4.11.
F4 " pass ". Pass the turn to the next player. If
you wish to do nothing, you may pass.
Again if your answer was correct, or if it was wrong but you
have overrided the computer, or you have exhausted your over-
rides, play will be passed on to the next player. The next
player will have the all the same options.
If all players have completed the round, the main selection
screen will be displayed and the F1 "play" key must be pressed
to begin another round.
.E
4.0 CHANGES
.E
4.1 Game value editor.
As mention earlier, certain game values may be changed by you.
When you make changes and later freeze the game for future use,
the changes you made will remain in effect. The game value
editor is the tool used to make changes to the number of spell-
ing errors to allow in an inputted answer, the delay seconds
between game responces and messages, the number of pies needed
to win, the border color (palette), the number of answer retries
to allow each player, and the sound or audible signal when more
information is needed or there is pertinate information to be
displayed. Press the Function key of your choice.
F1 "Win Pies". Default is 6. This is the number of
pies needed to win the game. Pies may
only be aquired by answering a question
correctly when located on a 'pie space'.
See section 4.11.
F2 " Delay ". Default is 1. This is the amount of
time the computer will pause to allow
you to read various game messages. Of
course you will have all the time you
need to key in an answer. See section
4.12.
F3 "Spl Errs". Default is 3. This is the number of
spelling errors for the computer to
allow in each players inputted answer.
You can select from 0 to 8 errors by
depressing F3, then the Function key
of how ever many errors to allow.
See section 4.13.
F4 "Palette ". Default is 0 [or "OFF"]. This is the
background or border color. Select a
color [or none] using the respectively
labeled function keys. When your eyes
become fatigued, select another, and
another, and... See section 4.14.
F5 "Retries ". Default is 1. This is the number of
attempts to answer the question that the
computer is to allow before updatint the
score. You can select from 0 to 8 re-
tries by selecting F5, then the function
key of how ever many retries to allow.
F6 " Sound ". Default is off. If on, the game will
beep you when certain information is
needed or when some critical event has
occurred that you need to be aware of.
This is nice, however, it can get some-
what bothersome after on has become
familiar with the game.
F10 "exit chg". Exit the change editor. The main menu
will then be displayed.
.E
4.11 Spelling errors.
When you are asked a question by the computer, you may not
know the answer, in which case you can just press return to
regester some input. Since this is incorrect, you will be
given a chance to review the correct answer. See section 3.6.
However, you may know the correct answer, but not know how to
spell it. By default you are allowed up to three spelling
errors in an answer. This can be changed with the game editor
to anywhere from 0 to 8 errors. Make your selection using
the function keys.
F1 " 1 ". One spelling error.
F2 " 2 ". Two spelling errors.
F3 " 3 ". Three spelling errors.
F4 " 4 ". Four spelling errors.
F5 " 5 ". Five spelling errors.
F6 " 6 ". Six spelling errors.
F7 " 7 ". Seven spelling errors.
F8 " 8 ". Eight spelling errors.
F9 " 0 ". Zero spelling errors.
F10 " exit ". No change.
.E
4.12 Delay.
Delay refers to the amount of time the game will wait for a player
to read a displayed message. A standard delay time if 3 seconds
is the default. Three seconds is quite slow, and once you
have played a round or two with a three second delay, you
will be quick to reset the delay to one. Remember, changes
via the game editor may not be made during a round. Make
your selection using the function keys.
This value will be saved and regained whenever a game is frozen
for play at a later date.
F1 " 1 ". One second delay.
F2 " 2 ". Two second delay.
F3 " 3 ". Three second delay.
.E
4.13 Win Pies.
The object of the game is to acquire as many pies as is needed
to win. Fortunatly, this number may vary both before and during
a game. This happens in the board version too. When it's found
that a six player game may take all night to play, the players
might agree that the first one to three (or any number under 6)
pies is the winner. This shortens the game, and is perfectly
acceptable. TAK Theory's Trivia 2000 also has this ability.
When the F1 key is pressed from the game editor, you will be
prompted to select from 1 to 6 pies to win the game using the
function keys. The function key number corresponds with the
number of pies you select. You may also select F10, which is
no change. Select the function key of your choice.
F1 " 1 ". One pie needed to win.
F2 " 2 ". Two pies needed to win.
F3 " 3 ". Three pies needed to win.
F4 " 4 ". Four pies needed to win.
F5 " 5 ". Five pies needed to win.
F6 " 6 ". Six pies needed to win.
F10 " exit ". No change.
.E
4.14 Border color (palette).
It is possible to alter the border color of the screen while
pressing F4 from the game editor. You may select the border
color of your choice with the function keys.
F1 " blue ". Change to a blue border.
F2 " green ". Change to a green border.
F3 " cyan ". Change to a cyan border.
F4 " red ". Change to a red border.
F5 "magenta ". Change to a magenta border.
F6 " brown ". Change to a brown border.
F7 " yellow ". Change to a yellow border.
F8 " gray ". Change to a gray border.
F9 " Off ". Turn the border off (black border).
F10 " no chg ". No change.
.E
4.15 Nbr of answer retries.
Sometimes during the Trivial Pursuit board game, you may
answer a question and be partially correct. The player hold-
ing the answer may realize that you are so close that you
deserve another try. Ok, so you get one, maybe two, etc.
This retry rule could be decided before the board game begins.
This could also solve the misspell problem discussed earlier.
This computer version defaults to three retries for a new game.
A frozen game will be whatever was set up before the game was
frozen. Pressing F5 from the game editor will allow you to
change the number of retries. Select the function key of your
choice.
F1 " 1 ". One retry.
F2 " 2 ". Two retries.
F3 " 3 ". Three retries.
F4 " 4 ". Four retries.
F5 " 5 ". Five retries.
F6 " 6 ". Six retries.
F7 " 7 ". Seven retries.
F8 " 8 ". Eight retries.
F9 " 0 ". Zero retries.
F10 " no chg ". No change.
.E
4.16 Sound.
Sometimes you need to be notified of what the computer is
doing a given time, in which case a message is displayed at
the bottom of the screen in a message block. Other times,
the information to be displayed is of a more critical nature,
or the game needs some input from you.
When the information is critical, the computer can notify you
with both a message on the screen and an audible signal, but
only if you have the sound turned on. Sound off is the de-
fault when starting a new game. Sound can be turned on and
of by pressing F6 from the game editor. Then depress the
appropriate function key of your choice.
F1 " On ". Turn the sound on.
F2 " Off ". Turn the sound off.
F10 " no chg ". No change.
.E
4.2 Score editor.
The score editor allows you to modify the various score
attributes. The score attributes include the number of pies
[of course], the number of turns, the player's name, the number
of correct answers, the number of retries and the number of
overrides for each player.
Actually, only the player's name and the number of pies, are
the only things of any significance to the game. The other
items of statistical information only. However, any of the
things can be changed.
To enter the score editor, you must have pressed F4 from the
main Function-key block [as mentioned in 3.5].
.E
4.21 Win Pies.
By selecting F1 from the score function-key block, and selecting
a player, you can increase or decrease the number of pies any
given player has accumulated.
F1 "increase". Decrement the amount by 1.
F2 "decrease". Decrement the amount by 1.
F3 " zero ". Reinitialize the amount to zero.
.E
4.22 Turns.
By selecting F2 from the score function-key block, and selecting
a player, you can increase or decrease the number of turns any
given player has accumulated.
F1 "increase". Decrement the amount by 1.
F2 "decrease". Decrement the amount by 1.
F3 " zero ". Reinitialize the amount to zero.
.E
4.24 Correct Answers.
By selecting F5 from the score function-key block, and selecting
a player, you can increase or decrease the number of correct
answers a given player has accumulated.
F1 "increase". Decrement the amount by 1.
F2 "decrease". Decrement the amount by 1.
F3 " zero ". Reinitialize the amount to zero.
.E
4.25 Retries.
By selecting F7 from the score function-key block, and selecting
a player, you can increase or decrease the number of retries any
given player has accumulated.
F1 "increase". Decrement the amount by 1.
F2 "decrease". Decrement the amount by 1.
F3 " zero ". Reinitialize the amount to zero.
.E
4.26 Overrides.
By selecting F9 from the score function-key block, and selecting
a player, you can increase or decrease the number of overrides
any given player has accumulated.
F1 "increase". Decrement the amount by 1.
F2 "decrease". Decrement the amount by 1.
F3 " zero ". Reinitialize the amount to zero.
.E
4.27 Exit score editor.
By selecting F10 from the score function-key block, you can exit
the score editor.
.E
5.0 QUESTIONS
.E
5.1 Miscellanious.
.E
9.0 FOMRS
BOTTOM
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