Night Owl 4

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Text File | 1990-04-18 | 24KB | 490 lines

┌─┐ ┌─┐ ┌─┐ ┌─┐ ┌─┐ ┌─┐ │C│ │I│ │P│ │H│ │E│ │R│ └─┘ └─┘ └─┘ └─┘ └─┘ └─┘ Crypto-Quotes Puzzle Game Release 1.2 April 18, 1990 Nels Anderson 92 Bishop Drive Framingham, MA 01701-6540 Various kinds of word puzzles have existed for years in many different forms. People spend hours trying to solve them, working tediously with pencil and paper. Many a newspaper has been worn through trying and retrying different solutions. With the advent of computers, working these puzzles becomes more enjoyable because the computer screen provides a working surface that's easier to manipulate than paper and pencil. You can erase and retry as often as you wish and the screen will never wear out as paper is apt to do. Still, many computerized versions of word games look dull. Just because it's a word game does not mean that is has to use text mode and black & white only. Why can't word puzzles be colorful, use high resolution graphics and even run with a mouse? Well, they can, now at least, because that's exactly how CIPHER v1.2 works. For those who don't have a mouse the game will run with keyboard only. And if you don't have VGA/EGA graphics available it will also run in text mode (though it's still quite colorful if you have a color monitor). But for those with a full featured PC you get what I hope is the most colorful and fun to use computerized word puzzle game. CIPHER will automatically run in the "best" possible mode, though it is possible to override this. The following command line parameters are available: cipher -t (force text mode) cipher -k (force keyboard mode) Note that when in text mode keyboard mode is automatically selected so it isn't necessary to use both overrides at any time. CIPHER is a "crypto-quotes" type of game. That is, a quotation is enciphered and displayed on the screen in its scrambled form. Your challenge is to figure out the cipher by replacing the scrambled letters with the actual letters. As you go along more and more of the puzzle will start to look like real words and eventually you should solve the whole puzzle and be able to read the quotation. One set of puzzles is provided with the game. If you want more, you can register the game for $15 and in exchange you'll receive the latest version of the game plus many more puzzles to solve. For $20 you can order the "deluxe" version of the game, which includes a registered copy of the software, the additional puzzles plus a printed manual and binder to store everything in. CIPHER is distributed by the Shareware system -- this allows you to try it before you buy it, but if you continue to use the game regularly you are expected to register. When you register, please let me know what version you have (it's right on the title screen) and I'd also be interested to know where you got it from. Please, make sure you put your name and address on your letter! Or you can use the instant registration form in the file "orderfrm.txt". Just copy the file to your printer, fill it out, and mail it. If you're not familiar with the Shareware concept, please read the file "sharewre.txt". If you have any suggestions or discover any problems with the program you can reach me via the )(evious BBS (PCBoard) system (300/1200/2400/9600-HST, 8N1) at 508-875-3618 or 617-449-7322. Leave a C)omment to the sysop to reach me. )(evious is the official support BBS for all my software and the latest versions are always available for downloading there. There is also a support conference for people to exchange game tips or ask questions. J)oin conference #31 and check out the latest tips. You can also reach )(evious through RelayNet. If there's a RelayNet board in your area send a routed message to me at node XEVIOUS. The Shareware conference would be the best choice, but if that's not available try TPascal, Games or even Common. I'm also available through CompuServe's mail system. Send mail to me at 71020,2613. CIPHER is pretty easy to use, so rather than reading all the instructions you might want to just start it up and play. The game has help screens built right in and they provide all the basic information you need. ***************************************************************************** * PLAYING THE GAME * ***************************************************************************** OBJECT: The object of the game is to decipher the puzzle shown on the right side of the screen. The puzzles vary in difficulty and size. When you solve the puzzle correctly a message will pop up on the screen to let you know. KEYBOARD MODE COMMANDS: If you're going to be playing the game with a mouse, skip down to the "Mouse Mode Commands" section. Also see the section on "Common Commands". When using the keyboard you will alternate between "select character" and "place character" modes. You will see a prompt at the upper right corner of the screen to tell you what the game is expecting. You must first select a letter of the alphabet that you want placed into the puzzle. Just type that single letter and it will be highlighted on the left hand side of the screen. Then you must decide where to place the highlighted letter into the puzzle. Hit the letter that you want translated to the letter you just selected. You'll see your selection placed throughout the puzzle. The game prevents you from using a letter to translate more than one encrypted letter. Thus, if you change your mind on the translation of a letter you can just reuse the translated letter somewhere else and your previous use will be erased. If you want to erase a guess without placing it somewhere else, hit the space bar when asked to select a letter and then choose where to place it in the puzzle. MOUSE MODE COMMANDS: If you're going to be playing the game with the keyboard, go back to the "Keyboard Mode Commands" section. Also see the section on "Common Commands". Unlike playing with a keyboard, playing using a mouse is "modeless" in that you do not have to alternate between selecting a character and placing it into the puzzle. At the left side of the screen you'll see the alphabet displayed. Click on the letter you want to select for use in the puzzle. If your aim is off, just move the cursor and click again. The letter you choose will be high- lighted. On the right side of the screen you'll see the puzzle. After you have selected a letter point to the position in the puzzle where you want that letter used and click the mouse. The letter will be placed at that position and at all other positions that have the same enciphered letter. The game prevents you from using a letter to translate more than one encrypted letter. Thus, if you change your mind on the translation of a letter you can just reuse the translated letter somewhere else and your previous use will be erased. There are several options in addition to simply placing a letter. If you click on the top half of a letter pair on the right side, all occurences of that letter throughout the puzzle will be highlighted but not filled in. Clicking the right mouse button instead of the left one will remove your guess from the position in the puzzle being pointed to. COMMON COMMANDS: Along the top line of the screen you'll see a number of commands displayed. If you're playing using a keyboard you will also see the name of the function key that activates the commands. If you're using a mouse you just move the cursor up to the command and point and click. Mouse users can also use the function keys though the key numbers are not displayed. The available commands are as follows: F1 - Help Supplies several screens of basic information on how to play the game. Each screen has the option to go to the next screen, previous screen, or to quit help. Mouse users just point to their selection; keyboard users should hit "N", "P", or "Q" as desired. F2 - Info Provides some basic information on the game and how to register. Hit a key or click the mouse to remove the info window. F3 - Filer The filer has a number of subfunctions: 1) Next puzzle -- if you're stuck on the current puzzle or don't want to play it select next puzzle to get the next consecutive puzzle in the puzzle file. 2) Previous puzzle -- if you want to go back to a previous puzzle use this command. You will use this command fairly seldom because previous puzzles are ones you've already played. 3) New file -- this command allows you to load a different puzzle file. All puzzle files end with the file extension ".cpz". The shareware version of the game only comes with one puzzle file so this command won't be useful until you register the game. 4) Save game -- use this command to save the current puzzle along with your guesses to a disk file. All saved game files use the file extension ".csv"; it's optional whether you type this in or not when entering the file name. 5) Load game -- use this command to reload a puzzle that you saved previously. If you're in text mode you'll need to remember the name of the file. You do not need to enter the ".csv" file extension. 6) Make Puzzle -- this function lets you enter puzzles from other sources and have them stored in a CIPHER v1.2 compatible file. The puzzle you enter is expected to already be encrypted and should be entered in a form similar to normal CIPHER puzzles; that is, enter up to four lines of puzzle and then put the author's name on the last line with two dashes in front of it. User defined puzzle files are slightly different from normal CIPHER puzzles, so do not try to add your own puzzles into the standard puzzle files. You also lose one normal feature of the game when using your own puzzles: the game can't determine when you've solved the puzzle. 7) Clear Guesses -- use this function if you want to clear all your previous guesses and start the current puzzle over again. It also marks the puzzle as being unplayed; use this if you want to quit but play the current puzzle next time you play. 8) Abort -- select this if you changed your mind about doing a filer function. F4 - Hints If a puzzle gets too frustrating you can "cheat" and see the solution. Once you've done this the puzzle is marked in the puzzle file as having been played to completion. A second option allows you to get a hint on a single letter. Enter the encrypted letter from the puzzle that you would like to see the matching unencrypted letter for and this letter will be entered throughout the puzzle. F10 - Quit This quits the game. You'll be prompted just to make sure that you really meant to quit. COMMAND LINE OPTIONS: Normally you start the game by just entering "CIPHER". The game will determine your hardware configuration and select the correct modes automatically. There are a couple of options available that can be entered on the command line if you wish though. The two available parameters let you override the default hardware selections. Use "-t" to run in text mode even if VGA or EGA is available. Use "-k" to play using the keyboard even if you have a mouse attached. The other option lets you enter the name of the puzzle file you want to use. The original shareware version only comes with one puzzle file so you won't need this option until you've registered. Some examples: If you want to play in text mode, you'd enter the following: cipher -t To use the puzzle file called "puzzle2.cpz" you'd enter: cipher puzzle2.cpz To play using the keyboard and use the puzzle file "puzzle3.cpz" you'd enter: cipher puzzle3.cpz -k Note that in the last example the order of the options does not matter. ***************************************************************************** * INCLUDED FILES * ***************************************************************************** The following files are included in CIPHER: CIPHER.EXE Cipher program CIPHER.DOC This file CIPHER.TXT A brief description of Cipher NEWS.PCC Title picture PUZZLE1.CPZ Puzzle data file SHAREWRE.TXT Information on Shareware ORDERFRM.TXT Ready to print registration form You are free to pass this program along to friends, give it to user groups, upload to BBS's, etc. with the understanding that anyone who continues to use the game is required to register it. All these files MUST be included when distributing this program. If you archive the program for distribution through BBS's, please use the name CIPHER12.ZIP (or .LZH, .PAK, etc. as appropriate). ***************************************************************************** * REGISTRATION * ***************************************************************************** Please remember that CIPHER is not free software. As with all Shareware you are expected to purchase it after you've given it a reasonable trial. The registration price for CIPHER is $15, which includes a disk with the latest version plus over 200 additional puzzles to solve. Other sets of puzzles (about 200 puzzles per set) are also available for $5 each; contact the author for availability. Several other games are available from the same author. If you register more than one game at the same time, a discount is available. Register the first game for $15 and then each additional game is only $10. For example, $15 to register CIPHER $25 to register CIPHER plus one other game $35 to register CIPHER and two other games etc. Games currently available include Mah Jongg, EGATrek, Shooting Gallery and BassMap. A deluxe version of CIPHER is also available. This includes a storage case, printed manual plus the registered version of the program with over 200 puzzles. This version is available for $20. No discount is available on this version. ***************************************************************************** * REVISION HISTORY * ***************************************************************************** V1.2: On startup, if player hadn't select a specific puzzle file and more than one is available, a list of files is presented to select from. Added clear guess function to filer functions. Added user defined puzzles to the filer functions. On command line, entering the .cpz extension of a puzzle file name is now optional; consistent with the way the filer functions work within the game. V1.1: Changed the filer functions to force all puzzles files to a .cpz extension, whether or not the user entered it. Fixed bug with the scroll bar in the file selection function. Fixed problem with selecting additional puzzle files. ***************************************************************************** * DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY * ***************************************************************************** This software is sold "as is", without any warranty as to performance or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. Because of the many hardware and software environments into which this program may be used, no warranty of fitness for a particular purpose is offered. The user must assume the entire risk of using the program. Any liability of the seller will be limited exclusively to product replacement or the refund of the registration fee. ***************************************************************************** * ASSOCIATION OF SHAREWARE PROFESSIONALS * ***************************************************************************** This software is produced by Nels Anderson who is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006, USA or send a CompuServe message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. _______ ____|__ | (R) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER ***************************************************************************** * AVAILABLE SOFTWARE * ***************************************************************************** Other software which I've either written or contributed to: EGATREK: Space strategy battle game, using full EGA graphics, based on the classic minicomputer game. Winner of Public Brand Software's 1988 software contest. MAHJONGG: Solitaire game played with Chinese tiles. Supports EGA and Hercules graphics; mouse optional. See reviews in December 1988 "PCWorld" and April 1989 "Compute!". SHOOT: "Shooting Gallery" tests your aim and reflexes in a number of different rounds of shooting. Uses MCGA graphics mode for 256 colors and and also requires a mouse. MOUSTOOL: A collection of utilities for Turbo Pascal programmers wishing to incorporate mouse input in their programs. Sample programs included for both EGA and CGA graphics. Used extensively within CIPHER. SOUNDPAS: A collection of utilities for Turbo Pascal programmers to add music and sound effects to their programs. Includes units for interrupt and real time sounds. BASSTOUR: (Written by Dick Olsen). Game that simulates a fishing tournament, including rod and lure selection. Runs in EGA/CGA/MCGA/Hercules graphics modes. Uses many of the utilities from MOUSTOOL. BASSMAP: Companion program for BassTour which allows lakes to be created or modified. EGA and CGA versions included. CALLDOOR: A PCBoard 14.x door that lets users view the system caller log. Logs for any node can be viewed in reverse order (i.e., most recent caller back) or the logs can be searched for any string. WAITDV: A sysop's utility that allows synchronizing of nightly house keeping events on a multinode system. WAITDV was written especially for systems running under DESQview: it's DV-aware so the active task runs much faster than it would if a non-aware wait utility was used. TOPPERS: A PCBoard 14.x sysop utility that generates a formatted list of the board's top users (by number of calls, downloads and uploads). The output file has three columns, one for each category. Graphics and non-graphics output is available. TOPTALK: A PCBoard 14.x sysop utility that tracks user activity in conferences based on number of messages posted. Included is a complete record of all user activity plus a bulletin file of the top ten most active message posters. GROUPERS: A PCBoard 14.x game door. Players gamble on the outcome of the next card drawn from the deck. The game is set up to run as a monthly contest and keeps track of current scores, generates a current scores bulletin and an end of month final scores bulletin. - - - - - CIPHER is copyright (c) 1990 by Nels Anderson. All rights reserved.