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- A few words about "Greedy v1.1"
- March '97
-
- What is "Greedy"?
- -----------------
- It is a board game, somehow inspired by Monopoly (tm) by Parker
- Brothers.
- This version is rather different from the original; it is designed to
- run on Psion Series 3a. It's a 1 player game, the Psion handling the 3
- opponents.
-
- You'll need the Serial link & appropriate software to transfer the
- game onto your Psion. An alternative solution is a PC-SSD parallel
- interface. Or the Cyclone drive.
- "Greedy v1.1" requires a 480x160 (or larger) screen to run. That means
- no chance for Series 3, Siena or Workabout owners to run it...
-
- Required installation skills
- ----------------------------
- Sorry, I have provided no scripts or anything, you'll have to do that
- yourself:
-
- You can install the game from an external Flash or Ram SSD. It will
- NOT attempt to write to that drive (hopefully).
-
- Create a directory called greedy in \APP
-
- These files should go in your freshly created \APP\GREEDY directory:
-
- elib.opo
- cards1.dbf
- vbg1x.pic
- boo.wve **
- claps.wve **
- coins.wve *
- dice.wve *
- dings.wve *
- ohprunel.wve *
- relax.wve *
- siren.wve *
- thankyou.wve **
- uh-oh2.wve *
- wahoo.wve *
- wildeep.wve *
- woody.wve *
-
- Files with no star MUST be present.
- Files with 1 star are not necessary though they make the game more
- pleasant.
- Files with 2 stars are not necessary, just there for more fun.
- The entire distribution takes a lot of memory, so you may not want to
- include everything...
- (Note that I have released some 'cut' versions of Greedy, without sounds.
- You can use sounds from Greedy v1.0 if you own it.)
-
- This file should go in your \APP directory:
- greedy.opa
-
- Then install using the standard Psion-I hotkey; choose greedy.opa
-
- While playing, some files will be created in the internal \OPD
- directory:
- "greedy.ini", "greedyhs.ini" as well as saved games (all files ending
- by .gdy)
- Be sure to delete them if you remove greedy from your machine...
-
- The Rules
- ---------
- Ok, you've played this game before, at least when you were young...
-
- Things you oughta know
- ----------------------
- The game takes a lot of memory while running... Please make sure that
- you have about 140k of free memory on the internal drive before launching
- a game. I've tried to keep it as small as possible.
- It is definitely a good idea to use it from an external Flash or Ram
- SSD drive.
-
- The board is quite large, and keeping graphisms interesting required a
- big bitmap (480x480) to be opened. The tricks it uses to scroll rather
- fast and take as little memory as possible have disadvantages.
- It takes ages to start a game, and playing with resolutions larger
- than 480x160 lead to strange results etc. I've tried to make it as playable
- as possible under the emulator.
- Small cartoon characters have been extracted from some free Window 95
- icons libraries, sounds from free sounds libraries on the Net.
-
- I've already been asked why there's no sound while the player's icon
- moves across the board. Actually, I've tried. But when the screen scrolls to
- follow the player's icon, there's a delay which makes a weird (and
- unpleasant) effect.
-
- Money talks
- -----------
- This is freeware. That means you can use it as much as you like
- without having to pay anything. However, I keep the copyright on the source
- code and the graphical layout. Please do not modify it without telling me
- beforehand. Please do not decompile it using RevTran or whatever
- utility you'd have. You'd better politely ask for the source code! I'm not
- sure you'd learn something interesting out of this mess anyway...
-
- Lurking insects in v1.1
- -----------------------
-
- Error handling is very limited, so please respect the installation
- directory names or your Psion will scream in anger.
- Please report me any nasty behaviour via Email.
- Greedy is not a multitask-friendly software. This means it will keep
- running in the background if you switch to another application. This
- also means you may run out of memory.
-
- What's new in v1.1
- ------------------
-
- - New screen design. I've tried to improve readability on the main
- screen as well as the properties screen. Added a clock (upon request of many
- people)
- - Use of elib.opo instead of greedyx.opo and moved it into \greedy
- "e" stands for English. This leaves an open door to people willing to
- translate in other languages. See "What's next".
- - Fixed the "Overflow error" bugs.
- - Changed the "X" mark for investments to avoid confusion with players
- whose names begin with an "X".
- - Added an "Accept proposals" and "Refuse proposals" option to prevent
- rich computer players calling for buy-outs when the human player is not
- willing.
- - Added some more "Jailbait" cards.
- - Introduced a "Go to prison" card.
- - Reduced the overall cards' winning amount.
- - Added an "Are you sure?" option when buying from a computer player.
- - Added a male/female option to allow correct gender comments.
- - Added a "Quick save" option. Quitting the game now saves the game
- automatically.
- - Added a "Restore" option (along with "quick save")
- - Added a "multiple save games" facility.
- - Added the "Highscores" routine.
- - Fixed the players token removal if fewer than 4 players are
- selected.
- - Added the sounds paths option.
- - Added a preference save, which remembers your last preference
- settings and uses them in any new game you start (i.e. sounds, automatic moves,
- speed and proposals).
- - Removed the "drug dealing" hazard.
- Plus a couple of other things you will notice (or not) while
- playing...
-
- What has not been done (but requested by several users)
- ----------------------
-
- - Access to menu options anytime. I've tried, but the keyboard scan
- introduced some nasty delays while tokens are moving. I will try some
- other routines (maybe more low-level)
- - Quit game anytime. Actually, I won't do this :( This is too much of
- a hassle, and I should have thought of this much earlier...
- - Constant memory checking.
- - More than one human player. I won't do this either.
- - I've been warned that some characters' names weren't corrected.
- Especially Barney Flinstone / Barney Rubble. I've decided not to
- change them to be clearer as to who belongs together in which families...
- - Psion-style online Help. Erm. I really don't have time to do this!
-
- What's next
- -----------
- I won't do many new updates as I consider Greedy a playable game.
- People who want some more Monopoly (tm) rules should consider buying the real
- game!
- People willing to translate Greedy into other languages are welcome.
- OPL knowledge is required as I would send them part of the source code.
- It's now time to move to another game!
-
- Legal stuff to be aware of
- --------------------------
- Feel free to pass this software to anybody you know.
- Inclusion in any software library, on floppy, CDRom, electronically
- etc. is very welcome as long as you do not alter the archive.
- If you're intending to insert Greedy v1.1 in a library (on floppy,
- CDRom etc), please drop me a quick Email (I won't ask for a freebie,
- don't worry!). This is only to ensure you have the latest version.
- Please do not charge for more than the usual media & postage fees.
-
- Warranty
- --------
- No warranties whatsoever. Use at your own risk.
-
- To get in touch
- ---------------
- Email:
- fbotton@hol.fr (Internet) or fbotton@compuserve.com (Internet)
- 2:320/220.13 (Fidonet)
-
- Snail mail:
- Frederic Botton
- 25, rue d'Enghien
- F-75010 Paris
- France
- Ph: ++33 (0)6 09477072
-
- Web place: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/FBotton/psion.htm
-
- Thanxx
- ------
- I have to thank my wife who tested this game on her Psion! And my
- kitty for
- her massive appreciation (if staring means appreciation :)
- Thanks a million to all beta-testers, you've been great and you know
- who
- you are!
- Thanks a lot to those who sent me graphisms upgrades!
- Thanks a lot to those who sent me English corrections!
- Thanks many times to Mike Rudin, author of RevTran, who saved this
- software from oblivion after a bad HD crash!
- Thanks a lot to Steve Litchfield and Palmtop Magazine, who both
- reviewed
- Greedy and helped my Web page counter go crazy!
- Thanks a lot to all players who mailed me their kind words and useful
- comments...
- Thanks to shareware authors who gave me some free registrations!
- Thanks to those who offered me money for Greedy!
-
- This software has been written under heavy decibels. Metallica,
- Aerosmith, Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morissette, Motorhead to name some of them...
-
- Software used to write Greedy
- -----------------------------
- s3atran, Paint Shop Pro, Cool Edit, PsiWin, WinLink and the s3a
- emulator.
- Plus PC-SSD parallel interface... And RevTran, of course, which
- managed to retrieve some of my sources back! (thanks again, Mike!)
-
- Final word
- ----------
- I hope this game will please you! If you're not familiar with it, give
- it a few tries before feeding your dustbin. Have a look at the FAQ if you
- need some help.
-
- You may also want to try Memory and Mille Bornes, available on my
- homepage, Compuserve and Aol palmtop libraries. Both of them are freeware as
- well.
-
- Do buy the original game!
- -------------------------
- Monopoly (tm), the real game is available, written by well-known Psion
- author Steve Godfrey and Psion graphist wizard Phil Creed. This is the
- ultimate Monopoly (tm) conversion, I urge you to get it if you like
- Greedy!
-
- Fred.
-