Windows Shareware 500 (First Edition)

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Windows Shareware 500 (First Edition) / disk2.img / MAHJONGG / MJWIN.DO$ / mjwin.doc

Wrap

Text File | 1992-01-05 | 30.9 KB | 1,109 lines

Mah Jongg --- for Windows --- Version 1.0 February, 1992 Program and Documentation Copyright 1988 - 1992 Ron Balewski Mah Jongg for Windows is a User-Supported (Shareware) prooduct. It is freely available through User's Groups, Bulletin Boards, etc. You have the opportunity to try the game and see if it suits your needs. If you find that you enjoy and use this game, please send the requested contribution of $20.00 to: Ron Balewski 412 E. Ridge St. Nanticoke, PA 18634-2915 User-supported shareware can exist only as long as you, the users, will support it! TABLE OF CONTENTS: ------------------- FORWARD: ............................... 4 WHAT IS MAH JONG for Windows............ 5 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS .................. 5 THE GAME OF MAH JONGG .................. 6 The Tiles ......................... 6 The Suits ......................... 6 The Game Board .................... 7 Playing Mah Jongg ................. 7 Strategy .......................... 7 PLAYING MAH JONGG for Windows .......... 8 The Basics ........................ 8 The Added Features ................ 9 File menu .................... 9 Help menu ................... 11 Preferences menu ............ 12 Backup menu ................. 14 Special menu ................ 14 Stack Control Menu ............... 15 Peek ........................ 15 Rotate ...................... 16 Remove ...................... 16 IN CASE OF DIFFICULTY ................. 17 TECHNICAL SUPPORT ..................... 17 WHAT'S NEXT ........................... 17 SHARWEWARE ............................ 18 WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU REGISTER ,,,,, 18 DISCLAIMER ............................ 19 PERMISSION TO COPY .................... 20 ATTENTION SHAREWARE VENDORS ........... 20 - Page 2 - Mah Jongg for Windows is dedicated to my father, Ed, in appreciation for his support and help with my first shareware venture. If it weren't for his tireless efforts in the day-to-day operation of my shareware business (copying & labeling disks, assembling & shipping packages to registered users, etc.) I wouldn't have had the time to spend writing MJ/WIndows. I'd also like to thank Warren Storosko for his constant list of ideas & suggestions and for devoting countless hours to testing my products. - Page 3 - FORWARD Well, it's finally finished -- Mah Jongg for Windows. If you've used my Mah Jongg -V-G-A-, you should have little trouble getting up to speed with this new game. It incorporates most of MJVGA 3.1's function set. Please note that I consider this to be a new product rather than an "upgrade" to MJVGA. I seriously question whether a Windows version is an "upgrade" or a "downgrade." However, due to the popularity of Windows, I've gotten a LOT of requests for this product. So, here it is! As usual, I'd like to thank those who have registered the various versions of MJVGA, my initial shareware product. Your support & suggestions are what prodded me into the programmer-unfriendly world of Windows to produce what you now have. That 8514/a version of Mah Jongg is still in "public" Beta test. No major problems have been reported (in fact virtually no minor ones have come up either). Unfortunately, I just haven't had time to put the documentation & such together into a package. (By the way, MJ/Windows will probably earn me a lot more money than MJ8514 -- so it's been getting priority treatment.) - Page 4 - WHAT IS MAH JONG for Windows? Mah Jongg for Windows is a high-tech simulation of the ancient Chinese game of Mah Jongg. Some historians date Mah Jongg back to the time of Confucius -- over 25 centuries ago! It's believed that sailors and fishermen played Mah Jongg as a diversion from the monotony of their long voyages. The game was originally played with cards, but eventually bone and bamboo tiles were substituted since these were less likely to be blown off the deck. Mah Jongg for Windows recreates the beauty and addictive pleasure of Mah Jongg, but uses modern data processing techniques and high-resolution graphics instead of bamboo tiles. In an attempt to make this game as elegant and as enjoyable as possible, the author has used some of the most advanced features of today's state-of-the-art MS-DOS computers. Not all PC computers are able to run Mah Jongg for Windows. But if yours can, prepare yourself for the meeting of the past and future!!! WHAT DO I NEED? Mah Jongg for Windows should run on any properly-equipped PC compatible which can run Windows in standard or enhanced mode. You will need at least a VGA-class graphics system (640x480 resolution in 16 colors). However, for best results, I'd recommend Windows running in 256-color mode with a higher resolution graphics card (800x600 or 1024x768). Screens smaller than 800x600 will require the entire screen to display the Mah Jongg window. Furthermore, with only 16 colors, the tile colors will not be reproduced properly because of the way Windows' palette manager operates. A mouse is also required, but this shouldn't be a problem. Windows itself is virtually useless without one. - Page 5 - THE GAME OF MAH JONGG --------------------- THE TILES There are 42 different tiles used in Mah Jongg as follows: 27 Suit tiles (nine tiles in each of three suits), 3 Dragons, 4 Winds, 4 Seasons, and 4 Flowers. THE SUITS The Suit Of Dots - This suit goes back to the original sailor's version of Mah Jongg. The dots probably represent money. The Suit Of Bam - Bam stands for Bamboo. Because bamboo was used to make deadly spears, this suit is thought to represent power or victory. The Suit Of Crak - These are also called Characters or Actors. Crak may represent actual people or may simply be characters from the Chinese alphabet. The Dragons - In the Ancient Mah Jongg, each suit was associated with a Dragon as follows: White dragons - Suit Of Dots Red Dragons - Suit Of Bam Green Dragons - Suit Of Crak This association has no direct bearing on the current play of the game. The Winds - These tiles simply represent the four directions of the winds -- North, South, East, and West. The Flowers - The four flowers - Orchid, Plum, Mum, and Bamboo - were introduced by a medieval princess to add beauty and romance to the game. The Seasons - This is another direct representation -- this time of the seasons - Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. It is thought that the seasons were added to Mah Jongg by river gamblers. - Page 6 - THE GAME BOARD Each game board consists of 144 tiles made up of four of each type of tile EXCEPT for the Seasons and Flowers of which there is one each. The tiles are laid out in a formation called a Dragon. The position of each tile in the dragon is completely random, making each dragon unique. Some are more formidable than others. Some are actually impossible to defeat. But all are challenging and exciting. The tiles are placed in stacks ranging in height from one tile at the edge to five tiles at the center. The easiest way to understand the dragon is to see one. Run Mah Jongg for Windows. The dragon you'll see will be a far better explanation than I can give. PLAYING MAH JONGG The object of Mah Jongg is simple -- remove all of the tiles by matching pairs. But there IS a catch. Only tiles which are "free" can be removed. A tile is considered "free" if there's nothing on top of it and if it can slide out to the left OR right. If tiles on both sides are stacked to the same height the tile is not "free" to be removed. Two tiles MUST be free and MUST be an exact match (exceptions later) before they can be removed from the dragon. Removal of mismatched tiles and removal of un-free tiles is not allowed. The exception: Since there is one each of the Seasons and the Flowers, these tiles cannot be matched identically. So any flower can match with any other flower. Likewise, any season can match with any other season. STRATEGY: During my countless hours of testing Mah Jongg, I've found a few pieces of strategy that seem to help: --> Concentrate on removing the four tiles which are blocking the most moves - the top tile, the single tile on the left, and the two tiles on the right. --> Look for quadruples. If all four of a given tile are free, remove them all immediately. This will get them out of the way and won't cause problems later. - Page 7 - --> Keep an eye out for doubles (two tiles free) of tiles with only two left (the monochrome screen helps here). These should also be removed immediately. --> Before removing two tiles of four remaining, be sure that no OBVIOUS harm (trapped tiles) will occur. --> Always check for triples. If you've found a pair with four remaining, see if any more are free. Then, take the two which will free up the most tiles. PLAYING MAH JONGG FOR WINDOWS ----------------------------- THE BASICS To start Mah Jongg for Windows, just launch it like any other Windows application. Tiles are removed by first selecting one, then selecting its mate. To select a tile, just point to it with the mouse and press the left mouse button. The tile will change color to show that it has been selected. You don't have to double-click to remove the tiles. When two tiles have been selected, they will (after validation) be removed. To de-select a tile, just click on it again. The tile will return to normal. If you try to select a tile that's not free, you'll get a warning sound (if the sound is turned on) and the tile will NOT be selected. Likewise, if you select two tiles which don't match, you'll hear the warning beep and both tiles wil de-select. The counter at the top-left of the Mah Nongg window will show how many tiles remain in the dragon. This is all you really need to know to play the game. But, there are some other features which make the play a lot more enjoyable. Most of them can be accessed thru the menu bar on top of the Mah Jongg window. - Page 8 - THE ADDED FEATURES For convenience, I'll describe the features as they appear in the menus from left to right, top to bottom. FILE ==== Load TIle Set ============= With this option, you can load in an alternate tile set. Just select the set from the list and click on OK. You'll then see a "thermometer" box while MJ/Windows loads & formats the tile set. Choosing a new tile set will NOT affect the game. It will continue from where it was, but with a new tile set. Your selection will also be saved for the next time you run MJ/Windows. Whenever the game starts, it will load the last tile set tile set that you chose. Load Game ========= This will load a game previously saved to disk. A window will open and you'll be asked to select a file name. If you hit this button accidentally, just click the Cancel button. Save Game ========= This function will save the game in progress. You'll be required to type in a file name or select one that's already on the disk. - Page 9 - Done ==== Done is similar to New Game, but has some added features as well. When you select DONE, your score for the game will be calculated and, if you've made the Hall of Fame, you'll be asked to enter your name. Either way, your score & the Hall of Fame will be displayed. You'll then get a new game. Note that EXIT and NEW GAME don't evaluate the game for inclusion in the Hall of Fame. You could use these if you're not interested in the Hall of Fame or if the game has gone so badly that you don't want the embarrassment of being told that your score was thousands of points higher than what's needed for HOF entry. New Game ======== Selecting New Game will start a new game of Mah Jongg. the computer will shuffle the tiles and a new dragon will be drawn. Restart Game ============ Restart Game will take you back to the beginning of the current game. The help counter, peek counter, and clock are all reset to zero. Exit ==== Selecting Exit will quit the MJ/Windows program. About ===== This will bring up an About box containing my name, address, and copyright notice. Serial Number ============= This brings up a box which displays the version & serial number of your MJ/Windows game. It also indicates whether you're using a registered or un-registered copy (of course you registered, right???). - Page 10 - HELP ==== Tiles Left ========== To see exactly what tiles are left in the dragon, just select this! The dragon will be replaced by a graphic depiction of exactly how many of which tiles are left. Very useful for determining tricky moves! To return to the game board, just click the OK button. Moves Left ========== To quickly find out how many moves are left without being told what they are, choose this function. Your score isn't affected by using this type of help. Show Moves ========== Show Moves is really it's own little sub-function. When you click on Show Moves, the machine will pause for a moment (it's looking for moves) and will then do one of two things. If no moves are left, you'll see a "No moves left" dialog box. You're now free to start a new game, enter the game into the Hall of Fame (via the Done selection), or back-up to try to get farther in this game (I often do this). If one or more moves is left, you'll be shown what they are. The tiles for the first move will be highlighted. Then, a small control panel with five buttons will appear on the right section of the Mah Jongg window. To leave Show Moves, click on Cancel. To see the next move, just click on "Next". Click on "Previous" to display the previous move. When you've decided which move you'd like to take, you can execute it by first stepping to it with the Next / Previous buttons and then clicking on "Do It!" The Show Moves menu will disappear and your selected move will be executed. - Page 11 - An alternate form of Show Moves will show you the moves available only for one type of tile. If you'd like to get rid of this one particular Four of Dots, lets say, but you can't find a match for it, you can select that one tile, then choose Show Moves. Only the moves pertainiing to that one tile type will be shown. If nothing's free to match the tile, you'll get the dreaded No Move Available message. ATTENTION THREE-BUTTON MOUSE USERS: There is a short-cut to entering the Show Moves menu available to you. Just click the center button! This short-cut can also be turned off in case you find yourself accidentally hitting the center button & entering Help when you don't want to. The Center Button switch in the Preferences menu will turn this feature on & off. X-Ray ===== You can "X-ray" the board to find which stacks a given type of tile is in regardless of whether or not it's buried. To start an X-ray, select "X-Ray" in the help menu. A tile will be shown in a dialog box. Use the previous / next buttons to step to the tile that you want to find. Then, click on SHOOT to turn on the X-ray machine. The stacks which contain the desired tile will be highlighted. To turn off the X-ray machine, just press the OK button. PREFERENCES =========== All entries in this menu section are "switches." THe first time you click them, they'll turn on. The next time, they'll turn off. A feature is turned on if it has a check mark in front of it. Whenever you quit MJ/Windows, the current preference settings are saved. The next time you start MJ/WIN, all settings will return to their last position. - Page 12 - Sound ===== This switch controls whether MJ/Windows will create its usual sounds for tile selection, removal, etc. Note that the new Windows 3.0 sound functions are used for sound generation, so if some other program is running which takes control of the sound system, MJ/Windows won't be allowd to access the sound hardware. In that case, you won't get sound even if it's turned on. Likewise, when MJ/Windows is run, it requests control of the sound system. Any other sound programs that are run while MJ/Windows is still running (including another instance of MJ/Windows) will not be given access to the sound system. Move Check ========== When Move Check is turned on, MJ/Windows will check for available moves after each tile removal. As soon as no additional moves are available, you'll be notified by a dialog box. Box Cursor ========== When the box cursor is turned on, any tile that's being "pointed to" by the mouse will have a box drawn around the tile face. Center Button ============= When Center Button is turned on, you can get to the Show Moves function by simply clicking the center mouse button. You can turn off this convenience if you find yourself hitting the wrong mouse button and getting help (and the resulting score penalty) when you don't really want it. Of course, if you dnn't HAVE a center button on your mouse, this switch is completely irrelevant. Clock Display ============= This switch will control whether or not the elapsed time clock will be displayed. It continues to run, though, whether it's displayed or not. - Page 13 - Tiles Left Display ================== This switch controls whether or not the Tiles Left counter (on the left side of the window) is displayed. Note that when you select this switch, the tile count will not appear or disappear until the next time you do something to affect it -- make a move or back up. Backup ====== Backup ====== Backup will back up one move per selection. You can back up all the way to the beginning of the game, if you'd like to. Set Mark / Go To Mark ===================== You can set & reset up to four bookmarks as you play. Whenever you set a mark, the current game location is remembered. Then, later on, you can decide to back up to a mark (Go To Mark). This effect will be the same as repeatedly selecting Backup until you got to the marked location. Bookmarks work only in a backward direction. You can NOT go through several moves, set a mark, back up several moves, then go to the mark. Special ======= Hall of Fame ============ Selecting this option will display the MJ/Windows Hall of Fame. Press the OK bar at the bottom to return to the game. Background Color ================ You can TEMPORARILY change the background color of the current MJ tile set with this feature. Note that the changes will NOT be stored in the tile set. I feel that the background color has been artistically (I hope) decided on by the tile designer and should not be permanently changed in such a trivial manner. - Page 14 - Pause ====== To pause a game, just select Pause. THe dragon will disappear (to discourage cheating!!!), th clock will stop, and an interesting graphics thing will glide around the window. Press the OK button to resume the game. Print Registration Form ======================= This is probably the most important selection of all the menus. It will print out to your current printer (I hope -- Windows printing is anything but trivial!) a fill-in-the-blanks registration form which you can use to register MJ/Windows and / or order tile set disks. STACK CONTROL MENU To get the stack control menu, just point to a tile stack and press the RIGHT mouse button. Then, press the button for your desired operation (all are explained below). To close the menu without making a selection, select Cancel. The stack control menu features three choices, as follows: PEEK ==== PEEK will allow you to see all the tiles in a stack, and what order they're in. Because this only helps you plan your strategy, but doesn't give away any moves, there are no Hall of Fame penalty points added to your score for accessing PEEK. The HOF will, however, keep track of how many times you used this feature. - Page 15 - ROTATE ====== This command will "rotate" the stack - ie, all tiles will move up one position, except for the top tile which will move to the bottom. This is very much a desperation "cheat" maneuver and should be used sparingly. In fact, if you use this or the next REMOVE feature, your game will no longer be eligible for the Hall of Fame. You'll be so warned the first time you attempt either of these cheats within a game. One important problem with Rotate is that it can cause the Back-up feature to behave strangely. Back-up builds up one tile on the affected piles without checking them for validity, so if you back-up a rotated pile, you may get un-matched pairs coming back. I have no intention of fixing this problem, so don't even ask. If you're resorting to this to try to win, you don't deserve to back up! REMOVE ====== This feature is even more of a cheat than Rotate. You can remove ANY top tile, without regard for matching or being free. As I said above, using this feature will keep your game out of the Hall of Fame -- so use it only as a last resort!! - Page 16 - IN CASE OF DIFFICULTY So far, I haven't run into any problems -- but then again, this is a new product running in a strange new environment. With all the different Windows configurations ou there, I expect some odd things to happen somewhere. If you should run into one, please let me know! TECHNICAL SUPPORT If you have any problem with Mah Jongg for Windows, , please let me know. I'll be glad to do what I can to help you get it running. Of course, I can't guarantee that MJ/Windows will run on all systems! No software company can do that! But as long as your PC can run Windows relatively well, MJ/Windows should run too. My only request is that you enclose a SASE if you would like a reply. My policy has been (and always will be) that I will NOT reply to letters from non-registered users unless they include a SASE. I really don't think it's fair to expect registered users to (literally) pay the expenses of technical support for non-registered users. However, I will definitely reply as long as you cover the costs by sending a SASE. Let me repeat this -- I WILL NOT EVEN THINK OF PROVIDING TECH SUPPORT TO A NON_REGISTERED USER UNLESS YOU INCLUDE A STAMPED, SELF-ADDRESSED ENVELOPE! NO EXCEPTIONS!!!! I can now be reached on BIX, if you'd rather send E-Mail. My username is "rbalewski". I'm usually on a couple times a week, so you should get a prompt reply. WHAT'S NEXT Since this is the first release of MJ/Windows, there are sure to be further enhancements. The first one will be a simulated monochrome monitor in another window. I've always liked that feature from MJVGA and think it'd translate nicely to Windows. I also plan to add all of the features in MJVGA's Hall of Fame editor to MJ/Windows in the future. A Windows version of the MJVGA Viewset utility is also on the things-to-do list. - Page 17 - SHAREWARE Please remember that this game is NOT public domain. It is shareware! If you play and enjoy this game regularly, you are urged to send the registration fee of $20.00. Remember, shareware will only be around as long as YOU support the concept! When registering, please include the version and serial number from the copy of MJ/Windows that you have. All registered users will receive a copy of the latest version free-of-charge. If you'd prefer to register with a simple fill-in-the-blanks form, you can print a registration / order form by selecting Print Registration Form from the Special menu. The order form also includes check-boxes to order various tile set library disks (all public domain) for $3 per disk. Please note that I will send these disks ONLY to registered MJ/Windows users. If you wish to order any of them but are not a registered user, you MUST include the $20 registration fee with your order. All extra disk orders from unregistered users WILL BE DISCARDED!!!! Whether or not you choose to register, I'd like to hear your comments and suggestions on Mah Jongg for Windows. If you'd like a reply, please include a stamped, self-addressed envelope. All comments and contributions can be sent to: Ron Balewski 412 E. Ridge St. Nanticoke, PA 18634-2915 WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU REGISTER I currently provide one free "registered" copy of MJ/Windows on a 5.25" 1.2 M HD diskette for your registration fee. I also provide tile set disks (360k 5.25") for a $3 copying charge each. Upgrades to MJ/Windows will also be available for only a $4 copying charge (provided on 1.2 M 5.25" HD disk). - Page 18 - I generally do NOT send out notices to all registered users whenever I upgrade a product. This would be prohibitively expensive. I'd have to either not upgrade my products as often as I'd like, charge more for upgrades, or charge a higher registration fee to cover this expense. I don't want to do any of these. However, registered users sould feel free to inquire about the current version. Generally, upgrades shouldn't be expected for at least 6 months from the last release, with one year being more likely. You can order as many updates as you'd like for only my $4 per disk copying charge. I do plan to send notices about new products to registered users. I'll also probably give current customers a substantial discount on new products. Registered users also get preferred technical support. I also hope to start a tech support BBS in the near future, and will give registered users access to tile sets, etc. which will not be open to the general public. DISCLAIMER In no event shall the Author be liable to you for any damages, including any lost profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of or inability to use this program, even if the Author has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or for any claim by any other party. - Page 19 - PERMISSION TO COPY Individuals, clubs, and other organizations are granted permission by the author to freely copy and distribute this program and documentation as long as: 1. There is no charge for the software or documentation. However, you may charge a service fee for disk duplication and distribution, as long as such fee is not more than $5.00. 2. Club members are informed of the user-supported (shareware) concept and are encouraged to support it with their donations. 3. The program or its documentation are not modified in any way. 4. All files are distributed together on the same diskette (if possible). No file may be deleted. ATTENTION SHAREWARE VENDORS: ============================ You have my permission to distribute this copy of MJ/Windows as long as you don't charge more than $5 for the disk. However, please don't ask me to send you an updated copy at my expense, because I won't! After all, you're the guy making money on MJ/Windows (probably more than I am) by selling copies. The least you can do is cover my expense of sending you a copy. Unless your request is accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed return mailer & a blank formatted disk (or a $3 check), your request for a freebie WILL GO DIRECTLY INTO THE CIRCULAR FILE!!! THERE WILL BE NO EXCEPTIONS!!! If you are considerate enough to cover my costs, though, I will definitely send you a fresh, new copy of MJ/Windows. Be sure to send your request on your company letterhead, since I WILL NOT send copies to the general public! Only registered users & shareware distributors will qualify to get disks directly from me. Again, NO EXCEPTIONS!!! - Page 20 -