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-
- Shut The Box Version 2.0
- Copyright 1991 by John Parlin and JPSoft
- All rights reserved
-
-
-
- ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
- │░░░░░░ LICENSING INFORMATION ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│
- ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
-
- This program is not Freeware. This is SHAREWARE which means it is user-
- supported software. If you use this program for more than 30 days, you are
- required to register or remove it from your system. The registration fee is
- a mere $12.00 and is not a lot to ask.
-
- The concept works only with your support. If you find that you can use this
- program, then a registration fee of $12.00 U.S. funds will help defray the
- development cost and encourage the authorship of other programs that might be
- useful to you. A Registration Form for this purpose is included with the
- distribution archive and is called SHUTREG.DOC.
-
- ShutBox is Copyrighted 1991 by John Parlin and all rights are reserved. You
- may copy this program and documentation for backup purposes. You also may copy
- and share UNMODIFIED copies of the program package, providing that the
- copyright notice is reproduced and included on all copies.
-
- You may not sell the product for a fee and/or distribute the product
- along with other products without expressed written permission from John
- Parlin, nor may you modify or remove the Copyright Notice from the program or
- the documentation.
-
- Comments, suggestions and bug reports are welcome. If you have any, you
- should contact the author at one of the following Bulletin Board Systems listed
- below.
-
- System Name | Location | Sysop Name |Phone Number|Fido Node
- --------------------|-------------------|---------------|------------|---------
- Beg, Borrow or Steal| Eden Prairie, MN | Paul Andre |612-934-2982|1:282/37
- Odyssey BBS | Edina, MN | Stan Hirschman|612-832-5127|1:282/40
- O-Zone BBS | New Hope, MN | Jim Biggs |612-591-7767|1:282/30
-
- If you're reporting a bug, please give as much detail as possible about the
- problem you are experiencing so that it can be duplicated and fixed.
-
-
-
- ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
- │░░░░░░ INTRODUCTION ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│
- ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
-
- Shut The Box has been around since the 18th century and was thought
- to have been invented by fishermen in the Channel Islands. It has remained
- a popular game in the British Isles and has also been glorified in the TV
- game show High Rollers. Its simplicity coupled with a beat-the-odds type
- of play, make Shut The Box, a fun, fast-paced game.
-
- THE OBJECTIVE:
-
- Players try to get the highest monthly score possible, by shutting
- numbered doors or "tiles" which match rolled dice. At the beginning of play,
- panels ("tiles") numbered 1 thru 9 are displayed on the screen in an "up"
- position (see Figure 1).
-
- ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐
- │ 1 │ 2 │ 3 │ 4 │ 5 │ 6 │ 7 │ 8 │ 9 │
- ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤
- │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
- └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘
- Figure 1
-
- The player begins by rolling two dice and closes a combination of
- doors (we'll call them tiles) whose numbers total that of the dice. The
- player's turn ends when a number is rolled which cannot be matched by any
- total of the remaining tiles left up (open).
-
- For example: A player's first roll is a six and a two, totalling
- eight. The player may shut either the tile numbered eight, or the six
- and two, or the five and three, or any other combination that totals the
- rolled value of eight.
-
- In our example, the player chooses to shut (pull down) the two and
- the six, leaving the board as you see in Figure 2.
-
- ┌───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┬───┐
- │ 1 │ │ 3 │ 4 │ 5 │ │ 7 │ 8 │ 9 │
- ├───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┼───┤
- │ │ 2 │ │ │ │ 6 │ │ │ │
- └───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┴───┘
- Figure 2
-
- When the player is finished selecting tiles (and the Tile Total is
- equal to the total of the dice), the player presses <ENTER>. The tiles
- that were pulled down will then change color and be considered out of play
- or "closed".
-
- Upon game completion, all tiles are reopened and the player may
- select to play another game providing that he has not reached the maximum
- number of daily turns allowed by the System Operator.
-
- At the end of each month, the player with the highest score is
- declared the winner. The top-three scoring players are recorded and displayed
- to players throughout the following month.
-
- SCORING:
-
- Whenever tiles are shut, or pulled-down, and "entered", the player's
- score is incremented by the total of the tiles which were closed. At the end
- of each game, players receive a bonus of 10 multiplied by the number of tiles
- that were closed. If a player closes all tiles, a bonus of 300 points is
- added to the player's score.
-
- GAME CONTROLS:
-
- The keys used to control Shut The Box, are the number keys 4, 6, 8,
- 2, and <ENTER>. Move the block cursor using the numeric key pad with the
- NUM LOCK key turned on. The block cursor can be moved right and left. To
- close a tile (pull it down), use the 2 key. To open a tile (deselect it),
- use the 8 key.
-
- When you are satisfied with the tiles you have pulled down, press
- <ENTER> to "enter" the tiles and remove them from play.
-
-
- ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
- │░░░░░░ INSTALLATION ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│
- ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
-
- IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are running an earlier version than 2.0, please read
- SHUTBOX.NEW for instructions on how to upgrade your data
- files to 2.0 format.
-
- Shut The Box runs great as a type 7 door on RemoteAccess and QuickBBS. All
- file I/O uses record locking and this door will run fine on two nodes
- simultaneously. All you need to do is pass three command line parameters
- to the program (a fourth is optional).
-
- These are:
-
- /Tn - This is the maximum number of games a player may play per day. This
- should be a number between 1 and 99. If it's not in this range, it
- will default to 5.
-
- /Mn - This is the maximum number of make up days allowed per day. Players
- may not be able to call in and play every day. So, to enable
- players to keep up and be competitive, the Sysop can allow players
- to have 'n' make up days per day. This should be a value between 1
- and 5. If it's not in this range, it will default to 3.
-
- Example: If I allow 3 make up days per day, and 5 games per day, a
- player can:
-
- - Call in on the 5th and play his 5 games for that day.
- - Use a up to 3 make up days and play 5 games for each make up day
- that he uses.
-
- /Pn - This is the path to DORINFOx.DEF or DOOR.SYS. This is where Shut The
- Box will look for the drop file. If a trailing backslash is not
- specified, one will be added.
-
- /D - This parameter specifies that a RemoteAccess or GAP (PCBoard) DOOR.SYS
- drop file should be used instead of a DORINFOx.DEF drop file. This
- file should reside in the directory path specified by the /P
- parameter. This parameter is optional.
-
-
- Examples:
-
- SHUTBOX.EXE /t7 /m2 /pC:\RA\ 7 games per day.
- 2 make up days per day.
- DORINFO1.DEF can be found in C:\RA\ directory.
-
- SHUTBOX.EXE /m5 /p\RA\ 5 games per day (default).
- 5 make up days per day.
- DORINFO1.DEF can be found in \RA\ directory.
-
- SHUTBOX.EXE /pC:\RA\ /D 5 games per day (default).
- 3 make up days per game (default).
- DOOR.SYS can be found in C:\RA\ directory.
- Use DOOR.SYS instead of DORINFO1.DEF. No need
- to worry about the format. Shut The Box will
- automatically determine if a RemoteAccess or
- PCBoard DOOR.SYS is being used.
-
- NOTE: If you are running this program under PCBoard, you may have to load
- a FOSSIL driver from a batch file before the game is run, and unload
- it when the game is finished and before control is returned to the
- BBS.
-
- Shut The Box can be run in the BBS system directory or in a directory of its own.
- If you use a separate subdirectory, you will need to use a batch file.
-
- Here is an example type 7 batch file:
-
- Type 7 command line:
-
- *C /c \RA\GOSHUT.BAT
-
- GOSHUT.BAT:
-
- Cd \RA\SHUT
- SHUTBOX /t7 /m3 /pC:\RA\
- Cd \RA
-
- Or, if you are running Shut The Box from the BBS system directory, no batch file
- is needed:
-
- Type 7 command line:
-
- SHUTBOX.EXE /t10 /m3 /pC:\RA\
-
- That's all there is to installing the Shut The Box door. There is no setup
- program needed.
-
-
- ╒═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╕
- │░░░░░░ SUPPORT FILES ░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░│
- ╘═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╛
-
- The following is a list of files related to the operation of this program.
- It is noted whether or not the file is absolutely required in order for the
- program to run.
-
- Filename Required Description
- ------------ -------- -------------------------------------------------
- SHUTREG.DOC No Program registration form.
- SHUTBOX.NEW No Program revision history. Be sure to read!
- SHUTBOX.EXE Yes The main progam executable.
- SHUTBOX.ANS Yes The game board graphic. (color graphics)
- SHUTBOX.ASC Yes The game board graphic (mono graphics)
- SHUTOPEN.ANS Yes The Shut The Box graphic (color graphics).
- SHUTOPEN.ASC Yes The Shut The Box graphic (mono graphics).
- SHUTBOX.HLP Yes Help file.
- SHUTBOX.DOC No This documentation.
- SHUTBOX.DTE No This is a date file. This is used to determine
- when the end of month has been reached.
- SHUTBOX.HSC No This file contains the last month's high scorer
- statistics.
- SHUTBOX.DAT No This is the player data file. If it does not
- exist, it will be created.
- SHUTBOX.LOG No This file is created if Shut The Box encounters an
- error during operations. If this file exists, it
- is intended for your viewing pleasure.
-
-
-