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OS/2 Help File | 1994-08-31 | 31.2 KB | 423 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Rules of Dungeon Chess ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for "General" Menu Dungeon Chess is played on an 8x8 grid. Two teams face each other at opposite ends of a dungeon. Destroy the opposition before it destroys you. You have 16 weapons: 8 circs, 2 arcs, 2 trigs, 2 rects, and 2 stars. Rooms are only visible when weapons have access to them. Rooms that cannot be moved into cannot be seen. Points are scored but it is the team that destroys the other that wins. Points are used as a barometer only. Think of it as "collecting gold." You can collect a lot. That is good. But, lose your life and it's gone. << YOU === ScoreBoard == THEM >> The movement of the weapons is similar to chess. There is no "castling" and no "checkmate." Circs move like kings, one room in any direction. Arcs move like knights, over two and up one, down one and over two, etc. Trigs move like bishops. If a trig is the last weapon, it gains the power to also move like a circ. Rects move like rooks, stars like queens. Circs have a power similar to pawns in chess, called "morphing." To gain this power a circ must traverse the entire length of the dungeon and reach the enemy home row. A circ that does this is protected from harm. It cannot be attacked and it blocks access to that room by the enemy. It can, at your command, become any weapon of your choice. Once morphed, the circ becomes that new weapon and cannot again become a circ. Also, once morphed, the new weapon again becomes subject to attack. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Scoring ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for "General" Menu << YOU === ScoreBoard == THEM >> Circ 1 Point. Arc 2 Points. Trig 3 Points. Rect 4 Points. Star 5 Points. "Reaching Morph Row" 8 Points. "Morphing" 8 Points times the value of the weapon morphed into. "Hitting" Hitting weapon's value times "destroyed" weapon's value. "Bringing in Reserves" Value of weapon brought in. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. General Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for "New Game" help... The General menu allows you to start games, set visual conditions, set RADAR options, and turn on or off AUTOPLAY mode. These functions are simple point and click. New games are initiated in an "Empty" or "Populated" dungeon. There are two levels of visual effects: "Master," and "GrandMaster." The "Master" level is the dungeon in daytime. The "GrandMaster" level is the dungeon at night. RADAR can be used not at all, just for you, or for both sides. AUTOPLAY lets the computer play both sides at once. The "General" menu has the following commands: New Game Start Dungeon Chess Dungeon Visual Parameters RADAR Weapon Status AUTOPLAY Computer Simulated Games ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. New Game ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for "Dungeon Colors" help... When you choose "New Game," another menu appears which allows you to start with an "Empty" or a "Populated" dungeon. With "Empty," all weapons are in reserve. You get to pick the time and place to bring your weapons into the game. With "Populated," the weapons are loaded for you similar to traditional chess: circs in front, heavy weapons in the rear. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Dungeon Colors ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for "RADAR" help... You can choose from two color schemes according to the degree of perceptive difficulty: "Master" and "GrandMaster." Master level is analogous to being in the dungeon in the daytime. The rooms are brighter, making it easier to see in the dungeon. GrandMaster level is more like night fighting. The rooms are black as coal. It takes much greater concentration to "perceive" the dungeon in darkness. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. RADAR ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for "AUTOPLAY" help... RADAR is the ability to "see" the status of weapons. RADAR is kept for "active" weapons, and "in reserve." If RADAR is "NONE" you have to keep a mental note of the status. With "HOME RADAR" you see only your own status. With "FULL RADAR," you can see both teams. The RADAR grid consists of two sets of five numbers. The first set of numbers (top-down) indicates "active" weapons. The second set shows "reserves." Reserves are made active via the "weapon" buttons. When reserves are activated, "reserve" RADAR decreases and "active" RADAR increases. When a weapon is destroyed, the "active" RADAR decreases. << YOU === Circs == THEM >> <<======== Arcs ========>> <<======== Trigs =======>> <<======== Rects ========>> <<======== Stars ========>> ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. AUTOPLAY ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for "WEAPONS" help... AUTOPLAY allows the computer to make the moves for both sides. This is helpful during the learning phase, to watch the computer make the moves. Also, AUTOPLAY is useful for demos of OS/2 capabilities, in particular, object graphics, and multi-thread capabilities. The menu choice toggles to turn AUTOPLAY on if it is off, and off if it is on. The text in the menu changes to reflect the state of AUTOPLAY. Remember, the text is a reflection of what will happen next, so that, if AUTOPLAY is "OFF," the text reads "AUTOPLAY," if "AUTOPLAY" is "ON," the text reads "AUTO OFF." ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. Weapons ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for more about weapons. The Weapons consist of five types that differ in their range of movement and relative worth. Reserve weapons are accessed via a set of buttons (miniatures of each weapon) to the left of the dungeon. When you click one, the button lights to show you have selected it. You can then click on any available room in your home row. The room will also light up. Choose "Official" from the top menu or use the mouse to double click the room in the home row. The reserve weapon is activated. When all reserves for a button have been brought in, the weapon button disappears. Circ The point spreads. Arc The center meets the edge. Trig The diagonal flows. Rect The line forms. Star The best is the rest. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9. Circ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for next help... The Circ is the first weapon. It can move one room at a time in any direction. Alone a circ is weak, but grouped together they are quite formidable. The circ has a special power that it and only it has: the power of the "Morph." Get a circ onto the home row of your enemy. The circ becomes safe from attack. It blocks the enemy from that room. And, it can become any other weapon, by your command. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10. Arc ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for next help... The Arc is the second weapon. It can move from the center of a circle, out to the edge. The arc can jump other weapons to get to the edge. Arcs are especially good at threatening stars because an arc in position to take a star can't be seen by that star. On the other hand, just about everything threatens arcs; they see where they are going, and from whence they come, but nothing in between. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11. Trig ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for next help... The Trig is the third weapon. It can move on diagonals only. There are two mutually exclusive sets of diagonals in the dungeon (even/odd). A trig that is in the "odd zone" has no access to the "even zone." There is one condition when a trig is able to access both zones. If the last weapon left is a trig, it gains the ability to move like a circ. That way it can defend itself in the whole dungeon, moving like a trig, or like a circ to get to the other zone. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12. Rect ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for next help... The Rect is the fourth weapon. It can move in a straight line, forward, backward, and side to side. Rects are blind to diagonals. They cannot jump over other weapons, but if the path is clear, they can get from one side of the dungeon to the other in a single move. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13. Star ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for next help... The Star is the fifth weapon. It has the power of all the other weapons combined, except the arc. Stars can move straight, or on diagonals. Stars can move great distances, like trigs and rects, or short distances like circs. They cannot jump over other weapons like arcs do. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14. Morph Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for next help... <== double click for more on circs... Morphing is a power available only to circs. Usually the morph menu is not active and cannot be selected. If a circ is brought onto the enemy home row, it acquires the power to polymorph. The circ goes into static hybernation. It loses the power to move (or see) sideways. It gains a protective shell and cannot be harmed by the enemy, nor can the enemy move into that room while the circ is in hybernation. Acquiring polymorph capability earns you 8 points. At your command the circ in hybernation can be morphed into any other weapon: Arc, Trig, Rect, or Star. This is done by selecting the circ with the mouse and using the morph menu. When a circ is selected (and only when it is selected) the morph menu activates. When the circ is morphed you receive 8 times the value of the weapon the circ becomes. Choose an arc, earn 16 points. Choose a star, earn 40. Remember a morph is safe only while hybernating. All other weapons, including a circ just morphed, are vulnerable to attack. Morphing does not count as a move. You still get your turn after the morph. You can move the morphed weapon but you don't have to move it. You can move any other active weapon. You can bring a reserve weapon in if one is available. Just remember that the new weapon is no longer safe from attack. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15. Official Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for "UnSelect" help... Official is used to make a move permanent. Once a weapon is brought out of reserve (with the Weapon Button), it can be moved only by its direct manipulation. The "Official" process is: (using left mouse button) 1) select weapon (either active or reserve) with mouse; (Weapon shows with yellow highlight) 2) select destination room with mouse; (Room shows with green highlight) 3) select "Official." The "Official" sequence has a short-cut method. Steps 1 and 2 are the same, but instead of selecting "Official" from the menu, destination room is "double clicked" with the left mouse button. The double click has the same affect as clicking "Official" on the menu. The selecting of weapons and destination rooms is indicated by a ribbon of highlight color which surrounds the room(s) selected. The selection order is important. The weapon MUST be selected before the destination. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16. UnSelect Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for rules... UnSelect "undoes" a partial move. Should the sequence of selecting a weapon and then selecting a room to move into become out-of-sync, use the "UnSelect" menu to clear everything and start the whole move over. UnSelect works only for partial moves. Once a move is "official," it cannot be undone. Once a circ is morphed, it cannot be returned to its original state as a circ. Again, "UnSelect" works only when the official sequence has not yet been completed. The "Official" process is: (using left mouse button) 1) select weapon (either active or reserve) with mouse ; (Weapon shows with yellow highlight) 2) select destination room with mouse; (Room shows with green highlight) 3) select "Official." The "Official" sequence has a short-cut method. Steps 1 and 2 are the same, but instead of selecting "Official" from the menu, destination room is "double clicked" with the left mouse button. The double click has the same affect as clicking "Official" on the menu. The selecting of weapons and destination rooms is indicated by a ribbon of highlight color which surrounds the room(s) selected. The selection order is important. The weapon MUST be selected before the destination. If something goes wrong with the sequence "UnSelect" and you start over. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 17. Help Menu ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click icon for help... The help menu has selections of both a general nature and selections specific to Dungeon Chess (i.e. Rules). It is recommended that the index be used for the easiest access to specific help information. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 18. Index ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click icon for help... The index allows you to jump to specific areas of help. For Dungeon Chess, the index is recommended for reaching the various help topics directly. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 19. Extended Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click for rules... <== double click for menus... <== double click for moves... <== double click for weapons... <== double click for "Morph" help... Specific to Dungeon Chess are many topics that are covered. Use the help index, or double click the icon(s) above for a sequential tour of help topics. Each time an icon for Dungeon Chess is double clicked, the next leg of the tour will display. You can end help at any time, and return to the game, by double clicking in the top left corner of the help window. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 20. Using Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click icon for help... This choice provides standard explanations of the help functions as they pertain to all OS/2 programs that use standard help. There is nothing specific to Dungeon Chess to be found. If you are not familiar with OS/2 help features, choose this item for a tutorial. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21. Keys ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click icon for help... Dungeon Chess does not make use of the keyboard except where a menu choice can be reached or selected with a letter. In these cases, the letter which invokes the choice is underlined. Move the focus to the top level menu by pressing F10. From there type the appropriate letter from the keyboard and the menu choice is invoked. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 22. Contact ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <== double click icon for help... (C) Copyright 1991, 1994 Craig M. Seavey All rights are reserved. Dungeon Chess 3.0 is shareware with no warranties expressed or implied. In addition to this version which is 1 player only, there is a network version. ChessNet is a 16-bit application which runs in OS/2 1.2 or better. As it is tightly coupled to Comm. Mgr., it will only run with OS/2 EE, Extended Services, or CM/2 installed (which is why this version was created!) If you have a network, ChessNet supports NetBIOS, APPC, and IEEE 802.2 network protocols. To become an official user of Dungeon Chess, and/or correspond with the author contact: Craig M. Seavey 12440 SW 186 St. Miami, Fl., 33177 (Compuserve ID = 75450,451) (Internet ID = ccv@shadow.net) A nominal fee of 10 (ten) U.S. dollars is greatly appreciated. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 23. Dungeon Chess info ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ This dialog displays the copyright notice. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 24. OK ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The OK button closes dialogs.