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Poker Solitaire version 2.1 Copyright 1992 by Eduardo Martins _______ ____|__ | (r) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER INTRODUCTION ============ Poker Solitaire, sometimes called Poker Squares, is a solitaire card game that rewards both lucky guessing and accurate calculation of odds. Card games, by their very nature, are very well suited for computer adaptations, since the computer can take care of tedious tasks such as dealing the cards, keeping track of legal moves, and score-keeping, leaving the player free to concentrate on the game itself. After writing a set of routines to draw high-resolution cards for use in my Klondike program, I decided to explore other solitaire card games, and as a result Poker Solitaire 1.1 was released on November 1988. This is a major revision of the original Poker Solitaire program. The graphics routines are better and faster, the user interface is much more polished, and new variations and scoring options have been included. While there are some IBM-PC implementations of Poker Solitaire available both as public domain or shareware programs, I feel that this is by far the best one around. I hope you will enjoy Poker Solitaire 2.1, and encourage the development of high-quality shareware programs by sending the enclosed registration form and the $15 registration fee. A little plug: if you enjoy solitaire games, chances are you will like my other games, Klondike (current version as of March 1992 is 3.1) and Pyramid (current version is 1.1). They can be found on CompuServe, GEnie, or several Bulletin Board Systems. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS =================== Poker Solitaire 2.1 runs on an IBM-PC or compatible running under MS-DOS 2.1 or greater, with at least 384 KBytes of memory available and an EGA or VGA display adapter and monitor. A Microsoft-compatible mouse is strongly recommended but not required. If you want to use the mouse, the mouse driver (usually called MOUSE.SYS or MOUSE.COM) must be installed before you run Poker Solitaire; please refer to your mouse documentation for instructions. Make sure that the files POKER.EXE, POKER.GX and POKER.HLP are all on the current directory. If you are running Poker Solitaire from a floppy disk, make sure that the disk is not write-protected, since the program writes configuration information and the high scores to disk. Poker Solitaire 2 POKER SOLITAIRE RULES ===================== One regular pack is used. Shuffle the pack and deal the first twenty-five cards one by one, placing them in a 5 x 5 square. Each card may be placed anywhere within the square. Once placed, a card cannot be moved. The object of the game is to make as high a score as possible, counting each row and column as a Poker hand. Two scoring systems, the American and the English, are prevalent. The American system follows the ranking of hands in the game of Poker, while the English system is based on the relative difficulty of forming the hands in Poker Solitaire. Hand American English Royal Flush 100 30 Straight Flush 75 30 Four of a Kind 50 16 Full House 25 10 Flush 20 5 Straight 15 12 Three of a Kind 10 6 Two Pairs 5 3 One Pair 2 1 A straight is hard to make, for if you play for it you risk making nothing at all or merely a pair. A full house is easier (and thus worth less points in the English scoring system), for you can afford to play for it and make Three of a Kind or Two Pairs if you fail. Flushes are very easy to make (note that they are worth less than Three of a Kind in the English system). The usual strategy is to try for flushes in the columns and full houses or fours on the rows. You may consider that you have won the game if you total 200 (American) or 70 (English) points. Variations ---------- There are two popular variations, both of them included in Poker Solitaire 2.1. On Variation No. 1, each card must be placed vertically, laterally or diagonally adjacent to a card previously placed. On Variation No. 2, all 25 cards are spread face up and then placed on the grid. Each variation can be played using either the American or English scoring system, thus making for six different games! Variation No. 1 is obviously the hardest of the three possible modes, since it places a restriction on where you can put the cards, while Variation No. 2 is the easiest, since you know beforehand all 25 cards you will be using. Poker Solitaire 3 GAME PLAY - MOUSE ================= The standard game and Variation No. 1 are played much in the same way, except that on the standard game you can place a card on any empty square on the grid, while on Variation No. 1 a card must be placed on a square adjacent to a previously placed card. Variation No. 2 plays a bit differently, and will be dealt with separately. Standard Game and Variation No. 1 --------------------------------- To turn a card face up, either place the mouse cursor over it and press the left mouse button, or simply press the right mouse button. Using the right mouse button has the advantage that you do not have to place the cursor over the card, thus avoiding moving back and forth between the 5 x 5 grid and the Pack area. Once a card has been turned up, place it on the grid by placing the mouse cursor where you want to put it, and then pressing the left mouse button. Note that when you place the mouse cursor anywhere within the grid it changes from the standard arrow shape either to a pointing hand (if the top card of the Pack is face up) or to an hour glass (to indicate that the top card of the Pack is face down and you must first turn it face up). The following commands are available during play, and can be issued by placing the mouse cursor over the corresponding 'command button' (on the lower right hand corner of the screen) and pressing the left mouse button: HELP: displays a help file. Use the cursor keys (Up and Down arrows, Page Up, Page Down, Home, and End) to move around the file, and press the [Escape] key when you are done viewing it. INFO: displays Copyright and Version information, and your registration number if you have a registered copy. Press any mouse button to return to the game after you are done viewing the information. UNDO: moves the last card placed on the grid back to the Pack. Undo can only be used immediately after you place the card on the grid; if you turn the top card of the Pack face up Undo cannot be used anymore. BACK: allows you to choose from five different card backs. Choose the design you want by placing the mouse cursor over it and pressing the left mouse button, and press the right mouse button when done. The currently selected card number is highlighted in light blue. Poker Solitaire 4 VARIAT: allows you to select which variation you want to play. Choose the variation by placing the mouse cursor over the number you want and pressing the left mouse button. Press the right mouse button when done. The currently selected variation is highlighted. TOP 10: displays the Top Ten scores. Note that there are six different Top Ten lists, one for each variation/ scoring system combination. Press any mouse button to get back to the game after you are done viewing the Top Ten scores. SCORING: allows you to select the desired scoring system, American or English. Select by placing the mouse cursor over the system you want and pressing the left mouse button. Press the right mouse button when done. The currently selected scoring system is highlighted. CONFIG: brings up the Configuration menu. This allows you to customize your copy of Poker Solitaire. The first option, 'Mouse', can be set to 'Yes' (always use the mouse; this option is ignored if a mouse driver is not found when you start Poker Solitaire), 'No' (always use the keyboard, even if a mouse driver is present), or 'Ask' (if a mouse driver is found, asks at the beginning of each game whether or not you want to use the mouse). The second option, 'Sound', can be set to 'Full' (songs and beeps are enabled), 'Partial' (songs disabled, but error beeps enabled), or 'Off' (both songs and beeps disabled). Finally, the third option, 'Error Messages', can be set to 'Yes' (displays a context-sensitive error message each time an error occurs), or 'No' (does not display the error messages, errors are indicated by beeps if Sound is either Full or Partial). To select an option, place the mouse cursor over it and press the left mouse button. Currently selected options are highlighted. Press the right mouse button when done. If you are playing from a floppy-disk, do NOT write-protect the disk, otherwise Config will not be able to write the configuration information. NEW: interrupts the current game and starts a new one. You are asked to confirm by selecting either 'Yes' or 'No' from a dialog box. Use the left mouse button to enter your selection. QUIT: quits Poker Solitaire. You are asked to confirm by selecting either 'Yes' or 'No' from a dialog box. Use the left mouse button to enter your selection. Poker Solitaire 5 Variation No. 2 --------------- Under Variation No. 2, the first 25 cards from the Pack are placed randomly on the 5 x 5 grid. Your objective is to re-arrange the cards in order to score the highest possible number of points. Use the Pack area as a temporary holding place. For example, to move the card that is currently at location (1,1) on the grid to location (3,5), first select the card at (3,5), move it to the Pack, and then select the card at (1,1) and move it to (3,5). To select a card to be moved, place the mouse cursor over it and press the left mouse button. The selected card will be highlighted. To move the selected card, place the mouse cursor over the location where you want to move the card to and press the left mouse button again. If you select a card and decide not to move it, place the mouse cursor over it and press the left mouse button, and the card will be de-selected. Note that the right mouse button automatically selects the card that is temporarily on the Pack area. So, if you want to select that card, simply press the right mouse button, without having to place the mouse cursor over the card. If you want to move a card to the Pack area, select that card and then press the right mouse button. This allows you to stay within the grid area all the time, instead of moving back and forth between the grid and Pack areas. All commands work as described before, except for UNDO. Since you can select any card and place it anywhere on the grid, there is no need for an UNDO command. In its place is the DONE command. Select DONE when you are satisfied with the way the cards are arranged on the grid, and the computer will calculate your score. Poker Solitaire 6 GAME PLAY - KEYBOARD ==================== The standard game and Variation No. 1 are played much in the same way, except that on the standard game you can place a card on any empty square on the grid, while on Variation No. 1 a card must be placed on a square adjacent to a previously placed card. Variation No. 2 plays a bit differently, and will be dealt with separately. Note that the NumLock option is automatically turned on when you play using the keyboard. You can then use the numeric keypad to play. Use 1 - 5 to indicate the row and column numbers, and 0 to indicate the pack. Standard Game and Variation No. 1 --------------------------------- To turn the top card of the Pack face up, type 'P' (for Pack). Once a card has been turned up, place it on the grid by first typing the row number (1 to 5) and then the column number (again 1 to 5). The card will then be placed on the desired location. If you type the wrong row number, press the [Escape] key to cancel it and start over again. The following commands are available during play, and can be issued by typing the highlighted letter from the corresponding 'command button' (on the lower right hand corner of the screen): HELP: displays a help file. Use the cursor keys (Up and Down arrows, Page Up, Page Down, Home, and End) to move around the file, and press the [Escape] key when you are done viewing it. INFO: displays Copyright and Version information, and your registration number if you have a registered copy. Press any key to return to the game after you are done viewing the information. UNDO: moves the last card placed on the grid back to the Pack. Undo can only be used immediately after you place the card on the grid; if you turn the top card of the Pack face up Undo cannot be used anymore. BACK: allows you to choose from five different card backs. Choose the design you want by pressing the corresponding number, and press the [Enter] key when done. The currently selected card number is highlighted in light blue. Poker Solitaire 7 VARIAT: allows you to select which variation you want to play. Choose the variation by typing the corresponding number, and press the [Enter] key when done. The currently selected variation is highlighted. TOP 10: displays the Top Ten scores. Note that there are six different Top Ten lists, one for each variation/ scoring system combination. Press any key to get back to the game after you are done viewing the Top Ten scores. SCORING: allows you to select the desired scoring system, American or English. Select by pressing 'A' for American or 'E' for English, and press the [Enter] key when done. The currently selected scoring system is highlighted, CONFIG: brings up the Configuration menu. This allows you to customize your copy of Poker Solitaire. The first option, 'Mouse', can be set to 'Yes' (always use the mouse; this option is ignored if a mouse driver is not found when you start Poker Solitaire), 'No' (always use the keyboard, even if a mouse driver is present), or 'Ask' (if a mouse driver is found, asks at the beginning of each game whether or not you want to use the mouse). The second option, 'Sound', can be set to 'Full' (songs and beeps are enabled), 'Partial' (songs disabled, but error beeps enabled), or 'Off' (both songs and beeps disabled). Finally, the third option, 'Error Messages', can be set to 'Yes' (displays a context-sensitive error message each time an error occurs), or 'No' (does not display the error messages, errors are indicated by beeps if Sound is either Full or Partial). You will be prompted to enter the desired option for Mouse, Sound and Error Messages, in that order. Press either 'Y', 'N' or 'A' for Mouse; 'F', 'P' or 'O' for Sound; and 'Y' or 'N' for Error Messages. Press the [Enter] key after selecting each one. Currently selected options are highlighted. If you are playing from a floppy-disk, do NOT write-protect the disk, otherwise Config will not be able to write the configuration information. NEW: interrupts the current game and starts a new one. You are asked to confirm by selecting either 'Yes' or 'No' from a dialog box. Type either 'Y' or 'N' to enter your selection. QUIT: quits Poker Solitaire. You are asked to confirm by selecting either 'Yes' or 'No' from a dialog box. Type either 'Y' or 'N' to enter your selection. Poker Solitaire 8 Variation No. 2 --------------- Under Variation No. 2, the first 25 cards from the Pack are placed randomly on the 5 x 5 grid. Your objective is to re-arrange the cards in order to score the highest possible number of points. Use the Pack area as a temporary holding place. For example, to move the card that is currently at location (1,1) on the grid to location (3,5), first select the card at (3,5), move it to the Pack, and then select the card at (1,1) and move it to (3,5). To select a card to be moved, first type the row and then the column number of the card you want to select. The selected card will be highlighted. To move the selected card, first press the row and then the column number of the location where you want to move the card to. If you select a card and decide not to move it, select it again and the card will be de-selected. All commands work as described before, except for UNDO. Since you can select any card and place it anywhere on the grid, there is no need for an UNDO command. In its place is the DONE command. Select DONE when you are satisfied with the way the cards are arranged on the grid, and the computer will calculate your score. REGISTRATION ============ You are granted a license to try this program for a period of 21 days. If you continue to use this program after the trial period is over, you must register by sending the registration form and $15 + $5 shipping and handling to EM Software Station A, P.O. Box 2052 Champaign, IL 61825-2052 When you register Poker Solitaire, you receive a diskette with the latest version, a printed manual, and a registration number and instructions on how to store it into your copy. This number will then be displayed instead of the 'Unregistered Evaluation Copy' message on the opening screen and on the Info window, and the Shareware screen that is displayed after you quit the game will be supressed. Note that these are the ONLY differences between registered and unregistered copies; your evaluation copy is fully functional, not 'crippleware'. Poker Solitaire 9 COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS ==================== The following command-line options can be specified when you load Poker Solitaire: -mouse selects the mouse as the input device. This option is ignored if a mouse driver is not found when you load Poker Solitaire. -nomouse selects the keyboard as the input device. -ask asks whether or not you want to use the mouse. This option is ignored if a mouse driver is not found when you load Poker Solitaire. [Default] -fullsound turns full sound (both songs and error beeps) on. [Default] -partsound turns partial sound (error beeps, but no songs) on. -nosound turns both songs and error beeps off. -english selects the English scoring system. [Default] -american selects the American scoring system. -var[n] selects Variation [n], where [n] is a number from 0 to 2. [Default is -var0] -back[n] selects card back [n], where [n] is a number from 1 to 5. [Default is -back1] -errormsgon turns error messages on. [Default] -errormsgoff turns error messages off. Note that the command-line switches have precedence over the settings selected through the Config command. So, if you have Poker Solitaire currently configured to use card back 2 and the american scoring system, but you load it as poker -back5 -english card back 5 and the english scoring system will be used. Poker Solitaire 10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ================ Poker Solitaire was developed using Borland's Turbo Pascal 5.0, Turbo Power Software's Turbo Professional 5.0, and Genus Microcomputing's PCX Programmer's Toolkit and PCX Effects. I wish to thank everybody at CompuServe's Borland Forum. Their help and support has been invaluable. I also wish to thank the following individuals: - Neil Rubenking, author of PianoMan, used to add the songs, - Scott Bussinger, author of the BackPlay unit, used to play the PianoMan tunes in the background, - Tim Godfrey, author of the GRAFTEXT unit, used for the extremely fast graphics-mode screen writes, - and, last but not least, Mael Martins, for the countless hours of beta-testing and for putting up with me whenever I get into the 'hack' mode. POKER SOLITAIRE FILES ===================== The following files should be present on the Poker Solitaire 2.1 diskette/archive: POKER.EXE Executable file POKER.GX High-resolution images POKER.HLP On-line Help file POKER.DOC This file PKS_READ.ME! General information file ORDER.FRM Registration form If your copy does not contain all files listed above, you can get a fresh copy on CompuServe (PSOL21.EXE on IBMNEW Lib 8), GEnie (PKRSOL21.LZH on the IBM-PC RoundTable), or on Bulletin Board Systems all over the U.S. Poker Solitaire 11 ABOUT SHAREWARE =============== (Definition supplied by the Association of Shareware Professionals) Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs differ on details -- some request registration while others require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using the software to an updated program with a printed manual. Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below. Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like commercial authors, and the programs are of comparable quality. (In both cases, there are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference is in the method of distribution. The author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. For example, some authors require written permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy their Shareware. So, Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it. * * * * * * This program is produced by 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 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427 or send a Compuserve message via CMAIL to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536.