Copyright: Copyright (c) 1998 numatrix software
Citation: Copyright (c) 1998 numatrix software


Overview · Object of the Game · How to Play · Scoring · Strategy and Hints · Game Controls · Questions & Answers · Version Info

Overview

3 Peak Perfection is a solitaire-style card game.  This game is based on a game by the same name found on the coin-operated Midway Touchmaster  touchscreen  bartop-style video machine.  Some care has been taken to keep it fairly true to the official version in terms of scoring and gameplay (but not animation and sound).

I hope you enjoy this game and I am very interested in your feedback.  Please send e-mail to the address below for questions, comments, or just to say hello.  You can visit my website for updates and other software downloads.  This is the second release of 3 peak perfection, and I plan to continue to update and improve this game, as well as release other titles in this game category, so your feedback will be very appreciated.

-- April 1998, Steven Stiles numatrix@softhome.net
http://www.angelfire.com/ca/numatrix    About the Author


Overview · Object of the Game · How to Play · Scoring · Strategy and Hints · Game Controls · Questions & Answers · Version Info

Object of the Game

The object of the game is to clear the 3 peaks by removing all the cards from the playing field to the discard pile.  To win, clear all cards before the timer expires.


Overview · Object of the Game · How to Play · Scoring · Strategy and Hints · Game Controls · Questions & Answers · Version Info

How to Play

1	Click the New Game button found on the title screen.

The game area consists of 3 main components: the playing field, the deck, and the discard pile.

2	Clear the 3 peaks by moving all the cards from the playing field onto the discard pile.  You may only move cards from the playing field that are exactly one card higher or lower than  the active card in rank, and may be of any suit.  When a card is removed from the playing field, it becomes the new active card on the discard pile.

For example, if the active card is a 10, you may play either a 9 or Jack.  If the active card is an Ace, you may play either a King or a 2.

3	When you have made all the available plays on the board, click the deck to begin turning over cards. When a card is turned over it becomes the new active card.

4.	The game is over when: a) you exhaust the deck, or b) your time expires.

5.	By clearing the field, you win the round and advance to the next round.  The standard game consists of three rounds.


Overview · Object of the Game · How to Play · Scoring · Strategy and Hints · Game Controls · Questions & Answers · Version Info

Scoring

There are five ways to earn points in 3 Peak Perfection:

runs · peak bonus · win bonus · deck bonus · clock bonus


Overview · Object of the Game · How to Play · Scoring · Strategy and Hints · Game Controls · Questions & Answers · Version Info

Scoring

There are five ways to earn points in 3 Peak Perfection:

runs · peak bonus · win bonus · deck bonus · clock bonus

run

A run consists of the number of consecutive cards played without drawing from the deck.  The number of points awarded per card increases by 100 for each card played during a run.  The player is awarded 100 points for the first card in a run; 200 points for the second, 300 for the third, and so on.  The run ends when a player draws from the deck.  A run of three cards awards 600 points total for the run (100+200+300).

Run	Points	Run	Points	Run	Points	Run	Points
1	100	6	2,100	11	6,600	16	13,600
2	300	7	2,800	12	7,800	17	15,300
3	600	8	3,600	13	9,100	18	17,100
4	1,000	9	4,500	14	10,500	19	19,000
5	1,500	10	5,500	15	12,000	20	21,000


Overview · Object of the Game · How to Play · Scoring · Strategy and Hints · Game Controls · Questions & Answers · Version Info

Scoring

There are five ways to earn points in 3 Peak Perfection:

runs · peak bonus · win bonus · deck bonus · clock bonus

peak bonus

A peak bonus of 10,000 points is awarded for each of the 3 peaks reached during a round.


Overview · Object of the Game · How to Play · Scoring · Strategy and Hints · Game Controls · Questions & Answers · Version Info

Scoring

There are five ways to earn points in 3 Peak Perfection:

runs · peak bonus · win bonus · deck bonus · clock bonus

win bonus

At the end of each completed round, the player is awarded a win bonus as follows:

Round 1=15,000      Round 2=30,000      Round 3=45,000


Overview · Object of the Game · How to Play · Scoring · Strategy and Hints · Game Controls · Questions & Answers · Version Info

Scoring

There are five ways to earn points in 3 Peak Perfection:

runs · peak bonus · win bonus · deck bonus · clock bonus

deck bonus

At the end of each completed round, the player is awarded a deck bonus of 1,000 points for each untouched card remaining in the deck.


Overview · Object of the Game · How to Play · Scoring · Strategy and Hints · Game Controls · Questions & Answers · Version Info

Scoring

There are five ways to earn points in 3 Peak Perfection:

runs · peak bonus · win bonus · deck bonus · clock bonus

clock bonus

At the end of each completed round, the player is awarded a clock bonus consisting of 50 points/second that remains on the clock.


Overview · Object of the Game · How to Play · Scoring · Strategy and Hints · Game Controls · Questions & Answers · Version Info

Strategy and Hints

•	Increase your score by executing long runs.

•	Complete the round drawing as few cards from the deck as possible.

•	Complete rounds as quickly as possible.

•	When given a choice of two possible plays, choose a card that:
(in order of priority)

•	sets up another card that continues your run

•	reveals a hidden card

•	completes a peak


Overview · Object of the Game · How to Play · Scoring · Strategy and Hints · Game Controls · Questions & Answers · Version Info

Game Controls

•	When less than 8 seconds remain on the clock, 3 Peak Perfection warns you by flashing the timer and mouse pointer.

•	Most popup windows disappear simply by clicking them.

•	You can move any window by dragging the window background.

•	During a game, you can access the Game Menu by right-clicking the (green) window background.

•	You can clear the highscore table by shift-clicking the Top Scores window when it appears.

•	Restart Button: This is an extra feature not included in the original (arcade) version, and which actually kind of defeats the purpose of having a time limited game. I planned to remove this button in the final release, but left it because I found that I personally enjoyed having the ability to re-try a particularly difficult hand.


Overview · Object of the Game · How to Play · Scoring · Strategy and Hints · Game Controls · Questions & Answers · Version Info

Questions & Answers

Q: I read the help file and found where the "clear high scores" was. However, that procedure does not work for me.

A: The ‘clear high scores’ function actually clears only the names but resets the scores to a default value of 60,000, not zero.  This number roughly represents the minimum score for one complete round.

Q: I have finally made the high score table, but it won't stay on long enough for me to savor my victory!

A: The title screen consists of 4 'pages' 1) main title 2) game options 3) about box 4) high score table. You can manually flip from page to page by clicking the page background if you want to see the high score table, or simply wait for it to pop up as the screen automatically cycles through the pages at 4-second intervals.  You can click and hold down the mouse button in the window to ‘hold down’ a particular page for as long as you want.

Q: Do you have to make a certain score on the first round to be able to go on to the second round and another amount to enter the third round? I have noticed that there are times, after I have only played 1 round, the game is over.

A: You must fully clear all cards in one round to enter the next round, regardless of score. The game is over when you fail to clear the cards in a given round in the allotted time. The game also ends when you successfully finish all three rounds (standard game).

Q: If you play the game over, by clicking the restart button, is it as if you are starting all over or just improves your score(possibly) for that round?

PeakPer remembers your score at the beginning of each round, so each time you click 'restart', PeakPer: 1) redeals the cards in the same order 2) resets the clock 3) resets the original score for the beginning of that round. The only advantages to using 'Restart' is to a) retry the round in case of a strategic error, b) circumvent the clock and improve your time and 'clock bonus' for that particular round.


Overview · Object of the Game · How to Play · Scoring · Strategy and Hints · Game Controls · Questions & Answers · Version Info

Version Info

Version 1.0 Bugs fixed:

•	2 of diamonds always appears as top card in upper-left peak. (fixed)

•	Mouse clicks lost when rapid-fire clicking the deck and titlebox (fixed)

Version 1.1 New Feaures:

•	‘ flash effect’ added to display incremental points scored for each card played

•	About Box/TitleBox makeover: support added for freezing titlebox screens by holding down mouse on screen.  Hotlinks added to about box for direct jump to the numatrix software web page and e-mail.

•	‘ stickydrag’ logic added to prevent inadvertent window move during gameplay

•	game remembers last entered name for TopScore list; and offers as default


Home cells are the four card locations in the top right corner of the screen. Aces can be moved to home cells immediately, and other cards of the same suit can be moved on top of them in ascending order. You win the game by moving all the cards to the home cells.


The playing field initially consists of 28 cards stacked in three pyramids.  The cards are dealt face down, left to right and top to bottom, in four overlapping rows.  The  cards are dealt face down, with the last row dealt face up at the beginning of the game.


The active card is the top card on the discard pile.


Overview · Object of the Game · How to Play · Scoring · Strategy and Hints

About the Author

My name is Steven Stiles and I am a self-taught software engineer.  I have been working for 13 years in the aerospace, imaging, and communications industries as a software developer, project lead, product rep, technical writer, and conducting training seminars for sales, service, and support personnel.

Over the course of the last 10 years, I have written several applications and games for my own personal use as an assignment to myself to extend my abilities and familiarize myself with new development environments and areas of application.  Many of these programs are rather useful or entertaining, and potentially suitable for distribution but are in various stages of completion, and I intend to devote a good deal of my time in the near future to this end.

Numatrix Software

Among products I plan to release is a shareware postscript-based drawing package based on Adobe Illustrator, a FM wave sound-effects generator, and an abstract 3d polygon-based animated screen saver.

Eclectic Arts Photography
fine arts photography with an eccentric twist

A good amount of my energy has been devoted to photography, both as a photographer and a promoter.  I established Eclectic Arts Photography three years ago to promote my girlfriend’s photography, which can be found at http://www.angelfire.com/ca/numatrix (This collection includes some of my own work) The photography represents a subset of the Los Angeles/Hollywood area nightclub scene where, incidentally, I moonlight as a bartender, DJ, and club regular.  (which is a full time job in itself)