|5ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍËÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍËÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» |5º |EBrainware|5 º ^1 Word Ladders |5 º |EBrainware|5 º |5ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÊÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÊÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ^Cby ^CJohn Allen and William Wind ^C^1INTRODUCTION Word Ladders is a word game where you build a list of words that differ by only one letter. Each puzzle consists of a ladder containing two 4-letter words separated by several empty rungs, as shown below. ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ^C³ s a n d ³ ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ^C³ ³ ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ^C³ ³ ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ^C³ ³ ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ^C³ t i m e ³ ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ Begin by changing one letter of the first word so that a new word is created. This new word will appear on the second rung of the ladder. The word "sand" was changed to "sane" in the ladder below. ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ^C³ s a n d ³ ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ^C³ s a n ^1e^0 ³ ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ^C³ ³ ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ^C³ ³ ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ^C³ t i m e ³ ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ Continue playing in this manner until the last empty rung on the ladder is filled with a word that differs from both the word above and the word below by only one letter. In the ladder below, the words "same" then "tame" complete the puzzle. ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ^C³ s a n d ³ ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ^C³ s a n ^1e^0 ³ ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ^C³ s a ^1m^0 e ³ ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ^C³ ^1t^0 a m e ³ ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ^C³ t ^1i^0 m e ³ ^CÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ^C^1PAR Word ladders may range from four to nine rungs in length. The length of a ladder is the PAR for the ladder. For example, a par 6 ladder contains six rungs, four of which you must fill in. The word ladders shown above are all par 5. Some puzzles with par 6 or more may be solved before all empty rungs are filled. If you can do this, bonus points will be awarded for solving the ladder "under par. If you require more empty rungs to solve a puzzle than are supplied, then the bottom word will move downward, opening up additional empty rungs. You will be penalized, however, for each additional rung, but only if the puzzle is solved. ^C^1VALID WORDS Word Ladders will only allow you to fill empty rungs of a ladder with VALID four-letter words. These include most common words, as well as some slang, archaic, or obsolete words. However, plurals ending in "s" or "es" are not valid words. Also, abbreviations, vulgar words, and proper nouns are invalid. Note that there is a very large number of four-letter words in the English language. The dictionary for Word Ladders may not contain every one of them. ^C^1GAME PLAY The object of Word Ladders is to solve as many puzzles as possible before you lose the three lives you are given at the beginning of the game. Game play is divided into rounds of five puzzles. If you answer all five correctly, you are given a "bonus" puzzle to complete before advancing to the next round. You will be awarded an extra life each time a bonus puzzle is solved. The game ends when you lose all of your lives. Round 1 word ladders are par 4, and par is increased by 1 in each new round. You receive 100 points per par for each completed puzzle. Thus, in Round 1 word ladders are worth 400 points; in Round 2 word ladders are worth 500 points; etc. Par does not advance beyond 9. You have only a certain amount of time in which to solve each puzzle. If time runs out, you will lose a life. However, after a puzzle is solved, bonus points are awarded for any time remaining, one point for each second. The current word in the ladder is shown in a box at the right. Change one letter in the current word and press Enter. If it is a valid word, it will be added to the ladder. ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ s a n d ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ s a n e ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³<ÄÄÄ´ s a n ^1e^0 ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ³ ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ t i m e ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ Select the letter to change by pressing the right and left arrow keys. Type the new letter and press ENTER. Only valid words are accepted. ^1WARNING:^0 In advanced play, attempts to enter invalid words results in loss of a life! ^C^1ADVANCED PLAY In the advanced play mode, word ladders are more challenging, and may require relatively unknown or obscure words for completion. As stated above, entering an invalid word during advanced play results in loss of a life. You may select the advanced play mode (along with other options) from the pre-game option menu. ^1SCORING Solving a puzzle ............ 100 points per par Each word under par ......... 250 points Each second of time left .... 1 point Each word over par .......... -50 points ^1MAIN MENU Start Game - The Options Menu will appear before game begins. Instructions - The Help information will be displayed. Exit - Return to Big Blue Disk or to DOS. ^1OPTIONS MENU Expert Mode - Play with more challenging word ladders. No Sounds - Turn the scoring sounds off. Other Colors - If the chosen colors look bad, try new ones. Upper Case Words - You may turn UPPER CASE mode ON or OFF. Start Game - Let the Word Ladder fun begin. Main Menu - Return to Main Menu ^1ACTIVE KEYS Left Arrow - Select letter Right Arrow - Select letter Space Bar - Select letter INS (Insert Key) - Restore current word Enter Key - Accept new word ? - Give up F1 - Display Help F2 - Display Statistics ESC Key - End game CTRL-S - Turn scoring sound ON or OFF CTRL-T - Turn clock ticking sound ON or OFF ^1NOTE:^0 The timer keeps ticking even if you are displaying HELP. You can always read the HELP information before you play the game by selecting INSTRUCTIONS from the Main Menu. Good luck and have fun! ^1OUTSIDE OF BBD To run this program outside the ^1Big Blue Disk^0 menu, type: ^1LADDER^0. ^1DISK FILES THIS PROGRAM USES: ^FLADDER.EXE ^FLADDER.HLP ^FDICT1.DAT ^FDICT2.DAT ^FBONUS.DAT