Amiga Format CD 23/Amiga Format AFCD23 (Feb 1998, Issue 107).iso/-screenplay-/shareware/a.monopoly/readme

Text File | 1997-12-01 | 10KB | 222 lines

(If you are viewing this from within the Monopoly program, you may either
click on the buttons or use the up and down arrow keys to scroll text and
the "Esc" key to exit.)

This file assumes you know the rules for Monopoly and only covers
differences for this Amiga version.  If you don't know how to play Monopoly,
read the Offical Rules file.  Of course if you don't know how to play
Monopoly you've probably been on a deserted island for the last 100 years!


Differences between this game and Offical Rules:

1) A player can only conduct business such as buying houses BEFORE he rolls
the dice.  If a player rolls doubles he may conduct business before his
extra roll.

2) When a player owes more than he has in cash, he will owe the difference
until his next roll at which time he MUST pay (by mortgaging properties or
selling houses and/or properties if necessary) in full.  If he cannot pay
when his turn arrives, he will be removed from the game and his properties
sold at auction to the highest bidders.

3) When properties are auctioned they are auctioned individually, even under
the Playmaster rules.  This also seemed more fair than one person getting up
to a whole set of properties at once.

4) Rent is collected automatically.

Note:  When using the Playmaster rules, a property may never be mortgaged
after it has had a loan called upon it.


Other than these I've tried to follow the Offical Rules to the letter.  The
only reason I implemented these is to make it easier for me to program and
so the game would be more fair.


Other notes:

In addition to hitting a key you may also click on one of the dice, the
'OK' button or any property to roll.

A bell indicates when you have doubles and can roll again.  Other bells are
used in other places but they have different tones.

Computer players will NEVER initiate a Buy, Sell, or Trade.  I've included
special routines to keep the computer players from getting taken during a
buy/sell/trade.

In the event of a tie at the end of a game, the player with the lower number
will win.  Unless you quit very early in a game a tie should never happen
though.

When you are asked a question and one of the options is capitalized,
(e.g."Y/n") the one that is capitalized is the default and will be entered
if you hit the RETURN key.  You can now use the 'OK' and 'CANCEL' buttons
for Y or N answers ('OK' is "Y" and 'CANCEL' is "N").  The default for
numeric entries is 0.

The long lost ship token has returned.  This token hasn't been in the game
sets for years but I put it in this game.  To see what I'm talking about,
find the regular board game version and look at the Chance "ADVANCE TOKEN TO
NEAREST UTILITY" card.  Notice the token he's carrying on his back.  For
this version I also added train, cannon and Boing tokens.

If you want to switch back and forth to the Workbench screen be sure to use
LeftAMIGA+A instead of the usual LeftAMIGA+M and LeftAMIGA+N.

You can instantly quit a game (without seeing who won) by hitting "CTRL-C"
except when saving and loading.


Explanation of opening buttons:  (When a button looks like it has been
pushed in, that option is selected.)

"ANIMATED TITLE SCREENS?" - Clicking 'YES' will show you the animated title
screens.  Default is 'NO'.

"PROPERTY AUCTION RULE?" - The official rules say that if a person doesn't
want to buy the property he lands on it must be auctioned off.  The one who
refused the property will get the last bid.  If no-one else bids the one
who refused it won't get any bid and the property will go back to the Bank.
If 'NO' is selected then properties will NOT be auctioned if the person who
lands on it doesn't want it.  Default is 'YES'.

"LIMITED HOUSES AND HOTELS?" - Each Monopoly set comes with only 32 houses
and 12 hotels.  According to the official rules, once the houses are gone,
no-one may build more houses until more houses are turned into the Bank.
The same goes for hotels.  This is intended to make it easier to force other
players into bankruptcy.  Clicking 'NO' will give you unlimited houses and
hotels.  Default is 'YES'.

"SELL OUT OF JAIL CARDS TO BANK?" - The official rules have no provision for
selling Get Out Of Jail Free Cards to the bank.  If you click 'YES' you can
get $25 out of a Get Out Of Jail Free card from the 'Sell' menu.  If you
click 'NO' you can sell them to other players for any amount you can get.
Default is 'NO'.

"FREE PARKING JACKPOT?" - The official rules have nothing special for Free
Parking but many people like a jackpot.  Clicking 'YES' will cause money
from Luxury Tax and Income Tax to be given to the next person who lands on
Free Parking.  Default is 'NO'.

"PLAYMASTER RULES?" -Selecting 'YES' will add three things:
(Default is 'NO')

  1) Random auctions of unowned property every 4-6 turns.

  2) Buybacks.  After all properties are owned the computer will buyback
  singly owned properties of one random color group every 4-6 turns.  The
  owners will get the face value of the properties unless they are mortgaged
  in which case they will get 1/2 the face value.  The properties will then
  be auctioned off one at a time.

  3) Loans.  If a player owns all the properties of a color group and none
  of them are mortgaged, he may take a loan out on them.  The player will
  get the full face value of the properties.  The player must pay back the
  loan amount plus 10% sometime after 7 turns.  The player may not pay the
  loan back early or late.  Once a property has had a loan on it, it cannot
  be mortgaged for the rest of the game - even if the property is sold to
  another player.  If a property is sold the new owner is responsible for
  the loan.

In case you are interested, The Monopoly Playmaster was an electronic device
made by Parker Brothers that was designed to be used in conjunction with a
Monopoly board in order to make the game play faster.  The Playmaster
controlled dice rolls, turns, auctions, buybacks, loans and more.


"QUICK DICE ROLLS?" - By default the dice flash some different values to
simulate actual dice rolling.  Selecting 'YES' will just show the single
values.  Default is 'NO'.

"HOW MANY PLAYERS?" - How many players, including computer players.  Default
is 4.

The 3 flags on the left determine which version you will play, the American,
British or Australian version.  The main difference between the three are the
names of the properties.  Default is USA (American)

"DEFAULTS" - Quickly resets all buttons back to their default values.

"LOAD" - Loads a previously saved settings file.

"SAVE" - Saves the currently selected settings.

"PLAY!" - Click this when you have all the settings the way you want them
and are ready to play.  You will then be able to select the players names.


When entering player's names, leaving a name blank will give the player a
default name ("Player 1", "Player 2", ...).  Enter 'Amiga' for computer
players.  When entering computer names capitalization doesn't matter.
'AMIGA', 'Amiga', 'aMiGa', and 'amiga' will all work as well.  Each computer
player will then be given a unique name.

After all the names are entered each player must click on the shape of the
piece he wants to use.  The computer will pick it's own automatically.
After a quick screen effect you are ready to play.


Menus:

Project
LOAD - Loads a previosly saved game.
SAVE - Saves a game.
ABOUT - Shows copyright notice.
HELP - Brings up this text file.
KILL PLAYER - removes the current player from the game.  His properties will
              be sold at auction.
QUIT ALL - Ends game for all players.  Winner takes 'Victory laps' until you
           decide whether or not you want to play again.

Properties
(Note: be sure to click on "OK" or "CANCEL" when done with options from this
      menu.)
BUY HOUSE - Click on the properties you want to buy a house for.
SELL HOUSES - Click on properties you want to sell houses from.
MORTGAGE - Click on properties you want to mortgage.  You will get 1/2 the
           list price.
LIFT MORTGAGE - Click on properties you want to remove the mortgage of.  You
                must pay the cost of the mortgage plus 10% of the list
                price.
SHOW DEED - Click on the properties you want to see the Title Deeds of.
GET LOAN - Playmaster rules only!  Click on the color group you want a loan
           on.  You must own all the properties of the color group (which
           includes Railroads and Utilities) and all of them must be
           unmortgaged.

Buy
   Select which player wants to sell his property then click on the property
   itself.  You will be asked for the buying price and the player will be
   asked if he agrees.

Sell
   Same as Buy.  You can also sell Get Out Of Jail Free cards either to the
   Bank for $25 or to another player depending on which option you selected
   when you started.

Trade
   Same as Buy.  Click on the property you want to get rid of and then the
   property you want.

Show Props
   Shows who owns which properties.  Rent will be in reverse text if the
   property is mortgaged, has houses, or has it's rent doubled because a
   players owns all of a color set.  Also shows how many houses and hotels
   are remaining (if they are limited) and who owns the Get Out Of Jail Free
   cards as well as the Free Parking jackpot.

If the information part of the screen (where it says what property has just
been landed on and what the rent is) ever becomes corrupted, or if you want
to see it again after selecting "ABOUT" from the menu, you can restore it
by selecting a blank line from the menu.

Remember: You can quit instantly any time except when you are saving and
loading by hitting 'CTRL-C' (Hold down the 'CTRL' key and press 'C').

Enjoy!