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- User's Manual - "Scrypt-o-grams" 1.01
-
- "Scrypt-o-grams" is a cryptogram game with puzzles based on passages
- of Scripture. Cryptograms are word puzzles in which a different
- letter of the alphabet is substituted for the original letter. The
- puzzle is solved by discovering the original letters and the message
- they convey. In "Scrypt-o-grams" the messages are passages from the
- King James version of the Bible. The many features of "Scrypt-o-grams"
- take most of the drudgery out of solving cryptograms, while still
- maintaining the fun. It can be played by anyone from about age ten
- on up, and is a great way to expose kids (and adults) to the Bible
- in an enjoyable way.
-
-
- Beginning Play:
-
- To begin a puzzle by using a mouse, move the mouse cursor over
- the word "Puzzle" on the menu bar and depress and release (click)
- the left button. When the menu opens, click with the cursor over
- the word "New". This will display a puzzle on the screen for you
- to solve. To do the same thing by using only the keyboard, hold down
- the <Alt> key while you type the letter 'p'. With the menu open,
- type the letter 'n'.
-
-
- Solving the Puzzle:
-
- You can guess a letter in the solution at any time. Just type a
- letter on your keyboard and that letter will appear at the location
- of the blinking cursor and everywhere else the same letter appears
- in the code. So, if you think you know a solution to a letter, move
- the blinking cursor to that location and type in your solution. You
- can erase a letter at the cursor by pressing the <delete> key or
- the space bar. The <backspace> key will erase the letter before the
- cursor. All of these operations will erase every occurance of that
- particular letter.
- To move the cursor around the screen, you may use the arrow keys.
- The <End> key and the <Page Down> key will take the cursor to the
- end of the coded message. The <Home> key and the <Page Up> key will
- send the cursor to the beginning. With a mouse you can move to any
- location by clicking with the mouse cursor over that spot. Later
- you will read how to enter letters using only the mouse.
-
-
- Menu Bar:
-
- Near the top of your screen you will see a horizontal bar with the
- words "Puzzle", "Options", "Shareware", and "Help" on it. This is
- the menu bar and you can open any of these menus by moving the mouse
- cursor over that word and clicking the left mouse button. To open the
- menu by using the keyboard, you would hold down the <Alt> key while
- typing the hilighted letter of the menu you selected. For example,
- press <Alt> and 'p' at the same time to open the "Puzzle" menu.
- Once a menu is open, you can select the item you wish in one of
- several ways. You can move the mouse cursor over that item and click
- the left mouse button; you can use the arrow keys to move the hilighted
- bar over your choice and then press the <Enter> key to select it; or
- you can type the highlighted letter on any of the menu choices. If
- you wish to close the menu without making a selection, simply press
- the <Esc> key or click with the mouse cursor outside the menu.
-
-
- Puzzle Menu:
-
- **New
- If you select "New" on the Puzzle menu, you will be presented with
- a new puzzle to solve, based on the current format settings. You may
- select "New" at any time before or during the solving of a puzzle and
- a new code, chosen at random from the unused ones, will be displayed
- on the screen.
-
- **Print
- Select "Print" to send the currently selected puzzle to a printer
- connected to LPT1. This may be done to reproduce these puzzles for a
- church newsletter or other publication. If you intend to publish any
- puzzles produced by "Scrypt-o-grams", you must register the program.
-
- **Restart
- If you wish to start your current puzzle over from the beginning,
- click on "Restart". This will reset everything to the way it first
- appeared except for the clock.
-
- **Exit
- Click on "Exit" to quit the program and return to DOS. The screen
- will give you a choice of printing the registration form or exiting.
- Press any key to toggle between the two selections and press <Enter>
- to select the hilighted choice. With a mouse you may click on your
- choice of actions.
-
-
- Options Menu:
-
- The choices on this menu will allow you to choose how the puzzle
- appears on your screen.
-
- **Length
- Choosing the "Length" option will allow you to choose between a short
- puzzle (less than four hundred characters), and a long one. Some of
- the long puzzles may not fit on the screen at one time in certain
- formats. Generally there are more clues for solving in the longer
- puzzles. The default length is "short".
-
- **Format
- If you choose "Format", you may select among three spacing formats.
- The default is triple-spaced, but you may choose to have the puzzle
- double-spaced or even single-spaced in order to fit more on the screen.
- If you choose the single-space option, the letters of your solution
- will replace the letters of the puzzle, but in a different color.
-
- **Caps
- Choosing "Caps" will allow you to have the puzzle displayed in all
- capital letters, which is the default, or in capitals and lower case.
- The traditional way that cryptograms are presented is in all capitals,
- but using capitals and lower case can give you additional clues for
- solving. Note especially the presence of capitals within a sentence,
- which may indicate a proper name, a term for deity, or the word "I".
-
- **Clock
- If you choose "Clock", you can set the timer to be visible or
- invisible. This clock is started when your puzzle appears on the
- screen and stops when you complete the puzzle correctly. If your
- time is one of the ten best, you will be given the chance to enter
- your name on the list of winners.
-
- **Alphabet
- The choice of "Alphabet" is only helpful if you use a mouse, but it
- can allow you to use only the mouse without the keyboard at all. When
- you set the alphabet to visible, a bar appears at the bottom of your
- screen showing each letter of the alphabet. Every time you choose a
- solution letter, that letter is dimmed. A glance at the alphabet bar
- will tell you which letters are still undiscovered. A second use of
- the alphabet bar is to allow you to select letters using only the
- mouse. If you click on a letter, that letter will be inserted into
- your solution at the point of the blinking cursor and everywhere else
- that is appropriate. If you click on "Erase", the letter at the cursor
- will be erased, as well as everywhere else it appears.
- When the alphabet bar is visible, if the puzzle is too long to fit
- on one screen, you will see arrows to the right of the puzzle pointing
- up or down. Clicking on these arrows will scroll the text to the
- beginning or end of the puzzle. Making the alphabet invisible will
- hide these arrows as well.
-
-
- Shareware Menu:
-
- The choices on this menu will give you information that will help
- you decide whether to register your shareware copy of "Scrypt-o-grams".
-
- **About Scryptograms
- The first choice, "About Scryptograms", will give some information
- about this program.
-
- **About Shareware
- The next choice, "About Shareware", will explain
- the shareware concept and how it benefits you.
-
- **Registration Benefits
- Choosing "Registration Benefits" will show a list of reasons why
- you should register.
-
- **Print Registration
- "Print Registration" will print a copy of the registration form on
- the printer attached to your parallel port. If your printer is attached
- to a serial port or is otherwise unuseable through this menu, you may
- print the file "REGFORM.TXT" from DOS or from another application.
- If you have no printer, you may display the form on your screen by
- using the command, "type REGFORM.TXT|more", and mail the necessary
- information to the address listed.
-
-
- Help Menu:
-
- This menu has many features that will give you information or help
- you to solve the puzzle more quickly.
-
- **How to Solve
- Selecting "How to Solve" will display a text file that will
- explain how to approach the puzzle-solving process.
-
- **Manual
- Choosing "Manual" will display the User's Manual on the screen.
-
- **Letter Count
- "Letter Count" will display a chart that shows the frequency of
- various letters in the puzzle. This can be a big help in solving,
- since the most common letter in the solution is likely to be "E"
- or "T".
-
- **Two Letter
- "Two Letter" will show you the frequency of the most common
- combinations of two letters.
-
- **Show Letter
- If you are stuck, "Show Letter" will give you the solution letter at
- the location of the blinking cursor.
-
- **Hilight Wrong
- "Hilight Wrong" will show you which of your solution guesses are
- incorrect by turning those letters red.
-
- **Erase Wrong
- "Erase Wrong" will remove any incorrect guesses from the display
- screen.
-
- **Solution
- "Solution" solves the puzzle for you.
-
-
- After you finish:
-
- As soon as you successfully complete a puzzle, the clock will be
- stopped, the Scripture reference will be displayed, and if your time
- is one of the best, you will be invited to enter your name on the
- winners' list. After you have finished, you will be invited to play
- again. If you choose "Yes", a new puzzle will be displayed. If you
- choose "No", you will be returned to the original menu screen, from
- which you can exit or change the settings and try again. Once a
- puzzle has been solved, it will not appear again until all the puzzles
- of that length in the data file have been used.
-
-
- Use in Publications:
-
- Scrypt-o-grams is a great source for use in church newsletters and
- other publications. You must register the program before you may
- use it in this way, but all registered users have this permission.
- Simply begin a new puzzle and use the "Print" choice on the "Puzzle"
- menu to print it out.
-
-
- Disclaimer of Warranty:
-
- "Scrypt-o-grams" is supplied as is. The author disclaims all
- warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation,
- the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any particular
- purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or
- consequential, which may result from the use of "Scrypt-o-grams".
-
-
- Other Programs Available:
-
- Also available as shareware is "Crossing the Red Sea", a graphically
- enhanced Bible quiz game in which the difficulty of the questions is
- automatically adjusted to the skill of the player. It is especially
- useful for family or group occasions, but can be played alone as well.
- You may obtain a shareware copy of this program from BBSs, disk
- distributors, or by sending $2 for postage and handling to:
- H. F. Buerer, P.O. Box 83752, Portland, OR 97283-0752.
-
-
-