OS/2 Shareware BBS: 7 Games/07-Games.zip/yaht-2.zip/yahtzee.INF

OS/2 Help File | 1994-04-03 | 15KB | 408 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Introduction ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Yahtzee is a Presentation Manager application (for OS/2 2.x) that implements
the classic Yahtzee dice game.

Some of the words in this manual are highlighted in bold text, such as Roll.
These are words that refer to software controls (ie, buttons, sliders,
checkboxes) which you manipulate in the Yahtzee window.  Other words are in
colored text such as Full House.  These refer to catagories on the Yahtzee
scorecard.  Underlined words, such as New Game, refer to pull-down menu items.
Words that are in colored text such as as Read This are meant to be emphasized.
Words in italics refer to aspects of OS/2.

This is version 1.1 copyright 1993 by Jeff Glatt.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Game Play ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

There are 13 catagories on a Yahtzee scorecard.  They are labeled:

Ones
Twos
Threes
Fours
Fives
Sixes
3 of a kind
4 of a kind
Full House
Small Straight
Large Straight
Yahtzee
Chance

The 13 catagories are arranged in a column.  The first 6 catagories are grouped
together on the upper half of the scorecard.  The scores in these 6 catagories
are summed together, and this sum is displayed in the Upper box.  If this sum
rises above 63 points, then a Bonus of 35 points is automatically awarded.
Upper Total represents the sum of the first 6 catagories, along with any bonus.

The remaining 7 catagories are grouped together on the lower half of the
scorecard.  They are also summed together, and this sum is displayed in the
Lower box.

The Grand Total box represents all combined sums (ie, your game score).

When you fill in scores for all 13 catagories, then the game is over.  The
object is to get the highest possible Grand Total.

There are 5 dice.  You have upto 3 opportunities to roll all (or some) of the
dice upon each turn.  At the end of a turn, you must fill in one of the
catagories which has not already been scored.  So, you will have a total of 13
turns; one for each catagory.

The computer automatically rolls all 5 dice at the beginning of your turn.
Then, the computer displays the possible scores (on the scorecard) that you
could make from these 5 dice.  It displays all possible scores in a purple
color.

For example, assume that you have rolled the following values for the five
dice:

2 4 4 2 2

With such a combination of values, you could put a score of 6 into the Twos
catagory, or you could put a score of 8 into the Fours catagory, or you could
put a score of 25 in the Full House catagory, etc.  For some catagories, this
dice roll is not good, and may result in a 0 score.  The computer will display
those 0 scores as well, since it's legal for you to accept a 0 score in some
catagory (although this is something that you want to avoid doing being that
the object is to end up with the highest possible Grand Total).

If you'd like to accept one of the possible scores right now, simply move the
mouse pointer onto the displayed score, and click the Mouse Button 1 once.  For
example, if you want to accept a score of 25 in the Full House catagory, move
the mouse pointer onto the "25", and click Mouse Button 1.

Note:  All of the catagories have keyboard shortcuts.  The keyboard shortcut is
       the underlined letter in the catagory label.  For example, the Full
       House label has an underlined F.  To select this catagory for scoring,
       simply press the "f" key (caps not necessary).  Use this as an
       alternative to moving and clicking the mouse pointer on the scores of
       the scorecard.

Now that you've selected the Full House catagory's score, this turn is done.
The computer will display the Full House score (ie, 25) in a black color to
indicate that this catagory has now been scored.  You won't be able to select
this catagory again for the remainder of the game, even if you roll another
Full House score later.

The computer then immediately starts the next turn.  In other words, all 5 dice
are automatically rolled by the computer again, and then the computer displays
the possible scores for these dice values.

Now, you don't have to select a catagory for scoring after the first roll of
all 5 dice.  If you don't like the choice of scores, you have the option of
rolling all or some of the dice again in order to try to obtain a better
selection of dice values.  (You get to do this 2 more times after the
computer's initial roll).  Let's say that the computer initially rolls the
following 5 dice values:

2 3 4 1 2

There happens to be a Small Straight in this combination.  But, you notice that
you haven't scored the Large Straight catagory yet.  If you could take one of
those dice with the value 2, roll it again, and come up with a value of 5 for
that die, you would have a Large Straight.  Let's assume that you wish to roll
that last die again (ie, the second "2").  First, you need to blank out that
die.  You do this by moving the mouse pointer onto the die itself, and clicking
Mouse Button 1 once.  The two spots on the die will disappear (ie, it will
change into a blank die).  This means that the die is now ready to be rolled
again.  Don't click the mouse on the other dice.  Leave their spots showing.
This tells the computer that you don't want to roll those other 4 dice.  You
want to leave their values as is.  Now, move the mouse pointer onto the Roll
button, and click once.  The computer will roll that die, and hopefully, you'll
end up with a new value for it.  Let's assume that the new value is 6.

Note:  If you blank out a die (ie, choose it to be rolled again), and change
       your mind, simply click the mouse on that blank die again, and its
       previous spots will come back.  You can blank and unblank dice as much
       as you want while deciding which ones to roll.  (But, you still only get
       to click on the Roll button two more times).  Furthermore, all 5 dice
       have keyboard shortcuts to blank and unblank them.  The keyboard
       shortcut is the die number.  For example, to blank the first (ie,
       topmost) die, press the 1 key.  To blank the next die down, press the 2
       key.  Etc.  Use this as an alternative to moving and clicking the mouse
       pointer on the dice.  Also, the Roll button has a keyboard shortcut; the
       ENTER key or SPACE BAR.  Finally, note that Mouse Button 2 selects all 5
       dice for rolling.  Mouse Button 3 does the opposite (ie, causes no dice
       to be selected for rolling).

Now, our 5 dice values are as follows:

2 3 4 1 6

That still doesn't give us the Large Straight.  Note that the computer
redisplays the possible scores after each roll.  You have one more Roll
available before you must select a score, so you can blank that "6" die value
again, and roll once more.  Let's assume that the final roll is a "4".  That
still doesn't give us the Large Straight, but now we must choose a score (ie,
finish this turn) as the dice have been rolled 3 times.  The computer disables
the Roll button to remind you that you must now choose a score.  Look at the
possible scores, and select the best one.

The game continues as so until all 13 catagories are scored.  At this point,
you can start a new game, by pulling down the File menu and selecting New Game.
(Or, you can simultaneously press the CTRL and g keys).

You exit Yahtzee by selecting Close from its System Menu, or double-clicking on
the window upper left corner icon.  You can exit at any time, even in the
middle of a game.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Audio ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Yahtzee generates MIDI Note On and Note Off messages on selected MIDI channels
to trigger sound effects on a sound card or external MIDI sound module.

You'll hear a bell "ding" when you make a good score.  You'll hear a scratch
sound when you're score is not so good.  Be very careful of low scores on the
upper half of the scorecard, as you could jeopardize receiving a bonus.  If you
always get 3 dice for each upper catagory (ie, 3 ones, 3 twos, 3 fours, etc),
then you'll earn the bonus.  You'll hear a cymbal crash if you get the Yahtzee
catagory.  This is a hard catagory to score, so sometimes, if you must accept
some 0 score, this may be the safest catagory to sacrifice.  Each time that the
dice are rolled, you'll hear a rolling sound.  When a game is over, you'll hear
applause.

The Audio menu item brings up the Audio Dialog.

There is a checkbox for Sound.  Make sure that this box is checked if you want
to hear sound effects.  If the box is not checked, then sound effects are
disabled (ie, quiet play).

If you ever get any "stuck" sounds, use the Reset button to turn them off.

By default, MIDI Note On messages are sent with a velocity of 127 (ie, the
highest possible velocity).  Generally, velocity is used to set the volume on a
per note basis, although some modules can use velocity for other effects such
as attack time of a voltage controlled generator (VCA).  The Volume slider
allows you to adjust the volume of the sound effects, where moving the knob all
of the way to the left is minimum volume.

You operate a slider by "grabbing" its knob with mouse button 1 and moving it
to a new position.  Alternately, if you want to increment/decrement the knob's
position, move the mouse pointer inside of the slider's shaft, but not on top
of the knob itself (ie, to either side of the knob), and click the Mouse Button
1 once.  If you're to the left of the knob, it will increment by 1 position.
If you're to the right of the knob, it will decrement by 1 position.

The slider has a small arrow above it.  This arrow marks Full Volume.  If you
want to quickly set the slider to this default position, click on that arrow,
and the knob will move to that position.

Press the ENTER key, or click on the Close Icon to accept for settings.  Or,
press ESC to cancel.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.1. General MIDI Standard ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Nowadays, most sound cards and MIDI modules have specific Patches setup in a
specific order according to a standard known as General MIDI (or GM).  All this
means is that on every GM module, a Piano patch must be the very first patch.
Patch #49 must be a Flute.  Patch #25 must be a Nylon String Guitar.  There are
128 defined patches that a GM module must have, in the proper order.

Furthermore, all patches must sound a middle C when receiving a MIDI note
number of 60.

If the GM module also has a built-in "drum module", then each MIDI note (on the
channel assigned to the drums) triggers a different drum sound.  The
assignments of drum sounds to MIDI notes is also standardized.  The Drum sounds
are usually set to receive MIDI data on channel 10.

Yahtzee assumes that the sound card receives data on MIDI channels 1 and 10.
The GM drum kit is on channel 10.  The "Applause" patch is assigned to Program
Change number 127 (as it should be on a GM module).  If you have a sound card
or external module that meets these simple GM standards, then Yahtzee should be
able to play back sound effects using your hardware.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3.2. Driver Requirements and Setup ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

For sound effects, Yahtzee requires that your MIDI interface or Sound Card has
an OS/2 driver.  Information sent to this driver via DosWrite() must be
interpreted as MIDI data.  (It would have to be a rather strange driver if it
didn't interpret data in this way, but if you're using a sound card with WAVE
playback in addition to a MIDI interface, it's conceivable that the Sound Card
might interpret DosWrite() data to be WAVE data).

You must also know your driver's internal name (which might be different than
the filename of the driver).  Often, this is the driver filename minus the .SYS
extension.  For example, I use a Roland RAP-10 audio card which has an MPU-401
compatible MIDI interface built into it.  There is a shareware OS/2 driver
available for the MPU-401 by the following manufacturer:

Delta Music Systems
2615 Ginghamsburg-Frederick Rd.
Tipp City, OH 45371

This driver's internal name is MPU401.  It properly interprets DosWrite() data
as MIDI data, and ships it out of any MPU-401 compatible interface.  So, you
can use this driver with Yahtzee, and any card that has an MPU-401 compatible
interface (in hardware, not just a software driver simulation) or attach an
external MIDI unit (GM standard) to your MIDI interface.

By default, Yahtzee will use that driver, and so you don't have to supply it
with that name.  If you want Yahtzee to use a different driver, then you must
supply the name of the driver to Yahtzee.  If you run Yahtzee from an OS/2
Command Prompt, then simply type the name of your driver as an argument.

If you run Yahtzee from a Desktop icon, open up the Settings menu for that
program.  In the Parameters field, type the name of your driver.  Now whenever
you run Yahtzee from the Desktop, it will use that driver.

Note:  Remember to omit the .SYS extension from the driver name.

If Yahtzee can't open the specified driver, it will display an error dialog
box.  At this point, the program will run, but sound will be disabled.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Catagories ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

What follows is a description of the 13 catagories on the Yahtzee scorecard;
how they are scored, and an example of such.  To bring up help on a catagory
during play, press the F1 key and then click on the catagory (or press its
keyboard shortcut).


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.1. Ones ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Score          Count only the dice that have the value one (ie, one dot).  Each
               of these dice is worth 1 point.  Do not count any other dice
               values.  Enter the score in the Ones catagory (upper half).

Example        If 3 of the dice were each showing a one, and the other 2 dice
               were other values, then the score would be 3.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.2. Twos ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Score          Count only the dice that have the value two (ie, two dots).
               Each of these dice is worth 2 points.  Do not count any other
               dice values.  Enter the score in the Twos catagory (upper half).

Example        If 4 of the dice were each showing a two, and the other die was
               some other values, then the score would be 8.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.3. Threes ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Score          Count only the dice that have the value three (ie, three dots).
               Each of these dice is worth 3 points.  Do not count any other
               dice values.  Enter the score in the Threes catagory (upper
               half).

Example        If 1 die was showing a three, and the other 4 dice were other
               values, then the score would be 3.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.4. Fours ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Score          Count only the dice that have the value four (ie, four dots).
               Each of these dice is worth 4 points.  Do not count any other
               dice values.  Enter the score in the Fours catagory (upper
               half).

Example        If 2 of the dice were each showing a four, and the other 3 dice
               were other values, then the score would be 8.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.5. Fives ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Score          Count only the dice that have the value five (ie, five dots).
               Each of these dice is worth 5 points.  Do not count any other
               dice values.  Enter the score in the Fives catagory (upper
               half).

Example        If 3 of the dice were each showing a five, and the other 2 dice
               were other values, then the score would be 15.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.6. Sixes ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Score          Count only the dice that have the value six (ie, six dots).
               Each of these dice is worth 6 points.  Do not count any other
               dice values.  Enter the score in the Sixes catagory (upper
               half).

Example        If 4 of the dice were each showing a six, and the other die was
               some other values, then the score would be 24.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.7. 3 of a kind ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Score          3 (or more) of the dice must all have the same value (ie, same
               number of spots).  Add up the values of all 5 dice, and enter
               the total in the 3 of a kind catagory (lower half).

               Note:  The computer automatically sums the dice for you.

Example        If at least 3 of the dice were each showing a six, then you
               would add the values of all 5 dice.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.8. 4 of a kind ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Score          4 (or more) of the dice must all have the same value (ie, same
               number of spots).  Add up the values of all 5 dice, and enter
               the total in the 4 of a kind catagory (lower half).

               Note:  The computer automatically sums the dice for you.

Example        If at least 4 of the dice were each showing a three, then you
               would add the values of all 5 dice.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.9. Full House ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Score          3 of the dice must all have the same value (ie, same number of
               spots), and the other two dice must be the same, but a different
               value than the other 3.  Score is always 25 points.  Enter 25 in
               the Full House catagory (lower half).

Example        If 3 of the dice were each showing a six, and the other 2 dice
               were each showing a four, then score 25.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.10. Small Straight ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Score          4 (or 5) of the dice must be in ascending sequence (ie, 1, 2, 3,
               4).  Score is always 30.  Enter 30 in the Small Straight
               catagory (lower half).

Example        If 4 of the dice were the values 2, 3, 4, and 5 respectively (or
               1, 2, 3, 4, or 3, 4, 5, 6) then score 30.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.11. Large Straight ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Score          All 5 of the dice must be in ascending sequence (ie, 1, 2, 3, 4,
               5).  Score is always 40.  Enter 40 in the Large Straight
               catagory (lower half).

Example        If the 5 dice were the values 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 respectively (or
               2, 3, 4, 5, and 6), then score 40.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.12. Yahtzee ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Score          All 5 dice must have the same value (ie, same number of spots).
               Score is always 50.  Enter 50 in the Yahtzee catagory (lower
               half).

Example        If all 5 dice were each showing a two, then score 50.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4.13. Chance ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Score          The 5 dice can be any values.  You simply add the values of all
               5 dice, and place that sum in in the Chance catagory (lower
               half).  Obviously, higher dice values are better.

               Note:  The computer automatically sums the dice for you.

Example        Any dice values would suffice for an example.