I hope you enjoy Hide 'n Seek. The object of the game is to find words that have been hidden within a matrix of letters. The more words you find and the faster you find them the higher your score will be. It is intended to be entertaining, challenging, and useful. The complexity and speed of play can be adjusted to suit any skill level. The options for customizing the game with your own words and letters (or numbers) add to the entertainment and usefulness. Besides playing on the computer, you can print it and play it on paper. A teacher might want to create a list containing words that relate to the subject at hand (spelling, math, geography, etc.) and then print out a personalized version of the game for each student. Name, date, and title can be specified for each printout.
When you first play Hide 'n Seek the program uses a predefined set of options. After that, the program will use the options that were in force the last time the game was played. Of course, you can, at any time, set the options to suit your needs. The options available include how many words to hide, how many seconds to allow for finding each word, a list from which to choose the words to be hidden, the directions in which the words can be hidden and whether the matrix is made up of letters or numbers.
Installation
Run SETUP.EXE from your Windows Program Manager File menu. This will create a program item and a program group and copy files to a designated directory. The files included with the registered version are:
HIDNSEEK.EXE
HIDNSEEK.DOC
PEOPLE.LST
STATES.LST
THINGS.LST
VBRUN200.DLL
These files should all be in the same directory on your hard disk. SETUP.EXE and SETUP.INF are used only for installation, but you should keep a backup copy of all of the files in case you want to install again. Also, the HIDNSEEK.DOC file can be printed and then removed. The only files absolutely required for Hide 'n Seek to run are HIDNSEEK.EXE and VBRUN200.DLL . The other files will be created by the program as needed if they are not present.
If you are familiar with setting up programs in Windows, and prefer to do so, you can easily do it without using SETUP.EXE. Hide 'n Seek expects to find all its files in the directory or subdirectory from which it is initiated.
How to play
From the introductory screen you can set options or play with the currently defined options or exit the program. Click the button for the desired course of action. At the main game screen after the game has started you will see a matrix of letters or numbers and a list of letters or numbers. Look in the matrix and find words or numbers from the list. When you click on a letter in the matrix it will be highlighted in white. If you highlight every letter in a hidden word the word will turn green to show that you have found it. Try to find all the words in the list. If you have chosen to limit the time allowed for each word and you fail to find a word within the time limit then a word will be revealed and highlighted in blue. That word is no longer available for you to find. The timer is then restarted for the next word. When all the words have been revealed either by you or by the time limit you will be given a score. If it is one of the sixteen highest scores recorded it will be added to the high score list and then you will be given the opportunity to put your name and/or comment beside the score.
THE INFORMATION IN THIS PARAGRAPH IS VERY IMPORTANT TO KNOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THE GAME. Clicking each letter in a word could get tedious and would be slow when racing to beat the clock. So, to make it quicker you can "click" a string of letters by pressing the left mouse button down with the mouse pointer on the first letter, moving the pointer to the last letter and then releasing the button. This causes the string of letters to either be highlighted or un-highlighted, depending upon their condition before the action.
The following is a description of each option available. Much of it may be obvious to anyone familiar with windows games. If you have questions please contact me (see below) for an explanation.
The GAME menu.
New menu item.
Select this item to start a new game using the current options. This is normally used after a game has been completed and another is desired. However, it can be used at any time whether the current game is finished or not.
Reveal menu item.
Select this item to reveal the hidden words. They will be highlighted in yellow and can be hidden again by clicking on the HIDE button that appears while they are revealed. The game proceeds as usual even while the words are revealed.
Scores menu item.
Select this item to show a list of high scores that have been
previously attained. If you achieve a score higher than the lowest score on the list you will begiven the opportunity to add your name and/or comment to the list.
Exit menu item.
Click here to leave the Hide 'n Seek program.
The OPTIONS menu.
Select this item to be presented with a dialog box in which you establish the options you wish to put into effect.
Options dialog box.
Number of words to hide? list box.
Click the arrow on the drop down list box and select a number from 1 to 25. That will be the number of words randomly chosen from the crurrently selected list to be hidden in the matrix. No more than 10 words can be hidden in the small matrix. If there are not enough words in the list to satisfy this option then all the words in the list will be used and this option will
automatically be changed to the number of words in the list.
How many seconds per word? list box.
Click the arrow on the drop down list box and select a number from 1 to 60. That will be the number of seconds you will be given to find each word. If you have not found a word in that many seconds a word will be revealed for you and the timer reset for the next word. Whenever you find a word and reveal it the timer is also reset for the next word. You are not required to find the words in any particular order but the word that is automatically revealed will be the next available one from the top of the list.Select 0 seconds if you want an unlimited amount of time for each word.
Small matrix/Large matrix radio button.
Click on one or the other of these radio buttons to select whether the words will be hidden within a large (30 x 20) or small (20 x 10) matrix of randomly chosen letters or numbers.
Letters matrix/Numbers matrix radio button.
Click on one or the other of these radio buttons to select whether the matrix will be composed of letters or numbers. If you select numbers then you will probably select a list that contains numbers to be hidden within the numbers matrix. But not necessarily. You can hide numbers among letters and letters among numbers or a combination of letters and numbers among either one.
Directions check boxes.
This determines the directions in which the game is allowed to hide the words or numbers. The direction used will be randomly chosen when the words are hidden but will only be one of these selected directions. Of course left to right is the easiest and top-to-bottom or right-to-left is harder.
Lists list box.
Choose a list from which the words to hidden will be randomly chosen.
OK button.
Click this button after choosing your desired options. If any of the options have been changed then a new game will be started using the new options. Otherwise, the current game will continue.
Cancel button.
Click this button to leave the options unchanged and continue with the current game.
The LIST menu.
Select/View/Modify a List menu item.
Select this item to change the current list of words and/or toview the contents of the current list and/or to change the contents of the current list. "List", as used here, is a file containing words from which the will be randomly chosen the words that will be hidden among the matrix of randomly chosen letters. The "words" and "letters" can be numbers and/or special characters if you so choose. Use THE OPTIONS MENU to switch between letters and numbers in the matrix. Use the Create a New List menu item below to create a list which contains any combination of words, letters, and/or special characters you desire.
Select a different list button.
Click this to be presented with the Select a list dialog box.
Select a list dialog box.
From this box you can select (click on) the drive, directory, subdirectory and file name for the list which you wish to select. Normally, your lists will be in the subdirectory in which Hide 'n Seek was installed and that is the only place which will be automatically searched for lists. However, you may prefer to keep your lists elsewhere.
ADD a word to the list text box.
Enter a word (letters, numbers, and/or characters) here then hit the ENTER key and that word will be placed in the current list. Any additions made will only be made current if the OK button is subsequently clicked.
DELETE a word from the list button.
First highlight (click on) a word in the list and then click this button to delete a word from the list. Any deletions made will only be made permanent if the OK button is subsequently clicked.
OK button.
Click this to make effective any additions or deletions to the current list. You will be returned to the game.
Cancel button.
Click this if you choose not to effect the additions or deletions to the current list. You will be returned to the game.
Create a New List menu item.
Select this menu item to bring up the Create a List window and from there create a new list of words. When you play Hide 'n Seek with your new list 'selected', the words that get hid will be randomly chosen from your list.
ADD a word to the list text box.
Enter a word in this text box and it will appear in the list box on the left side of the window. The 'words' can be numbers, letters, special characters or any combination you desire.
DELETE A WORD button.
Use this button to remove a word from the list that you are creating. Highlight the word then click the button.
OK button.
When you have completed putting words on your list use this button to make it permanent. You will be presented with the List Name window. Enter a name for your list and then click the OK button.
Cancel button.
Use this button if you decide not to create a new list. You will be returned to the game.
The PRINT menu.
Select this menu to produce a printed copy of the current Hide 'n Seek game. You will be presented with the Print dialog box. Fill in the box as desired and select OK to start the print. If you select Cancel nothing will print.
Print dialog box.
Name text box.
This is intended to be the name of the person who is supposed to solve the Hide 'n Seek game after it has been printed. This is provided with the classroom teacher in mind who might want to customize games for individual students. However, there are several ways in which this feature can be used.
1. Enter a person's name.
2. Enter "Name___________" so that a person can write in their
own name on the printed copy.
3. Enter nothing if no name is desired on the printed copy.
4. Enter any text of your own choosing.
Title text box.
This is automatically set to be the name of the list that was used in creating the game. You may enter any other text or no text at all, as desired.
Date text box.
This is automatically set to the current date from your computer's operating system. You may enter any other date or text, as desired.
OK button.
Click this to print the current Hide 'n Seek game using the above name, title, and date.
Cancel button.
Click this if you choose to not print at this time. It will return you to the game.
Support.
For support of Hide 'n Seek contact me via regular mail or Compuserve Mail.
Phillip L. Lynch
P. O. Box 521495
Salt Lake City, UT 84106-1495
Compuserve 72160,1017
I would like to hear any and all comments or suggestions concerning this program. Also, if you would like a customized version, send me your idea and I will see if I can accomodate you.
