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SHERLOCK 2.01 January 16, 1994 Copyright 1991-1994 Everett Kaser All rights reserved. This is a game of logic and deduction for IBM PC compatible computers. REQUIREMENTS: IBM PC compatible computer with at least 420K of RAM. EGA/VGA compatible display with at least 128K or RAM. Microsoft compatible mouse. The program will not function with CGA, MDA, or Hercules display adapters, nor will it work without a mouse. Sherlock is a game of deduction. It is your task, based upon the information available in provided clues, to determine the locations of 36 blocks. Every puzzle can be solved by using the clues to eliminate possibilities until the location of a specific block can be determined. Sherlock may be played by a SINGLE person, or a TOURNAMENT may be set up, with each person in the TOURNAMENT attempting to solve the same puzzle as quickly as possible. A TIME LIMIT may be set if desired. SHERLOCK is being distributed as Shareware. If you use the game for more than one week, you are expected to pay for its use. To purchase a license for the game send the registration fee of $15.00 (US) to the author. For your convenience, the file REGISTER.DOC may be printed to obtain a registration form. The author may be contacted at: Everett Kaser phone: (503) 928-5259 Sherlock Weekdays: 6:00pm - 9:00pm Pacific Time PO Box 403 Weekends: 8:30am - 9:00pm Albany, OR 97321-0117 VISA and MASTERCARD accepted Compuserve: 70673,1547 internet: hplabs!hp-pcd!everett or everett%hpcvra@hplabs.hp.com Licensed users may write or call at any time to find out the latest revision date or to receive other support. Bug reports, suggestions, and comments are always welcome. SHAREWARE and the ASP OMBUDSMAN This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you must purchase a license in order to legally continue using the software. Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below. Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like commercial authors, and the programs are of comparable quality. (In both cases, there are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference is in the method of distribution. The author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. For example, some authors require written permiss- ion before a commercial disk vendor may copy their Shareware. Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's com- mercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it. DISCLAIMER, LICENSE AGREEMENT, AND SUPPORT --- DISCLAIMER --- Users of SHERLOCK must accept this disclaimer of warranty: "SHERLOCK is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of SHERLOCK." --- LICENSE --- SHERLOCK is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends, but please do not give it away altered or as part of another system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to provide personal computer users with quality software without high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to develop new products. If you find this program useful and find that you are using SHERLOCK and continue to use SHERLOCK after a reasonable trial period, you must make a registration payment as described on the first page of this document. The applicable registration fee will license one copy for use on any one computer at any one time. You must treat this software just like a book. An example is that this software may be used by any number of people and may be freely moved from one computer location to another, so long as there is no possibility of it being used at one location while it's being used at another. Just as a book cannot be read by two different persons at the same time. Commercial users of SHERLOCK purchase licenses for their copies of SHERLOCK within 30 days of first use or their license is withdrawn. Site-License arrangements may be made by contacting Everett Kaser. Anyone distributing SHERLOCK for any kind of remuneration must first contact Everett Kaser at the address above for authorization. You are encouraged to pass a copy of SHERLOCK along to your friends for evaluation. Please encourage them to purchase a license for their copy if they enjoy playing the game. All licensed users will receive a copy of the latest version of the SHERLOCK system. --- SUPPORT --- Support for products from Everett Kaser Software is available via phone, mail, and Compuserve email for a period not less than one year or the duration of my life, which ever is shorter, and not to exceed your life-time or mine, which ever is shorter. See the first page of this document for phone number, mail address, and Compuserve email address. Updates are available at any time to licensed users for a $5 fee to cover costs of labor, materials, shipping, and handling (and to keep me from feeling badly). Bug fixes for major bugs (if any ever occur) will be shipped free to licensed users for a period of three months after the date of registration. __________________________________ I. GETTING STARTED: ABOUT THE GAME This game is based upon a puzzle that I remember from my high school days. In that puzzle you were told that there were six different colored houses side-by-side, in a row. A person lived in each house, and each person had a different pet, drank a different drink, drove a different car, etc. Then you were given a list of clues, such as: "The person who drinks orange juice lives next to the red house." From the list of clues, you had to decide which things went where. Sherlock implements basically the same thing, but done in a graphical environment where you use the mouse to organize the clues, keep track of possibilities and impossibilities, and mark the deduced locations of objects. There are 65,536 different puzzles, enough to keep you occupied well into the next century. It would be best to start the program at this point, so you can refer to the display and try things as you read through these instructions. Before you get to the game display, you're faced with either the MAIN MENU or the PLAYER SELECTION display. If this is the first time you've run Sherlock and your copy didn't come with a file called SHERLOCK.CFG (it normally doesn't), then the PLAYER SELECTION screen is displayed. At this point you MUST enter a NEW PLAYER name before going further. Click either mouse button on the NEW PLAYER box, type in your name, and then press the ENTER key. Next click either mouse button on the DONE box. This will bring you to the MAIN MENU. The MAIN MENU has a number of things to select from, most of which we will ignore at this point. The items of primary interest are: PLAY: this starts the game. EXIT: this exits the program. Click either mouse button on the PLAY box. This will bring up the game display. The program must first "generate" the current puzzle. It does this by first randomly scrambling all of the items within each row. It then generates random clues until there are sufficient clues to correctly solve the puzzle. Lastly, it draws the board and clue areas onto the display, at which point it's ready for you to begin solving the puzzle. The game display has four major areas: 1) The playing board which consists of six rows, each row containing six related pictures (six people, six numbers, six different street signs, etc). Initially, each location in a row shows all six possibilities for that row as half-sized images. The half-size indicates that they are only possibilities. When a row-column location is inhabited by a single full-sized image, that indicates that the block is (or is BELIEVED to be) located there. As you deduce that an item can't be in a given square, the RIGHT mouse button can be used to remove that possibility from that location. When you've deduced that a specific item HAS to be at a specific location, the LEFT mouse button can be used to signify it. The correctness (or the incorrectness) of your deductions is not checked or displayed until you have specified locations for all 36 items, at which point the game is over, and you will have won or lost. 2) Below the playing board is a menu and information area. This area lets you get back to the main menu, undo up to 25 of your most recent actions, get a hint (which costs 30 seconds of "time"), or see the clues that you have moved to the "OTHER CLUES" bank. This area also displays the current player's name, the current game time, and the current puzzle number. Clicking on the time pauses the game. 3) To the right of the playing board is the "horizontal clue" area. These clues show relationships between items that are in different columns. 4) Across the bottom of the display is the "vertical clue" area. These clues show relationships between items that are in the same columns. ______________ II. THE CLUES There are two basic groupings of the clues. Horizontal, or multi-column, clues consist of three pictures of blocks, and they indicate how certain blocks are located relative to each other when those blocks are in different columns. Vertical, or single-column, clues consist of two pictures of blocks, and they indicate either that two blocks ARE or ARE NOT in the same column. Most puzzles will have some blocks that are not included in any of the clues (there position becomes apparent through a process of elimination). These are shown individually in the vertical clue area for reference. A third type of clue is the most helpful. Many puzzles will have from one to three blocks shown at their actual positions on the board. When this occurs, those blocks are not shown as possibilities at the other locations in their rows, and they're shown as a large picture at their actual location. These blocks cannot be moved or changed. After reading through this description of the clue types, a good way to get a feeling for how to apply the clues to solving the puzzles is to use the hint feature to play all the way through a puzzle. In this way the game will show you how it solves the puzzle. --- VERTICAL CLUES --- The first type of vertical clue is known as IS_SAME_COLUMN: ┌─────┐ This clue tells us that the RED_HOUSE and the STOP_SIGN │ │ are in the same column. So, if we know where the │ RED │ RED_HOUSE is, then we know where the STOP_SIGN is, │HOUSE│ since we always know what row a given block is in, and └─────┘ this along with the known position of the RED_HOUSE ┌─────┐ would tell us which column it's in. The reverse, of │ │ course, is also true. If we know where the STOP_SIGN │STOP │ is, then this clue tells us where the RED_HOUSE is. │ │ └─────┘ Conversely, if the RED_HOUSE is known to NOT be in a particular column, then this clue tells us that the STOP_SIGN can't be in that column either, since they have to both be in the same column. Also, if the STOP_SIGN can't be in a given column, then the RED_HOUSE can't be in that column. The second type of vertical clue is known as IS_NOT_SAME_COLUMN: ┌─────┐ Imagine that the clue to the left has superimposed over │ │ it a red circle with a slash through it (the standard │GOLDI│ symbol for DON'T or NO). This would indicate that │LOCKS│ the S block is NOT in the same column as GOLDILOCKS └─────┘ (and vice versa). This clue isn't of any use to you ┌─────┐ until you know the location of one of the blocks. At │ │ that point, you can use this clue to eliminate that │ S │ column as a possible location for the other block. │ │ └─────┘ Again, a single block appearing in a vertical clue by itself means that block is not involved in any clues. --- HORIZONTAL CLUES --- The first and most common horizontal clue is known as IS_NEXT_TO: ┌─────┐┌─────┐┌─────┐ This clue means that the 5 block and the │ ││ ││ │ GREEN_HOUSE block next to each other (the │ 5 ││GREEN││ 5 │ phrase "next to" means that they're in adjac- │ ││HOUSE││ │ ent columns; since they're different "types" └─────┘└─────┘└─────┘ of blocks, they can't be in the same row). But, the clue doesn't tell you whether the 5 is on the left of the GREEN_HOUSE, or if the GREEN_HOUSE is on the left of the 5. That's why the 5 is shown on both sides of the GREEN_HOUSE, because it's next to the GREEN_HOUSE, but it could be on either the right or left. The second horizontal clue type is known as IS_NOT_NEXT_TO: ┌─────┐┌─────┐┌─────┐ Imagine that the NOT symbol (the red circle │ ││ ││ │ with the slash through it) is superimposed │ 5 ││GREEN││ 5 │ over the GREEN_HOUSE in this clue. This │ ││HOUSE││ │ would indicate that the GREEN_HOUSE is *NOT* └─────┘└─────┘└─────┘ next to the 5, neither on the left or the right. This clue is usually not of much use until the location of one of the two blocks is known. At that point the other block can be removed as a possibility from the adjacent columns. The third horizontal clue type is known as IS_LEFT_OF: ┌─────┐┌─────┐┌─────┐ This clue tells you that the DEAD_END sign is │ ││ ││ │ in a column somewhere to the left of the │ DEAD││ ... ││ M │ column in which the M is located. The DEAD_ │ END ││ ││ │ END may be immediately adjacent to the M on └─────┘└─────┘└─────┘ the M's left, or the DEAD_END may be in the left-most column while the M is in the right-most column, or anywhere between these two extremes. But, the DEAD_END is *NOT* in the same column as the M, and the DEAD_END is not to the right of the M. The three dots in the center block of the clue is being used as the IS_LEFT_OF symbol. The fourth (and generally most useful) horizontal clue is IS_BETWEEN: <-------------> Imagine that the double-headed arrow is ┌─────┐┌─────┐┌─────┐ actually superimposed over the tops of the │ ││ ││ │ three clue blocks. This clue means that the │ L ││APPLE││BLUE │ APPLE column is between the L and BLUE_HOUSE │ ││ ││HOUSE│ columns, and that the L and BLUE_HOUSE columns └─────┘└─────┘└─────┘ are immediately adjacent to the APPLE column. However, the arrow means that the L could be on the left and the BLUE_HOUSE on the right, *OR* the L could be on the right and the BLUE_HOUSE on the left. This clue also tells you that the APPLE can not be in the left-most *OR* right-most columns, since then it would only have one adjacent column. Also, as soon as the location of any one of these three blocks is known, then there are at most only two possible locations for each of the other two blocks, either to the right or left of the known block. This clue can also be used to eliminate possibilities. For instance, suppose that the APPLE is still shown as a possibility in the second column from the left, but neither the L or BLUE_HOUSE is a possibility in the left-most column. Since either the L or the BLUE_HOUSE *HAS* to be to the left of the APPLE and neither of them can be (in this scenario), then the APPLE can't be in the second column from the left. The fifth (and last) horizontal clue type is IS_NOT_BETWEEN: <-------------> Imagine that the double-headed arrow is ┌─────┐┌─────┐┌─────┐ actually superimposed over the tops of the │ ││ ││ │ three clue blocks, and that the red NOT symbol │ L ││APPLE││BLUE │ is superimposed over the APPLE. This means │ ││ ││HOUSE│ that the L and the BLUE_HOUSE have one column └─────┘└─────┘└─────┘ between them (just as in the IS_BETWEEN clue) and that the L could be to the left or to the right of the BLUE_HOUSE, but the APPLE is *NOT* between them. Again, this clue doesn't tell us anything about the location of the APPLE until the locations of both the L and the BLUE_HOUSE are known. But, this clue does tell us that the L and BLUE_HOUSE are two columns away from each other. --- MANAGING THE CLUES --- The clues can be moved around to better group them, so that clues with common blocks can be placed together. To do this, use the mouse to point to any one of the blocks in the clue. Press and hold either mouse button, then move the mouse, dragging the block to its new location (within that group of clues; you can't move a HORIZONTAL clue to the VERTICAL clue group or vice versa). When it's positioned where you'd like the clue to be located, release the mouse button. If the new location was empty, the clue will be moved there. If the location was not empty, all clues below and to the right will be moved "down" to make room before the clue is moved. Notice that if you select a clue block with the left mouse button that the block remains full-sized. If you select the clue block with the right mouse button, it becomes half-sized. Either way works fine for moving clues. Should you realize that you've incorrectly removed a block as a possibility from a given location on the board, you can use the right mouse button to select the block from a clue and drag it to the location on the board where you feel it should still be a possibil- ity. You can similarly pick and drag possibilities from the board itself. Usually, this feature won't be of much use, as UNDO is handier. Another feature that is very useful in managing the clues is the "OTHER CLUES" bin. Initially, all clues are shown on the display. You can think of this as the "GAME CLUE" bin. As you play the game, some clues will become "used". In other words, the clue will be of no further use because all of its information has become used on the board. You can click the right mouse button on the clue, and it will disappear, moved to the "OTHER CLUES" bin. This keeps the "GAME CLUE" bin as un-cluttered as possible, letting you focus just on the clues that still have useful information. However, you may occasionally move a clue to the "OTHER CLUES" bin before you've actually used all of the information in the clue. The "GAME CLUES" bin and the "OTHER CLUES" bin can be swapped by clicking either mouse button on the "OTHER CLUES" menu box. ______________________ III. NOTES ON PLAYING THE GAME The whole object of the game is to correctly locate all 36 blocks. This is done through a process of deduction and elimination, using the clues as a guide. When a clue tells you that a particular block can not possibly be located at a particular square on the board, point to the block with the mouse and then click the right mouse button. The image of the block that you pointed to will disappear. When there's only one small image left, it MUST be the block that is located at that square. When that happens, point to it with the mouse and click the left mouse button. The block will be made full-sized and all other half-sized images of that block in the row will disappear. Also, watch for situations where a particular block exists as a possibility at only one location. This means that it HAS to be located there, so it can be enlarged. While you're first learning the game, in order to keep the mouse buttons straight, think of the left button as BIG/KEEP and the right button as SMALL/REMOVE. In order to solve the puzzle, you must repeatedly scan through the clues, testing each clue to see if it will eliminate any more possibil- ities in each column. Each time you remove one possibility from the board, that may cause other clues to become useful in removing further possibilities. Remember, all boards are guaranteed to be solvable with the provided clues. When you locate the last of the 36 blocks the game is over, and the program will tell you whether your deductions were correct or not. --- HINT --- The HINT menu box is a very good way to quickly get a feeling for how the puzzles are solved. Click either mouse button on the HINT box. The program will draw a box with a HINT in it, blinking a box around the associated clue and an arrow pointing to the appropriate clue on the board. When you click a mouse button a second time, the HINT box goes away and the appropriate action for the HINT is automatically performed for you (usually removing a possibility or locating a block). So, by repeatedly clicking on the HINT menu box and reading the HINTs, the program will teach you how to use the clues to solve the puzzles. If you're trying to solve the puzzles as fast as possible, you should use HINT very sparingly, as each HINT costs you 30 seconds. If you're playing the game with NO TIME LIMIT, then 30 seconds is added to the "game time". If you're playing with a TIME LIMIT, then 30 seconds is subtracted from your remaining time. But, used at a critical point, HINT can be used once or twice, very strategically, to get you past a particularly difficult spot. Disabling HINTS: if you don't like having HINTS available, they may be disabled with a "command line switch". See the section on "COMMAND LINE SWITCHES" for more information. --- UNDO --- Sherlock keeps track of the last 25 actions you've taken and can undo those actions. If you realize that you've made a mistake, you can repeatedly click on the UNDO menu box until you reach the point at which you made the mistake (assuming that it was within the last 25 actions). UNDO cannot be UNDOne (except by repeating the action which UNDO UNDid). --- TIME --- The game may be paused by clicking on the "Time:" display box. This causes the game display to be hidden and the timer halted until another mouse button press, at which point the game display will be restored and the timer will resume counting. The "timer" is also halted when you use the SHELL on the main menu to get to the DOS command prompt. _______________________ IV. THE MAIN MENU The Main Menu contains a number of options to allow you to configure the game to your preferences. Any of the menu boxes is activated by clicking either mouse button on the desired box. --- PLAY/RESUME and RESTART --- This box will say PLAY if the game hasn't been started yet. Clicking on the PLAY box causes the program to generate the next puzzle and display it (this can take from 3 to 20 seconds or more, depending upon the puzzle and the speed of your computer). Once the game has been started, the player can return to the Main Menu by clicking on the MENU box. At this point the PLAY box is re-labeled as RESUME, and a RESTART menu box is also shown. RESUME takes you right back to your game. RESTART will start the puzzle over in its initial state. Once a puzzle has been started the only Main Menu entry that will have any effect on a RESUMED game is SOUND. TIME, COLORS, IMAGES, BACKGROUND, PUZZLE, and PLAYER are modifiable, but only affect the configuration file and/or future puzzles, and should generally only be changed in between puzzles. HELP can be used at any time, as can RESUME, RESTART, and EXIT_TO_DOS. --- PUZZLE --- This box always shows the puzzle number that will be generated on the next PLAY. Clicking on this menu box will allow you to specify a different number. When you first start playing Sherlock, the puzzle number will be 0. As each puzzle is solved, the game automatically increments to the puzzle number. The current puzzle number for each player is kept in the SHERLOCK.CFG file. For tournament play, the game generates a random puzzle number, which can be over-ridden with a specific puzzle number before the first player starts, if desired. --- PLAYER --- This menu box always shows the current player's name (up to the first eight characters of it) or TOURNEY if a tournament is selected. By clicking on the PLAYER menu box, you'll bring up the PLAYER menu, which allows you to add new players, change the names of players, remove players from the list, and select SINGLE or TOURNEY play mode. If you look carefully, you will notice that the SINGLE or TOURNEY menu box appears to be "pushed in". This indicates that that mode is active. If you click on the other menu box, it will "go in" and the previous one will "come out". If you click on SINGLE or TOURNEY when its menu box is already "in", the program will just beep at you. When in SINGLE mode, the name of the current player is highlighted. A different player can be selected by pointing at the players name with the mouse and clicking either mouse button. When in TOURNEY mode, all of the names of those players who will be participating in the tournament are highlighted. Again, players can be selected or de-selected for participation in the tournament by pointing at them with the mouse and clicking either mouse button. When the SINGLE/TOURNEY mode and player(s) are selected, click either mouse button on the DONE menu box to return to the main menu. Each player can have his/her own set of configuration options, all of which is saved in the SHERLOCK.CFG file. Each player can have a different set of colors, background pattern, block images, time limit, and sound. When a player is selected, his/her configuration is automatically selected and used. Because of this, it's important that you ensure that YOU'RE the selected player before you start changing configuration information. --- TIME --- You can play the game with NO time LIMIT, in which case the game timer starts at 00:00:00 and counts upward. However, you can also set a time limit, in which case the game timer starts at that time setting and counts downward. If the puzzle isn't solved before the timer reaches zero, you lose. When you click on the TIME menu box, it's replaced with a two-button selection. Click on the desired item. If COUNT DOWN is selected, you will be prompted to enter a time in HH:MM:SS format (that means hours:minutes:seconds). At this point, use BACKSPACE and the number keys (and the colon) to enter a new time, then press ENTER. If the time is not in the correct format, the time limit won't be changed. --- COLORS --- This menu box will bring up another menu that allows you to select the colors that you wish to be used for various parts of the game display. By carefully selecting colors, you can come up with pleasing alternate color schemes. (You can also come up with some really putrid schemes, too!) To change colors, first point to the name of an item and click a mouse button. This will cause that item to be outlined with a box. Then, to select a new color for that item, point to the desired color in the palette and click a mouse button. The color menu will then be redrawn using that new color. If you decide you've really botched things, you can use the ABORT box to put things back to the way they were when you entered the color menu and then exit back to the main menu. Alternatively, you can use the INIT box to set the colors to the default settings that the program uses. When finished editing the colors, click a mouse button on the DONE box. The new color settings will be automatically saved in the SHERLOCK.CFG file for the current player. --- BACKGROUND PATTERN --- This brings up a menu which allows you to select from one of several pre-made background patterns, shown on the right, or to create your own pattern by clicking on the squares of the "zoom" box on the left. The current pattern is shown in the box at the top of the menu. Again, ABORT will exit back to the main menu without changing the background pattern, while DONE will save any changes in the SHERLOCK.CFG file. --- IMAGES --- This allows you to modify the block images used in the game, or create whole new sets. Initially, a menu comes up that shows all 36 blocks along with the "empty" block. At this level, you can copy any block image into a new location by pointing to the image you wish to copy, then pressing and holding down a mouse button. Move the mouse to the location where you want the image to be copied and then release the mouse button. Of course, this over-writes the image that was at the new location. This is most useful when creating a whole new set of six images (a row). You can use the editor to create a common back- ground image, then copy it to all six locations in the row. Then, you can edit each of those to add the unique "foreground" image. You enter the image editor by pointing the mouse at the image that you wish to edit and clicking a mouse button. The image editor is then brought up, which shows a "zoomed" image of the block, along with a normal-sized and a half-sized image of the block. The current color is shown by a white outline box in the palette area. You can change the current color by pointing to a new color and clicking a mouse button. You can change the color of a pixel by pointing to it in the "zoom" box and then clicking either mouse button. It will be changed to the current color. You can "paint" by pointing to a desired area of the zoom box, then press and hold the left mouse button. As you move the mouse around, every pixel that the mouse points to will be changed to the current color until you release the left mouse button. You can draw lines using a rubber-band line by pointing to one end- point of the line, then pressing and holding the right mouse button. Now, as you move the mouse, a rubber-band line will follow the mouse, anchored at the first point. No pixels are actually changed until you release the right mouse button. At that point a line is drawn between the two end-points using the current color. There are menu boxes for ABORT, INIT, and DONE. ABORT will take you back to the top-level image editing menu without saving any changes you might have made. INIT will erase any changes you have made, set- ting the image back to what it was when you entered the zoom editor. DONE will take you back to the top-level image menu, saving the changes you've made. Also, there are four other menu boxes to aid you with your image editing. REPLACE COLOR allows you to replace all pixels of one specif- ied color with a second specified color. When prompted for the colors you can point to them either in the zoom box or in the color palette. The "H flip" and "V flip" will reverse the image horizontally or vertically. "Clear to color" is useful when first starting a new image; it sets the entire image to the current color. Lastly, at the bottom-middle of the image editor there is a box that is divided into four areas by a large X. Each area contains an arrow. This is an "imaging shifter" control box. Each time you click on one of the arrows, the image is shifted one pixel in that direction. This is useful for centering an image that you've drawn, or for making the half-size image look better. The half-size image is generated from the full-size image by throwing away every other row and every other column of pixels. Obviously, depending upon exactly which rows and columns the pixels of an image are in, the half-size image may come out looking very good or like an ink-blot. For each full-size image, there are four different possible half-size images, controlled by shifting the full-sized image left/right and up/down one pixel. You should position the full-sized image so as to select the most recogniz- able half-size image. Back to the top-level image menu. Your edited images can be saved into a file by selecting the SAVE menu box. The filename you specify can be a complete pathname (including drive and sub-directories) or just a filename (for the current drive/directory). However, you can not specify a file extension, as Sherlock always stores these images in files with an extension of .SHI (for SHerlock Images). The filename you enter is remembered in the SHERLOCK.CFG file, and each time you start playing the game, your image set is automatically loaded and used. If someone else has created an image set that you wish to use then just select the LOAD menu box. This will bring up a directory listing of all .SHI files in the current directory. When you select a file (by double-clicking the left mouse button on it, or by clicking on it once and then clicking on the LOAD IMAGES button) those images will be loaded and displayed at the left. If those are the images you wish, clicking the right mouse button or clicking on the EXIT button will terminate the directory listing and place you back in the image editor. Otherwise, you can simply select another file for loading, and in this way "browse" through the available images. Again, the selected file name will be recorded in SHERLOCK.CFG as your image file. However, if you plan to modify the images, you should probably do a STORE to a different file name after you LOAD them in. This way, you won't make your friend angry by modifying his/her copy of the images. You can also MERGE rows of images from one file into another. After you select the MERGE menu box, the directory listing dialog will be displayed, from which you may select the filename of the file from which you wish to merge a row of images. Once you select the file, you will then be prompted for the row where you wish the images to be placed. Use the mouse to click on the row of images that you wish to be replaced by the new ones. And, of course, we have ABORT, INIT, and DONE. ABORT will exit the IMAGE menu and restore your images to what they were before you entered the menu (discarding any changes you made). INIT will set the images to the default images that are built into the program. DONE is what you select when you want to return to the MAIN MENU and you want to save any changes that might have been made. Hints on making good images: 1) Keep them simple. You don't have many pixels to work with, and the simpler the images, the easier they are to recognize. 2) Choose your six sets of six images well, so that each of the six sets is EASILY and QUICKLY distinguishable from the others. This is very important when playing the game. Background colors and subject matter are very important for this. 3) Choose your six images within each set so that they are quickly and easily distinguishable from each other, even at half-size. This is also VERY important while playing the game. This can best be done with foreground colors and shapes. 4) Make sure that each image is best placed so that the half-size image is as recognizable as possible. (See the paragraph above on the "image shifter". 5) A good contrast outline on each image block really helps to diff- erentiate the six half-size images at each location on the board. That's about it for image editing. --- SOUND --- There are a number of sound effects during game play, and these can be enabled or disabled by clicking on the SOUND menu box. It's a simple toggle between YES and NO. --- HANDICAP --- HANDICAP lets you make the game a little easier, kind of like a golf or bowling "handicap". What the Handicap number does is specify the number of EXTRA board positions that are "given away" at the start of the game. In other words, the computer generates the puzzle (based upon the puzzle number and a pseudo-random number generator) and then, as it displays it, reveals additional "known" locations on the board, based upon the value of HANDICAP. Versions of Sherlock before revision 2.00 effectively had a handicap of 0, and that is the default value. Handicap can be set to any value from 0 through 9. --- HELP! --- This brings up a brief set of instruction screens for those that hate to read manuals. --- SHELL --- If possible (if there's enough free memory and the program can locate the COMMAND.COM program) this causes SHERLOCK to run a copy of the COMMAND.COM command "shell" without terminating the game. This allows you to temporarily get to a command prompt to do a few simple tasks and then return to your game exactly where you left off. As soon as you click on the SHELL menu, the game timer stops and doesn't resume until you exit the command shell (by typing EXIT at the prompt) and the game menu re-appears. Sherlock requires around 420K of RAM to run, so you'll be pretty limited as to the set of programs you can run under these conditions, but most any simple commands should work fine. --- EXIT --- This exits the program and updates the SHERLOCK.CFG file as necessary. __________________ V. TOURNAMENT PLAY When TOURNEY is selected in the PLAYER menu, any number of the players can be selected for inclusion in the tournament by clicking on their names. (A selected player can be excluded, also, by clicking on his or her name.) Once TOURNEY is selected, and all desired players are selected, click on DONE. This takes you back to the MAIN MENU, with a random puzzle number selected. Should you desire the tournament to use a specific puzzle number, it should be selected at this point. Also, TIME should be set to NO LIMIT or to an agreed upon limit. When all is ready, click on PLAY. This will bring up the TOURNAMENT STANDINGS box, which shows a list of all involved players and their current standings in the tournament. Initially, all will show WAITING. A prompt will show who the first player is. When next a mouse button is clicked, the game will start for that player. All other players should be away from the computer at this point, as they will each be trying to solve the same puzzle, and they don't deserve to get a head start by seeing the puzzle before it's their turn. When the first player is finished, the puzzle is erased and the TOURNAMENT STANDINGS box is shown again, along with a prompt for the next player. This will stay on the display until a mouse button is clicked, at which point the puzzle is redrawn and the second player is off and running. This sequence continues until the last player finishes, at which point the tournament is over and the MAIN MENU is shown once more, along with the TOURNAMENT STANDINGS, with the players organized by times. During a tournament, the MENU box on the game display shows QUIT instead of MENU. During a tournament, you're in a race, and there's no getting out of it except by quitting. If you QUIT, that's the end of your turn and the next player starts. Needless to say those who QUIT come in last, next are those who complete the puzzle but get it wrong, and the tournament winners are those who complete it correctly, in the shortest amount of time. HINT is available during tournament play, but remember, every HINT costs you 30 seconds of time. ________________________ VI. COMMAND LINE OPTIONS There are three command line options available with Sherlock. (Either a '-' or a '/' may be used in front of the command line options.) -b causes Sherlock to run in a "win" loop, just showing the "win" displays (chosen at random). A specific "win" display can be chosen by following the 'b' with another letter: -bf for the "fireworks" (original) display -bs for the "spiral" display -bq for the "quilt" display -h disables the HINTS during game play. -w specifies the type of "win" display to use when a puzzle is successfully solved: -wf for the "firewords" (original) display -bs for the "spiral" display -bq for the "quilt" display. -w by itself or with any other letter besides f, s, or q will set the game to the default condition of randomly selecting one of the three "win" displays. If you wish to use one or more of these command line options on a regular basis, then I recommend that you rename SHERLOCK.EXE and then create a batch file called SHERLOCK.BAT that runs the .EXE with the desired command line options. So, for example, if you wanted to always run with the "fireworks" win display and wanted HINTS to always be disabled: RENAME SHERLOCK.EXE SHER.EXE and then create a file (with an ASCII text editor) called SHERLOCK.BAT containing the lines: @ECHO OFF SHER -wf -h This assumes that you have a recent enough version of DOS that it understands the '@ECHO OFF' batch file command (I think it started with version 3.0 of DOS), and also assumes that you've already changed the current directory to where SHER.EXE is located before running the batch file. Otherwise, you might want to include the full path for SHER.EXE, something like: @ECHO OFF C:\GAMES\SHERLOCK\SHER.EXE -wf -h and maybe put the SHERLOCK.BAT file in a directory that's on your path so that you can run the game from "anywhere" without having to first CD to the SHERLOCK directory. _______________________________ VII. SAVING and RESTORING GAMES If you need to quit playing before finishing a game, just click on MENU and then EXIT. You will be prompted whether to save the unfinished game. Click on the 'Y' to save the game, on the 'N' to not save the game. If you save the game, then the next time you run the program, you will be prompted whether you wish to resume the saved game or not. If you select 'Y' the saved game will be loaded (and the .SAV file will be automatically deleted), and the game will resume from where you left off (including the elapsed time). If you select 'N', don't restore the saved game, then the .SAV file will remain for later and the game will start up in its normal fashion. The saved games are stored in files called SHERxx.SAV where the 'xx' is a number from 01 through 36 and is the "player number". The first player in the player list is player number 01, the second is 02, and so on. So if you wish to delete ALL saved games, just execute the DOS command: DEL SHER*.SAV while in the Sherlock directory. If you wish to delete a single saved game, the simplest thing to do is to start up the game, click on 'Y' to restore the game, and then once it's restored (which also deletes the saved file), click on MENU and proceed however you wish. ________________________ VIII. BEST TIMES DISPLAY The five best times for each player is stored in the SHERLOCK.CFG file along with each of the player's configurations, and also the five best times overall (amongst ALL of the players). At the end of each game, the "best times" scoreboard is displayed to the right of the main menu. It includes the player name, puzzle number, time, and handicap for each "best time", with the five overall "bests" at the top, and the five best times for the current player at the bottom. Also, at the very bottom is the time for the puzzle just completed. The "last game" is always highlighted so that it's easy to find if it makes it onto one of the two "best times" lists. _________________ IX. CLUE BOOKMARK As you work through the clues, a deduction made from one clue may send you off to other clues containing the same image which may then send you off to yet further clues. It can be tough to keep track of where you're at (fingers leave grease marks on your display), so a "bookmark" has been added that can be placed around a vertical or horizontal clue. Simply point at the vertical or horizontal clue and click the left mouse button. The clue will be outlined in red. A second click on that same clue will remove the bookmark. However, if the bookmark is on one clue and you simply want to move it to another clue, just click the left mouse button on the other clue, and the bookmark will be automatically removed from the previous clue and drawn about the new one. ____________________ X. REVISION HISTORY Rev 1.1 May 12, 1991 Initial release. Rev 1.2 November 24, 1991 fixed: On some displays (with some mice) display got garbaged. fixed: When timed game counted down to 1 hour, game terminated. fixed: After some image edits, half-size images weren't updated. fixed: A few puzzles had too many clues to fit on the display. Any puzzle number suffering from this bug (the earliest was #235) are now completely different puzzles, although all other puzzles remain the same. added: The game now saves the state of the display card and of the mouse driver and restores those states at exit. added: Code to prevent a disk-file critical error from aborting the program. Rev 1.3 February 22, 1992 fixed: Sometimes the HINT for a horizontal clue of type "This block is NOT between these two other blocks" gave an incorrect message (although the hint pointed correctly to a possibility that could be removed). added: Command line option -n to allow disabling of code to restore mouse driver and state of the video card. added: two more IMAGE sets. Thanks to Len Bruening for LENS.SHI, and Angela R.M. Baldwin for BALDY.SHI. modified the documentation to reflect membership in the Association of Shareware Professionals. Rev 1.4 February 29, 1992 fixed: A different problem with the text in one of the HINTs for a clue of type "This block is NOT between these two other blocks". removed: All attempts to save the state of the display card, due to too many problems on different video boards. The state of the mouse is still saved and restored. added: The ability to PAUSE the game (timer) by clicking on the "TIME" box. added: A modified version of the primary image set, from Robin Nixon in the United Kingdom (ROBIN.SHI). Has modified "people", "house colors", and the "roadsigns" have been converted into "transportation devices". Rev 1.41 March 10, 1992 added: NOVEAU.SHI by Josh "Josho" Mandel. Rev 1.42 March 26, 1992 added: ROBIN2.SHI and VERYHARD.SHI by Robin Nixon and ELECTRIC.SHI by Eric S Graeler. Rev 1.50 June 6, 1992 UK version. Modified internal image set, registration info. Rev 2.00 July 14, 1993 Major revisions. New features include: "Best times" score table (including last game time) Save/Restore of game Two additional "win" displays Handicap (for easier game) Command SHELL Directory listing/menu when loading/merging images Current player name shown on menu instead of SINGLE A clue "bookmark" Command line options for "no hints", to specify the desired "win" display (rather than randomly chosen), and to put Sherlock into a constant "win" display loop (screen blanker type thing). Minor improvements to some hint behaviors. Rev 2.01 January 16, 1994 Changes to shareware order form. Fixes to bugs in Image-Load directory dialog, copy, rename. PRODUCTS AVAILABLE FROM EVERETT KASER SOFTWARE Hero's Heart --- Handcrafted puzzles requiring careful thought to solve. Similar to PC Wanderer and Boulderdash. Requires EGA or VGA and 360K of free memory. Hero GOLD --- A more extensive (non-shareware) version of Hero's Heart containing over 80 levels, along with hints and solutions to each level, and includes 10 additional "objects" for use on the playfield. Requires EGA or VGA and 360K of free memory. Hero GOLD Accessory Disk #1 --- contains 60 new puzzles created many different people. They range in difficulty from easy to EXTREMELY difficult. Complete solutions included on disk. Requires HERO GOLD. Price: $7.50 Kosynka --- is an implementation (by Russian programmer Sergey Ryzhkov of the solitaire card game from Russia. The rules are very similar to standard Klondike solitaire, but this variation uses a double pack of 104 cards, which are played in 9 or 10 columns (as opposed to the 7 columns in Klondike). The reserve stock of cards are turned over one at a time, but you may only go through the stock twice. Very enjoyable. The face cards are lovely, and they have a very "russian" look to them. Everett Kaser Software is representing the Author in the U.S. Requires EGA or VGA. Sherlock --- The computer scrambles the locations of 36 items, then provides you with sufficient clues to determine their exact locations. Challenging game of logic with rich graphics disp- lay. Image editor and four extra sets of images included. Requires EGA or VGA and a Microsoft compatible mouse. Snarf --- Snarf is an arcade style game of mazes, treasures, First-Aid stations, locks and keys, teleports, and of course those nasty, sneaky, sniveling Snarfs. The game currently contains over 50 different levels, and includes a level editor so the user can create new levels. Requires EGA or VGA. Solitile --- A game of solitaire, played with tiles. The object of the game is to remove all of the tiles from the pile, following a small number of rules. Includes layout and tileset editors. Requires EGA or VGA and 380K free memory. Solitile Accessory Disks: Disk #1 --- Contains: 3 tilesets: MAHJONG, BATH, and TOOLS 5 layouts: MAYAMASK, ZIGZAG, PLANE, BIDIR, and PI 9 music files: ENTERTAINER, AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING, MUSIC BOX DANCER, ROSES, BLUE DANUBE, LOVE STORY, GODFATHER, A VERY GOOD YEAR 13 GIF files: space walking astronaut, Marylin Monroe, Bulldog, Star Trek Enterprise, cartoon characters, etc. Disk #2 --- Contains: 5 tilesets: STAMPS, BASEBALL, CANDY, WINTILE1, BODY 5 layouts: JAILBRAK,10HIDING,FLATCAT,SPRAYER,SQUARFAC 9 music files: SOUND OF SILENCE, THOSE WERE THE DAYS, BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER, CABARET, GEORGY GIRL, KING OF THE ROAD, MOON RIVER, RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING ON MY HEAD, WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE 21 GIF files: space shuttle take-off, King Tut, a cheetah's face, cartoon characters, etc. Disk #3 --- Contains: 10 tilesets: ALPHA, FLOWER, CARS1, COMICS, CARDS, CARDS2, TRAFFIC, TOONS, FLAGS, and COLLAGE. 4 layouts: STARSKY, GRNDCNYN, ENGINE, and CHECK. 5 music files: I'VE GOT A NAME, TIME IN A BOTTLE, FROM A DISTANCE, AMERICAN PIE, NOBODY DOES IT BETTER. 10 .GIF files: RogRABBIT, SHUTTLE, SHIRLEY, POOHBEAR, HOVER- CRAFT, CAPTAIN-OPUS, ROBOT, DONDUCK, INDIAN, PAGODA. MUSIC.COM, a utility that plays .MUS files outside of Solitile. Makes development/testing of .MUS files easier. MUSIC.DOC, documents the format of .MUS files, allowing you to create your new ones or modify others. ST2TO3.EXE, a utility for converting layouts created with previous versions of Solitile, and converts WIN direct- ories from previous versions of Solitile into "solved boards" in your Solitile 3 .PLY file. On previous vers- ions of Solitile, the layouts were stored in the SOLITILE.DAT file. With Solitile 3, they're stored in their individual .LYT files. If you've created layouts with a previous version of Solitile and would like to use them with Solitile 3, this utility will convert them from the SOLITILE.DAT file into .LYT files. ST2TO3.DOC, documents the usuage of ST2TO3. _______________________________________________________________________________ Everett Kaser Software Order form HH13 (or call Visa/Mastercard orders to (503) 928-5259) _______________________________________________________________________________ Games: Hero GOLD ................................... $20.00 _____________ SOLITILE .................................... $15.00 _____________ SHERLOCK (mouse required) ................... $15.00 _____________ SNARF ....................................... $15.00 _____________ KOSYNKA ..................................... $15.00 _____________ Accessory Disks: HERO GOLD ACCESSORY #1 (60 more levels) ..... $ 7.50 _____________ SOLITILE ACCESSORY #1 ....................... $ 5.00 _____________ SOLITILE ACCESSORY #2 ....................... $ 5.00 _____________ SOLITILE ACCESSORY #3 ....................... $ 5.00 _____________ Shipping and Handling ............................ $ 2.00 __ $ 2.00 ___ TOTAL ......... _____________ Circle diskette type: [ 5.25" ] [ 3.5" ] Name ___________________________________________________________ Street ___________________________________________________________ City _______________________ State/Prov ________ Zip ___________ Country __________________________________________________________ * VISA and MASTERCARD accepted: VISA____ MASTERCARD ____ Card Number: __ __ __ __-__ __ __ __-__ __ __ __-__ __ __ __ Expiration date: __/__ Phone: (______) ______-__________ Signature for credit card ________________________________________ I received the shareware program from (please check one): ____ A BBS (which one? _____________________________________) ____ A disk vendor (which one? _____________________________) ____ A friend or family member ____ Other (describe _______________________________________) _______________________________________________________________________________ Send to: Everett Kaser Software Compuserve User ID: 70673,1547 PO Box 403 Phone: (503) 928-5259 Albany, OR 97321-0117 Weekdays: 6pm-9pm Weekends: 9am-9pm Pacific Time Comments and suggestions always welcome.