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Text File | 1989-10-25 | 33KB | 667 lines

┌────────┐ MAH JONGG ┌────────┐ │ ├┤ 3 │ Release 3.2, October 10, 1989 │ 0 0 8 │ │ ├┤ │ │ 0 0 │ │ ├┤ ├┤ │ Nels Anderson │ 0 0 │ │ ├┤ ├┤ │ 92 Bishop Drive │ 0 0 │ └────────┘ Framingham, MA 01701 └────────┘ MAH JONGG is an ancient Chinese game whose origins are supposed to date back some 3000 years. This version has similarities to solitaire played with cards and also with dominoes since it is played with tiles. When I first discovered the game my initial impression was that the game would quickly become dull but having played it for a while and having given it to friends we've all found that it is quite addictive despite its apparent simplicity. This program is designed for a PCompatible that can run in EGA graphics mode. If you're still running an older video card I'm afraid the game won't work. (Apparently many people do not understand the differences between EGA, CGA, VGA, MDA, etc.; basically, if you get a screen full of letters blinking on and off when you try to run MAH JONGG you don't have EGA and the game will not work on your system.) When I originally wrote MAH JONGG I had never seen a game that used the full EGA capabilities (640x350, 16 colors) and I thought it would be nice if there was one. This version also supports Hercules graphics mode. Since it's monochrome it's not nearly as pretty as EGA but the resolution is similar so it's not bad. The type of video you have is now automatically detected, so you should not have to do anything to get the right mode. If your system won't automatically select the right video mode for some reason, you can force a specific mode using command line parameters as follows: mahjongg -h (forces Hercules graphics mode) mahjongg -e (forces full color EGA graphics mode) mahjongg -l (forces monochrome EGA graphics mode) I hadn't planned on doing any versions other than EGA, but Hercules turned out to be so easy I figured, why not? Recently, several people suggested adding a monochrome EGA mode for laptop systems that have an EGA compatible LCD or similar display. Since I'd already done all the work of making monochrome look right for the Hercules version, this was easy to add too. I don't have versions for other video adapters and I don't have any plans for them since I don't consider any of the lower resolutions adequate. Since I do not program games for a living but still put quite a bit of effort into MAH JONGG I am releasing the program as Shareware. If you enjoy the game, as I think you will, a $10 donation to reward my efforts would be appreciated. Please let me know what version you have and I'd also be interested in knowing where you got it from. Make sure you put your name and address on your letter. Or, use the instant registration form in the file "orderfrm.txt". Just copy the file to your printer. If you don't understand the term "Shareware" please read the file "sharewre.txt". In return for your registration you'll receive the latest version of the game plus a setup utility that is made available only to registered users. If you have any suggestions or discover any problems with the program you can reach me via the )(evious BBS (PCBoard) system (300/1200/2400/9600-HST, 8N1) at 508-875-3618 or 617-449-7322. Leave a C)omment to the sysop to reach me. )(evious is the official support BBS for all my software and the latest versions are always available for downloading there. There is also a support conference for people to exchange game tips or ask questions. J)oin conference #31 and check out the latest tips. You can also reach )(evious through RelayNet. If there's a RelayNet board in your area send a routed message to me at node XEVIOUS. The Shareware conference would be the best choice, but if that's not available try TPascal, Games or even Common. If you're connected to one of the minicomputer nets (InterNet, uucp...) you can try reaching me at one of these addresses: ima!primerd!en-m32.prime.com!nja uunet!en-m32.prime.com!nja csnet-relay!en-m32.prime.com!nja nja%en-m32.prime.com@relay.cs.net nja@en-m32.prime.com Of course you can also write me at the address at the beginning of this file. If you're not a registered user don't expect an answer unless you include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Most of the instructions you'll need for playing the game are built into it; just type H when prompted at the title screen. Or you can read the instructions below. There is quite a bit of strategy involved if you are to do well but I'll leave the strategies up to you to discover. Besides, I'm no expert in playing the game either. ***************************************************************************** * PLAYING THE GAME * ***************************************************************************** OBJECT: The object of the game is to remove as many of the tiles from the playing board as possible within the rules of the game. Tiles are always removed in pairs and can only be removed from the left or the right edges. Any tile that is not on a left or right edge is considered blocked and cannot be removed. Note though that the tiles are arranged in 5 levels and each level has a left and right edge so there are many more unblocked tiles than it would first appear. Note that the tile on the top of the pile blocks all four tiles below it, and tiles on row 5 block both rows 4 and 6. SUITS OF TILES: There are many different suits of tiles and the suit of a tile determines the rule used for matching tiles that can be removed together. MATCHING RULES: Most of the tile suits require an exact match. This means that you must match a tile to another that is exactly the same. For example a Bamboo 1 matches another Bamboo 1 but does not match a Bamboo 3 or a Dot 1. The other matching rule allows any tile in the same suit to match any other tile in that suit. Thus, any of the four seasons (SUM, AUT, WIN, SPR) match each other and any of the four flowers (MUM, PLUM, BAM, ORC) match each other. NUMBER OF TILES: There is only one each of SUM, AUT, WIN, SPR, MUM, PLUM, BAM, and ORC. There are four of each of the other tiles for a total of 144 tiles on the board. A counter keeps track of how many tiles are left in play. If you want to see what tiles you have removed so far, hit F2 (though some might consider this cheating!). BOARD LAYOUT: If you're using a mouse to play you don't need to worry about the board coordinates; you just point and click. Many game commands are also there as "keys" that can be clicked on. If you don't have a mouse, read on... The game board is a grid marked by letters and numbers. You select tiles by entering a letter for the column and a number for the row. Order doesn't matter, entering A5 is the same as 5A. The single tile on the topmost level is H5. The numbering of the rows is a bit confusing. Row 5 only exists at the very top level and at the extreme left and right edges. Rows 4 and 6 are actually adjacent to each other. If after you've selected your first tile you change your mind, just hit 'Enter' instead of your second tile selection. After you've selected both tiles you are asked to confirm your selection with a Y or N before the tiles are removed. COMMANDS: There are commands you can enter in addition to just selecting tile coordinates. Some are accessed by hitting a single letter followed by hitting the <Enter> key; others are accessed by just hitting one of the function keys: A starts the same board again. H will give you help selecting tiles. If you ask for help at the first tile prompt, you will first be told if there are any moves left, then you may choose to see any or all of them by hitting Y or N when asked. If you ask for help when selecting the 2nd tile it will show you any playable matches for the first tile you selected. N starts a new game; the next consecutive board number is used. Q will quit the game and return to DOS. R reloads a saved game. S saves your game. U undo the last move. Can be used as many times as you want until all moves have been undone. (F4 does the same thing). Z restore a move that was undone. This is the reverse of the undo function. You can undo and restore as many moves as you want. (F6 does the same thing). F1 will display a summary of commands and other information. F2 will show the tiles you've removed so far. F3 goes to the set up screen. F4 will undo your last move. F5 shows you your playing statistics. F6 will undo your last undo (e.g., it will remove the tiles again). F7 goes to the tournament set up screen. F10 shells to DOS. Type 'EXIT' to return to the game. If you are using a mouse, many of these commands are available as pushbuttons along the left side of the screen. Just slide the cursor over the command you want and click. Hitting the right mouse button is a short-cut way of asking for help. See the section on using the mouse below. In summary, the commands are: Q: Quit N: New game (next board) H: Help A: Again (replay same board) S: Save R: Restore F1: Commands F2: Tiles played so far F3: Set up F4: Undo last move (U also works) F5: Stats F6: Undo last undo (Z also works) F10: DOS shell F7: Tournament set up COMMAND LINE OPTIONS: There are several options you can give when starting the game. You can skip the title screen by using -n (No title). You can play a specific board by entering -bx where x is any number between 0 and 65535. For example, you can replay the previous game by noting the board number in the lower left hand corner before quitting and using that. Or you can play against another person by both choosing the same board number and seeing who can remove the most tiles. You can play timed games by entering -tx where x is the number of minutes you want the game to be. This is primarily for competitive games. You can still continue to play the game after the time runs out. The amount of time left to play is shown in the upper right corner of the screen just above the number of tiles left. Using -cx allows you to set the background color and -dx the mouse cursor color, where x is a number between 0 and 15. Using -m selects mouse control instead of keyboard. Using -fn selects a file named n as the file in which your statistics will be kept instead of the default file "\mahstats"; n can be complete with disk and path names. Using -f with no file name disables keeping of statistics. The command line options are done in a standard way but if you're not familiar with this sort of thing they may be somewhat confusing so here are some examples. Command line option examples: If you want to play a game that will be timed for 10 minutes, the command line would be: MAHJONGG -T10 Notice there is no space between the -T and the number of minutes (10). The other commands work the same way. To play board number 12345 the command line would be: MAHJONGG -B12345 You can combine commands too, so to play board 12345 as a 10 minute timed game the command line would be: MAHJONGG -T10 -B12345 There is also a setup screen that allows you to select any of the options that are available on the command line. Just hit S from the title screen to go to setup. You can also access setup at any time during a game by hitting the F3 key. If you forget the command line options, just start up the game with an invalid option and it will give you the proper usage (i.e., try using "mahjongg -?" which since it is not a valid option with give the valid option list). In summary, the command line options are: -n No title page -m use Mouse -bx play Board x (0 <= x <= 65535) -tx Timed game (x=length in minutes) -cx background Color x (0 <= x <= 15) -dx mouse cursor color x (0 <= x <= 15) -fn File n is the statistics file -h run in Hercules graphics mode -e run in full color EGA graphics mode -l run in Laptop (monochrome EGA) mode -li run in Laptop mode with inverse video STATISTICS: It seems that a lot of players are interested in game statistics, so the game now keeps track of some statistics for you automatically. A file is made that keeps track of all the board numbers you've played, which ones you've won, your best and worst scores, etc. You can view some of your stats from within the game by hitting the F5 key. The separate utility program, "statgen" can be run on your stats file to give a more complete report. Just type "statgen" to run it, give it the path and name of your stats file when requested, and a complete report will be shown on your screen. For more details, see the section on statgen later in these docs. If you have several people playing on the same PC they can each have their own statistics by using the select statistics file command line option, -fn where n is the name of the file. For example, if Fred and Dick both use the same PC, Fred might start the game as: MAHJONGG -FFRED.STT and Dick might start the game as: MAHJONGG -F\DICKSDIR\DICK.STT To disable keeping of statistics, use -f with no file name on your command line. TOURNAMENTS: You can play Mah Jongg as a tournament against other players. In a tournament each person plays a single board under the exact same conditions (same board number and same time limit, if any), allowing their results to be compared and a winner to be determined. You enter the tournament set up screen either by using the T option from the title screen or by hitting F7 at any time during a game. The first player sets up the tournament by selecting the board number (or by just leaving the one that was randomly chosen) and whether or not the game will be timed. After the selections are made the first player enters his name and plays the game. A record is kept of his results and the results of each additional person who plays the tournament. If you go to the tournament screen by accident or just to see the current standings, you can leave the screen without entering the tournament by entering Q. If there is already a tournament started but you want to start a new one, enter 'N'. This will let you set up a new tournament as was described above. Tournament records are kept in a file called "mah.trn" so you can also start a new tournament by deleting this file. USING A MOUSE: If you have a mouse driver installed on your computer it will automatically be detected when the game starts and mouse play will be selected. If for some reason your mouse is not being automatically detected you can still select it from the setup screen or by using the -m option on the command line. You can also use the setup screen to turn off the mouse if you wish. The game was tested using a Mouse Systems PC Mouse but any Microsoft-compatible mouse will probably work. When using a mouse most commands can be issued using the mouse. You must have your mouse driver installed as a device in your config.sys file for Mah Jongg to be able to use the mouse. The mouse interface is a bit different from what you're probably used to but it seems to be easy enough to use. Tiles are selected by moving a colored outline over them and then clicking once. To de-select the first tile, just click on it a second time. After selecting both tiles a line with the options "Y/N" (yes/no) comes up. If you just click without moving the mouse you'll select yes and the tiles will be removed. Slide the mouse left and right to change your selection. Many commands available during the game (help, new, undo, file, setup, quit) are available as "keys" along the left side of the screen. Move the outline over the command you want and click once. "Help" and "Quit" require a yes or no confirmation so you won't do them by accident. Slide the mouse left and right to select yes or no and then click. The help command first asks if you want to see matching tiles (if there are no more matches it will tell you that instead) and then prompts for a yes or no to see each additional matching pair of tiles. If you ask for help after you've already selected the first tile a search for matching free tiles takes place. If a match is found, it is highlighted and all you need to do is confirm to remove the pair of tiles. If no match is found it puts you back to select the first tile again. There is a short-cut for mouse users to invoke help. Just hit the right mouse button to get help in selecting either tile. Normally it doesn't matter which mouse button you use. "New" lets you end the current game and either replay the same board or go on to the next board. You will be prompted to select either "next" or "again" to either go on to the next consecutive board or to play the same board again. "Undo" replaces the last two tiles you removed. You can undo as many times as you want until all 144 tiles are back on the board. Undo does not ask for any confirmation. Undo actually allows you to replay your entire game both forward and backward. Clicking the left mouse button restores tiles that were removed and clicking the right mouse button takes the tiles back off again. "File" lets you either save the game at its current point or load a previously saved game. You are prompted to choose between "load" and "save" and finally to confirm that you really want to do it. "Setup" brings you to the set up screen, the same as hitting "S" from the title screen. You can then change colors, set timed games, disable the mouse, select a specific board, etc. Changing colors or enabling the mouse will not effect the game in progress; when you exit set up you will be back at the same point in the game that you were at when you entered set up. Any error messages that appear during the game (i.e. "Invalid Selection") normally stay visible for a few seconds before allowing play to continue. To immediately remove a message and resume play just click the mouse or hit a key. USING STATGEN: New to v3.2 of Mah Jongg is a utility called statgen.exe. This program allows you to analyze and modify the statistics file that is kept each time you play the game. To run the statistics generator, just type "statgen" on a line by itself. You'll be prompted for the filename of your statistics file and you'll be asked if you want to edit (enter a letter E) or just display (enter a D) your current statistics. If you select display, you'll be shown your total games played, average score, number won and worst score. Then a list of all board numbers won and another list of additional boards played will be shown. If you select edit you can change the list of boards played and won to include boards you played before v3.2. Just select edit and you'll first be prompted for the boards you've won. Enter one board number per line and finally enter a -1 when you're done. Then you'll enter the list of additional boards played but not won in the same way. Again you enter a -1 when done. After you're done editing statgen will show you your current stats so you can confirm that you've entered everything correctly. You can also enter statgen's parameters from the command line. The first parameter is the statistics file name and the second is either -e (to edit) or -d (to display). If you only enter one parameter display is assumed. For example, to edit the statistics file "stats.me" the command line would be statgen stats.me -e There is also a "batch mode" available for those of you who have kept your records in a database. You'll need to transfer your games played and games won list into a straight ASCII text file with one board number per line and a -1 after the end of the won board list and another -1 at the end of the file. For example, if you've played boards 100, 101 and 102 and played and won boards 200 and 201 your file would look like this: 200 201 -1 100 101 102 -1 Save this file under whatever name you choose. For this example we'll say it was saved with the filename "temp". Then, to read these board numbers into your statistics, run statgen as follows: statgen mahstats -b < temp This assumes that statgen is in your current directory, your stats file is called mahstats and it also is in the current directory and your list of boards is in the file temp. After temp has been read in, your new stats will be displayed to verify that everything worked. Suggestion: before running in batch mode, make a backup copy of your stats file in case something goes wrong. NEW FEATURES: Many new features have been added since the original release of the game. These include: NEW IN 3.2: "Boss Mode" has been replaced by a true shell to DOS Records kept of boards played and won: If the current board has been played before, an asterisk will appear next to the board number; if the board has been won, the word "WON" will appear next to the board number Separate statistics generator program displays your stats plus list of boards played and won Improved accuracy of average score statistic Automatically enables mouse play if mouse driver detected Exit screen written directly to memory instead of using ANSI NEW IN 3.1: Stats no longer overflow Stats now correctly update when you win a game Tournament set up screen now available during game Automatically detects EGA and Hercules cards Monochrome EGA selectable for LCD laptop computers Command line parameters can be made permanent using setup program (available to registered users only) NEW IN 3.0: Runs in Hercules graphics mode Game statistics kept for current game and for all games played Undo command (both forward and backward) Set up screen available during game Tile corners now display properly NEW SINCE 2.6: Fixed bug in tournament mode (stats weren't being saved) A list of all pairs of tiles played so far is available by hitting the F2 key NEW SINCE 2.5: Mouse cursor color is now selectable from command line or setup screen When playing a tournament game your score was not always saved if you completed the board; this is now fixed NEW SINCE 2.3: Help screen -- hit F1 to get a list of commands, options, and some basic playing tips "Boss Mode" -- hit F10 to hide the game and display a harmless looking disk directory New tournaments can be started from within the tournament setup screen After winning a game, answering "Y" to play again gives you a different board instead of the same one over again Requesting to quit when selecting the second tile now asks for a confirmation NEW SINCE 2.2: Columns entered as letters instead of numbers; rows and columns can be entered in any order as a result Several tiles redrawn NEW SINCE 2.1: ATI EGAWonder card problem workaround added Mouse cursor display sped up (possible fix to NEC EGA card problem of not showing mouse cursor) NEW SINCE 2.0: Help on 2nd tile selection (find match to 1st tile if any) Help available with right mouse button as a short-cut Error messages can be cancelled by clicking the mouse Confirmation required for mouse action "keys" to prevent accidents NEW SINCE 1.0: Mouse support Setup screen, allows access to all game options more easily than through command line options Tournament play Selectable background color New commands during play A (play same board Again) N (play New board) More command line options -cx (background Color) -r (Restart saved game) -m (use Mouse) More authentic tile appearance Faster tile displaying WINNING Not all boards are win-able but during testing a number of boards that are beatable were found. In addition, many people who have written to register their copy of Mah Jongg have included lists of boards they have completed. If you want to play a board that definitely can be won, try one of the following: 55598, 49070, 64856, 15784, 29514, 54176, 40060, 8, 44213, 21, 43, 148, 290, 302, 329, 364, 370, 386, 410, 421, 459, 560, 627, 634, 656, 695, 735, 743, 795, 819, 827, 839, 858, 876, 888, 890, 905, 936, 952, 985, 1034, 1037, 1066, 1101, 1104, 1138, 1145, 1149, 1154, 1207, 1241, 1244, 1296, 1313, 1346, 1365, 1390, 1392, 1428, 1430, 1490, 1543, 55309, 43924, 47924, 38313, 23986, 45355, 55082, 6843, 52079, 50333, 24654, 64557, 14, 54438, 2, 52916, 32141, 62500, 50408, 5119, 8694, 12224, 27869, 47615, 49522, 56447, 4113, 6108, 36785, 38382, 54586, 36607, 63202, 4540, 21015, 1132, 37696, 20009, 19619, 42246, 56809, 5336, 61319, 15037, 33357, 52158, 63866, 41619, 48165, 13692, 17604, 40284, 47779, 57572, 13932, 4236, 4243, 24942, 15318, 59498, 50542, 41121, 4344, 38110, 26208, 307, 32812, 16496, 16213, 47788, 65123, 36792, 16965, 3989, 63331, 40111, 54491, 43421, 10796, 56185, 40640, 433, 9619, 8922, 800, 20926, 1, 23, 56, 7971, 21399, 32381, 33212, 36836, 48094, 53751, 58094. Enjoy! INCOMPATIBILITIES: Early versions of MAHJONGG had problems running on an ATI EGA Wonder card. The problem is with the BIOS ROM on the card, not with the game. ATI should by now have an upgrade ROM available to fix their bug so you may want to contact them about it. MAHJONGG Release 2.1.1 and later should work properly on the ATI card even without the BIOS upgrade. I've also heard that an NEC built EGA card (not sure of model) does not display the mouse cursor. I think I've done something in Rev. 2.1.1 that will prevent the problem but I don't have the proper system to test it on.