WordSmith may have come to you in one of two forms. The demo version, WSDemo, gives you a feel of the game, but lacks the implementation of some of WordSmith’s more important features. It is free, and is offered as an inducement to buy the regular version. The full version is priced at $10.00. Those who received the the demo will be sent the fully-implemented version when I receive the registration fee. I’m counting on your honesty.
WordSmith is hard to describe by using other, more familiar, games as references. It’s really quite different from any I’ve seen. You are given a random array of letters with which you are to form as many words as possible, usually within a given time. The game is simple, and yet challenging. It requires an different perspective and an unusual way of thinking. Even so, a sharp mind will master the skill quickly.
Before Starting
To begin WordSmith, you must first name your players. To do this, select “Get Players…” from the File menu. (NOTE: In the demo version, you will not be allowed to name players. Players are named “Player 1” through “Player 4.”) A window will appear with spaces for you to enter up to four players. Type in a name in each space, using the Tab key to move from space to space. When you’ve entered all players, either click in the “Ok” button or press Return. The window will disappear and the names will appear in random order in the spaces provided in the upper left-hand area of the WordSmith window. Notice that WordSmith takes care of who will go first. The name at the top of the list will be the first player, the next down,the second, and so on. The name of the current player will always be inverted.
At the bottom of the window is a line of five rectangles of various sizes. Some of these are buttons. Others just display information. The leftmost one displays the current “play.” A play is one turn for each player. The number of plays can be changed. This will be described later. After names have been entered, the number 1 will appear in this box.
When players have been named, the next rectangle to the right—the “STOP/GO” button will have the “STOP” sign inverted. You will press this button to start play.
The next box is the timer display. It will show the number of seconds remaining in the current play. If the timer is running, clicking in this button will pause it. If the timer is paused, clicking it again will restart it.
The next rectangle is the erase button. It looks something like the eraser end of a pencil. You will use this in the course of play to clear erroneous entries.
The last button is blank unless a word is being formed during a play. In that case, the word will appear in this box while it is being formed. This “enter” button is clicked when you are finished with a word to enter it. NOTE: Pressing the Return or Enter key on your keyboard has the same effect.
Playing the Game
To start the game, click the “STOP/GO” button. The “STOP” sign will be unselected, and the “GO” sign selected. Then, a 5 x 5 array of random letters will appear on the playing board. It is from these that you will make your words.
To make a word, you must first be able to see one. As mentioned, the letters provided are completely random. You must be able to spot word configurations in them. The letters of a word may go in any direction, but each letter must be adjacent to the next. Click on the first letter of the word. You will notice that that letter is selected and appears in the enter button at the bottom of the window. Continue to click on letters until you have formed your word. That word will be in the enter button. If you are satisfied that you have the word correct, click in the enter button, or press the Return or Enter key.
If dictionary checking is on, your word will be checked against the two WordSmith dictionaries. If the word is found in one of them, the word will be scored. If it isn’t, an alert will appear saying so and give you a chance to add the word to the user dictionary. Pressing “Add” adds the word to the dictionary and scores the word. Pressing “Cancel,” though, cancels the word and deselects all selected letters. IMPORTANT: All words played must be at least two letters long. ALSO IMPORTANT: You may not play the same word twice, even if it is found in a different location on the board.
NOTE: The demo version has no dictionaries.
The way a word is scored is simple. It is just the square of the number of letters in the word. So, if you play “CAT,” the value of that word is 9 because it has three letters (3 X 3 = 9). “WORD“ is worth 16, “ANVIL” is worth 25, and so on. Obviously, it is always in your interest to play the longest words possible. As you score a word, its value will be added to your total score, which appears in a box to the right of your name.
If, before you press the enter button, you need to erase the word you’ve been making, just press the erase (pencil-tip) button. All the letters will be deselected and you can start over with a new word.
Clicking the “STOP/GO” button again will end the play. When this happens, the board is cleared and the next player’s name is selected in preparation for the next play. If the timer is running, running out of time has the same result.
When the last player has played his last turn, an alert saying “GAME OVER” will appear. Not further play will be allowed until a new game is started.
The Menus
Apple
Beneath the “apple” menu is the item “About WordSmith…” (or, “About WSDemo…” in the demo). Selecting it will bring up a notice telling you that WordSmith is, indeed, copyrighted. It also tells you the price of the game and how much it costs.
File
The first item under the File menu is “New Game.” Choosing this clears the players’ names and scores, clears the board, and resets the timer. You will then have to reenter players’ names to start a new game.
Selecting “New Game, Same Players” starts a new game with the same players as in the previous game. Their names will appear in a new random order.
The next item, “Get Players…” has already been described. In the demo version you will only get an alert telling you that players will be named as noted above.
“Print Game” prints the whole WordSmith window. Make sure your printer is on before trying this.
“Quit” ends WordSmith.
NOTE: I have not provided any way to save WordSmith games. In my opinion, the nature of the game itself makes that inappropriate. If enough registered users disagree, I might give it the capability.
Edit
The Edit menu is provided only for desk accessories. It is not used in the game.
Dictionary
Beneath the Dictionary heading are two options: “Check Words,” and “Edit WSUserDict….” Neither of these pertain to the demo, and selecting them will merely bring up a dialog telling you so. In the full game, if “Check Words” has a check mark to its left, dictionary checking is on. In that case, selecting it will turn it off; otherwise, it will turn it on.
Two dictionaries are provided with WordSmith: WSDict and WSUserDict. Most words you are likely to play will be found in WSDict. When looking for a word, WordSmith first searches WSDict. If it’s not found there, it will then check WSUserDict. If the word cannot be found in either dictionary, you will be given a chance to add the word to WSUserDict. While WSDict, is in a compact form and cannot be changed, WSUserDict. is saved in a “text only” format and can be edited with any text processor.
Because opening a text processor is usually inconvenient during a game, I’ve provided a way to edit WSUserDict from within WordSmith. The second Dictionary menu option, “Edit WSUserDict.…” opens the dictionary and displays it as a list of words. To edit a word, just double-click it. A small dialog window will appear with the word highlighted in an edit field. Make any changes you want and click the “Ok” button. Your corrections will then be made in the list. NOTE: Words are stored in WSUserDict in uppercase letters. You needn’t take care to enter them in that way, though. If your changes are in lower case, WordSmith will convert them to upper case for you.
You may also delete a word if you need to. Just double-click the word you want to remove. When the dialog box appears, press the “Delete” button. The word will be removed from the list. WARNING! You won’t get a chance to change your mind. Make sure you really want to get rid of the word BEFORE you press the “Delete” button.
If you need to search for a particular word, just double-click any word. When the dialog comes up, type the word you want to find in the edit field and press the “Find” button. If the word is in WSUserDict, it will be displayed in the list after the dialog box disappears.
Options
The first item in the Options menu is “Sound On.” If there is a check beside it, the sound is on; otherwise, it’s off. (There’s only one sound in WordSmith, a buzz when the timer runs down.)
Choosing “Timer On” turns the timer on and off. NOTE: The timer won’t actually start running until the “STOP/GO” button is clicked.
“Settings” brings up the settings control panel. Here, you can specify a timer countdown period of 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 minutes and 5, 10, 15, or 20 plays for each game. These settings are saved when you quit WordSmith.
NOTE: The demo version of WordSmith has only 1 minute for the timer setting and 1 play per player. An alert telling you so will appear when this item is selected.
Rules
1. Any word (including slang, jargon, cant, argot, nonstandard, archaic, obsolete, etc.) found in any English dictionary may be played, with the following exceptions:
a. Proper names, or any other word requiring capitalization.
b. Any word requiring by any kind of punctuation (abbreviations, contractions, hyphenations, etc.).
c. Any word less than two letters long.
NOTE: Although WSDict uses only American spellings, English spellings are considered acceptable.
2. Combinations of letters used only as prefixes or suffixes ARE NOT considered words in WordSmith.
3. Most words may be made plural by the simple addition of an “S.” For instance, “HALVES” is more than one “HALF”; “HALFS” is more than one of the word “HALF.” Exceptions are words ending with “CH,” “J,” “S,” “SH,” “X,” and “Z.” These generally require the addition of at least “ES.”
That’s it. My address is
Michael D. Speir
PSC Box 575
MacDill AFB, FL 33608
I want to hear complaints and suggestions.
I have several other games I‘d like you to try. I’ll send samples when I get your registration fee.
