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- 1 -
WORD CHALLENGE V1.1
Copyright (c)1991
by
Rick Pedley
Coffee Mug Software
QUICK START
~~~~~~~~~~~
For those who don't read manuals, here's how to get going
quickly:
1. Boot DOS from floppy or hard disk and insert the Word
Challenge diskette.
2. At the prompt, type A: and press Enter (if you're using a
different drive, enter the correct letter in place of 'A').
3. At the prompt, type WC and press Enter.
4. At the Setup screen, use the Tab and left/right arrow keys or
the mouse to select games, timers, etc. and select 'CONTINUE'
when done.
5. Play Word Challenge. If you need more information on game
rules and scoring, exit to the Setup screen and select 'Read
Docs' or 'Print Docs', which brings up this file.
Introduction to Word Challenge
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Word Challenge is an educational word game for one or two
players that actually combines four games in one. The four
games include two old classics, Hangman and Anagrams; a combined
Vocabulary and Spelling game; and Trackword. An easy-to-use
Setup screen allows you to structure play any way you wish. On
a particular occasion you may wish to play just one of the four
games, or any combination of the four. Play proceeds in
'rounds', moving from one game to the next. Each game, Vocab-
ulary & Spelling, Hangman, Anagrams, and Trackword draws words
from its own 3,000 word file. A total of 12,000 words is used
in the four games.
In the Vocabulary & Spelling game, a permanent record is
kept of your progress, so that every time you play, new words
must be mastered (defined AND spelled correctly) until all 3,000
words have been completed. Your name is then entered in a 'Hall
of Fame' (so a teacher can see who has finished, for example).
When playing Hangman, Anagrams, or Trackword no word is repeated
in a game until every word in the file has been used. Each game
has its own time clock which may be disabled or set from twenty
seconds to five minutes. Keyboard or mouse may be used. Sound
may be turned on or off anytime during a game.
- 2 -
The Shareware Version
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The shareware version is completely functional except there
are 200 words per game file instead of 3,000 and it does not
include the Vocabulary & Spelling editor program. The commer-
cial version is distributed on one 3.5" 720K disk or on two
5.25" 360K disks and comes with a printed manual. Each commer-
cial copy bears the owner's name on the title screen (where it
currently says 'This is the shareware version...'); otherwise
the program is unprotected and you are encouraged to make back-
ups for your personal use. Also, please feel free to make cop-
ies of the shareware version and give them to friends.
To Order Word Challenge
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The commercial version of Word Challenge may be licensed by
an individual/teacher, a school, or a school board. The licen-
see may make an unlimited number of copies of both software and
documentation for use in his or her own classes in the case of a
teacher license, for use throughout a school in the case of a
school license, or for use in several schools in the case of a
school board license. Notice on the order form that four orig-
inal copies accompany a school license and twenty originals are
supplied with a board license. To order Word Challenge, select
'Order Form' from the Setup screen. Payment may be made by
check or money order.
Hardware Requirements
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Word Challenge runs on any IBM PC or compatible with 512K
of memory and CGA, and looks best on a color monitor. A mouse
can be used but is not essential. The game can be run from one
floppy drive or can be installed and run from a hard disk. At
this writing Word Challenge is not network compatible but can be
modified accordingly if there is any demand for this feature.
Getting Started
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first thing you should do is make at least one copy of
the program disk(s), and then put the originals away in a safe
place. Always use a copy, never the original. To copy a disk,
type at the prompt:
diskcopy a: a: (press Enter)
You will then be prompted to insert the source (original) and
target (blank) until the copy is completed.
- 3 -
Hard Disk Installation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Insert the floppy disk into drive A: or B: and log on to
that drive by typing A: (or B:) and pressing Enter.
2. Type INSTALL and press Enter. To have the program files
installed to hard drive volume C: in subdirectory \WC,
just press Enter or Y at the prompt or type N and enter
another drive and subdirectory.
3. If you are installing the 2-disk 5 1/4" set, you'll be
prompted to insert the V&S DATA disk when the program disk
has been installed.
4. When installation is complete, press Enter to run Word
Challenge, or type N to return to DOS.
Word Challenge Setup
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One or Two Players
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Word Challenge can be played by one or two players. In two
player mode, the player to reach or exceed 500 points wins the
game (the second player always gets a last turn). If both play-
ers have more than 500 points when the game is over, the player
with the most points wins unless there is a tie.
In single player mode, the game simply continues until he
decides he's had enough. The player's 'score' is calculated as
a percentage: (points scored / total possible points) x 100.
Note that 'total possible points' doesn't include bonus points.
To quit playing at any time, press Esc and select #2 or #3 from
the menu that appears.
Each turn is scored out of 20 points and a bonus of any-
where between 3 and 10 is available depending on the game being
played. If a game clock is running, the amount of time left at
the end of a turn contributes part of the score on that turn.
Sound Effects
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you prefer not to have arcade-like sound effects while
playing, sound can be turned off at the Setup screen, or at any
time during the game by pressing Alt-S. Personally, I've never
been fond of anything emanating from the built-in PC speaker and
the absence of sound doesn't detract from the game (what's that
old saying -- you can't make a silk purse from a pig's ear?).
- 4 -
Game Selection
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Word Challenge is played in rounds, each round consisting
of the games (and number of words per game) you have selected.
Each game has a clock that can be switched off, or set from 20
to 300 seconds (5 minutes). Anagrams and Trackword tend to be
the most difficult of the four games so allow a little more time
for these if using clocks.
If there are two players, the number of words per game is
divided equally between them (this is why they increase by
two's). The Vocabulary game can be played without the Spelling
portion (for those detest spelling bees) but not vice versa; in
other words you can select Vocabulary or Vocabulary AND Spell-
ing, but not Spelling by itself.
If both Vocabulary and Spelling are chosen, and only one
person is playing, a 'record' file is created for that person to
keep track of exactly which words in a 'V & S' file have been
mastered. A word is mastered when both its meaning and spelling
have been guessed correctly. In future sessions, only new words
are presented until the entire file has been completed. More
will be said about this later.
Other Setup Options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Along the top row on the Setup screen are some other useful
items. To read this file on screen select 'Read Docs' or select
'Print Docs' to get a hard copy. 'Word List' allows you to
examine the words in any of the data files on disk. (You can't
however, print the files from here, unless you use the Print
Screen key. The editor supplied with the commercial version can
print the lists.) When a Vocabulary file is listed, the Hall of
Fame for that file is searched, and the names of those who have
completed the file are listed -- handy for teachers. The 'Order
Form' option is self-explanatory. The commercial version dis-
plays 'Run Editor' in this spot so the editor can be run direct-
ly from the game (and vice versa).
Saving The Setup
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When you're satisfied with the Setup, move the cursor to
CONTINUE and press Enter. The setup is saved to disk and will
be the default next time you play. If you are playing from a
floppy drive, you're then asked if you want to save the same
setup to another disk. This is intended mostly for teachers; if
you are preparing a class set and want all students to play the
same format, keep inserting disks and answer 'Yes'. The same
setup will be saved to each disk.
- 5 -
Game Descriptions And Rules
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NOTE: If you have the shareware version, substitute '200 word'
wherever you see '3,000 word'.
Vocabulary
~~~~~~~~~~
When Vocabulary game is played in single-player mode in
conjunction with Spelling, you are asked to select a record file
from the list associated with each word file. Select [New
Player] if your name isn't on the list. Beside each name is the
percentage of words that have been completed, that is, defined
and correctly spelled.
A word is selected at random from the 3,000 word file. In
two-player mode words that have been used are 'flagged' and
won't show up again during the game until the entire file has
been used. In single-player mode, the same process is in effect
unless Spelling has also been chosen. In that case, a word must
be correctly defined AND correctly spelled before it is removed
from the queue of eligible words. If either the definition is
incorrect or the word is spelled incorrectly during the Spelling
segment of the game, it will keep reappearing until you get both
right.
The word appears at the top of the screen along with its
pronunciation. Below the word, four possible synonyms or
definitions are listed, and you must select the correct one. In
a case where there appear to be two correct answers, select the
BEST answer. Care has been taken to eliminate the possibility
of two correct answers, but there is an outside chance that one
or two were overlooked. American spellings are used throughout,
simply because in most cases they make more sense than their
Canadian and British counterparts and any attempt toward simpli-
fication of spelling in the English language is to be welcomed.
Therefore COLOUR is spelled COLOR, CENTRE is spelled CENTER, and
HONOUR is spelled HONOR.
Several points should be stated here regarding the definit-
ions. First, the 'definitions' I use in this game are hardly
ever complete definitions as you would find in a dictionary, but
rather synonyms or descriptive phrases. A true definition usu-
ally contains much more information. Second, many words have
more than one definition, whereas I have selected only one, the
most common definition whenever possible. Third, a word may
often be used in several ways, for example as a verb and as a
noun (OBJECT, RUN, SWING) with the same spelling in all cases.
In this game, a word represents only one part of speech. Togeth-
er with the sentence that must be completed in Spelling by
entering the correct word (if both games are selected), the goal
is to provide the student with a sense of what the word means
and how it is used in everyday writing and speech, rather than
providing a rigorous definition.
- 6 -
Admittedly, many of the words featured in Vocabulary are
not words you might use in everyday speech, but are words
encountered regularly when reading newspapers, novels, and ref-
erence materials. When we come across a word we don't know, and
don't have a dictionary handy, we attempt to derive a meaning by
reading the word in context with the words around it. Sometimes
we come quite close to the true meaning, but all too often we
are off the mark. The Vocabulary game attempts to improve your
comprehension of written English by enabling you to recall many
of the definitions you have learned. As well, because the pro-
nunciation is given for every word, you'll be able to say each
word to yourself as you read.
Pronunciation
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Capitalization indicates the syllables that are emphasized
in each word. Words that have other pronunciations are listed
in whole or in part after the first pronunciation. A word may
actually be spoken much differently where you live, depending on
the local accent. Where possible, the pronunciation of a word
that is French or Spanish in origin is maintained, or is shown
along with its anglicized counterpart. The sample words below
demonstrate the system of pronunciation I have used in Word
Challenge. Study these familiar words and their pronunciations,
and I think you'll agree that they almost pronounce themselves:
SCAPEGOAT (SKAYP-goht) GIRAFFE (juh-RAF)
DAMAGE (DAM-ij) WRENCH (rensh)
GARAGE (gah-RAJH) FATHER (FAH-thher)
THIMBLE (THIM-bul) SIZED (syzd)
HOURLY (OWR-lee) BEAUTIFUL (BYOO-tih-ful)
BASEMENT (BAYS-m'nt) COURSE (kors)
HOODWINK (HUD-wingk) TUBULAR (TYOO-byuh-ler, TOO-)
PLEDGE (plej) PURLOIN (PER-loyn, per-LOYN)
EXACT (eg-ZAKT) OXEN (OK-s'n)
ACCEPT (ak-SEPT) DENTURE (DEN-cher)
FURLOUGH (FER-loh) PURE (pyor)
LIGHT (lyt) SHARE (shair)
QUESTION (KWES-chun) AISLE (yl)
ILLICIT (ih-LIS-it) CREAM (kreem)
PHONY (FOH-nee) CLIMB (klym)
BOOKWORM (BUK-werm) PRESENT (PREZ-'nt)
SCIENCE (SY-'ns) EDITION (ee-DISH-un)
THOUGHT (thawt) ROOM (room)
Notice the pronunciation of ROOM is spelled the same as the
word itself. Such words do not appear with a separate pronun-
ciation when playing the game, unless they are polysyllabic
('Bathroom' will be shown as 'BATH-room' to indicate which
syllable is emphasized).
Scoring
~~~~~~~
If no clock is running, twenty points are awarded for a
correct answer, zero points for an incorrect answer. A 'happy
- 7 -
face' indicates a correct choice. If you choose incorrectly, a
sad face appears, and then the correct answer is indicated.
Select 'Next Word' to move on (Alt-N if using the keyboard).
If a clock is used, the number of points scored out of
twenty is proportional to how much time is left. If you begin
with forty seconds, and get the correct answer in twenty sec-
onds, you score ten points. A bonus of three points is awarded
if you get the correct answer in less than five seconds. Be-
cause of the bonus a good player can have a score greater than
100%, but this will be difficult to accomplish with the clock
running. At any time during a turn you can:
1. Press Esc or click on Esc with the mouse. This
brings up a window that pauses the game and obscures
the game screen. From here you can continue playing,
exit to change the setup, or quit to DOS.
2. Give up, in which case you score no points. Click on
'I give up!' or press Alt-G.
If you play Vocabulary and Spelling in single-player mode,
a record of your progress through the word file is posted below
the heading 'V&S Record:' on the game clock. The V&S record
works like this: a point is awarded for guessing a word's def-
inition correctly, and another point for spelling the word cor-
rectly. Therefore, 400 points must be accumulated to complete a
200 word vocabulary file. A score of 52/400 for example, indi-
cates that 26 words have been completed. When you are asked to
select your record file on the Setup screen, this fraction is
shown as a percentage beside your name -- 13% in this case.
Spelling
~~~~~~~~
In Spelling, you must complete a sentence that contains one
of the words you defined in Vocabulary. The sentences appear in
any order and do not necessarily correspond to the sequence in
which they were presented in Vocabulary. The number of blanks
(dashes) indicates the length of the word and is an aid in spel-
ling it correctly. Notice that the nature of the Spelling game
changes if a large number of words is played per round in Vocab-
ulary, since now you must not only remember how to spell the
words, but must remember what all the words are! This is not
necessarily undesirable -- we can all benefit from better re-
call. To focus more on spelling however, work with two to six
words per round.
To select a letter, either click on it or enter the letter
directly with the keyboard. If you inadvertently type a non-
alphabetic character, it will likely appear on screen. Read the
section on the Word Challenge Editor for information on the use
of non-alphabetic characters in your own word files.
- 8 -
In two-player mode, you will not necessarily get the same
words to spell as you had to define in Vocabulary; you will un-
doubtedly have to spell some of the other player's words, since
they are selected at random. This means each player must pay
attention at all times, and not only during his own turn!
If no clock is used, twenty points are awarded for a cor-
rect spelling and zero points for the wrong spelling. A three
point bonus is awarded if you don't have to backspace and cor-
rect an error. When all blanks have been filled, the 'Esc' key
on screen changes to an 'Enter'. This is your cue to press (or
click on) Enter to complete the turn.
If a clock is used, the score out of twenty is proportional
to the amount of time left on the clock. There is a three point
bonus for not having to backspace to correct errors.
When a word is misspelled, it goes back into the pool of
words from which to select in the next round, even if the def-
inition was correct. Only when both are correct, is a word
taken out of the pool. When the correct word is displayed, the
letters you got wrong are highlighted in pink.
In some sentences, the word to be spelled ends in a suffix,
or begins with a prefix. For example, if ---ED requires you to
type in the word FIX, you need only type FIX. If you accident-
ally type ED as well, the extra letters will just be ignored and
there is no penalty.
Hangman
~~~~~~~
Hangman words are anywhere from seven to eleven letters
long. Some are everyday words, and many are not. The first and
last letters are given and you must fill in the blanks. Note
that a letter beginning or ending a word may also occur some-
where in the middle, but is not automatically displayed, so the
end letters may be entered as guesses. If the letter you type
occurs more than once, all occurrences are shown. For each
wrong guess, a part of the hangman is drawn. After six wrong
guesses (head, torso, arms, and legs), you're hanged (not
hung!).
Once a letter has been used, correctly or incorrectly, it
is removed from the on-screen keyboard display. That makes it
easier to select the next letter from those remaining.
Scoring
~~~~~~~
The maximum score is twenty points, with a healthy bonus of
ten points for no wrong guesses. If a clock is used, your score
is based on a combination of the proportion of time remaining
and the number of wrong guesses you made. It's a balancing act;
the faster you play (more points), the more mistakes you are
- 10 -
likely to make (fewer points). If no clock is used, the score
is based solely on the number of wrong guesses. In either case,
no points are scored if you are hanged.
Anagrams
~~~~~~~~
The 3,000 word Anagrams file contains 1,000 five-letter
words, 1,000 six-letter words, and 1,000 seven-letter words.
Each word is selected randomly, so it's simply a matter of luck
whether you draw an easy five-letter word, or get stuck with a
more difficult seven-letter word. The letters are displayed in
randomly scrambled order, and you must determine the actual word
by rearranging the letters. All words have been carefully
checked to ensure that one set of letters spells only one word.
For example, EMIRUP is ineligible because the letters spell
UMPIRE and IMPURE.
Scoring
~~~~~~~
Each turn is worth twenty points, with a three point bonus
for not having to backspace. If a clock is used, your score is
determined by the proportion of time remaining. There are no
points for a wrong answer or for giving up. Remember to press
Enter when finished, or the clock will continue to tick away.
If you select 'Hint?' (click on 'Hint?' or press Alt-H) the
first letter of the word is given and your final score is cal-
culated out of fifteen instead of twenty.
Trackword
~~~~~~~~~
The Trackword file consists of 3,000 nine-letter words. A
word is selected at random and scrambled as in Anagrams. Then
the letters are arranged in a 3 x 3 tile pattern. You must
build the word by connecting the tiles in the correct sequence.
The tiles can be joined vertically, horizontally and diagonally,
and no tile may be used twice. The examples below show the word
EXPANSION in various configurations:
E P N N I S P X E N S I
A X O O N X A N O A E O
N S I A P E N S I X P N
Trace the letters to get an idea of the possible letter
arrangements. When there are nine unique letters, 784 paths or
'tracks' are possible. Fortunately the rules of spelling immed-
iately eliminate many of these paths and each set of nine let-
ters spells just one word. Despite a five-point penalty, it
- 11 -
will often make sense to ask for a hint, especially if a game
clock is running. Press Alt-H or click on 'Hint?' to see the
first letter of the word.
Select letters by clicking on them with the mouse, or by
entering a tile's number, located in the upper left corner of
each tile (the numbers are arranged in the same sequence as the
numeric keypad, and Num Lock is automatically switched on for
this game).
There are a couple of things to watch for in this game.
You can easily reach a 'dead end' where none of the remaining
letters is adjacent to the letter you just used. If a letter
isn't eligible, it won't light up when you click on it. To get
out of a dead end, backspace as far as you want and try another
route. In many words, a letter occurs more than once and at
some point in the path you are building, two or more of the same
letter may be available for the next link in the chain (look at
the third arrangement of EXPANSION above, after the letter 'A').
Choose carefully or you'll find yourself unable to complete the
word.
Scoring
~~~~~~~
Each turn is scored out of twenty points with a bonus of
three points if you don't have to backspace. The turn is scored
out of fifteen if you ask for a hint. If a clock is used, the
ratio of time left to the total amount determines your score. A
wrong answer or giving up is worth zero points.
The End of The Game
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In two-player mode, the game ends when one or both players
reach or exceed 500 points. The player with the most points
wins. The second player always has a last turn. The winner is
then announced, at which time you can quit or play another game.
In single-player mode, there is no competition as such, and
you simply play as long as you like, the object being to earn as
high a percentage as possible. If you complete all the words in
a Vocabulary & Spelling file at some point during a game (and
you are playing both Vocabulary and Spelling), your name is ent-
ered permanently in the Hall of Fame and your record file is
erased.
The Word Challenge Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
An editor program is supplied with the commercial version
of Word Challenge along with detailed instructions on how to use
it. With the editor you can create your own Vocabulary and
- 12 -
Spelling word files (as many as 200 words per file). The editor
allows sentences and definitions to be three lines deep and
sentences may contain characters above ASCII 127 (i.e. the
'graphics' characters in the upper half of the table), making
the game suitable for math, science, and language courses where
special symbols are needed. Also, words that are to be spelled
may contain spaces (so scientific terms like 'vas deferens' and
'amino acid' can be used) as well as other non-alphabetic char-
acters below ASCII 128.
To preserve the integrity and original condition of the
files supplied with the game, the Anagrams, Hangman, and Track-
word files cannot be edited and neither can the Vocabulary files
shipped with the shareware version and commercial version
(WC-V00.WCT and WC-V01.WCT). Please do not attempt to edit
these files with a word processor or text editor; a combination
of data compression and checksumming by the program will cause
the files to become corrupted if you try to change their con-
tents.
About The Author
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I live in Kingston, Ontario, and am in the midst of an
uneasy transition from teaching high school to writing educat-
ional software. Anyone who has gone through a similar career
change can appreciate the struggle and uncertainty that accom-
panies such a move. I am greatly indebted to my wife Carol for
helping me to remain reasonably sane over the last three or four
years (at least as sane as I've ever been).
91-01-08
Other Products From Coffee Mug Software
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Making The Grade
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A complete grading package for teachers including graphs,
statistical measures, and various printed reports. Simple to
learn, with online help. Similar versions available for IBM
PC's and compatibles, and for 128K Apple II computers. Write
for a free, functional demo version. $42 US, $49 Cdn.
Word Challenge
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A similar but not identical version of Word Challenge is
available for the Apple II (without an editor or the Trackword
game). Write for a free demo.
- 13 -
The Legal Stuff
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
While every precaution has been taken to ensure the
correctness of the software and its accompanying manual, Coffee
Mug Software cannot assume any responsibility or liability for
any damage or loss caused by the software. Coffee Mug Software
reserves the right to make changes and improvements to the
manual and software at any time without notice. It is the
responsibility of the user to make the necessary backups for
his/her data and program diskette.
___________________________
