Night Owl 6/Night Owl's Shareware - PDSI-006 - Night Owl Corp (1990).iso/003a/gridly10.zip/GRIDLY.DOC

Text File | 1991-03-17 | 20KB | 403 lines

         BBBBBB   SSSSSS   X   X                     BSX International
         B     B  S         X X                      806 Park Ridge Rd.
         BBBBBB    SSSS      X                       Apartment A8
         B     B       S    X X                      Durham, NC 27713  USA
         BBBBBB   SSSSSS   X   X
                                                   (Make checks payable to
                                                      ROBERT ROBERDS!!!)
         I n t e r n a t i o n a l

         presents...


          GGG   RRR   II  DDD    L    Y   Y
         G      R  R  II  D  D   L     Y Y
         G GGG  RRR   II  D   D  L      Y
         G   G  R R   II  D  D   L      Y
          GGG   R  R  II  DDD    LLLL   Y


         Gridly 1.0    (C) 1991 BSX International

         A Shareware Card Game of Appropriate, Measured Response


1.0 - Welcome.

Poker. The final frontier...

 "Not ANOTHER poker game!" you cry out. No, not another poker game. We swear.
Well, OK: it's got SOME poker in it, but at  least you  don't play against  a
make-believe character for make-believe money. Here you play by  yerself in a
gripping struggle against the awesome forces of chance.  You  don't  stand to
gain anything other than the  grim  satisfaction  of  a job well done and the
escapism of  a  few hours locked  in  mortal combat with a computer-generated
deck of cards. Pretty heady  stuff  for  someone like you.  We  take  as  our
inspiration the words of a (till recently) powerful dictator:
This is THE MOTHER OF ALL CARD GAMES.

 Gridly is a game  wherein you attempt to impose yer  will on a deck of cards
and a grid-like object.  You place  the cards into the grid as they are dealt
in an effort  to  score  points  in a pokerish manner.  Failure to do so will
result  in  the  annexation  of  hours  of  yer time in shocking frustration.
Success may lead to a new world order.

 (Ed. note - We  apologize  to anyone  who  may  be  offended  by  occasional
references  to  the  recent war.  Gridly is a game of peace.  The authors are
a little  miffed  at  the  peacenik  throwbacks who protested  with this  "No
blood for oil"  nonsense.  Sub-conciously, we  are  attempting to lash out at
them by reminding them of the war and  their lame "We're  against the war but
support the troops"  self-gratification  effort.  Personally, we think it's a
sad time in America when people take advantage of  all this  country  has  to
offer  and  then  retreat  to  their  moral  highground  at the first sign of
trouble. And now: Kinder, gentler documentation.)

 Gridly is a game where you attempt to acheive peace  and  harmony  between a
deck of  cards and a grid-like  object.  You place the cards into the grid as
they are dealt in an effort to score points in a pokerish  manner. Failure to
do  so  will  result  in mild disappointment that, without proper counseling,
will cause a loss of self-confidence that may eventually prove fatal. Success
will bring with it  improved  self-esteem,  but also the realization that you
are not all-powerful and  in  fact somewhat deficient  in  yer dealings  with
other people, particularly of the opposite  sex.  Yer  momentary triumph over
these  computerized  objects  will rapidly wither  and  fade,  leaving you  a
crushed and broken shell of  yer  former self; friendless, impotent, and with
a funny tingling in yer left thigh.

2.0 - Legal Stuff. PLEASE READ!!!

 GRIDLY 1.0 (C) 1991 BSX International

 GRIDLY 1.0 was developed and compiled using Borland's Turbo Pascal 5.5.
 Graphics were drawn using BSX's own TEGAS utility.

 This software  is  provided "as is"  with  no guarantees of  any  kind.  The
developers assume no  responsibilities  other  than  those  indicated  below.
You may use  and  distribute  this  product  as you wish, but  only under the
following conditions:

 1) You   may   sell   this   program   without   the   permission   of   BSX
    International   but   you   MUST   NOT   alter   the   program   or   its
    documentation.  You  MUST  NOT  charge  any  fees  other  than  fees  for
    copying and  MUST  clearly  state  that  this fee is NOT a substitute for
    registration with BSX.

 2) Do not distribute this product  if  it  has  been  reduced  in  any  way.
    You may add files, but you may not remove any of the originals.

 3) Under no circumstances may you remove the copyright notices from the code
    or documentation.

2.1 - Shareware.

 This product  is  SHAREWARE  and is  distributed  in  good  faith  for   yer
enjoyment. You may  play  it  for  a  short  period  to  become familiar with
it.  If you decide you like it and  want  to  keep  playing  it,  you  should
send a $5 registration fee to  BSX  (PAYABLE  TO  ROBERT ROBERDS),  otherwise
you should stop using it.  If  only  all  software  folks  let  you use their
product before  you  paid for  it the  world  would  be a much better  place.
We've  bought  so much  BAD  software  that we don't use,  and we're sure you
have  too,  that  we feel  GOOD  programs  should be  rewarded.  If you don't
like GRIDLY we're  not  hurt; if  you  do  like  our  stuff,  thank  us,  and
we'll keep making it.
 This  program  is  not  "protected" in  any  way   and  is  not  altered  so
that non-registrants  will  suffer.   The  authors  don't  believe in denying
anyone a chance  to  use our  stuff.  We  are  programmers, not  businessmen.
We trust that anyone who  likes  GRIDLY and  wants  more of it will register.
We're not naive, just a little idealistic.
 If you  do  not  register  you  may  still  distribute  this  game  provided
you follow the rules  above.  Also, even  if  you  have  paid  a  distributor
for the disk this game  was on,   YOU ARE STILL  NOT REGISTERED.  We  do  not
receive payments  from  distributors  and   they  do  not represent us in any
way.  You still gotta send us five bucks.


2.2 - Registration.

 Read the inclosed files  BSXCAT.DOC  and ORDER.DOC for the details on how to
 register, and the benefits of doing so.

 To register GRIDLY  1.0  with  BSX  send  a check, money order, or cash  for
 $5.00 (US) or $6.00 (Canadian), PAYABLE TO ROBERT ROBERDS, to:

    ROBERT ROBERDS
    BSX International
    806 Park Ridge Road Apt. A8
    Durham, NC 27713

     *** PLEASE  MAKE  THE  CHECK  PAYABLE  TO:  ROBERT  ROBERDS !!!! ***
     *** DO NOT MAKE IT PAYABLE TO BSX INTERNATIONAL!  IF WE GET  ANY ***
     *** CHECKS PAYABLE TO BSX INTERNATIONAL, ALL WE CAN DO IS THROW  ***
     *** THEM AWAY!  DON'T DO IT! DON'T EVEN THINK IT!  THANKS !!!!!! ***

   For  registering,  not   only   will  you  encourage  us  to keep  writing
 shareware, you will also receive:

  1) Our Gratitude, and the BSX quarterly catalog.

  2) 1/2 Price discounts on upgrades on this product.

  3) For only $5 more, a Bullwinkle PEZ dispenser.  (Just kidding, but  don't
     you agree that that would be really cool?)

 Yer support and comments are appreciated! Really, they are! Hello?

3.0 - Setup.

    A complete copy of GRIDLY 1.0 has the following files:

      GRIDLY.DOC   - This file here.
      GRIDLY.EXE   - The actual game program executable.
      GRIDLY.DAT   - Data for GRIDLY.EXE (essential).
      GRIDLY.STA   - A data/high-score file (NOT-essential, but nice).
      BSXCAT.DOC   - A catalog of other amazing BSX software values.
      ORDER.DOC    - EZ 2 use BSX International order form.


 To run GRIDLY just put the .EXE and .DAT and .STA files into a directory. If
that directory is in  yer  path, you  may  now  run  GRIDLY   from  anywhere;
otherwise, you  will  have to  cd  to  that  directory  to  play.  Now,  just
type "GRIDLY".  If you  have any problems  we  higly recommend that you  edit
or  create  the  file  CONFIG.SYS  in  yer   boot  directory, and  add  these
lines:
FILES=20
BUFFERS=40
and then reboot yer computer.
   For other problems, check the requirements below:

  1) IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2 or compatible.
  2) 256K RAM minimum.
  3) EGA or VGA video adapter with at least 256K of memory on it.
  4) DOS 2.1 or higher.
  5) MS compatible mouse is supported, but NOT required.

        GRIDLY WILL NOT WORK WITHOUT AN EGA OR VGA CARD!

4.0 - Rules.

 Cards are dealt one at a time and  each must  be  placed  somewhere  on  the
5 X 5 grid. Cards will overlap, but no card may be placed  so  that it  over-
laps the top half of  a card directly  below  it.  Otherwise, a  new card may
be  placed  over  the bottom half of a  card already on the grid or on a spot
where  no  card  already  exists. (Thought  of in physical terms, you are not
allowed  to  "tuck in" a  new  card beneath  a card  already  on  the  grid.)
The  game  continues  until  no  more  cards can be  legally played. (You may
have  filled  all  grid  locations  or  blocked  yerself  out of some of them
and  filled all  the  rest.)  You  are  then  awarded  points  based  on  the
poker hands  you  have formed across the rows and on both diagonals.  Columns
don't count for diddly squat.  Yer score for each row is multiplied by 1 or 2
depending  on  which  row each hand is  in.  Hands in the diagnals have their
scores multiplied by 3.

5 X 5 Explained:
If you still don't understand how  the grid works after reading the rules and
trying a few games, here's an example (you pinhead):

                                             /3X
         +------+------+------+------+------+
         | 1    | 2    | 3    | 4    | 5    |-1X
         |      |      |      |      |      |
         +------+------+------+------+------+
         | 6    | 7    | 8    | 9*** | 10   |-2X
         |      |      |      | **** |      |
         +------+------+------+------+------+
         | 11   | 12   | 13   | **** | 15   |-1X
         |      |      |      | 14   |      |
         +------+------+------+------+------+
         | 16   | 17   | 18   | 19   | 20   |-2X
         |      |      |      |      |      |
         +------+------+------+------+------+
         | 21   | 22   | 23   | 24   | 25   |-1X
         |      |      |      |      |      |
         |      |      |      |      |      |
         +------+------+------+------+------+
                                             \3X

 The grid has 25 legal places for you to place cards at  the beginning of the
game.  Once a card ( represented by "*" 's above ) is placed, it fills up the
block that it's in and part of the block below. I've labeled the blocks above
1 through 25.  A  card  placed in block 9 fills up 9 and half of 14 below it.
Remembering that you can't "tuck in" a card below one already placed, you see
that you can no longer place a card in grid square 4. You can place a card in
14, though. In both cases you are overlapping, but in the second case you are
not  obscuring the  top  of a card already in the grid.  With  just  one card
placed in square 9, you have used up 2  of  the  possible 25  legal placement
locations. It is not necessary to play 25 cards to end the game.

 The  following  groups of squares  are the poker hands you will create: (You
needn't fill all the grid squares, mind you.)
 1 X Normal score : (1,2,3,4,5) , (11,12,13,14,15) , (21,22,23,24,25)

 2 X Normal Score : (6,7,8,9,10) , (16,17,18,19,20)

 3 X Normal Score : (1,7,13,19,25) , (5,9,13,17,21) (the diagonals)

 A hand  with  an unused grid square in it at the end of the game (because of
the  restriction on  overlapping  cards) is  considerd  a  "null".  Any  hand
with "nulls" in  it  is  still counted, but the "nulls" contribute nothing to
yer hand. Straights, Flushes, Full Houses, Straight Flushes and Royal Flushes
obviously require five cards in them.
 Don't worry; it's all self-evident on the play screen!  Just play it, you'll
catch on in about three seconds.

5.0 - Using GRIDLY

 If  using a mouse, clicking the left button will select any option button or
place a  card  onto  the grid where the pointer is  located.  The right mouse
button will undo a card placement just made. Keyboard users select options by
selecting the  first letter of the word on the option button and/or using the
arrow keys to move the pointer around.  Use return to select and ESC to undo.

 It  is  necessary to click  on  the deck of cards to turn over the cards you
will play, then click in the grid where you wanna place  them.   VERY SIMPLE.
The game  ends automatically when you make yer last legal  move and yer score
is then counted and displayed.

Scoring:
 Points for various poker hands are displayed on the play screen. Poker hands
are explained briefly by using the "Help" option during the  game.  Yer score
is only tallied at the end  of the  game, so  no  score is displayed during a
game, even if you complete a row or diagnal.  CHEATING WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.

5.1 - Features

Boss - Hide  from  those who might learn  of yer addiction to computer games.
       Type "exit"  to  get  back to  yer  game  or "abort" to quit for good.
       A famous  BSX  method for confounding wives, girlfriends, parents  and
       all the other bosses in yer life.  You know the score.  (Note: in  our
       view it's always WOMEN who are bossy.  We know- THAT'S NOT FUNNY!)

Quit - Leave the deck you are currently playing and/or leave game.

Sound - Toggle sound on or off.  Gridly will "remember" this setting the next
        time you start the program.  And you can  use  the "-s"  command-line
        switch to make ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN the  game starts  with  sound  off.
        Just type "gridly -s"

Top Scores - Bop back to the top score list.

Mouse Adjust - Allows mousers to  adjust  sensitivity.  Click on the vertical
               and  horizontal bars to select the speed that's right for you.
               Click on  Mouse Adjust  again  to  get back to yer  game. (Use
               anytime.) Gridly will "remember" these settings in the future.

Help - Quick way to see some rules again while learning.

One Other Thing - If you have a mouse but, for some reason, want to play with
                  the keyboard instead, use the "-n" cammand-line switch.

6.0 - Technical and Version Notes.

    GRIDLY  was  developed  using  Borland's  Turbo Pascal 5.5 on  an  IBM PC
with an Intel Inboard 386, 2  megs  of  RAM, a Logitech Bus Mouse, a Paradise
Pro VGA card, 120MB Maxtor drive, and running DOS 3.3.
   Playtested on  a  Gateway  2000  386/33  with  DOS  4.01, Kraft Trackball,
Super VGA and 200MB Hard Drive.

   This game was written and tested on  two different  PCs. It  will  work on
any configuration we are  aware  of  that  meets the above criteria.  If this
game does  not work  on yer system, please review the set-up requirements and
re-read  the  rules  to   make  sure  yer   not  misunderstanding  something.
If yer still frustrated, get in touch with us and we'll try and help.

6.1 - Version Summary

   1.0 - 15 Mar. 1991 - Base line release.


7.0 - About BSX International.

   Originally  Two Guys Who Are Programmers, we  are  now  BSX International.
The  two  guys  were, and  indeed  still are,  Bob & Dave.  We like  to  play
games.  To give something back  to  the community, we  write  games  as well.
When I  say  games,  I don't  mean  D&D or  any of  the  "There is food here"
adventure games.  When  we  want  that  kind  of  escapism, we drink instead.
We don't like puzzles like "Reversi" or Rubik's Cube.  If we wanted that kind
of frustration we'd get real jobs. Just what is it we DO like to play? Here's
our list:

 1) Red Baron       - Dynamix     - Best flight sim ever invented
 2) F19             - Microprose  - Classic
 3) SimCity         - Maxis       - Also a classic, but somewhat limited
 4) Harpoon         - Three-Sixty - Chock full o' bugs, but their best yet
 5) Railroad Tycoon - Microprose  - Good all around sim, but still limited
 6) Silent Service  - Microprose  - Really good sub sim (sank same?)
 7) Tracon II       - Wesson      - Very Relaxing, in a hyper sorta way
 8) Their Finest... - LucasFilms  - Good graphics and response to controls
 9) Indy 500        - EA          - Best car sim, but can get dull
10) Gridly          - BSX         - Thrill will wear off soon, though

   The rest, as they say, is history.

   BSX maintains  offices  in  heavily-taxed  Trumbull, CT and horribly-humid
Durham, NC. We welcome comments about our games and ideas  for  new ones.  We
can be  reached  by  letter,  by  phone  (at 919-493-4875),  on  Prodigy  (at
JBVC54A), or  on  GEnie  (at R.ROBERDS1).  Please don't try to  place  orders
through Prodigy or GEnie.  We need to see bucks before  we send anything, and
those services frown on anyone they can't tax for using their system.

8.0 - Acknowledgements.

 Bob would like to thank all Dave for continuing  to "wrestle the alligator",
messing with BSX  stuff  instead  of  working  or  anything.  Thanx  also,  a
REAL lot, to all a you BSX  registrants, for  keeping  him  from starving  to
death.  Kudos to local riff-raff like Rosebud  &  Trailblazer, Hongalooga and
the like for  comments and suggestions (only a few of which involve "ramming"
things).  Thanxa bundle to  David Johndrow, whose  work  on TEGAS constitutes
yet another tentacle in the awesome expansion of BSX.  Thanx to Ken Gutierrez
for the CompuDollars Connection, and for getting them on  freeking  Superstar
at eight-thirty in the morning.  And LRG still hasn't killed him, tho she did
squeeze off a few rounds in his direction once (sez it was "an accident").

 Dave would like to  thank  Bob  for  computer  fun.  I would  also  like  to
thank   Alexi,  Will,  John, Kim  and  Tammy  for   good   times  and  stuff.
I owe  public  apologies  to  anyone  I  may have offended at a Xmas party in
December by being drunk and quite  possibly  obnoxious  to  those  with  more
conventional sensibilities. It won't happen again until next year.

Bob G. "Holy Evanderfield" Roberds - Supreme Commander - Development
David M. "Dr K" Kotomski - Gladys Knight & the Pip Commander - Dox & Testing
are...

            BSX International: Where the future is tommorrow.

Coming. Soon. We Hope...

Dissed - The Adventure Begins. BSX's First Real Computerized Adventure.

 You  are Tim,  a grad student at a small New England polytechnic.  Killed at
a  frat  party, you  are brought back to life twenty years in the future. Now
you must pick up the pieces of yer meager life and try to obtain those things
for which all right-minded people strive: Money, Booze, Sex and a Really Cool
Car.
 Not just another text-based,  find-the-magic-sword  adventure, Dissed  is  a
true-to-life frustrating experience.  Not  a  T&A  chuckle  like the "Leisure
Suit" saga, Dissed takes a hard look at the realities facing single guys both
now and in a post-global-warming  world.  Not just an  excuse  to use lots of
"-" 's, Dissed is a laugh-a-minute, slice-of-life scream.
 Months in  the  making,  we  depart from the "solve the puzzle with the hint
book" concept and trash the "find the right word to say" barrier with a menu-
driven interface that only asks you to do what comes naturally.  Where should
you go first, the bar or the library? Should you buy that Porsche or conserve
fuel with the Hyundai?  What about that girl looking at you? Is she wondering
how good  you are  in bed, or do  you just remind her of a bad dream she once
had? We know the right answers. Do you?
 This game is not only meant to be fun, but funny.  If it turns out to be too
much like yer real life, don't blame us. We have the same problem.

 Not available  in  stores,  Dissed can only be obtained by direct order from
BSX. Due to its large file sizes, it will not be available  on BBS's  and can
only be played on machines with hard drives.

Call or write for availability. Probably Summer of '91.
Probably about $10, delivered. Probably.

 Hang on till you get a BSX catalog containing Dissed, then send away for it!
Get with the program!

*** SORRY. NO ADVANCE ORDERS ACCEPTED TILL THEN. ***

PS: Rinzai, blow it out yer hair because YOU work at Hardee's.