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Solitaire Suite
Version 1.06
Copyright 1989-93 By
Randy Rasa
18215 Troost
Olathe, KS 66062
Introduction
------------
Solitaire Suite is a collection of seven challenging and addictive
solitaire card games. It consists of:
- Calculation: Also known as "Broken Intervals", this game requires
the utmost in skill and logic. It offers challenging but
rewarding play, and special on-screen assistance to make things a
little easier.
- Concentration: This is one of the classic solitaires, popular
with all ages. It is easy enough for children to play, but
offers enough challenge for adults.
- Idiot's Delight: Also known as "Aces Up", this game is extremely
simple to play, quite addictive, but maddenly difficult to win.
Success depends on skill and strategy, but even more on the luck
of the cards.
- Midnight Oil: Also known as "La Belle Lucie" and "Three Shuffles
and a Draw", this game is one of the best solitaires, offering
both challenging play and a reasonable chance to win. It is also
highly addictive; once you get into it, you'll be "burning the
midnight oil" more often than not.
- Monte Carlo: Also known as "Weddings" and "Double and Quits",
this game is easy to learn and simple to play, yet challenging
and addictive as well. The game offers a reasonable opportunity
for skill, yet winning often depends as much on luck as making
the right moves.
- Osmosis: Also known as "Treasure Trove", this solitaire offers an
attractive layout and a decent chance of success, but requires
skillful play and a bit of luck to win consistently.
- Royal Cotillion: This is a two-deck solitaire that requires a bit
of skill and a bit of luck, along with a good measure of
concentration.
In addition to the seven games, the package also contains a graphical
front-end menu program called SOLSUITE.EXE.
Solitaire Suite Documentation Page 2
Legalese
--------
Solitaire Suite is shareware. As such, you can play it, copy it, and
give it away as you wish. In fact, you are encouraged to distribute
the program to friends, family, and strangers alike. This includes
distribution via electronic bulletin board systems (BBS), user's
groups, and disk-distribution services. All that I ask is that the
package remains unaltered and complete, consisting of the following
files:
SOLSUITE.EXE SOLSUITE.DOC SOLSUITE.FRM
SOLSUITE.ICO SOLSUITE.HLP SOLSUITE.PIF
SOLSUITE.PIC SOLSUITE.PCS CARDS.CD1
CARDS.CD2 CALC.EXE CONCEN.EXE
ID.EXE MC.EXE MO.EXE
OSMOSIS.EXE RC.EXE BRUN45.EXE
HISTORY.TXT FILE_ID.DIZ BBS.LST
VENDOR.TXT
Refer to the VENDOR.TXT file for more distribution information.
Standard Limited Warranty: This software is sold "as is", without any
warranty as to performance or any other warranties whether expressed
or implied. Because of the vast number of possible hardware and
software environments in which this software may be used, no warranty
of fitness for a particular purpose is offered. The user assumes the
entire risk of using this program. Any liability of the author will
be limited to product replacement or the refund of the registration
fee.
Registration
------------
Solitaire Suite is shareware. If you enjoy it, please support it.
Registration is only $15 for all seven games, which gets you the
latest registered versions on the diskette of your choice, plus a
registration code good for all future updates of the programs included
in this collection.
The registration codes allow you to change a program from a shareware
version to a registered version. Essentially, what this buys you is
unlimited "free" updates. If you acquire a newer version of Solitaire
Suite from a bulletin board (BBS) or through a shareware disk
distributor, you can convert the shareware versions of all the games
to registered versions for your own use.
To register, print the registration form from the initial shareware
screen and send it in. To print the form, first make sure that your
printer is on-line and ready, then simply click on the "Print
Registration Form ..." button.
If you prefer, the registration form can also be printed manually by
Solitaire Suite Documentation Page 3
entering the following command from the DOS prompt (with your printer
connected and ready):
COPY SOLSUITE.FRM PRN
Then just fill out the form and send it, along with cash, check or
money order, to:
Randy Rasa
18215 Troost
Olathe, KS 66062-9208
How To Contact The Author
-------------------------
I can be contacted via US mail at the address above, or
electronically at the Nest Egg BBS (913-492-2739). Forum 5 on this
bulletin board system is dedicated to support of my solitaire games.
To join this forum type "J 5" from the main menu.
From this forum you can download the latest versions of all my
programs, as well as leave me electronic mail. To leave me a
message, simply type "E Randy Rasa" from the main menu. I will get
respond as soon as possible, usually within a day.
Also, refer to the BBS.LST file for more bulletin boards that carry
my software.
Finally, I can be reached from CompuServe (or any other online
service that offers Internet access). My Internet address is:
RANDY.RASA@CLD9.SCCSI.COM
Program Requirements
--------------------
Solitaire Suite approximately requires 512K of memory, EGA or higher
graphics capability, and a Microsoft-compatible mouse. A hard disk is
recommended.
The files included in the Solitaire Suite package are:
SOLSUITE.EXE ... Solitaire Suite main menu
SOLSUITE.DOC ... Solitaire Suite documentation (this file)
SOLSUITE.FRM ... Solitaire Suite registration form
SOLSUITE.HLP ... Solitaire Suite help file
SOLSUITE.PIF ... Windows PIF (Program Information File)
SOLSUITE.ICO ... Windows icon
SOLSUITE.PIC ... Solitaire Suite graphics
SOLSUITE.PCS ... Solitaire Suite graphics
CARDS.CD1 ...... Card Graphics
CARDS.CD2 ...... Card Graphics
Solitaire Suite Documentation Page 4
CALC.EXE ....... Calculation
CONCEN.EXE ..... Concentration
ID.EXE ......... Idiot's Delight
MC.EXE ......... Monte Carlo
MO.EXE ......... Midnight Oil
OSMOSIS.EXE .... Osmosis
RC.EXE ......... Royal Cotillion
BRUN45.EXE ..... Run-Time library
HISTORY.TXT .... Program histories
FILE_ID.DIZ .... Program description
BBS.LST ........ List of Support BBS's
VENDOR.TXT ..... Shareware Distribution Information
General Instructions
--------------------
The mouse pointer will appear as a white arrow with black edges. In
general, the left button is used to select the object being pointed to
(a card or a button), while the right button is used to exit menus or
prompts.
If you have a three-button mouse, the middle button will blank the
screen. This can also be accomplished by pressing the left and right
buttons simultaneously.
The "Options" button brings up the options menu, which you can use to
set your preferences for both generic and game-specific options. The
generic options are:
Sound: Select "Off" to disable the beeps, clicks, and various other
noises the programs make. Select "On" to enable the sounds.
Session Statistics: When this option is set to "On", the program
will keep track of your statistics (games played, games won,
change in average score) throughout the game and then display
them when you quit. (Note: During play, you can also display
the session statistics by clicking on the score box.) This
option does not apply to Concentration.
Background Color: Click on the up & down arrows to step through the
available background colors.
Border Color: Click on the up & down arrows to step through the
available border colors.
Card Back: Click on the card back graphic to bring up a menu of
available card backs to choose from. This option does not apply
to Midnight Oil.
Clear Stats: This button will clear your statistics (i.e. games
playe and games won). The change will be displayed immediately,
but will only be written to disk if you click the "OK" button.
If you click the "Cancel" button, your stats will be restored.
Solitaire Suite Documentation Page 5
(Note: In Concentration, the "Clear Stats" button only clears
the stats for the current player -- all other player's stats are
not disturbed.)
Once you've set things to your liking, you may click on the "OK"
button to save your preferences to disk, or on the "Cancel" button to
exit the Options menu without changing anything.
The "Help" button brings up several pages of information about how to
play the games, which you can view by clicking on the single- or
double-arrow buttons to scroll the display by one line or page at a
time. When you are finished reading the help, click on the "OK"
button to exit.
The "New Game" button will end the current game, update your
statistics, and start a new game. Note that the stats will only be
updated if you have made moves that increased your score. This allows
you to evaluate the layout of the cards and, if you don't like what
you see, to begin a new game without having it count against you.
Use the "Quit" button to exit the program. If you have made any moves
that increased your score, your statistics will be updated and
displayed briefly before returning you to DOS. Another way to exit
the game is to press the "Abort" key (F10). If you press F10 (and
select the "Exit This Program" option in the pop-up dialog box or
press F10 again), the program will quit to DOS without saving the data
file (and thus not giving you a low score if you have to quit the
program in the middle of a game). Of course you realize this is
cheating, don't you?
How To Play ...
---------------
Calculation
-----------
Calculation uses a standard 52-card deck (no jokers). To begin the
game the deck is shuffled, then any ace, two, three, and four are
pulled from the deck and form the start of four foundations. These
foundations are built up according to the following sequence,
regardless of suit or color:
A,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,K
2,4,6,8,10,Q,A,3,5,7,9,J,K
3,6,9,Q,2,5,8,J,A,4,7,10,K
4,8,Q,3,7,J,2,6,10,A,5,9,K
Cards are turned up from the deck on at a time, and can be played
on the foundations or on any of four wastepiles located just below
the foundations. The top of the wastepiles are always available
for play to a foundation, but once a card is played to a wastepile,
it cannot be moved again, except to a foundation.
Solitaire Suite Documentation Page 6
The game is won by building all four foundations up to king. The
skill involved in playing Calculation, in addition to just keeping
track of what card goes next on each foundation, is in avoiding
covering up a card you'll need soon with a card that cannot be used
for some time, if at all. Kings are especially troublesome, since
they cannot be moved until at least one foundation has been fully
built up.
The general strategy is to build on the wastepiles in descending
order, but the cards are seldom so kind as to allow this to any
great degree.
Calculation Options:
Assist: When this is set "On" the next card in each sequence
will be displayed above each foundation to help you keep
track of what comes next.
Calculation Buttons:
Same Hand: By clicking on this button you can abandon the
current game and redeal the same hand if you want another
crack at it.
Undo: This button allows you to undo (ie: take back) up to ten
moves.
Concentration
-------------
Concentration uses a standard 52-card deck (no jokers). To begin
the game the deck is shuffled, then dealt face-down in four rows of
thirteen cards each.
The object of the game is to remove all the cards, two at a time,
by pairs. You may select any two cards. As you do so, they will
be turned over (face-up). If they match (that is, if they are of
the same rank, regardless of suit), then they will be removed,
otherwise they will be turned back over.
Some people select cards at ramdom, others move sequentially from
one card to the next in row or column fashion. Either way will
work -- use whatever method helps you to remember where cards have
appeared.
Note that this game is the opposite of most in that a low score is
desireable -- you want to be able to remove all cards in as few
attempts as possible. Though becoming proficient at this game is
dependent to a large degree on strengthening your short-term
memory, luck plays a role as well. A good score requires both
skill and luck.
Concentration Options:
Solitaire Suite Documentation Page 7
Multi-Player Mode: Concentration has a option called "Multi-
Player Mode", which enables up to ten people (or one person
playing under ten names) to keep their statistics in the same
data file. When this mode is enabled, you will be presented
with a menu at the beginning of each game, from which you may
select an existing player, add a new player, or delete an old
player from the list. Each player's name can be up to
fifteen character long. In addition to keeping separate
statistics for each player, this mode allows a different
setup for each player as well. This means that each player
can have his or her own screen color, card back, and sound
selection. When multi-player mode is disabled, the game will
not bring up the player list for each new game. The
configuration options set in this mode will serve as defaults
for any new players which are added in multi-player mode.
Quick Deal: When this is turned on the cards will be dealt a bit
faster.
Idiot's Delight
---------------
Idiot's Delight uses a standard 52-card deck (no jokers), with aces
ranked high, above kings. The game is begun by dealing four cards
in a row. You may discard any card that is lower than another card
of the same suit. When no more cards can be removed, deal four
more cards onto the remainder of the previous deal and remove all
possible cards. If a pile is completely depleted, you can move a
card from the top of another pile into the space.
The game continues in this way, dealing four cards at a time, then
removing all possible cards. The game is won if only the four aces
are left at the end of the game.
Be very careful of which card you move into spaces. The natural
inclination is to move aces into spaces as soon as possible, but
often it is advisable to consider other possibilities, depending on
what cards can be freed up with each move.
If the "Assist" option is enabled, a box will appear above the
cards saying "More Moves Possible" is there is at least one more
move available. It might be a good idea to enable this feature if
you find yourself missing obvious moves once in a while.
Note: The four cards are dealt from the deck by clicking on the
card back (there is no "Deal" button).
Idiot's Delight Options:
Assist Option: When this option is turned "On", you will be
alerted when more moves are possible.
Solitaire Suite Documentation Page 8
Idiot's Delight Buttons:
Same Hand: By clicking on this button you can abandon the
current game and redeal the same hand if you want another
crack at it.
Undo: This button allows you to undo (ie: take back) up to ten
moves.
Monte Carlo
-----------
Monte Carlo uses a standard 52-card deck (no jokers). To begin the
game the deck is shuffled, then dealt face-up, one card at a time,
into five rows of five cards each (the tableau), with the remainder
of the deck held in reserve for later play.
The object of the game is to remove pairs of cards from the
tableau. These cards can be any combination of colors, but must be
of the same rank (eg: a 3 of hearts and a 3 of spades), and must be
located adjacent to each other in a row, column or diagonal. Note
that the removal of a card does not make the two cards beside it
"adjacent".
After removing all possible pairs, the tableau must be
consolidated, which means that the remaining cards in the tableau
must be "backed up" (moved to the left, then up, keeping the
original order) to fill in the blank spaces created by the removed
pairs. Cards from the reserve are then dealt into the newly-
created spaces and the process of removing pairs begins again. The
tableau can be consolidated and re-dealt as many times as
necessary.
The game is won when the entire deck has been removed, or lost when
no more moves can be made.
The Undo feature can be used to "un-remove" cards (that is, to
return them to the screen sfter they've been removed). The program
keeps an undo buffer that contains all the cards that have been
removed since the last deal. You can pull these cards back into
play by pressing the right mouse button or clicking on the "Undo"
button. The buffer is "last-in-first-out" -- the last cards you've
removed from the screen will be the first cards returned. The only
limitation to the undo feature is that it cannot go back further
than the last deal. So once you remove some cards and press
"Deal", they're gone for good.
Monte Carlo Buttons:
Deal: This button will initiate a re-deal, in which the cards
remaining in the tableau are consolidated, and new cards are
dealt from the reserve.
Solitaire Suite Documentation Page 9
Hint: Selecting this button will cause the program to step
through all the possible pairs in the tableau. After each
pair is displayed, you will be asked to continue (press the
left mouse button), or exit (right mouse button). If no
pairs can be made, a "No more pairs" message will be
displayed.
Same Hand: By clicking on this button you can abandon the
current game and redeal the same hand if you want another
crack at it.
Undo: This button allows you to undo (ie: take back) up to ten
moves.
Midnight Oil
------------
Midnight Oil uses a standard 52-card deck (no jokers). To begin
the game the deck is shuffled, then dealt face-up, one card at a
time, into seventeen piles of three cards each. The last card is
placed by itself as an eighteenth pile. These piles are also known
as "fans".
The object of the game is to move all of the cards from the
eighteen fans into four new piles, arranged by suit, in order from
Ace (low) to King (high). These four destination piles are known
as the "foundations". Only the top card of each fan is available
for play.
In addition to moving cards from fans to foundations, cards can
also be moved from one fan to another, building down in suit. In
this way submerged cards can be freed up for play to the
foundations or to other fans. Once a fan becomes empty (which will
be represented my a dashed line where the fan was), no moves can be
made to that fan.
When you have made all the moves you can, from the fans to the
foundations and from fan to fan, the remaining cards in all the
fans may be reshuffled and re-dealt in the same manner as at the
beginning of the game (three cards to a fan). In all, the deck may
be shuffled three times (once to begin the game, and twice more
during the game).
At some point during the game, you may draw one submerged card from
a fan and play it on any valid foundation or fan. It is generally
better to save this draw for as long as possible.
You can point to one of the foundations and click the mouse button
to initiate "manual-auto" mode. This function is, as the name
inplies, a cross between manual mode and automatic mode. When you
click on a foundation, the fans are scanned for possible moves, and
any valid moves to that foundation will be made automatically.
Solitaire Suite Documentation Page 10
Midnight Oil Options:
Auto Mode: When this is set to "On", the program will attempt to
move cards from the fans to the foundations automatically.
This will relieve you from having to worry about missing
obvious moves, so that you can concentrate on strategy. When
this is set to "Off", the game is essentially in manual mode,
and you will need to make all moves to the foundations by
yourself. This option is provided for those traditional-
minded souls who might consider auto mode to be cheating.
Auto Speed: This allows you to adjust how fast the cards are
played in auto mode. Click on the left and right arrows to
move the pointer along the scale from "Slower" to "Faster".
At the fastest setting, cards are moved as fast as possible
(a blur of action). The slowest setting is "single-step"
mode, in which you will be prompted before each automatic
move. You will need to experiment to find an acceptable
setting for your computer.
Trefoil Option: 'Trefoil' is the name of a variation of Midnight
Oil in which all the aces are placed on the appropriate
foundations at the start of the game. This is supposed to
make the game a little easier to win, since there are four
fewer cards to move to foundations. If you change the
Trefoil option while a game is already in progress, you'll
have to finish the current game before the change takes
effect.
Replay Option: When this option is turned "On", you will have
the choice of whether or not you want to replay a game that
you have lost.
Easy Mode: When this option is set "On", then a special
algorithm will be used when shuffling the deck. Essentially,
it will prevent lower cards of a particular suit from being
buried by higher cards of the same suit. This will have the
effect of removing most of the potential blocks in the game.
in this mode you will still not win every game, but it's the
closest thing I've seen to a sure thing. This mode is set as
the default the first time the program is run.
Challenge Scoring: When this option is turned "Off", the program
will use the standard scoring method, where each card is
worth one point. When set "On", an alternate scoring method
is used, where you get five points for each card played to a
foundation, plus an additional five points for each card in a
"run" of more than one card. Bonus points are also awarded
for winning the game without using all the shuffles and
draws:
Solitaire Suite Documentation Page 11
Shuffles Left Draws Left Bonus
------------- ---------- -----
0 1 250
1 0 500
1 1 750
2 0 1000
2 1 2000
As you can see, this significantly changes the strategy of
the game from simply removing as many cards as you can, to
lining up runs whenever possible. If you enable challenge
scoring, you may want to disable auto mode so you'll have a
better chance of creating runs.
Midnight Oil Buttons:
Shuffle: This button will initiate a shuffling of the deck, in
which all of the cards in the fans are picked up, shuffled,
and then re-dealt. If no shuffles are left, the program will
display the message "No shuffles left".
Draw: When you select this button, you will be asked to select a
pile (fan) to draw from. When you select a fan, it will be
displayed in the lower right corner of the screen, and you
will be allowed to select one card from that fan to draw. If
you change your mind and decide that you don't want to draw a
card after all, press the right button to exit draw mode. If
you select a card, it will be removed from the fan and
displayed in the lower right corner of the screen, and you
will be prompted to select a destination. Point to the
desired fan or foundation and press the left mouse button to
move the drawn card to the selected fan or foundation.
Peek: This is similar to a draw, in that an entire fan will be
displayed in the lower left corner of the screen, but you are
only allowed to look, not touch. To exit peek mode press the
right mouse button twice. You can also peek at a pile by
clicking the right mouse button while pointing at the desired
pile.
Undo: This button allows you to undo (ie: take back) any number
of moves from one fan to another, from a fan to a foundation,
or a draw. You cannot undo a shuffle.
Osmosis
-------
Osmosis uses a standard 52-card deck (no jokers). To begin the
game the deck is shuffled, then four piles of four cards each are
dealt at the left. The piles form the reserve, and the top card of
each is available for play.
One card is dealt to the right of the first reserve, forming the
Solitaire Suite Documentation Page 12
first foundation. As the other cards of the same rank become
available, they may be played in a column below the first
foundation, forming the other three foundations.
Cards are dealt from the deck three at a time, with only the top
card available for play to the foundations.
Foundations are built in suit, regardless of order. On the first
foundation, any card of the same suit may built as soon as it
becomes available. On each lower foundation, a card may be built
only if a card of the same rank has been built on the foundation
above it.
For example, if the first foundation card is a three of hearts,
then any heart can be played on the first foundation as soon as it
becomes available, say, for illustration, the seven and nine. Now
suppose the second foundation is the three of clubs. If the seven
or nine of clubs become available, they can be played on the second
foundation, but no other club can be played until the corresponding
heart has been built.
When all cards have been dealt from the deck, you may redeal as
often as you like, until either the game is won (by moving all
cards to the foundations) or lost (no more moves can be made.
When the "peek" option is enabled, the reserves will be spread out
so that all of their cards can be seen. This allows you to spot
any potential blocks before beginning the game. The situation to
look out for is two cards of the same rank in the same reserve
pile, especially is the lower card is of the first foundation suit.
If this is the case then the game is hopeless, at least as far as
winning, though you can still play it and perhaps even reach a
respectable score.
Note: to deal cards from the deck, simply click on the card back.
When the deck is exhausted, click it again to gather the cards back
up in preparation for a redeal.
Osmosis Options:
Peek: When this is set "On" the reserve piles will be spread out
so that all cards can be seen, thus helping you spot and
perhaps avoid blocks.
Darken Filled Foundations: When this option is set to "On", a
filled foundation will be "darkened", otherwise, if it is set
"Off", the foundation will be overwritten by the word
"COMPLETE". Either way, the purpose is to show that all
necessary cards have been moved to that foundation. Which
method you want to use is up to you.
Move Alert: When this option is turned on, the program will
alert you to any available moves by displaying a message
above the deck saying "Move Possible". Note that this is
Solitaire Suite Documentation Page 13
only an information message -- you are not required to make a
move when one is available. The lay of the cards in the
reserve piles may make some available moves ill-advised; use
your own judgement.
Osmosis Buttons:
Same Hand: By clicking on this button you can abandon the
current game and redeal the same hand if you want another
crack at it.
Undo: This button allows you to undo (ie: take back) up to ten
moves.
Royal Cotillion
---------------
Royal Cotillion uses two standard 52-card decks (no jokers) dealt
together. The game is begun by dealing twelve cards in three rows
of four cards each, forming the left tableau. The right wing of
the tableau is formed by dealing four rows of four cards each. The
foundations are formed in two columns between the left and right
tableau.
Foundations are formed in the following sequences for each suit:
A,3,5,7,9,J,K,2,4,6,8,10,Q
2,4,6,8,10,Q,A,3,5,7,9,J,K
In the left wing of the tableau, only the bottom card of each
column is available for play, and spaces are never filled. In the
right wing, all cards are available, and spaces are filled
immediately from the wastepile, or, if there is none, from the
deck.
Cards are turned up from the deck one at a time, and may be played
either to the foundations or the wastepile. The top card of the
wastepile is always available for play.
The game is one if all eight foundations are completed, or lost if
a block is reached.
It is advisable, if you have a choice, to play from the left wing
first, thus freeing up additional cards. In the right wing, you
should not make a move merely because you can. It is better to
wait to make a space until a desirable card to save turns up.
Royal Cotillion has a "semi-automatic" mode that you can invoke by
clicking on one of the foundations when no card is selected. The
program will then look through the left and right wings of the
tableau, plus the wastepile and top card of the deck, and make any
moves it can to the foundation you select. Take care when using
Solitaire Suite Documentation Page 14
this feature, though -- the program may not always make the optimal
choice.
Royal Cotillion also has a "peek" feature, which can be used to
view the contents of the deck or wastepile. Simply position the
mouse pointer over the deck or wastepile and click the right mouse
button.
Royal Cotillion Options:
Automatic Dealing: If this is set "On", then cards will be
turned from the deck automatically. Otherwise, if this
option is "Off", you must click on the deck to turn up new
cards.
Move Alert: When this option is turned on, the program will
alert you to any available moves by displaying a message next
to the deck saying "Move". Note that this is only an
information message -- you are not required to make a move
when one is available.
Royal Cotillion Buttons:
Undo: This button simply "takes back" one move (deck-to-
wastepile, tableau-to-foundation, etc.). The number of times
that this can be done defaults to ten. A command-line option
can be used to set the number of undo levels to any number up
to 200, though you may run out of memory at higher values.
Use the command-line option "/Uxxx", where "xxx" is a number
from 1 to 200. For example, to set Royal Cotillion to use a
100-level undo, use "/U100" on the command line.
Same Hand: By clicking on this button you can abandon the
current game and redeal the same hand if you want another
crack at it.
Solitaire Suite Documentation Page 15
Running Under Windows
---------------------
Solitaire Suite, while not a Microsoft Windows program, can be run
from Windows. The program must be run in full-screen mode and if
you're running in 386 enhanced mode the "High Graphics" (under
Advanced Options ... Display Options ... Monitor Ports in the PIF
editor) should be turned off. The included SOLSUITE.PIF file should
help. In addition, adding the following two line to the [386enh]
section of the SYSTEM.INI file may help improve performace of
Solitaire Suite under Windows:
TrapTimerPorts=off
SyncTime=on
I've also included a Solitaire Suite icon (SOLSUITE.ICO) which you can
use in the Program Manager. There's not room for all the details of
setting up this program for Windows, but you should be able to figure
it out.
Command-Line Options
--------------------
All of the individual games share common command line options:
/NC -- "No Cheat" option disables the F10 (abort) key. Use this if
you find yourself unable to resist temptation.
/LCD -- This option may improve the screen display on monochrome LCD
displays. This option simply changes a few color combinations
to improve contrast on LCDs.
/Rxxxxxx -- This option is used to convert the shareware version of a
program to a registered version. Refer to "A Note To
Registered Users" at the end of this document for more
information.
/SW -- This option is used to convert a registered version to a
shareware version.
filename.ext -- This option is for alternate data files (see
discussion below).
Statistics
----------
Each of the games keeps track of the score (the number of cards you've
moved to foundations) and the number of shuffles and draws you have
left during the course of the game. Also displayed are the total
number of games you've played, the number of games you've won
(expressed as both a number and a percentage, and your average score.
At the end of each game, the statistics are written to disk, either in
the default filename.DAT (where "filename" is CALC, CONCEN, ID, etc.)
Solitaire Suite Documentation Page 16
or in the data file specified on the command line. The data file also
contains the preferences you set in the options menu.
To specify a data file on the command line, start up a game with the
following syntax (for example, using Calculation):
CALC filename.ext
This allows several different people to use the same copy of the game
on the same machine, yet keep separate statistics for each person.
For example, suppose three people (Tom, Dick, and Harry) played the
game at various times on the same machine. They could each easily
keep personalized data files, containing their scores and preferences.
Tom would use his data file by typing:
CALC TOM.DAT
Likewise, Dick and Harry could have data files called DICK.DAT and
HARRY.DAT. Note that the "DAT" extension could be "SCR" or "HGH", or
whatever, as long as it is three letters or less.
A Note To Registered Users
--------------------------
The registration procedure allows previously-registered users to
update new versions from shareware to registered versions by entering
a special 'registration code' that was included as part of your order.
Run the shareware version of the program with an "/R" command-line
switch, followed by the registration code, like this:
CALC /Rxxxxxx
You would, of course use the proper registration code in place of the
"xxxxxx". Note also that there should be no space between the "R" and
the registration code. After running each of the games with /R switch
and the proper code, you'll have brand-spanking new registered
versions of the programs. What this essentially amounts to is
unlimited, free updates with each registration.
The registration procedure has the following limitations:
1. The name of the EXE files must be correct (i.e. as specified at
the beginning of this document).
2. You cannot perform the registration procedure on a compressed
version (i.e. an EXE file processed with PKLite, Diet, or
LZEXE). The EXE file may be compressed after the registration
procedure, but not before.
3. Please do not distribute registered versions of the programs.
Note: You can also change the programs back to shareware versions by
Solitaire Suite Documentation Page 17
using the "/SW" command-line switch. This function is subject
to the same limitations as with the registration procedure (ie:
the programs must be properly named and uncompressed). Please
use this option to "un-register" the programs if you wish to
pass them along to anyone. Also, please include all of the
files listed under the "Legalese" section of this document.
Thanks.
>>> THE END <<<
