Softdisk PC 126/sdpc126.zip/CRISCROS/CCM.DOC

Text File | 1996-04-02 | 8KB | 158 lines

                 Criss Cross Maker

   Criss Cross Maker (CCM) is a program that will
automatically generate data files for the Softdisk Criss
Cross program. Now, you do not have to wait for Softdisk
to publish the data files for Criss Cross games. What's
more, you can now have Criss Cross games where the words
can be on any subject you like. You can even create
educational Criss Cross puzzles that use words from a
vocabulary list, names of US presidents, US states,
foreign countries, or other types of word or name lists.
   Before you use CCM, you need to create one or more word
list data files. These are simply ASCII text files
containing lists of words on any subject. You can create
such files using the DOS EDIT program, the Windows Notepad
program, or any word processor that will allow you to save
the file in ASCII text format and give you control of the
name of the file you create. You can give the file any
legal name for the root name of the file (the part before
the extension), but the extension must be WL for CCM to
recognize it. For example, you could create a file called
TREES.WL that would contain a list of tree names. The
contents of the file would look something like this:

willow
elm
oak
palm
maple

and so on.
   After you have created one or more of these files and
put them in the same directory as CCM.EXE, run CCM.EXE
After you get past the title page, you will see the
control panel screen that allows you to set the parameters
for the Criss Cross file you will create. On the left
side, there is a list of the WL data files that CCM finds
in the current directory. You can select a file either by
clicking on the file name with your mouse or pressing your
up and down cursor keys. If there are more than 26 WL
files, there will be a scroll bar beside the list of WL
file names. You can click on this scroll bar with your
mouse to scroll through the list of WL file names.
   At the top middle of the screen, there are two scroll
bars that control the width and height, respectively, of
the puzzle that CCM will generate. Normally, it is best to
leave these at the default values of 26 characters for
width and 21 for height. This is the maximum size that the
Criss Cross program can handle, and using this maximum
size will make it easier for CCM to fit in as many words
from the WL file as possible. However, if you wish to
change these values, you can move either or both of the
scroll bars with your mouse to change the width or height
to any value from 10 to 26 for width and 10 to 21 for
height. If you do not have a mouse, you can press F3 to
decrease width and F4 to incease width or F5 to decrease
height and F6 to increase height.
   Below these scroll bars is a check box labeled
"Continue improving puzzle until stopped. If this box is
checked, CCM will continue to try to make the puzzle it is
generating better and better until you tell it that you
are satisfied with the best puzzle so far (this will be
explained more later). If the box is not checked, CCM will
stop working on the puzzle as soon as it has generated a
puzzle that uses all the words in the WL list. The default
condition is for this box to be checked.
   Below this check box is an input box for the root name
of the output file that CCM will generate. It will always
add the extension CRS to this root name so that the Criss
Cross game will recognize it. The default value for the
output file root name will be the same as the root name of
the WL file that is supplying the words. (You may notice
that the text in this box will change automatically as you
select a new WL file.) However, when this box is the input
box with the focus you can edit this name by using the
backspace key and the A-Z and 0-9 keys to type a new name.
For example, if the input file name is STATES, you could
press the backspace key to change this to STATE and then
the 1 and 0 key to change the name to STATE10. The main
reason for changing the output file name would be if you
wanted to create several Criss Cross files from the same
word list. You would need to give the files different
names, or the new file would simply overwrite the old one
on your disk. Each time that CCM generates a Criss Cross
file, the file is totally new and random. In cases where
CCM is unable to fit all of the words in the input file
into the puzzle, even the selection of words will be
different from one puzzle to the next. This can create an
endless supply of puzzles for you from even a single word
list.
   Below the input box for the file name is an input box
for the title of the puzzle. This title shows in the Criss
Cross program at the top of the windows that displays the
puzzle. By default, this title is the same as the root
file name of the WL file you are getting your word list
from. However, when this input box has the focus, you can
edit this name using the backspace key and any normal key
(such as A-Z, 0-9, and punctuation) on the keyboard. This
box is much like the box for the output file name. Each
receives input from the keyboard if it is the input box
with the focus. You can shift the focus between the two
input boxes by pressing the TAB key or by clicking on the
box you want to give the focus to with the mouse. The box
that has the focus will show the cursor at the end of its
current text.
   When you have set all of these parameters, click on the
Ok button with your mouse, or press the ENTER key or Alt-O
key combination. If you do not want to create a puzzle,
click on the Quit button, or press the Esc key or Alt-Q
key combination. This will return you to DOS.
   After you select Ok from the parameters control screen,
CCM will begin generating a puzzle. On the right side of
the screen, you will see a representation of the layout of
the puzzle that CCM is currently working on. On the left
side of the screen, you will see the layout of the best
puzzle CCM has generated so far this time. The layout will
not show the actual words in the puzzle, since this would
spoil the fun for you. It shows only the squares where
letters would go. This allows you to see the shape of the
puzzle as it is created.
   There are two criterias for the "best" puzzle. A puzzle
that has more words in it is better than one that has
fewer words. If the number of words is the same in two
puzzles, the one that has the most intersections between
words. Intersections between words give you clues as the
what words go in each position, and make the puzzle more
interesting.
   Below the display of the best puzzle, CCM will display
how many words are used in the puzzle and how many
intersections it has. Below the display of the current
puzzle, CCM will display how many words it uses and how
many words are in the word list. For example, it may say
"38 words used out of 50".
   Each time that CCM finds that the current puzzle is
better than the previous best puzzle, it will replace the
best puzzle with the current one. If you selected not to
continue improving the puzzle until stopped at the
parameters control screen, CCM will stop and save the
puzzle as soon as it has found a puzzle that uses all the
words in the word list file. If you selected for CCM to
continue improving the puzzle until stopped, the process
of finding new puzzles and replacing the "best" puzzle
with better ones will continue until you click on either
the Ok button or the Cancel button. (You can press ENTER
or Alt-O instead of the Ok button or Esc or Alt-C instead
of the Cancel button.) The Ok button saves the best puzzle
generated so far. The Cancel button does not. You would
only use the Cancel button if you were totally
dissatisfied with the best puzzle generated so far.
   After you have selected either Ok or Cancel, CCM will
ask you if you want to make another puzzle. Selecting Yes
will return you to the parameter control screen to set up
another puzzle. Selecting No will exit to DOS.
   When you have created one or more puzzle files, exit to
DOS and run the Criss Cross program. You will see the new
files in the list of input files for that program.