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Concentration
Version 2.00
Copyright 1990-91 By
Randy Rasa
18215 Troost
Olathe, KS 66062
What Is It? ___________
Concentration is one of the classic solitaires, popular with all
ages. It is easy enough for children to play, but offers enough
challenge for adults. This version of Concentration uses a
graphical user interface for an especially colorful and appealing
game.
Program Requirements ____________________
Concentration requires 256K of memory, EGA or higher graphics
capability, and a Microsoft-compatible mouse. If you are not sure
you have the right hardware, just run the program. If there's a
problem, the program will let you know.
In addition to the program file (CONCEN.EXE), the game requires
that the card definition files (CARDS.CD1 and CARDS.CD2) be in the
current directory. These files contain the bit-maps for each
cardface in the deck.
Using The Mouse _______________
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.
How To Play ___________
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
Concentration Documentation Page 2
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.
Buttons _______
Along the bottom of the screen are a number of "buttons", which may
be selected by pointing and clicking with the mouse. The buttons
are:
Options: This button brings up the options menu, which you can
use to set your preferences for the following:
Sound: Select "Off" to disable the beeps, clicks, and various
other noises the program makes. Select "On" to enable the
sounds.
Multi-Player Mode: Refer to the section of this document
entitled "Multi-Player Mode" for information on this
option.
Background Color: Click on the up-arrow and down-arrow to
step through the available background colors, until you
find one that suits your tastes.
Card Back: Click on the up-arrow and down-arrow to cycle
through the available card designs until you find one you
like.
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.
Help: This button will bring up several pages of help screens,
which you can view by clicking on the "Next" or "Prev"
buttons to move from page to page. When you are finished
reading the help, click on the "Done" button to exit.
New Game: This button will end the current game, update your
statistics, and start a new game. Note that the stats will
Concentration Documentation Page 3
only be updated if you have a score greater than zero. This
will allow you to select a new player (if Multi-Player mode
is enabled).
Quit: Click on this button to exit the program. If you have a
score greater than zero, 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), 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).
Statistics __________
Concentration keeps track of the score (the number of attempts
you've made to remove pairs of cards), the number of games you've
played, your best and worst games, and your average score. At the
end of each game, the statistics are written to disk, either in the
default CONCEN.DAT or in the data file specified on the command
line. The data file also contains the preferences you set in the
options menu (sound on/off, auto mode on/off, and background
color).
To specify a data file on the command line, start up Concentration
with the following syntax:
CONCEN filename.ext
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.
Concentration Documentation Page 4
Legalese ________
Concentration 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 program remain unaltered, and be distributed in an
archive consisting of:
CONCEN.EXE ......... the program
CONCEN.DOC ......... documentation
CARDS.CD1 .......... card definition file #1
CARDS.CD2 .......... card definition file #2
Registration ____________
Concentration is shareware. If you enjoy the game, please support
it. There are three registration packages available:
1. Basic Registration ................................... $5.00
This minimum registration will get you the latest registered
(no shareware "beg" message) version of Concentration on the
diskette of your choice, along with a registration code good
for all future updates.
2. Package Deal #1 ..................................... $10.00
This package consists of the latest registered version of
Concentration, plus shareware versions of my other programs,
along with a menu program to tie them all together. Note
that all of the additional programs are unregistered versions
(with shareware "beg" screens). You will also receive a
registration code good for all future updates of
Concentration.
3. Package Deal #2 ..................................... $15.00
This package consists of the latest registered version of
Concentration, plus registered versions of my other programs,
along with a menu program to tie them all together. Note
that all of the additional programs are fully registered
versions (no shareware "beg" screens). You will also receive
registration codes good for all future updates of
Concentration and the programs included with your
registration.
Basic registration is available on a 5.25", 360K disk or on a
3.50", 720K disk. The package deals are available on two 360K
disks (with the programs ZIPped (with the PKZIP compression
program) to pack as much as possible onto each disk), one 720K disk
Concentration Documentation Page 5
(ZIPped), or one 5.25", 1.2M disk. If you do not have access to
PKZIP, you'll need to order the package deals on a 1.2M disk.
No matter what option you choose, you'll be getting a lot of
quality software for just a little dough. Please consider
registering.
The programs that you will get with the package deals will be
selected from the following:
Midnight Oil: An EGA solitaire card game, otherwise known as La
Belle Lucie and Three Shuffles and a Draw. In this game the
deck is dealt into seventeen fans of three cards each. Cards
are moved from the fans to four foundations, which are then
built up in suit from Ace to King. Midnight Oil is one of
the best solitaires, affording great opportunity for skillful
play. The game keeps statistics in a disk file, and has a
special auto mode that makes the game especially easy to
play.
Monte Carlo: An EGA-based solitaire card game in which you try
to remove pairs of cards from a 5 x 5 matrix. This easy-to-
play game offers hours of relaxing fun. It keeps statistics
in much the same way as Concentration, has selectable card
designs, and a "hint" button that makes the game especially
easy to learn.
Calculation: This EGA-based solitaire card game is a real brain-
teaser in which you build up four foundations, each in a
different sequence. It requires skill and logical thinking
to win, but on-screen assistance makes learning and playing
the game a snap. It keeps a statistic file like
Concentration and has selectable card designs.
Osmosis: In this EGA solitaire card game you have four
foundations to build, but a card can only be played to a
lower foundation if it has also been played to an upper
foundation. This addictive game is simple to play but
difficult to win, with success often depending as much on
luck as skill. It keeps statistics on-disk, offers
selectable card backs and has a "peek" option to give you an
extra edge.
Idiot's Delight: An EGA version of "Aces Up", a simple but
addictive game of luck and skill. This is one of those games
that leave you saying "just one more game" time after time
after time. As in my other EGA games, it keeps a statistic
file and offers selectable card backs.
Royal Cotillion: This is a two-deck EGA solitaire in which you
must build up eight foundations in suit by twos. It offers
good opportunity for skillful play, a pleasing layout, and
hours of engrossing fun. It keeps a statistics file, has
selectable card backs, and a time-saving auto mode.
Concentration Documentation Page 6
You can print the registration form from the initial shareware
screen. Simply select the "Print Registration Form" button, then
select a destination, either to a printer or a file. If you elect
to send the form to a printer, make sure it is on-line and ready.
The form should print on any standard 80-column printer. If you
want to save the form to a file, the file "CONCEN.FRM" will be
created in the current directory. You can then print out the
registration form by entering the following command from the DOS
prompt (with your printer connected and ready):
COPY CONCEN.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
Concentration Documentation Page 7
Revision History ________________
1.00 11-17-89 First Public Release. Text-based version.
2.00 06-14-91 New EGA version released.
A Note To Registered Users __________________________
The registration procedure allows previously-registered users to
update to the new registered version of the program 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:
CONCEN /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 the program with /R
switch and the proper code, you'll have a brand-spanking new
registered version of the program. What this essentially amounts
to is unlimited, free updates with each registration.
The registration procedure comes with the following limitations:
1. The name your EXE file must be CONCEN.EXE.
2. You cannot perform the registration procedure on a compressed
version (ie: 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 program.
4. Since the registration procedure is a new feature (as of
version 2.13), there are a number of people who have
registered earlier versions that won't be able to take
advantage of it just yet. But if you send me a self-
addressed stamped envelope, I'll be happy to send you the
registration code.
Note: You can also change the program back to the shareware version
by using the "/SW" command-line switch. This function is
subject to the same limitations as with the registration
procedure (ie: the program must be properly named and
uncompressed). Please use this option to "un-register" the
program if you wish to pass it along to anyone. Also, please
include all of the files listed under the "Legalese" section
of this document. Thanks.
