Shareware Overload/ShartewareOverload.cdr/games/puzzlwrk.zip/PUZZLWRK.DOC

Text File | 1989-02-27 | 16KB | 303 lines

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
                     P U Z Z L E    W O R K S
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

====================== TABLE of CONTENTS ==============================

I    Introduction
II   Boot-up and Install
III  *** THE PLEA ***
IV   Game Description
V    Game Keys
VI   Game and Puzzle Files

======================== INTRODUCTION  ================================

   PUZZLE WORKS consists of a game floppy with an initial number of
   puzzles on it and a "directory" with the names of these puzzles.
   PUZZLE WORKS is for MS-DOS, IBM compatible machines. The game
   does not require a hard disk but does require CGA (or an adaptor
   which simulates CGA). This game was written and compiled using
   Microsoft(R) QuickBasic and DOS version 3.20. Memory needs are
   apx. 100 KB for the game plus 30-50 KB for data arrays. This game
   has been run on several models of IBM(R) and compatible PCs using
   MDA, CGA, EGA and VGA monitors. No incompatibilities have occurred
   with the hardware or with the TSR programs running in these machines
   at the time. No warranties or guarantees (express or implied) are
   associated with this software.

====================== BOOT-UP and INSTALL ============================

   Single/dual floppy systems:
    1. Boot computer as usual.
    2. Put the game floppy in A: drive and change to the A: drive.
    3. Type in PUZZLE
    4. When the "welcome" screen comes up, hit any key to continue.
    5. When prompted for the DOS path, type in 1 (for the A:drive).
    6. When the list of puzzles on the game floppy is put up, type
       in the number of the puzzle desired and hit the ENTER key.
    7. When asked if you want to rebuild a puzzle, type in N (for
       no). Once a puzzle has been saved (F8 key), it may be rebuilt.
    8. Puzzle Works will indicate which puzzle it is loading and will
       signify when the loading is complete.
    9. Experiment with the game keys. F1 toggles a pop-up "help"
       screen if needed.
    10. Assemble the puzzle.
    11. Puzzle progress may be saved at any time using the F8 key.
        The F9 key recalls the puzzle directory and the F10 key will
        exit the game.

   Hard disk:
    Create a sub-directory of your choice (C:\PUZZLE is recommended).
    Copy all of the files on the game floppy to this sub-directory.
    Change to this sub-directory and type in "PUZZLE". When prompted
    for the DOS path to the Puzzle Box Directory, type in the number
    corresponding to the sub-directory where the game floppy was copied
    to. If you created a sub-directory whose name does not appear in
    this default list, type in 8 (corresponding to none of the above).
    Puzzle Works then will prompt you for the name of the sub-directory
    containing Puzzlbox.dir (and all of the puzzle files which go with
    each puzzle named in Puzzlbox.dir). The full DOS path name is
    needed (for example: "C:\YOURDIR\"). The path is complete with
    the : and \'s. Puzzle Works expects to find the PUZZLBOX.DIR file
    and all of the puzzle files (.BIN, .COR, .PIC, .DAT) for each
    puzzle named in PUZZLBOX.DIR in the sub-directory you just
    specified.

======================== THE PLEA =====================================

Many hours of work, weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth have gone
into PUZZLE WORKS. PUZZLE WORKS is an attempt at a computer game which
 1. Will be fun for people of all ages.
 2. Does NOT depend on ray guns and photon torpedoes to rack up points
    or survive the nasty Gazunghas of Nuberblitz.

My critics (and I have many of them) all agree (a first) that PUZZLE
WORKS does, indeed, meet these objectives.

As with most, if not all, of us who write "thingies" for computers,
there is also the hope/dream/desire to get some financial return on
the time and effort spent. Should you enjoy PUZZLE WORKS, please!,
feel free to rush that long-hoped-for contribution to the author. If
in doubt as to how much, a humble amount of $15.00 would go a long way
towards a dozen roses for the wife, tuition for the kids (Aggies, no
less), a vist to the local dentist for those gnashed teeth and the
oh-so-many other things.

PUZZLE WORKS comes with some puzzles. It would be nice if there were
more puzzles available. LO and BEHOLD: THERE ARE. Additional puzzles
are available on the same bulletin board on which the author has placed
PUZZLE WORKS itself. These puzzles are available in standard "SETS" of
five (5) puzzles. No two puzzles are the same. A minuscule donation of
$3.00 per set is unabashedly requested to cover the many hours of time
spent in creating these PUZZLE SETS. The archived files containing each
set are named PUZLSETB through PUZLSETD. The first puzzle set, PUZLSETA,
contains seven (7) puzzles. This set will not go on the bulletin
board. It is available only to those of you who have enjoyed PUZZLE
WORKS enough to donate the above mentioned $15.00 towards continued
support of PUZZLE WORKS. PUZLSETA will be shipped FREE OF CHARGE in
appreciation for your support. (This offer is good through June of
1989, shipment outside of the continental U.S. will be C.O.D. and
PUZLSETA will be shipped on a 5 1/4", 360 KB floppy.) Please be sure
to include a clearly written name and address for shipment with your
$15.00 (or larger ???) donation.

Should you feel $15.00 is beyond your pocketbook or you have enjoyed
PUZZLE WORKS but maybe not $15.00 worth, never fear. The author has
no qualms about accepting lesser donations. Feel free to contribute
any amount. The recommended form of a donation is check or money order
(The U.S. Postal Service takes a dim view of sending goldfish, turtles,
kittens and puppies thorough the mail and silver, gold, cash and stamps
could get lost.)
         --------- Contributions may be mailed to -------

                   COMPUTER ENGINEERING SERVICES
                   P. O. B. 1013
                   PORT LAVACA, TX 77979
                   [phone]
         ------------------------------------------------

Should financial support and interest in PUZZLE WORKS be strong enough:
 1. Work on an EGA version will continue.
 2. Additional PUZZLE SETS will be created.
 3. Exploration of improvements in PUZZLE WORKS will continue.
 4. Availability of personalized puzzles with customer-specified text
    and a choice of fonts will be considered.
 5. Consideration will be given to making the Puzzle Works utility
    program available. This utility is used to create the puzzle pieces
    from a BASIC CGA graphics screen.
 6. Consideration will be given to extending the "no charge" offer on
    PUZLSETA for new users beyond June 1989.

          ---------------- SHAREWARE --------------

PUZZLE WORKS is provided under the "shareware" concept. If you enjoy
PUZZLE WORKS, you are free to pass it along to your friends as long as
all files are passed along without alteration. No part of PUZZLE WORKS
(including the puzzle graphics and files) may be reproduced for profit
without the express permission of Computer Enginering Services.

Chartered not-for-profit organizations are granted permission to
charge up to $5.00 for distribution costs.

PUZZLE WORKS is copyrighted and contains copyrighted material from
Microsoft Inc.

END of PLEA (I know; at last !)

========================== GAME DESCRIPTION ===========================

   After Puzzle Works has finished booting up and loading in the
   selected puzzle, all you have to do is put the puzzle together.

   The puzzle screen consists of a "work area" in which to assemble the
   puzzle and "scratch areas" to hold individual puzzle pieces for
   viewing. Individual puzzle pieces are moved from a scratch area
   into the work area "clicking" it onto a small cursor. Once a piece
   has been "clicked" to the locator, it may be moved anywhere in the
   work area. The locator may be clicked to and unclicked from any
   puzzle piece in the work area. The locator may be clicked to any
   piece and that piece may be removed from the work area and returned
   to the puzzle box for later recall.

   A "scoreboard" is provided to record the names of players, the
   puzzles they completed and the time to complete them. When
   Puzzle Works can not find any more pieces to call up (all pieces
   are in the work area), you may enter your name. The name of the
   puzzle and the time are automatically provided.

   The game keys consist of function keys F1 through F10 and the block
   of keys with Home, End, Page up, Page down and the 4 arrow keys.
   The F1 key will pop up a "help" screen. (A point of caution; the
   keys won't work if the NUMLOC is on.)

========================== GAME KEYS ==================================

             ------------  FUNCTION KEYS  ------------
   F1   Toggles the "HELP" screen on and off. When the HELP screen is
          on, no other keys are active.
   F2   Toggles a picture of the completed puzzle on and off the screen.
          When the picture of the completed puzzle is on the screen,
          most of the game keys are de-activated. The active game keys
          are those which allow puzzle pieces to be brought into and
          out of the "scratch areas". (Be careful, there is a small
          penalty in the use of this key.)
   F3   Returns a puzzle piece to the puzzle box. To return a piece to
          the box, the "locator" (small block cursor) must be "clicked"
          onto the piece first.
   F4   Suspends the game. The game clock is stopped. Striking any key
          will continue the game.
   F5   Calls up the "scoreboard". The scoreboard is used to hold the
          names of players who have completed a puzzle, the name of the
          puzzle and the time to complete. If there are any puzzle
          pieces in the puzzle box or in a scratch area, no entry can be
          If all of the pieces are in the work area and the scoreboard
          will not allow an entry, go back to the game and have Puzzle
          Works check the puzzle box again by trying to call up another
          piece.
   F6   Changes foreground color of the graphics.
   F7   Changes background color of the graphics.
   F8   Saves the current status of the puzzle work area. The puzzle
         status may be saved at any time. Once the status of a puzzle
         has been saved, the puzzle can be "rebuilt" instead of
         starting from scratch the next time this puzzle is selected.
         When the status of a puzzle is saved, the current status is
         copied over any previous current status for this particular
         puzzle.
   F9  Calls up the Puzzle Directory. The player may elect to start on
         a new puzzle at any time or change to another set of puzzles.
         When F9 is hit, Puzzle Works will wait for a selection.
         There are 2 default selections: EXIT GAME and NEW DIR. EXIT
         GAME does just that; no saving, no nothing, just goodby.
         NEW DIR allows the player to pause, insert a floppy with a
         different set of puzzles in to one of the floppy drives or to
         point to another sub-directory containing puzzle files.
   F10 Quit the game. On exit, the player is also given one last chance
         to save the game for later recall. The scoreboard is also saved
         at this time.

         ------------------  GAME KEYS -----------------------------
  HOME   "UNCLICKS" the "locator" from any puzzle piece it is "clicked"
            on. A puzzle piece can not be moved from a "scratch area"
            to the "locator" unless the locator is unclicked. (A small
            box at the bottom right of the screen indicates the locator
            status: white=clicked  blue=unclicked)
  END    Pops a puzzle piece from the puzzle box into the currently
            selected scratch box. The previous puzzle piece is returned
            to the puzzle box.
  PG UP  Select another scratch box as the active one. A vertical bar
            on the right border of the work area indicates which
            scratch box is currently selected. The scratch area at the
            lower, right corner has a special purpose. This area must
            be selected in order to click the locator to a puzzle
            piece in the work area.
  PG DN  Select another scratch box as the active box.
  ARROWS The 4 arrow keys are used to move the locator around in the
            work area if it is "unclicked" or to move a puzzle piece
            around in the work area if it is "clicked" to a piece.
  ENTER  If the locator is unclicked, click a puzzle piece in the
            currently active scratch box to the locator.
         If the locator is unclicked and the scratch box indicator
            is at the bottom, click the locator to the nearest
            puzzle piece in the work area.


========================= GAME FILES ================================

PUZZLE WORKS:
 Files for PUZZLE WORKS include:
   PUZZLE.EXE   The executable file for the game itself.
   SCOREBRD.DAT The ASCII text file for score keeping.
   GTEXT.BIN    A graphics character array.
 PUZZLE WORKS expects to find all of these files on the same sub-
  directory or floppy as the PUZZLE.EXE file.

PUZZLE FILES
  Each puzzle has a required set of 4 files and 2 optional files.
  The file names are the same (the name of the puzzle), only the
  extension changes.
    .PIC  A picture of the completed puzzle.
    .COR  Information on each puzzle piece.
    .DAT  Array specifications.
    .BIN  Puzzle pieces in the puzzle.
    .PCX  Created when a puzzle is saved (F8 key)
    .PZX     "

 PUZZLE WORKS requires a "DIRECTORY" to tell it what puzzles are on
 a given floppy or in a given sub-directory. The name of this file
 is PUZZLBOX.DIR. PUZZLE WORKS will ask for the drive or sub-directory
 name where this directory is. The directory is a simple, ASCII text
 file which may be modified by your favorite text editor ( in a non-
 document mode). If additional puzzles are purchased, the puzzle files
 for the new puzzles may be copied to the sub-directory (or floppy)
 with the current puzzles. When this is done, simply add the new
 puzzle names to the current directory (PUZZLBOX.DIR). Add only the
 puzzle name; do not include either the path name or the file
 name extension.  For example:

   OLD directory         NEW directory

   LOOKOUTP              LOOKOUTP
   COSMICTO              COSMICTO
   CITYCOUN              CITYCOUN
                         BLUBLANK
                         FREEART2

PUZZLE SET INDIVIDUAL PUZZLE NAMES (for the curious) -----------------

  -SET A -       -SET B -     -SET C -   -SET D -       with game
  BIGTOTEM       FREE1ART     LIMRICK1   POOLSIDE        COSMOSTO
  CSTMART1       BLIZZARD     MYTREES    PATTERN1        VASETIME
  LOOKOUTP       CITYCOUN     BLUBLANK   FUNMONEY        GORDON
  PLANESXX       THESPLAT     MISCFACE   FRUSTRAT        PHONEART
  MYCASTLE       CSTMART3     PATTERN2   FREEART2
  HURICANE
  MYGARDEN

CUSTOM or MADE-TO-ORDER ----------------------------------------------
No custom or made-to-order puzzles are planned at this time. The time
to generate custom art work would be too costly and the ability to
generate mail-order graphics close enough to a customer's expectation
can be elusive.
====================== END ============================================