Shareware Overload/ShartewareOverload.cdr/games/whatsit.zip/WHATARC1.EXE/lha/RULES

Text File | 1990-02-15 | 8KB | 136 lines

OBJECTIVE:
The objective of WHAT IS IT is to discover what lies underneath the numbered
tiles of the game board.  The "IT" is a pixelized picture of something common
or uncommon, real or imaginary.

GAME BOARD:
The board is comprised of five active areas, the clock, the wheel, the active
player area, the tile board, and the conversation block.  A transient area,
the dialogue box, will open up temporarily in the center of the screen as
required by the program.  The dialogue box is used by the program to give the
player directions, clues or input certain game parameters.

THE CLOCK has two modes of operation.  The player(s) may choose to play against
the clock or play an untimed game.  If a timed game is selected, the player(s)
set the amount of time to deduce the "IT".  The clock will keep track of game
time and halt play when time has expired.  If the player(s) do not want to
'beat-the-clock', the clock displays the current time.

THE WHEEL is used by a player to take a chance during game play.  The wheel
is selected by moving the highlight to the wheel and pressing the action
button.  Once selected, the wheel will move a random number of spots.  One of
eight possible game plays will be selected:

   FREE TURN   The player will be given a free turn coin.  He/She may use
               the coin to extend his/her turn.  The coin cannot be used
               to regain a lost turn.  A player may accumulate two FREE
               TURN coins.  FREE TURN will not end the players current turn.
   LOSE TURN   The players turn is terminated and he/she loses his/her next
               turn as well.
   FREE SQUARE The player is awarded with one random picture tile.  The
               players turn continues.
   LOSE SQUARE One of the displayed picture tiles is blacked out and cannot
               be recovered for the duration of play.  The players turn
               is ended.
   PEEK        The computer will randomly pick 10 numbered tiles and briefly
               show the fruit type behind that numbered tile.  The players
               turn continues and he/she may turn over any matches that PEEK
               reveals.
   MIX UP      The computer will shuffle the fruits behind the numbered
               tiles when this play is activated.  Beware, MIX UP replaces
               used skulls and jokers in the game board.  This play ends the
               players turn.
   TURN OVER   When this play is evoked, the "WHAT" picture is flipped upside
               down.  The "WHAT" picture may already be upside down, so this
               function can right the picture as well.  The players turn is
               over upon completion of the flipping.
   CLUE        This position of the WHEEL yields a clue to the "WHAT" picture.
               There are eight possible clues for every "WHAT" picture.  The
               player retains his/her turn.

The ACTIVE PLAYER area is directly below the wheel.  This area shows which
player is up.  The ACTIVE PLAYER area also displays whether or not the player
has any FREE TURN coins.

The TILE BOARD is where the "WHAT" picture is hidden.  The board contains
48 numbered tiles.  Underneath the numbered tiles are eleven different fruits,
two skulls and two jokers.  Underneath the fruits and jokers are the picture
tiles.  To display the picture tiles, the player must match two fruits or a
fruit and a joker during his turn.  Making a match perpetuates the players
turn.  If the player uncovers a skull during his turn, the selected squares
are blacked out for the duration of the game.  A skull takes precedence over
a joker.  Therefore a skull and joker match will result in those tiles being
blacked out. If a player selects a skull, his turn is lost.

The CONVERSATION BOX is used to accept players input.  The player may either
win the game or obtain a clue to the "WHAT" picture by posing a question to
the program in the CONVERSATION BOX.  The CONVERSATION BOX is activated by
highlighting the box and pressing the action button.  Once activated, a red
arrow will prompt the player for input.  The player may pose any question to
the program.  If the question is true of the picture, the players retains his
turn, if not, the player loses his turn.  However, if the program understands
your question, a clue will be given.  When the player correctly guesses what
the picture is, the game ends.

A short note about the conversation box.  This part of the program interprets
typed English sentences.  English is one confusing language! And the
translator in "WHAT IS IT" is primitive at best.  So, please be tolerant and
note the following:
   o  It is of the utmost importance to get the first three letters of your
      keyword spelled correctly.  If you don't do this, you haven't got a
      prayer of a chance getting this translator to understand you.
   o  The translator chooses the first keyword it recognizes to operate on.
      So if you say, "Its a view of a meadow".  The translator will recognize
      'view' and respond back "Sure it's a view, but of what?" The best way to
      work with this translator is to type very short sentences.
   o  The translator will sometimes say you've misspelled the keyword, when
      you haven't.  For example, if the picture is of a 'jump rope', and you
      type 'jumping rope', it may interpret that as a misspelling.  On these
      occasions, a programmed panel of judges flip a coin and decide to grant
      you the clue or not.  Either way, you will know that you're on the right
      track to a keyword that is in the program memory.
   o  Each "WHAT" picture contains less than 300 keywords.  So in order to be
      successful with this part of the program, start with very generic
      questions and zero in on the "IT".  For example, a very good first
      question would be "Is it alive (dead)?" or "Is it real (imaginary)?"
      or "Is it big(small)".

PLAY:
Game play consists of players taking turns at trying to discover "WHAT" is
hidden.  The player may opt to either match two fruits to uncover picture
tiles, take a chance at the WHEEL, or ask a question of the program pertaining
to the "WHAT" picture.  As long as the player is successful in his/her play,
his/her turn will continue.  Play continues in sequence until one player can
identify the "WHAT" picture.

THE PROGRAM:
The program consists of three parts.  The opening screen, the option screen
and the game.  The opening screen displays the COMPASS SYSTEMS and WHAT IS IT
logos.  The option screen is used by the player to setup the various options
of game play.

In the options screen the player may select a timed or untimed game, number
of players and player IDs, CPU type, sound and input device.  The option
screen also performs simple tasks such as saving/retrieving the setup
configuration, displaying this file, entering the game or exiting to DOS.

Once a setup configuration file is saved, the opening and options screens may
be bypassed by executing the program with    C:>WHAT S   instead of C:>WHAT
The "S" will tell the program to skip all the overhead and go right to the
game.  The opening screen can also be shorten considerably by typing any
character during the first "Please Wait" message.

Once in the game, the program will try and load an unseen "WHAT" picture file.
If there are no unseen files the players are notified.  If the players opt to
continue, the program will randomly select a "WHAT" file and load it.  The
program will continue to play until the players elect to exit to DOS.

During the game the player has several active function keys, these are:
     F1    :  Displays a list of all active function keys.
     F2    :  Set game speed
     F5    :  Centers the joy-stick  (Some joy-sticks drift and require to
              be recalibrated periodically).
     F9    :  Turn sound on/off
     F10   :  Exit to DOS

End of RULES