Shareware Overload/ShartewareOverload.cdr/games/wordplay.zip/WORDPLAY.DOC

Text File | 1986-07-04 | 19KB | 318 lines

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      WORDPLAY (c) 1986 Jerry Schonewille     version 1.01 July 3, 1986
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             This program is shipped with the following four files

                                WORDPLAY.COM
                                WORDPLAY.000
                                WORDPLAY.DOC
                                WORDPLAY.PUZ

     It may  be that by the time you get this game additional files with
     the 'PUZ'  extension are included.  It is also possible that a file
     "WORDPLAY.PRM' is  included.   The latter  is a parameter file that
     remembers how  the game was set up the last time it was played.  If
     it does  not exist then the program will create it for you.  Before
     you do  anything else  I suggest  you make  backup copies  of these
     files.

     This game  will run  on the  IBM-PC/XT/AT   and true clones equiped
     with a color graphics card.

     BACKGROUND

     Like many  of my friends, and apparently a lot of people across the
     country, I found myself becoming addicted to the "Wheel of Fortune"
     game on  television.   My addiction  was  related  to  solving  the
     puzzles.  Yes, I like watching Vanna White turn letters and I enjoy
     Pat Sajak's  charm but  I really didn't care who won the game and I
     certainly didn't  care who won the ceramic Dalmatian.  And how many
     people do  you know who would spend $14,000 for a watch?  Give me a
     break please!   I  just wanted  to solve the puzzle's.  To overcome
     these distractions  I began  video taping  the show and watching it
     later so  that I  could fast  forward through  all but  the  puzzle
     solving.  Having now reduced this game to it's basics , it occurred
     to me  that it should be a simple thing to write a computer program
     to do the puzzles.

     Well, it  wasn't that  simple but that's what I did and that's what
     this is.   Funny  thing, now  that I've  written it  I wish I could
     figure out how to get Vanna to turn the letters.

     THE PLAY

     If you're  like me  then you're  probably  tired  of  reading  this
     "document file" at this point and want to jump in and start playing
     the game.   I've  attempted to  write this  game so you can do just
     that.   Before you  do however,  please note  that in adapting 'The
     Wheel of  Fortune' to  the  computer    there  are  some  necessary
     variations should be aware of.  You might want to read the 'Getting
     Started' section as well.

     o  The focus  of this game is puzzle solving  rather than buying
        prizes.   While you  do accumulate  points (dollars)  in  the
        style of the TV game you does not pause to spend it on prizes
        after solving  a puzzle.   Nor  are there  commercial  breaks
        (except when  you quit  playing).   Accordingly, there are no
        bonus rounds  or other variations that show up when time runs
        out.  Every time a puzzle is solved a new one shows up.

     o  To maintain the spirit of competitiveness you have the option
        of setting up a game timer.  I suggest you keep the timer off
        until you  get the  feel of the game.  After that you can set
        it according to your skill, from an extremely  fast 5 seconds
        per move to an anemic 45 seconds per move.

     o  The TV show changes wheels after each game with progressively
        higher values  and increasing   risk  of loosing your turn or
        going bankrupt.   This  game   contains the  three  wheels as
        seen on  the nighttime  show and  it selects the first one at
        the start  of play.   Whenever  a puzzle  is solved  the next
        wheel is selected.  After all three wheels have been used the
        first one is selected and the cycle repeats.

     o  The wheel will spin continuously as long as you hold down the
        'SPIN' button.   Once  you release the button, the wheel slow
        down and  eventually come to a stop.  If you are playing with
        the timer  on, the wheel will slow down and stop by itself if
        you hold the 'spin' button down for more than 3 seconds.  The
        timer will pause while the wheel is spinning.

     o  Unlike the TV show  where diction is important to solving the
        puzzle, your ability to spell is required to win here.  Close
        doesn't count.   You have to be exact.  A former boss of mine
        once told  me that  if you  can't fix  it   FEATURE it.   The
        requirement that  you have  to be able to spell the puzzle as
        well as  pronounce it  is a  great educational  FEATURE.   It
        doesn't matter  if you  mix upper  and lower case letters and
        extraneous spaces  before,  after,  or  between  words  don't
        matter either.   But  you better get the letters right or you
        won't win.

     o  Whenever you  give a keyboard entry that is  inappropriate to
        the particular situation the program will either ignore it or
        give you  a friendly  message and then patiently wait for you
        to do  the right  thing.   Just keep  trying until you get it
        right.   That's how Pat would want it.  Note however, that if
        the timer is turned on, the clock keeps ticking away.

     o  You will  eventually get  tired  of the puzzles I've supplied
        with this  game and  want to create your own.  The reason the
        code for  this program is twice as big as it should have been
        and took  4 weeks  longer to  write than planned is because I
        decided at  the last minute to include a puzzle editor.  Once
        having made  that decision  I was faced with a moral dilemma.
        To be  effective I  felt the  editor should give you complete
        access to the puzzles.  In doing so, it leaves itself open to
        abuse by those who are inclined to cheat.  I finally reasoned
        that people  who enjoy  cheating probably wouldn't enjoy this
        game anyway.   I  won't try  to stop  them.   Should  you  be
        basically honest  but in  a moment  of weakness jump into the
        editor that's  Ok.   In doing  so however, you will find that
        when you  return to  the game everything will have been reset
        just as if you just started playing from scratch.

     GETTING STARTED

     The files  WORDPLAY.COM,  WORDPLAY.000,  and  WORDPLAY.PRM  (if  it
     exists) must  be in the same directory.  The puzzle file(s) - those
     with the  '.PUZ' filename  extension -  may be  in  any  directory,
     though you  will probably want to keep these in that same directory
     as well.   To  start the  game type WORDPLAY.  After a short pause,
     the length  of which will depend upon whether the program files are
     on floppy  disk, hard  disk, or  RAM disk,  you'll see  and hear  a
     little message  announcing who  wrote the  program, followed  a few
     second later  by a  program information  screen.   When you're done
     reading that,  or if you already read it before, just press any key
     to go  into the setup screen.  If you are a fast reader,  there may
     be a slight delay before the setup screen appears after you press a
     key.   The reason  is that  the program  is busy  at  work  in  the
     background creating some of the game screens you will see later on.

     The setup  screen will show you what the current default values are
     and allow  you to  change them before proceeding.    As will be the
     case for  all screens in this game, there is an information line at
     the bottom  that informs you of your options and what keys you need
     to press.  In most cases, the defaults will have been set by you in
     a previous  session (the  program remembers  what you did last time
     and stores  the information  in the WORDPLAY.PRM file) and there is
     no need  to change  them.   From this screen you can turn the sound
     effects ON  or OFF, set the duration of the timer - or turn it OFF,
     set the  number of  players and  their names,  define the  disk and
     directory where the puzzle file(s) is located, enter the editor, or
     play the game.

     THE GAME

     As you  jump into  the game several things  happen, and they happen
     quickly.   The game  screen appears,  the wheel  is spun  to get it
     ready for  action, and a player is selected to start the game.  You
     might be  overwhelmed by all this the first time you see it so lets
     review, slowly, the individual elements of the game screen.

     The upper  left hand  corner  contains  what  I  call  the  'prompt
     window'.  If somehow Pat Sajak could have been programmed into this
     a game  he would  appear in this prompt window.  The type of things
     that you  would normally  expect Pat  to say  will appear  in  this
     window.  Play the game for a while and you'll see what I mean.  The
     top bar of the prompt window informs you of how many puzzles are in
     the current  puzzle file  and how  many are available for use.  The
     game selects  a puzzle  at random,  and  once  it  is  solved  that
     particular puzzle  is marked.  It won't be used again until all the
     puzzles in  the file have been solved.  At that point all the marks
     are removed.  The prompt window also keeps track of elapsed time if
     you have the timer turned on.

     To the  right of  the 'prompt window' are the player boards.  There
     will be  one, two,  or three of these depending on how many players
     are playing the game.  The board corresponding to the active player
     (the player who's turn it is) will be highlighted by a unique color
     (red in  the current release).  Each player board is divided in two
     sections, the  top half  showing the  player name and his/her total
     account, the bottom  half showing the account for the current game.
     Whenever you  are awarded  a 'free-spin', that information is shown
     above your player board.

     Below the  prompt window  and player  boards is  the  puzzle  board
     itself.   Each letter  in the  puzzle is represented by a black box
     which is  filled in as you guess the letters.  The lower right hand
     corner of  the puzzle  board show  what type  of  puzzle  is  being
     played.

     To the right of all this  is the 'wheel'.  It's just like the wheel
     you see  on TV except that instead of having a top view, you get an
     end view.   You'll  quickly become  accustomed to this perspective.
     There are  pointers near  the top of the wheel corresponding to the
     number of  players.   Whenever you spin the wheel the ending square
     will be highlighted.

     As with  all screens,the  bottom contains  a help line.  During the
     course of play this line will keep you informed of your options for
     each situation.

     As you  begin choosing  letters a  line just above the puzzle board
     will keep you informed about which letters have been chosen so far.

     You can  quit the  game any  time by  pressing the <ESC> key.  This
     will place  you back  to the  setup screen.   From here you can re-
     enter the  game but  remember that  doing so  is just like starting
     from scratch.

     THE EDITOR

     It is  possible that  by the  time you  got  this  program  it  may
     include other  puzzle files.   The  editor imbedded  in the program
     allows you  to create  your own  puzzle files.   If you're proud of
     that file you can, and in fact are encouraged, to give a copy of it
     to the  next person  - just  as you  are encouraged  to  pass  this
     program along  to others.  The editor will automatically assign the
     filename extension of '.PUZ' to any puzzle file that you create and
     the program  will read/load  any puzzle file created by the editor.
     To my way of thinking, the more '.PUZ' files the better.

     You enter  the editor from the setup screen by pressing <F5>.  With
     the editor  you can add, change or delete puzzles, you can reformat
     them (change  the way  they appear on the puzzle board) and you can
     create you  own puzzle  files.  As with the game itself, I intended
     for the  editor to  be self-explanatory.  While on the one hand I'm
     pleased with  its power,  its friendliness and intuitiveness leaves
     something to  be desired.   I  have decided  to release  it in  its
     present  form  because  without  feedback  from  you  (i.e.  'user-
     supported') I'm  not sure  how to go about making it better.  It is
     fully functional  however, and  with some practice you will be able
     to master it.

     SOME THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

     The puzzle file name itself (without the .PUZ extension) is limited
     to 8  characters, a  restriction imposed  by MS-DOS/PC-DOS, not me.
     The editor automatically assigns the '.PUZ' extension so you do not
     need to  include it  in your  filename -  if you  do it  is ignored
     anyway.   To insure  the integrity  and consistency  of this game I
     request that  you name  your files  anything you  want,  given  the
     restrictions, but  leave the file WORDPLAY for me.  This is release
     1.00 of  WORDPLAY and as much as I've tried, it would be foolish to
     assume that it is bug-free.  Those of you ever involved with having
     to "debug"  a program  know that  step  one  is  to  duplicate  the
     sequence of events that caused the bug and step two is to eliminate
     the variables.   It  is for  this reason  that I request you do not
     modify WORDPLAY.PUZ.   Feel free however, to copy this file under a
     different name and do with it what you want.

     The editor  will not  allow you  to save  the puzzle file WORDPLAY.
     Those of  you who  are clever  will find  ways to  circumvent  this
     precaution but please bear in mind my reasons for asking you to not
     do so.

     About the  puzzle files  themselves,  each  can  store  up  to  250
     puzzles.   At the  start of  play the  entire puzzle file is loaded
     into memory  and one  of the  puzzle's is  randomly selected.  When
     that puzzle is solved, it is marked and will not be selected again.
     Another puzzle  is then  selected at  random and  the cycle repeats
     itself.   When you  quit the  game,  the  puzzle  file  is  updated
     (written to) to  indicate which puzzles have been used since it was
     loaded.   For this reason make sure that if your puzzles are stored
     on a  floppy that the floppy is in the drive when you end the game.
     Eventually, all  the puzzles  will have  been used  and  when  that
     happens, all  the puzzles  will be  automatically cleared  and made
     available for  use.  You can also clear all puzzles from within the
     editor should you so desire.

     The parameter file WORDPLAY.PRM is created or updated when you quit
     the game.   As  a result,  whenever you  start off a new session of
     WORDPLAY, you  will "default"  to the same environment that existed
     the last  time you  played.   The same  comments about  keeping the
     floppy in the drive when you quit apply here.

     It is possible to keep your puzzle file(s) in a different directory
     or even  a different  disk drive from the disk\directory containing
     WORDPLAY.COM.  Being a hard disk user I always want to see programs
     offer that  flexibility and I put it into all the programs I write.
     For this  game however,  there is  probably  is  no  need  to  take
     advantage of  this feature  and it  can cause confusion.  I suggest
     you keep  the puzzle(s)  and program  in the  same directory.   The
     program defaults to looking for puzzle files in the same disk drive
     and directory  from which  you started  the game.   If  you want to
     restore this  mode after  having changed  it then go into the setup
     screen and press <F5>.  In the next menu select either <F1> (change
     disk) or  <F2> (change  directory) and then just press <ENTER> when
     prompted.

     I COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT THEM

     It has  occurred to  me that  the development of this program would
     not  have   been  possible  if  it  were  not  for  a  few  things,
     circumstances, and people.  I would like to acknowledge them.

     My computer,  a ZENITH-151  PC  Clone  running  under  MS-DOS  2.11
     equipped with  10 Mb  hard disk, one 5 1/4" floppy, 640K RAM, color
     Graphics card,  and Hayes  1200 Baud Modem.  A steady workhorse and
     flawless performer.  State of the art just a few years ago, rapidly
     becoming obsolescent.  Isn't that the way with computers.

     The software,  Borland's  Turbo  Pascal  version  3.0.    The  best
     software value ever and a powerful program development tool for the
     PC.   I would  not have  attempted this  program nor  completed  it
     without TURBO.   If you are still programming in BASIC then you are
     inflicting needless  pain upon  yourself.   No, I'm  not a  Borland
     employee or  stockholder,  just  a  testimonial  from  a  satisfied
     customer -  though I  did long for an incremental compiler once the
     source code got beyond 2000 lines.

     My good  friends Amrish  Patel, Paul Hock, and Randy Proal who took
     the time  to give  me unbiased views, suggestions and encouragement
     from the  early stages of development to the final debugging state.
     I want  to single  out Randy  for both  his subtle  perspective and
     painstaking detail  that went into his analysis and suggestions.  I
     suspect I won't be getting that $10.00 from him.

     A long  time acquaintance  Jim DeRosa who turned me on years ago to
     the underground world of telecommunications and the evolving public
     domain software concept.

     Merv Griffin, Pat Sajak, and Vanna White - for obvious reasons.