Help Index

General

Game Board

Animal Select

Timer

Scoring

Commands

Skill

Winners

Help Menu

Toolbar

Toolbar Commands

Procedures

Build a Guess

Cry Uncle

Winners Box


For information on how to use Help, press F1 or select Using Help from the Help menu.


Animal Select

An animal is selected so that it becomes the target animal.  The target animal is placed on the game board over a green hole when the mouse cursor is moved to the destination green hole and the left mouse-button is pressed.

An animal is selected by moving the mouse cursor to the toolbar at the top of the screen.  Move the cursor over the desired animal and press the left mouse button.  The selected animal appears in a box on the right side of the screen.

An animal may only be placed on top of a green ball in the active column or over another animal in the active column.  The active column is identified by the pointing finger above the green balls.  It looks like this:

Animals are selected from the Toolbar


Game Board

MasterBrandy is a game of deduction played between one player and the computer.  The objective of the game is to guess the secret sequence of animals selected by the computer.  The player builds guesses one at a time and the computer will provide hints on how close the guess is to the computers selected set.

The game board is made up of two parts.  The first is the computers secret selection window and it is found on the left side of the screen.  The computer will randomly choose a set of animals and place them in a random sequence in the secret window.  The selection is not displayed until the player guesses the correct sequence of animals or the player Gives Up.

The second part of the game board is the players selection window.  Below is a cut-out of the players window.  It is made up of columns and rows.  Each column represents one potential guess.  Only one column is used at a time by a player.  The player replaces the green balls in a column with a set of selected target animals in a combination that may matches the computers secret selection.

The computer uses a clock timer to keep track of the length of time required to pick the correct sequence of animals.  The final score is based on the number of guesses and the length of time to arrive at the correct guess.

The top of the board is used to give HINTS. after each column is filled in.  Hints let the player know if one or more animals have been selected correctly and if one or more are in the correct position.  This is used to help the player make the next guess.


Help Menu

This option displays the help dialog (what you are viewing now)


Building A Guess

A Guess is a selected set of animals placed over all of the green balls in the active column.  After the entire column is filled in, the computer will compare the selected animals against the computers secret selection and provide HINTS on how close the guess is to the computers random selection.

The active column is identified by the hand pointing to a column of green balls.  The hand is pictured below.  This is the only column that animals may be placed in.

An animal is placed on a green ball by moving the mouse to the desired ball and pressing the left mouse button.  This will place the currently selected animal over the ball.  The current animal selection is displayed below the clock on the right side of the board.  It may be changed by selecting a new animal from the tool bar.


Give Up

The tool bar is used to Give Up on a game.  Press the Give Up button and the computers secret selection are displayed after stopping the game.

The Give Up  button is found on the top toolbar.  It looks like:  and should only be used as a last resort.


Winners Box

The Winners Box is displayed after completing the game.  If the players score is in the top-ten scores then the MasterBrandy quote box is used to record the Words of the Masters.

If the game is completed but the players score does not make it into the top echelon then a dialog is presented that will list the winning score.

The Top-Ten scores and Words of the Masters may be listed at any time be selecting Winners from the menu bar just above the tool bar.


Secrect Selection Window
Secret Selection Window

Is where the computer places the animal selection that the player will attempt to guess.  The window is on the left side of the screen.  It is covered until the player picks the correct animal sequence or Gives Up.


Skill Level

Select the level of play after selecting SKILL from the menu bar where:
Easy	Beginners mode	(4 rows x 10 columns, 6 animals)
Medium	A little tougher	(5 rows x 11 columns, 7 animals)
Med high	A contender	(5 rows x 12 columns, 8 animals)
Expert	Guru	(6 rows x 12 columns, 9 animals)


Hints

Hints are given by the computer after every column is completely filled in.  Hints are placed above the active column and are made up of white and/or black dots.

A white dot indicates that a correct animal was selected but placed on the wrong green ball.  Two white dots indicate two correct animals are in the wrong place, etc.

A black dot indicates that a correct animal was selected and placed on the correct green ball.  Two black dots indicate two correct animals are in the correct place, etc.


Timer Window

The game is timed by a clock that runs continuously and displays the number of seconds from the start of the game.  The clock appears in the upper right corner of the screen.

The clock is reset when the game is restarted using the restart button or when the Give Up  button is pressed.

Restar button.

Give Up button


Scoring

When the correct combination of animals has been selected the computer will provide a score.  The score is based on the following:

The number of columns used to filled in

The skill level

The number of seconds from the start of the game


Toolbar

The Toolbar is a row of buttons at the top of the main window which represent application commands and target animal selections. The currently selected target animal is framed at the right side of the screen.  Pressing an animal on the top tool bar causes a new animal to be selected.

Button	Action

The lion becomes the target animal

The cow becomes the target animal

The hippo becomes the target animal

The koala bear becomes the target

The mouse becomes the target animal

The mouse becomes the target animal

The mouse becomes the target animal

The mouse becomes the target animal

The mouse becomes the target animal

Reset timer and board.  New game

Give up, Winning combination displayed

Help, Help, Help!!!

End game and return to Windows


Reset Game

Pressing the Reset-Game button will cause:

The current game to end

The game is reset for a new game


Give Up

Pressing the Give-Up button will cause:

The current game to end

The computers Secret Window to be displayed

The game is reset for a new game