Gin Rummy (Version 4.2) - READGIN.TXT ===================================== Introduction ------------ Gin Rummy is probably the best known member of the Rummy family of card games. You play against the computer, which can be set to use a number of different skill levels. At Champion and Master levels, the computer is hard to beat and provides a very challenging game. Customizable features include: Colors Sound effects MIDI music Speech synthesized messages Card backs Screen resolution and custom resizing Card sizes AutoMouse (moves mouse pointer automatically) Opponent skill level Rule variations System Requirements ------------------- To use Gin Rummy you need Microsoft Windows 3.1 and a mouse. Gin Rummy also has been tested with no problems under Windows '95. An Intel 486 class system or better with 8 megabytes or more of RAM is the optimum configuration. An Intel 386 class system with 4 megabytes of RAM is considered to be the minimum. Gin Rummy has not been evaluated on less capable systems, but should present no problems other than responsiveness and speed. You are recommended to take advantage of the comprehensive help file information in order to learn how to play Gin Rummy. Perhaps the best first step to learning Gin Rummy is to use the "Assistant | AutoPlay" option and watch the computer play against itself. Installation ------------ The installation requirements are that all supplied files reside in the same directory except that VBCTL3D.VBX and WSPLIB20.DLL are to be placed in the windows\system directory. Also, VBRUN300.DLL must be present in your path (typically in the windows\system directory). VBRUN300.DLL should be downloaded separately if you don't already have it on your system. To use the sound effects and Speak-To-Me capability, you must either have a sound card installed in your system, or have the speak.exe driver installed to use your system's regular speaker. Speak.exe is a freely distributed product from Microsoft, and is available on most online services and bulletin board systems. Gin Rummy is distributed with a few sound files, others may be obtained from libraries on most online services and bulletin board systems. To enable sound effects, you must check "Enable" from the "Sounds Effects" option under the "Configuration" menu. Remember to "Save Configuration" to make the setting permanent. Midi music files are not distributed with Gin Rummy for copyright reasons. You may acquire these from regular online sources. You will probably find canyon.mid in your Windows directory as this is distributed with Windows by Microsoft. Note that some systems are unable to handle midi music and other sounds at the same time. Registration ------------ Gin Rummy is shareware, and is fully functional. You may evaluate this program for a period of 21 days after which you must register it or remove it from your system. To not comply with this condition is a violation of United States and international copyright law. To register Gin Rummy, please use the printable order form under the "Help" menu of Gin Rummy. The cost of registration for the version you are currently evaluating is $15. If you are unable to print the order form, please make sure that you: 1. Specify that you are registering Gin Rummy 2. Include sales tax if you are a Massachusetts resident 3. Enclose a check drawn on a U.S. bank, or an international money order, for the correct amount, in U.S. funds, payable to Carol Bufton We return checks made out incorrectly, or drawn on a non-U.S. bank. You will receive your registration code by mail. The registration code is encoded from your name, so be sure to provide your name exactly as you wish to be registered. If you require a diskette (3½" only), add $5 making the total cost $20. The diskette version may contain a later version of Gin Rummy if improvements have been made since the release of your evaluation copy. Because we cannot track which versions are currently available at what locations, it is possible that Gin Rummy will have been updated since your evaluation copy unless you downloaded a recent version from CompuServe, America Online, or the MeggieSoft Games worldwide web site at: http://members.aol.com/meggiesoft Please allow 28 days for your registration to arrive, although every effort will be made to mail your registration within 5 days. Your registration code licenses you to use the version of Gin Rummy that you are currently evaluating, irrespective of which is the latest version currently available on America Online, CompuServe, our web site, or registered diskette. Your registration may also be valid for future versions as they become available. Note that Version 4 was not a free upgrade. Existing registered customers may upgrade and receive a new registration code for a fee of $8.00. See the "Upgrade" option under the "Help" menu. You may not share your registration code with others. Your registration permits you and other users to use Gin Rummy on any single-user computer system. You may also use Gin Rummy on any other computer system of which you are the primary user, such as a laptop. Distribution ------------ You may distribute Gin Rummy to others provided that you derive no revenue other than that associated with the act of distribution, provided you make it clear that Gin Rummy is shareware, and provided that you distribute the following, and only the following, files intact and unaltered: READGIN.TXT - This file GINRUMMY.EXE - The program GINRUMMY.HLP - The help file RUMCRD1.WMF - The small card images RUMCRD2.WMF - The regular card images RUMCRD3.WMF - The large card images RUMCRD4.WMF - The extra-large card images VBCTL3D.VBX - The Visual Basic 3D Effects extension WSPLIB20.DLL - The WinSpeech function library GENERAL.WSD - The WinSpeech dictionary USENM11A.WSF - The WinSpeech voice font VBRUN300.DLL - The Visual Basic Runtime (if desired) To the best of our knowledge, the wav sound files may also be distributed freely. Revision History ---------------- Version 1.x - Development versions. Version 2.0 - Beta test version Version 2.1 - First shareware release. Fully functional. Version 2.2 - Minor improvements and problem fixes. Version 2.3 - Improved opponent skill algorithms Version 3.0 - Custom card backs - "Trim Corners" - "AutoMouse - Dialogs" - "Series Scoring" 3.01 - Maintenance release 3.02 - Maintenance release Version 3.2 - "No Layoff On Gin" changed to "Layoff On Gin" - "Display Deadwood" - Expanded "Hint" - Double-click discard - "Check Meldable Discard" - "Check Missed Layoff" - "AutoSave" - "AutoStart" Version 3.3 - Trapping and ignoring a double-clicks - Manual arrangement of cards in player's hand - "No Sorting" - "Ace Can Meld High" - "Ellwood Gin" - "No Bell" - "Display Error Box" Version 4.0: Display - Enhanced 3D cosmetics for main display window, plus cleaner overall appearance and expanded use of status bar. - Almost all texts now displayed "unbolded" to be more consistent with the Windows '95 interface (and to make more room on the status bar). - Improved handling of "Large Fonts" display mode. - 3D-Effects updated to improve cosmetics when running under Windows '95. - Dialog background color can now be changed. This affects status bar displays, messages, and some information displays. This has been introduced primarily to assist sight-impaired users who find black on gray difficult to read. - Default dealing method is now card-by-card to add realism. A "Quick Deal" option is added to the "Configuration menu for users who prefer the previous "instant" display method. - New style dialog boxes now include "Assist" button when error messages are displayed in a dialog box. - New "On-Screen" scoresheet displays all round scores for the current game, plus the running totals for the current round and current game. - New color configuration facility showing changes on screen as they are previewed. - Other on-screen counters moved to status bar. - Scoremasts now display player name and opponent skill. - Gin Rummy main window is now dynamically resizable. - Enhanced configuration options now support four screen resolution sizes (640x480 to 1280x1024) plus custom resizing. - Enhanced configuration options now support four different card sizes (Small, Regular, Large, Extra Large). These can be set to change automatically with changes to the window size. - "Knock" display highlighting when Oklahoma rules are in effect and points will be doubled. - "Deadwood" display highlighting when deadwood count is displayed and player is able to knock. Interface - Added support for single-button and non-standard mouse properties by treating use of the ALT key with the left mouse button as being equivalent to the right mouse button. - Added "Drag and Drop" capabilities for moving cards between the stock, discard area, player's hand, and melds. - Added ability for player to set aside cards as a separate group to the right of the player's main hand. This permits meldable cards to be grouped separately from the main hand, for example. - The top card of the stock is now displayed when the mouse is clicked down and "taken" when the mouse button is released. This permits the user to view the card at their own pace. - New status bar button to invoke Assist! (instead of clicking on the status/error message). Assistant - Assistant menu now has "Recall" and "Deduce" options to display information based upon which cards have been seen by the player, and where. - Assistant menu now has "Show Distribution" option to display a map of all known (by the player) card positions. Sound - Added support for playing MIDI music files with single, repeat, cycle and random play options. - Added "shuffle" and "play card" sound effects. - Added "Speak-To-Me" synthesized speech capability (provided via PC Wholeware's WinSpeech program). Logic - Rewritten opponent logic for taking discards, knocking and discarding. Used by the opponent, AutoPlayer, and hint suggestions. The new logic is a little slower on the higher skill levels, but should be more challenging. - Improved Suggest (hint) facility which also allows automatic execution of the suggested sequence. Rules - "Must Gin" option requiring that one only knock when all ten cards can be laid down as melds. Miscellany - "AutoMouse" options moved to "Player" menu. - Enhanced AutoPlayer information displays of points in hand, etc. - Various minor improvements. - Some maintenance fixes. Price - The registration fee has increased to $15 ($20 with diskette) and a new registration coding introduced. Previous registration codes are not valid for this version. See the "Help" menu for an upgrade form. Version 4.01 - Maintenance release - Fixed problem with misreported player deadwood count. - Fixed problem with Ace not being able to be melded high by the player. - Fixed problem where Ace deadwood value was incorrectly calculated when Ace Can Be High is selected. - Fixed errors in help file (Rules Menu section) 4.02 - Maintenance release - Fixed problem with "cut for deal" display at larger screen resolution sizes. - Fixed the occasional "Invalid Property Value" problem caused by missing fonts. Gin Rummy will now warn of the condition, but text display will be ugly. - Fixed (hopefully) the occasional "Type Mismatch" problem. 4.03 - Maintenance release - Fixed problem with not allowing player to lay off all cards in hand when opponent has knocked. - Finally tracked down and fixed the "Type Mismatch" problem. - Improved handling of situation when "Speak-To-Me" is enabled when WinSpeech location is not correctly defined. - Altered shuffle method to overcome reports of same hands sometimes being redealt. - Added shuffle after cut for deal to ensure player doesn't take advantage of card positions in the deck. 4.04 - Maintenance release - Fixed problem where Hall Of Fame scores were not being correctly reported. 4.05 - Maintenance release - Corrected default WinSpeech program name to be "wspeech.exe". - Fixed problem where WinSpeech details were not correctly recovered after having been changed. - Fixed problem where Music details were sometimes not correctly updated after having been changed. - Display of cards dealt now in order (non-dealer receives first card) to improve realism. - Corrected window positioning when window size equals screen resolution setting. - Updated help file and order form to accomodate release of Pinochle. - Fixed problem of Hall Of Fame being incorrectly displayed when "Speak-To-Me" option is enabled. 4.06 - Maintenance release - Detects "Invalid File Format" message related to old VBCTL3D.VBX and directs user accordingly. - Detects invalid sound file definitions and ignores sound instead of giving "Bad File Name" message. - Fixed failure to show "True Corners" on some melded cards. 4.07 - Fixed problem where card display in player's hand was sometimes not correctly refreshed when highlighting and melding. Changed shuffle method to attempt to circumvent very rare reports of the same cards being dealt repeatedly. 4.08 - Tracked down and fixed reshuffle problem between rounds. Version 4.1 - Fixed problem of sometimes not detecting ability to layoff last card after opponent lay-down. - Fixed occasional problem of opponent declaring that it wants the discard and then either offering it to the player or taking a card from the stock. - Fixed problem of card sometimes not appearing in player's hand after electing to take discard refused by opponent. - Incorporated WinSpeech technology as an integral part of Gin Rummy. WinSpeech is licensed by MeggieSoft Games from PC WholeWare. - Speak-To-Me facility now includes ability to change pitch, tempo, and volume. - Changes to file selection facility for music and sound effect files. Version 4.2 - Added rule options for Run Melds and Rank Melds only. With these options, melds are respectively limited to runs or same rank only. - Improved handling when missing speech file is detected. - Fixed problem of abrupt exit from File Selector when a referenced directory has been removed. Frequently Asked Questions -------------------------- Q. In what programming language is Gin Rummy written? A. Microsoft Visual Basic. See the "For The Technically Curious" section of the help file for more information. Q. Where did the name "MeggieSoft Games" come from? A. See "Help | About" when running Gin Rummy. Q. Why do I get an "Invalid File Format" message when I try to run Gin Rummy? A. Because there is an older, and incompatible, version of VBCTL3D.VBX on your hard disk. Gin Rummy is loading this rather than the version distributed with Gin Rummy. Make sure that the copy of VBCTL3D.VBX distributed with this version is present in your \windows\system directory and make sure you delete any older copies of VBCTL3D.VBX which are on your system (possibly in the directory where you previously kept Gin Rummy, or your \windows directory). [If you have multiple programs on your system which use VBCTL3D.VBX and they require different versions of VBCTL3D.VBX, you can install a copy of the required version in the same directory as each program that requires it. Such a copy will be loaded in favor of the "central" copy in the /windows/system directory.] Q. Why does my mouse not work correctly in Gin Rummy? A. We have had a couple of reported instances of this problem, but we are unable to replicate it or guess at what the problem might be. One customer found that the problem disappeared when he upgraded from Microsoft Windows 3.1 to Windows for Workgroups 3.11. We therefore surmise that this problem is system configuration dependent in some way. Q. What happens if Gin Rummy causes system messages, "bombs out", or freezes? A. These problems are almost always to do with the way your system memory is configured or managed. Check that you have around 450K minimum of low memory available and that your memory manager (e.g., EMM386) is not causing the conflict. Gin Rummy is quite intensive in its use of system resources and runs on 99% of customers' systems without problems. However, sometimes such problems are reported, and all we can do is offer the advice noted here. Q. Why do I get white rectangles displayed where the cards should be (and other strange behavior)? A. Very occasionally we receive reports of this problem, which is a result of your graphics configuration not being able to load and/or display the card images. If your graphics card is manifesting such problems, try setting the number of colors it displays to 256, or even 16. Alas, there is little we can do about this situation without severely comprising Gin Rummy's display speed, since this is predicated upon holding relatively large card image maps in memory. However, you might find that an updated driver is available for your graphics card if you contact your system manufacturer. Q. Why do I get "subscript out of bounds" error messages and/or see Gin Rummy start to behave erratically? A. Gin Rummy is designed to respond to single mouse-clicks, not double-clicks. In earlier versions it was possible to trip Gin Rummy if it reacted to the second click before it had finished processing the first click. In versions 4.3 and later, Gin Rummy traps and ignores extra clicks when it is busy. Q. I have my graphics display set to "Large Fonts". Why are some of the fonts displayed smaller? A. Many graphics drivers (particularly for Windows 95) alter the Twips parameter of the display in order to display everything larger - not just the fonts. Gin Rummy compensates for this by shrinking some of the font sizes on those windows which display card images, particularly the main playing window. While this makes everything fit the result is not as attractive as when "Small Fonts" is the enabled graphics display mode. Q. How do I permanently change the default colors or card designs? A. Set up the screen as you want the defaults to be. Then select the "Save Configuration" choice from the "Configuration" menu. Consult the help file for more information. Q. Does Gin Rummy cheat by peeking at the player's cards? A. No! However, at the higher skill levels, Gin Rummy will remember what you have picked up from the discard pile, and will also make probability estimates of which unseen cards might be in your hand versus the stock. Q. Why didn't you respond to the suggestions for enhancement I made? A. Our first priority is to provide a quality game at the lowest possible price and this prevents us from entering into much personal correspondence. Most suggestions are incorporated into the next version of Gin Rummy. This is our way of responding positively to your suggestions. Q. Why don't you accept credit cards or online registrations through CompuServe, for example? A. Again, our first priority is to provide a quality game at the lowest possible price and thus we keep our overheads to a minimum. With respect to online registration, our customers obtain Gin Rummy from a wide variety of sources and it would be impractical for us to offer different registration means for each source. Q. I am a shareware distributor. How do I obtain permision to distribute Gin Rummy to my customers? A. As noted earlier in this file, permission is automatically granted provided you distribute only the files noted herein. Include VBRUN300.DLL if your customers might not otherwise have it on their systems. Q. I am a software developer. Are you able to share any of the Gin Rummy program code? A. No. All Gin Rummy code is proprietary to MeggieSoft Games, except for the third-party components which are described in the help file (in the section called "For The Technically Curious"). Q. Does MeggieSoft Games market any other games? A. Rummy 500 was our first offering, released in August 1994. We released Gin Rummy, our second product, in February 1995. Our third game is Pinochle which was first released in July 1996. See the help file for more details regarding Rummy 500 and Pinochle. Gin Rummy © MeggieSoft Games 1995, 1996. All Rights Reserved.