Xoltraan
Introduction

Xoltraan is a unique 78 card game remotely related to the game of Cribbage

File Name

Xoltraan ver 1.00r0 Sept 25, 1997

Author

Xoltraan was written by Alexander Smoljanovic of Calex Software.

You may direct questions, comments or requests via E-Mail:  smoljanovic@coolsite.net

Welcome  I hope you enjoy Xoltraan

Help is available for the following topics.

Game Play	Options

Music


Game Play

Description

Game Play:

The object of the game is to accumulate 200 points before the computer does. The game is divided in two stages per each deal.  Each player discards 2 cards to the Xoltraan every time the cards are dealt. The Xoltraan contains 4 cards when the discarding is complete.  The Xoltraan belongs to the Human during the 'Human's Xoltraan' and conversely belongs to the computer during the 'Computer's Xoltraan'.  The Human should try to keep the 4 Cards that accumulates the greatest points during the 'Human's Xoltraan'.  When discarding to the 'Computer's Xoltraan', the human should attempt to discard two cards which advantage the computer the least. After the Xoltraan is completed each player discards each of his 4 cards in turn to accumulate bonus points.  Bonus points accumulated during the discarding process belong to the human during the 'Human's Xoltraan and conversely belong to the computer during the 'Computer's Xoltraan.  Bonus points may be gained for each of the four sets of two card groupings.  Thus, a maximum of 16 bonus points may be gained each deal.  The human player must click on 'Count' to count all the cards in each hand after the bonus points are counted.  Owner of the Xoltraan counts points first and wins if points exceed the maximum before counting the opponents points.  The human must click 'Deal' to start the next hand after all points are counted.  Game is over when either player reaches or exceeds 200 points.  The 'Start Card' is used as a 5th card with each hand.

Notes:  The game is more difficult for the human if the 'Expert' option is selected in the options menu.

Each player starts out with 1 point for good luck.

Number of wins are stored and can be displayed on a graph by selecting 'View Stats' in the option menu.

The human's cards may be played using the keyboard by pressing the key corresponding to the card. The key numbers are displayed near each card. Pressing 'c' will count the points when the 'Count' button is enabled. Pressing 'd' will deal the cards when the 'Deal' button is enabled.

Rules/Points:

[1] Cards 2 to 10 equal their face value.  Jack=11  Queen=12  King=13  Ace=1

[2] Each pair (equally ranked cards) earns 2 points.

[3] Each set of two cards that equal 12, 14 or 16 points when combined earn 2 points.

[4] Examples:  A hand that contains two Jacks earn 2 points for the pair.  A hand that contains an 8 and a 6 earns 2 points because they add up to 14.  A hand that contains two 7's earn 4 points because it makes a pair and also adds up to 14.  A hand that contains 6, 6, 6, 8 in hand with a start card of 6 would accumulate 20 points.

[5] The points accumulated in the Xoltraan belong to the owner of the Xoltraan.

[6] The first player in each game is randomly assigned.


Options

Description

The Options menu allows you to change the way the game plays and looks.  Three-D effects may be turned on or off.  You may select any of 5 different wallpapers for a change of scenery.  You have the option to play background Music during play.  Comments on the right side of the screen may be turned on or off.  Sound effects for both the PC speaker or system sound card may be individually turned on or off.  You may enable or disable a built-in Screen Saver, turn it on, or set it to automatically start between 1 and 90 minutes.  Xoltraan attempts to resize itself automatically during a resolution change in an effort to utilize maximum screen area.

All options are automatically saved.


Music

Description

Selecting Music opens up a midi player, or focuses on the player if already open.  The player allows you to select any midi files that are available on your PC.The background music is automatically looped.  Clicking the pause button temporarily stops play.  Clicking the stop button stops play and kills the midi player.  The player is minimized once play begins.