Copyright: Copyright © 1995, Virgin Interactive Entertainment, Inc.   Thu Oct 05 20:31:28 1995


Contents
TriTryst Help

Objective

The goal of TriTryst is to remove tiles from the gameboard in sets of three or more.  Tiles are removed when at least three tiles of the same color are vertically or horizontally adjacent to each other.  Points are awarded based on the total number of tiles removed in a single play.

Wildcards match anything.  The only way to remove a blocker is by removing an adjacent tile.

Gamepieces

Each gamepiece consists of three tiles (under special conditions a gamepiece can have one or two tiles.)  Gamepieces can be straight or L-shaped.

Place gamepieces on unoccupied squares on the board.  Use the left mouse button to grab a gamepiece.  Use the right mouse button to rotate it.  Keyboard arrows also can be used to manipulate gamepieces (<Enter> places the piece and <Space> rotates it).

The Classic and Progressive Game

In the Classic Game, you may select any gameboard for play.  The game ends when no more gamepieces can be placed or time has expired.

In the Progressive Game, each board must be completed to progress to the next. Boards can be completed more quickly by removing more tiles at a time.  A bar at the bottom of the screen displays how much each placement advances you toward completion.  Your score grows with each completed board.

In both types of game, each new board may have different rules, including the frequency with which certain gamepieces and tiles appear.

Levels of Difficulty

Under Normal (Strategy) play, there is no time limit.  You are presented with three gamepieces at once, but only the top one may be selected.  The game ends when no more gamepieces can be placed.

Under Advanced (Arcade) play, gamepieces descend slowly from the top of the screen and stack until they reach the top of the gameboard, at which point the game is over.  The top gamepiece on the stack may be selected, or any of the falling pieces.

Both Classic and Progressive games can be played at either the Normal (Strategy) or Advanced (Arcade) difficulty level.

The Multiplayer Game

Up to four opponents can play against each other.  One player acts as the server and chooses the board to play on.  All boards appear on the screen, but each player can only place on their own board.  All boards are adjacent, sharing an edge.  Tiles on the edges of your neighbors’ boards count for purposes of removing three or more adjacent tiles of the same type.

When you remove tiles, blockers are placed on your opponents’ boards in a position mirroring the location of the cleared tiles.  Blockers are removed whenever you remove an adjacent tile.

Multiplayer games are always played at the Advanced (Arcade) level of difficulty.  All players receive the same gamepieces.  Play continues until only one player remains, but the winner is determined by the player with the highest score.  The winner chooses the next board.

The multiplayer game is available via network, serial port or modem.  Only a network game supports more than two players.  Players may not join a game already in progress.

Scoring

Points are awarded by removing tiles; the more of the same tiles per row or column at a time, the more points:

3 tiles 	100 points

4 tiles	250 points

5 tiles	500 points

6 tiles	1,000 points

7 tiles	2,000 points

The tile-point-total also is multiplied by the number of rows/columns, if more than one is removed at a time.

For example, 1 row of 3 tiles and 3 columns of  4, 5 and 6 tiles would earn:

( 100 + 250 + 500 + 1,000 ) * 4   =   7,400 points.

Bonus tiles accrue extra points depending on how quickly they are removed.  If matched and removed right when they are played, each bonus tile is worth 500 points.  Bonus tiles removed with the first gamepiece placement after they are played earn 250 points and on the second placement, 125.

In multiplayer games, the last player left with a playable board receives a 500 point bonus.

A “Best Score To Date” is shown at the beginning of every level.  “High Scores” under “Options” lists the five highest scores for Progressive games.

Options

An “Undo” command is available under “Options” and may be used to negate the last move made.  There is no penalty for using Undo in Normal (Strategy) games.  Undo is unavailable in Advanced (Arcade) style games, but a gamepiece may be rejected by attempting to place it off the board.  The rejected gamepiece will then appear next, but with a Blocker replacing one of its non-Blocker tiles.

Five different tilesets are available:  gems, pebbles, candies, leaves and butterflies.  The tileset can be changed with “Select Tileset” under “Options.”

The “Escape” key acts as a “boss key” and minimizes the window.

When you begin a Progressive game you can start on any previously played gameboard (press the “Select Start Level” button).  A fixed number of points is awarded for each gameboard you skip, but this amount is usually less than what you would earn by playing each gameboard.

Saving and Loading Games

TriTryst automatically remembers the last board you played in both Progressive and Classic games, and will return you to it the next time you play.

Multiple Progressive games also can be saved using “Save Progressive Game” under “Game.” Return to a saved game using “Load Progressive Game” under “Game.”  When you load a saved game you are returned to the beginning of the board you were playing when the game was saved.

Customizing the Game

You can create your own single-player board layouts using the “Customize Game” feature under “Options.”  Besides board layout, the following options can be configured for each board:

•	Board name.

•	Tile removal:  either three in a row or any three touching.

•	Difficulty level:  Normal (Strategy) or Advanced (Arcade).

•	Number of unique tiles that can appear.

•	Wildcard frequency.

•	Blocker frequency.

•	Bonus tile frequency.

•	L-shaped gamepiece frequency.

•	Double tile gamepiece frequency.

•	Single tile gamepiece frequency.

You can save your own board designs for later play.  These files also can be given to friends to play with their copy of TriTryst, with the “Export” and “Import” commands.

Troubleshooting

Call Virgin Technical Support if you encounter any difficulties in running TriTryst:

     714-833-1999  Mon - Fri  8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Time).