Swap-N-Drop
Version B1.0 ã2002 By Randall R. Hawley
Hawley R & D
How to Play
When the game is started, you are presented with a board of 8 rows by 8 columns, with each space occupied by one of seven different kinds of stones.

The object of the game is to score points by forming groups of three (3) or more of the same stone adjacent to each other, either vertically or horizontally.  When a group is formed, it is scored and removed from the board.  The stones above the group then “roll down” to fill in the holes, and new stones are added at the top to fill the board.  If there are additional groups formed by the roll-down, then these groups are scored (at a multiple of the normal score).

Forming a Set
To form a set, select a stone by clicking on it.  It will show that it is selected by a mark that will appear around it.  Then click on a stone that is next to it on either side or above it or below it.  The stone you selected and the second stone will exchange places.  If no set is formed, the stones will return to their original places.  If a set is formed, it will be scored.

To de-select the stone you have selected, click on it again.

Hint
If you can’t find a move, click on the “Hint” button.  A mark will appear briefly on a stone that can be moved to form a set.  This will not necessarily be a stone that will be part of the set, but it will be on a stone that can be moved to cause a set to be formed.  WARNING: Using the Hint button costs you points.  If you score goes below the minimum score for the current level, you game will END.  Hints cost points at a rate of 30 points per current level.

Scoring Sets
Sets are scored according to how many stones are in a set:
Stones	Score	
3	30	
4	50	
5	100	
6 & up	200	

Multiplied by the roll-down level:
Roll-down level	Multiplier	
(Original Move)	1	
1	2	
2	3	
3	4	

Levels and Bonus Scoring
Levels and bonus scoring advance according to the following table:
Level and Bonus Scoring	
Level	Score Range	Bonus	
1	0-1000	5	
2	1000-2500	10	
3	2500-4500	15	
4	4500-7000	20	
5	7000-10000	25	
6 & up	(+3000/level)	25	

Bonus scores at the end of a level.  When you have amassed enough points to advance to the next level, you score bonus points for each of the stones remaining that are of the same type as shown in the bonus panel to the left of the board.  As each bonus stone is scored, it is removed from the board.  After all bonus stones are scored, the board is filled by roll-down, and sets formed are scored as if a match had been made.

End of Game
There are two ways to reach the end of a game: No moves possible, and breaking level minimum.  If after a move and subsequent roll-down, there are no possible moves left, the game is over.  If you request a hint, and the cost of the hint reduces your points to less than the minimum for the current level, your game is over.

High Scores
To show the high scores, click on the “High_Scores” menu item.  To close the High Scores display, click on the “OK” button.

Your score is checked against the high score list when you reach the end of a game.  If you make the board, you can enter your name next to your score.

Setting the Options
In later versions of this game, I plan to add the capability to use your own icons and sounds, and to allow them to be saved as sets to be loaded in (kinda like desktop themes, except Swap-N-Drop themes).  This capability is not available in this version of the game.

Problems
There are no known bugs in this version of the game.  Sometimes a selection doesn’t get made when you click on a stone.  Just try again.  This is a problem with the programming language I am using, and I can’t fix it yet.

Thanks to:
My wife Debbie, for her patience with me through this project, her encouragement, and her extensive “Beta Testing”.
My son Jimmy, for his encouragement.

The Story:
I collect high-quality free software (freeware), software that is free to use.  My wife Debbie likes arcade-like computer games.  So occasionally I surf the web looking for freeware games.

One particular day, I noticed that Yahoo! was advertising a new game called “Diamond Mine” for free download.  It looked interesting, so I checked it out.  You could play a sort of “preview” web version, and also download the “full” version.  It was pretty cool on the web version, so I went to the download page. Realizing that Yahoo! is a commercial site, I carefully looked over the information about the downloadable software for indications that money would need to be exchanged to use this software.  The only words I could find anywhere were “Free”.  In fact, the word free was all over this site.

So, I downloaded the free software.  It played great.  There were nag screens asking you to “register” the software, but I wasn’t interested in doing this because I already get enough spam E-Mail.  By this time, it was late at night, so I decided I would show my wife her little “present” the following evening after work.  She was very pleased with the game – it was what she called “very addictive”.  She began playing, and kept playing for a while, ignoring the nag screens.

After a few days, enough time for my wife and myself to get thoroughly “addicted” to this game, suddenly it pops up and says that we MUST register this game to keep playing.  Well, it turns out that to register, we have to pay $20 !!!  That made me mad, because the website had said “Free” and never said anything about paying for the software.

Then an idea hit me:  The basic parts of the game are pretty simple, I could program a similar game myself!  The core functions of the game were not beyond the capabilities of the version Visual Basic I use.  So why not?  I dug in that night and Swap-N-Drop was born.

About Freeware
This software is free, however, copyright is not released.  You may copy this software freely, as long as this “Help and About” information and the copyright notification is not altered.

If you would like to help support the author and aid in the further development of this utility (it could be made much more useful and cool), please send a check or money order for $5.00 US to:

Randy Hawley
384 Seabreeze Circle
Avon IN  46123