Copyright: Copyright © 1998 Cypress Lane Diversions, All Rights Reserved.
Citation: Copyright © 1998 Cypress Lane Diversions, All Rights Reserved.


Game Notes
Mah Jongg Wall

Game Notes

In the Preliminaries, the count starts with the East side of the Great Wall since the tiles originated in the Far East.

In keeping with Mah Jongg tradition, this game has East to the left and West to the right.  This is opposite of normal  compass markings.

When completing the Great Wall, always select the Joker first, (because if you are changing your mind about the first selection) selecting the Joker with the wrong partner highlighted will cost you a Pardon or mandatory forfeiture!

The larger area of the matting above each menu's Oriental painting is sometimes thought to represent heaven and the lower one earth; with the two occasionally referred to as the jade pools.

The Oriental mat Babcock Blue is named for Joseph P. Babcock, who imported Mah Jongg sets from China into the United States in the 1920's.

If you have all three Special Moves remaining after winning, it's known as a Perfect Game.

On the Final Cast of the dice in the Preliminaries, double ones is a Sleeping Dragon, considered good luck.

A one and a four on the Final Cast is a Winking Dragon.  The kind of luck this brings is left to the heavens!

Whenever the Loose Tiles' stacks are the same height, matching faces are called Siamese Twins.

The One of Bamboo, being the first tile of all the suits, is akin to a deck of cards' Ace of Spades.

Whenever you start a game over, shuffle Mountain tiles, forfeit to look under tiles, undo moves, or show any tiles or free pairs, that game becomes a Casual, or unofficial, game.

Games won by Casual play are not worthy of Master Chen Hai Yang's congratulations, nor his ancient and enlightening Chinese proverbs!

I hope you enjoy Mah Jongg Wall as much as I did creating it!

Russell Wilson
Cypress Lane Diversions
russell@cypresslane.com

July 1998

P.S. There is an Easter egg (hidden feature) in the About box.

Strategies next...


Game Pieces
Mah Jongg Wall

Game Pieces

The game pieces consist of 145 ancient Chinese Mah Jongg tiles with engraved bone faces dovetailed into bamboo backs, four thin Wind Discs, several long Bone Counters, and two small Chinese dice.  A more modern looking set is also included.

The Tiles

There are four of each tile - except for the Season tiles which only have two each, and the one and only Joker used to complete the Great Wall.

  1 Joker

The three suits are Bamboo, Circle, and Wan. Each suit is numbered from One to Nine, inclusive.

  4 each

  4 each

  4 each

The four Winds are East, South, West, and North.

  4 each

The four Seasons are Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter.  Each Season is associated with a different Wind as follows (their letter coloring matches) :  Spring - East, Summer - South, Autumn - West, and Winter - North.

  2 each

The three Dragons are Green, White, and Red.

  4 each

The Wind Discs

The four Wind Discs represent the directions East, South, West, and North.

  1 each

Note that East is left and West is right during play of this game.  This is opposite of normal  compass markings. This is in keeping with the traditional orientations in Mah Jongg.  During a game the lone face-up disc denotes the Prevailing Wind.

The Bone Counters

There are several long bone sticks used to keep track of the current Season, remaining Special Moves, and Pardons.  Others denote a Casual, unofficial game and a Forfeited game which allows looking under tiles.

  1 to 3 each

The Chinese Dice

Two small Chinese dice are used only during the Preliminaries to determine the Prevailing Wind, the Dead Tile, and the Loose Tiles.

  2 dice

Objective & Preliminaries next...


How To Register
Mah Jongg Wall

How To Register - US$19.95

Current registration options are at (or via the www menu):

http://www.cypresslane.com/mahjongg/register.html.

You must have a web browser and Internet connection to use the http:// links.

Cypress Lane Diversions uses the registration services of ARO Systems (formerly setSystems).  You will receive a key/code after your payment has been authorized.  Users registering via the Internet should receive their key/code via email in two business days or less, others could take longer.  If days go by and you don't receive your key/code then contact sales@setsystems.com (or phone them) and include your order number.

After you receive your key/code, click Register in the Register or Popup menus, About or Nag boxes, or opening title screen.  Then click the Register button on the form that comes up to enter your name and key/code.

ARO Systems accepts several different payment methods.  All payments made to ARO Systems must be made in U.S. Dollars drawn from U.S. Banks.  Payments made to ARO Systems with a credit card will appear on your statement based on your bank's payment cycle, and will appear on your statement as originating from ARO Systems.

You may order by credit card in any of the following ways.  You can also use a personal check, money order, or cashier's check via postal ordering.

1. On the Internet:

https://www.setsystems.com/cgi-bin/buy-mahjonggwall

(if this secure link causes an error message, then use

http://www.setsystems.com/cgi-bin/buy-mahjonggwall,

and click the secure version link at the top of its page)

You can order with a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover/Novus card over the World Wide Web using a secured form.  All information sent this way is encrypted using SSL technology for your protection.  This is the fastest way to order.  You will know within two minutes whether the order was approved.

2. Telephone:  REGISTER or KEY/CODE INQUIRY ONLY!

Please, do not contact ARO Systems for support of this software.  They will not be able to help you.  Please see the Support & FAQs page in this Help file.  Thanks!

North America:  Toll Free 1-888-201-7131

International:  1-805-284-2681

The toll-free phone line is open from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. (Eastern time), Monday through Saturday.  Outside of those hours, you may leave a message and a customer service representative will contact you the next business day.  If you are calling from North America, leave your name and a phone number, and your call will be returned.  If you are calling from outside of North America, leave your name and email address, and someone will respond by email to your message.

Please have all information requested by the registration form available so that we may expedite your order.  See the registration form below.  Orders placed by phone may take up to one business day to be processed.

3. FAX:  1-805-288-1867

When ordering by FAX, please provide the information requested below.  Orders placed by FAX may take up to one business day to be processed.

4. Email:  sales@setsystems.com

When ordering by email, please provide the information requested on the form below.  Orders placed by email may take up to one business day to be processed.

If you are familiar with PGP, you may encrypt and send your credit card order to us using our PGP Public Key.  We will then decrypt the order and process it manually.  If you prefer to order via email, this is the method that we recommend.  Our PGP Public Key is shown below.

-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

Version: 2.6.2

mQCNAzP7oK0AAAEEAMptpLWI7AhaZXI80SihnLkSnboaFlB/a2gyfAgIrCI6w5qr

AftV4Om5/2TJYGKUXEiYzjyhSf6VcPbrqc+F+FWQpyqBxpZXdETIUmxM3HBGpD3W

YnJwjE6Z5jQAKWZp3DKLglPM/fhPGGPVZZerRL28pTeiHKw396Mzx62ZjzR5AAUR

tCVzZXRTeXN0ZW1zIDxrZXltYXN0ZXJAc2V0c3lzdGVtcy5jb20+

=aG44

-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----

5. Postal Ordering:

Please include the complete payment in the form of a personal check, money order, or cashier's check.  Do not send cash.  Payments made by personal check will be held until the check clears.  Payments made with money orders or cashier's checks will be immediately fulfilled.

(Notepad should open 'OrderForm.txt' so you can fill it out and print/fax it.  You can copy & paste to your email software from here or Notepad.)

------------- copy everything below this line -------------

ARO Systems

24303 Walnut Street

Suite 200

Newhall, CA   91321-2900

USA

Mah Jongg Wall ORDER FORM -- for phone, fax, email, or postal orders

Your Name:

Email Address:

Billing Address (the address your credit card bill is sent to)

  Street:

  City:

  State/Province:

  Zip/Postal code:

  Country:

Mailing Address (if different than billing address)

  Street:

  City:

  State/Province:

  Zip/Postal code:

  Country:

Home Phone Number:                  Work Phone Number:

Credit Card Information

  Type (VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover):

  Account Number:

  Expiration Date:

Software to Order

  Title:  Mah Jongg Wall - registration key/code

  Price:  US$19.95

  AL residents please add 4% sales tax:  US$0.80 (80 cents)

  Total Dollar Amount:  US$

Where did you hear about "Mah Jongg Wall"?:

If payment is by credit card, please include the following language (and sign unless emailed):

I authorize ARO Systems to bill my credit card and agree to pay the total dollar amount according to card issuer agreement.

Signature _____________________________    Date _____________


Menus
Mah Jongg Wall

Menus

The Oriental paintings at the bottom of each menu are for ornamentation only.

File menu

   Open - load saved games

   Save - save current game (with same name as opened, or last save)

   Save As - save current game with a new name

   Exit - close the program

Game menu

   New Game - start a new game

   Shuffle Mountain Tiles - tiles randomly exchange positions

   Start All Over - start current game over

   Forfeit & Look Under Tiles - give up and look under tiles

Options menu (checkmarks mean you want that option)

   Game Sets

      Ancient Game Pieces - old and used looking

      Modern Game Pieces - modern and new looking

      Bigger Tiles (see Help FAQs) - how to make tiles bigger via Help file

   Witness The Preliminaries - watch each cast of dice

   Winnable New Games - new games setup with each stack having all different tiles (this does not mean you will win, just that no stack will have a matching pair stacked together)

   Oriental Playing Mats

      Any For New Games - any mat from the list for new games

      List of several mats

   Helpful Mouse Pointer (cursor)

      Use It - arrow changes to a pointing hand over free tiles, current Season & Loose Tiles, and any tiles in the Great Wall available for Special Moves

      Left Handed - for Lefties who have their mouse buttons/pointers reversed

   Music and Sound Effects (change volume with Windows Taskbar's speaker icon)

      Startup & Winning Themes - Oriental music during startup and for winner

      Queries, Notices, & Warning Gongs - gong alert for queries, etc.

      Tile Clicks & Thumps, or

      Background Music - select either or neither (uncheck both)

      Change Background Music - play next Oriental music track

   Queries, Notices, etc.

      "Do you really..." Queries - prevent unintended exit, new game, etc. mistakes

      "No More Free Pairs!" Notice - notifies you of no more free pairs for current Prevailing Wind only (not game over)

      "No More Moves!" Notice - notifies you of no more moves (game over!  see note below)

      "Begin Casual Play?" Warning - entering casual play warning

   At Startup

      Beginner's Tips - simple strategy tips for a beginner shown on title screen

      New Game - new game when program starts (checkmarking New Game disables Beginner's Tips)

   Fortune Cookie With Exit - fortune cookie when closing program

Show menu

   E-W Free Pairs - free pairs to the left and right highlighted

   N-S Free Pairs - free pairs toward top and bottom of screen highlighted

   Restackable Tiles - highlights restackable tiles

   Dragon Tiles - highlights Dragon tiles

Undo menu

   Undo Last Move - backup one move

   Set Undo Mark - mark current game position

   Goto Undo Mark - backup to marked game position

www menu (if online, your web browser should go to these web pages)

   Cypress Lane logo - home page

   Mah Jongg Wall Home Page - home page of this game

   Current Registration Options - how to register page might be more current

   Tech Support & FAQs - ask questions and read frequent answers

   Bug Reporting & Notices - report bugs and find out about any

Register menu

   Register (or Thank You!) - dialog box with all registration options (or thanks)

   Why Register? - brings up nag box with registration benefits

   How To Register - brings up the How to Register page in this Help file

Help menu

   Help Topics - Help's table of contents (or index of keywords)

   Support & FAQs - Support info. and Frequently Asked Questions

   Game Pieces - all the game's equipment

   How To Play - complete rules of the game

   Special Moves - all about the Special Moves

   Game Notes - extra details about the game from the author

   Strategies - learn how to win from Master Chen Hai Yang

   About - credits and other information about the program

Popup menu (click right mouse button in game window for this menu)

   About (or tile's name) - About box or name of tile (and nickname or association, if relevant) the mouse pointer is over

   Strategy - Help's Strategies section for current game situation, or tile right-clicked on, if relevant

   Undo Last Move - same as above

   Save - same as above

   (Change) Background Music - start (or change) background music

   Center Me - centers game's window

   Hide Me Now! - minimizes game's window, closes Help window, and mutes background music

Support & FAQs next...

Note:  If you get the "No More Moves!" notice but you know there are more moves then click Proceed.  Also, when this notice appears the current game is automatically saved as 'bug-notice.mjm' in the folder where the game (MahJonggWall.exe) is installed.  So, if you get the notice but there are more moves then, if possible, email it (as a file attachment with your email software) to support@cypresslane.com


Objective & Preliminaries
Mah Jongg Wall

Objective & Preliminaries

Objective

The main objective of the game is to remove enough matching pairs of tiles to complete the Great Wall.

You must also, not necessarily in this order, remove all Dragon tiles from the Mountain, and deduce the identity of the Dead Tile (by a process of elimination usually near the end of a game).

Preliminaries

Two casts of the dice determine how each new game is setup.  But first, a preliminary wall of randomly selected tiles is built, and the Wind Discs are placed face up in their proper positions.

The one Joker and all eight Season tiles are omitted from this part and always begin in the Mountain.

First Cast

The First Cast determines the Prevailing Wind.  Starting with the East side of the preliminary wall, remember East is to your left in this game, each side is counted, anti-clockwise, up to the dice total.

The Prevailing Wind

The Wind Disc on the side where the count stops remains face up and denotes the Prevailing Wind.  All other discs are turned face down.  Tiles are removed from the Mountain in the direction represented by the Prevailing Wind or its opposite.

If the Prevailing Wind is East, or West, then tiles must slide toward the left or right.  If the Prevailing Wind is North, or South, then tiles must slide toward the top or bottom of the screen.

Final Cast

The Final Cast determines the Dead Tile and the Loose Tiles.  Starting with the leftmost tile (as viewed from the side) on the side of the preliminary wall with the face up Wind Disc, each tile is counted, anti-clockwise, up to the total of both the First and Final Casts' totals.  The count continues around corners if necessary.

The Dead Tile, Dead End, and Live End

The tile where this count stops is the Dead Tile and remains face down throughout the entire game.  One of its three remaining duplicates must be paired with the Joker to complete the Great Wall and win the game.

The Dead Tile is also the Dead End of the Great Wall.  The Live End starts adjacent to the Dead End and continues around, anti-clockwise, with each tile added to the Great Wall.

The Loose Tiles

The four tiles before and the four after the Dead Tile are stacked face up, in two stacks, inside the preliminary wall.  These are the Loose Tiles and are used to replace, or change, the Season tiles in the Mountain.

The Mountain

The remaining tiles in the preliminary wall are shuffled along with the other unused tiles and then stacked, one to four tiles high and two to ten stacks wide, symmetrically, to form a Mountain of tiles.

Tiananmen Square

There is one exception, the Joker is always randomly placed as one of the 16 tiles in Tiananmen Square, the center  4x4 square of tiles in the Mountain's bottom layer.

Rules of Play next...


Overview of Play
Mah Jongg Wall

An Overview of Play

The objective of the game is to remove enough matching pairs of tiles to complete the Great Wall.  You must also remove all Dragons from the Mountain, and deduce the identity of the Dead Tile (by a process of elimination usually near the end of a game).

Conditions for each new game are setup with two casts of the dice during the Preliminaries. Like the Prevailing Wind (tile removal directions), the Loose Tiles (used to change the Seasons), and the Dead Tile (face down, unknown tile which begins the Great Wall) - one of its three duplicates must be paired with the Joker to complete the Great Wall.

During play, one tile from each removed matching pair is added to the Great Wall.  Season tiles must be changed.  Removal directions can be changed and tiles can be moved from one stack to an adjacent & lower stack by use of up to three Special Moves.  Pardons can be earned to avoid mandatory forfeiture if you end up having to guess which tile to pair up with the Joker and are wrong!

Winning without cheating (showing free pairs, etc.) earns the congratulations of Master Chen Hai Yang and one of his ancient Chinese proverbs (over 200 in all!).

Years of gold can not purchase a second of time.

Game Pieces next...


Rules of Play
Mah Jongg Wall

Rules of Play

Removing Tiles

Only free tiles are removed from the Mountain in matching pairs.  Matching pairs must be identical tiles except for the pair used to complete the Great Wall, which will be the Joker and any one of the three duplicates of the face down Dead Tile.

Free tiles are those on tops of stacks that can slide away from the Mountain without being blocked by other stacks of equal (or greater) height in its same row (East and West) or column (North and South) according to the directions denoted by the Prevailing Wind.

The Joker is only selectable when the Great Wall needs one more tile to complete it.

Select tiles by clicking on them with the mouse.  If a tile can slide out it will be highlighted.  Selecting the second matching tile will remove the pair.  To unhighlight a tile if you change your mind, select the same tile again or select a different tile (warning:  highlighting the Joker and then selecting another tile that is not the Joker's partner will cost you a Pardon or mandatory forfeiture as explained later).

Building the Great Wall

As matching pairs are removed, one of their tiles is added to the Great Wall's Live End in an anti-clockwise direction.  The other tile is discarded for the remainder of the game.

Dragon tiles are not added to the Great Wall, except with a Special Move (explained later), both tiles of a Dragon pair are discarded for the remainder of the game.

Tiles added to the Great Wall are layed face up unless they are the top tile of a Tower, these are layed face down.  There are two face up, side by side, tiles between Towers, except at the corners, where there is only one, and whenever the Dead Tile is between Towers.

The completed Great Wall requires a total of 60 tiles.  This includes 16 Towers (32 tiles) and 28 face up tiles, or 27 if the face down Dead Tile is between Towers.

Changing Seasons

Season tiles are not removed as matching pairs.  You must change, or replace, a Season tile with the top tile from one of the Loose Tile stacks.

Changes must be made in the natural repeating order of seasons:  Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.  But, the first Season changed is your choice.  For example, if the first Season you change is Summer then the order of changing Seasons is Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring, and then repeat.

To change Seasons, select the current Season tile and then select the top tile of a Loose Tile stack.  The current Season tile does not have to be free to select it, and is discarded for the remainder of the game after it's changed.

A bone counter above the Loose Tiles denotes the current Season.  The ANY SEASON bone counter means the current Season is your choice of any of the visible Season tiles.  Changing all Season tiles may not be necessary.

Turning the Loose Tile Stacks

The Loose Tiles are face up at the start of a game.  But, whenever the Joker in Tiananmen Square is revealed, each Loose Tile stack, if any, is turned face down.  Each stack remains in its original location, but its tiles will be in reverse order from top to bottom.

Special Moves next...


Special Moves
Mah Jongg Wall

Special Moves

Changing the Prevailing Wind and Restacking a Tile are special moves which require use of a face up tile in the Great Wall.  After a special move is completed, the tile in the Great Wall is discarded for the remainder of the game.  If this discard leaves a gap in the Great Wall then you must mend it (explained below).

Mending causes an additional pair to be needed in the Mountain in order to complete the Great Wall.  With each new game, the Mountain contains three pairs more than necessary to complete the Great Wall.  This allows three Special Moves, denoted by the three red pipped Bone Counters above the Loose Tiles.

Changing the Prevailing Wind

This special move enables you to change the directions of removing tiles, the Prevailing Wind.  Changing to its opposite will not change the directions of removing tiles, but it will affect restacking Wind tiles (explained below).

To change the Prevailing Wind, select a face up Wind tile in the Great Wall as the first selection (no other tiles highlighted).  The Wind selected cannot already have been the Prevailing Wind.  The Wind Disc for the new Prevailing Wind will be turned face up.  The disc denoting the previous Prevailing Wind and the Wind tile in the Great Wall are discarded for the remainder of the game.

Restacking  a Tile

This special move enables you to move a tile from one stack to another adjacent stack in the Mountain.  The tile to be restacked must be free and the adjacent stack must have fewer tiles (or none).

To restack a tile, select first the tile in the Mountain to be restacked, then select its face up duplicate in the Great Wall.  A dialog box will appear with buttons for valid directions.  After clicking on the desired button, the Mountain tile will be moved to the adjacent stack in the direction selected and the tile in the Great Wall will be discarded for the remainder of the game.

Special conditions exist for restacking Wind and Season tiles.  A Wind tile can only be restacked in the direction it represents or in the direction of the Prevailing Wind.  Each Season is associated with a different Wind:  Spring with East, Summer with South, Autumn with West, and Winter with North (these tiles have lettering of matching color).  The conditions for restacking a Season tile are the same as for its associated Wind tile.

Mending the Great Wall

Whenever a special move leaves a gap in the Great Wall you must mend it.  Obviously, no gap is left if the Live End's tile is selected when making a special move.

The Great Wall is mended by placing a tile into the gap either from its Live End or from the next pair removed from the Mountain.  A dialog box will appear with buttons for these options.  Sometimes there will be no free pairs, so only the Live End will be available.

If the next pair mends the Great Wall, one of its tiles fills the gap and the other is discarded for the remainder of the game as usual.  Seasons may be changed before removing the next pair.

Earning a Pardon

Near the end of a game, you may have to decide between multiple choices as to the identity of the Dead Tile (with only one being correct) if remaining stacks are not reduced to one tile.  Unless you have earned a Pardon, selecting the wrong tile to pair with the Joker when attempting to complete the Great Wall results in mandatory forfeiture of the game!

You earn a Pardon by mending with a Dragon tile.  Mending with the next pair (of Dragons) is the only time when a Dragon's tile can be added to the Great Wall.  This will cause an extra pair to remain in the Mountain if and when the Great Wall is completed (hint:  same is true if the Dead Tile is a Dragon!).

This extra pair could cause difficulties in deducing the identity of the Dead Tile and, therefore, earns a Pardon for you.  A bone counter with PARDON on it will be placed with the other bone counters, if any, to signify this.  Each wrong selection of the Joker's partner costs you one Pardon.

Game Notes next...


Strategies
Mah Jongg Wall

Strategies of Master Chen Hai Yang

Remember forever, young one:

Teachers open the door...
You enter by yourself.

Early Game
As early as possible, remove Winds that are not the same as the Prevailing Wind so they are between Towers.  This will allow you to change the Prevailing Wind when you run out of free pairs.

If both tiles of the current Season are visible at the same time, change the one that will gain the most advantageous moves.  This should produce more free pairs.

Removing a lot of the tiles above Tiananmen Square too early could reveal the Joker.  This would result in a lot of the Loose Tiles being turned face down, with the next several changed Seasons being unknowns.

Middle Game

If any Winds were placed between Towers during the early game, remove their duplicates into Towers now and later.  This will leave more room between Towers for tiles whose duplicates might need restacking later.

Remove almost all of the Dragon pairs, if possible.  You should leave one or two pairs until you know if you might need to earn a Pardon, or not, late in the game.  A Pardon will allow you to guess incorrectly about the Dead Tile's identity if you can't reduce all remaining stacks down to one tile to perform an easy process of elimination.

Late Game

Although you may have to change the Prevailing Wind sooner, almost always wait until late in a game to restack a tile.  Changing the Prevailing Wind will usually create more free pairs than restacking a tile, until the late game.

If the Joker is not free, try to remove those tiles that are blocking it.  If you know the Joker's partner and it is not free, try to remove those tiles blocking it also.  The last tile which completes the Great Wall must be from the pair of the Joker and one of the Dead Tile's duplicates.

Try to reduce any stacks down to one tile so you can easily deduce the Dead Tile's identity.  If all remaining stacks are down to one tile it becomes an easy process of elimination to determine the Dead Tile's identity.

Entire Game

Naturally, whenever there are no more free pairs in any directions you must restack a tile, or change a Season, if possible, to continue.  If there are no free pairs in the opposite directions of the current Prevailing Wind, don't waste a Special Move by changing the Prevailing Wind.

Whenever all four of the same tile are free at the same time, remove those into a Tower (or Towers) as soon as possible.  This will leave more room between Towers for tiles whose duplicates might need restacking later.

Whenever a free pair's duplicate is in the Great Wall, face up or known to be in a Tower, remove that pair into a Tower.  This, also, will leave more room between Towers for tiles whose duplicates might need restacking later.

Changing Seasons

The first Season changed should leave the most consecutive (visible) Seasons in order.  This could create more free pairs when Seasons are changed.

Try to leave two Loose Tile stacks, because when only one remains you have no choice when changing the current Season.  This will allow you to select the Loose Tile that will create the most advantageous moves after the current Season is changed.

Changing all the Seasons may not be necessary if you don't use all three Special Moves.  Each Special Move not used allows one Season to remain unchanged, although, changing a particular Season may be necessary to continue playing.

Restacking Tiles

Try to restack a tile that will free up another tile which has a free duplicate, especially if either one is on top of another tile.  This could in turn free up more tiles which you might be able to remove.

Also, be careful in which direction you restack a tile.  Unless you have no other choice, try not to block (or cover up) a tile that is already free.

Mending the Great Wall

Mend with the Live End tile if it's the bottom, or top, tile of a Tower and you want, or need, to save it.  This will allow for a possible Special Move later in the game.

Mend with the next pair if the Live End tile is the top, or bottom, of a Tower and you do not need to save it.  This will leave more room between Towers for tiles whose duplicates might need restacking later.

If there is a pair of Dragons free and you think you might need a Pardon, mend with the next pair (of Dragons).  A Pardon will allow you to guess incorrectly about the Dead Tile's identity if you can't reduce all remaining stacks down to one tile to perform an easy process of elimination.

May you play amidst sleeping dragons, young one...

Menus next...


Support & FAQs
Mah Jongg Wall

Support & FAQs

Support Information

Please read the FAQs before contacting Tech Support via:

support@cypresslane.com

Cypress Lane Tech Support

624 County Road 16

Fayette, AL  35555

USA

Frequently Asked Questions

(FAQs)

Q:  How can I make the tiles bigger?

A:  If your screen display is greater than 640 x 480 you can temporarily change it to 640 x 480 for bigger tiles and then change it back to your normal settings after you exit the game.  Here's how:

1. Click Start menu button, select Settings > Control Panel

2. Double-click Display icon

3. Click Settings tab

4. Move pointer under "Desktop area" to the left  until "640 x 480 pixels" is displayed

5. You can checkmark "Show settings icon on task bar" to access the display settings quicker via the Taskbar's tray

6. Click OK

You may be asked to confirm this change (or to restart your computer), so just keep clicking OK (Yes) if everything looks OK.  After you exit the game, you can reset the display to your normal settings (and a lot quicker if you have the Display icon in the Taskbar's tray)

Q:  I know there are more moves, but the computer will not let me select a matching pair.  Why not?

A:  If the Great Wall needs only one more tile to complete it you must select the Joker and one of the three duplicates of the face down Dead Tile (deduced by a process of elimination), and all Dragons must be removed from the Mountain before completing the Great Wall (you may not see some Dragons if they are buried under other tiles - hint: restack those if you can).

Q:  When I click on a Wind tile in the Great Wall the Prevailing Wind does not change.  Why not?

A:  First, you must have at least one Special Move bone counter (white stick with red pips only) remaining.  Second, the Wind you are clicking on can not already have been the Prevailing Wind.

Also, the Helpful Mouse Pointer (via the Options menu) will let you know which tiles you can select by changing from an arrow to a pointing hand whenever it's over free tiles, the current Season & Loose Tiles, and any tiles in the Great Wall available for Special Moves.

Q:  Why is there a trail of dice, etc. staying on the screen?

A:  The video hardware acceleration is set too fast.  Here's how to fix it:

1. Click Start menu button, select Settings > Control Panel

2. Double-click System icon

3. Click Performance tab, then Graphics button

4. Move pointer to the right of "Hardware acceleration" one or two notches to the left, but not all the way to the left

5. Click OK, then Close

6. Click Yes to restart computer (and then restart game)

Q:  I have Fortune Cookie With Exit checkmarked but when I close Mah Jongg Wall I don't get a fortune.  Why not?

A:  If you start the program and then close it without playing a game you don't get a fortune.

Q:  Why does the game crash (freeze up) my computer when background/startup/etc. music is playing?

A:  Your computer may be too slow and/or have an old motherboard (Pentiums are best).  If the background/startup/etc. music consistantly crashes/freezes your computer then you should just checkmark Tile Clicks & Thumps.

Q:  What should I do when the background/startup/etc. music messes up and continues to do so?

A:  Select Change Background Music from the Options or Popup menus.  If it is the startup music then uncheck Startup & Winning Themes in the Options menu and then checkmark it again (startup music will not restart).

Q:  Why do I not hear any music at startup or in the background?

A1: The wave (music-#.wav) files may be missing from the game's folder. If so, you can download this game's zip file again, unzip to a temporary folder, and then move the .wav files to the folder where this game is on your hard drive.

A2:  You may need more free RAM (quit other programs or add more memory).

A3:  Your computer's volume may be muted (click on the speaker icon in the Windows Taskbar to see if Mute is checkmarked).

A4:  Your computer may not have a wave (.wav) file output device, check your sound card's manual.  If your computer does not have this device you should get a notice confirming this when Mah Jongg Wall starts up.

Q:  Why does "Hide Me Now!" not turn off the background music in 256 color mode (on a 486)?

A:  We haven't found the answer to this one yet, sorry!

Q:  Sometimes "Hide Me Now!" does not close the game's Help window, why?

A:  If another program brought up the Help window then it may not allow the Help window to be closed, even if it is displaying the game's Help file.

Q:  Sometimes the Help window stays on top of the game window, why?

A:  Another program may have the Help Option Stay On Top checkmarked.  Click the Help's Options menu, then Keep Help On Top, then Not On Top to make it go behind the game's window (after clicking game window again).

Q:  How do I get the Windows Taskbar off the game screen in 640 x 480 mode?

A:  In the Windows Start menu, select Settings > Taskbar, then click the Options tab, then checkmark Always on top and Auto hide and click OK.  To get to the Taskbar after this, move the mouse pointer to the edge of the screen where the Taskbar used to be and it will pop up. (By the way, the game looks much better in 800 x 600 mode, though the game window is still 640 x 480.)

Q:  Why are there weird colored patches here and there in the game's window?

A:  If your Windows system colors (in 256 mode) are not the standard, you may experience this.

Support Information...