This game is freeware. Please enjoy the program and share it with others. If you give it to someone else (or post it on a bulletin board service), be sure to include the three files:
FREECELL.EXE The program itself.
FREECELL.DOC The documentation (this file).
FREECELL.ICN The icon.
Please let me know what you think of this game, or if you have suggestions to make it better.
Curtis Cameron
freewhl44@aol.com
1520 Glastonbury Dr
Plano, TX 75075
How to play FreeCell ---------------------------------
FreeCell is a solitaire game in which the object is to build up the four foundation (suit) piles from ace to king. Initially, all the cards are dealt on the tableau in eight stacks. Cards can be moved one at a time from stack to stack so that the stacks are built down in descending order and alternating color. FreeCell seems very difficult at first, but every game can be won. If you have trouble, you can back up and try a different approach.
There are also four cells which can hold one card each, and can be used for temporary storage while arranging the stacks. As a shortcut, the number of cards which may be moved at once from one stack to another is one plus the number of free cells. This is because that number of cards could be moved one at a time, using those free cells temporarily.
Cards are played to the foundations beginning with aces, but you don't have to play to the foundation as soon as it is possible. Sometimes, it's advantageous to keep a card in a tableau stack, to provide a place to play a lower card.
If a stack is emptied, you may play any card there.
Playing the game on the Palmtop --------------------------
The controls to play the game are designed to be easy to use. To move cards, simply hit the F-key that corresponds to the source, then the F-key of the destination. The seven tableau stacks are F3 to F10, and the four foundation or suit stacks are the F1 key, but you can also play any card to the foundations by double-clicking the source key. Designate the cells with the F2 key.
If you choose the cell area as the source of a move, the game will try to find a card in the cell area that is appropriate to be played at the destination. If there is more than one card that could be played there, it will pick the left-most. If you would like to select another one, use the left / right keys after hitting F2 to highlight the card you want. If you are playing a cell to an empty stack, the game will try to find a king to play there if you haven't hit a left or right key after F2. If you want to override its selection, just use the left and right keys to pick your own card.
If you're moving cards from a stack to an empty stack, then it's not obvious how many cards you would like to move. As the default, it will move as many as it can given the order of the cards and the number of free cells. If you would like a different number, use the up / down keys to highlight that many cards after selecting the source stack.
If you ever want to back up, you can use the backspace key to undo the previous 200 moves.
This game has something I call Smart Auto-play, which will automatically play a card to the foundation pile if playing that card is a "no-brainer." If a card could possibly be useful to hold another card on the tableau, it won't be automatically played. If you would like to play it anyway (which could be the best strategy), you are free to do that. If it is busy auto-playing several cards and you would like to interrupt it, hit any key.
Tips for Running the game on the Palmtop -----------------
FreeCell is a DOS program which is written only for the HP 100LX and 200LX Palmtops. DOS applications can be run at the same time as the other System Manager Compliant applications, but you may have only one DOS program running at a time. You may switch to another app by hitting its blue key just as you always do. To get back, you can either start DOS from App Manager, or hit Ctrl-123. You can't just go to App Manager and ask it to start FreeCell again.
FreeCell can be run by opening the filer application, moving the cursor to the FREECELL.EXE file, and hitting Enter. The easier way is to install it into your App Manager:
1. Start App Manager by hitting the blue "More" key.
2. Hit F2 to add an icon.
3. Enter the name you would like to appear for the program in the Name field, then Tab to the next field.
4. In the Path field, type in the full path name of the exe file, including the .exe extension, then add the "|" (shift-backslash) character, and 60, like this:
Path: c:\games\freecell.exe|70
The 70 tells app manager to give the program 70K of memory to run in. If you have lots of memory being used by TSR's that get loaded in your config.sys and autoexec.bat files, you may need to increase this number.
5. In the comments line you can put a "¿" character (Fn-3) to have it skip the "press any key..." message when FreeCell exits.
6. Tab to the Icon area and select an icon. Then hit F10.
