The World of Computer Software/World_Of_Computer_Software-02-387-Vol-3of3.iso/s/strabble.zip/STRABBLE.TEX

LaTeX Document | 1993-02-10 | 16KB | 280 lines

\documentstyle{article}
\title{STrabble\\User Manual}
\author{Warwick Allison}
\newcommand{\strabble}{{\bf STrabble}}
\newcommand{\scrabble}{{\bf Scrabble\copyright}}
\newcommand{\button}[1]{\framebox{\tiny #1}}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
\section{Overview}
    \strabble\ is similar to the crossword game \scrabble\ from Murfet (Australian version).
The primary difference being that this version can be played with just
one player --- against a computer.
    The initial release runs only on a {\bf monochrome monitor}.
    Due to the size of the dictionary, a 45000 word monster in a highly
sophisticated structure, this program will not execute on a machine with
less than {\bf one megabyte of memory}. A smaller dictionary will be made available
if any interest is shown.
\section{Quick clues}
    In order to let you avoid reading this manual, you can just take
note of these few clues:
\begin{itemize}
    \item Select \button{PLAYERS} from the \button{GAME} menu, then click on
        the top two \button{CPU3} buttons. Once you press \button{OKAY}, the
        two super-brainy computers will battle it out. Click on
        \button{END GAME} to stop them --- you will have to wait until
        they are not thinking.
    \item To play, click on tiles in the lower-left corner, then
        click-and-hold on the square of the board you want to
        put your word at, then drag in the direction you want to
        place the word.
\end{itemize}
    The program has many other features, so you should experiment with
the menu options.
    Some menu options may be disabled. This has {\em not} been done to
hide or disable features, it's just that these features have not been
implemented yet! Without doubt, those and many other features will be
implemented in due course --- keep an eye on your software source!
\section{Playing \strabble}
    \strabble\ is a game for up to six players. The game centres around
forming words from a group of letters, producing something like a crossword
puzzle display. If you are unfamiliar with the game of \scrabble, we
suggest you read the short description in section \ref{rules}, or better
still, buy the board game!
\subsection{Starting}
    The initial game setup is for one human player against a moderately
powerful computerised opponent, with both players given tiles. The human
player will be able to go first. We describe play from this point now, and
leave the description of changing the setup until later.
\subsection{Choosing your word}
    In the lower right side of the screen is a box, which we will call
the {\em edit box}, containing your seven tiles. The top seven squares form
an area we will call the {\em active} area. Immediately below the {\em active}
area is a small arrow, the {\em cursor}, pointing up at the {\em active} area. The bottom seven
squares --- which initially contain all seven of your tiles --- we will
call the {\em inactive} area.
    The {\em edit box} is used to choose the letters you intend to use
on the board. Clicking on different parts of the {\em edit box} will
produce different results. The actions are very intuitive, but we will
explain them all, to make sure you don't miss a useful one:
\begin{description}
    \item[Inactive area]
        You may either click on a tile or a
        blank space in the {\em Inactive} area.
        \begin{itemize}
            \item Clicking on a tile in the {\em inactive} area
                will cause it to be moved up into the {\em active} area,
                at the current position of the {\em cursor}.
            \item Clicking on a blank space in the {\em inactive} area
                will cause all of the tiles in the {\em active}
                area to be moved down into the {\em inactive} area.
        \end{itemize}
    \item[Active area]
        Clicking on a tile in the {\em active} area
        will cause it to be moved down into the {\em inactive} area,
        and the {\em cursor} to be moved to the point of
        removal.
    \item[Cursor]
        Clicking on the area just below the {\em active} area will
        move the cursor to that position --- but not past the end
        of the tiles in the {\em active} area.
\end{description}
    Also available, are {\em keyboard equivalents} for the above functions,
and these we list below:
\begin{description}
    \item[A to Z] Pressing a letter key will cause a tile with that
        letter to be moved into the {\em active} area. Of course,
        if your don't have such a letter in your {\em inactive} tile,
        nothing will happen.
    \item[Space] Pressing the space bar will move a {\em blank} tile into
        the {\em active} area, provided you have one.
    \item[Escape] Pressing ESC will cause all tiles from the {\em active}
        area to be moved into the {\em inactive} area.
    \item[$\leftarrow$ and $\rightarrow$] Pressing an arrow key will move the
        cursor, but not past either end of the {\em active} tiles.
    \item[Backspace] Pressing the backspace key will cause the tile
        to the left of the {\em cursor} position to be moved down
        into the {\em inactive} area.
    \item[Delete] Pressing the delete key will cause the tile to the
        right of the {\em cursor} position to be moved down into the
        {\em active} area.
\end{description}
    When choosing letters for your word, you will usually be intending
to use a letter or some letters on the board as part of the word. Just leave
those letters out of those you put in the {\em active} area, and they will
be filled in when you place your word.
\subsection{Placing your letters on the board}
    To place your word on the board, move the mouse pointer to the point
on the board where you want to place the first tile in your {\em active}
letters. Then click and drag in the direction you want the word to go --- a
rubber box will show you what your doing. Release the mouse button when
you have sufficiently described the direction you want.
    You {\em do not} have to drag a rubber box to the exact size of the
word you are placing, just enough to give an indication. If you just click
and release, your word will be placed acrosswards on the board.
    You {\em do not} have to worry too much, because if you misplace your
word, it will probably indicate rubbish words on the board, which the computer
will check and refuse.
\subsection{Automatic spell-checking}
    If you attempt (perhaps accidentally) to place a word on the board
which is not in the \strabble\ dictionary, the computer will display a
warning alert, allowing you to change your mind about the placement
by pressing the \button{CANCEL}, to ignore the fact that the word is nonsense
(\button{IGNORE}), or to actually add it to the dictionary (\button{ADD})! Unlike
\scrabble, there is no penalty for attempting to use a wrong word.
    The spell checking feature can be disabled by clicking on the
\button{CHECK SPELLING} button in the \button{OPTIONS} menu. You might
wish to do this just to experiment.
    The ability to add words to the dictionary can be disabled by clicking on the
\button{LOCK DICTIONARY} button in the \button{OPTIONS} menu. You might do
this when people who are unfamiliar with the game are playing.
\subsection{Swapping tiles}
    Occasionally you will not be able to think of a word to play because
of poor available tiles. You may swap from zero to all of your tiles with
new ones\footnote{not necessarily new --- if you are nearing the end of the
game, you may get the same tiles back!} by moving them into the {\em active}
area, then clicking on the \button{SWAP} button on the desktop. Some players
like to do this even when they can go, with a small score, in the hope of
collecting better letters --- for example if you have six E's and a C, you
might think you are better off swapping some of the E's for new tiles.
\subsection{Your new tiles}
    After playing your tiles, you will be given new ones to bring your
total back to seven. The next tile it is your turn, the new tiles will
be in the {\em active} section so that you know what they are. There are
only one hundred tiles available, so if there are insufficient tiles, then
you will be given as many as possible (see section \ref{endgame}).
\section{Loading and Saving games}
    Games can be loaded and saved freely. Two particular games are kept
recorded by the computer:
\begin{enumerate}
    \item The game with the highest combined score of all players.
    \item The game with the highest score for a single player.
\end{enumerate}
These two special games are stored as {\tt BESTGAME.SAV} and {\tt TOPSCORE.SAV}
respectively, and are stored in the {\tt DATA} directory. All other games
will be stored in the {\tt GAMES} directory --- unless you change the
path in the fileselector when you save them!
\strabble\ games are pretty important things, so the computer keeps track of
whether you have saved the game, so if you stand to lose it, you will be
warned and given the option of saving. For example, if you quit or attempt
to load another game without ending the current game, you will be warned.
{\em Please note that this feature is NOT one of those `dumb' ones where
the computer just mindlessly asks for confirmation} --- if the computer
says you haven't saved the game, then you haven't.
\section{The Dictionary}
    \strabble\ is supplied with a 45000 word dictionary to give the
excellent performance achieved by the computer opponents, to check your
spelling without annoying you with checks on words that are real, and to
let you peruse the dictionary to help you play.
\subsection{Searching for words}
    You may search the dictionary at any time by clicking on the
\button{SEARCH DICTIONARY} option under the \button{WORDS} menu. The window
you are given may be left on the screen, and moved around like any normal
GEM window. To use the dictionary, click in the area at the top, and type
your word just as you would with any normal edit line in a GEM dialog
box, with the exception that you must press RETURN before you can do anything
else\footnote{This must be done, because this is a {\em window}, rather than
the usual {\em form} --- forms cannot be moved around.}
    As well as simply typing a word to search for, you can also you
special characters (wild cards):
\begin{itemize}
    \item The character `{\tt *}' represents any 1 or more letters, except when
        used at the end of your word, when it means 0 or more.
    \item The character `{\tt ?}' represents any 1 letter.
\end{itemize}
for example:
\begin{description}
    \item[\tt HE*O] Matches HELLO, HERO, HERETO, and HEREUNTO.
    \item[\tt MO?SE] Matches MOOSE, MORSE, and MOUSE.
    \item[\tt P*TR??E] Matches just PROTRUDE.
\end{description}
    This feature is intended to help you with your game --- but you may
prefer to play against a less powerful computer and not use the dictionary.
In the original \scrabble\ game, the use of a dictionary was {\em strictly}
prohibited, but if the computer is using the dictionary then why shouldn't you?
\subsection{Changing the dictionary}
    Every so often, you will come up with a really good word, and the
computer will not know it. You will be allowed at that time to add the
word to the dictionary. You may also edit the dictionary at your leisure
by selecting the \button{EDIT WORDS} option in the \button{WORDS} menu.
You can add or delete words by typing the word then pressing the
appropriate button.
    This feature is very underdeveloped, because you really shouldn't
have to edit the dictionary. You should certainly be {\em very} careful
when removing words from the dictionary: Honestly, `zo' is a word; Just
because your dictionary does not have the word, don't delete it. Some of
the words are, admittedly, obscure. For example:
\begin{quote}
    {\bf alfa,} {\em n.} the name of a North African grass of the genus
        {\em Stipa}; also, its fiber, used in the manufacture of
        paper, baskets, etc. {\em Webster, 1960}\\
    {\bf zo, zho, {\em or} dzo} {\em n., pl.} {\bf zos, zhos, dzos
{\em or} zo, zho, dzo.} A Tibetan breed of cattle, developed by crossing
the yak with common cattle. [C20: from Tibetan] {\em Collins, 1981}
\end{quote}
So you think the Tibetans must play \scrabble\ too? Fancy breeding
cattle just to get rid of a Z!
    You may save the dictionary at any time, but if you have added (or removed)
words to the dictionary and you select \button{QUIT}, then you will be
warned, and given the opportunity to save the dictionary befure exiting.
\section{Rules of the Game}
\label{rules}
    In this section, we give a description of the game itself. If you
are unfamiliar with the game and you find this overly brief, then we
suggest you obtain a copy of the board game \scrabble.
\subsection{Allowable moves}
    The rules for \strabble\ are very simple, basically, you may place
any number of tiles on the board at once, provided:
\begin{itemize}
    \item They are in a straight line vertically or horizontally.
    \item Every word on the board is a real one after your turn.
    \item Your word does not go off the edges of the board.
    \item Your word touches another tile adjacently
        (diagonally does not count), unless you are the very first
        player, in which case, your word must cover the star in
        the middle of the board.
\end{itemize}
    All of these rules are enforced automatically.
\subsection{Scoring}
    You score points for every {\em new} word you make.
    If you place a tile on a square marked {\em Double Letter Score} or
{\em Triple Letter Score}, then that tile is worth double or triple its base
value in every word it forms part of.
    If you place a tile on a square marked {\em Double Word Score} or
{\em Triple Word Score}, then every word that tile forms part of will
be worth double or triple its base value.
    If a word covers more than one word-bonus square (two, but possibly three
--- unlikely), then the word will be worth the product of those bonuses.
    If you use all seven tiles from your collection in a sinlge move,
then you receive a bonus of fifty points on top of the total of all your words
you formed (it is not possible that this bonus be doubled or tripled).
    A blank --- which represents any letter chosen by the player who
originally used it --- has a base value of zero points, and thus is never
worth any points in total.
\subsection{At the end of the game}
\label{endgame}
    The game ends when the \button{END GAME} button in pressed, or when
one player uses all of his/her tiles and no more are available to replace them.
    When the game ends, the total base value of each players tiles is
{\em subtracted} from his/her score. If one player has no remaining tiles, then
that player has the total values of all opponents remaining tiles {\em added} to
his/her score.
    If all players are computerised, then they will end the game if
none of them can find a word, just as human players may do by pressing the
\button{END GAME} button.
\section{Installation}
    Place the two files {\tt STRABBLE.PRG} and {\tt STRABBLE.RSC}
somewhere on your disk (eg. in your games directory; on a blank floppy disk).
Then create a folder called {\tt DATA} and place all other files there. Then
create a folder called {\tt GAMES}, where your games will reside.
    The largest file in the distribution is one called {\tt DICT.DAT},
this is the dictionary. It can be placed in the {\tt DATA} directory, or
you may like to put it elsewhere (eg. in a data directory), because a number
of other programs by the author of \strabble\ will be able to use it too.
Simply set the environment variable {\tt STRDICT} to be the path
of the dictionary, eg. {\tt \verb"C:\DATA"} --- you may
need a special program to set environment variables, but we assume that if
you are using a hard disk, then you will probably already have this, if not
many public domain programs exist for the purpose.
\end{document}