The Game Master (3rd Edition)

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Text File | 1990-11-23 | 30KB | 704 lines

Scramble version 1.0 copyright (c) 1990 Diana Gruber Hardware Requirements _____________________ Since most people don't read the documentation unless a program doesn't work, I am putting this section first. Here is what you need to play Scramble: You need some kind of a DOS compatible machine (XT, AT, 80386, etc) with an EGA or VGA card and an EGA, VGA or multisync monitor. This program will not run on a Tandy 1000 series computer. It will not run on a PS/2 model 30 or below. It will not run on a system with CGA or monochrome graphics. It will not run on an AT&T EGA system. It will only run on a computer that is fully compatible with the IBM EGA standard. If you have downloaded this program and tried to run it, and you discovered to your dismay that it will not run on your system, all I can say is I am sorry. This program will not be rewritten to work on your system. It is an EGA game, and it will always be an EGA game. Optional Hardware _________________ Scramble was designed to work with a mouse, and it works best with a mouse. A keyboard-only mode is also supported. Important note: In most cases, pressing the RIGHT mouse button behaves the same as pressing <Enter>. Memory Requirements ___________________ If you use the default dictionary, Scramble should run without problems in 512k. If you use a larger dictionary, you may see a message: "Unable to allocate memory". If this happens, check that you don't have any TSR's loaded. If you try to run Scramble from a shell-type menu program, you may experience memory problems. You may also have problems if you have one of those programs that simultaneously runs a clock, calendar, appointment book, note pad and screen saver. If you have any memory problems with Scramble, try turning off all that stuff. If Scramble runs out of near memory during a game, it may write a message to a file called "errmsg.txt". This should never happen. But it might. If it does, delete that file and try again without any TSR's loaded. Installing Scramble ___________________ In general, to install Scramble, all you have to do is copy all the files into the directory of your choice. If you downloaded Scramble from a bulletin board (recommended distribution method), you will probably find that it is in a zipped format. You might find version 1.0 of Scramble in the file SCRAM10.ZIP. Use the program PKUNZIP to unzip it. If you need help with PKUNZIP, ask the sysop of the board where you downloaded Scramble. If Scramble was mailed to you by the author, you will receive it in an unzipped format. Just copy the files onto your hard disk. You can run Scramble on a floppy disk if you want to, but loading the dictionary into memory will be kind of slow. Scramble is available in Europe from InterStop. Please do NOT call the author at home for help with installation. Files Included in the Distrubution __________________________________ SCRAMBLE.DOC -- This file. SCRAMBLE.EXE -- The program file. SCRAMDIC.DCT -- The default dictionary. SCRAMBLE.PBM -- All the artwork: the board, the tiles, etc. FONT.BIN -- Font graphics. ENDICT.EXE -- This program allows you to encode a dictionary. ENDICT.DOC -- Description of dictionary encoding. DEDICT.EXE -- This program allows you to decode a dictionary. DEDICT.DOC -- Description of dictionary decoding. Starting Scramble _________________ There are two ways you can start playing Scramble. The recommended method is to stop reading this documentation and start up the game and figure it out by trial and error. For those of you who prefer to read about a game before playing it, I will try to describe everything that happens in detail. Start up the game by typing: C:\>Scramble After pressing return, wait patiently for a moment or two. Scramble is loading the dictionary from disk. This takes a while because it is a pretty big dictionary. When the dictionary is finally loaded, Scramble will present an exciting and tasteful intro screen with colorful animated tiles. Whatever you do, don't press a key while this intro screen is in progress! Pressing a key during the intro screen will interrupt the display and put you immediately into the Scramble game. You won't want to miss any of this exciting intro stuff, so resist the temptation to press a key! Just wait patiently until the intro is finished. Following the spectacular intro screen, the Scramble board will miraculously appear on the screen, and then it is immediately hidden by a popup window. There is an important question in this window. See Figure 1. ┌───────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Who wants to play Scramble? │ │ │ │ │ │ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ │ │ 1 │ │ 2 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Player │ │ Players │ │ │ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ │ │ │ │ │ │ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ │ │ 3 │ │ 4 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Players │ │ Players │ │ │ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────┘ Figure 1. It asks "Who wants to play Scramble?" What it means is, how many players are going to play Scramble? It is up to you to decide how many players are going to play. If you want to play solitaire Scramble, select one player. If you want to play against your younger brother, select 2 players. If you want to play against the computer, you also select 2 players. If you want to watch the computer play against itself, select any number of players, but make them all computer players. Now you are probably asking yourself "huh? How do I make them all computer players?" Here is the answer: The next popup window lets you decide! See Figure 2. ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Agreed. 2 players. Like this? │ │ │ │ │ │ ┌──────────┐ ┌─────────┐ │ │ │ Player 1 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ OK │ │ │ │ Human │ │ │ │ │ └──────────┘ └─────────┘ │ │ │ │ │ │ ┌──────────┐ │ │ │ Player 2 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Computer │ │ │ └──────────┘ │ │ │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────────┘ Figure 2. At this point, you can use the mouse or the number keys to change any player from a human player to a computer player, or vice versa. For example, Player 1 always starts out as a human player. To make Player 1 a computer player, press the "1" key or move the mouse cursor to the Player 1 box and press the left button. When everything in this box is to your satisfaction, press <Enter> or click your mouse on the "OK" box. You are now ready to play Scramble. Playing Scramble ________________ To play scramble, you must choose letters from your tray and put them on the board to make a valid word. There is a cursor that looks like a little hand on the board. Use the mouse or the arrow keys to move the hand cursor around. To choose a letter from the tray, press that letter on the keyboard, or choose the letter with the mouse. Or you can use the number keys to choose the tile: 1 is the first tile, 2 is the second letter, etc. If you choose the blank tile, Scramble will prompt you to tell it what letter the blank tile is supposed to represent. If you press a letter key that isn't in your rack, and you have a blank tile in your rack, Scramble will assume you want the blank tile to represent that letter. You can unselect letters as easily as you selected them. When you have selected a position and a tile, press <Enter> to put the tile in the position. Pressing <Enter> without selecting a tile means you have come to the end of your word. Note: Pressing the right mouse button behaves the same as pressing <Enter>. Alternatively, you can select the tile first, then point to a square on the board with your mouse cursor and press the left mouse button. This will put the letter on the board without pressing <Enter>. After you have put a tile on the board, the hand cursor will try to move to another convenient spot. There is more than one way to get letters from the tray to the board, and I suggest you experiment until you find the method you are most comfortable with. Scramble Rules ______________ Each player in turn must create one or more words consisting of 2 or more letters. The first word must intersect the center of the board, which is the square with the star in it. All other words must be created so that at least one tile is placed adjacent to a tile already on the board. All tiles must be placed in a straight line, either horizontally or vertically, and when added to tiles already on the board must form one complete word in this direction. Any perpendicular words formed by adjacent tiles must be complete and legal words. Blanks may be used as any letter, but once played their value can not be changed. If you can't make a word, you have the option of exchanging some or all of your letters. If you choose to do this, you will get no points for your turn, and play will pass to the next player. The game is over when all the tiles have been exhausted, and at least one player has an empty rack, or no more words can be made, and each player passes his turn. Any tiles remaining in the rack will be counted against the player. The winner is the player with the highest score. Scramble will determine the point value for words played and keep track of the score. A tile on a bonus square will result in a bonus of two or three times the value of the letter, or two or three times the value of the word. The Computer Player ___________________ You can choose to have one to 4 computer players. If all the players are computer players, Scramble will play the whole game by itself. After the game is over, you can look at the board or the stats to see what happened. The computer player looks at each row and each column on the board and tries to make a legal move. It scans the entire dictionary once for each column and each row. It does this as fast as it can. If the computer player has a blank in the rack, it will take a little longer to look at each row and column. Skill Level ___________ The computer player has two skill levels: easy and hard. The easy skill level player has access to fewer words and makes slightly faster moves and usually generates lower scores. To change the skill level, select "F5 - Skill Level" from the main menu. See figure 3. ┌───────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Player 1 skill level is hard. │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Easy │ │ Hard │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ │ │ │ │ │ └───────────────────────────────────────┘ Figure 3. Press "e" for easy, or click on the Easy box with your mouse cursor for the easy skill level. Press "h" or click the mouse on the Hard box for the hard skill level. The default skill level is hard. If all the players are computer players, Scramble will prompt you for their skill levels at the beginning of the game. If at least one player is human, you can change any computer player skill level at any time during the game. Undo ____ Scramble has an infinite Undo feature. You can undo every turn, all the way back to the first turn, including turns where you didn't make a word but you exchanged letters. If you accidently put a letter in the wrong square, you can use Undo to correct your mistakes. If you are playing against the computer, and you select Undo, Scramble will undo 2 or more moves, depending on how many computer players there are. Otherwise, you would only undo the computer player's turn and not your own turn. And then the computer player would take a turn and you would be right back where you were. Scramble Tiles ______________ Select Scramble Tiles (F6) to move the tiles around in your rack. Some people find this helps them think of words. If you have some tiles on the board when you select Scramble Tiles, they will go back in the rack. If you want to organize the tiles on the board to try to find words, go ahead and do that. You can rearrange the letters, then press "Undo" or "Scramble Tiles" to put them back in the rack. There is no penalty for experimenting and changing your mind. The Score Board _______________ The score board is located in the lower right corner of the board. The value of the last word made is listed to the right of the player who made it. The players are color coded and the total score of each player is listed on the line below the player's name. View Stats __________ Use the mouse or the function key to select "View Stats" and you will see game statistics, including what tiles have been played so far, what words were made, and how many points each turn was worth. The number of tiles remaining is also displayed. You can view the stats at any time during your turn without interrupting the progress of the game. See figure 4. ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Player Letters Word Points │ │ │ │ 1 doG doG 10 │ │ 2 one gone 3 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ ┌────────┐ │ │ │ Scroll │ │ Scroll │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ Okay │ │ │ │ Up │ │ Down │ │ │ │ │ └────────┘ └────────┘ └────────┘ │ │ │ │ Tiles left: 80 │ └──────────────────────────────────────┘ Figure 4. Notice that blank letters are displayed in upper case. In this example, Player 1 made the word "dog" using the blank letter to represent a "g". Since this was the first word of the game, he got double word points for a total of 10. His opponent then built on this word using the letters o,n, and e to form the word "gone". To scroll the list up and down, use the arrow keys or click the mouse on the "scroll up" and "scroll down" boxes. Press the down arrow to scroll up, and press the up arrow to scroll down. Press <Enter> or click the mouse on "Okay" when you are done looking at the stats. The Dictionary ______________ The default dictionary contains approximately 33,000 words. When you make a word, Scramble will look in the dictionary to see if your word is in there. If it doesn't find your word in there, it will ask you if it is a real word, and if you say it is a real word, Scramble will believe you. You also have the option at this point of adding your word to your personal dictionary, called "persdict.txt". Please! Do not distribute your personal dictionary when you give Scramble to anybody! Just give them the original files, as listed above. When Scramble makes a word, it consults the dictionary and tries to find a good word to put on the board. If you don't like the contents of the dictionary, you are free to change it. Use the program dedict to decode the default dictionary, and endict to re-encode it. The process is described in the files dedict.doc and endict.doc. It is really quite simple to do, kind of like zipping and unzipping a file. The compressed file is called scramdic.dct. The uncompressed file can be called anything you want, I recommend you call it scramdict.txt. Please do not distribute your modified dictionary with Scramble! If you have a real good dictionary, and you want to distribute it, please put it in a separate file. I would recommend putting it in a file name starting with "SCRAM" and followed three more characters of your choice. If I were going to upload my personal dictionary, I would probably call it "SCRAMDKG.ZIP". If you upload this somewhere, please be sure to give it a complete description so your sysop will know it is a Scramble dictionary, and can decide whether or not to let it stay on his hard disk. A typical description might look like this: SCRAMDKG.ZIP -- Scramble dictionary: 95,000 words typed in by hand from The Official Crossword Players Dictionary If you think you have a real good dictionary, please send it to me, and I will consider releasing it with a future version of Scramble. Please note: I am not interested in receiving any more spell checker dictionaries, because I already have all the major ones, and I find they tend to contain a lot of proper nouns, word fragments and invalid words, like "ABC". If you have a dictionary that contains only valid words, then I would like to see it. Thanks! Sound Effects _____________ In general, I don't like noisy programs, but I added one sound effect because one of my beta testers asked for it. If you want to hear a little "ding-a-ling" noise after the computer player finishes making a word, you can turn this feature on by turning on your CapsLock. If your CapsLock is off (like it should be!) then there are no sound effects. Acknowledgements ________________ I would like to thank Judy Carlos, John Sumpolec, Bob Childs, Greg Roberts, Bob Brisco, Philip Lucido, Richard Merit, Charlie Brandt, Bob Lancaster, my husband Ted, and everybody else who helped and/or inspired me to write this game. I would also like to say a special thank you to Lucien Greif, who designed my labels. Accolades _________ Approved Author ║ ║ ╔════════ (SM) of the user ╚═╝ ╚╗ ╔═════ supported software ═════╝ ╚╗ ╔═╗ association ════════╝ ╠═╣ Questions and Hints ___________________ Since I have released shareware programs before, I have become accustomed to the kinds of questions people ask. I have tried to anticipate some of your questions and answer them here. Q. When I use a word not in the dictionary, Scramble asks me if I want to add it, and I respond "yes" and then I use the word again later, and it asks me the same question. Does it add the word to the dictionary or doesn't it? A. No, it does not add the word to the dictionary. It adds the word to the file "persdict.txt". You can look at that file with any text editor. If you want to add those words to the dictionary, you can decode the default dictionary, add the words manually, and then re-encode the dictionary. It is quite simple to do, if your editor can handle a file that large. See the documentation for the programs Dedict and Endict. --- Q. Don't you think you should have included a utility program to do that automatically? A. I probably should have, but I didn't. Maybe it will be included in a future version of Scramble, if there is a future version of Scramble. --- Q. Wouldn't it be better to have a really big dictionary? A. That is a matter of personal preference. A big dictionary will slow the program down, and it will make the game harder to beat. But if you have a fast machine, and you prefer a more challenging Scramble partner, then you may want to install a bigger dictionary. --- Q. Does the computer player ever exchange letters? A. Yes. If Scramble can't make a word, it will exchange between 3 and 7 tiles. --- Q. How does it decide which tiles to exchange? A. It's random. --- Q. After I make a turn, that little hand moves around on the board above and below the word, and to the left and right. What is it doing? A. It is calculating cross checks and cross points, in preparation for the next word. It may seem a little slow, but it actually speeds up the program. --- Q. Sometimes the computer player comes up with a word right away, and sometimes it takes a long time. Why? A. There is probably a blank in your computer's rack. If there is a blank, it takes a little longer to choose a word. Also, as the board gets fuller, there are more positions to consider, so it takes longer. --- Q. Scramble thinks "aa" is a word. I never heard of an aa. What is it? A. According to my dictionary, aa is rough, cindery lava. Ai is a three-toed sloth and xu is a monetary unit of Viet Nam. I never heard of those words before either. --- Q. But Scramble made a word that I can't find in any dictionary! That's cheating! Why did it do that? A. Oops! Really? Oh, dear. That sounds like a bug to me. Sorry! You can edit that word out of the dictionary (see endict.doc and dedict.doc). The next version (if there is a next version) will have a better dictionary. --- Q. Are my moves timed? A. Not in this version of Scramble. I was intending to put in a cute little hourglass timer, but I just didn't get it done in time. Maybe in the next version. --- Q. Are there any other features you are planning to put in the next version? A. Look, I never said there would be a next version, but if there is, I would like to see a "practice" mode, where you can set up the board and racks any way you want, and then let Scramble tell you what the best move would be. This feature would be great if you play crossword door games. I also have plans for a reconfigurable board and reconfigurable letters, which would make the game playable in other languages. I also would like to be able to save and load games, and print out the board and statistics. For those of you who were hoping I would put this stuff in version 1.0: I'm sorry! I tried! I ran out of time and had to get back to doing "real" work. I have some other ideas for features I would like to add, if I can find the time. It sort of depends on how many registrations I get on this version. If you think of a feature that will improve Scramble, send me a letter with your registration, and I will consider your suggestions. --- Q. Is version 2.0 going to be shareware? A. Maybe. I don't know yet. Right now it is vaporware. --- Q. Does Scramble take factors into consideration when choosing a word other than the point value of the word, such as defensive strategy, preserving good letters for future moves, and using all the letters at the end of the game? A. Not in this version. --- Q. I made a word that isn't a real word, and Scramble challenged me on it, and when I admitted it wasn't a real word, it put all my letters back in the rack. Then it gave me another chance to make a word. Aren't I supposed to lose my turn if I get challenged? A. Scramble knows you didn't really mean to put those tiles where you put them, and it gives you another chance to put them where you meant to put them. If you think you deserve to lose your turn for getting challenged, I suggest you select "F2 - Pass" and voluntarily give up your turn. --- Q. I don't like these colors. How can I change them? A. You can't. I am sorry you don't like them. --- Q. You mailed me Scramble on a disk, and now I want to upload it to a bulletin board. How do I do it? A. You need to use PKZIP to zip the file. If you have the 1.0 release of Scramble, put it in the file "SCRAM10.ZIP". If you have some other version, please try to put it in an appropriate zip file, so as not to confuse your sysop. --- Q. I sent in my registration two weeks ago and I haven't heard from you yet. Why not? A. I am probably working on another program. Programming gets pretty intense, and sometimes I get a little behind on my mail. I try to answer each letter personally and I will answer your letter as soon as I can. --- Q. If I register this game, is my name going to go on a mailing list that is going to be sold to some junk mail company that is going to send me lots of letters trying to sell me stuff I don't want? A. No way! The only mailing list you will go on is my personal mailing list, and the only things I will ever send you are a thank you letter, and maybe a list of other programs written by me. If Scramble ever gets upgraded, I will send you one upgrade disk. --- Q. Why does this program run so slow? A. It runs fast enough on my '386! Seriously, when you design a program like this, you have to make trade-offs. There is a faster crossword algorithm, which was described the May 1988 issue of Communications of the ACM. I chose not to use this algorithm because it uses too much memory. The algorithm I developed is slower, but it has advantages: Scramble will run in less than 512k, it will not conflict with TSR's (in most cases) and it is quite simple to encode and decode the dictionary, thus making user-installed dictionaries possible. You can make Scramble run faster by selecting the "Easy" skill level, or by installing a smaller dictionary. --- Q. How come I can see my opponent's rack? Shouldn't it be hidden? A. You must be thinking of some other crossword game. This is Scramble. In Scramble, you get to see your opponent's rack. --- Q. Why does this document look so funny when I print it out on my printer? A. I don't know. Maybe your printer doesn't support the extended character set. Check your printer manual. --- Q. I want to call you at home late at night and ask you why Scramble doesn't run on my PS/2 model 30. What is your phone number? A. You're kidding, right? --- Registering Scramble ____________________ Scramble was written by Diana Gruber. You can register Scramble by sending $15 to the author. If you like this program, please support the author. If I upgrade this program, I will send you an upgrade disk. Thank you in advance for your support. Send checks to: ┌──────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ Diana Gruber │ │ Ted Gruber Software │ │ P.O. Box 13408 │ │ Las Vegas, NV 89112 │ │ │ └──────────────────────────────────┘ If you choose not to register Scramble, please do not play it.