The Game Master (3rd Edition)

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Text File | 1992-04-05 | 15.5 KB | 311 lines

*************************************************************************** * CALCULATION SOLITAIRE * *************************************************************************** Release 1.5 April 1992 Gellman Software 431 Fifth Street, S.E. Washington, DC 20003 (C) Copyright 1989-1992 by Robert Gellman ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Calculation is a solitaire card game that rewards skill, experience, concentration, and luck. According to "150 Ways to Play Solitaire", Calculation stands at the top of the list of games that give opportunity for skill. The essentials can be understood in two minutes, but it will take a little longer to become a good player. Once you get the hang of it, the game is not difficult to win. Some estimate that two games out of three can be won with patience and planning. But the effort required makes success very satisfying. A brief but understandable explanation of the rules is provided in a help screen that is available at the beginning and throughout the play of the game. You do not have to read this document to learn how to play. Start the program now if you like (type CALC at the DOS prompt), and come back and read this file later. Once you see how the cards move on the screen, the explanation will become clearer and probably superfluous. This file is meant to be read once or twice, but it may not be worth printing. It was created with margins at 5 and 75, and form feeds have been added approximately every 60 lines. *************************************************************************** * PLAYING THE GAME * *************************************************************************** To start the program, just enter CALC at the DOS prompt. If the file is on a floppy disk, enter A:CALC if appropriate. The first few screens contain an explanation of the mechanics. Try it and you will understand the basics very quickly. CALC should run on just about any type of computer running under DOS 2.0 or later. It does not require color or graphics, and it uses less than 256K of memory. The program detects whether it is being run on a color monitor and uses color if available. If you have a color monitor but prefer black and white, there is a command line switch that suppresses color. Simply begin the program by typing CALC /B at the DOS prompt. When relevant, this switch is described on the second screen. *************************************************************************** * DETAILED RULES * *************************************************************************** Calculation is simple in design. There are four foundations and four wastepiles. The game progresses by turning over one card at a time from the deck and placing the card either on a foundation or a wastepile. Cards from the wastepiles can also be moved to the foundations. As in most solitaire games, the goal is to end up with all cards in the foundations, with 13 cards in each foundation pile. FOUNDATIONS - For reference during play, the four foundations are numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4. Each foundation begins with a card, either an ace, deuce, 3, or 4. These cards are in place as the game begins. You add cards on the foundations by arithmetic series. This means that cards are built on the first foundation (the one with the ace) by ones. The sequence is A-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-T-J-Q-K. Cards are built on the second foundation (the one with the two) by twos. The sequence is 2-4-6-8-T-Q-A-3-5-7-9-J-K. Cards are built on the third foundation (the one with the three) by threes The sequence is 3-6-9-Q-2-5-8-J-A-4-7-T-K. Cards are built on the fourth foundation <you're ahead of me now!> by fours. The sequence is 4-8-Q-3-7-J-2-6-T-A-5-9-K. All of the sequences end with a king. Note also that suits are irrelevant to the game of Calculation. Don't worry about learning the order of the cards. The sequence for each foundation appears on the screen, with the next card highlighted. The ability to make this information available at all times makes this game ideally suited for play on a computer. Calculation is a lot harder to learn and to play when an ordinary deck of cards is used. WASTEPILES - There are four wastepiles. As the game begins, the wastepiles -- which are numbered 5, 6, 7, and 8 -- are empty. As long as space permits, cards are placed in the wastepiles so that all of the cards are visible. But only the top card in each wastepile can be moved. A card from a wastepile can be moved to any foundation but not to another wastepile. HAND - As the game begins, there are four cards on the foundations and the remaining 48 cards are in the hand (or deck). The hand appears at the center bottom of the screen, and there is a counter which reports on how many cards are yet to be turned over. The first move in each game is to take the first card in the hand and move it to a wastepile or to a foundation. A new card from the hand will then appear. This card can be moved to a foundation or wastepile. Another option is to move a card from a wastepile to a foundation. Cards on a foundation pile cannot be moved. MOVING CARDS - One card will always be flashing. This is the current card, and it will either be the hand card or the top (rightmost) card in one of the wastepiles. The current card can be moved to a foundation or wastepile by hitting a key from 1 to 8. If the move is legal, the current card will be transferred to the designated pile. If the move is not legal, there will be a gentle beep. If you try to move a card to a foundation when it doesn't belong there, you will hear about it. If you want to move a card that is not the current card, use the up and down arrow keys to select a different card as the current card. As you hit an arrow key, a new card will flash. Besides moving cards, there are only two things you can do from the main game screen. If you need to review the rules, just hit H and a help screen will appear. When you are finished with it, hit any key and you can resume your game where you left it. The second option is to quit. Just hit Q. A scoring box will appear. To exit the program, hit Q again. To replay the SAME game, hit R. To play a new game, hit any other key. You can replay the same game as often as you like, and there is a replay counter to measure your persistence. *************************************************************************** * LEARNING HOW TO WIN * *************************************************************************** In order to win this game, you have to pay close attention to the order in which cards are placed on the wastepiles. This will become easier once you have played a few times and become more familiar with the order of the cards. Refer to the sequence on the screen below each foundation. You will get better at Calculation as you play. Beginners don't have the same success that experienced players can achieve. While not all hands are winnable, you should eventually be able to win at least one hand in three. Winning remains very satisfying because of the skill and concentration that is required. Luck helps, but it is not enough. The game calls for constant decision making, and many of the decisions are difficult. It is very frustrating when you get a run of three jacks in a row and you haven't got a place for them! Figuring out the strategy is part of the fun, so I won't go into detail here. But I will offer one thought. The last card in each foundation is a king. This means that once a king is placed on a wastepile, it can't be moved until one of the foundations is complete. All of the cards under the king are blocked. The way that you handle kings will have a lot to do with your ultimate success. Version 1.3 added a scoring system at the request of a user. This allows the player to track the progress of games not won. The scoring algorithm is simple. You get 5 points for each card you move to the foundation. Completing a foundation pile is worth an additional 15 points. That's 48 * 5 = 240 plus 4 * 15 = 60 for a total score of 300 for a successful game. The scoring box includes an average score for the current session and shows what percentage of the highest possible score is represented by this average. I haven't played enough to figure out what is a good percentage. Quitting a game in the middle will not help your average score. *************************************************************************** * TECHNICAL NOTES * *************************************************************************** The program is written and compiled in Microsoft's QuickBASIC 4.5 under DOS 3.1. It employs a number of routines from the PROBAS library. PROBAS is a product of Hammerly Computer Services, in Laurel, Maryland. *************************************************************************** * FEEDBACK * *************************************************************************** If you find any errors in the program or the documentation, please let me know. Please be as specific as possible in describing the problem. I would also appreciate any other comments -- favorable or unfavorable -- from users. All suggestions will be considered. Authors of freeware programs do not ask you to pay for their work. A little feedback would be nice. If you find a bug or make a suggestion that I adopt, I will send you a copy of the new version. *************************************************************************** * LEGAL STUFF * *************************************************************************** This program and accompanying documentation are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind. The entire risk of using the program is assumed by the user. Gellman Software disclaims all warranties, either express or implied. In no event shall Gellman Software be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of the use of or inability to use this program. This program is freeware. You are licensed to use the program and to give copies to others. You may upload the program together with this documentation on computer bulletin boards anywhere. No registration or other fee is owed to the author. However, both the program and this documentation are copyrighted by Robert Gellman. No one is authorized to make changes to either. Also, no one is authorized to sell the program except as specifically provided in this documentation. The program may be distributed by software clubs, computer bulletin boards, and shareware/freeware libraries at a standard charge for media and distribution. The maximum charge permitted without specific written permission from Gellman Software is $6.00. No other forms of distribution for money are authorized. *************************************************************************** * OTHER GELLMAN SOFTWARE PROGRAMS * *************************************************************************** As of the date of this file, Gellman Software has published these programs: POKER567 - Head to Head Draw Poker (freeware) 1POKER14 - Poker Solitaire (freeware) CALC15 - Calculation Solitaire (freeware) LABELLE4 - La Belle Lucie Solitaire (public domain) SIXLTR41 - Six Letter Word Game (freeware) SPRM35 - STOCK PORTFOLIO RECORD MANAGER (shareware) This program stores, manipulates, and prints records needed to manage a portfolio of stocks. STOCK PORTFOLIO RECORD MANAGER totally replaces or supplements paper records. It provides powerful reports about your portfolio, transactions, and dividends. Both laser and dot matrix printers are supported. Anyone who has investments in the stock or bond markets should consider using this program. HBRM12 - HOME BASIS RECORD MANAGER (shareware) If you own a house, condominium, cooperative, house trailer, or any type of residence, you need HOME BASIS RECORD MANAGER. This program will help you keep track of the basis (or cost) of your home. This information is vital when you sell your home. By using the HOME BASIS RECORD MANAGER, you can be certain that you will have all the information necessary to minimize the taxes due on the profits from the sale of your home. These programs are available from the Public Software Library, P.O. Box 35705, Houston, TX 77235. The latest versions are normally sent to PSL as soon as they are released. I recommend PSL to anyone interested in shareware or freeware. The bulletin board that is the home base for the SHAREWARE programs is CHELSEA SYSTEMS in Virginia (703-922-4077). Sysop Donald Rosenberger allows first time callers to download files. If you invest in the stock market, you may also be interested in downloading Security Analyst Version 3.0 (SA300.ZIP) by Donald Rosenberger. Security Analyst performs fundamental analysis for stocks. It calculates over 30 ratios such as P/E, Debt to Equity, Book Value and others. Another useful Rosenberger program is SCHWB242.ZIP, which calculates stock, option and mutual fund commissions for transactions with Charles Schwab & Co. Copies of all programs are available from Gellman Software. Send a self-addressed, stamped mailer and disk to the address on the first page. State which programs you want. IMPORTANT: Please indicate if you know how to handle ZIP archives. If you want all programs, send one 1.2 Meg disk, two 360K disks if you can unZIP, or three 360K disks if you do not understand ZIP archives. There is no charge if you supply the disk, the mailer, and the postage. *************************************************************************** * HISTORY OF PUBLIC VERSIONS * *************************************************************************** Version 1.5 - Added the replay capability at the request of a user. Minor (4/5/92) changes here and there. Version 1.4 - Correction of subtle (yet stupid) programming error that (9/12/91) prevented the '2' on the number pad from working when the NUMLOCK light is on. Sorry about that. The error was reported by a smart user in England. New closing screen added. Version 1.3 - Addition of scoring system. Minor revisions to screens (4/6/91) and documentation. Version 1.2 - Minor revisions to screens. Slight code changes for (9/16/89) undetectable efficiencies. Revised documentation. Version 1.1 - First public release. First computer version of this (1/28/89) game, as far as I know.