Most Valuable Games 1/Most Valuable Games I (MVP Publishing)(February 1995).iso/games2/royalpok/docs.txt

Text File | 1994-10-06 | 19KB | 406 lines

ROYAL VIDEO POKER DOC'S AND SETUP  Version 3.1

Note: This is version 3.1 of ROYAL VIDEO POKER, and corrects errors in
running and installation of the previous version. Specifically:

All error messages now have clean exits to the user's system, and will
not leave one in graphics mode.

A mouse driver does not have to be installed for the program to run.
The program will run from a "clean" boot-up, as from a system disk, to
avoid any TSR problems.

The program may be run from any directory the user desires, including a
temporary download directory, not only from the royal directory. It will
also run from a floppy disk, though this is not recommended.


The program should run from any system that has a popular, or VESA
compatible, 512K SVGA graphics card or better. Note, however, that not
all systems will support the text screens in the game: the File Menu and
the Statistics Screen, even if they can support the graphics screens.
The only potential solution, if the user encounters this problem, is to
run the game from a clean boot-up. They can, in any case, be readily exited
by typing 4 at the File Menu, or hitting either mouse button at the
Statistics Screen. They are not essential to running the game in any case,
as they are extra features only, that may not be important to the user.
See the discussion below on SVGA compatibility.

If any user has problems with the mouse, this is due to hardware or system
speed problems. The game is completely playable from the keyboard.


THE GAME

This game plays draw three versions of  draw poker:  Jacks or Better,
Joker Poker (Kings and Aces High), and Deuces Wild, with two selectable card
decks.  One deck is a modified standard card deck, and the other features a
baroque 17th century card deck, which is available when you send in the
registration fee of $20.

It also offers a Triple Draw and Double Up Option with all the games.
Both mouse and keyboard are supported. Sound effects are through the
PC Speaker, and you can hear speech and music if you have a Sound Blaster
compatible sound card. Sound quality is dependent upon the quality of your
sound card and speakers, and may not be equally good on all systems.
All sound may be turned off if you desire.
Game statistics are provided giving a complete record of your play. You may
save as many games as you want and also delete them.


The game runs in SVGA with 512 minimum video ram, 640x480x256 color mode, and
should be run from a hard disk drive. The game is on a High Density 3.5" disk,
and will take about 850k of hard drive space.  The registered version will
take about 1 megabyte of hard drive space. It makes no direct use
of any expanded/extended memory, but you will find it helpful to use a disk
cache, such as SMARTDRV.SYS. See your DOS manual for information.


To install the game on your hard disk drive:

1) Type at the dos prompt while in the C: drive:  md royal
2) Type at the dos prompt: copy B:*.* C:\royal
   Substitute A: if you are using that floppy drive.
   To run the game:
   Type at the dos prompt: cd royal
   Type at the dos prompt: royal

If you are installing from a temporary download directory, do the above
except substitute copy C:\directory\*.* C:\royal.  Use whatever directory
name you used for a download directory in the last sentence. Example:
copy C:\temp\*.* c:\royal.

Copying files in the above manner can be best done from DOSSHELL. See your
DOS manual for information.

Note: As mention above, you may run the game from any directory you choose,
as from a temporary directory. The above is suggested for convenience. In
any case, type royal to run the game from its directory.

If you received this game on a floppy disk, it will also run from there. But
this is not recommended, as it will be extremely slow.


SVGA GRAPHICS COMPATIBILITY
This game will run with svga cards that have VESA compatibility, or that
use the most common cards, such as Trident and Paradise. If you have a SVGA
card with at least 512k, and the game does not run, there are two things that
could be the problem: You do not have a compatible SVGA card, or, more likely
you have a TSR program that interferes with the SVGA graphics.  The best pro-
cedure, if you have DOS 6.X, is to hit F5 to bypass the system files when you
boot-up, and then run the game. If you have a lower version of DOS, your best
option is to make a system boot disk. See your DOS manual for information.
If the game still does not run, then you have a hardware compatibility
problem, and the game will not work on your system. Unfortunately, there
are a wide variety of SVGA cards on the market that do not correspond to
a given standard, as VGA does, and the game will not run, or will only run
the graphics screens only using these cards. Note that the text screens are
not essential to playing the game. If your card will not display them: hit
any mouse button if you are in the Statistics Screen or the 4 key,  if you
are in the File Menu, to exit back to the graphics screens if your screen
is blank. You should try to boot from a boot disk or the F5 key from DOS 6.x,
as above, to try if you can use them doing so.

General Game Instructions:

The game graphics can vary quite a bit in appearance, depending on how you
have set your brightness and contrast controls on your monitor. I suggest
that your experiment with these controls for the best results.

A note about the interface: This interface varies somewhat from other poker
games you may have played. But once you read the following, you will find
that they are very easy to use, and that the game will play quite fast on
any machine with a 386 processor or better. On either deck, if the hold
lights are black, the cards are NOT held, and the default is triple draw.

The game is playable with either the mouse or the keyboard. Click on the
screen buttons with the mouse cursor and left button or hit the necessary
keys from the keyboard. Exception: The File Menu uses the keyboard only.

TITLE SCREEN:
Hit any key to exit. You will hear music if you have a
Sound Blaster compatible sound card installed.

MAIN MENU SCREEN:
The game begins with the default options of Jacks or Better, Sound on, and
standard deck selected. If you are satisfied with these options, hit the
space bar (or click on it with the mouse) to proceed to the Game Screen.

Click on the bar to the left of the button to activate it.
An option button is red if selected, and white if not. Exception: the clear
stats button will temporarily turn yellow if you clear the statistics. Unless
indicated otherwise below, type only lower case letters on the keyboard.

The game options you may select are:

JACKS OR BETTER (default on, click or type f to use)

JOKER POKER (click, or type j to use)

DEUCES WILD (click, or type d to use)

HIGH-LOW/DOUBLE UP (click, or type h to use, to disable: click
                    with the right mouse button, or type SHIFT H)

SOUND ON/OFF (default on, click with right mouse button or SHIFT M
              to disable; to re-enable, click with left mouse button
              or type m key)

FILE MENU  (f key )

TRIPLE DRAW  (F2, default on)

STANDARD DRAW (F1)

VIEW STATISTICS  (s key, this screen also displays the payoffs for a game)

CLEAR STATISTICS (c key)

SPACE BAR (proceed to game screen with currently selected options)

ESC KEY (exits game, you must hit the KEY)

In the shareware version, an advertisement screen for the registered version
will appear, hit any key to exit to DOS.

The registered version has additional menu options to switch between two
playing decks.

You may freely enter the main menu from the game screen while the game is
playing to change options, view stats, etc, as long as the Menu option is
displayed on the Menu icon.

Note: If you select other options than the defaults, reselect the defaults,
and then decide to select other options again, while you are still at the
Main Menu, the defaults will become temporarily  "locked". Press or click
the space bar, go to the game screen, then click or press on e to return to
the Main Menu to free them up for reselection. This should not occur during
normal play, and will never occur if you use the keyboard.

THE GAME SCREEN:


GENERAL PLAY
Five cards are displayed on the screen. Below them are lights that indicate
if the card are held. To hold any cards, click on the number icons, or press
the number keys on the keyboard. You may also click on the card faces.
If you change your mind, click on the c icon or the c key on the keyboard.
You may also click on the right mouse button to cancel holds.
Note: this will clear all cards.
Press the space bar or click on its icon to draw cards.
The space bar indicates your current game status. If the Menu button
has the words M(e)nu on it, you can click on it or press e on the keyboard to
go to the main menu for saving, viewing statistics or changing options.
One window indicates your current pot amount,
the other indicates any winning hands you have.  The game plays $5 per play,
and starts you with a pot of $100. If your loses go below $100, you will
automatically be given another $100. Your net gain or loss on the stats
screen reflects this. Example: You have a net gain of $200; $300 will appear
in the pot amount on the game screen.

DOUBLE UP
If you have selected Double Up, messages will appear asking if you want to
Double Up your winnings. Click Y or N on the key board, or left or right
mouse button. The computer will select a card in the first slot, you can
select a card in any of the other slots.  You cannot click on the cards
themselves for double up, use the key board or click on the number icons.
If the card is equal, you are given the option to continue.
If your card is lower, you lose. As long as you have
a higher, winning card, you can continue the double up process. Only
the spades suit is used in Double Up.

TRIPLE DRAW
This is an option that allows you a third draw, no modification is made on
the payoffs when this option is selected.

If you have selected sound on, you will hear game sounds and speech.

FILE MENU
NOTE: THIS SCREEN USES THE KEYBOARD ONLY.
You can go to the Main Menu at any time during the game when exit appears on
the space bar icon. From there press l or click on the button to go to the
File Menu. Each option has a number 1-4. Press the number you want for the
action you need. You can load, save, delete, or exit. At the top of the
screen appears a directory of any saved games. Any saved games will be saved
with the current game options in effect, and these will be reenabled when
you load them back in. Type the names of the games when the requester appears.

Note: if you mix options during the play of a game, such as switching from
Jacks or Better, to Deuces Wild, or from any game to Double Up after you have
played it for a while, the statistics will not be reliable. To keep stats
clean, save a current game before you select a new option, and hit the c
key, or load a previously saved game with the options you desire.

If you are not interested in the statistics, and desire to mix options to
earn more money during a game, you can do so, as your net pot amount is
still reliably saved. In this case the net gain/loss on the stats screen
will be inaccurate, but the number of hands in each version will be reliably
recorded, and you can view them by switching options on the Main Menu, and
look at the stats under each.

STATISTICS SCREEN
You can go here from the main menu at any time during play, when exit appears
on the space bar icon. Displayed are the number of winning hands, the total of
each type, and their value. Also your current net gain or loss. If you have
selected Double Up, the stats will indicate the number of times you tried it,
the number of times you succeeded, and the modified net gain or loss.  As
mentioned above in File Menu, changing options, and not clearing stats, will
affect the reliablity of these figures. If you have loaded a saved game, the
statistics are also saved, and will be viewable upon loading.


GENERAL STRATEGY NOTES
After having played played this game countless times, and studying the
statistics of draw poker, I suggest the following game playing strategy:

The general statistics for the first hand of standard Jacks or Better are:
                HAND                    % PROBABILITY
                Royal Flush             < 1%
                Straight Flush          < 1%
                Four of a Kind          < 1%
                Full House              < 1%
                Flush                   < 1%
                Straight                < 1%
                Three of a Kind           2%
                Two Pair                  5%
                Paired High Cards         12%
                No Win                    80%

If no winning hand occurs on the first draw, the best strategy is:
            HAND                                        % PROBABILITY
            Draw three cards to a pair                  29%
            Draw four cards to a high card              25%
            Draw two cards to a pair plus a high card   27%
            Draw one card to four flush cards           19%
            Draw one card to an outside straight        17%
If none of the above possibilities exist on the second draw, redraw all cards.
The same basic strategy can be extended to the wild card variants and to the
triple draw feature.

There are other strategies that are used, the chief distinction between them
and the above is based on the payoff amount, the idea being that you are
playing mainly for large amounts. Hence, you would hold any cards on the first
draw that could conceivably lead to a larger hand, such as three cards to a
royal or straight flush. Or hold four cards to an inside straight, where you
need a number in the middle range, instead of either of two numbers at each
end of the hand for an outside straight. But the probabilites of succcess are
very low in going for these hands. Basically, this is a matter of your
tolerance for risk taking, rather than probability.


Another thing to keep in mind is that this game has no "house percentage".
Which is the percentage that a casino must guarentee that IT will win to make
a profit. How much this is, is a matter of some conjecture, depending on where
you play a draw poker machine. It is  probably between 5 to 10 percent in the
larger casinos. What this really means is that, unlike this game, you will
lose if you continue to play a casino poker machine long enough for the house
percentage to kick in. The best strategy there is to "stay in when you are
low", and "get out when you are high".

Again, as mentioned below in the disclaimer, I make no claims for the
accuracy or effectiveness of the above strategy. If you use it in actual
casino play, it is at your own risk.


I hope that you find this game enjoyable, and that you will send in the
shareware fee for the complete game, which is $20.00.
You will receive the latest version of the game, which includes a baroque
17th century card deck taking over a megabyte of game data.

A coupon is provided: type coupon, while you are in the royal
directory, and hit the print screen key, while your printer is on, and with
paper. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.


Address any inquires to:
Charles Lankiwicz
226-43rd Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15201
Phone: [phone]

DISCLAIMER
__________

This game is intended for amusement purposes only, and should not be used
for any other purpose.
The tips and suggestions listed in this documentation are my opinions,
and if anybody uses any of these suggestions in actual casino play, they do
so at their own risk. The author of this computer game and documentation
assumes no responsibility for any gambling losses resulting from any
playing strategy suggested by this document.



DISTRIBUTING ROYAL VIDEO POKER
_____________________________

If you want to distribute Royal Video Poker:

[]   Non-commercially, please do!  Distribution is non-
     commercial if it is for free, or by any not-for-profit
     organization, or by hobby, user or computer interest group
     to its members, or by any BBS. We reserve the right to
     withdraw this right by giving reasonable notice.


[]   Commercially , please see VENDOR.DOC.

NON-COMMERCIAL DISTRIBUTION: This "Small Print" statement gives you the
right to copy and distribute the shareware version of ROYAL VIDEO POKER
"non-commercially".  Distribution is non-commercial if it is for free, or
by any not-for-profit organization, or by hobby, user or computer interest
group to its members, or by any BBS.


USING ROYALVIDEO POKER, SHAREWARE VERSION: The shareware version of ROYAL
VIDEO POKER is yours to use for a reasonable period to decide if you like it.
If you like it, please send in the registration fee of $20.00 to receive a
enhanced version of the game.


OWNERSHIP: Except to the extent expressly licensed, Charles Lankiwicz
has and reserves the exclusive copyright and other right, title and
interest to copy and distribute ROYAL VIDEO POKER, and the right to use the
Trademark "ROYAL VIDEO POKER" in connection with it.

ROYAL VIDEO POKER IS PROVIDED "AS-IS". NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, ARE MADE AS TO IT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON. CHARLES LANKIWICZ
THE AUTHOR WILL PROVIDE NO REMEDY FOR INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE
OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM IT, INCLUDING SUCH FROM NEGLIGENCE,
STRICT LIABILITY, OR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, EVEN AFTER NOTICE OF
THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

If you distribute ROYAL VIDEO POKER non-commercially,
you must distribute all of its files together as released by
Charles Lankiwicz, in compressed or other format.
You may add simple introductory or batch files, so long as they do not
interfere with or degrade the performance of ROYAL VIDEO POKER.

You will hold me, harmless from damage, loss and expense arising directly
or indirectly from your acts and omissions in copying,
distributing or adding introductory or installation files to the
Program.


Charles Lankiwicz reserves the right to withdraw this license by
giving reasonable notice.


To read this text without scrolling type at the dos prompt:
type docs.txt | more    (include the FULL line, including type ).
The | is the "pipe" key located to the left of the Backspace Key.
Or type edit at the dos prompt and load c:\royal\docs.txt to use dos edit.
Also, Windows Notepad may be used to view this file.
Note, however, this game will not run under Windows. Exit Windows to run.
This text may also be printed from dos edit, or Windows Notepad.
Or use the Dos print command from the command line: print docs.txt.
Be sure your printer is on line and loaded with paper.