Chip Hitware 7

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Text File | 1996-09-06 | 13.2 KB | 327 lines

Pinochle (Version 2.05) - READPIN.TXT ===================================== Introduction ------------ Pinochle is a well known card game combining similarities to the Rummy and Whist families of games. You play against the computer, which can be set to use a number of different skill levels. At Champion and Master levels, the computer is hard to beat and provides a very challenging game. Customizable features include: Colors Sound effects MIDI music Speech synthesized messages Card backs Screen resolution and custom resizing Card sizes AutoMouse (moves mouse pointer automatically) Opponent skill level Rule variations System Requirements ------------------- To use Pinochle you need Microsoft Windows 3.1 and a mouse. Pinochle also has been tested with no problems under Windows '95. An Intel 486 class system or better with 8 megabytes or more of RAM is the optimum configuration. An Intel 386 class system with 4 megabytes of RAM is considered to be the minimum. Pinochle has not been evaluated on less capable systems, but should present no problems other than responsiveness and speed. You are recommended to take advantage of the comprehensive help file information in order to learn how to play Pinochle. Perhaps the best first step to learning Pinochle is to use the "Assistant | AutoPlay" option and watch the computer play against itself. Installation ------------ The installation requirements are that all supplied files reside in the same directory except that VBCTL3D.VBX should be placed in the windows\system directory. Also, VBRUN300.DLL must be present in your path (typically in the windows\system directory). VBRUN300.DLL should be downloaded separately if you don't already have it on your system. To use the sound effects and Speak-To-Me capability, you must either have a sound card installed in your system, or have the speak.exe driver installed to use your system's regular speaker. Speak.exe is a freely distributed product from Microsoft, and is available on most online services and bulletin board systems. Pinochle is distributed with a few sound files, others may be obtained from libraries on most online services and bulletin board systems. To enable sound effects, you must check "Enable" from the "Sounds Effects" option under the "Configuration" menu. Remember to "Save Configuration" to make the setting permanent. Midi music files are not distributed with Pinochle for copyright reasons. You may acquire these from regular online sources. You will probably find canyon.mid in your Windows directory as this is distributed with Windows by Microsoft. Note that some systems are unable to handle midi music and other sounds at the same time. Registration ------------ Pinochle is shareware, and is fully functional. You may evaluate this program for a period of 21 days after which you must register it or remove it from your system. To not comply with this condition is a violation of United States and international copyright law. To register Pinochle, please use the printable order form under the "Help" menu of Pinochle. The cost of registration for the version you are currently evaluating is $15. If you are unable to print the order form, please make sure that you: 1. Specify that you are registering Pinochle 2. Include sales tax if you are a Massachusetts resident 3. Enclose a check drawn on a U.S. bank, or an international money order, for the correct amount, in U.S. funds, payable to Carol Bufton We return checks made out incorrectly, or drawn on a non-U.S. bank. You will receive your registration code by mail. The registration code is encoded from your name, so be sure to provide your name exactly as you wish to be registered. If you require a diskette (3╜" only), add $5 making the total cost $20. The diskette version may contain a later version of Pinochle if improvements have been made since the release of your evaluation copy. Because we cannot track which versions are currently available at what locations, it is possible that Pinochle will have been updated since your evaluation copy unless you downloaded a recent version from CompuServe, America Online, or the MeggieSoft Games worldwide web site at: http://members.aol.com/meggiesoft Please allow 28 days for your registration to arrive, although every effort will be made to mail your registration within 5 days. Your registration code licenses you to use the version of Pinochle that you are currently evaluating, irrespective of which is the latest version currently available on America Online, CompuServe, our web site, or registered diskette. Your registration may also be valid for future versions as they become available. You may not share your registration code with others. Your registration permits you and other users to use Pinochle on any single-user computer system. You may also use Pinochle on any other computer system of which you are the primary user, such as a laptop. Distribution ------------ You may distribute Pinochle to others provided that you derive no revenue other than that associated with the act of distribution, and provided that you distribute the following, and only the following, files intact and unaltered: READPIN.TXT - This file PINOCHLE.EXE - The program PINOCHLE.HLP - The help file RUMCRD1.WMF - The small card images RUMCRD2.WMF - The regular card images RUMCRD3.WMF - The large card images RUMCRD4.WMF - The extra-large card images VBCTL3D.VBX - The Visual Basic 3D Effects extension VBRUN300.DLL - The Visual Basic Runtime (if desired) To the best of our knowledge, the wav sound files may also be distributed freely. Revision History ---------------- Version 1.x - Development and test versions. Version 2.0 - First shareware release. Fully functional. 2.01 - Fixed problem where stock card could be dragged to play area. 2.02 - Maintenance release - Detects "Invalid File Format" message related to old VBCTL3D.VBX and directs user accordingly. - Detects invalid sound file definitions and ignores sound instead of giving "Bad File Name" message. 2.03 - Fixed problem where opportunity to meld a flush was not being correctly detected. 2.04 - Fixed problem where card display in player's hand was sometimes not correctly refreshed when highlighting and melding. Changed shuffle method to attempt to circumvent very rare reports of the same cards being dealt repeatedly. 2.05 - Fixed problem where card actions for player's hand were not correctly enabled after taking a trick. Frequently Asked Questions -------------------------- Q. In what programming language is Pinochle written? A. Microsoft Visual Basic. See the "For The Technically Curious" section of the help file for more information. Q. Where did the name "MeggieSoft Games" come from? A. See "Help | About" when running Pinochle. Q. Why do I get an "Invalid File Format" message when I try to run Pinochle? A. Because there is an older, and incompatible, version of VBCTL3D.VBX on your hard disk. Pinochle is loading this rather than the version distributed with Pinochle. Make sure that the copy of VBCTL3D.VBX distributed with this version is present in your \windows\system directory and make sure you delete any older copies of VBCTL3D.VBX which are on your system (possibly in the directory where you previously kept Pinochle, or your \windows directory). [If you have multiple programs on your system which use VBCTL3D.VBX and they require different versions of VBCTL3D.VBX, you can install a copy of the required version in the same directory as each program that requires it. Such a copy will be loaded in favor of the "central" copy in the /windows/system directory.] Q. Why does my mouse not work correctly in Pinochle? A. We have had a couple of reported instances of this problem, but we are unable to replicate it or guess at what the problem might be. One customer found that the problem disappeared when he upgraded from Microsoft Windows 3.1 to Windows for Workgroups 3.11. We therefore surmise that this problem is system configuration dependent in some way. Q. What happens if Pinochle causes system messages, "bombs out", or freezes? A. These problems are almost always to do with the way your system memory is configured or managed. Check that you have around 450K minimum of low memory available and that your memory manager (e.g., EMM386) is not causing the conflict. Pinochle is quite intensive in its use of system resources and runs on 99% of customers' systems without problems. However, sometimes such problems are reported, and all we can do is offer the advice noted here. Q. Why do I get white rectangles displayed where the cards should be (and other strange behavior)? A. Very occasionally we receive reports of this problem, which is a result of your graphics configuration not being able to load and/or display the card images. If your graphics card is manifesting such problems, try setting the number of colors it displays to 256, or even 16. Alas, there is little we can do about this situation without severely comprising Pinochle's display speed, since this is predicated upon holding relatively large card image maps in memory. However, you might find that an updated driver is available for your graphics card if you contact your system manufacturer. Q. Why do I get "subscript out of bounds" error messages and/or see Pinochle start to behave erratically? A. Pinochle is designed to respond to single mouse-clicks, not double-clicks. In earlier versions it was possible to trip Pinochle if it reacted to the second click before it had finished processing the first click. In versions 4.3 and later, Pinochle traps and ignores extra clicks when it is busy. Q. I have my graphics display set to "Large Fonts". Why are some of the fonts displayed smaller? A. Many graphics drivers (particularly for Windows 95) alter the Twips parameter of the display in order to display everything larger - not just the fonts. Pinochle compensates for this by shrinking some of the font sizes on those windows which display card images, particularly the main playing window. While this makes everything fit the result is not as attractive as when "Small Fonts" is the enabled graphics display mode. Q. How do I permanently change the default colors or card designs? A. Set up the screen as you want the defaults to be. Then select the "Save Configuration" choice from the "Configuration" menu. Consult the help file for more information. Q. Does Pinochle cheat by peeking at the player's cards? A. No! However, at the higher skill levels, Pinochle will remember every card that you have played, and will also make probability estimates of which unseen cards might be in your hand versus the stock. Q. Why didn't you respond to the suggestions for enhancement I made? A. Our first priority is to provide a quality game at the lowest possible price and this prevents us from entering into much personal correspondence. Most suggestions are incorporated into the next version of Pinochle. This is our way of responding positively to your suggestions. Q. Why don't you accept credit cards or online registrations through CompuServe, for example? A. Again, our first priority is to provide a quality game at the lowest possible price and thus we keep our overheads to a minimum. With respect to online registration, our customers obtain Pinochle from a wide variety of sources and it would be impractical for us to offer different registration means for each source. Q. I am a shareware distributor. How do I obtain permision to distribute Pinochle to my customers? A. As noted earlier in this file, permission is automatically granted provided you distribute only the files noted herein. Include VBRUN300.DLL if your customers might not otherwise have it on their systems. Q. I am a software developer. Are you able to share any of the Pinochle program code? A. No. All Pinochle code is proprietary to MeggieSoft Games, except for the third-party components which are described in the help file (in the section called "For The Technically Curious"). Q. Does MeggieSoft Games market any other games? A. Pinochle is our third product and was first released in July 1996. Rummy 500 was our first offering, released in August 1994. We released Gin Rummy, our second product, in February 1995. See the help file for more details regarding Rummy 500 and Gin Rummy. Pinochle ⌐ MeggieSoft Games 1996. All Rights Reserved.