MacWorld 1996 April/Macworld (1996-04).dmg/Shareware World/Entertainment/Card Games/AntiQuadra 2.0.2 ƒ/AntiQuadra 2.0.2 (fat)/AntiQuadra 2.0.2 (fat).rsrc/TEXT_128_Read Me.txt

Text File | 1995-12-15 | 6KB | 39 lines

THE RULES:
The aim of the game is to get all of the four Aces lined up in a row. Click once on the deck to deal out new cards: you can get rid of un- wanted cards by clicking on them, but only if you can see a higher card of the same suit! Aces are high, and can be moved to empty spaces if you click on them. Option–click if you want to see cards lower down in the stack.
    The display on the right shows the number of cards left in the pack, and below it the number of cards that you’ve got rid of so far.

DISTRIBUTION:
If you like the game, then please pass it on to your friends. This program may be copied and distributed freely without charge, but it may not be sold. Specifically, it may not be distri- buted with any commercial product without written permission from the author. This means that it’s ‘freeware’ but not ‘public domain’: I wrote it as a way of learning how to program the Mac in C, so I don’t see why any- one else should be expected to pay for it.
     Please share, and enjoy.

WARRANTEE:
This program is provided ‘as is’, and no war- rantee is expressed or implied as to its quality or performance. In no event will the author be liable for any damages resulting from any defect in the program.

BUGS:
As far as I can tell the program is fairly robust, so you shouldn’t have any problems with it. I’ve tested it under System 7 on a variety of machines. However, if you happen to find any bugs then please let me know, and if I can solve them, then I’ll endeavour to send you an updated copy of the program.
    I would also very much appreciate a note if you happen to enjoy the game, or if you have any comments or suggestions. My address is:
    1/10 George Street,
    Mount Eden,
    Auckland,
    NEW ZEALAND
Or email to: mephisto#ihug.co.nz

SO WHY ANTIQUADRA?
I’ve played it since I was a child, but I don’t know its original name. I picked it as my first programming project because the rules are simple enough not to get in the way of the Mac (toolbox) programming bits, but it is addictive enough to keep my girlfriend beta– testing for hours on end!
    The name is a pun loosly based on the idea of ‘4’ (piles of cards) and the slowness with which wins come along. Indeed, playing with the “Purist Rules” ( in which you not only have to get all 4 Aces in a row, but they also have to have no cards under them), it may take weeks to win just one game. That’s why I included the option of playing a slightly less strict version of the game…

ABOUT THE GAME:
I’ve tried to include as many options as pos- sible — different folks like different strokes. If there’s anything else you’d like to see, just let me know. I can’t promise that my pro- gramming skills are up to it, but I can always try. I hope that the preferences are largely self–explanatory: “Show games won” refers to the Hi-Score box in which you can either see the number of games played, or the number of games won — both since the last time the Hi–Score was cleared.
    The Hi-Score is actually a ‘low–score’ in that the aim is to win the game as quickly as pos- sible. You can choose whether you want this to be decided by the actual time taken, or (less stressfully) by the number of cards removed. The name under which your Hi–Score (what   a horrible term!) is listed is limited to ten letters, I’m afraid.
    Generally I’ve tried to include all of the things that I’d prefer to have in a game — like ‘infinite’ Undo and Redo (%—@—X and —Y), X-Ray vision (option–click) and mouse, key- board and numeric pad equivalents (which are 1, 2, 3, and 4 for the four card piles and Return or Enter for the pack).
    The ‘zoom box’ in the top–left hand corner of the window changes the window’s size between the two default window sizes (which have been carefully adjusted to the size of the cards). To change the window’s location on the screen to the default position just below the centre of the menu bar,  option-click on the zoom box. If you option-click again it will toggle back to its last position.
    For those who get fed up with losing all the time, I’ve included a way of cheating, but you'll have to discover how to do that for yourself. However, if you cheat you won't be able to get a Hi-Score.

TECHNICAL:
This program now works in both colour and monochrome. Obviously the animation is slower in colour, but it should still be smooth on 68040 Macs. If you have an earlier model and want to speed up the animation, try switching to the smaller window or alter- natively try setting the monitor to “Black & White” in the Monitors control panel before running the program.
    The program should use a constant amount of memory — just under 600 kB — but if you find that AntiQuadra keeps quitting because of “low memory” you may need to increase its memory allocation by selecting “Get Info” (or @I) in the Finder, and then by changing the number in the bottom of the window. On a PowerMac it will need quite a bit more memory since it cannot run in 16 colours.
    The Hi-Score and the preferences are stored within the program’s own resources, so it doesn’t need to create strange files all over the place like most other software — but if you run it from a locked disk (such as a CD-ROM) it will unfortunately have to create a prefs file.

THANKS:
I wish I could acknowledge the sounds that I used, but by the time they got to me they had lost all their ReadMe information: sorry. But I would like to express my thanks to Dave Mark and Cartwright Reed who wrote the “Macin- tosh C Programming Primer”, and who thus set my feet upon the road. The vast majority of the ‘toolbox–code’ in my program is modified directly from the example code in their books.
    And thanks, too, to my beta–tester — Ulrike Fister (who also designed the colour cards). This is for you, because you care…