Season's Greetings & Games Unlimited/UGOLD.bin/klondike/klondike.hlp

Text File | 1992-04-11 | 13.9 KB | 313 lines

KLONDIKE RULES
==============

One regular pack of 52 cards is used. Deal 28 cards into 7
piles. The first pile at the left has one card, the second
two, and so on, up to seven in the last pile. The top card
of each pile is face up; all the rest are face down. On the
piles you may build in descending sequence, red on black or
black on red. For example, on the 8 of spades you can place
either the 7 of hearts or the 7 of diamonds. All the face up
cards on a pile may be moved as a unit, and matched accord-
ing to the bottom card. When you uncover a face down card on
a pile, turn it face up. If one pile is entirely removed,
you may put a king in the space. Each time you free an ace,
move it to the Foundation, a row above the piles. On the
Foundation you build up in suit and sequence. For example,
the 2 of hearts may be placed on the Ace of hearts, the 3 of
hearts may be placed over the 2 of hearts, and so on. To win
the game, you have to build each Foundation up to the king.
Once placed on the Foundation, a card cannot be moved any-
where else. From the rest of the pack, turn up cards one by
one. Put cards that you cannot use into a waste pile. You
can always use the top card of the waste pile. You may go
through the pack only once. The game ends either when you
win by building each Foundation up to the king, or when your
moves reach a standstill.

Variations

Klondike, as played by its original rules, is very hard to
win (it has been estimated that the chances of winning are
one in every thirty games!) and thus can be a bit frustrat-
ing.  Two popular variations greatly increase the odds of
winning. Under the first variation, cards are moved from the
Pack to the Waste Pile in groups of three, and you can go
through the Pack as many times as you wish, i.e., once the
Pack is exhausted, you move all the cards from the Waste
Pile back to the Pack. Under the second variation, cards are
turned up from the Pack one by one, as in the original
rules, but you can go through the Pack an unlimited number
of times, as in the first variation. This is the easiest of
all three playing modes.

Under the original Klondike rules, you must move all face-up
cards on a pile as a unit (except when you are moving from
the pile to the Foundation, in which case you move the top
card of the pile alone). Klondike 2.3 has a relaxed movement
rule. Under it, you can move all face-up cards as a unit;
the top card alone, or any contiguous block of cards begin-
ning at the top card. Suppose you have a pile with a
4-5-6-7-8 face-up. If you're using the relaxed movement
rule, you can move all five cards as a unit, or the 4-5-6-7
block, or the 4-5-6, or 4-5, or the 4 alone. Through skill-
ful manipulation of the cards, you can free cards that would
otherwise be unavailable, and win games that would be
unwinnable under the regular rules. This makes the game more
challenging, because it gives you a greater chance of win-
ning against a bad deal.

Scoring

You pay $50 for each hand, and receive $5 back for each card
you place on the Foundation. The highest possible score is
then $210 (all 52 cards on the Foundation). Since the pro-
gram has no way of knowing when a game is over unless you
won, your final score will be the score displayed when you
either QUIT or start a NEW game. This score is then added to
your 'career statistics', which are kept on the file
KLONDIKE.SCO. One entry is kept for each player (make sure
you spell your name the same way each time, or different
entries will be created). To change the player's name, click
the mouse with the cursor positioned inside the score box, or,
if using the keyboard, press Ctrl-n.

GAME PLAY - MOUSE
=================

To move a card, first place the mouse cursor over the card
(or pile) you want to move and press the left mouse button,
then place the cursor over where you want to put the card
(or pile) and press the left button again.

If you select a card to be moved and decide not to move that
card, place the mouse cursor over the selected card and
press the left mouse button to unselect it. To move a card
from the Deck to the Waste Pile, press the right mouse but-
ton.

If a card is face down, just place the mouse cursor over it
and press the left mouse button to turn the card face up.

The following commands are available during play, and can be
issued by placing the mouse cursor over the corresponding
'command button' (on the lower right hand corner of the
screen) and pressing the left mouse button:

  UNDO: undoes the last successful move executed. UNDO can-
  not be used after a FINISH or another UNDO command.

  FINISH: automatically moves all cards that can legally be
  moved from the Tableau and the Waste Pile to the Founda-
  tion. Caution: you cannot undo a FINISH command!

  HELP: displays a help file. Use the cursor keys (Up, Down,
  PgUp, PgDn, Home, and End) to move around the file, and
  press [Esc] when you are done viewing it.

  PEEK: shows the face-down cards on the Piles. Press any
  button to resume playing.

  TOP 10: displays the Top 10 scores and the career statis-
  tics for the current player.

  RULES: allows you to select which variation you want to
  play. Choose the variation by placing the mouse cursor
  over the number you want and pressing the left mouse but-
  ton. Press the right mouse button when done. The currently
  selected variation is highlighted. You can then choose
  either the strict or relaxed movement rule. Place the
  mouse cursor over the desired rule and press the left
  mouse button, and press the right mouse button when done.

  BACK: allows you to choose from five different card backs.
  Choose the design you want by placing the mouse cursor
  over it and pressing the left mouse button. Press the
  right mouse button when done. The currently selected card
  number is highlighted in light blue.

  CONFIG: brings up the Configuration menu. This allows you
  to customize your copy of Klondike. The first option,
  Mouse, can be set to 'Yes' (always use the mouse; this
  option is ignored if a mouse driver is not found when you
  start Klondike), 'No' (always use the keyboard, even if a
  mouse driver is present), or 'Ask' (if a mouse driver is
  found, asks at the beginning of each game whether or not
  you want to use the mouse). The second option, Sound, can
  be set to 'Full' (songs and beeps are enabled), 'Partial'
  (songs disabled, but error beeps enabled), or 'Off' (both
  songs and beeps disabled). Finally, the third option,
  Error Messages, can be set to 'Yes' (displays a context-
  sensitive error message each time an error occurs), or
  'No' (does not display the error messages, errors are
  indicated by beeps if Sound is either Full or Partial). To
  select an option, place the mouse cursor over it and press
  the left mouse button. Currently selected options are
  highlighted. Press the right mouse button when done. If
  you want to configure Klondike to use a variation or card
  back other than the defaults, select the desired options
  BEFORE you issue the Config command. When Config saves
  your configuration, it will save the currently selected
  variation and card back. If you are playing from a floppy-
  disk, do NOT write-protect the disk, otherwise Config will
  not be able to write the configuration information.

  INFO: displays Copyright and Version information. Press
  any mouse button to return to the game after you are done
  viewing the information.

  NEW: interrupts the current game and starts a new one. You
  are asked to confirm by selecting either 'Yes' or 'No'
  from a dialog box. Use the left mouse button to enter your
  selection.

  QUIT: quits Klondike. You are asked to confirm by select-
  ing either 'Yes' or 'No' from a dialog box. Use the left
  mouse button to enter your selection.

If you are using Variation 1 or Variation 2, press the right
mouse button after the Pack is exhausted (as if you were
moving one more card from the Pack to the Waste) and the
Waste will be moved back to the Pack.

GAME PLAY - KEYBOARD
====================

To Move a card, first press the key corresponding to the
Origin, then press the key corresponding to the Destination.
For example, to move from the Pack to pile 1, press P then
1. Valid Origins are 1 to 7, P, and W. Valid Destinations
are 1 to 7, W, and F. If you select a card to be moved and
decide not to move that card, press the Esc key to cancel
the move command.

If a card is face down, press the key corresponding to that
card and it will be turned face up. You can turn only the
first card of the Pack and cards on the Tableau (1 to 7)
that are face down.

Note that the NumLock option is automatically turned on when
you play using the keyboard. You can then use the numeric
keypad to play. Please refer to the printed documentation
for details.
The following commands are available during play, and can be
issued by typing the highlighted letter from the correspond-
ing 'command button' (on the lower right hand corner of the
screen):

  UNDO: undoes the last successful move executed. UNDO can-
  not be used after a FINISH or another UNDO command.

  FINISH: automatically moves all cards that can legally be
  moved from the Tableau and the Waste Pile to the Founda-
  tion. Caution: you cannot undo a FINISH command!

  HELP: displays a help file. Use the cursor keys (Up, Down,
  PgUp, PgDn, Home, and End) to move around the file, and
  press [Esc] when you are done viewing it.

  PEEK: shows the face-down cards on the Piles. Press any key
  to resume playing.

  TOP 10: displays the Top 10 scores and the career statis-
  tics for the current player.

  RULES: allows you to select which variation you want to
  play. Choose the variation by typing the corresponding
  number. Press [Enter] when done. The currently selected
  variation is highlighted. You can then choose either the
  strict or relaxed movement rule. Press either S for strict
  or R for relaxed, and press [Enter] when done.

  BACK: allows you to choose from five different card backs.
  Choose the design you want by pressing the corresponding
  number, and press [Enter] when done. The currently
  selected card number is displayed in light blue.

  CONFIG: brings up the Configuration menu. This allows you
  to customize your copy of Klondike. The first option,
  Mouse, can be set to 'Yes' (always use the mouse; this
  option is ignored if a mouse driver is not found when you
  start Klondike), 'No' (always use the keyboard, even if a
  mouse driver is present), or 'Ask' (if a mouse driver is
  found, asks at the beginning of each game whether or not
  you want to use the mouse). The second option, Sound, can
  be set to 'Full' (songs and beeps are enabled), 'Partial'
  (songs disabled, but error beeps enabled), or 'Off' (both
  songs and beeps disabled). Finally, the third option,
  Error Messages, can be set to 'Yes' (displays a context-
  sensitive error message each time an error occurs), or
  'No' (does not display the error messages, errors are
  indicated by beeps if Sound is either Full or Partial).
  You will be prompted to enter the desired option for
  Mouse, Sound and Error Messages, in that order. Press
  either Y, N or A for Mouse; F, P or O for Sound; and Y or
  N for Error Messages. Press [Enter] after selecting each
  one. Currently selected options are highlighted. If you
  want to configure Klondike to use a variation, scoring
  method, or card back other than the defaults, select the
  desired options BEFORE you issue the Config command. When
  Config saves your configuration, it will save the cur-
  rently selected variation, scoring method, and card back.
  If you are playing from a floppy-disk, do NOT
  write-protect the disk, otherwise Config will not be able
  to write the configuration information.

  INFO: displays Copyright and Version information. Press
  any key to return to the game after you are done viewing
  the information.

  NEW: interrupts the current game and starts a new one. You
  are asked to confirm by selecting either 'Yes' or 'No'
  from a dialog box. Press either Y or N to enter your
  selection.

  QUIT: quits Klondike. You are asked to confirm by select-
  ing either 'Yes' or 'No' from a dialog box. Press either Y
  or N to enter your selection.

If you are using Variation 1 or Variation 2, press P after
the Pack is exhausted (as if you were moving one more card
from the Pack to the Waste) and the Waste will be moved back
to the Pack.

COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS
====================

The following options can be specified when you load Klon-
dike:

-mouse       selects the mouse as the input device. This
             option is ignored if a mouse driver is not found.

-nomouse     selects the keyboard as the input device.

-ask         asks whether or not you want to use the mouse.
             This option is ignored if a mouse driver is not
             found. [Default]

-fullsound   turns full sound (songs and error beeps) on.
             [Default]

-partsound   turns partial sound (error beeps, but no songs)
             on.

-nosound     turns both songs and error beeps off.

-var[n]      selects Variation [n], where [n] is a number from
             0 to 2. [Default is -var0]

-strict      selects the Strict movement rule. [Default]

-relaxed     selects the Relaxed movement rule.

-back[n]     selects card back [n], where [n] is a number from
             1 to 5. [Default is -back1]

-errormsgon  turns error messages on. [Default]

-errormsgoff turns error messages off.

Note that the command-line switches have precedence over the
settings selected through the Config command. So, if you
have Klondike currently configured to use card back 2 and
the relaxed movement rule, but you load it as

        klondike -back5 -strict

card back 5 and the strict movement rule will be used.

< End of Help File >