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----------------------------------------------------------------------- PMANUAL.DOC -- PUZZY USER'S MANUAL ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ___________________________________ | | | WELCOME TO PUZZY | | | | The puzzle game with REAL | | Jigsawed pieces in 256 Colors | | From Hawkeye Softworks | |___________________________________| CONTENTS Page ========================================================== Copyright Notice & Warranty Disclaimer -------------- 1 How to Use This Manual ------------------------------ 1 About Shareware, the ASP, and the ASP Ombudsman ----- 2 About the Shareware Version of PUZZY --------------- 2 Installation Instructions --------------------------- 3 Running PUZZY (Quick Start) ------------------------- 6 Running PUZZY (Detailed Instructions) --------------- 7 PUZZY Scoring System -------------------------------- 9 Technical Problems & Error Messages ----------------- 10 Optimizing PUZZY Performance ------------------------ 12 Registration & Ordering Info ------------------------ 14 Registration & Order Form --------------------------- 16 ========================================================== ======================================= COPYRIGHT NOTICE & WARRANTEE DISCLAIMER ======================================= PUZZY is Copyright (c) 1992 by Hawkeye Softworks, 300 Golfview Ave., Iowa City, IA, 52246, All Rights Reserved. Some graphic effects were implemented with assembly language routines from the GX Development Series libraries, Copyright by Genus Microprogramming, 2900 Wilcrest, Suite 145, Houston, TX 77042-3355, All Rights Reserved. PUZZY and its accompanying documentation carry no warranty, expressed or implied, as to their merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event will the copyright holder be liable for damages arising from the use of, or defects in, the PUZZY program. ====================== HOW TO USE THIS MANUAL ====================== "Quick start" and more complete operating instructions are given later in this manual. But please take a few minutes to read the next few sections, which briefly explain the shareware system and the limits of your license to use and distribute the shareware version of PUZZY. Page 2 =============================================== ABOUT SHAREWARE, THE ASP, AND THE ASP OMBUDSMAN =============================================== Shareware is a distribution method that gives you a chance to try out software before buying it. If you like it and continue to use it after a reasonable tryout period, you are expected to REGISTER with the author and pay him/her a set fee. Shareware authors are paid NOTHING by distributors. They are paid only through registration fees. To put it another way: whatever you may have paid for your evaluation copy of PUZZY went to the distributor, not to Hawkeye Softworks, who developed it. Hawkeye Softworks is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP), an association of authors and distributors that sets standards for the shareware system and educates members and the public about shareware. The ASP maintains an Ombudsman office to mediate disputes between ASP members and their customers, and has published the following description of its Ombudsman service: The ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegan, MI, 49442, or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. ==================================== ABOUT THE SHAREWARE VERSION OF PUZZY ==================================== This version of PUZZY is Shareware. If you like PUZZY and intend to continue using it, please print and fill out the REGISTRATION FORM at the end of this manual and send it with the Registration fee to the address given on the FORM. Also at the end of this manual are instructions for charging your Registration to VISA, MASTERCARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS, or DISCOVER. When you register, you'll get a printed Manual and a PICTURE SET disk of your choice, containing 5-8 more PUZZY pictures. You'll also get free technical support for a full year, and you'll be able to order more PUZZY PICTURE SETS, which are available only to registered users. Whether or not you register, you may make multiple copies PUZZY and distribute them freely to friends, user groups, and computer bulletin boards, so long as the following conditions are met: 1. Anyone, except ASP Distributor Members, who wishes to distribute PUZZY for any kind of remuneration must first contact Hawkeye Softworks for authorization. ASP Distributor Members are hereby granted authorization to distribute PUZZY, but they must still notify Hawkeye Softworks prior to distribution, to ensure they are selling the latest version. Page 3 2. The PUZZY program and all its subsidiary files must be distributed in unaltered form; file names may not changed; and copyright notices may not be removed. Specifically, no changes may be made to the files called PUZZY.EXE, PUZZY.RSC, and PMANUAL.DOC, nor to any of the picture files identified by a .PZY extension. The files may be re-compressed with an archiving program other than the one used by Hawkeye Softworks, in which case the installation program, called MAKEPZY.EXE may be replaced with other installation or decompression programs and the text file called README.1ST need not be included. We hope you'll give PUZZY to your friends, so they can try it. And when you do, please encourage them to register too. Shareware will continue to exist only if users support it. ========================= INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS ========================= PLEASE NOTE: These instructions apply only to disks that were copied from master disks distributed by Hawkeye Softworks. Some distributors and bulletin boards distribute PUZZY after compressing its files with some alternative archiving program, in which case they should have supplied you with their own installation instructions. To determine whether these instructions apply to you, use DOS's DIR command to see what files are on your PUZZY disk. The files to look for are: 1) MAKEPZY.EXE -- The install program supplied by Hawkeye Softworks 2) PZYARC.BCF --- The archive containing all the PUZZY files. If you find both of these files, you can follow these instructions for installing PUZZY (or re-installing as needed) . If you don't find these files, you must use another install procedure and follow whatever alternative instructions your distributor supplied. However, all other sections of this manual will still be appropriate. The PUZZY program CANNOT be run from the distribution disk. It's compressed into an archive file and must be decompressed (Installed) before you can run it. An install program, called MAKEPZY, takes care of decompressing and copying the files to your hard drive. MAKEPZY is simple to use and should run without problems if you follow the instructions exactly and take these 2 steps: STEP 1 -- Insert the PUZZY diskette (or a backup copy) into the proper drive and close the door or lever. STEP 2 -- If the PUZZY diskette is in Drive A:, type: A:MAKEPZY (then press the ENTER key). If the PUZZY disk is in another drive (e.g., B:), type THAT letter in instead of "A" in the above command. [Continued on next page.] Page 4 MAKEPZY will ask two questions: 1) What drive are you installing FROM? (the SOURCE drive) Type the letter of the drive in which you just inserted the PUZZY disk, then press the Enter key. Note: "Drive A:" will be displayed in the response box and, if that's correct, simply press Enter. If you're using another drive, type ITS letter over the A: and then press Enter. 2) What drive and directory do you wish to install TO? (This is the so-called TARGET PATH.) Most people will want to put PUZZY on drive C: and will find it convenient to use "PUZZY" as the directory name, so you'll see "C:\PUZZY" displayed in the response box. If that's acceptable, simply press Enter. Otherwise, type in your own path and then press Enter. But be sure to type it as you would for a DOS command, that is, a drive letter followed by a colon (:), then a backslash (\), then a directory name, with NO BLANK SPACES between characters. For example, to put PUZZY on drive D:, in a directory called PUZZY, type: D:\PUZZY (then press Enter). Or, if you want to nest the PUZZY directory under another directory on drive C:, called "GAMES," you'd type: C:\GAMES\PUZZY (then press Enter). You may call the PUZZY directory anything you wish, as long as it's an acceptable DOS name. If the named directory already exists, PUZZY will be installed there; if it doesn't exist, MAKEPZY will create it. But you must name SOME directory: you can't install PUZZY in the root directory of any drive. PLEASE NOTE that you can install PUZZY on a 3.5" diskette, but it will run much too slowly. For best results tell MAKEPZY to put PUZZY on your hard drive. NOTE FOR BBS USERS who have downloaded PUZZY to a hard drive: You can't install FROM and TO the same hard drive, but you can install to a 3.5" floppy and then copy the uncompressed files back to a hard disk. Or you can install from one hard disk to another, if you have one. To install FROM a hard disk, you must go to the directory containing the PUZZY files, using DOS's CD command, and type "MAKEPZY" (without quotes and drive specifier). Then specify your hard drive, say C:, as the source drive. All else will be the same as described above. Page 5 ARE WE READY TO RUN YET? ------------------------ The installation takes just a few minutes and, if all goes well, you'll be ready to run PUZZY. So, unless MAKEPZY gave you an error message, you can skip down to the "RUNNING PUZZY" section for operating info. If PUZZY doesn't run correctly, even though the installation seemed to go well, read the TECHNICAL PROBLEMS section below, for possible solutions. When MAKEPZY runs into problems, such as insufficient disk space or an incorrect drive or path name, it displays an error message and aborts the installation. It's then up to you to correct the problem and try installing again. Here's a list of the most likely problems and solutions: 1. SOURCE DRIVE incorrectly specified -- Be sure you entered the letter of the drive where the PUZZY disk was inserted. (Did you type A in the response box but have the PUZZY disk in Drive B:, or vice versa?) 2. SOURCE DRIVE door or lever was not closed or disk not properly inserted. Be sure to close the door/lever, if there is one, and leave it closed until installation is finished. 3. SOURCE and TARGET DRIVES were the same -- You can't install FROM and TO the same drive, even if you specify a different directory as the TARGET. 4. TARGET DRIVE incorrectly specified -- Did you specify a drive that doesn't exist? Did you specify the same drive for both SOURCE and TARGET? 5. TARGET PATH incorrectly specified -- You must enter the path name as you would for a DOS command, namely, a drive letter followed by a colon (:), then a backslash (\), then a directory name, with NO SPACES between characters. For example, C:\PUZZY, but not C\PUZZY or C:PUZZY. Also, you must specify SOME directory name: you cannot simply enter "C:" when asked for a TARGET PATH. 6. TARGET DRIVE does not have enough space -- The uncompressed PUZZY files need about 500K bytes. If you get an "Insufficient Space" message, you'll need to delete some other files to make room for PUZZY. What else can go wrong? Many things. But if MAKEPZY doesn't succeed on the first try, don't give up. Study the above problem list and try a few more times. (You could make the same mistake repeatedly, so try some variations, like a different TARGET PATH name.) If that doesn't work, try installing PUZZY on someone else's machine or, if you're not an expert, ask a computer guru to try installing it. If even these things fail, chances are that the PUZZY disk or one of its files is damaged. So you should contact the distributor for a replacement. Page 6 =========================== RUNNING PUZZY (Quick Start) =========================== This section tells you enough to get started quickly, but it omits a lot of details. So, before long, you'll probably want to read the later sections for more complete information. And you'll probably want to print a hard copy of this manual, so it will always be handy. To do this, type: PRINT PMANUAL.DOC (then press the ENTER key) For now, though, let's try a "quick start." First, be sure that the PUZZY directory is the "active" directory. If it isn't, you'll need to use DOS's CD (change directory) command, by typing: CD PUZZY (then press the ENTER key). Of course, if you chose some other name for the PUZZY directory, use THAT name instead of "PUZZY" in the CD command. Now, to start PUZZY, simply type its name at the DOS prompt: PUZZY (then press the ENTER key). At startup, PUZZY displays a menu that gives you 4 choices: 1) RUN PUZZY, 2) PREVIEW a picture, 3) OPERATING INFO, and 4) QUIT. These choices are described just below the menu and, at the bottom of the screen, are instructions for making choices from the menu with your keyboard or mouse. We suggest that you: First select PREVIEW to see some of the pictures you can use. Next, select OPERATING INFO to learn how PUZZY is played. Then select RUN PUZZY and get to work on a jigsaw puzzle. PUZZY lays out the puzzle pieces much as you'd lay out a jigsaw puzzle on a card table. You spread the pieces around the edges of the table and clear a spot in the middle, where you assemble the pieces. In PUZZY, the "middle of the table" is displayed as a GRID, and it covers your whole screen. The "edges" of the table are displayed on 8 other screens, called STASH areas. You move around the STASHES to find pieces and bring them back to the home GRID for assembly. You use your keyboard or mouse to move around the STASHES and use your mouse to select and insert pieces. If you want to peek (cheat) at the picture you're building, just press the "P" key. If you want to pop up the menu, just press "M." (You can return to the puzzle you're working on by clicking on the "Cancel menu" button.) You can also toggle the sound off/on by pressing "S," and you can pop up OPERATING INFO by pressing the F1 key or "H" for help. This is the same OPERATING INFO you get as a menu selection, and it explains all the above and more. Page 7 Playing PUZZY is much like building a jigsaw puzzle, but PUZZY adds a few wrinkles. PUZZY clocks your speed and keeps track of your guessing errors. So, when you complete a puzzle it reports your TIME and gives you a SCORE (correct moves minus guessing errors). Then PUZZY combines your TIME and SCORE to get a PERFORMANCE RATING that places you on an 8-point scale ranging from NOVICE (lowest) to TOP GUN (highest), with such things as SLOW POKER and LOOSE CANNON in between. If you have a slower machine, like an 80286 or (heaven forbid) an 8088, or if PUZZY is forced to use your hard disk in place of memory, your PERFORMANCE RATING is adjusted to give you a fair chance to earn TOP GUN. See the PUZZY SCORING SYSTEM section below for details. WARNING: PUZZY IS ADDICTIVE -- At first, you'll probably find it challenging just to assemble the jigsaw puzzles. Later, you'll want to work for a better SCORE, TIME, and PERFORMANCE RATING. Once you've earned a higher rating, like "Over-Achiever" or "Top Gun," you'll want to organize PUZZY TOURNAMENTS among your family, friends or co-workers. And then you'll need to register and order more PUZZY PICTURE SETS, so you'll always have new challenges, so you can flaunt your PUZZY PROWESS, and so everyone in a PUZZY TOURNAMENT will have an equal chance to win (with pictures they've never seen before). ====================================== RUNNING PUZZY -- DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS ====================================== When you select RUN from PUZZY'S menu, you'll see a list of the pictures you can use. [The Shareware version comes with 6 pictures, but you can get more if you Register: the maximum number of pictures PUZZY can use is limited only by the size of your hard disk.] If you have more than 10 pictures, you can scroll the list up and down to see them all. Follow the instructions at the bottom of your screen for scrolling the list and selecting from it. When you select a picture to RUN, PUZZY displays it so you can study it as long as you wish. When you press a key or click the left mouse button, PUZZY begins to jigsaw the picture and posts a message: "Cutting Pieces-Please Wait." While it is jigsawing, it is also spreading the pieces randomly around the edges of the playing table. When finished jigsawing, PUZZY focuses your screen on the middle of the table, where you re-assemble the pieces. The "middle" of the table is displayed as a GRID, so you can see where pieces belong. But you don't see any pieces until you shift your screen to the "edges" of the playing table, which we call STASH areas or simply STASHES. The table layout is shown in the diagram below, with the HOME GRID in the middle, surrounded by the 8 STASHES. +=============================+ | STASH 7 | STASH 8 | STASH 9 | +=========+=========+=========+ | STASH 4 | GRID 5 | STASH 6 | +=========+=========+=========+ | STASH 1 | STASH 2 | STASH 3 | +=============================+ Page 8 MOVING AROUND THE TABLE WITH KEYBOARD OR MOUSE: 1. You can use the cursor (Arrow) keys to move up, down, left and right. Also, the Home key gets you to the GRID from any STASH. 2. You can use the number keys 1 thru 9 to shift to the various numbered areas shown in the diagram. Use either the number keys at the top of the keyboard or on the number pad (with NumLock on). [If you don't have separate cursor and number pads, you'll have to turn NumLock off whenever you want to use the cursor keys.] 3. You can use the mouse by pointing to a "Hot Spot" on the screen and clicking the left mouse button. This is the fastest and easiest method for most people. This is how it works: If you're in one of the STASHES, part of the HOME GRID will be visible. Click on the HOME GRID to go there. The HOME GRID has a Hot Spot for each of the 8 STASHES, arranged much like the diagram above. So click on the lower-left corner to go to STASH 1, click on the lower-middle to go to STASH 2, and so on. [The next time you run PUZZY, choose "OPERATING INFO" from the menu: it will display a diagram showing the GRID's hot spots.] SELECTING AND INSERTING PUZZLE PIECES: The reason for moving around the table, of course, is to find puzzle pieces. You must select pieces from the STASHES and bring them to the HOME GRID for assembly. To select a piece, point to it with the mouse and click the left button. The selected piece will be surrounded by a red box and on- screen instructions that tell you what to do next. And what you do next is: left-click the mouse to move the piece to the GRID or right-click to cancel your selection. [ HINT: The mouse need not be pointing to the piece for this second click. And if you want to make Top Gun, you'll have to learn how to point and DOUBLE-CLICK the left button, which moves the piece to the GRID instantly. ] When you bring a piece to the GRID, it is displayed inside a red box. Point the mouse to where the piece belongs and left-click to insert it or right-click to cancel your selection. If you click on the correct spot, the piece will be inserted and you'll get an "OK" beep. Otherwise, you'll get a "Raspberry" beep for guessing wrong. If you guess wrong twice, PUZZY will return the piece to the STASH, but not before posting a message and playing a "Too Bad" tune. [ This is to discourage trial & error assembly.] When you've inserted all the pieces, PUZZY re-displays the picture without the jigsaw lines, so you can admire your work. When you press any key or left-click the mouse PUZZY displays a Scoreboard showing your SCORE, TIME, and PERFORMANCE RATING. At your next key press or mouse click, you'll be returned to the menu. Page 9 OTHER ACTIVE KEYS: F1 or H -- Pops up the Help-Info screens; same as what you get if you select Operating Info from the menu. M -- Pops up the menu. P -- Allows you to Peek at the picture you're working on, but not before PUZZY warns you that it will subtract 3 points from your score each time you peek. PUZZY gives you a chance to cancel the peek and protect your score. S -- Toggles Sound off/on. If it's on, S will turn it off; if it's off, S will turn it back on. Sound is on at startup. Esc -- This is the BOSS KEY. Press Esc to exit quickly from PUZZY so the Boss won't catch you PLAYING PUZZY on company time. You'll exit on the first press of the Esc key, except when you've popped up the menu from the playing table. In that case Esc will return you to wherever you were on the playing table. And you can exit from there by pressing Esc again. ==================== PUZZY SCORING SYSTEM ==================== When you complete a puzzle, PUZZY reports your SCORE, TIME and PERFORMANCE RATING. Your SCORE is the number of pieces you inserted minus the number of guessing errors and penalties. PUZZY sounds an "OK" beep to tell you when you've inserted a piece correctly and gives you a "raspberry" beep to tell you when you've made a guessing error. PUZZY subtracts 3 penalty points from your score each time you peek (cheat?) with the "P" key or use the menu to PREVIEW the same picture you're working on. The highest possible (perfect) score is 36, the number of pieces. If you make a lot of errors and do a lot of peeking, you could get a negative score. (In fact, the lowest possible score is -32,768, which is the largest negative number your computer can store as a so-called "integer variable.") PUZZY starts the clock to time your play at the moment it finishes jigsawing pieces and displays the HOME GRID. It stops the clock at the moment you insert the last piece. And the clock keeps running if you peek with the "P" key, pop up the menu with "M," or get help with the "H" or F1 keys. So if you're shooting for a speed record, avoid doing anything but selecting and inserting pieces. Page 10 PUZZY combines your SCORE and TIME to obtain a PERFORMANCE RATING that ranks you on an 8-point scale, ranging from TOP GUN (highest) to NOVICE (lowest). RATINGS are assigned as follows: RATING REQUIRED SCORE REQUIRED TIME (min:sec) ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. TOP GUN Perfect 36 Under 2:30 2. OVER-ACHIEVER Perfect 36 2:30 to 3:29 3. FAIR-TO-MIDDLER Perfect 36 3:30 to 4:29 4. QUICK & DIRTY 31 to 35 Under 3:30 5. LOOSE CANNON 30 or lower Under 3:30 6. SLOW POKER Perfect 36 4:30 or More 7. HUNT & PECK 30 or lower Under 4:30 8. NOVICE 35 or lower 4:30 or More If you have a slower machine, like an 80286 or 8088, or if PUZZY must use your hard disk in place of memory, your PERFORMANCE RATING will be adjusted to give you a fair chance to earn TOP GUN. In these cases, PUZZY will report your actual TIME, but may subtract up to two minutes when it determines your rating. So it may use, say, 3 minutes when your actual TIME was 5, if you're getting the maximum handicap. PUZZY subtracts 20 seconds for 80286 users and a full minute for those with 8088 machines. And even if you have a souped-up 486, PUZZY will subtract a full minute if it's forced to use your hard disk for storing images, due to lack of free memory. PUZZY tells you in advance when it needs to adjust your score: at startup, it gives you a message and waits for you to press a key before it displays the menu. And although the adjustment is fair, you'll still be missing out on the snappy effects PUZZY may be able to produce on your machine. So if you get such a message, you should read the OPTIMIZING PUZZY PERFORMANCE section for possible ways to remove the handicap. ========================================================== TECHNICAL PROBLEMS, ERROR MESSAGES & WHAT TO DO ABOUT THEM ========================================================== When PUZZY encounters a problem, it gives you an Error Message. "Fatal Errors" cause PUZZY to abort completely; "Non-Fatal Errors" prevent it from working as expected, but allow it to continue until you decide to exit. Below is a list of Fatal and Non-Fatal error messages, along explanations and possible corrective actions you can take. FATAL ERRORS 1. "Required VGA Card &/or Monitor Not Installed." PUZZY uses 256-color pictures, and it can't run on your system unless you have a VGA card and Color Monitor capable of displaying them. 2. "ABORTING PUZZY -- Could Not Initialize Mouse." If you don't have a mouse, PUZZY can't run on your system. If you have a mouse, but haven't installed the "mouse driver" software properly, PUZZY will think you have no mouse. In this case, consult your mouse's manual for instructions on installing the mouse driver. Page 11 3. "Not Enough Memory to Run PUZZY." Most likely, you have ample memory to run PUZZY, but much of it must be occupied by "memory resident" programs. PUZZY won't start when it finds less than 300K bytes of memory available to it. But before it gives up it checks to see if there is space in Expanded or Extended memory, if your machine has these. If this fails, PUZZY tries to use your hard disk as "virtual memory" and warns you that this arrangement will probably cause it to run too slowly. See the OPTIMIZING PUZZY section for possible ways to free up memory. 4. "PUZZY.RSC Resource File Not Found in Current Directory." PUZZY can't run without this file, so it won't start unless it finds PUZZY.RSC in the currently "active" directory. Check the directory in which PUZZY was installed, using DOS's DIR command. If PUZZY.RSC isn't in that directory, you'll need to re-run the install program, as you did earlier: either PUZZY.RSC was never installed or it was somehow erased afterward. If PUZZY.RSC is in its proper place, PUZZY will still be unable to find it if you did not use the CD command to make the PUZZY directory the "active" directory, as explained earlier. For example, you can't run PUZZY from another directory by typing "C:\PUZZY\PUZZY." 5. "ABORTING PUZZY -- Could Not Create Screen Buffer." Even though there is enough memory, there was a problem when PUZZY tried to create the large buffer (block of memory) that it needs for storing screen images. If this occurs, try rebooting your machine and running PUZZY again. Try this two or three times if it doesn't work the first time. If it still doesn't work, try freeing up more memory according to suggestions given in the OPTIMIZING PUZZY section. NON-FATAL ERRORS 6. "Chosen Picture Not Usable: Not 320x200x256." PUZZY requires "VGA Mode 13" pictures, which are 320 pixels wide, 200 pixels high, and have a palette of 256 colors. You will get this message if a PUZZY picture file is damaged, in which case you should try re-installing with MAKEPZY as you did before. 7. "PUZZY Couldn't Display Chosen Picture: File may be Damaged" PUZZY was unable to load the picture from your hard disk, either because the file is damaged or because it encountered a disk-read error. Try to RUN or PREVIEW the picture a few more times. If that doesn't work, the picture file may be damaged, and you'll need to re-install with MAKEPZY. 8. "No PUZZY Picture Files Found: Can't Run or Preview Any Pics." PUZZY picture files have a .PZY extension (as in LION.PZY). These files must be in the same directory that contains the PUZZY program. If you get this message, PUZZY will not abort, but the only menu option that will work is "OPERATING INFO." See Error #4 above for possible causes and solutions to this problem. Page 12 9. "PUZZY Can't Jigsaw Your Picture: Not Formatted as a .PZY File." You'll get this message if a picture file is not formatted correctly, even if it is a "Mode 13" image and has a .PZY file name extension. You can display the picture with PREVIEW, but you can't use it as a puzzle, because the file does not contain some extra information PUZZY needs to jigsaw it. If this information is not intact, the file may be damaged, and you'll need to re-install with MAKEPZY. 10. "Memory Allocation Error: Can't Make File List." PUZZY has no "built in" list of picture files to display when you select RUN or PREVIEW from the menu. Instead it creates the list from the files it finds on your hard disk and grabs a chunk of memory in which to store the list. You'll get this message if, for some reason, your computer refused to allocate another memory chunk. Try RUN or PREVIEW a few more times. If that doesn't work, reboot your computer and try RUN or PREVIEW a few more times. If that doesn't work, you may need to free up more memory. This error is rare, and is usually related to the use of "Expanded" or "Extended" memory. See the OPTIMIZING PUZZY section for ways to get PUZZY into "Conventional" memory. If PUZZY doesn't run properly, but gives NO message telling you what's wrong, the fault probably lies in the installation. Try re-installing. If PUZZY still won't run properly, you may have a defective PUZZY disk and should get a replacement. ============================ OPTIMIZING PUZZY PERFORMANCE -- Speeding it up by freeing more memory ============================ If PUZZY tells you it was forced to use Expanded or Extended memory, or that it's using the hard disk as "Virtual" memory, it may run more slowly than desirable. If you get no such message, PUZZY is running as fast as your machine allows, so you can skip this section. For those who've never seen PUZZY run at optimum speed, the next paragraph describes how its graphic effects should look. This will help you decide whether to make the extra effort needed to speed it up. [If you're satisfied with the way PUZZY runs now, why bother?] When you select a puzzle piece from a STASH, the piece and its surrounding red box should pop up together: you shouldn't see an empty box first and then the piece drawn over it. When you insert a piece, PUZZY should pop it in place, beep "OK", and reactivate the mouse so fast you'll miss it if you blink. [8088 machines are an exception: they take 2 or 3 blinks at best.] When PUZZY tells you its "Cutting Pieces: Please Wait," it's copying images from your hard disk to memory, so its speed will depend on that of your hard disk. But on a 25MHz 386 machine, jigsawing should take under 2 seconds; on a 10MHz 286 machine (IBM Model 50) it should take under 30 seconds. [The one 8088 we've timed took just over 3 minutes, running at 6.4MHz.] To attain maximum speed on any machine, PUZZY must store all its images in so-called "Conventional memory." If your machine has the standard 640K bytes of Conventional memory, it has more than enough unless too much is already taken by other programs you've loaded in. Page 13 At startup, PUZZY determines whether there is enough Conventional memory to store images. If it finds less than the 300K bytes it needs, it checks to see if you have so-called "Expanded memory" and, if so, whether there's enough free space in it. Failing this, PUZZY checks so-called "Extended memory," which all 286, 386, and 486 PC's have. If there's not enough free Extended memory, PUZZY tries to use your hard disk as "Virtual memory." Finally, if PUZZY can't find hard disk room, it will abort and give you a "Not enough memory" message. [Note: if you run PUZZY under Microsoft Windows, you'll always get a "PUZZY must use Extended Memory" message, but it should still run at near-optimum speed. If so, you can ignore the message -- and skip the rest of this section.] When PUZZY uses Expanded or Extended memory, it takes longer to jigsaw the puzzle pieces. But you may notice no slowdown in selecting and inserting pieces, while your play is being timed. When PUZZY is forced to use the hard disk, everything slows to a crawl. And this takes a lot of the fun out of playing PUZZY. To get the best performance your machine can provide, you must free enough Conventional memory for PUZZY to work with. The quickest and easiest way to get more memory is to do a "clean boot" from a floppy disk inserted in drive A:. Chances are you already have a DOS "boot disk" for use in case your hard disk fails, so all you need to do is boot with this disk to run PUZZY and reboot from the hard drive when you're finished. If you don't have a "boot disk," you'll need to make one with the DOS FORMAT command. With DOS Version 5.0, this is done simply by using the "s/ option" with FORMAT. Insert a blank disk in Drive A: and type: FORMAT A: /s [You may also need the "/f option" to specify the disk's capacity.] If you have an earlier DOS Version, your DOS manual will give you alternative instructions for making a boot disk. Just be sure that it has both of the "hidden system files," as well as COMMAND.COM on it. [If your boot disk also has CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, these may be loading other programs into memory, so you won't get a "clean boot" as expected.] An alternative to using a clean boot each time is to remove some of the so-called "terminate-and-stay-resident" (TSR) programs that are probably occupying memory. First, you must find out what other programs are already "resident" in memory when PUZZY starts up; second, you must decide which you can remove; and third, you must remove them. TSR's are usually loaded by your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, which your computer always processes when it boots up. So, you'll have to edit these files to remove expendable TSR's. BUT UNLESS YOU'RE EXPERIENCED AT THIS, YOU SHOULD GET HELP FROM SOMEONE MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE. And whether you or someone else edits these files, be sure that your "mouse driver," probably called MOUSE.SYS or MOUSE.COM, is not removed. Page 14 =================================== REGISTRATION & ORDERING INFORMATION =================================== BENEFITS FOR REGISTERING: You'll get an add-on PICTURE SET disk, which you may choose from the list below. And you'll get an enlarged, printed manual, with hints on achieving TOP GUN and ideas on organizing PUZZY TOURNAMENTS as a party game, lunch-time sport, or family evening. You'll also get free technical support for a full year, and you may order more PUZZY PICTURE SETS. [These SETS are NOT shareware and they are available only to registered users.] Below is a list of the PICTURE SET disks that are now available. Each disk contains 5-8 PUZZY pictures, depending on how many will fill a 5.25" disk. The pictures are not compressed, so all you need do is copy them to your PUZZY directory, and you're ready to run with them. PICTURE SETS ========================================================================= SET #1 -- WILD ANIMALS: from Africa & around the world. SET #2 -- PETS & FARM ANIMALS: cats, dogs, horses, cattle & more. SET #3 -- CITY SCENES: Skyscrapers, skylines, factory, & more. SET #4 -- FAMOUS PAINTINGS: from renaissance to contemporary. SET #5 -- BUILDINGS & MONUMENTS: from the U.S. and Europe. SET #6 -- ANCIENT RUINS: Roman, Greek, Egyptian & Meso-American. SET #7 -- LANDSCAPES: mountains, forest, lakes & pastoral scenes. SET #8 -- BIRDS: from North America and around the world. SET #9 -- GEOMETRICAL SHAPES: 2D & 3D, real toughies for PUZZY. SET #10 -- AERO-SPACE: planes, choppers, & space shuttle. SET #11 -- AUTO ALBUM: classics, sports cars, race car action shots. SET #12 -- ENVIRONMENT ALERT: endangered species, pollution sources, etc. SET #13 -- KID PACK: educational & fun. Cartoons, geometric shapes, etc. teach reading, counting and visual-spatial skills. ========================================================================= PICTURE SETS are only $5.00 each, and even less when you order 6 or more. You can order any 6 SETS for $25, or get all 12 extra SETS for only $40. (Remember: you get one SET as part of your Registration.) Write to Hawkeye Softworks for full catalog descriptions of all these PICTURE SETS. By the time you read this we'll probably have many more. Page 15 TWO WAYS TO REGISTER AND ORDER PICTURE SETS: -------------------------------------------- 1) If you wish to charge your Registration and/or Extra PICTURE SETS to a VISA, MASTERCARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS or DISCOVER card, you must order from Public (software) Library by calling 800-242-4PsL (from overseas: 713-524-6394) or by Fax to 713-524-6398 or by CompuServe to 71355,470. To speed up ordering and avoid errors, tell the person who answers the phone that PUZZY's REFERENCE NUMBER is #10626. PLEASE NOTE: The PsL phone, Fax, and CompuServe numbers ARE FOR REGISTERING AND ORDERING BY CREDIT CARD ONLY. Hawkeye Softworks can NOT be reached at those numbers. To contact Hawkeye Softworks about dealer pricing, volume discounts, site licensing, the status of product shipment, the latest version number, or for technical information or to discuss returns, write directly to Hawkeye Softworks at the address below. 2) If you wish to pay by check or money order you must mail your order directly to Hawkeye Softworks. For your convenience, a Registration & Order Form is provided below. Print this Form on your printer and mail it with your payment to the address given on the Form. Or, if you prefer, simply use a hand-drawn facsimile of the Form. TO RECAP: Hawkeye Softworks does NOT take credit card orders directly. To pay by credit card, you must contact PsL, as explained in #1 above. And note that PsL TAKES ONLY CREDIT CARD ORDERS. SHIPPING & HANDLING CHARGES: If you order from PsL, S&H charges will be $4.00 for each order shipped within North America and $10.00 otherwise. If you order directly from Hawkeye Softworks, postage is included in the purchase price for North America. Others add $6.00 for postage. PLEASE NOTE: The prices given above and on the Order Form for Registration, PICTURE SETS, and Shipping & Handling can be guaranteed for only one year from the release of this version of PUZZY (9/1/92). Prices and/or Shipping & Handling charges may change after 9/1/93. The form on the next page is for your convenience in registering directly with Hawkeye Softworks. Just print it on a dot-matrix printer, fill it out, and send it with your payment to the address given on the form. If you can't print the form, a hand-drawn facsimile will do. Page 16 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- =============================== Mail to: Hawkeye Softworks PUZZY REGISTRATION & ORDER FORM 300 Golfview Avenue =============================== Iowa City, IA 52246 NAME ________________________________________________ DATE: ________ ADDRESS __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ Where did you get your shareware version of PUZZY? [If from a dealer, please give their name & approximate purchase date.] __________________________________________________________________ Circle the ONE FREE PICTURE SET you wish to receive as one of your Registration benefits. AND ALSO Circle any others you wish to order: SET #1 SET #2 SET #3 SET #4 SET #5 SET #6 SET #7 SET #8 SET #9 SET #10 ___________________________________________________________________ AMOUNT ENCLOSED: REGISTRATION (including 1 free PICTURE SET) ------------- $20.00 ADDITIONAL PICTURE SETS ($5 each, any 6 for $25, or all 12 Extra Sets for $40) --__________ SHIPPING ($6.00 for orders outside North America) -------__________ ______________________________________________________________________ TOTAL ENCLOSED* --------__________ *SORRY, but we can only accept payment in U.S. Dollars. -----------------------------------------------------------------------