Solo is a simple Solitaire game for the Newton. It is based on the famous Klondike solitaire game. See the end of this file for instructions on how to play.
This is version 1.2 and seems pretty stable, but if you find any bugs, please report them to me. If you have suggestions, I’ll be more than happy to read them and try to implement them as well.
There a couple of things you should know:
Version 1.2 implements many new items. All these gizmos take up quite a bit of RAM (56K to be precise) which is more than you want if you do not possess a RAM card. If this is the case, included is Solo Lite 1.0, a lighter (36K) version that support all the same rules, but without the gadgets.
What’s corrected in 1.21
• Fixed a bug where if you selected Hollow Reds and quit the game, the check box would stay on even if the Reds were full.
• Fixed a problem with the maximum number of flips. If it was set at three times, you could only do that once. The second game would only allow 1 time (same problem fixed in Solo Lite 1.01).
• Fixed a bug where if you chose to flip the deck once only (1 card at a time option), closed the Options dialog and reopened it, it would display "Flip 3 times" instead of "Flip once". (fixed in Solo Lite 1.01 also).
• Solo 1.2 and SOlo Lite 1.01 now close the Extras Drawre right away, to make sure they have more RAM available. Closing the Extras Drawer leaves more memory available and improves the speed of the application since the Newton does not have to clean up memory as often.
What was new in 1.2
• You now have the choice of playing 1 or 3 cards at a time, and to limit the maximum flips of the deck to 1 or 3 respectively.
• You can now collapse Solo to an icon so you can see your Notepad and resume play later. Beware that this is for extreme situations, and you may run out of RAM... but it seems to work pretty well.
• You can now display the red suites as outlines for low contrast situations.
• On-line help is supported to explain the rules and for all sorts of info. Simply Tap the Question mark icon.
• I’ve added Tap sounds to the Deck so you know you’ve Tapped it.
What was new/corrected in version 1.1:
• Undo of everything (2 levels),
• Fixed the deck staying visible even when empty
• Fixed a bug where you could place Diamonds over Diamonds and Spades over Spades
• Fixed a stacking problem with the pile of cards when you would lift and drop a card beyond the first 3.
• Probably fixed a few other bugs, but I can’t remember...
So what is not in Solo Lite?
• The surprise ending is very simple
• Removed most graphics (faces, Flip button)
• Not collapsable
• Cannot display Red suites as outlines
• No online instructions (see the end of this doc for help)
Stay tuned for Solo DX (Deluxe) and buy yourself a RAM card if you want to use it.
• Multiple solitaire games (Pyramid, Canfield, ???any suggestions?)
• Better graphics (Larger memory requirements)
• Sound
• High scores system?
• QuickTime & PowerTalk support (hahahahaha ha! ha! hee hee! ho! Just kidding!)
Have fun!
Arby
Send comments/suggestions/bug reports to:
Renaud Boisjoly
AppleLink: Renaud1
Internet: arby@apple.com
How to play
There are three components to the game: the Deck, the four Foundations and the seven Columns (these have nothing to do with either hitting someone, Asaac Asimov or dwarves of any kind).
To play, you must place cards in descending order and alternating suites (red, black) down the columns, the King being the highest possible value. i.e. 10 of Hearts, 9 of Spades, 8 of Diamonds, 7 of Spades, etc.
When you discover an Ace, you can place it in any of the four Foundations. You can then start building the Foundations in ascending order of the same suit (2, 3, 4, etc.).
When a column is empty, you may move a King in the empty space.
Special rules
Once a card is played, you may only move it to the Foundation, not another column. You may not move a card down from the Foundations back into play. Although these moves are not valid, the game lets you play them anyways, but beware you may feel guilty after cheating this way!
Options
Cards are usually dealt three at a time from the Deck to reveal new cards, but some people only deal one, so that option is available.
You may also wish to limit the number of times the deck is played to make the game even more challenging. Most rules state that if you are playing the single card option, you should play the deck only once and if you are playing the three card option you can play the deck three times.
The little Spade icon next to the go away box at the bottom right of the screen lets you Iconize the game. I've implemented this the way I could, and it seems to work. Beware that if you use it, your available memory goes down, only use this if you really need to access your other apps.
