Software of the Month Club 1997 February

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----------------------------------------------------------------------------- DROPSESSION DOCUMENTATION Version: Oct. 1996 Eriban Software ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- *** HOW TO CONTACT US *** Address: Eriban Software Postbus 1459 7500 BL Enschede Netherlands Email: e.r.bonsma@student.utwente.nl, lastdawn@dds.nl and lastdawn@geocities.com (be sure to mail to all three of them) URL: http://huizen.dds.nl/~lastdawn/dropsess.htm *** CONTENTS *** 1. Dropsession 2. The puzzle 2.1. A short description 2.2. The actions in a nutshell 2.3. Exceptional situations 3. How to use the Dropsession program? 3.1. How to start puzzling? 3.2. Solving the puzzles 3.3. What if I solved a puzzle? 3.4. What about the puzzle codes? 3.5. Start off where you left 3.6. What if I am stuck? 3.7. Help, the puzzles code are starting to look weird! Is it a bug? 3.8. Solving puzzles you once skipped 3.9. What to do when I solved a skipped puzzle? 4. The freeware version 4.1. Features 4.2. Requirements 5. The registration version 5.1. Features 5.2. Requirements 5.3. Future plans 5.4. Why register? 5.5. How to register? 6. Contact us 7. Support the environment 8. Frequently asked questions 9. Major thanx 10. Legal stuff 10.1. Disclaimer 10.2. Distribution 10.2.1. Freeware version 10.2.2. Registration version 1. Dropsession We are proud to present to you : Dropsession, a new and exciting puzzle game. Those of you who are not afraid of a little bit of puzzling will be pleased with it, we think... The idea behind the Dropsession puzzles is simple yet very powerful. The difficulty of the puzzles ranges from easy to very hard. Even puzzles looking extremely simple can turn out to be far from easy. Solving the puzzles will often prove to be a real challenge. You will need to plan ahead, you will have to build temporary constructions which will be removed later on, you will have to decide where to start etc. Anyway, so we are very exited about the puzzles and the Dropsession program. Why don't you find out if you are? Just play the game! But be sure to read the documentation first. 2. The puzzle 2.1. A short description The goal of each puzzle is to build a given figure on a two dimensional board. You will have a restricted set of pieces for each puzzle. Pieces which are on the board are subject to a forcefield. This forcefield can be orientated in one of two directions (these two directions are 90 degrees apart). The forcefield will drop pieces as far as possible (until they are obstructed by a border of the board or by other pieces). However, the forcefield will never rotate the pieces. So the orientation of each piece stays fixed. You are able to switch the direction of the forcefield. The forcefield is the only way to move the pieces on the board. The board has two entrances which you use to insert pieces on the board. Which entrance you can use is determined by the active direction of the forcefield. You pick a piece that is still available and position it as you wish in front of the entrance. You then insert the piece. Once the piece is on the board, the forcefield will cause it to drop as far as possible in the direction of the forcefield. Often you are given more pieces than are necessary to form the figure. These extra pieces can be used during the construction of the figure. At the end of the puzzle they have to be off the board again. The board has two exits which can be used to remove pieces from the board. If you open the exits the forcefield may cause pieces to leave the board through one of the exits. The exits then close. You can use the pieces which left the board again later on. 2.2. The actions in a nutshell To summarize the above. The three actions you have at your disposal to solve the puzzle are: - Switch the forcefield to the other direction. - Insert a piece on the board through the active entrance. - Remove pieces from the board by opening the exits. Sounds simple, huh? How could these puzzles ever be hard? Well, they can. They really can. Play a couple of the puzzles if you don't believe us. 2.3. Exceptional situations The above description is not yet complete. There are still two exceptional situations: (1) If you drop a piece and it can not completely get on the board it will be rejected. (2) If you open an exit and a piece gets halfway but cannot completely leave the board you are not allowed to play any further. You will have to start again from the start or go back using the undo-function. Furthermore, for some puzzles you are not allowed to 'build to the entrance'. This means that when you rotate the forcefield, the area of the board under the current entrance has to be entirely empty if you want to insert a new piece. Otherwise the entrance will be closed making it impossible for you to insert a piece. In this way it is as if you have to solve the puzzle on a very large board. It is done to make the solutions for some puzzles a bit nicer (and harder!). You can find out if you are allowed to 'build to the entrance' by looking at the information for the puzzle. 3. How to use the Dropsession program? 3.1. How to start puzzling? Simply choose 'Play puzzle' in the main menu. You will first see some information on the puzzle. When you have seen this information, you press a key and you can try to solve the puzzle. 3.2. Solving the puzzles The actions you can use to solve the puzzle, are given elsewhere in this document, see the chapter 'The Puzzle'. You can find out which keys you have to use to perform these actions by pressing 'F1'. 3.3. What if I solved a puzzle? When you have solved a puzzle, you automatically go to the next puzzle. Always write down the code for this new puzzle immediately! 3.4. What about the puzzle codes? Each puzzle has its own unique set of codes. These codes enable you to go back to any puzzle where you have been before. 3.5. Start off where you left You can go to any puzzle where you have been before by using the 'Goto puzzle' command. Simply enter the number of the puzzle and its code. Then choose 'Play puzzle'. 3.6. What if I am stuck? It is possible that you are stuck at a certain puzzle. That you really have no idea how to solve it. Or that you're so extremely close to solving it, but just not close enough.... You can then skip that puzzle and go on with the next puzzle. Choose 'Skip puzzle' in the main menu. You are only allowed to skip up to a certain maximum number of puzzles (we think that number is two....). 3.7. Help, the puzzles code are starting to look weird! Is it a bug? No, once you skipped a puzzle the puzzle codes will be a random-looking combination of characters and digits. This new code indicates that you skipped one or more puzzles. So if you restart Dropsession and use this code to go back to a puzzle where you have been before, the program will know how many puzzles you skipped up till then. 3.8. Solving puzzles you once skipped Simply go to a puzzle you skipped once by using the 'Goto puzzle' command. Then try to solve this puzzle again. 3.9. What to do when I solved a skipped puzzle? When you solved a puzzle which you had once skipped, you will see that the puzzle code for the puzzle immediately following the skipped puzzle has changed. Write down this new code. The code has changed to reflect the new situation (for the number of puzzles you skipped up till then has decreased). However, if you have any codes for puzzles with a higher number, these should be changed at well. And uh,..... hmm.... that is where things get a bit complicated.... Sorry. Really. But don't fear, you do not have to solve all these puzzles for a second time. You use the 'Validate puzzle' command to avoid this. You will have to give the code for the next puzzle, and then you will receive the new code for that puzzle (write it down!). Work your way through all puzzles by validating them..... Ah well, that's not too hard after all, is it? 4. The freeware version 4.1. Features - 17 different puzzles. - A built in demo-mode. - Undo & redo function (only up to 2 levels) - A code system so you can restart whereever you left the previous time. You are even allowed to skip a puzzle at which you are stuck. But only up to a certain extent. 4.2. Requirements The freeware version is designed to run on almost any computer which runs DOS. If your screen supports a 80x25 text-mode with at least sixteen colours there shouldn't be any problems to run the program. Or your computer should really, really be ancient... 5. The registration version 5.1. Features - More puzzles (at least 25 new puzzles, but this number will grow!) - Undo & redo up to 20 levels - Save & load your (partial) solutions. You will be able to restart from anywhere in these solutions. - A nicer appearance. It is still text-mode though, but considerably neater. And if you are longing for a graphical version, read on! 5.2. Requirements If the freeware versions runs on your computer, the above registration version should also work. 5.3. Future plans Some things we have in mind to do in the near future: - More puzzles!!!! - A 256 color graphical version. Raytracing will be used to create a realistic board and pieces. You would puzzle with (for instance) marble pieces and a wooden board! This graphical version is not yet available. However, as soon as 50 users have registered, it is guaranteed to be released! - Small improvements like defining your own keys. 5.4. Why register? - You will get more puzzles! - You will receive the registration version of the program (more functionality, better looking, etc. See the features of the registration version) - It costs you only 10 US dollar to register for life! You will then be able to get all future versions and all new puzzles for free. Be quick, when the registration package gets more comprehensive the registration fee will increase. So you will save money if you register now! - You will support the environment by registering! Part of the registration fee (10%) will go to the WWF (read on for more information). 5.5. How to register? Print out the file REGISTER.TXT and fill in the form. You will find more information in the file itself. 6. Contact us You can always contact us. You can find all the addresses you need at the top of this document. Contact us... - ... when you have questions or want to get more information. - ... when you want to give us your feedback. We would be very happy to receive any feedback on this program. - ... when you want to register. Check out the file REGISTER.TXT for more information. - ... when you have found a shorter or better solution for a certain puzzle. It can be that your solution takes less rotations or that you do not use all the pieces that are available (for instance, your solution leaves the small unit square for the Devilish Diamond untouched. Which would be quite an achievement by the way). What's in it for you? Eternal fame: your name will be mentioned by the solution of the puzzle. - ... when you have designed some neat puzzles and you don't mind that we use them. Eternal fame will be yours again: you will get your name mentioned by each of your puzzles which we use. Furthermore, when you give us several puzzles of a good quality, you can also expect a small reward in return. Don't hesitate to ask for more information when you're interested. - ... when you discovered a bug in Dropsession. We hope that this will never be the case. But it is possible since the sourcecode of Dropsession has gotten pretty big (over 200k C++ code). - ... when you think there is another reason to contact us. 7. Support the environment Eriban Software is pretty concerned at the way the world and her natural environment is going. Therefore, we will give 10% of all revenues to the WNF, the dutch organisation of the WWF ("World Wide Fund for Nature" also known as the "World Wildelife Fund"). We feel that that's the least we can do. WWF's Mission: To reverse the destruction of the Earth's natural environment and build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature. Get more information: WNF: http://www.wnf.nl/ WWF: http://www.panda.org/ 8. Frequently asked questions At the moment of writing this documentation, the program is not yet released. So there haven't been any questions so far. But if you have any questions, ask us. You can visit our homepage, email us or write us. All the addresses you need are at the top of this document. 1.1 Will there be a Windows version available in the near future? - Nah, think not. Eriban Software feels that they should not in any way help Bill and his friends in a monopolizing marketing position. 1.2 But does Eriban Software realize that this will mean that they throw away a good chance to make some extra money? - Yes, but making money is not everyones main goal in life. Some people have higher morals. 2.1 Is this product environmental friendly? - Yes. 2.2 Why? - First of all, no first multi-megaherz mega-memory hardware is required to run this piece of software. So you can refrain from buying the newest (even faster and better) computer model around. You can still use your old computer. You don't have to throw it away! This will effectively reduce the world's wastebelt by one (still perfectly functioning) machine. 2.3 Oh, oops. But what if I already made the mistake of buying the latest computer model? - Those who did, can still save some precious energy by switching their power consuming piece of hardware from the highspeed mode to the rarely used but still useful low-speed mode. Try it! 2.4 That's indeed all very impressive. Is there more? - It's nothing compared to the above ;).... but it deserves to be mentioned anyway: 10% (or even more when things start to work out) of all received payments will be donated to the WWF. And that's a promise! 9. Major thanx An incredible bunch of thanx go out to Savatage, Blind Guardian and Pique Poque Poetry, without their inpiring music the creation of this program and the underlying ideas would be inconceivable. And that's no lie! Furthermore, thanx go also out to: Paul and Calslaan 7-2 for providing feedback and the NKC for publishing an article on Dropsession in their CFF magazine (puzzle lovers, we can highly recommend this magazine to you, ask us for more information if you're interested). 10. Legal stuff 10.1. Disclaimer WE PROVIDE DROPSESSION AS IS. WE WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THIS PROGRAM. IF YOU USE DROPSESSION, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK. So, if for instance your wife wants to divorce you because you didn't spend enough time on her recently, your boss fires you because you played Dropsession at your work, your computer started to smoke because it had been on too long just because of that stupid little puzzle, your cat pees in your keyboard, a bug in Dropsession erases very important data on your harddrive, or anything else, we are simply not responsible. 10.2. Distribution 10.2.1. Freeware version IMPORTANT: DISTRIBUTION OF THE FREEWARE PACKAGE OF DROPSESSION IS ONLY ALLOWED WHEN YOU KEEP THE PACKAGE IN ITS ENTIRETY. FURTHERMORE, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE FILES IN THE PACKAGE. As long as you keep the freeware package of Dropsession unchanged and in its entirety and you don't charge any money for it, you are free to pass the package to your friends, colleagues or anyone else. (the file ALLFILES.TXT gives the names and sizes of all the files in the freeware packages). Distributors of freeware or shareware software are also allowed to distribute the freeware package of Dropsession. In doing so you may charge no more than a nominal fee for duplication. Furthermore, Dropsession may only be distributed unchanged and in its entirety (refer to the file ALLFILES.TXT). We would appreciate it when you would inform us when you use Dropsession. You can also contact us when you have any questions regarding the distribution of Dropsession. 10.2.2. Registration version You are not allowed to distribute the registration package of Dropsession. Your registration version of Dropsession will be protected by a personal password. It is your responsibility that this password stays personal. Ayreon - I hope one day, that man will understand, it's in his power to change his destiny...