Software of the Month Club 1997 February/Software of the Month Club 1997 February.iso/pc/dos/games/ginrummy/ginrummy.doc

Text File | 1996-10-18 | 24.6 KB | 548 lines

=======================

       GinRummy

          by

    David A. Teach

-----------------------

Copyright (c) 1991-1996

     Version 5.0

=======================


Requirements / Recommendations to play
======================================

EGA, VGA, MDA, AT&T 400, PC 3270, or Hercules graphics system required.

A Microsoft, Logitech, or compatible mouse is recommended.
Three button rodents work better for the hint feature.

An IBM or compatible AT computer with 8 mHz or faster CPU speed is
also recommended.


How to play this computer game
==============================
   When using the mouse, commands are selected with either the Left or
Right mouse buttons.  When in keyboard mode, the numbers or letters for
the commands are highlighted in light green; or on monochrome displays
the appropriate key is bright white or underlined.

***** If the mouse cursor is not present in the Options, High Scores,
or Statistics screens, then you have a problem with your mouse driver
not accessing the second video page.  Get an updated mouse driver, or
use the NOBLANK command line option to disable video paging.

***** Monochrome EGA/VGA and/or 64k EGA users: If the colors don't come
out correctly or if you cannot go to the Options or Stats screens, try
using the LAPTOP command line parameter.  I set this up to force the
program into 2 color/1 video page on these systems.  With all other
configurations the LAPTOP toggle works normally.


The Title Screen:

BEGIN GAME -
   Typing 'B' or clicking the left or right mouse button on the BEGIN
GAME box starts the game with the shown options.  Hitting ENTER will
also choose this.

OPTIONS -
   Typing 'O' or clicking on OPTIONS will bring up the game Options
Menu.  See "Options Menu" below for the list of options.

HIGH SCORES -
   This displays the top 20 high scores list.

STATISTICS -
   This displays the current player's cumulative game statistics.  Users
of the keyboard hit the 'S' key.

QUIT -
   QUIT will exit the program.  Type 'Q' from the keyboard.


The Options Menu:

MAIN MENU -
   This option will bring you back to the main menu. (Title screen)
You can hit either the letter 'M' or the ENTER key to select this in
keyboard mode.

NAME -
   The default name is 'PLAYER'.  You can change this by typing 'N'
or clicking the mouse pointer within the red box around the name, typing
a new name, and pressing ENTER (or a mouse button).  Backspace is the
only editing key allowed if you make an error while typing in the name.
Upper and lower case letters, numbers 0 through 9, characters ! . , " -
: / ?, and spaces are also allowed.  The name can be a maximum of eight
characters long.

GIN SCORE -
  This is the amount of points that a player scores when he win a hand
with a GIN.  Usually this is 25 points but some people use 20 points.
The 'G' key toggles this option between the two.

UNDERCUT -
  This is the amount of points that a player scores when he undercuts
the other player's knock.  Usually this is 25 points but some people
use 10 points.  The 'U' key toggles this option between the two.

SCORE LIMIT -
   Clicking on SCORE LIMIT cycles the maximum score to play to by 50
points, from 0 to 500.  The RIGHT mouse button, or '+' INCREASES the
score by 50; and the LEFT mouse button, or '-' DECREASES the score.

OKLAHOMA -
   Changing the OKLAHOMA option to YES will play the game by Oklahoma
rules. (see rules below)  The double points on a spade as first upcard
is still in effect even if knocking is disabled.  The 'O' key toggles.

BIG CARDS -
   The default card set has more realistic-looking cards, but the suits
may be a little small for some people to see clearly.  If this is so,
or you just like the one pip better, changing this option to YES will
give you cards with one big number and one big symbol for the suit.
Hit the letter 'B' to switch this option to YES or NO.

EASY GAME -
   If the computer consistently pounds on you, toggle EASY to YES.  This
will make the computer always pick the largest value unused card in its
hand for discarding instead of following its better choosing formulas.
The 'E' key selects this option from keyboard.

KNOCKING -
   If this option is YES, you are allowed to knock if possible. (See
knock rules below)  Otherwise you must GIN to win a hand.  If knocking
is disabled, a zero will be drawn for the knock card value instead of
the normal knock value.  Type 'K' to toggle knocking on or off.

POINTER -
   Clicking on this option will change the shape of the mouse pointer.
There are seven different shapes to choose from.  Obviously, this will
not have any effect if you are not using a mouse, but 'P' still toggles.

SORT BY -
   'R' from Keyboard.  This toggles the sorting of cards in your hand:
RANK = Unmatched cards are arranged highest to lowest, regardless of
   suit.  Cards of same value are then arranged by suit.
SUIT = Unmatched cards are arranged highest to lowest within the four
   possible suits.  Order: Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs. (Bridge)

SAVE -
   Selecting SAVE will save all options to the GINRUMMY.CFG file.  This
file is loaded when the program is run, so your name and your favorite
options are already set.  If this file is not present, or is corrupted,
it will be created with the default options.  At present, the NOBLANK
option is not saved in this configuration file.  'S' from the keyboard.


Player Statistics Screen:
   Clicking within the Main Menu box will bring you back to the main
menu. (Title screen)  You can hit the letter M or the ENTER key to
select this in keyboard mode.


Game Play -
   To start play, a player must draw a card from either the Deck or the
Discard pile.  To do this, click the mouse pointer on the deck or on the
discard pile on the playing screen, OR click on the words DECK or on
DISCARD PILE in the red boxes at the bottom of the screen.  In keyboard
mode, type the highlighted letters 'D' for DECK, or 'P' for DISCARD PILE
to choose.
   You then must choose a card to discard.  Click the mouse pointer on
the card in your hand that you want to discard (the card you want to
replace with your drawn card).  To do this in keyboard mode, the
numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 appear under your hand.  Choose the number
under the card you want to discard, or you can discard the drawn card
by clicking on the discard pile, on the words DRAWN CARD in the red box
at the bottom of the screen, or type 'D' in keyboard mode.  If the
drawn card is taken from the discard pile, you can undo the draw by
clicking on the card drawn, or within box around UNDO, or by typing 'U'
on the keyboard.  After you discard, the computer will draw and discard.

   Play continues until one of you gins, knocks, or draws the second to
the last card in the deck.  You can also type 'Q' or click on the QUIT
option in a red box at the bottom right of the screen to return, upon
confirmation, to the title screen.  Double-clicking on the QUIT option
will also send you to the title screen.
   If after you discard, the total points remaining in your hand are
equal to or less than the knock value, you will be asked if you want to
knock.  Click on YES, or on the knock card to end the hand by knocking.
Click on NO, or on the discard pile to continue the hand without yet
knocking.  If you select the 'Play to Gin' box, you will play that hand
until gin is reached by you, or until the computer gins or knocks.  You
cannot knock again until the next hand, but the computer still can.
Keyboard mode highlights the 'Y' and 'N' for choosing yes or no, or 'P'
to play to gin.  If you have disabled knocking or have selected 'Play
to Gin' earlier in the hand, this question will not appear.
   After one of you wins a hand, scores are accumulated until reaching
the limit set in the options menu, whereupon one of you wins the game.
You can then play again from zero, or quit to the main intro menu.


The Color Bars -
   To help you see how your cards are arranged, the computer will draw
colored bars above your matched cards.  The computer sorts the cards
in your hand into the arrangement that gives you the lowest deadwood
score (or it tries to).  Above all cards in your hand that are matched
into sets of 3 or 4 of a kind, a BLUE bar will be drawn.  Above the
cards matched into a run will be drawn a GREEN bar.
   If the COMPUTER player draws from the discard pile instead of the
deck, a RED bar will be put over the discard pile until the next turn.
This means that the computer took the card that you just discarded.
Since the computer goes so fast, this is done to simulate a more
realistic play in which you can see from where your opponent draws.
   Also, if a player Knocks, and the other player can lay off some
deadwood on the knocking player, a RED bar will be drawn over (or
under) all the laid off cards.
   When you ask the computer to give you a hint on drawing a card or
when choosing a discard, a YELLOW bar will be placed over the card
that he recommends for you to select.


Hints -
   The center button (recommended), or both left and right buttons
pressed simultaneously will ask the computer for a hint.  When using
the keyboard, the letter H brings up the hint suggestion.

CAREFUL: If you are using both left and right mouse buttons to ask for
hints, you must make sure that the mouse pointer is NOT OVER a regular
choice area, (deck, card in hand, quit, etc.) or else the game will
usually think that you made a normal choice with a single button.  If
you have a center button, use that instead; this will work for hints
ANYWHERE on the screen, even over normal choice areas.

   IF YOU HAVE A THREE BUTTON MOUSE, BUT THE CENTER BUTTON DOESN'T DO
ANYTHING, you probably are using a different mouse driver than the one
which came with your mouse.  A three button mouse MUST be driven by a
three button mouse driver.  Most of the Microsoft mouse driver programs
are for two button rodents.  They seem to work fine for all operations
of the mouse except for the center button.  If you have a problem, look
around the BBS's for a newer mouse driver, (I use Logitech mouse driver
version 6.24) or contact the company where you purchased your mouse.


The Screen Saver -
   If no keyboard or mouse input is detected for a certain amount of
time during the game, the screen will blank out to prevent burn-in.  The
time limit for this is set by the game score limit.  The time of waiting
is two seconds per score limit point; which means that a limit of 100 will
blank the screen in 200 seconds (3 minutes, 20 seconds), and a limit of
600 points will wait 20 minutes (1200 seconds).  The minimum time is one
minute, even if the score limit is set to zero.  If your favorite score
limit does not match your wanted screen saver time, learn to live with a
compromise.
   To activate the screen blanker immediately, move the mouse cursor
into the upper right hand corner and the screen will automatically blank
out.  This can be handy for the traditional use of a "Boss key" function.
In keyboard mode, the ESCAPE KEY is the activation key.

*** To get out of the blank screen, press any key or mouse button. ***

*** NOTE: NO SCREEN BLANKING WILL OCCUR IF THE NOBLANK OPTION IS ON.
ALSO, SINGLE PAGE VIDEO CARDS (AT&T 400, PC3270, 64K EGA) CAN NOT
SUPPORT THE SCREEN SAVER AT THIS TIME.  FOR THESE, THE NOBLANK OPTION
IS HARDCODED AS 'TRUE' (ON).


The Score file -
   At the end of each game, the program checks for a score file called
GINRUMMY.SCR in the current directory.  If it is not there, it is
created.  This file saves your 20 best average scores (the final score
divided by the number of hands played).  Also saved is your name (you
must use the command line name option, or change the default player name
if you don't want 'PLAYER' saved as your name), the final score, the
score limit, the number of hands played, whether the Oklahoma option is
on or off (Y or N), and the date the game was played.  Scores are not
saved for the Computer player.  If your score file is corrupted, or you
just want to clear the score list and start over, erase (or rename) the
GINRUMMY.SCR file.  Zero average scores (lose or draw) are not saved.

******* If you quit a hand before the END of the game, the score file
WILL be updated for the hands that were played only if the score of the
human player is greater than zero.


The Statistics file -
   Also at the end of each game, the program checks for a stats file
called GINRUMMY.STA in the current directory.  If it is not there, it
is created.  This file saves cumulative totals for average score per
hand against the computer, the total number of games won and lost, the
total number of hands played and the player's name.  If your stats file
is corrupted, or you just want to clear the list and start over, erase
(or rename) the GINRUMMY.STA file.  You can have up to 20 different
names currently running in this stats file.  If the current player name
is not found in this file, it is added to the top of the file with zero
totals.  WARNING, if this addition makes more than 20 names, the name on
the bottom of the list (the oldest) is truncated.  Hands played to a draw
ARE counted in this.  Games played to a draw (only possible if zero
score limit, or when quitting a game after one draw) are also counted.

******* If you quit a hand before the END of the game, the stats file
WILL be updated if there was at least one hand played to a finish.

******* If you are playing GinRummy on a write-protected or read-only
drive, the stats will start from zero when you start the game; they will
be kept for when you are in the program, but cannot be saved upon exit.
Use the command line path function to read and save to a writable drive.

Notes on the Computer player -
   The computer does NOT "cheat" when playing.  It does not look at the
deck before choosing to draw, it does not look at your hand, or do any
other thing that a human player cannot do.  The computer chooses its
discard by a set of fixed formulas that do not have any room for human
"intuition" or for many of the different possible arrangements of the
hand that might make a good human player choose a different card than
the computer.
   The "Hint" function uses about the same formulas for choosing a
player's selection that the computer uses for its moves.  This means if
you depend too heavily on the hints, you will end up winning only about
half of your games.  (During about 500 hands of play testing I have
around a 59% winning percentage since keeping statistics.)


Command Line Options:
   The default setting for the two options NAME and SCORE LIMIT can be
set from the command line, overriding (but not overwriting) the
configuration file settings.  This can be handy to set up some batch
files for different players on one machine.

At the DOS prompt, you can do the following:

To get a quick help screen for the command line options, type GINRUMMY
followed by /? or ? or help or HELP.  This must be the first parameter.

To list all of the contents of the statistics file from the DOS prompt,
(in case you forget who is in there) type: GINRUMMY list

To list the contents of this documentation file from the DOS prompt,
(in case you can't view it any other way) type: GINRUMMY view

**** NOTE: The previous three command line parameters (help, list, view)
must be the FIRST parameter given, and all will exit to DOS when done.

To set the SCORE LIMIT: GINRUMMY nnn (where "nnn" is a number from
000 to 999)  Example: GINRUMMY 234

For numbers less than 100, you MUST use leading zeros.  ex. 025

If the limit is 0, then exactly one hand will be played, even if it
ends in a draw.

To have the game use your name instead of the default name, you can
state it as a command line option.  Example: GINRUMMY Dave

For the Command line option of Player Name, the length limit is 8
characters and the name must be ONE word.  You can use BobSmith, or
Ron_Hill, etc., but typing Paul Schoenberger will give you Schoenbe for
your name.  If you want a space in your name, you can put one in only
with the Name Change from the options menu.

The name used is the LAST word on the command line that is NOT otherwise
recognized as a command, so be sure not to have any gibberish on the
line when you start the game: GINRUMMY Mike ASDF  will make your name
ASDF not Mike.

NODISK
This option will disable all disk access that the program uses.  That
includes both loading and saving of statistics, options, and high scores.
The high scores box will do nothing, but the statistics will still work
for the current session (starting at zero), but will not be saved upon
exit of the program (or when changing the player's name).

NOBLANK
To disable the screen saver function, use the word NOBLANK in your
command line options.  This parameter will also disable the manual
screen blanking (boss key), since both are really the same function.
This option is automaticly used when a single page video card is
detected.

NOANIMATION
If your computer or video card is too slow to display the animation
(movement) of the cards, use this option from the command line.

LAPTOP
If you have a monochrome monitor, like on many older LCD laptops,
the switch LAPTOP will use a brighter shade for some of the colors
and for any highlighted letters to make them easier to see.  If a
monochrome graphics card is detected by the game, this option will
be used automatically, so this switch is only necessary when you have
a monochrome monitor hooked up to a color graphics card.

NOKEYBOARD
This option will disable all keyboard input for the game except for when
changing the player name in the options menu.  This option will only work
if there is a mouse detected, otherwise what's the point.

GO
To go directly into the game, bypassing the intro screen, use the
command GO from the DOS prompt.  Example: GINRUMMY John B:\ go

If you want to have the configuration and save files read and saved
from or to a different drive or directory, you may specify a file path
on the command line.  Valid paths must start with a backslash (\)
or a drive letter and colon (B:) or parent directory dots (..)
Valid path examples are:
  GINRUMMY A:
  GINRUMMY \GAMES\MYSAVE
  GINRUMMY D:\WORK\
  GINRUMMY \
  GINRUMMY ..
  GINRUMMY ..\STUFF
If just the drive letter is given, then the current path is used on
that drive. (meaning if you are in D:\GAMES and then change to drive C:
and run "GINRUMMY D:" then your game files will be saved in D:\GAMES.
As always, if a path not is specified, the current directory is used.
If a path is given, it is tested at game startup, and if it is invalid
for any reason, the current directory will be made the default path.

Since the game looks only at the first nine parameters given, too much
garbage on the command line might miss a legitimate option:
GINRUMMY 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 GO  will NOT execute the GO command.

These options can be put in any order and are all case INsensitive,
except for the Player Name.


Rules of the Game  -  Taken from "Official Rules of Card Games",
=================     62nd edition, U.S Playing Card Company, 1968

Rank of cards:
   (High) K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A.

Value of cards:
   Face cards 10, Ace 1, other cards their pip value.

The Deal:
   Each player is dealt 10 cards, the next card is turned face up,
forming the discard pile.  The rest of the deck is placed beside it,
face down.

Object of play:
   To form MATCHED SETS, consisting of three or four of a kind, or
sequences of three or more cards of the same consecutive rank in the
same suit.

The Play:
   The human player and the computer take turns by drawing a card from
either the deck or the top of the discard pile, then choosing a card
from their hand to discard.  In this game, you always go first.  Players
alternate until:

   1) A player can GIN.
   2) A player KNOCKS.
   3) Only 2 cards are left in the deck.

A Draw:
   If only two cards remain in the deck at the start of a turn, a player
may choose a card from the discard pile and continue his turn; but if
either player draws from the deck, the hand is a draw. No points are
scored for a draw hand, but it counts as a game played.  The cards are
then re-shuffled and dealt again for a new hand.

   The number of cards remaining in the deck is shown as a small white
number on the top of the deck.  If the number or cards left is 7 or lower,
the number on the deck will be red instead of white.

GIN:
   If, after discarding, all of the remaining cards in the
player's hand are formed into matched sets, the player has GIN.  This
scores 25 points, plus the value of his opponent's unmatched cards
(deadwood).

KNOCK:
   A player can KNOCK if, after discarding, the total of his unmatched
cards is 10 points or less.  He does not have to knock when able to do
so.  After knocking, the hand is over, and both players count the points
of their unmatched (deadwood) cards.  The other player (non-knocking)
does not count the points of any deadwood card he can play on the
knocking player's MATCHED SETS.  This is called LAYING OFF.  The knocking
player CANNOT lay off any of his deadwood cards, and the player laying
off CANNOT alter his or his opponent's matched sets in order to lay off
more cards, or combine his and the other player's deadwood cards to form
matched sets.  If, after laying off, the knocking player has FEWER
points than his opponent, he scores the difference in points.  If the
non-knocking player has LESS or SAME points than his opponent, he has
UNDERCUT him and scores 25 points, plus the point difference in
unmatched cards.

(If you can't remember all this, don't worry; the computer does all the
laying-off, counting, and rule enforcement for you.)

OKLAHOMA:
   If the Oklahoma option is on, play is the same except that the value
of the first card on the discard pile (the upcard), determines the knock
value, whether it is taken or not.  That means, if the first upcard is a
5, then the players can only knock if they have 5 points or less in
deadwood cards.  If an ACE is the first upcard, a player must GIN to win
the hand.  If the first upcard is a SPADE, all points scored in that
hand are DOUBLED.  To remind you if this, a RED box will be drawn around
the knock card when the first upcard is a spade.

Winning:
   Play continues until a player's accumulated score is greater or equal
to the agreed scoring limit, usually 100.  You can then quit the game or
play a new game from zero.

======================================================================
This SHAREWARE program is written in Turbo Pascal Version 7.0

The Mouse unit is from the book "Turbo Pascal Advanced Programmer's
Guide" by Stephen K. O'Brian.  This unit was slightly modified by me.

Please feel free to call or write to me if you have any questions,
comments, improvements, or find any bugs.

If you like this program and want to support the efforts of a shareware
programmer, please send cash or check for any amount that you feel my
GinRummy game is worth to you to:

David Teach
12708 Bruce B. Downs Blvd.
Apt. #216
Tampa, FL  33612

Phone: [phone]
CompuServe ID: 70743,2753
E-mail: [e-mail]
Homepage: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dteach/

If you send in the registration fee for GINRUMMY, I will mail to you
my latest version and will also give you my other card game, CRIBBAGE.

By default, I send out 3.5 disks, if you need 5.25 please specify so.

When writing to me please tell me where you obtained GinRummy, and be
sure to include the version number of the game that you currently have.

Version history is in the separate file: GINRUMMY.NEW

======================================================================

What is Shareware Software?

Shareware, or user-supported software, is a popular way of marketing
software for the program's author.  Shareware software is copyrighted.
The authors encourage you copy their software and share it with friends.

If you like the program and continue using it, you should send in the
"registration fee".  This is a wonderful deal for the consumer.  If you
try a program and don't like it, you owe the author nothing.

However, if you find you are using the program, then it is only right
to pay the "registration fee" which usually ranges from $5.00 to $50.00
depending on the program.  Please support these authors.  They have
worked hard to give you their products and can only do so in the future
if you encourage them.  Shareware software will then continue to flourish
and everyone will benefit.  Where else can you "TRY BEFORE YOU BUY".

=========================================================================