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- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Help for MineSweeper Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
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- Use these choices to find out how to use help, to get extended help, to go to a
- list of keys, or to go to the help index.
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- Help for help
- Provides detailed information on the kinds of help available and how to
- use help.
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- Extended help
- Displays general help.
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- Keys help
- Displays a list of keys.
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- Help index
- Displays the help index.
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- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Help for Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
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- Use this choice to obtain information on how to use the Help facility.
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- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Help for Extended Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
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- Use this choice to obtain general information on the tasks you can perform
- while you are viewing a help window.
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- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Help for Help Index ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
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- Use this choice to display the help index.
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- The help index lists the titles of the help information that is available.
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- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. Help for Keys ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
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- Use this choice to see a list of keys and a description of the function of the
- keys.
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- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. How to Play MineSweeper ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
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- MineSweeper is a game of luck and strategy. The object is to clear every tile
- on the grid. To clear a tile, either "step" on it by clicking with mouse
- button 1, or "mark" it by clicking with mouse button 2. You step on tiles that
- you believe have no mine, and you mark tiles that you believe DO have mines.
- (Note that you can unmark a marked tile by reclicking mouse button 2.)
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- Cleared tiles are indicated with either an , which means that you've marked
- that tile as containing a mine, or with a digit (such as or ) which means that
- you've stepped on that tile.
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- These digits are key. They indicate how many of the eight adjacent tiles
- contain mines. A tile has only one mine adjacent to it, for example.
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- A blank tile () indicates that NO adjacent tiles contain mines. If you step on
- one of these, the surrounding eight tiles are "stepped on" automatically also,
- as a convenience. If one of those eight tiles is also blank, the process
- repeats recursively. This is the cause of those exciting cascades that happen
- now and then.
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- The first few moves of a game depend on luck. After them, however, strategy
- comes in to play: deduce the contents of tiles from the surrounding,
- already-exposed ones. To get you started, the 1st move of the game always
- succeeds.
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- For example: If the grid had the following sequence of tiles:
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- ,
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- you could deduce that the blank tile was in fact safe to step on, since the one
- adjacent mine was already accounted for by the marked tile.
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- If you enable the "Mark with 3 states, not 2" option (in the Options... dialog
- box), MB2 will toggle among three states, instead of merely "marked" and
- "unmarked". The new state is "questionable", and can be used to indicate a
- tile you aren't sure about. A "questionable" tile is the same as a "marked"
- tile in that you can't step on it and die. However, you can not win if any
- "questionable" tiles exist; you must eventually resolve them all.
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- If you die, your wrong move will be highlighed by , and the rest of the board
- will (optionally) be exposed: unmarked tiles will be indicated by , and tiles
- incorrectly marked will be indicated by .
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- Your final score depends on the length of time you take to solve the puzzle.
- The top scores in each difficulty level are saved.
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- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Mouse Operations ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
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- The 1st mouse button (usually the left one) "steps" on a tile. The 2nd mouse
- button (usually the right one) toggles a tile among the "marked" and "unmarked"
- (and optionally "questionable") states.
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- Clicking either button on an already-cleared tile clears the surrounding 8
- tiles, but only if you've marked any surrounding mines correctly. If you've
- marked other than the indicated number of mines, the command is ignored. If
- you've marked enough tiles, but any are wrong, you die. A questionable tile is
- counted as marked.
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- After dying, you can restart a new game by clicking on the play grid. This
- shortcut is equivalent to selecting "Restart" from the Game menu.
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- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. High score name entry ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
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- Type in your name, and press Enter, or click OK.
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- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9. High score display ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
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- Up to 15 high scores are displayed per difficulty level. Press Enter or click
- OK to dismiss the dialog.
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- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10. About dialog ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
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- Tells about me. Press Enter or click OK to dismiss it.
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- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11. Hidden dialog ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
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- Congratulations, you found it! Press Enter or click OK to dismiss it.
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- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12. You Win dialog ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
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- This lets you know you won. Press Enter or click OK to dismiss it.
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- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13. Game Options ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
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- Several aspects of the game's operation are configurable. These options are
- saved, and so are remembered for future games.
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- Difficulty
- Three levels are available. Harder levels include larger boards and
- greater density of mines. High scores for each level are maintained
- separately.
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- When this option is changed, the game is reset, without warning.
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- Sound
- When checked, sound is enabled.
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- Hiscores at Death
- When checked, the high score table will be displayed after you die, even
- if you don't make the high score list. Most people find this behavior
- annoying. When not checked, the table will be displayed only when you get
- a high score, and when requested via the "High Scores..." menu option.
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- Mark with 3 states, not 2
- When checked, the 2nd mouse button (usually the right button) will rotate
- among , , and , rather than just and . The "questioned" state provides
- a way of visualizing tile configurations, while reminding you that you
- aren't certain...
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- Large Bitmaps
- When checked, larger tiles are used for the board. This can help, for
- example, people with high resolution monitors on which the smaller tiles
- are hard to see and play.
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- Expose all at Death
- When checked, the whole board will be exposed when you die. The location
- of all the tiles, and your errors, will be revealed. Some people prefer to
- try to figure out their errors for themselves, however; hence, this
- option.
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- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14. Credits ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
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- The game was written by Bill Warner, with the core game logic by Al Liss.
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- The game was compiled with IBM's beta C/C++ compiler, with their PM resource
- tools.
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- Some of the Container code (for the high-score display) was taken from an "OS/2
- Monthly" magazine article (issue six).
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- Thanks to the following people for comments and suggestions: Al Liss, John
- Love, John Haritos, Gregory Bailey, J. P. Fagerback, Kenneth Porter, David
- Weston, Diane Reese, David Birnbaum.
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- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15. Scoring ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
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- Your score depends on how fast you clear the grid. Lower scores, obviously,
- are better. The top several scores in each difficulty level are stored.
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- ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16. Help for Key Assignments ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ
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- The list of keys is arranged in groups.
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- ACCELERATOR KEYS
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- Alt-o
- Bring up game options dialog
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- Alt-s
- Bring up list of high scores
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- Alt-p
- Pause the game
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- Alt-r
- Restart the game, using current settings
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- Alt-x
- Exit program
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- HELP KEYS
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- F1
- Get help
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- F2
- Get extended help (from within any help window)
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- Alt+F4
- End help
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- F9
- Go to a list of keys (from within any help window)
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- F11
- Go to the help index (from within any help window)
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- Esc
- Previous Help Panel, or End help if only one panel
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- Alt+F6
- Go to/from help and programs
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- Shift+F10
- Get help for help
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- SYSTEM KEYS
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- Alt+F6
- Switch to the next windowed program
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- Alt+Esc
- Switch to the next program, including full-screen programs
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- Ctrl+Esc
- Switch to the Task List
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- WINDOW KEYS
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- F3
- Close a window
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- F10
- Go to/from the action bar
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- Arrow keys
- Move among choices
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- End
- Go to the last choice in a pull-down
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- Esc
- Cancel a pull-down or the system menu
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- Home
- Go to the first choice in a pull-down
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- PgUp
- Scroll the contents of the window up one page
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- PgDn
- Scroll the contents of the window down one page
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- Underlined letter
- Move among the choices on the action bar and pull-downs
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- Alt+F10
- Go to/from the action bar
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- Alt+F4 or F3
- Close the window
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- Alt+F5
- Restore the window
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- Alt+F7
- Move the window
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- Alt+F8
- Size the window
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- Alt+F9
- Minimize the window
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- Alt+F10
- Maximize the window
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- Ctrl+PgDn or Shift+F8
- Scroll the contents of the window right one page
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- Ctrl+PgUp or Shift+F7
- Scroll the contents of the window left one page
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- Shift+Esc or Alt+Spacebar
- Go to/from the system menu
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- Shift+Esc or Alt
- Go to/from the system menu of a text window
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