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*** FRAZZLE! (v3.10) *** 12 Jul 90 A Game of Dice Strategy Mark L. Bakke 14309 Fairview Lane Dale City, VA 22193 (703) 680-2628 *** *** INTRODUCTION AND BASIC RULES *** FRAZZLE! is a dice strategy game where the object is to be the first player to reach 10,000 points. It may be played by any mix of up to four human and/or computer opponents. Players alternate turns rolling the dice and saving scoring combinations. Dice that are saved on one roll may not be used again on the next roll. If all six dice score points, they may all be used again for the next roll and the turn score accumulates. A player may continue to roll as long as he wishes to, or, until he fails to roll at least one scoring die (called a "zonk"). If a player is zonked, he forfeits his turn and loses his score for that turn. Alternatively, you may choose to play a 30-turn solitaire game and see how high you can score. The solitaire rules are the same as for the regular game, including special 500+ point first-turn rule (see pg.5), except the game does not end at 10,000 points, but continues on for 30 turns with the object being to achieve as high a final score as possible. Changes to this documentation from previous versions are denoted by a | '|' character on the right side of the lines that contain additions or | changes. This will allow veteran FRAZZLE! players to quickly scan | this document and find all the newest goodies. | Veteran FRAZZLE! players may notice that the v3.10 FRAZZLE.EXE file is | over 60K smaller than in previous versions. About half of this is due | to extensive reorganization of some of my library source code modules | that enabled me to use Microsoft C's 'small' memory model. The rest | comes as a result of a superb .EXE file compression utility from | France called LZEXE v0.91. The result is a substantially smaller | program that has more features and runs as well or better than its | previous versions. | *** *** TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 2 *** FRAZZLE! Distribution File ............ 2 | Installing FRAZZLE! ................... 3 | Verifying Your Version of FRAZZLE! .... 3 | Getting Started ....................... 4 Scoring Points in FRAZZLE! ............ 5 Special First Turn Rule ............... 5 FRAZZLE! Playing Commands ............. 6 Getting Help .......................... 6 Using a Mouse with FRAZZLE! ........... 7 FRAZZLE! Color Configuration .......... 8 | The Computer Player ................... 11 Computer Player Basic Strategies ...... 12 Computer Player Game Strategies ....... 12 Computer Player Turn Strategies ....... 13 Winning FRAZZLE! ...................... 14 Hall of Fame .......................... 15 Play Again? ........................... 16 Registration Info ..................... 16 FRAZZLE! Support and Newest Versions .. 17 | *** | *** FRAZZLE! DISTRIBUTION FILE | *** | | The complete distribution file for FRAZZLE! v3.10 should contain the | following files: | | FRAZZLE.EXE -- This is the FRAZZLE! executable file | (40585 bytes, dated 07-12-90) | | FRAZZLE.DOC -- FRAZZLE! documention | | FRAZZLE.AD -- A one-page game description and registration | order form | | SUPPORT.BBS -- Where to obtain the newest versions of FRAZZLE! | and my other shareware programs. This is also | where you can contact me with questions, | comments, suggestions, and orders. | | My original FRAZZLE! distribution file is a PKZIP-created archive | file named FRAZL310.ZIP. The unarchiving utility PKUNZIP is required | to recreate the four original files from this archive. If you do not | have PKUNZIP, you will need to obtain it from your favorite BBS. The | current version of this utility should be contained in a file called | "PKZ110.EXE". | *** | *** INSTALLING FRAZZLE! Page 3 | *** | | You may run FRAZZLE! from your hard drive or from a floppy disk. To | install FRAZZLE!, you need only copy the distribution file to the | desired directory or sub-directory and enter the command, "PKUNZIP | FRAZL310" to recreate the FRAZZLE! files. For example, if you have | the disk containing the distribution file in floppy drive A: and you | wish to install FRAZZLE! on your hard drive C: into a new directory | called "frazzle", you should put the diskette into drive A: and issue | the following commands: | | c: (make hard drive C: the current drive) | cd \ (change to the root directory) | md frazzle (create the new sub-directory "frazzle") | cd frazzle (change to the new sub-directory) | copy a:frazl300.zip (copy the distribution file from diskette) | pkunzip frazl310 (recreate the FRAZZLE! files) | | NOTE: PKUNZIP must be in the current directory or in a directory that | is accessible through your PATH environment variable. | | *** | *** VERIFYING YOUR VERSION OF FRAZZLE! | *** | | If you use the VALIDATE.COM utility to verify the integrity of | executable files, it should produce the following output for | FRAZZLE.EXE -- | | VALIDATE 0.3 Copyright 1988-89 by McAfee Associates. (408) 988-3832 | | File Name: frazzle.exe | Size: 40,585 | Date: 7-12-1990 | File Authentication: | Check Method 1 - EB1F | Check Method 2 - 1905 | | If the FRAZZLE! distribution file you received or downloaded does not | contain the four files listed above, if it is not named FRAZL310.ZIP, | or if VALIDATE does not produce the results listed above when run on | FRAZZLE.EXE, please contact me via a bulletin board or phone number | given in the "FRAZZLE! Support and Newest Versions" section of this | document. Let me know the details of the discrepancy and where you | obtained the incorrect distribution file and I'll ensure that a | correct and authorized FRAZL310.ZIP file is made available to you | either by mail or by uploading it to your favorite BBS. I will | require either a fully paid registration or $3.00 to cover costs of | disk, mailer, and postage before I can mail you a new program disk. | I'll upload to your favorite BBS in exchange for the phone number of | that BBS. | *** *** GETTING STARTED Page 4 *** To start the game, type "frazzle" at the DOS prompt and press <ENTER>. If you are playing on a laptop or other computer that does not use a color monitor, type "frazzle -m" to tell FRAZZLE! to use monochrome (black-and-white) colors. The file "FRAZZLE.EXE" should be in your current working directory for best results. The game will also maintain two data files, one for the | Hall of Fame information (described on page 15) called "FRAZZLE.HOF", | and one for game configuration information called "FRAZZLE.CFG". Both | the current working directory and the root directory will be checked | to see if these files already exist. If they are found, they will | continue to be maintained where they are. If either or both files are | not found, they will be created and maintained in the current working | directory. If you have been playing an earlier version of FRAZZLE! | that maintained the "FRAZZLE.HOF" file in the root directory only, you | should copy that file to the current working directory. | Once you have started FRAZZLE!, you will be asked whether you want a two-player, four-player, or one-player game. After you make your choice, you will be asked whether each player, in turn, will be played by a human or by the computer. If it will be a human player, you will be asked to enter that player's name. If it will be a computer player, you will be asked to select one of five possible game strategies for the computer to use (see page 12 of this document). If you have selected at least one computer player, you will be asked whether you would like to have the computer player use "Fast Play". If you use "Fast Play", the computer players will roll continuously either until their turn is over, or until they suffer a 'zonk'. If you choose not to use "Fast Play", you will be asked to press a key after each time the computer player rolls the dice. "Fast Play" will greatly speed up the game play, but, not using it will allow you to better examine the computer player's strategy. The choice is yours. Try it both ways and see which is preferable. If you choose to have a four-player game, the screen will be divided into four player windows if you have an EGA/VGA monitor capable of 43 or 50 line extended text displays. Otherwise, the screen will display only two windows at a time and will alternate them between the players in the game, as appropriate, and a scoring recap line will be displayed at the bottom of the screen to help you keep track of all players' scores. FRAZZLE! will automatically detect a Microsoft-compatible mouse and let you use it if one is attached (see page 7 of this document). FRAZZLE! is also DESQview-aware and will run in a small window with a minimum of 96K of memory. If you are using an EGA or VGA monitor, you | will need to set the Window Position - Maximum Height value to 43 (for EGA) or 50 (for VGA). Also, for best performance, I recommend that you set "Writes text directly to screen" to 'Y'. While FRAZZLE! will still run properly if that parameter is set to 'N', its visual appearance and performance will be noticeably degraded. *** *** SCORING POINTS IN FRAZZLE! Page 5 *** The folowing table shows how points are scored in FRAZZLE!. Rolling three or more of the same value will score the highest number of points. You must save at least one scoring die on every roll or you are "zonked". NUMBER OF MATCHING DIE VALUES ROLLED 1 2 3 4 5 6 -------------------------------- 1 -- 100 200 1000 2000 4000 8000 2 -- 0 0 200 400 800 1600 DIE 3 -- 0 0 300 600 1200 2400 VALUE 4 -- 0 0 400 800 1600 3200 5 -- 50 100 500 1000 2000 4000 6 -- 0 0 600 1200 2400 4800 For example, at the beginning of your turn you roll all six dice and roll the following numbers: 4,5,3,3,1,6. The single '5' is worth 50 points and the single '1' is worth 100 points. If you select both of them you will score 150 points and have the opportunity to roll the other four dice again. You decide to roll again and you get these numbers: 3,4,3,3. Now you have rolled three '3's which is worth 300 points. If you select them, you now have a total of 450 points for this turn and have one die remaining. You may roll that die again, hoping for a '1' or a '5', or you may end your turn and take the 450 points. If you roll that one die again and obtain either a '1' or a '5', you will have scored with all six dice. This allows you to continue your turn by rolling all six dice again. You may continue your turn as long as you wish (see "Special First Turn Rule" below), or, until you score no points on any roll and get "zonked". FRAZZLE! watches out for human players who might experience temporary brain cramps after rolling the dice (like the game's author). If you roll any scoring dice, but, fail to select at least one scoring combination, you will be reminded of that oversight and asked to "Try again". Also, any non-scoring dice that you may select will be ignored. "FRAZZLE!" is the feeling you get when you're rolling up a big turn score and suddenly get "zonked"! Or, when you're way out in the lead and your opponent fires six '1's! *** *** SPECIAL FIRST TURN RULE *** A player must score at least 500 points on his first turn to get on the board and begin his quest for 10,000. You will not be allowed to end your first turn before you have either accumulated at least 500 points, or, you have gotten zonked. "FRAZZLE!" is the feeling you get when you are seemingly unable to get started while an opponent is building up a big lead. *** *** FRAZZLE! PLAYING COMMANDS Page 6 *** The following commands are available when it is your turn to play: <1-6> Select die <'A'> (A)uto-select dice <ENTER> Play selected dice <ESC> Clear selections <'Q'> (Q)uit game Press '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', or '6' to toggle the selection status of the correspondingly-numbered die. A selected die will change color from cyan to green and will also have "SCR" displayed underneath it to show that it will be scored this turn. Press <ENTER> to finish selecting dice and compute your score for this roll. Press <ESC> to clear all of your selections and start again. Press 'A' to automatically select all of the scoring dice from the current roll. After selecting scoring dice, you will be asked if you wish to roll again. If you roll again, all dice that have been scored will change colors to red and have "HLD" displayed underneath them to remind you that they will be held out from the current roll. If you should want to quit the game at any time during your turn, press 'Q'. You will be asked to verify whether or not you actually wish to quit the game. If you are playing using the monochrome colors, dice will start out white and change color to black when they are "held". *** NOTE: The die colors described above are the defaults used by | FRAZZLE!. If you utilize FRAZZLE!'s configuration option to | change the die colors, you should substitute your new colors | as appropriate into the above paragraph.) | There are two other commands that are available to you during your | turn. Pressing 'F9' will bring up FRAZZLE!'s configuration option. | (This is completely described on page 8). The other command was added | at the request of FRAZZLE! users who use multi-tasking or task | switching environments or TSR's that can change the video mode from | 43/50 lines to 25 lines while playing a game. If you began a 4-player | game and FRAZZLE! is using the EGA/VGA 43/50 line display and you find | your screen switched back to 25-line mode at any time, you may now | press 'F10' and restore the proper video mode. | *** *** GETTING HELP *** Help panels that present short synopses of the rules of FRAZZLE! are available at any time during your turn by pressing the 'F1' key. A small "F1 => HELP" reminder flag will light up when this feature is available. Help is available for the basic rules of FRAZZLE!, the scoring table, and the commands available during your turn. Also available are a synopsis of the one-player game and the Hall of Fame display. Page 7 Press the highlighted letter corresponding to your desired choice, or, use the left/right arrow keys to move the selection box to your desired choice and press <ENTER> to bring up the appropriate help panel. Press any key when you are done reading the help panel. *** *** USING A MOUSE WITH FRAZZLE! *** FRAZZLE! will automatically detect and allow you to use a Microsoft or compatible mouse. Keyboard commands and mouse usage may be freely intermixed as you see fit. When FRAZZLE! detects that a mouse is available, one of the numbers '1' through '6' above the dice in your playing window will be bracketed by this symbol -- ' ' (the "mouse cursor"). Moving the mouse left or right will shift the mouse cursor in the corresponding direction through the numbers. To select any die, place the mouse cursor around the die's number and click the left button. You may de-select a die by using the same procedure. When you have selected all the dice you wish to play for the current roll, click the right button and answer the "Roll again?" dialog window. The "Redo" option | in this window provides you with the opportunity to change your mind | about which dice you want to select. | If no dice have yet been selected this turn, you may immediately click the right mouse button to choose all of the available scoring dice - just the same as you would do by pressing 'A' (auto-select) on the keyboard. You can also answer all dialog windows that will appear during the game by using the mouse. Move the mouse left, right, up, and/or down to move the highlight box within the dialog window and press the left button when your desired choice is highlighted. Additionally, any time you see a "Yes/No" dialog window, without having to move the highlight box you may choose the default response by pressing the | left button or choose the opposite response by pressing the right | button. Once you begin to move the highlight box, the selection is | made as was previously described. Any time you see "Press any key to continue", you may also press the left mouse button to continue. *** *** FRAZZLE! COLOR CONFIGURATION Page 8 *** FRAZZLE!'s color configuration routine allows you to change the program's various dice, background, and text colors to conform to your particular preferences. It also allows you to restore the beginning default colors should you want to do that. The color configuration routine is disabled if you start FRAZZLE! in black-and-white mode by using the '-m' command line switch. FRAZZLE! maintains a file called "FRAZZLE.CFG" which contains the color combinations in use at the end of the last game played. This file is read in when you start FRAZZLE! in color mode and is updated as part of the program's exit routine. It is not used if you start FRAZZLE! in black-and-white mode. You may call the color configuration routine by pressing 'F9' when it is your turn to play. A series of dialog windows will appear and guide you through all of the various options. These dialog windows and the choices available in each are described below: *** FRAZZLE! CONFIGURATION *** -- The dialog window with this title is the starting point for the color configuration routine and is the first one you will see after pressing 'F9' while it is your turn to play. The choices available from here are: Dice Colors -- Select this option to change the background colors used to display 'held', 'selected', and 'rolled' dice. When you select this option, another dialog window will appear with the following choices: Held Die -- Change the background color used to display dice that have been saved from previous rolls. The default color for held dice is red. Selected Die -- Change the background color used to display dice that have been selected during the current roll. The default color for selected dice is green. Rolled Die -- Change the background color used to display dice that have been rolled, but, have yet to be either selected or saved. The default color for rolled dice is cyan. Quit -- Select this option when you have completed making changes to the dice colors. Page 9 Background Colors -- Select this option to change the background colors used by FRAZZLE! for the player windows, the screen background, and the title banner. When you select this option, another dialog window will appear with the following choices: Screen Bkgrd -- Change the color used for the screen background. The default color is cyan. Player Bkgrd -- Change the color used for the background in the player windows. The default color is blue. Titles Bkgrd -- Change the color used for the background of the program's title banner and "F1 => HELP" flag. The default color is magenta. Quit -- Select this option when you have completed making changes to the background colors. Text Colors -- Select this option to change the foreground colors used by FRAZZLE! to display text in the player windows and the title banner. When you select this option, another dialog window will appear with the following choices: Player Window -- Select this option to change the various foreground colors used to display text within the player windows. When you select this option, another dialog window will appear with the following choices: Text Color #1 -- Change the foreground color used to display the following text items in each player window: "TURN: 1000 points RISK: 57" "HLD" and "SCR" (dice status indicators) "I'll take 3 ONES for 1000 points" The Commands available to the Human Player "** ZONK **" "Press any key to continue" (computer player) The default color for the examples given above is high-intensity yellow. Text Color #2 -- Change the foreground color used to display the following text items in each player window: "1 2 3 4 5 6" (the dice numbers) "It's Computer Player #2's turn" Computer Player's game strategy (e.g, "RKLS") Commands descriptions in Human Player window The default color for the examples given above is high-intensity green. Page 10 Text Color #3 -- Change the foreground color used to display the following text items in each player window: "SCORE: 10000 points" "** THIS ROLL'S SCORING **" "*** PLAY OPTIONS ***" "I will roll again" The default color for the examples given above is high-intensity white. Text Color #4 -- Change the foreground color used to display the following text items in each player window: Computer player current strategy (e.g, "CAU") "What will you do?" The default color for the examples given above is high-intensity cyan. Quit -- Select this option when you have completed making changes to the foreground text colors in the player windows. Titles Text -- Select this option to change the foreground color used to display text within the program's title banner and "F1 => HELP" flag. The default color is high-intensity white. Quit -- Select this option when you have completed making changes to the foreground text colors. *NOTE*: Some text color changes will not show up in the computer players' windows and the inactive human players' windows until the next time those windows become active. All changes will be immediately implemented in the active player's window at the time they are made. Restore Defaults -- Select this option to change FRAZZLE!'s color scheme back to the original program defaults. The various default colors are listed in the appropriate places in the preceding paragraphs. Quit -- Select this option when you have finished making changes to FRAZZLE's color scheme and wish to return to your game. Any color changes that were made will be saved to the file "FRAZZLE.CFG" when you have finished playing and exit the program. These changes will be read in and used the next time you play FRAZZLE!. *** *** THE COMPUTER PLAYER Page 11 *** FRAZZLE! will provide you with computer opponents to complete a two-player or four-player game. The computer opponents have their own built-in strategies that should provide you with a formidable challenge. When it is a computer player's turn, the dice will roll and he will tell you what scoring decisions he has made for that roll. He will also tell you whether or not he wishes to roll again. *** *** COMPUTER PLAYER BASIC STRATEGIES *** Actually, the computer player mixes and matches three different types of strategies in order to decide what it wants to do. These are: PLAYING STRATEGY - The strategy used to determine which scoring dice combinations are saved for each roll. You cannot modify the computer's playing strategy. GAME STRATEGY - The computer player's over-all approach to playing the game, i.e., the level of risk it is willing to accept for each game turn in general. You select the computer player's game strategy immediately after choosing a computer player at the beginning of a game. TURN STRATEGY - The computer player's specific approach to playing the current game turn, e.g., when to roll again and when to stop and accept the current turn's score. Turn strategies are modified in accordance with the game strategy you select for each computer player. *** *** COMPUTER PLAYER GAME STRATEGIES Page 12 *** There are five different game strategies that you may select from for each computer player. These game strategies and their effects are: NORMAL - The default game strategy. This strategy will not modify the computer's turn strategy in any way. Choose this strategy to let the computer play completely on its own. AGGRESSIVE - If you choose this strategy, the computer player will tend to take more risks. It may achieve higher turn scores, but, will also suffer more zonks. RECKLESS - If you choose this strategy, the computer player will always tend to play for the "big turn". It may pile up some very high turn scores, but, will suffer a large number zonks in the process. CAREFUL - If you choose this strategy, the computer player will tend to take fewer risks. Its turn scores may be lower but, it will suffer fewer zonks. WIMPY - If you choose this strategy, the computer player will always tend to avoid the "zonk". It will take very few risks and may achieve low turn scores, but, it will rarely suffer any zonks. Any of these game strategies may be used with any of the computer players in a game. You could even play a four-player game with all computer players where each used a different game strategy. The computer player's game strategy will modify its turn strategy throughout the game. The computer player's game strategy will be displayed (using 4-letter abbreviations) in the upper right-hand corner of its playing window. For NORMAL strategy, nothing is displayed. The other abbreviations are "AGGR", "RKLS", "CRFL", and "WIMP" for the other four available strategies. *** *** COMPUTER PLAYER TURN STRATEGIES Page 13 *** The computer player is programmed with 8 different specific turn strategies that it will switch between depending on its current game situation. Its current turn strategy is displayed in the upper left-hand corner of its playing window (using 3-letter abbreviations). If no turn strategy is displayed, the computer is using "NORMAL" strategy. The different turn strategies available to the computer player are: GO FOR BROKE (GFB) - Another player is so close to winning that the computer has decided that its only chance is to continue to roll until it either reaches 10,000 or zonks. PANIC (PAN) - The computer player is considerably behind and/or another player is threatening to win the game. The computer will now attempt to play for the "big" turn to try to make up some ground. DESPARATE (DES) - The computer player is significantly behind and will accept a fair amount of extra risk in order to try to make up the difference. AGGRESSIVE (AGG) - The computer is beginning to fall uncomfortably behind and will accept a small amount of extra risk in order to try to catch up. NORMAL (nothing displayed) - Normal playing strategy is in effect. CAUTIOUS (CAU) - The computer player is beginning to feel that it is comfortably ahead and will start reducing the amount of risks it will take with its playing decisions. CONSERVATIVE (CON) - The computer player feels that it is well ahead or that it is threatening to win the game. Its risk-taking will be significantly reduced as it strives to maintain the lead and avoid zonks. PREVENT (PRV) - The computer player feels that it is so far ahead or so close to winning the game that preventing zonks should be its top priority. It will take very few risks while using this strategy. If the computer player suffers two or more consecutive zonks, it will begin to shift its turn strategy towards a more conservative approach in order to score some points and get back on track. This "zonk" modifier is applied to what would otherwise be the computer player's current turn strategy. Also, the computer player's game strategy will modify the current turn strategy. *** *** WINNING FRAZZLE! Page 14 *** The first player to end his turn with a total game score of 10,000 or more points is the winner! The winner's name and score will be displayed along with those of his opponents. Also displayed will be a game analysis, including the number of turns each player had after getting on the board, the average score per turn, the number of zonks suffered by each player, the total points lost via zonk, the highest turn score achieved by each player, and a number indicating the relative "risk level" each player obtained during play. You might notice that the average score per turn is not equal to the player's game score divided by turns played. This is because the score you had to roll to get "on the board" is not included when computing the average. For example, if you achieved a game score of 10,000 points in 20 turns and had scored 1000 points to get on the board, the average score per turn would be shown as: (10,000 - 1000) / 20 = 450 points This does not apply to the solitaire game as it is a fixed 30 turns, regardless of how long it takes you to get on the board. The "Risk" number is an evaluation of the level of risky rolls that each player made during the game. Higher numbers mean riskier play. The index runs from the lowest possible value of '0' to a virtually unlimited high value. Watching the risk numbers that you achieve for for each game should give you an idea of whether you take too many chances, or don't take enough. Compare against the numbers obtained by the computer player for each of its different game strategies. The numbers result from the game's internal probability calculations and roughly correspond to the cumulative ratio of points risked with each roll to points earned via successful rolls. As the risk number approaches or exceeds 100 it's an indication of a very high level of risk. The risk number displayed in the upper right-hand corner of the player's window is the risk assumed if the player chooses to roll again. The risk number shown for each player at the end of the game is the overall risk level achieved during the entire game. The computer's different game strategies should produce the following average risk values: RECKLESS - 55 AGGRESSIVE - 40 NORMAL - 35 CAREFUL - 30 WIMPY - 25 "NORMAL" strategy will produce a wider range of risk values since the computer player is not restricted in any way. The other game strategies limit the computer player's options in different ways and result in narrower average risk value ranges. ("RECKLESS" strategy may produce some extremely high risk values.) *** *** HALL OF FAME Page 15 *** FRAZZLE! maintains a "Hall of Fame" file of superior achievements. At the end of each game, you will be informed as to whether or not your game has resulted in any new Hall of Fame scores being achieved. If any new high scores have been achieved, you will get the option of displaying only those newly-achieved scores, displaying all Hall of Fame panels, or bypassing the Hall of Fame displays altogether. If you did not achieve any new high scores, you will be given the option to either look at all of the Hall of Fame panels or bypass them. You may also look at the Hall of Fame at any time during your turn by pressing 'F1' and choosing "Hall of Fame" from the help screen dialog window. There are three normal game Hall of Fame categories that can be displayed. These categories are Highest Turn Score, Highest Average Turn Score, and Highest Margin of Victory. The top 20 scores in each category are maintained. When any panel is displayed, any newly-achieved high scores will be highlighted. If the same player achieved more than one in the same category in the same game, only the highest score will be highlighted. If you play the 30-turn solitaire game, a special Hall of Fame panel will be displayed showing the top 20 scores that have been achieved. In this case, the Highest Margin of Victory panel will not be shown. At the time this documentation was written, my version 3.10 play-testers and I had achieved the following high scores: Player Type High Turn High Avg High Margin Solitaire ----------------------------------------------------------------- HUMAN PLAYER 4900 1212 9700 20850 COMPUTER - RKLS 4950 1050 9150 15900 COMPUTER - AGGR 4250 866 5600 16550 COMPUTER - NORM 4450 741 4950 19050 COMPUTER - CRFL 4750 1040 6600 16100 COMPUTER - WIMP 4350 1383 6250 15750 Can you beat these scores? Your old Hall of Fame file, ("FRAZZLE.HOF") created by versions of | FRAZZLE! prior to version 3.00 can still be used with version 3.00 (or | later) of FRAZZLE!, but, since the computer player's strategies | have changed significantly, your old high scores won't be able to be compared meaningfully to ones achieved with the new versions. I recommend that you either delete your old FRAZZLE.HOF file, or back it up to a safe place. You will notice that any time a computer player's score is listed in the Hall of Fame, it is now suffixed with a letter that corresponds to the game strategy used to achieve that score. This way you can easily see which strategies are producing the best results. Games that use "NORMAL" strategy will not have any suffix letter. *** *** PLAY AGAIN? Page 16 *** After the Hall of Fame display, you will be asked if you would like to play another game. Press 'Y' or 'N', or, use the left/right arrow keys to move the selection box and press <Enter> to select "Yes" or "No" as appropriate. If you have chosen to play another game, you will be asked if you want to use the same setup as the previous game. If you answer "Yes", you will start up again immediately with the same combination of players and computer game strategies as before. This is a fast way to start another game to try to do better than last time. If you answer "No", then you can choose a new game setup for your next game of FRAZZLE!. *** *** REGISTRATION INFO *** FRAZZLE! is a shareware program. You may freely download, use, and distribute this program so long as neither the executable program nor the documentation are modified. The documentation must accompany the program if you distribute it to others or upload it to your favorite bulletin board service. You may not charge any fees for distributing this program without my written permission. As is normal for most software products, this program is distributed "as is". The author assumes no liabilities for the program's performance or damages that may possibly result from your use of, or inability to properly use, this program. Reported program bugs will be quickly attended to and fixed for the next scheduled version. Special versions of this program will only be available to registered users. If you find this program enjoyable, a small registration fee of $7.00 is requested. This will ensure that you are notified of future updates and also receive information about other shareware products of mine. *** | *** FRAZZLE! SUPPORT AND NEWEST VERSIONS Page 17 | *** | | I have chosen the three Prince William County, VA, bulletin boards | listed below as my official sources for user support and the newest | upgrades for all of my shareware products: | | | THE BUCKET BRIGADE | ------------------ | SysOp: Pat Scanlon | (703) 330-9264 | RBBS-PC CPC 17.2 -- 24 hours | 300/1200/2400 | | | THE BREAK | --------- | SysOp: Jim Thompson | (703) 680-9269 | RBBS-PC CPC 17.3 -- 24 hours | U.S. Robotics Courier HST | 300 - 19,200 | | | THE PITT | -------- | SysOp: Rich Cycholl | (703) 335-2925 | Wildcat! 2.1 -- 24 hours | U.S. Robotics Courier HST | 300/1200/2400/9600 | | | You could also reach me by E-Mail on the Sears PRODIGY system (my | user ID is PGGX81A), or write me at the address below: | | Mark L. Bakke | 14309 Fairview Lane | Dale City, VA 22193 | (703) 680-2628 | | | Finally, you could leave me a message in the AUTHORS conference on | Public Brand Software's BBS. The number is 317-856-2087. | | Again, thanks for your support, and, I hope you continue to enjoy | my shareware products! |